How to Survive Homeschooling

Homeschooling can be overwhelming. If you’re doing the country-living-thing on a farm, there’s already so much going on. So many things that need to be done. And so much to distract. Things that crop up like a burst water pipe, or sheep that break out, or the arrival of a mongoose in the chicken coop, or cabbage seedlings that need to be planted, or a veggie patch that needs to be weeded, bread that needs to be baked and healthy wholesome meals that need to be cooked. And that was just yesterday(!) …And please, let us not forget: coping with the extreme HEAT of country-living summers and the extreme COLD of country-living winters!

Sometimes, with all this craziness going on, it feels like we don’t even have time for school. So, here are a few tips to help you cope with daily life while homeschooling your children.

1. Remember the Blueprint given by God.

What is the blueprint? True education. It’s the reason we’re doing this. It’s the great object of life: to build characters fit for the company of heavenly angels and Jesus Himself.

Education is not training up for a fleeting job. Education is developing our minds and our characters. Turning our thoughts to God, who is, in fact, the source of all knowledge and of all wisdom. A True Education teaches us to say “not my will, but Thy will be done” (Luke 22:42) and it helps us to think like God thinks and to reason like God reasons. It gives us the true basis from which to make all decisions, including how to act, not just for now, but for the rest of our lives (and the infinite beyond!) We’re going to be free moral agents in heaven, right? We’re still going to have choices in heaven, right? So God wants to be sure that we know how to make good choices and even how to act in heaven.

We must get an education here that will enable us to live with God through the eternal ages. The education we begin here will be perfected in heaven. We will only just enter a higher grade. ML 361.6
To prepare to receive the higher education in the school above is now to be our purpose. 9T 171.5
It is in this world, amid its trials and temptations, that we are to gain a fitness for the society of the pure and holy angels. FE 544.1

This is what it’s all about. This is what, with God’s help, we’re trying to do. This world is not our home. Our citizenship is in heaven. Never forget the blueprint, the instructions given by God to us, on how to educate our children for heaven.

2. Start your Day with God – Take Hold of His Hand and Don’t Let Go All Day Long.

He is the vine. We are the branches. If we are to bear any fruit… in other words, if our characters are to be developed after God… in other words, if we are to receive a true education… we need to be connected to the Vine. It’s the only way that we, as parents, can be role models for our children. It’s the only way we can be patient and loving when we are tired, and frustrated.

If the rush of work is allowed to drive us from our purpose of seeking the Lord daily, we shall make the greatest mistakes; we shall incur losses, for the Lord is not with us. We have closed the door so that He cannot find access to our souls. But if we pray, even when our hands are employed, the Saviour’s ear is open to hear our petitions…. God takes care of you in the place where it is your duty to be. But be sure, as often as possible, to go where prayer is wont to be made. MM 216.1

3. Setup a Routine and Learn Discipline.

Do you feel like your day is a little bit out of control sometimes? Being in control of our time means that we do not become victims of all the happenings around us. We need to match up our priorities with how we actually spend our time – it takes time to be holy. A schedule teaches us self-denial – something which is absolutely essential in character building. Self-denial is saying no to self and yes to God. A schedule helps us to serve God instead of self.

Remember that in heaven there is no disorder, and that your home should be a heaven here below. Remember that in doing faithfully from day to day the little things to be done in the home, you are a laborer together with God, perfecting a Christian character. CG 110.3

Yes, sometimes unexpected things will happen during the day. Our routine needs to have time for flexibility and we need to be ok with that. But be sure that you stick to your times for worship, for getting up in the mornings, going to bed at night and meal times.

School time needs to be treated as if it were a job. Make sure you are always there. The rest of the day must revolve around school time. One of the biggest problems with homeschooling is that most people begin slowly sliding into running errands or visiting others when it is school time. This irregular, inconsistent and undisciplined schoolwork brings a bad name, not only to homeschooling, but to God as well.

Set yourself up to develop good habits. Remember Titus 2:7 “In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works” – a pattern is something that repeats! 😉

4. Start your Day Early.

The early bird catches the worm. Seek the Lord early. Have breakfast early. Start school early. You will be amazed how much extra time you have in the day. Go to bed early.

The bright morning hours are wasted by many in bed. These precious hours, once lost, are gone never to return; they are lost for time and for eternity. Only one hour lost each day, and what a waste of time in the course of a year! Let the slumberer think of this and pause to consider how he will give an account to God for lost opportunities.4T 412.1

5. Simplify your Life.

The early life of Jesus is barely spoken about in the Scriptures, because the childhood years of a child should be quiet ones. Are your children enjoying a simple, quiet life? Figure out what your priorities are – in this case, one of our biggest priorities should be educating our children. If something other than this is taking up a lot of time, we need to start making some changes.

Practice self-denial. Ask yourself, do you really need to have sheep? (I’m talking to myself here!) Sometimes we have to say no to things that we want to do and do what God wants us to do instead. “Thy will be done, not my will” (Luke 22:42). There are seasons to life (Ecclesiastes 3:1) and this is the season for educating your children. Before you know it, it will feel like you’ve just blinked, and your children will be grown up. Ask God what He wants you to focus on in this season of your life and be ok with it.

Parents and children are to educate themselves to co-operate with God. They are to bring their habits and practices into harmony with God’s plans. AH 19.5
A consecrated Christian life is … characterized by purity, tact, simplicity, and usefulness. PP 667.2

6. Keep your Children with You.

In all that you do, keep your children with you. Do life with your children. Yes, there is a time for bookwork, but children need to experience the rest of life. They need to be there to help with the planting of the cabbage seedlings, the baking of the daily bread, the cooking of the healthy wholesome meals, the fixing of the burst water pipe, the weeding of the veggie patch. This is just as an important part of their education, as is the bookwork. This is what True Education is. Preparing our children for the everyday things of life and how to deal with them in such a way to build our characters for heaven. To test our perseverance, our self-control, our diligence, our patience, our kindness.

It is hers [the mother] to teach her children how to perform the duties of the household quickly and skillfully. As early in life as possible they should be trained to share the burdens of the home. From childhood boys and girls should be taught to bear heavier and still heavier burdens, intelligently helping in the work of the family firm. CG 119.1
Teach your children to be useful, to bear burdens according to their years; then the habit of laboring will become second nature to them, and useful work will never seem like drudgery. CG 122.4

7. Remember God’s promises!

Homeschooling isn’t easy. It requires a non-human amount of patience, unconditional love, self-discipline, self-denial, gentleness, loving firmness and soul-searching. God wouldn’t ask us to do something, and then not give us what we need to do it. Remember God’s promises. When it feels like there is a mountain before you, remember “with God all things are possible“(Matthew 19:26). When your situation feels utterly hopeless, remember “He will not leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:8). When you feel like all your strength is gone, remember 2 Corinthians 11:10 “for when I am weak, then I am strong“. When you don’t feel capable or worthy of this calling, remember “My grace is sufficient for thee” (2 Cor 11:9). Jesus is our only hope and our best friend in every emergency.

Lastly, please remember that:

A deep Christian experience will be combined with the work of true education. FE 516.2

If this is not happening… if we are not having a deep Christian experience… if we and our children are not growing spiritually… then we are doing something wrong. Parents, God has given us the blueprint of True Education. He wants to restore physically, mentally and spiritually the original image of Him that He created in us. Let us work together with God in raising our children, that when that glorious day comes and He asks us “Where are the children that I gave you to train for me?“, we will be able to reply, “Here they are, Lord”.

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