Wow-I have made it to week 7 of Many Little Blessings and iHomeschoolNetwork.com “10 in 10” series. This week we are asked to give 10 pieces of advice we would give to a new homeschooler.

1. Begin each day with prayer and personal time with our Lord. This should be a given but I think it is the best advice anyone could ever get. God has placed it in your heart to educate at home, so you will want to be sure that you ask for His guidance throughout the whole process.
2. Don’t try to recreate public school in your home. There must be a reason you selected not to send your children to school outside the home so why bring outside school into your home?
3. Be careful not to try to do it all in one year. I had a hard time with this one thinking that I had to teach my kids EVERY thing that I know, but we need to remember that they will have a lifetime to learn and that our job is to prepare them for that lifetime of learning.
4. Be flexible. This one is huge if you want to keep your sanity. Things will happen to disrupt your days and you need to be prepared to ‘go with the flow’.
5. Don’t let curriculum selection overwhelm you. There is a lot out there and they all say they are perfect for your homeschool. Try to seek out those things that fit the way that you want your children to learn. Those choices are as different as your families are.
6. Let your children have input on what they would like to study. Learning becomes great fun and less of a battle when your children are genuinely interested in the subject matter.
7. Step outside your comfort zone and tackle those topics you are not familiar with. It’s okay if you don’t know everything there is to know about history or science or math or language arts. Your desire to give your kids the best education possible will motivate you to learn side by side with them. And just think about the reward of being able to show your children that learning is a lifelong venture by your example of learning along with them.
8. Seek out others who homeschool. Although we never belonged to a formal homeschool group, I found lots of homeschooling friends through blogging, participating in homeschool days at various places of business, and just through random chance meetings. Sometimes you just need to know that you are not alone.
9. Remember that your children are unique gifts from God and that He has a purpose for their lives. Try not to compare them or their achievements to others. As a matter of fact, don’t compare yourself to anyone else. You, too, are precious in His sight and if you try to measure yourself against someone else you will always be disappointed. We are imperfect beings, but that doesn’t mean that we have to focus on our imperfections. Focus on your and your children’s strengths and build on them so that they will work out those imperfections.
10. Have fun, laugh, get messy, dig in, buckle up, and enjoy the ride.