I think you are right that we may feel pressure to perform, even after all these years and in spite of homeschoolers scoring well on standardized tests and successful college acceptance and performance.

I think pressure to “perform well” can come from many sources: those who don’t embrace homeschool as a “real” education, our trying to measure up to other homeschooling families with the “what” they’re doing and “how” they do it and/or from ourselves – am I doing enough?

A few years ago, I bought a set of note cards created by Todd Wilson, homeschooling dad and humorist. One of them shows a mom, obviously driving, looking in the rear view mirror. She is saying to her kids, “Now don’t mention that we didn’t get up till 9:30 or that your little brother can’t read…..and for goodness sakes try to act SMART!!!” The overriding caption for the card is “You know you’re a homeschooler when…you panic when your kids go to other homeschoolers’ homes.” I think it illustrates the pressures and unrealistic expectations we can place on ourselves.

Prayerfully and periodically checking the “heartbeat” of our homeschool is, in my humble opinion, a wise thing to do – especially when we’re feeling pressured, stressed, wornout, etc. Asking ourselves “what are we doing and why?” can help keep us on the track we want to be on rather than a track others are on. It can reveal underlying issues that may need to be addressed and help us determine if we need to “relax” or just the opposite, have we been too relaxed? Taking time to look at “what’s driving us” can help us keep that ever-fluctuating balance.

In the eyes of the general population homeschooling is still on probation, so we as homeschoolers may feel more pressure to really perform.

I think there is a balance between being too relaxed and not pushing ourselves or our children, and trying to do way too much. It is hard to find the balance, and I think the balance changes over time.

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