You started the new school year with great enthusiasm. The curriculum materials were stacked neatly on the bookshelves. The schooling area was freshly cleaned and tidy. Lesson plans were in place. Maybe you even made sure all the pencils were sharpened! After a summer break, the children were ready and enthusiastic to start again.

Well, that was last month. Now reality crashes in on us. Maybe one of your curriculum choices isn't working out so well. Your plans are still there, but its a bit hard to execute on them. The pencils? Well the pencils are part of the problem because they're all over the floor (and if that was the only thing that was untidy in the house you'd rejoice)! And the darling children who started with such enthusiasm are pushing back due to their waning attention. So as you look out the window at the grey October clouds, what goes through your heart?

OK, let’s get back to basics. Why did you choose to home school your children? And in almost all cases, the answer is because you desire to give your children the very best. Maybe it’s the extra attention to help them achieve their best academically. Maybe there are specific character traits you want for your children. And perhaps you want to give your children the best you can in a spiritual sense. Whatever the reasons, they’re still there. And those reasons will continue to be there regardless of curriculum disasters, planning failures, housework implosions and the dreaded child-pushback.

So the basics haven’t changed. The only thing that’s different are your circumstances. But your circumstances, emotions and the ups and downs of life must not change your convictions because they cannot change the reality those convictions are founded upon. Homeschooling is not a panacea, but it is a means by which you seek to bless your children. Keep going. Someday they’ll thank you.

Shawn