If you plan to homeschool, please read this blog post

Did you know that if you go to Google, and type in the word "homeschool", you get about 4,220,000 results?  Wow!  That is a lot of information, which can be quite overwhelming to a mother who has recently decided to homeschool her kids.  I know because two years ago, I typed that exact word in, and was flabberghasted at the plethora of websites alluding to this topic.  You might think I'd be excited about the excess availability of homeschool resources.  In reality though, I was overwhelmed.  When you have that large of an amount of knowledge set before you, there is only one question that comes to mind...  Where do I begin?

I'm gonna tell you what I did.  I went to the upper right-hand corner of the page and clicked on the red box with the X in it.  And then I cried.  I hadn't even started homeschooling yet, and I was already questioning my decision.

A friend of mine had been homeschooling for about three years at that point.  She was actually the one who put the idea of homeschooling in my head.  She knew what I was feeling, because she had been there herself.  She offered so much to me from encouragement to curriculum suggestions to playdates.  She was my lifesaver.  (Thank you, Bethany!)  So that is my first advice to you.  Find someone who has some homeschooling experience, and cling to her for dear life. 

From the moment you decide, "I am going to homeschool my kids", and through at least the first year of doing it, you will question your reasoning, your ability, and your sanity.  You will often ask yourself, "What have I gotten myself into?"  "Am I qualified to do this?"  "What on earth was I thinking?"

Fully expect that many people around you will be asking themselves the same thing.  "What has she gotten herself into?"  "Is she qualified to do this?"  "What on earth was she thinking?"

That's okay.  This is all normal.  Trust me.  I've been there.  I beat myself up that entire first year.  But you know what?  I survived.  And so did my kids.  

Do yourself a favor.  Go ahead and tell yourself.  "This first year doesn't count.  It's a freebie."

I promise you, the second year, you will feel much more confident and much less anxious about it all.

Happy Homeschooling!