Time for a pep-talk! Because I bet many of you can’t wait to be done with homeschooling for the year.

Me too. It happens every May: making my kids finish their school work in the spring is like pulling teeth. I need to use all my big mama muscles to make sure my squirrelly, energetic, restless children complete their assignments. And my mama muscles are plumb worn out. Ladies, I just want to give up.

But one of the most important lessons our kids need to learn is taught best at this time of year.

It’s learning to persevere.

To stay the course and finish the race.

Yes, our kids have cabin fever. Yes, they’re tired of school.

And, yes, we’re tired of grading and teaching and insisting our kids finish their lessons.

Does it really matter whether or not Sparky completes the last chapter on planets? In the great grand scheme of things, does it really matter if Feisty memorizes the declensions of unus, duo, and tres in Latin? Especially since he’s going to be learning it again next year? No, it does not.

At this time of year, content does not matter.

But perseverance does. Fortitude does.

And this time of year, when the birds are singing, when summer vacation is just around the corner, and the last thing our kids want to do is sit at a table and study….

This is the time of year to persevere and teach your children grit.

Persevere until your kids reach your originally planned stopping point. Maybe it’s a particular date. Maybe it’s when they complete a specific unit or topic. For us, it’s when our kids finish their school books. Again, content doesn’t matter, but finishing a text is a lesson in endurance.

So don’t let your kids get away with bailing out early.

Don’t let your homeschool peter out because you’re worn out.

Because if you do, you miss out on an incredible opportunity to teach your kids to work hard until they reach the point of completion.

And don’t just finish. Finish well. Finish strong. Like cross country runners who cross the finish line with sweat pouring down their faces and scratches on their knees, every muscle about to burst, but still running at full speed.

It means you’re still starting school on time. You’re still requiring your kids to answer their questions in full sentences, neatly, correcting mistakes in spelling and grammar. You’re still requiring them to produce quality compositions, to make corrections on their math assignments, and to memorize that epic poem to the very last verse.

If you persevere with your kids like this year after year, you will build your children’s strength of character.

They will need this strength to complete that difficult college degree, to persevere at that challenging job, to endure through a turbulent time in their marriage, to be steadfast in faith when it seems God has abandoned them.

Then like St. Paul they can say: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ( 2 Timothy 4:7-8)

So, dear moms, flex those weary muscles. With prayer, grace, and conviction, you can finish the school year strong.