Find joy!

If I could send a letter back to my younger self in 2014 when I started to homeschool, here’s what I’d write:
 
Dear Me,
 
First off, you’re going to be saying that a lot, “Dear me!” as you journey to your place in homeschooling over the next dozen years and that’s okay (all of us have and still do!)
 
Please take a deep breath and do these few things first before reading through Rainbow Resource’s Catalog or studying Mother of Divine Grace’s course objectives (good things in their time!) (All advice we’ve received and practiced from seasoned homeschooling families):

• Read about educational theories and approaches, find what works for you and your husband and never stop learning yourself (need recommendations? Ask a seasoned homeschool Mother)
• Write a list (yearly!) of all the good and wonderful reasons you homeschool, keep that handy to refer to on rough days
• Write a list of “musts”; God’s Will for us is to first do what we “must” in our vocation and then other good things. If you’re starting with preschool/Kindergarten, you most likely have a small tribe but with large physical needs. Your list will look more like “Must nurse the Baby; must change the diapers; must make dinner; must care for my physical self; must find 10 minutes for daily prayer; must reserve a part of my heart, soul and body for my Husband; must train young ones in chores, bodily hygiene, and self-control.” You may realize that that list takes up the vast majority of your life right now and that is okay. It won’t always be that way as you grow as Mother and your family grows in their routines, schedules, preferences, and callings. This IS education as well. It is OK to spend only a few hours per week on the text book side of learning at the beginning. The vast difference this amount of time will change year-to-year as your children age will astound you.
  
• Write a list/make a plan/set some goals/pen on a napkin (with your Husband) your plans on how to care for your marriage. Training up children in the way they should go only happens when your marriage is on track. I remind myself often what a friend had shared, “If you want to love your children more, love your husband more. If you want to love your husband more, love God more.”
  
• Last, but just as vital, find a co-op to support you and more specifically, a mentor to encourage you. Look for a group that fits your family’s needs and do what you can with it peacefully.  Also, look for a woman that is down the road from you on her homeschooling journey. Ask if she’d have time to chat with you about her homeschooling start and hear her thoughts, recommendations and advice. Most of all, let yourself be encouraged by her. As Dorothy Day said, “The point I want to make is that a woman can achieve the highest spirituality and union with God through her house and children, through doing her work…She is being led along the path of growth inevitably. But she needs to be told these things, instructed in these things, for her hope and endurance…”

 
Find joy, place God first and you will reap abundant rewards no matter where this journey takes you!
 
Sincerely, a Still Very Young and Learning Mother