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Homeschooling guilt is often a by-product of homeschooling. The responsiblities of homeschooling can feel overwhelming.
Homeschooling guilt is an ever-present companion to parents who choose to homeschool. As a parent, you are already responsible for the health, safety, and well-being of your child. As a homeschooling parent, you take on the additional responsibilities of providing for learning and intellectual growth, not to mention that darn "s" word - socialization, and providing well-rounded life opportunities. We want the best for our children. That is often one of the reasons we choose to homeschool. Expectations run high, especially if the one who is homeschooling lacks support of a spouse, family, or friends. Outside expectations can add to worry and doubt, especially if you already tend to struggle with high expectations or perfectionism. So, how do we deal with these guilt feelings that are connected to providing a well-balanced education for our precious children? That is not always an easy question to answer. Keep the emphasis on home, not school - We are schooling at home. We are a homeschool. We are not the same as public and private schools. If we model ourselves on them, we can defeat the purpose of homeschooling. We do not have to cover the exact same subjects, in the same order, using the same timeline. It can be helpful to know what similar-aged children are learning by using a scope-and-sequence that lays out an orderly timeline of learning. However, if you find yourself becoming obsessed with it, let it go. Make a choice to not be perfect - We cannot do it all. We just can not. If you choose to devote yourself to a cool homeschool project one day, the bathrooms may not get cleaned....again. Or, if the laundry is piled up to the ceiling and you hear a chorus of "I have no clean clothes", you can make a choice to do the laundry. If that means you can not supervise lessons while you do it, so be it. Turn your kids loose with books or challenge them with a project, then leave them to it while you go about your work. The results might surprise you. Get support - if you do not have it from family, find a support group, local or on-line. It helps to know others are sharing your journey.
The copyright of the article Homeschooling Guilt in Homeschooling is owned by Christine Alcott. Permission to republish Homeschooling Guilt in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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