Below is the first part to a mini ebook I wrote on No-Regret Homeschooling. If you know someone waffling on the decision to homeschool, consider sharing this resource with them to encourage them.

Making the No-Regret Decision to Homeschool

This isn’t going to be long because this doesn’t have to be complicated. You are thinking about homeschooling, so you already have reasons to consider it. Or maybe you’ve already decided it’s what you want to do, but aren’t fully convinced it’s what you should do. Many reasons that push families to homeschool are fear-based: fear over what they are teaching at schools, fear over how your child has been or might be treated, fear over violence, and now fear over disease spreading through schools.

I want to offer you a different perspective. Personally, I always want to avoid any fear-based decision. I don’t want fear ruling my life. I want my life ruled by love instead. I want you to look at the decision to homeschool from the perspective opposite of fear– one of love.

Who loves your child more, you or the state? Homeschooling is a simple decision when you look at it from the perspective of love. No one loves your child more than you do. No one is going to care about your child more than you do.

Yes, there are awesome teachers out there that care about their students and are experts in their field, but they can’t ever care about your child the way you do. No matter how dedicated they are, they can’t tailor their day and their curriculum to fit your child. They can’t know your child the way you do.

You, however, even if you have multiple children and other demands, are more equipped to adapt and mold your child’s education in the way that’s best for them.

Curriculum standards are one-size-fits-all, but we know each child is different. Each human is unique, even identical twins. School could never give them the love and care that you can.

If you decide to homeschool out of love, then you will not fail your child. Love never fails. That’s a timeless truth. If you are homeschooling out of fear, you could fail. If your only motivation is to keep them away from school and not to provide and support your child’s education, then your child will be at a loss.

Getting that “why” down will be the most important step towards no-regret homeschooling. Homeschool your children simply because you love them. That love will never change, so your motivation will never change. There won’t be waffling in your decision.

It’s pretty simple to feel confident that you love your children more than the state does. You can apply the same confidence towards anyone who questions your decision to homeschool. You can shrug it off without offense. While they may care about your family, you can know that they don’t love your child as much as you do. No one else has that parent-child bond with your child.

*Deciding to send your child to school is not a sign of not loving your child. But, if that’s your decision, make it out of love and not fear!

Read the next part

If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.

-Mark Twain

This is a quote about doing the hard thing. If there’s something you don’t want to do, do it first and get it done. This was my philosophy behind putting poetry first each year in our reading courses. I think poetry is hard. My husband loves it. I don’t get it. But, it’s good for our brains and souls. It’s behind all the songs you love. It’s the words of the Psalms.

But still, poetry isn’t my thing. I can appreciate a good limerick. Making up those fun rhymes is the extent of my poetic ability. So, I do it first. It’s why you put laundry in first thing in the morning. Get it done by getting it done now.

While math starts off with an easy review at the beginning of the year, reading starts with poetry. I’m writing this post to encourage you to not skip it. Get it done. It will pass. My husband, the beloved Mr. G, has made videos for the poetry sections so that there are audio versions and to help with comprehension. I even jumped on one video to read a favorite poem of mine. See, even this math girl can like poetry. You can too!

So, while you, as the teacher and administrator of the school in your home, have every right to skip things and decide what works for your family and what doesn’t, I would encourage you to not just let your kids skip the hard things. That’s not a lesson you want learned. Let’s not encourage others to follow our lead if we don’t bother with it.

The more you skip things, the more your kids will want to skip things. It’s a slippery slope. If they know they have to do all their assignments, they won’t ask to skip things. They’ll know they have to get it done. If they know they can sometimes get you to let them just skip something, they will ask and push to get away with what they can.

Let’s go for it and push through. That doesn’t mean you everything gets understood. That doesn’t mean you have a breakthrough and love poetry. It means you did your best and didn’t give up. Eat the frog.

 

• Over the years at different times we’ve offered Just for Fun classes. They are FREE one-hour Zoom meetings on a topic, typically about other countries or languages. If we have a good turnout, we’ll try to do more over the summer. We usually say ages 8 and up for these things. Feel free to attend as a family. Parents are welcome.

• The topic for this Just for Fun class is Old English. Our British Literature students have had some introduction to Old English. Beowulf is discussed lots in the Old English class.

• These classes are taught by my husband, known as Mr. G. One of our sons, Peter,  joined him this time. Mr. G occasionally pops up in the curriculum. Your child might have seen him in one of the poetry videos, or maybe in a video on verbs or fractions.

• This class was on June 25. Here is the RECORDING of the class.
• Here is a page you can print summarizing the information presented in class.
• Here is some more in-depth information on Old English, researched and presented by Peter.

Here are some new links on the site.

New Offline Course

Literature and Composition I  (formerly known as English 8) is now available as an offline course.

• There are two readers and two workbooks, Language Arts and Vocabulary.
• These books will match the updated version of the course which will replace what’s on the site on July 4th. (The old course link will still be available after that time.)

Algebra 1 is on its way soon with an offline version and an updated course.

New Parent-Submitted Courses

New courses from an EP mom: History of Rock (under music) and Crash Course film making (under art) on the “Links to Other Courses” page. She also made a high school English course for her son with learning disabilities. (Reminder: we don’t control content on “other courses.”)

High School Planning

High school/College page has some new links on transcripts, as well as a planner for those wanting to plot out their four-year course direction.

Our resources for teens page has a planner for teens if you want to start encouraging your child to maintain a schedule.

Summer School

Summer Study Options – We have summer study books for those finishing up 1st, 2nd, and 3rd levels (buy or print). The page also has links to other ideas and options. I’ve added a link to a character training pack, a summer study schedule, and some new copywork for those who have already used what we’ve linked to before.

 

 

I made some graduation designs for 2021. I also made a couple others just for fun. You can find them in our EP Swag store. These designs can each be found on shirts and a few other items. This is just a sample for each. Most items allow you to choose your color.