10 Days of Getting Started: Keep It Simple!

Well here we are at the final day of the 10 Days Blog Hop. I've had a great time. I hope you have too! I'll have the chance to catch up with some of the other blogs now. I'm anxious to work on some more habit training CM style when all this is over! I hope you've been inspired by our efforts as well. Today, I want to talk about keeping things simple.

Seems like an easy idea, right? Well if you've been around a while, then you know how easy it is to be caught up in a whirlwind of information. Sometimes as homeschoolers we make things entirely too complicated. My last piece of advice to those who are just starting is to keep things simple!

Comparing yourself to well established homeschoolers may only serve to discourage you. Keep yourself focused on the vision you have established and work toward that vision. Great homeschooling does not require gobs of amazing curriculum. It doesn't require serious equipment and fancy school rooms. It doesn't require expensive items others have. All it requires is the desire to achieve a vision and consistency.

As you are starting, if you are hitting some math skills, enjoying good books about all kinds of things, and working on refining your child's written communication skills on a daily basis, then you are having a great homeschooling day!

Try not to be overwhelmed with all the information out there. Just take things slow and steady and add in things if you want to as you get really good at doing important things consistently.

Keep your schedule light- that includes sports, lessons, and everything else under the sun you are bound to figure out are available to homeschoolers everywhere. Your time will be well spent if you spend it establishing good habits and learning about your students and how you work together.

And lastly, it may take some time to get a groove! Parenting and homeschooling are not guaranteed to be easy. As Jim Trelease says, parenting was not meant to be a time saving endeavor! Take the time to read and learn and understand how you can work with your children the best. Then keep at it and find a mentor- someone who can share the wisdom they've collected after years of homeschooling.

Thanks for coming along on these 10 Days of Getting Started. I hope I've shared something here that has been valuable. Feel free to leave a comment! I have been reading them and at the request of a reader, I'll be sharing what to have in your homeschool library in the next few days. If there is something else I did not get to that you wanted to know more about, please leave a comment and I'll try to answer you!

Heather

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Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th! We love these ladies and we know you do too.

10 days of socialization for mom | The Homeschool Chick
10 days of classical education | Milk & Cookies
10 days of large families | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of special needs | Special Needs Homeschooling
10 days of struggling learners | Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
10 days of homeschooling girls | Homegrown Mom
10 days of homeschool enrichment | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of building a spiritual legacy | Mommy Missions
10 days of frugal homeschooling |The Happy Housewife
10 days of Charlotte Mason | Our Journey Westward
10 days of unschooling | Homeschooling Belle
10 days of organization | Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom
10 days of getting started | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of homeschooling boys | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of homeschooling Montessori |  Fruit in Season
10 days of preschool |  Delightful Learning