One More Time by Wendy Penrod

Posted on August 20, 2017 • Category: Students

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” --Thomas A. Edison

Always try just one more time.  What fantastic advice for the beginning of a new school year!  This is especially great advice for those of us in the “I wear too many hats to count” homeschool community.  We all start the year off with so many high expectations and occasionally there are some bumps in the proverbial road.  Parents have visions of idyllic moments with their kids--cozy family devotionals, fabulous field trips, and enriching lessons.  While these precious moments exist, so do the moments when an experiment at the kitchen table doesn’t go quite right, that pre-calculus problem your teenager needs help with takes you an hour to figure out (and are you sure how you figured it out now that the answer is right?), and something in the house breaks which ends up taking way too much of the day to resolve.  Those beginning-of the-year high expectations need to be peppered with a dash of grace.

Homeschooled students have may have high expectations for themselves as well, particularly at the start of a new school year. They may see perfectly written papers, flawless test scores, and an almost osmosis-like ability to absorb all the information from their science books.  Homeschool students do tend to excel and often have incredible and diverse talents; however “life” sometimes gets in the way and obstacles exist that will challenge them.  Persevering in the face of adversity creates tenacity and a mind set for success.  When “life happens” it is then that all of us, parents and students alike, need to take a breath, put God back at the wheel, forgive ourselves, and… well… try just one more time.