I have many thoughts that I would like to share here in this bloggy space, and a lot of those thoughts will probably include references to homeschooling. So, before I do, I think it might be nice to set a little groundwork regarding our decision to homeschool our children.
You may assume (as many people do), that home educators make this choice in order to avoid the alternatives. To be fair, some home educating experts and parents have a tendency to play into this assumption, at times focusing on criticism of mainstream schooling rather than on confidence in and optimism for their own choice. (I’m not saying that I haven’t also been guilty of this in the past.)
However, rather than throwing home education into relief by painting a bleak or critical picture of the alternatives, I would like to paint you a portrait of the beauty and vibrant exploration that I see every day in my home. Rather than focusing on what home education isn’t, I’d like to tell you what home education IS…
Home education is…an opportunity to customize my children’s learning experiences. If you know my children, you are probably aware that they are very, very different. Where one is fair, the other is tanned. When one is energetic, the other is contemplative. One loves the sun, the other wilts in it. One is naturally more imaginative, while the other has to have parameters for creativity. One could do worksheets and copywork all day long, while the other would cry over that much seat work. Believe it or not, I look forward to crafting their experience each year. I know that they will require very (dare I say radically?) different attitudes, resources, and expectations, and I look forward to discovering what will best appeal to their learning styles. I feel immensely blessed to have the opportunity to address them differently, according to the needs and phases of physical, emotional, and spiritual maturity that God has mapped out for their lives.
Home education is…a chance to learn with my children. Have you ever looked at Camille Pissarro’s “Apple-Picking”? I mean, really studied it? What looks like a bunch of women doing mundane farm chores, upon closer inspection, becomes an intricate composition filled with golden sunshine, blue brilliance, and green refreshment. You notice that one woman seems to be daydreaming, and one looks as though she is stealing a bite of crisp red apple. We studied “Apple-Picking” a couple of weeks ago. My children observed color and light, and we enjoyed it so much that we left the little print taped to the kitchen wall so that we could continue to enjoy it.
This happens in every subject. Though my own education was broad and thorough, I find that I frequently learn (or re-learn) new things along with my children. Historical facts, new tips for solving math problems, and books that I never read as a child have all been pleasant discoveries.
Home education is…flexible. Though each state has regulations dictating how many days out of each year you must “school”, how many hours a day, and sometimes which subjects you must cover, the majority of home education is rightly left up to the teacher – in most cases, the parent. In our state, you must do school 180 days of each school year, for at least four hours each day…but HOW you do this – the methods and curriculum you use, the times of day that you do lessons, and the order of each day – is left up to you. For our family, this mean that our primary schooling hours occur in the morning, leaving the rest of the day for typical childhood experiences like sidewalk chalk, hoola-hooping, singing, riding in red wagons, digging in the dirt, and reading lots and lots of books. Though we have a standard daily schedule, it often changes a little from day to day and week to week. Sometimes we start with piano lessons…sometimes it is handwriting. Sometimes we write out our memory poem, sometimes we just review it aloud a few times. Our time is just that – ours.
Home education is…holistic. Home education, by its very nature, includes more than just reading, writing, and arithmetic. Because parents have so much to teach their children, lessons often include those things that the parent feels are important for life. We will find ourselves drawn to address the whole child – heart, body, AND mind. This may include Bible study, character training, habit formation, life skills/chores, cultural study, and the list goes on. For instance, this term we have several Bible verses to memorize, a short list of chores to master, and one or twos personal habits for the kids to work on. We also have frequent discussions on things like kindness, nature, and laundry. We find ourselves learning outside, on the couch, at the kitchen table, sometimes even in the bathroom!
Home education is…spontaneous. Because I know what we are covering in each subject, I can easily spot an opportunity to reinforce a lesson. Learning the poem “The Cow” by Stevenson? Pull over and talk about the red & white cows that you see on your way home from church. Reading Beatrix Potter during story time? Take pictures of the bunnies that live under your shed. Got a new washing machine? Use it to illustrate that science lesson on water or mechanics.
On the flip side of this, that spontaneity is also very advantageous during a growth spurt or beautiful weather. Snack time is any time that your child hasn’t eaten in a while, and can even happen while you read that Beatrix Potter book or review math facts. If the kids are too rambunctious to sit for math time, the easy (and logical) answer is to set the book aside for twenty minutes and go for a walk or play outside. And I imagine my children would add that not having to ask before going to the bathroom is definitely a plus. 😉
Home education is…fluid. You set the pace for your child. We learned this point really quickly during our son’s kindergarten year. We looked forward to using a boxed curriculum that had lesson plans mapped out ahead of time. While this was convenient for us, my son seemed unknowingly determined to blow those lesson plans out of the water. By mid-year, he was several weeks ahead in at least two subjects, we had totally disregarded some of the other suggestions, and we had gone in a completely different direction with our literature selection. We now know that the pacing suggestions are truly just suggestions. If a child is excelling and ready for a greater challenge, we can accommodate that. If they need a little remediation, we can slow down without fear of falling behind – because we set the goals. (Freeing, isn’t it?) If a curriculum or resource ends up being a poor fit for our child, we simply try something else, or we could even craft that subject’s curriculum ourselves! If we don’t complete the entire resource or curriculum in the allotted timeframe, we can simply continue it the following year.
Home education is…social. Yep. Truth, right there. The old days of outlawed and taboo homeschooling have given way to a veritable revolution of home education. The home educating families who in the past would have had to hide at home for fear of “truancy” and removal of their children are now able to boldly engage with the world around them. As of September 2013, the US Dept of Education estimates that there are over 1.7 MILLION homeschooled children currently in the U.S., and the numbers will likely continue to rise. (Learn more here.) These parents, grandparents, and association leaders are active and enthusiastic about working with other home educating families, and it shows. Try googling your state’s name + “homeschool”. (Go ahead…I’ll wait.) Bet you found a bunch of groups to connect with…should you ever consider joining the ranks. 😉 There are co-ops, tutorials, sports associations, parent support groups, books, books stores, websites, Facebook groups, yahoo groups, magazines, blogs, etc. – ALL dedicated to homeschooling. One of the Facebook groups that I am in includes over 6,000 members. (And those last 1500 or so? That’s just since April.)
But, even more than that, there is the entire world at our feet. You know how Mr. Rogers used to go on field trips almost every episode? He visited the post office, the violin shop, the mechanic, and a sweater factory, among many, many other places. Pretty awesome, right? We can do that with our children! Plus, they are interacting with people and building social skills with a variety of ages all along the way. Go to a co-op and take an art class. Visit the firehouse or a working farm. We’ve even found that many museums, zoos, and historic sites now offer homeschool discounts (or their teacher discounts include homeschoolers), and some even set aside certain days and activities to appeal specifically to home educated kids. If you are concerned about peer socialization, I guarantee there are other homeschooling families “in your neighborhood”, your county, or a local co-op who would love to join you.
Home education is…a lifestyle. For most home schooling families, including ours, “school” time does not always begin and end within set hours each day, and it is certainly not limited to a particular place. From what I have observed, having a dedicated “school room” with desks and a chalkboard is a luxury that most home educating families can’t afford, and don’t really want anyway. Home education is certainly a “different” kind of choice, so we don’t mind if it looks just as different as it sounds. More importantly, our life looks different. We have found that our choices in books and media have changed, for both ourselves and our children. Our priorities have shifted a little, particularly when it comes to time management. We get to spend lots of time with our kids (an aspect I love, btw). I don’t always get as much laundry done as I’d like…but we, and our children, have discovered an amazing experience that most families don’t get to have.
Home education is…not easy. I’m not going to lie. Just like anything worth doing, homeschooling takes commitment. We are accountable for making sure that our children’s education journey is logged with the state. It is our job to make sure that our children are getting an education, and not spending all of their time watching TV or playing on electronics. I spend multiple hours at a time researching, collecting, and planning our lessons, and I try to do this on a regular basis. At times, we have found ourselves in the position of having to defend our decision. We have felt the sting of rejection from current (and former) friends who do not respect or understand the path we have chosen. There are a variety of very silly assumptions out there about homeschooling – not the least of which are the ideas that a family must be wealthy, or mom must be extremely patient, in order to homeschool (neither of which is true in our case). This journey that we are on takes work. However…
Home education is…worth it. Worth every hour, every check mark, every reminder that feet belong under the table and not on it. I am privileged to see my children learn how to persevere, to excel, right before my own eyes. I get to be an active part of the discoveries, the accomplishments, and the snack breaks that turn into science experiments. I get to see my father-in-law’s eyes light up at discovering just how far my son has progressed with reading.
To be honest, having seen the benefits of home educating after just one year, this choice isn’t so much a choice anymore.
Home education is an amazing, fundamental part of our life.
The Galloping Maple Tree 