5 Essential Attitudes in Homeschooling - Day Three: Consistency

My Essential Attitude for today is CONSISTENCY.

Over my homeschooling years, I have met all kinds of parents with every homeschooling method imaginable. I have also seen brilliant homeschooled students who have come from every method available. What can I learn from this? That no matter what curriculum we settle on, how many hours a day we do school, what approach we take, etc. what really matters is that we are consistent.

Consistency can be applied to many areas of life. I am not a fan of jumping around to many different curriculums, and one of the reasons is for the sake of consistency. When I find something that works, I will embrace it and stick with it. Granted, children are different, and one type of method may work wonders for one child, yet frustrate another, but overall, there should be a common thread of consistency in our homeschool lives. Consistency builds character.

“Sow a thought, and you reap an act;
Sow an act, and you reap a habit;
Sow a habit, and you reap a character;
Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.”
― Samuel Smiles

Consistency not only applies to curriculum and schooling, but also to our attitudes. With God’s help, we should strive to be patient and calm parents. Our children should never have to guess which “mom” will show up for school that day. Will it be the patient mom who can overlook their silliness and help them get some work accomplished, or will it be ‘that mom’ who gets easily irritated and frustrated with everything?

Our discipline should be consistent as well. This is probably one of the hardest things a parent faces, because we get busy and often don’t want to take the time to set our children down to explain and correct the faults in their character. We start to let things slide, then when we feel they have reached the point of no return, we clamp down and make the children mind. This is nothing but confusion for children, who despite their protests really do like clear boundaries to work within.

We should determine in our hearts where those behavior boundaries should be, then clearly explain them to our children. As tedious as it may be, every time those boundaries are crossed, the issue should be dealt with as soon as possible. If a child thinks they can get away with something, even occasionally, they will think it is worth taking the risk. If they get punished for a misdeed when mom is having a bad day, but not when mom is having a good day, they will become frustrated. They know they should not be allowed to get away with bad behaviors. If we are not consistent, our children will not be either.

The best benefit of consistency is that it breeds predictability. Predictable days, predictable parents, and predictable studies give children a much needed sense of security. The whole world might be crazy, but they have a safe haven where they know what to expect, because their parents have strived for consistency in their daily lives. My goal is to be that kind of parent to my children.

Copyright 2012-2014 - "Be The One" - www.aclassofone.blogspot.com  All rights are reserved. No text, photos, or content may be reproduced without direct permission from the author. 


Stop by and see what other homeschool moms are writing about, as they share what their homeschool essentials are!

Ellen @ Grace Tells Another Story

Jenn @ Treasuring Life's Blessings

Christine @ Our Homeschool Reviews

Michelle @ Delightful Learning

Sharon @ Life With The Tribe

Hillary @ Our Homeschool Studio

Melanie @ FinchNWren

Brittney @ Mom's Heart

Heather @ Principled Academy


Residents of the U.S. only.  Void where prohibited by law. Must be at least 18 years of age. See other Terms and Conditions in the Rafflecopter widget.


a Rafflecopter giveaway