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I have met many people who have said they could never home school.  I have also been told that because I was a teacher I could do this better than they could.  After my first year of home schooling I was not so sure. I find that teaching in a classroom is totally different from teaching at home. There are different challenges that you face at home compared to school.  Often, we talk about how rewarding homeschooling is…and it is.  However, it is also a demanding challenge that many give up after trying it for a time. 

So, I started thinking, what makes a good homeschooler?  What must the homeschooling parent have settled in order to make it as a homeschooler?  Here are three requirements of a good homeschooler as I see it.

Conviction

• First, you must believe that this is something that you know the Lord wants for you and your family. I truly believe this is what God has intended for me. I have a peace that this is the right direction in which I am to go. In Philippians 4:7, the Bible states, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  [Check out article on What is a Conviction?]

Commitment

•  Second, to be a good homeschool teacher you need to be committed to your child’s education. I was unhappy teaching at school because I got tired of trying to instill godly character in my students only to find out they did not care. Many times neither did their parents. I wanted to put all my energy into my own children so they could turn out godly.

• I make sure to stay within the home school laws for the state of Tennessee. I have a four-hour school day (or more) and we have our 181 days of school.

• We always start with Bible and prayers. One thing I find that helps us, we put our Bible verses to music. I find this helps us memorize faster and stays in our memory longer. I have a goal for my son to memorize 100 verses next year.

• As a teacher I would go over my lessons for the next day the night before. I would gather material needed for each lesson and be prepared for the new day. As a homeschooler I do the same thing. If I prepare the night before, I feel I have a better grip of the subjects.  This also gives me that night to pray about it. I have made a commitment to my child’s education and therefore I will take the time to prepare.

o        I am encouraged by 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly diving the word of truth.” This verse keeps me motivated to keep my schooling on track.