Homeschool Success in April

Take a deep breath…

Now slowly exhale.

Ready or not, homeschooling mother, it… is… APRIL…

For many of us who are homeschooling, April is truly our make or break month.

You can, with one quick glance at your homeschool bookcase, determine exactly which subjects are on the verge of completion for the year…and which ones are on the verge of imploding.

Whatever curriculum you are mostly done with will most likely be completed by the year’s end. It is basically a done deal, and all your hard work these last months is about to pay off. The celebratory shout as you close the cover one last time on that book you have been opening nearly every day, since last August… Oh, that’s a feeling only homeschoolers truly get to revel in!

(Let me pause here and briefly share a tidbit of information to encourage you, my dear fellow homeschooler: Interestingly enough, while public schools typically consider a textbook or a course “complete” once they have worked through 80% of the material, most homeschooling families see things differently. We usually think of “complete” per it’s dictionary definition of finished – fulfilled – effectuated – done – concluded – 100%.)

This is important to note since we are often a bit too hard on ourselves and don’t always recognize our successes as such.

Let me put it to you this way: If someone told you they completed a 1,000-piece puzzle using only 800 pieces, would it seem right to you?  What if I were to pay off 80% of my car loan, then expect to receive the title in my name without a lien against it…would that ever happen?

I’m sure you see my point! Be encouraged, homeschooling mama, that if you are completing (as in finishing) your curriculum with your children, then you are doing are good job as a home-educating family! You have absolutely no reason to question your ability to homeschool or to compare yourself to the public educational system.

However, the April “trap” we can easily fall into has more to do with the books and courses we are struggling to work our way through than the subjects we know will be completed soon.

It’s far too easy to get a whiff of that glorious fresh, spring air after a long doldrums of winter, and want to race toward summer. But wait – not so fast! Don’t give up quite yet!

With a bit of forethought and focus, we can make it through April in a way that we won’t find ourselves looking back with regrets when fall comes.

You may not finish all the textbooks and classes you started this year, but you can still finish well and know you ran this leg of your homeschooling for God’s glory. Here are some tips as to how to do that during the month of April:

1. Count how many days you have left for this school year.
2. Plan to finish as many subjects at possible in that time frame (divide the pages in each book that you truly want to finish by the number of school days left and use that as you plan the rest of the academic year).
3. Let go of (as in be done with for the year!) any subject that you and/or your child cannot stand to work on any longer. (If it is a vital subject, try to find a substitute for these last few weeks.)
4. Trust the Lord! These are the days to grow in your faith and trust Him as you see Him work in your homeschool.

The adage of Proverbs 3:5-6 holds true for homeschoolers, and in the ESV it reads, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

As you seek His path for the end of your homeschool year, you will surely discover it. Be blessed, my fellow homeschooling mother, and know you can have a successful month of homeschooling!

Jan L. Burt is a 25-year homeschooling veteran, mother to five children, and has been happily married to her husband Tony for 28 years. She has a Facebook page (All Things Homeschool) where she shares encouragement and videos with her fellow homeschooling moms. Her current ministry roles include youth ministry with her husband (for the last 11 years), leading a weekly women’s Bible study, attending a women’s Christian leadership meeting of 30 women each week, and working on her Titus 2 discipleship website. She is also the owner/operator of JanLBurt.com and blogs at MomsWhoHomeschool.blogspot.com. She has written for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and was a product reviewer for TOS for several years. In addition, she is the author of The Homeschooling Mothers Bible Study (available on Amazon) and The Once-A-Year Homeschool Planner (An All-In-One, All-Student, All-Subject Planning System). Her online Bible study site aimed at encouraging Christian women of all walks of life can be found at Titus2DiscipleshipwithJanLBurt.com or on the Titus 2 Discipleship Facebook page. Her newest plans include the launch of a podcast (on her blog & website) in the immediate future.