Finding the Joy in Homeschooling

Homeschooling is hard work. It is both mentally and physically exhausting.

This work of shaping hearts and minds is worth all the effort we put into it. All the tears and frustration and joy and laughter that can make up a homeschooling day or week or year. It is worth all the trouble.

But sometimes, we lose focus and become discouraged. We forget this isn’t a sprint but an incredibly long marathon. And we have been asked to endure.

When I was a young mother, shortly after having my third child I was feeling incredibly overwhelmed. I was worried I had overestimated my abilities to mother and now had more children than I could handle.

I was confused because the prompting to have another child was so strong we actually moved up our time table for when we would add this child to our family. But there I was, not enjoying motherhood all that much and convinced I had more children than I could handle.

The Joy of Homeschooling Comes in Moments

I can remember sitting on the couch of our small apartment and watching a talk from one of our church leaders geared toward young mothers. In it he asked the question, “What can you do, as a young mother, to reduce the pressure and enjoy your family more?” His answer was one that shaped my motherhood journey. He said:

First, recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.

The joy of motherhood comes in moments.

That one line became my mantra. I could find joy in moments. It was okay if I wasn’t loving all of it. It was okay if it was hard. As long as I could find the joy in the moments.

Homeschooling is like that also. It’s all about finding joy in the moments. There will be hard and frustrating times. But amid all the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.

The joy of homeschooling comes in moments.

And those moments? Those are the moments that keep us going.

It’s watching your child finally figure out the math concept you’ve spent countless hours on.

Or seeing siblings working together to accomplish a task.

It’s the look of pride on a child’s face because they’ve accomplished something that was hard. And through it they’ve learned they can do hard things.

It’s okay if you are not loving every second of your homeschool day. It’s even okay if you didn’t love any that week.

Life is a series of ebb and flow. We aren’t going to like it all. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it. That doesn’t mean there won’t be joy.

Intentionally in Look for the Joy in Moments

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Sometimes we have to make a conscious effort to look for those moments or they will pass by unnoticed.

When my second daughter was three I was quite convinced that one of us was not going to make it to her fourth birthday.

Every day there would be multiple full on tantrums, complete with kicking, hitting, biting and screaming how much she hated me. By 8:30 every morning I would have an awful tension headache.

After a particularly trying day, I was asked to fill out a form for our preschool co-op about something that Allie was good at. My mind was blank. I asked my husband for ideas.

He mentioned how funny she was. How she was always making him laugh. I wasn’t sure we were talking about the same child.

From then on I made a conscious effort to look for that silly side of her. And you know what? I found it.

She turned four and I learned that four was a pretty funny age. The tantrums didn’t disappear, but I learned that when I looked for the good, when I sought for those moments of joy, I found them.

(I also found this book, which was a life saver!)

In our homeschool, we need to be intentional about looking for those moments of joy. When we look, we will find them.

And you just might realize that those moments of joy happen more often than you think they do.

So if you are struggling to find the joy in your homeschool, take a deep breath and then make a conscious effort to find joy in the moments.

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This post is part of the NOT Back to School Blog Hop. Check out what other Crew members are writing about below.

Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses – ABC of Homeschooling
Dawn @ Schoolin’ Swag – Adding Fun to Your Homeschool Day
Erin @ For Him and My Family – Large Family Homeschooling
Lori @ At Home Where Life Happens – Learning Life Skills
Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschooling – Homeschooling the High School Years
Monique D. @ Early Learning Mom – Homeschooling With Autism
Yvie @ Homeschool On the Range – 5 Days of Upper Grades Homeschooling