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Making the decision to homeschool can be really scary. But do you know what’s even scarier?

Actually doing it.

I spent my entire life planning to, and being excited to, homeschool my kids. It was always something that I was interested in. My husband was on the same page as me and we assumed all would go smoothly.

But when the time actually came to do it, boy was I overwhelmed! There were so many options, so many ways to schedule our day, so many subjects and extra curricular topics to cover.

And once I figured out a plan, I was faced with the follow through. How was I going to convince my active son to sit down and look at a book? How was I going to be an effective teacher for my child?

We definitely experienced a messy beginning to our homeschool journey. Now that I’m in a few years, I want to share some things I’ve learned that have made homeschooling so much more manageable, both practically and mentally.

1. Learn from people who know their stuff.

One of the most valuable things you can do once you decide to homeschool is to talk to anyone you personally know who has or does homeschool. Buy or borrow a few books on homeschooling from people who have lots of experience. Take notes and ponder over any ideas and advice you are given. And then take what works for you and leave what doesn’t!

Two of my very favorites books about homeschooling that I re-read every year for a morale boost are Homeschooling Bravely by Jamie Erickson and Minimalist Homeschooling by Zara Fagan. There are so many wonderful and wise people out there who have so much wisdom to offer those of us who are just learning. Don’t forget to take advantage of the information that’s out there for you!

2. Find curriculum that is easy for YOU to use.

Not your kids. Yes, their learning style definitely matters; and you may need to adjust curriculums depending on how they learn. But above all you absolutely need to find a curriculum that makes sense with your abilities, time, budget and personality.

One of the first curriculums I tried was recommended by multiple homeschool moms that I knew and trusted. I could tell that it was well made, it was in line with our values, and I was excited to try it. But once we got started I was very overwhelmed by the planning and execution of the lessons. Multiple daily hands on projects had sounded fabulous for my active boy, but when it came down to it those projects were NOT good for my easily overstimulated brain.

We finally found a curriculum that was everything I wanted. No planning or extra random items required, followed our values, and was enjoyed by me AND my children! We hit the jackpot! It took trying multiple different things to get there, but we did.

Moral of the story: don’t quit homeschooling if something isn’t clicking. Try different things until you find what works for you and your kids.

3. Keep your subjects minimal.

There may be seasons where you have all the time in the world to do extra things. Particularly if you have only one or two kids you may not really need to be minimalistic with your school choices. But for the majority of us, with lots of kids or just a few, life is insanely busy and it’s hard to pack every possible subject into the week.

First, decide on curriculum for the major basics. Math, Language Arts, Science, History. After you have picked those and figured out how to schedule them into your week (more on that below), then you can think on extras. Make your decisions based on time, interest and budget. If budget is tight, pick something you can do at home. There are lots of learning videos on YouTube that teach art, music, crafting, dancing, exercise, etc. Maybe 4-H is something available in your area. If you have the budget and time for it, sports, art, music or theatre lessons are great. You can also find many homeschool curriculums that offer electives such as typing, creative writing, or Bible.

The key is to not stress out about getting every single thing in all year long every year of their education. Kids don’t learn well when they are overwhelmed and pushed. Give them space and time to learn what they need to, and be sure that the extras are just that: extra. Not crowding every second of their lives and preventing their brains from truly learning.

4. Make a schedule that’s simple and practical.

One of the things that I got hung up on at first was my schedule. I really wanted to make sure we were getting enough done. I crowded our schedule and pushed through it to get stuff done. What I ended up with was a very grouchy and tired child, and an overwhelmed mom.

I am a person that likes to keep my house extremely clean, and I also have pretty low energy and have a slow start to my day. Because of the way I am, I cannot do school 5 days a week and also manage everything else in our lives. We ended up deciding to do school through the summer too so that we can take it slow. I don’t schedule out every single individual day or time slots for anything, I simply write a list of what needs done and we do it when we can do it. It’s very manageable and low maintenance for our lifestyle and we love it.

However you end up wanting to schedule your schooling in the days, weeks and years, make sure that it’s not overwhelming to you. If it is, you won’t be able to stick to it. Figure out what kind of routine creates a happy and calm atmosphere in your home and do that! Even if it isn’t what you expected to do, or not what others do.

5. Remember to be flexible.

One of the reasons things can feel so scary in the beginning is because you think every decision is going to make or break your homeschool… and that absolutely is not true! You might try a curriculum, a schedule, an extra curricular or a co-op that just isn’t a good fit for you, your kids or your family. And that’s ok! You will have hiccups along the way and over time it will become clear what really works best for you.

As your kids grow and change, and you become more comfortable with all of this teaching your kid’s stuff, you will naturally adapt to what works best in each season. In a season with mostly older kids and not much outside of the home going on, you may able to do all the basic subjects plus extra curriculars and sports! You may dive in to some niche subjects your kids love and take exciting adventures. Later, in another season, you may have a family emergency, a new baby or life may become chaotic. In that season you may only be doing the basics and going through them slowly.

That is the unique beauty of homeschooling! Your life shouldn’t work around homeschooling; homeschooling should work around your life. Embrace the awesome flexibility that you now have as a homeschool family and rock it by doing what makes your life easier and happier!