August and September are such exciting months for the homeschooling community--the promise of the year ahead; the planning (and the planners!); the shiny, new curriculum; the beautiful stacks of books all over the house; and the arrangement and decorating of homeschool spaces. Even year-round homeschoolers like me can't help but get caught up in the anticipation of it all. But with this excitement can also come worry, questions, analysis-paralysis, and a whole heaping spoonful of self-doubt, especially for brand-new homeschoolers. I remember my first year of homeschooling. Even though I'd just wrapped up over ten years of experience teaching in the classroom, I felt unsure going into this uncharted territory. Everything was new, there were millions of choices swirling around my mind, and the homeschoolers seemed to have their own language that I didn't yet speak (What the heck are 'twaddle' are 'living books'?) I changed my mind a hundred times that first year, running toward each new iteration with an all-in, 'battle-cry' mentality. The landscape of our homeschool changed shape every few weeks, from 'school at home' to Waldorf to unschooling to unit studies to Charlotte Mason. It took me that whole first year just to steady the spinning