Those aren’t real rules.
Making the transition to homeschooling (whether by choice or by requirement due to external circumstances) can seem so overwhelming. Over the years of talking to new homeschoolers, most of the overwhelmingness comes from believing a bunch of “rules” that we all learned to equate with school..
“I can’t get my kids to all be up and ready for school at 8:00.” Why do you have to start at 8? Who says? Further, why do they all have to start at the same time?
“My 5 year old isn’t interested in reading.” Okay, why does he have to read at 5? Why not wait until he’s 6 and shows interest?
“I can’t be my child’s sole teacher for everything.” Who said you have to do it all? Why can’t they take classes or co ops for some of their subjects/interests?
“How will I be able to teach them everything they need to know?” You won’t. Public schools can’t either, though. Teach them HOW to learn, and the missing pieces won’t matter so much.
“How will they socialize?” Like regular humans…who go to the store, and the park, and the library, and the bank, and the post office, and activities, and restaurants, and play groups, and sports….
“We finish our school day too quickly.” Who says school is limited to your textbooks? Go explore. Go play. Go investigate. That’s “school” too.
The list goes on and on. They are invisible rules, that we have learned and adopted into our own perception of what school is all about, and they are often damaging to parents trying to navigate homeschooling their children. My homeschool won’t look like yours, and that’s okay too.
The beauty of homeschooling is that it gets to be individually created and designed for your child. Just. For. Them. The way they learn. The things they like. The things they struggle with. The things they want to explore. Their personality. Don’t let “fake rules” you’ve held in your head hold you back from educating your child the way you want to. You can do this.