Do you have the perfect plan for each of your children this year? Do you have everything you need? Are you on track? Are you excited or nervous? Are you confident or afraid? Do you feel happy or burdened?
Parents have always trained their children. Homeschooling is not a new idea. Relax. You love your children. You want what’s best for them. You know what you’re doing. God loves your children. He made them. He trusts you with them. You are just right for the job.
Try this daily back-to-school checklist to keep your school year on track and don’t forget–relax!
_____ 1. Thank God for trusting you to train your children.
_____ 2. Thank God for making each of your children exactly as He did.
_____ 3. Pray for God’s guidance and blessing on this particular day.
_____ 4. Do something that shows your children that God is first in your family.
_____ 5. Smile at and hug each of your children several times today.
_____ 6. Have a calm conversation with each of your children today.
_____ 7. Give your children time to play today with things that are not electronic.
_____ 8. Spend some time reading aloud to your children today, even if it is only one chapter.
_____ 9. Spend at least a little time today with your husband with no talking about homeschooling.
_____ 10. Go to bed early enough to get good rest and leave today’s worries in God’s hands.
You don’t have to worry about the whole school year and you certainly don’t have to worry about the next 4 or 12 years or whatever other length of time you might be worrying about. When Jesus taught His disciples what we usually call The Lord’s Prayer, He told them to ask:
Give us this day our daily bread.
Matthew 6:11
That’s enough — just one day’s worth — because we serve a God Who will be here tomorrow just as He is today. Just as He will give you His bread tomorrow, He will give you what you need to teach your children, too.
Excellent perspective, Charlene….I know there were days when I let the busyness of life crowd out these basic truths!!
Thank you for your faithful encouragement, Olive.
Thank you for the reminder that God is in control as long as I ask for daily grace and wisdom.
You’re welcome, Stacy.
He is in control! Wether we ask or not.
Just makes it easier for us to accomplish our daily tasks when we are praying without ceasing.
I really like the one that says to appreciate your children for who they are. Our 14-year-old is an introvert. Once I realized that, many things make sense about him: why he often retreats to his room; why he can be perfectly happy retreated in his room; why he can enjoy being with and around people, but afterwards tends to keep to himself… Recently I read that introverts tend to close in even more when they are not feeling well. I saw that first hand a couple of weeks ago. The problem is, that while I can see and understand these things, most people do not. The world doesn’t value introverts the same way they do extroverts. This is sad because they miss out on the different set of talents and abilities that they can share.
Your fourteen year old is blessed to have a mother who understands him.
Love this checklist! What a great reminder that God has got everything under control… and we have only to trust and obey. I love all of your suggestions – but #6 and #9 really resonate with me. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Michelle.
I just want to thank you for your daily encouragement. I just found you about two weeks ago thru a giveaway and I am so thankful. I wish I had found your encouragements years ago! I am really enjoying reading your daily notes to us.
Thank you, Ruth — how encouraging.
I clicked on this expecting to find a list of “to-do’s” regarding the academic aspects of homeschooling. I was so pleasantly surprised. Thank you for the needed reminder to keep the main thing the main thing. And the encouragement that God has given me this very important job, and he will equip me to do it well. This is what I really need to remember entering this upcoming school year. God bless you!
Thank you for your sweet encouragement, Shannon.
Oh, did I need to hear this today!! very belatedly trying to plan my school year and feeling so much pressure. You would think that after 20 years of homeschooling I would remember these basics; thankful for the Lord using you to remind me.
Thank you, Kim.
Thank you. I have been feeling uptight about all we don’t get done each year and wondering how much will go by the wayside this year. Feeling so inadequate and questioning, how we will complete it all with other commitments, like Biology…… Housecleaning, meals and the like…. ? We have been doing this for 8 years. I know all the right words to have a great homeschool but somehow in the bustle of trying to get in math, reading, writing, science, history and more with 5 kids, and we don’t. I feel like I am missing everything or at least not enjoying it. I SOOOO need God to settle my heart and help me in my weaknesses. I see these moms who are so excited to start school. I wish summer were all year!! Lord, please change my heart!!
Thank you so much for your honest comment about the Daily Back-to-School Checklist. I pray that God will settle your heart. At root is a need to rest in God. That is so easy to say and so hard to really do. It is true that God has and will give you everything you need to teach your children. Out of all the women who have ever been born into the world, He really did choose you as the mother of these five precious souls.
I have been the scared homeschooling mother — so scared that I gave up after two years. When we returned two years after that, I learned to make homeschooling who we were instead of a burden we strapped on our back. That was a tremendous blessing for our whole family and was really a step in the journey to our writing curriculum for other families.
I love this list. <3 thank you
You’re welcome!
Thank you! Good ideas and easy to do. When I saw it was a list, I first thought to myself, “no way I can do that many things for school every day.”, but then I read it. Different story now!
You’re welcome. Perspective! If only we could keep everything in perspective.
I had to revisit this checklist again this year. it’s a perfect reminding of what matters!
Thanks so much!
Thanks, Sharon. It’s encouraging to know that it is helpful to you.