For the past year and a half, I’ve been homeschooling my daughter. She’s now eight and in “second” grade. Most days we don’t follow a strict routine, and that works well for us. We manage to fit in all that we need to and I try not to stress about missing something that will impede her scholarly growth for the rest of her life. For example, last year we studied Martin Luther King Jr. for the entire week leading up to MLK Jr. Day. We went on virtual tours, watched him speak, and talked about the things that have and haven’t changed since his famous speech. But when I asked her this morning if she remembered who he was, she couldn’t recall. I know she knows – that the moment I pull up a photograph of him or play “I Have a Dream” that it will all come back to her. Maybe not in detail, but the important concepts.
The amount of information that children absorb is amazing. There have been those days that I feel are a complete failure; that I’m positive she hasn’t heard a thing I’ve said, but then she’ll do something like recite a poem we’ve read word for word. At this point in her education I’m not so concerned if she can’t remember the word “adjective”, but that she understands how they are used in a sentence. The things I do worry about have more to do with the fundamentals: can she write her numbers in the correct direction, or can she tell the difference between a “B” and a “D”. I worry if she understands the concepts of basic math like addition and subtraction, or that she can pick up on the main ideas of a story. I love that she wants to know everything about a skunk (and will gladly teach most people many things they don’t know all about them) or that she’s passionate about science and art. And while I don’t necessarily worry that she’s 100% on track with what the common core, I still make sure she’s learning what she can, at her own pace, about all those subjects.
Using a stopwatch app for a race to write properly
To me, that’s what homeschooling is about: finding a way to teach your children at a pace that’s comfortable for them while trying to make it enjoyable. I like to think of education less like a checklist or a puzzle and more like a montage that can be put together from different angles. I want her to have a love for searching for information. I hope that teaching her in a more creative manner compared to a linear approach will give her a better chance to find answers to the world’s problems. I want to help her become a thinker.
While public education can be effective and wonderful (both Hubby and I went to public school and I think we turned out just fine), it’s just not for us right now. I want to be more involved with and in control of my daughter’s education to be able to tailor it to her needs. How do you help your children achieve a love for learning within or outside of public or private school systems? What educational styles and techniques do you embrace?
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Thanks for this! Our oldest is in public school (2nd grade), but we’ve been praying about homeschooling… he’s doing fine academically and socially, but the change in his heart is breaking mine:(
Thanks for sharing this. It seems like homeschooling is becoming more talked about and more common (at least, it seems that way to me!) I don’t have kids and my friends’ children are still too young for school, but it’s an option we’ve all talked about.
I constantly question what is the best form of education I can give to my daughter. It’s not a decision I’ve made alone, and I do get mixed reactions from my own family and friends. If I had to, I would send her back to public school now that we’ve moved out of our previous school system. I’m sure once she hits her teens she’ll want the more social experience anyhow – and I know I’ll be sad to hear those words.
Having grown up in the public school system, and having watched my brother struggle through the No Child Left Behind era, I knew I wanted something different for my daughter. I’m just glad and count myself fortunate to be able to home school since other forms of education are currently not an option.
Homeschooling has been a joy and an absolute blessing for our family this past year and a half. My son went to two primary (elementary) schools- the first was awful, then moved him to a religious school that was ok. Tthen he was assigned a dreadful secondary (high school). I just couldn’t send my 11 year old son into such a violent, educationally poor environment for ‘learning’. So we took the plunge to home educate. We have relished the journey of home educating. It did take us a while to settle in and enjoy it, but now we have found the ‘groove’ that works best for him and for us as a family. We are complimented regularly on his intelligence and good behaviour. He is very active in the community with various groups and activities. Home schooling is adaptable, adjustible- different for each child’s and family’s needs. We initially started it for a year. Home educating has been such a success that we can not imagine sending him to school now…