For many homeschooling moms, there is a certain amount of pressure to be perfect when it comes to homeschooling. Sometimes this pressure of perfection looks like a mom with a perfectly decorated school room, or a mom with the perfect mix of curriculum picked out to fit each child’s needs, or even a mom with the best crafts and the coolest science experiments to help their child learn.
While some of this pressure may be thrust upon us by society, a majority of the time it’s our own self that makes us feel like we need to be perfect in these ways in order to be a great homeschool mom. I, myself, have fallen victim to this mentality, unfortunately.
I have been surrounded by homeschooling families since I can remember. My parents made the decision in the 90’s to homeschool me (and subsequently my brothers), and with the exception of my second and third grade years, I was homeschooled until I graduated high school in 2011. You would think that being surrounded by homeschooling for so long that I would have it all figured out by the time I was ready to homeschool my own children, but that wasn’t the case.
First, by the time my oldest child was ready to start kindergarten, we were living in a house that had no extra space we could dedicate to homeschooling. Our kitchen table became the central hub for school work, and most activities in our family. While logically I know there is nothing wrong with this, the perfectionist side of me felt like I was failing by not being able to provide a Pinterest worthy space dedicated just for homeschooling. This was strike one against my perfect homeschool mom image.
Second, my oldest child struggled with learning and would become easily frustrated when learning new things. Because of this, my husband and I made the decision to wait until kindergarten to start homeschooling instead of starting earlier like some homeschool families choose to do. When the time came to start looking for curriculum, I quickly became overwhelmed with the amount of information that was available to me. It can be difficult finding curriculum that suites your child’s needs without also costing an arm and a leg. We are still trying to find the curriculum that best suites our child, but I do feel like we are getting closer. Still, it has definitely been a challenge because I feel like I should just *know* what curriculum is to best teach my child. So there goes strike two against my perfect homeschool mom image.
Third, while I love crafting and I think science experiments are cool, I have never been one of those moms that comes up with super fun crafts and experiments every time my kids get bored. I find it daunting having to find or buy all of the supplies and I get overstimulated by the mess it makes. It feels like it’s just another thing around the house I have to clean up, so I tend to shy away from crafts and experiments, which then makes me feel guilty that I am not a fun crafty mom. There goes strike three against the perfect homeschool mom image, and now I’m out!
We are now in fourth year of our homeschooling journey and I have finally realized that none of these things actually matter. My children can learn just as well sitting at the kitchen table as they can sitting in a specially dedicated school room. They are still learning from the curriculum I chose, even if there could possibly be a better curriculum out there. They will survive even if I don’t have fun crafts and cool science experiments that coordinates with the lesson every single day. Kids are a lot more resilient and flexible than we give them credit for, and at the end of the day there is no perfect or right way to homeschool, so why should we have to make everything perfect, including ourselves, to homeschool our children? The fact of the matter is that WE DON’T!
So if you ever feel like I did and think you can’t be great homeschooling mom because you are not providing the “perfect” homeschooling experience for your children, remember that YOU are what is best for your child, imperfection and all. No one knows your children better than you, and you don’t need to be perfect in order to be the best homeschooling mom to your kids. So keep being your imperfect self and continue on with your homeschool journey!
p.s. perfection is severely overrated anyways!
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