1. Pray - The first and most important thing to do before starting homeschooling, while planning homeschooling, and while working with each student is to come before the Lord and seek his direction for what we will be doing. How easy it is to form a general philosopy for homeschooling without prayer and just do whatever is easy and seems to work best, without asking the Lord what would be best for each child. I am so guilty of just jumping in and getting things done, without asking the Lord whether I'm doing the right thing, or doing things at the right time or in the right way. It's also easy to seek the direction and advice of others, without seeking the Lord's advice. Often we see other homeschool families who we want to be just like, and try to copy them. No other family is just like your family so don't try to copy them. We can get ideas from others, but don't neglect FIRST to seek the Lord - he knows your family best!
2. Start Your Day in the Bible - Before rushing into your schooling for the day, make sure the Bible comes first, both in your own personal life and as a family. One way our family consistently has Bible time is to do it during breakfast. I used to eat breakfast when I got up before the kids, but now I often just wait until I'm done with Bible time to eat while they finish eating. We usually do the Bible part of our curriculum then, or other Bible reading. Then we take prayer requests, talk about missionaries or other families to pray for and then pray. There are many times and ways to do Bible time. Just get into a consistent habit of doing it!
3. Include Chores, Character Training and Service Projects - Chores are not only important for having help with getting all the work done, but they also develop discipline and a good work ethic in your child. Children raised with chores are most often more capable as adults not only in running a house, but in having a good work ethic. I really appreciate several resources for fitting in chores and basic scheduling. They come from Terri Maxwell and are called Managers of Their Chores and Managers of Their Homes. Character Training includes both intentional training and situational training. With intentional training we look for issues that need addressing and take time to "practice" doing things the right way. For example, if we're working on having the kids come when called, I'll have them practice my calling them and their answering and coming right away. You can practice many things such as asking for things nicely, sitting quietly, and taking turns talking and listening. Situational training is making sure that you have time and consistently deal with disobedience and other issues as they happen. Sometimes it can be hard to "take time" to stop and deal with things, but you save yourself time in the long run by having your children learn proper behavior and obedience. Service Projects help your child to value and love others by taking the focus of the child and putting it on serving others. Simple projects include: making cards for elderly in a nursing home or elderly neighbors, making treats for elderly - especially for widows at Valentine's day or other holidays, raking or shoveling snow for others, visiting nursing homes or hospitals, "adopting" an elderly person and asking them questions about their younger years and praying for them and making things for them. There are many more ideas but these are a start. Though it may seem like a lot to include, these activities don't need to take much time out of the day, but do much in developing your child into a person of character. Knowledge and book learning is wonderful, but your child needs the character to know how to use that knowledge to become the person God desires him/her to be.
4. Give Your Child Free Time - Your child is gifted with wonderful talents and abilities that the Lord has given him. By allowing your child to have some "free" time from school, that time can be used to develop those special talents. Encourage your child in those areas and find ways for him to work on them.
5. Spend Time at Home - Help! How can I accomplish all of the above and still fit in schooling? DON'T overcommit yourself outside of the home! There are so many opportunities for homeschoolers to get involved in. Before committing to any activity outside of the home, pray and seek whether the activities are truly worth the time and effort. If they make it impossible to do the above (with the exception of an activity developing a child's talents that can't be done at home), then they probably aren't important enough to do.