Home Schooling and How to Stay Encouraged

Home schooling your own children can be an incredibly rewarding endeavor. Whether you just got started or you are a seasoned veteran, staying encouraged is non-optional, it is mandatory, and vital to the success of our children. Don't wait for an external source of encouragement to come along, it only wastes time. Take the leadership role and implement one or both simple tips to keep you encouraged when the going gets tough, not if the going gets tough, but when.

Find something positive in every child, everyday, even when you don't feel like it. If we are actively looking for the positive we will be less likely to become discouraged. No, I am not saying, "Every child gets an A every single day." But as you begin to look for positive traits and express praise and gratitude your children will respond quite favorably which will consequently encourage you. Genuine praise and encouragement go a very long way in keeping a happy school and an encouraged Mom.

Regard this season of life as an opportunity to improve on your own skill set. Education is not simply "serving up" information, and hoping they'll retain it until Friday's test. It is an opportunity, among other things, to improve your own skill set such as time management, organization, and information processing. If you have taught for any length of time you understand by information processing I mean the ability to take in information, process it, and teach it in a way the student will readily understand it. This has been my greatest challenge. I used to get aggravated when my children didn't understand my perfect little lesson plans. If they don't understand that may an indication I need to work on my information processing skills. No, we will never arrive, but we can certainly be moving forward, and quite often just a slight change in mindset will give us that fresh jump-start and the necessary encouragement we need.

I have offered my two favorite tips on how to stay encouraged in home schooling. There are many more ideas we could cover but these are my favorites and have been the most effective for me. Did you notice they both involve the teacher and the teacher's mindset or outlook? We are a major key to our students loving or not loving their home school.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Janet_Tinsley