Lesson 5: Homeschooling doesn’t require perfection {Season 3, Episode 54}

If you struggle with perfection in your homeschool, today’s lesson is for you. For our fifth lesson, I am sharing one that was hard for this type A, recovering perfectionist to grasp – homeschooling doesn’t require perfection.

Welcome to Season 3 of The Tips for Homeschool Science Show. This season, I am sharing 10 lessons I have learned in my ten plus years of homeschooling.  I hope that all of them will help you on your homeschooling journey!

{Disclaimer - I don't claim to know everything there is to know about homeschooling, but these ten lessons are ones that I have found important and useful in my homeschooling journey. And I trust that you will too.}

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Lesson 5 Transcripts

For our fifth lesson, I am sharing a lesson that was hard for this type A, recovering perfectionist to grasp. But it is key to reducing the stress and helping you to be able to embrace the joy of homeschooling. It’s simply this – homeschooling doesn’t require perfection.

You won’t mess your kids up.

They will learn and grow.

They will survive and thrive, even if you miss the mark of perceived perfection.

How do I know this? Because you have your child’s best interest at heart. You have chosen a difficult path in order to provide them with the best possible education. And I know that if you are taking precious time out of your day to listen to this podcast, which means that you care about being the best teacher for your children. You are already doing so many things right and your labors will be rewarded!

So instead of focusing on being the perfect homeschooler, let’s agree to do these three things each week.

#1 – Be present.

First, let’s agree to be present. Really present – not just a body occupying space, but a person listening, engaging, and enjoying our children.

Let’s put our phone notifications on silent or better yet – leave them in the other room while we are doing school. Let’s ignore the dishes that need to be done, the laundry that needs to be folded, the cabinet that needs to be dusted, or the post that needs to be written just for a few hours.

I am not saying that this will be easy – we homeschooling mommas have full plates. But let’s do our best to carve out a few hours each day where we have only one thing to do. One task to focus on: educating our children.

Let’s agree to give our kiddos our full attention during our planned school hours.

#2 – Be teachable.

Second, let’s agree to be teachable. As adults, we are supposed to be older and wiser. Our kids look to us as the one who knows it all.

But let’s agree to show that that the real secret of wisdom is to be teachable. That wisdom comes from being a perpetual learner.

One who says, “I don’t know, let’s look it up,” more often. By doing this we will model lifelong learning for our kids, which is probably one of your main goals for homeschooling in the first place.

So, let’s agree to show our children that we are teachable, too.

#3 – Be consistent.

Third, let’s agree to be consistent. Homeschooling is hard work. And there will be days when you feel like you are not doing enough or when you want to give up your current plan and find the more “perfect” version.

But the truth is that the magic of homeschooling is found in consistency. It’s in the slow, daily rhythm of consistently plugging away at sharing the necessary skills and facts. It’s in the repeated opportunities to see science, art, and more up close. The magic comes from the sum total of us consistently showing up and sharing knowledge.

Let’s agree to make consistency a cornerstone of our homeschool.

In a Nutshell

So, relax homeschooling does not require perfection.

You don't have to have that perfect planet representation.  You don't need every single experiment to work.  You don’t even have to know everything.

You already have your child's best interest at heart, which makes you a fantastic teacher for your child. Let’s ditch the idea of perfection and homeschool with these three goals in mind instead. Let’s agree to be present, to be teachable, and to be consistent.

Additional Resources

If you want a few more tips for staying consistent with science, check out episode 30 from season 1 where I shared 4 tips for helping you stay on track with science.

• Are you finding it hard to stay on track week after week in science? {Episode 30}