4 Common Myths about Being a Consistent Homeschooling Mom (+4 TRUTHS)

Consistent homeschooling is tricky. To be consistent requires you show up as a homeschool mom day in and day out -- over and over again -- year after year. And it’s tiring and hard sometimes.

And whether you’re just getting started as a homeschool mom or you’ve been on the homeschool journey for a while, it’s easy to get caught up in thinking that everyone else is doing something better than you.

You look around on Pinterest or Facebook or at park day, and it seems like every other homeschool kid is thriving and doing amazing, exciting activities and doing all their chores every day (without being asked).

Meanwhile, you’re struggling to hold it all together -- the kids are having a “movie” day (again) -- the dishes are piling up in the sink (again) -- and you forgot to buy the one ingredient for the activity (again) so you’re scrapping the one fun thing you had planned for the entire week.

So what is the truth about homeschooling? What does it REALLY look like if you pull back the curtain and take a peek into a successful consistent homeschool?

Today I’m sharing 4 myths that homeschool moms often believe about homeschooling … and 4 truths about what’s actually happening inside a homeschool that works consistently.

Want to keep reading instead of watch? Scroll to read a transcript of the video.

Don’t forget to check out my Confident Homeschool Foundations Program.

Use the coupon code “Myths” to get over 50% off the regular price!

Hello, my name is ToriAnn Perkey and from my homeschool to your homeschool, today I want to talk about four common myths about being a consistent homeschool mom.

Consistency, is that something you struggle with? Do you feel like you just never can stick with things? Things are always changing in there and you're always kind of feeling in the throws of this and then this and then this.And you just think, if I could be a consistent homeschool mom, everything would be better. My kids would be learning, things would be humming along, we would just, it would all be going well. Okay. 

4 Myths about being a consistent homeschool mom

So today I'm going to talk about four myths that you might believe about being a consistent mom that of course are not true. That's why they're myths. And then I'm going to tell you four truths about consistent moms that you can hopefully apply in your homeschool.

If this is an area you're struggling, and I just want to recommend that you stick around until the very end because I also have a really special something that I want to tell you about that I think will help your consistency even more. Okay, so let's get started.

Myth #1 She always has it all together

What are four common myths that people who are not consistent, homeschool moms, that are not consistent think that consistent homeschool moms are doing? Well, the first myth is that there's this idea that a consistent homeschool mom always has it all together. They've got the meal planning, they've got the house cleaning, they've got the chores, they've got the homeschool. It's all just sort of happening.

No. Total myth. It doesn’t happen. The most consistent homeschool moms I know feel like they also have plates that are falling. I wish I could show you parts of my house. I consider myself a consistent homeschool mom. I have areas of my house that desperately need organizing and cleaning. We're talking boxes piled ready for me to go through. We're talking about junk in the corner. We're talking about rooms that really do look like storage closets.

There are nights when we don't eat dinner and my kids make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. There are times when I look around and I think that cobweb has been in the corner for six months. Homeschool moms don't have it all together. We're figuring it out all the time. It really is a sheen that it looks like we have it together, but we don't. Okay.

Myth #2 She does the same thing every day in the same order

Second myth, that you might believe about a consistent homeschool mom that isn't true is that we do the same thing every single day and we do it in the same order. No, no, not even. Not even close. Every day looks different. Yes, I do sort of have rhythms and we're going to talk about that in a minute and other patterns that I follow, but those get thrown out of the window depending on what time kids get up. Our kid's sick. Is there a field trip? Do we have another activity? Is dad home? All kinds of things change what we do, and then on top of that, is the kid having a bad day? Did we struggle with this piece of the plan? Did I think I had something and then I had to change the plan because I didn't buy that thing at the store happens all the time?

So consistent homeschool moms are not moms who consistently do the same thing every single day. Consistent homeschool moms, they're ones who embrace the variety and are willing to be flexible and come up with something else or be okay with it changing. That's what a consistent homeschool mom does is she shows up every day and embraces the variety. Okay.

Myth #3 She always finishes what she starts

Third myth, third myth that you might believe about a consistent homeschool mom is that she always finishes what she starts? No, no. You might believe that she picks a curriculum and then she works all the way through it. You might believe that she picks a curriculum and she uses it for several years. No, I can't tell you how many curriculums that sit on my shelf that I started and we didn't finish. The number of math programs we have been through and discarded. The number of books that we started didn't like and didn't finish.

Consistent homeschool moms, it's not about picking and forcing your way to the end. It's all about consistently evaluating and deciding if it's working. Now you want to give it long enough to see if it's working and overtime and experience you start to see what is actually a long enough time to know. But I'm constantly evaluating. I'm constantly shifting. I'm constantly tweaking and turning and trying to decide what is the best mix for our family. And that is why we're never, it means sometimes we finish things, but not always. Okay.

Myth #4 She always knows what she is doing

Fourth myth is that the consistent homeschool mom always knows what she's doing. This one just makes me laugh. I don't know what I'm doing. I only know what I'm doing to the extent that I seem like I know what I'm doing because I've been doing this for 16 plus years. There are so many things I am still figuring out. I'm still figuring out how to teach higher-level math. Do I kind of know how to do elementary math? Well maybe, although I have to wonder, would my higher-level math be better if I had done a better job with the lower level math?

I don't know. I'm still figuring out how to help my kids write in different kinds of ways. I'm still figuring out how to help my son clean the bathroom consistently every week. I am still figuring it out. So the only thing that a consistent homeschool mom does is show up. Recognizing that every day she will be learning a little bit more on how to be a little bit better, a little bit more, a little bit better, a little bit more, a little bit better. It's not about always knowing what you're doing, it's recognizing that you're always learning. Okay. So those are the four myths.

4 truths of a consistent homeschool mom

Let's talk about four truths to be a consistent homeschool mom. 

Truth #1 Trust the process

So one of the truths that make all consistent homeschool moms work and this is a pattern I see across a lot of different styles and families, is that consistent homeschool moms trust the process. They learn to trust that if they show up every day, something magical will somehow happen by the end. If they are learning and growing and trying to improve and asking questions and constantly striving, they actually will make some kind of progress. Even if it doesn't feel like it in the moment.

Truth #2 Push through resistance

Second truth is that a consistent mom knows how to push through the initial hard. The part where a kid doesn't like something because it's just new and different and you're all getting used to something. They know how to push through that stage so that they can then get to the stage where they can genuinely evaluate whether something's working or not and some kids require a lot of energy to push through and others don't. It just depends on the kid.

Truth #3 Learn constantly

The third one, and I've already kind of alluded to this, is that a consistent homeschool mom is constantly learning. She is constantly learning. She's constantly researching, she's constantly asking questions, constantly evaluating.

Truth #4 Find your own rhythm

And then the fourth thing is that a consistent homeschool mom finds her own rhythm. She does not depend on someone else telling her exactly how to structure her day or her year. She sits down and she says, what is going to work for us based on our family situation, our family schedule a myriad of experiences and situations that only apply to your family.

You know, you have that unique mix and then you find a rhythm that works for you and you're not looking for a schedule. You're looking for a rhythm and a rhythm might be seasonal. A rhythm might be monthly based on how you handle different parts of your month. It might be based on when dad's home and when dad's not home, your rhythm is going to look different, but the rhythm is what keeps you consistent. It's what keeps you consistent over and over and over again through the days, the weeks, the months, and yes, the years. Okay.

So is this easy? No, it's not easy to be a consistent homeschool mom, but it is doable. It is doable, particularly when you can put the common myths aside and start to embrace the truth. Now there are some things you can do to make it easier and one of those is to help you develop rhythms by being aware of what's going on in your family.  Being aware of how to structure your day and onto the week, the month, the year in a way that really does help you find the rhythms and I have a course that might be perfect for you if you still would like some more help on that. This course goes through different ways to structure your day as well as a myriad of other things that would be really helpful for you if you're trying to figure this piece out.

So I'm putting a link, it's down below or it's up above. It's wherever you're watching this video. It's called the Confident Homeschool Foundations Program and I actually have a special offer for you. If you put in the word myths, “MYTHS”, into the checkout form, you will be able to get 50% off the retail price. And so you can go check that out. Want to help you out there, because if you're struggling to be consistent, there are some key things you can put in place beyond what we've talked about in this video. And I would love for you to learn those so that you can be successful.

Because I make these videos every week and I help homeschoolers all the time because that's what I want. I want you to feel successful. I want you to feel confident. And that's my goal and that's ultimately my goal for you. My name is ToriAnn Perkey, and I do. I make these videos every week to help you be a successful and confident homeschool mom.