How to sabotage your homeschool

Lately I have been sharing some information with you about the various types of homeschooling that can be done. While all of this is fine and dandy, it is also important to know and understand that as a parent, you have the power to make or break the homeschooling experience for your child. Here are 8 things that you need to make sure that you do NOT do. If you are doing them already, with or without realizing it, I've also included some remedies. So, without further ado, here they are:

1. If you find that you're unorganized, the house is a mess and there is no food in your pantry, then it is time to get your books and lesson plans together, clean your house and do some grocery shopping. While you are at it, set up a system so that you can make sure that you stay on top of these things from this point forward.
2. If your children are taking forever to do their work (more than 3 hours in grade school or more than 6 hours in high school), then time is being wasted somewhere. So, make sure that you are giving your children short lessons so that they do not dawdle and get discouraged. Alternate hard lessons with easy ones and use these to teach your children the value of paying attention to the task at hand.
3. When you find that your children are spending more time on schoolwor than on living life, you've got a problem that will lead to burnout for the both of you. Only 1/3 of a child's day should be spent on schoolwork, so slow down and don't work so hard.
4. As a parent, you MUST get enough rest or you will be tense all of the time and thus have nothing left to give to your children. If this is you, then you need to set aside a few small moments throughout your day to do something for yourself.
5. Do you find that you are talking about nothing but your children? Well, you should also be talking about the special things that you do in your life without your children. Of course, this means tha t you will need to pay attention to #5.
6. When you discover that you are controlling your child instead of building a relationship with him or her, STOP. This can be difficult because you want what's best for your child, but you really do need to realize that you are raising a strong, valuable member of society and not a drone. Of course, this doesn't mean that you shouldn't protect your child, but children need to be able to make some of their own decisions within the boundaries that you have set.
7. Do you spend a lot of time comparing your homeschool to that of others? If so, you are only going to frustrate yourself. You need to accept whatever season your family is in and what your child's “special” needs at this point are. Every homeschool is different, just like every family is different. Whenever you try to keep up with other families you are only diluting the beauty of your own family.