Am I Cut Out for Homeschooling - How to Gain Confidence

Am I Cut Out for Homeschooling – How to Gain Confidence

As a working mom who’s decided to start home-ed, you might ask yourself: Am I cut out for homeschooling? You might think that you’re too busy, not patient enough, not qualified and you don’t even know where to start.

In this post I want to give you some ideas to gain homeschooling confidence as a working homeschool mom. I’m going to tackle each doubt and give you some practical and mindset things to do.

Mom and son looking at phone - You might ask yourself: Am I cut out for homeschooling? In this post I'll give you some tips for gaining homeschooling confidence.

Am I Cut Out for Homeschooling? I’m Too Busy!

Time management is definitely a big challenge for working homeschool moms. There are always a million tasks to do on any given day. And when you throw in homeschooling, it can get overwhelming.

My number one tips for effective time management is to know your values and goals. If homeschooling is a priority, you will find time. So how do you figure out what’s really important to you?

Imagine it’s the end of your life. What do you want people to say at your funeral? That will give you an idea about what would make a good life. And in there you’ll find your priorities.
Think ahead a year and do the same thing. What would make you feel like you’ve had a really good year? This TED Talk by Laura Vanderkam has loads of insights into time management.

When it comes to homeschooling, knowing your why and keeping it top of mind, will help you to prioritize it. Firstly, ask yourself why you’ve taken your kids out of school. Is it because you want to keep them safe? Do you want to give them a better, more effective learning environment? Secondly, you can write your why down somewhere and refer to it when you’re feeling like it’s too much.

Motivation to do something will make time magically appear! And if you’re still not feeling like you have any, do my time audit. And then you can replace the 30 minutes of mindless scrolling on Instagram with quality time with your kiddos.

I Have No Patience! Can I Homeschool?

Many moms ask am I cut out for homeschooling because they feel like they have no patience. And like spending a lot of time with their kids could drive them mad.

In short, yes you can homeschool with very little patience. As with being too busy, you have to be strong in your convictions. You need to feel that homeschooling is a priority. And then you can work on some practical steps to stretch your patience.

Reduce the amount of time you homeschool by homeschooling year round. This will mean less time needed to homeschool. And more time for you to do what you need to do.
Make homeschooling super simple. You don’t need to do all the things. You can use online programmes to homeschool or you can outsource your homeschooling.
Let your child take the lead. This can be wonderful for the general mood of your homeschooling. Kids are going to be more engaged and invested when they’re in charge of their learning.
Set boundaries around your time. Be very intentional about how you spend your time. Be present when you’re with your kids and then be present when you’re working. Try not to mix the two if possible.
Prioritize self care. When you feel looked after and rested, you’ll definitely have more patience. So prioritize self care and rest, for the benefit of everyone.
Lower your expectations. If you have very high expectations in terms of what homeschooling should look like, you’re going to get annoyed with your kids. Rather find your what works for you and your family.
Find your energy sweet spot. You’re also bound to have more patience when you’re feeling energetic. So it’s super important to find the intersection where your kids are receptive and you have the energy to homeschool.
Join a community. I guarantee that you will find that many working homeschool moms feel like they have no patience. Or they have at some time or another. It will help you so much to offload and to see that you’re not alone!

I Don’t Have a Teaching Degree! Am I Cut Out for Homeschooling?

You might not feel like you’re cut out for homeschooling because you don’t have a teaching degree. So you might feel that you’re not actually qualified for the job.

The fact that you are homeschooling or want to homeschool, makes you more qualified than most! Once again, your motivation and heart are what are going to make you good at homeschooling. Everything else can be learnt!

It’s much better for your child’s learning to be facilitating rather than leading. There are so many benefits to allowing your kid to take ownership of their learning.

They will be much more invested in what they’re learning if they can choose. You’ll also encounter much less resistance!
Your kids will learn lots of important life skills like problem solving and being independent, when you let them take the lead.
You’ll have the opportunity to learn right alongside your kids. What a gift to fill in all those gaps you have from school.
Knowing that their parents don’t know everything can also be positive. You can normalize looking things up, asking for help or figuring out hard stuff. So much learning!
There’s no shame in asking for help! You don’t have to be an expert in everything. You can outsource and you can send your kids to a co-op.
By including your kids in every day life, they’ll also learn loads. Learning how to run a home is an invaluable lesson to learn. Not to mention what else you can teach them about your work and hobbies.