I had a lot of different ideas for the title of this post:
"Homeschooling: Where Tradition Comes Back"
"Homeschooling: Where ASKING Questions is 100% OK!"
"Homeschooling: It's NOT as Hard as You Think"
Most of those came to me as I was trying to go to sleep- that tends to be where my 'dicussion posts' pop into my head. Unfortunately, most of the brilliant ideas I have hug the atmosphere and never make it to paper as I've forgotten them in the am, or if I attempted to write them down, suddenly have nothing else to go with them. LOL
But in all those titles is the core idea of what I wanted to talk to you about.
Homeschooling- it IS different, but OH SO much better for your CHILD and your family!
SO let me take each of those 'titles' and break them down for you!
1."Homeschooling: Where Tradition Comes Back"
Did you know that up until 1852 we had NO public schools, that kids were taught IN THE HOME? Yup. And it took another 50 yers before there were public shcools in every state and not until 1918 when it was REQUIRED for kids to complete elementary school! So you have a historical tradition for individual education, and a modern tradition, where the idea was that everyone got the SAME education. Think about that for a second. We scream we want our kids to be unique, yet the current education system is based on the idea that they learn exactly the same, and learn the SAME things. Sorts seems hypocritical, don't you think?
See that's the beauty of homeschooling- I can adjust Miss Grace's lessons on the fly at any time. If she wants to learn all about terns today, ok, there you go-reading, science, research and critical thinking all rolled up into one topic. Add some end of the questions, and you can add writing, web skilled media and oral presentation too. In essence, everything but Math for the day. Course you can sneak some in there when discussing migration, eggs and habitats!
You see we are NOT teaching for 'the test'. In fact her curriculum this year was 6th grade science, history, math and english (grammar and vocabulary), 5th grade writing and bible, and remedial reading and spelling. Add in adult art classes, ongoing piano classes, and she got a VERY varied curriculum, that allowed her to get hands on to make projects, to go to art museums, to learn MASTERY of her topics.
If she needed more time on predicates or percentages? Ok, no problem, we could keep working on them. But she STILL had mastered most of pre-Algebra, and some Algebra already. So I'm caught holding her back, or letting her take it in the Spring in 6th grade! Admittedly we didn't get as far in Ancient Civ as I had hoped, but we got up to the Renaissance, which is really where my 'back up goal' was. Why? Sequeways! She'd get caught up on a subject, either in games, books or videos, and stay on it for an extra 3-5 days! But I'd rather she UNDERSTAND history, than just memorize names and have no clue HOW it all worked together, to make us the world we are now!
I do have her take the Iowa test, only for easy submission to the state, instead of portfolio and scope, etc. But, as most of her courses were finished at the end of March, reviewing the year for it, allowed me to see where she needed some more work, as mastery might have not been as solid as I had hoped (dyslexia memory issues coming into play). I know how she had improved from her private school testing, and I know I'll see more improvement this year.
BUT I don't NEED the scores. That's the difference. I plan her topics by what she wants to learn, coupled with a more classical education. For example this next year is her 'gap year' as she's so far ahead in the CORE subjects. So she get's to study science in more of a Charlotte Mason approach, going into the field and seeing what she is learning, and applying it. She's delving into the Mysteries of History, both US and World, to strengthen her research and computer skills. Grammar is taking a backseat to writing and discussing Shakespeare. Art will be seen through a photographer's lens, as she seeks out the beauty of nature in her Science lessons. We can work on the remedial spelling while working on computer skills, reading with supplemental audio books and use a history of music to strengthen her history skills. And Latin? Well if my 11 year old WANTS to study Latin, ok then, Latin it is! Not only will it strengthen her spelling and vocabulary, she may decide to use it for her high school foreign language requirement!
I wouldn't be able to let her do all that, if she was IN traditional school! She would be stuck with textbooks, that while they may be well meaning, are teaching history through a modern lens, instead of what it WAS WHEN IT WAS. Teaching Math in ways meant to simplify, but leave most kids confused. And forgetting that GOD needs to be central in ALL of their education. You can have a worldview and teach it at home. Where is God in your child's school? Even if they are in a private school- is a worldview taught, or are bible verses just srinkled throught their texts? That's something you might want to look at. So which is better? Traditional or Modern Traditional?
2."Homeschooling: Where ASKING Questions is 100% OK!"
Ask any homeschool what there number 1 'irritation' is and most likely they'll say 'the socialization question'.
Ugh. Quick, how many of you had a teacher say "We're NOT here to socialize, you're here to learn!" when YOU were in school?
So WHY would you think that modern schooling is all about socialization? Think about it for a minute. What had modern school socialization come to?
Yup- cliques, bullying that goes WAAAY beyond name calling and 'kick me' signs, cyber bullying and worse- a child with no support, who feels they have no one to help them, and takes extreme action upon the schoolmates who harassed them.
Most homeschool kids are in extracurricular activities, church and social activities, and are constantly socialized where it counts- in the real world. We take our kids out with us to stores, errands, and activities They learn how to socialize with other people in ACTUAL settings. They aren't insolated into a world of school. The entire world IS their school.
And then there is the questioning. How many teachers allow for kids to ask questions tht take more than a couple of minutes to answer? They can't spend a whole class period off topic! They have a set curriculum they have to stick with, to have everything in BEFORE the dreaded end of year testing. My kid wants to spend the day learning about the archeology evidence supporting the tribes of Israel in Egypt? Ok, no problem!
In fact, questioning is the NORM for us. I often tell her I am 'not Google', go look up the answer. But she prefers Momcyclopedia! But I'm ok with that for the most part (the exception is when I don't have the answer and she gets exasperated, LOL), as it means she is constantly LEARNING. Isn't that what education is about? Don't we WANT our kids to constantly keep learning, even after they leave school? But if they aren't taught to question and learn in school, when WILL they learn it?
I can't tell you how many times we will be on a field trip and a plaque will be wrong, or a docent will say something, and she'll look at me and say "mom, that's not right, it's....." Maybe it's because I was taught by Jesuits and Dominicans, where questioning was per forma, but I like that she not only knows the right answer, but can explain to the docent or other adult, why the information is wrong, and generally explain it at a high school or college level. It means that all those little rabbit trails of learning have shown her the interlinking web. And THAT IS what learning should be.
via GIPHY
3. "Homeschooling: It's NOT as Hard as You Think"
We quickly learned from our first year's attempt when we thought we had to replicate traditional school at home, that FLEXIBILITY is the BEAUTY of homeschooling. We can take a beach day and focus on science and art, we can handle all of the week's assigned math in 1 day, or she can get all her weeks assignments done in 3 days and have to 'free days'!
I knwo you just said, but you have to have 8 hours a day of schooling! But that is the falsehood we have bought into from the advent of the public schooling system!
Nina from Raising Wild Flowers recently broke down how much education kids get in public schools, and you might be VERY surprised! As you know, most school systems require 180 days, which is what most homeschoolers do as well. But it's what happens when you break down those 180 public shcool days that might be a eye opener for you:
Now also factor in school parties, school picture day (some schools have 2 per year!), 'special fun days', and the like, and you can take another 36 hours from the school year.
And where does that leave your kids in 'modern traditional school'?
About 596 HOURS of learning per year, spread over 164 days!
That is ONLY 3.5 hours a day!
Let me let that sink in for a minute.
For those of you whose kids are bused, you can probably add another 2 hours to that 7 hour day too..just to make your thinking worse...
Now if I homeschool year round, I can have LOTS and LOTS of 'do what we want' days, and still get in MORE education time than kids in 'modern traditional' schools!
And thanks to all the modern online homeschooling programs, you don't even HAVE to be your child's teacher! You can be the facilitator. It's now Easy Peasy to homeschool all the way up through High School! Plus you get to enrich them with important SKILLS- Life skills! So you know some colleges are having to teach things courses like how to do laundry and budget money???
So if you're questioning if you can homeschool, the answer is YES you can, and not only will your child enjoy it so much better, you may just find that your family life improves, as you actually get to spend time WITH your kids, not just a couple of hours per day! In today's modern techincal world, it might just make a HUGE difference in your kids lives!
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