Homeschool Panic Attack

You’re having a homeschool panic attack. You’re questioning yourself. You realize you have no idea how to start…or what to do next. And the weight of responsibility suddenly feels very heavy.
What if you screw up?
What if they don’t actually learn anything?
What if you don’t know what you need to know? You know?

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This is what I call the Homeschool Panic Attack

First, let me reassure you that it’s completely normal. It’s scary when you take your child’s education into your own hands. There’s no clear road map that helps you figure it out. Home education is personalized and individualized to you, your student and your family. So what works for someone else may not work for you.

I remember the same feeling when I walked out of the hospital with my first newborn, too. There must be someone else more capable and more equipped to deal with this tiny human. I’d spent nine-months preparing, but the sudden reality of this awesome responsibility was intimidating and overwhelming.

Homeschooling takes all those parenting concerns you already have…and magnifies them. Surely there should be an adultier-adult in charge?
Nope. You’re it. You’re in charge now.

What if you screw up? You will.

Not only is that homeschool panic attack normal…I think it’s also the sign that you’ll be a great home educator. It shows you have a vested interest in your student’s success.

I don’t know anyone who starts out homeschooling with the hope that their child will grow up to be a permanent couch-surfer, playing video games all day. No. You want the doors of opportunity to open. You want what’s in the best interest of your child.

Sure, you’ll make mistakes. Don’t worry *IF* you’ll screw up. You will. But, that’s okay.

You’ll try curriculums and schedules and groups that don’t work for you. What worked for one child, may not work for the next. What worked for one year, may not work for the next.

That’s when you figure out what to do instead. You’ll adapt and figure out what to do differently. That’s how success works–you keep trying till you figure out what works.

You “get to” be in charge of that.

What if they don’t learn? They will.

They absolutely will learn. I would also point out your previous success in teaching your child. If you have potty-trained a child, then you have what it takes to teach that child. You taught them how to walk, talk, dress themselves…and so much more. It’s clear that you have what it takes to teach your child.

Click here to learn how to potty train in a weekend

Now that the child is school-age, you’re still perfectly capable. If you sent your child to school, you’d be perfectly capable of helping the child complete homework assignments too. But, now that you homeschool, you get to help decide what the assignments are in the first place.

You can pick curriculum and set schedules that make sense to you. You can also decide when to veer off the schedule. It’s freedom.

I promise that if I can make it, you can too!

When panic strikes again

From time to time, that weight of responsibility may get heavy again. Probably when you realize your student is getting into high school–when you can see the finish line and you doubt yourself all over again.
What if I haven’t done enough?
What if I screw up?
What is it that I don’t know–that I don’t know? You know?

But, you’ve been thru this Homeschool Panic Attack before. It’s normal. You’ll figure it out. You’re a pro actually.