September brings with it cooler weather, a change of colours, pumpkin spice lattes, and the smell of new books and sharpened pencils. I get excited about the change of any season but there’s something about the new beginnings of September that’s exciting. This year, however, due to a pandemic, that excitement is tempered with stress for many of us. If you’re jumping into homeschooling for the first time, you probably have a host of questions, doubts and fears.
I’d like to share a fantastic resource with you that will help you as you embark on homeschooling. It’s the Homeschool Success e-course from author and homeschool mom Tricia Goyer.
This post contains affiliate links; I bought Tricia’s course to take it myself but liked it so much that I decided to join her affiliate program and share it with you. If you purchase the course through my link, I’ll earn a small commission.
A bit about Tricia
Before I jump into raving about Homeschool Success, I want to tell you about Tricia. I’ve been reading her books for years. She’s written some awesome historical fiction, like The Promise Box and Love Finds You in Glacier Bay. Her book about motherhood, Blue Like Play Dough, was super encouraging to me as a new mom. I was blown away to discover that not only does Tricia write all these books, she’s also homeschools her kids—and she has TEN kids, including several adopted kids!!!
I’m a homeschool mom. I’m trying to write books. And I want to know, “HOW DOES SHE DO IT?”
Before you decide she’s a superwoman with nothing in common with you, stop. Tricia didn’t start homeschooling ten kids. She started with her oldest three kids, about twenty-five years ago (when homeschooling was much less common—I know all about that!). In Homeschool Success, she shares why and how she started, her own questions and fears and doubts, and how she overcame those.
Once upon a time, Tricia was a mom just like you. A mom who had decided (for various reasons) to homeschool her kids. Sure, she wasn’t facing a pandemic, but other factors made public school no longer an option. And if she can figure out how to homeschool her kids (back in the dark ages of homeschooling when you got strange looks for just saying that word), so can you.
Tricia will be your mentor as you jump into this journey. She’ll answer your questions, assuage your doubts, and give you the confidence to know that you can homeschool your kids, whether it’s just for this year or until they graduate Grade 12 (as Tricia has).
What You’ll Find in Homeschool Success
Homeschool Success is an e-course accessed at your own pace via Teachable. Each module has a teaching video as well as the video transcript. Tricia has also created a beautiful, colourful workbook to accompany the course, so you can take notes and make your plans as you work through her videos.
Homeschool Success is broken into ten modules:
- Homeschooling is a lifestyle
- Homeschooling laws and your family
- Homeschooling on a budget
- Creating a positive home environment
- Setting your kids up for academic success
- Designing systems and schedules that work for YOUR family
- Choosing books and curriculum you will ACTUALLY use and enjoy
- Teaching while working from home
- Teaching multiple ages at once
- Starting strong and finishing well
Tricia also includes three bonus lectures with Homeschool Success: The Grumble-Free Year (based on her book), 40 Ways to Be Present in Your Child’s Day, and Calming Angry Kids. On top of this, you’ll find more bonus materials for you in Teachable. These printables include Scripture Cards for Homeschool Parents, a prep list, resource list from Write! Bonnie Rose, and more.
What Motivated Me to Take Homeschool Success
Now, you may be wondering why I signed up for Tricia’s course. I was homeschooled for grades 1 through 12 and am now starting on my seventh year as a homeschool mom. I’ve written tons of articles here on my blog about homeschooling. And this year, I’ve been answering homeschool questions and giving tips to several moms who’ve reached out to me via social media and email.
The truth is that homeschooling is a journey. I’m sure Tricia didn’t have it all figured out in her fifth year, and neither do I. I’m always chatting with my homeschool friends about curriculum, routines, motivation, extracurricular activities, planning, and more. Each year, we try something new, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. While some of the topics in Tricia’s course were already things I knew about, there were other topics that caught my attention.
You may also find not every module in Homeschool Success is relevant to you. For example, the module on homeschool laws applies to the United States so while I found it interesting, most of wasn’t useful to me. The two modules I was most excited about were “Designing systems and schedules that work for YOUR family” (because this seems to be something that changes every year!) and “Teaching while working from home” (because that’s tough and like I said, I want to know how Tricia does it!).
I also signed up for Homeschool Success with a couple friends who are jumping into homeschooling this year. We plan to chat about the modules as we go through them and help keep each other accountable to finishing the course together. So if you’re thinking about taking Homeschool Success, I’d encourage you to tell a friend about it and do it together too. It’s always great to learn together!
Why I Loved This Course
Throughout this course, Tricia shares her own homeschool journey and what she’s learned along the way. She’s honest about the ups and downs, but also about how homeschooling has been so great for her family for so many reasons.
Tricia also affirmed all my reasons for homeschooling. She says, “More time with your kids means more time for teachable moments.” Since Sunshine started Grade 1, I’ve loved knowing what she’s learning and being able to link that to our daily activities, whether that’s baking cookies and pointing out how she’s using math, or going for a walk and talking about something she learned in science.
Tricia adds, “Education and learning are no longer separated from ordinary life.” When Sunshine was in Kindergarten, I felt frustrated that I didn’t know what she was learning. School was completely separate from everything else in her life. As we homeschool, school is simply part of the bigger picture of our lives. They learn from each other and from what we do as well as from their books.
I’ve also heard a lot of moms express doubts about their abilities to homeschool. Our society has done a great job of making us feel that education is best left to the professionals. I know many moms who’ve toyed with the idea of homeschooling but haven’t actually made the leap until forced to do so by this pandemic. Tricia says, “If you deeply care about your kids, their education, their future, and their well-being—then you are in the perfect place to start building on that!” Your love for your child makes YOU the most qualified person to teach them.
Homeschool Success will inspire you with a big picture of what homeschooling can look like while also arming you with practical tips for the day-to-day nitty-gritty details of homeschooling. Tricia talks about how to start your day as a homeschool mom and how to deal with angry kids. She shares tips for making your school room a positive, inspiring space (even if you do school at your kitchen table, like we do!). She discussed priorities and organization. Each module with practical, concrete steps you can take.
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