by Steve Lambert

In the last article, we talked about grasping the concept of homeschooling as a journey. Some years ago there was a popular Christian book on the market entitled A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. The author's premise was that living the Christian life was about steadfast obedience in a consistent direction over an extended period of time. We could draw the same conclusion about homeschooling. There is more of the mundane than there is the sensational in homeschooling. Successful homeschooling has more to do with steadfastness and patience than it does our intellectual brilliance or our classroom management skills.

Somehow, in the midst of our own self-doubts, we have to focus on enjoying the journey. I believe one of the keys to enjoyment is maintaining a long-term perspective. If we become obsessed with micro-management, assessing our success or failure on an hour-by-hour basis, we doom ourselves and our children to a long and discouraging journey. Substantive progress on the homeschooling journey is measured in months and years, not in hours or days.

Allowing ourselves to focus on the morning phonics lesson that ended in tears, or the afternoon science experiment that didn't work will paralyze us with disappointment and a crippling sense of failure. Short-term perspectives undermine our self-confidence as teachers. I believe as homeschoolers the single most difficult battle we must fight is the battle for self-confidence. As homeschoolers, we live in a hostile environment with media, neighbors and often friends and family telling us we cannot teach our own children successfully. Measuring progress in hours often convinces us they are right.

If we're to enjoy the journey we've chosen, we must see the big picture and fully grasp the metaphor of journey. As the months go by and we see measurable progress on standardized testing we grow in self-confidence and begin to enjoy our pilgrimage. We may not enjoy every day of the trip, but we can begin to enjoy the journey itself. We're actually going somewhere!

In the next article I'll talk about how to successfully complete the homeschooling journey.