Good morning y'all,
While I full on believe that homeschooling has been the best decision for our family and the most incredible journey. I have to admit that there are a few things I wish I had known before hand...
Now, dont get me wrong, I had researched for months, reached out to other veteran homeschool families, went to homeschool stores to pick the pros brains and more. But I still felt like things were a little off at first. and here is why........
Dont compare yourself to other homeschool families-
While I appreciated all the advice on curriculums, schedules, field trip ideas, organization hacks, etc. Ive learned over time, that what works for one family or household may not work for another.
you have to find your niche and run with it. Do what feels comfortable and natural. it may take tme, but trust me, hang in there its worth it!
2. Each child is different, Homeschooling allows you the ability to customize to each child
When I started purchasing curriculums I wanted to make their education even, so I bought the same curriculunms for each child at their own grade level. Boy was that wrong! I know my chidren learn differently, so in retro spect why would I think what would be great for one would be equally as great for the other.
Its ok to do seperate books, seperate projects etc. to truly cater to their learning style. How great is that?
3. People will judge you, and 100 times a day youll hear, "what about socialization?'
People always seem to question homeschoolers. Perhaps its because its easy to judge what you know little about. They often wonder how someone is qualified to teach their child without having gone to school for teaching, or how on earth you could possibly sociaize them if they are home all day.
Well the answer is simple....I am confident in our desicion to homeschool and at the end of the day, the opinions of others who know little about what the day in the life of a true homeschool entails are just not worth debating.
As for my ability to teach my child, woman have been teaching their own children all throughout history, Infact many influential people were homeschooled Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, C.S Lewis, Charles Dickens, Wright brothers, mark Twain, George Washington and more...
and socialization, People tend to say that homeschooled children are too sheltered from the real world, yet at what point did sitting behind desks all day become the real world?
My children participate in multiple sports, spend afternoonson the playgrounds with other homeschooled children, participate in youth groups at church, volunteer at our local Library and more. So while some childrens real world is a big brick builing, my children are actually out living in it!
4. Its ok to feel like you are failing
The Homeschooling world isnt for the faint of heart. Infact, many days I have wondered why im doing this, or what have I gotten myself into! But you know what, the majority of days, I wonder why we didnt start homeschooling sooner!
Homeschooling comes with its challenges and its triumphs. But its honestly the most rewarding experience. It allows us to slow down, to take breaks, to embrace family time, all while watching them thrive in the subjects you choose as a family!
So if you have days where you feel like youre not doing enough, just know the fact that you are even worried about that means your doing great! so chin up, youve got this!
5. Know your states guidelines and cater your days around that
In the beginning sure I knew our states guidelines for homeschooling, But it was so difficult to get myself out of the mindset of the public school system. thinking that the girls needed long days, teadious curriculums and a certain amount of days a year. When the truth of the matter is, those long days are actually crazy! think about it. The average public school child spends time in class, waiting on children to listen to the teacher before she starts a lecture, they sit at their deks waiting for the teacher to answer a question they have though they have 5 other kids with their hands raised before them, they are studying facts to pass a test, while not truly learning and engaging in the depth of the material. They have recess, lunch, time to walk from one class to the next, all taking up their 8 or so hours in their day.
My children may only have school a few hours a day, but it is steady undivided attention from just me and them. id say 1:2 is a pretty good ration than that of a public school average of 23:1.
We dont need 180 days of school and 8 hours each day. We go at our own pace, embrace what we have in front of us and move on when we are ready.
6. You dont have to teach every subject every day
Though we have our core subjects like Math, science, history, language arts. We also have things like Media, creative writing, spanish and spelling/vocabulary. With that being said if my daughter is struggling with math and is getting frustrated, instead of dealing with a break down we can skip that subject and start fresh tomorrow.
We even have days where our History lesson I taking a road trip to Colonial Williamsburg or Geore Wasgingtons house.
Its ok to skip a day, or catch up tomorrow. The flexability within homeschooling allows an ease. It allows our lives the chance to slow don and truly embrace our family time.
7. You can combine your children
While teaching your children at multiple grade levels is totally possible, remember you can easily combine some subjects. For example, clearly Math and Language arts are totally different levels for my daughters where Science and even history can be joined. Last year they chose to do Astronomy. So after looking up Astronomy curriculums, I decided to go with Apologias Astronomy. So while we used the same general text, they make a junior version and regular version of the workbook/ experiments. Making it easy to teach both of them at the same time. Making our day flow that much easier. We do the same thing for our History curriculum with Notgrass as well.
8. Remember play is brain food
I can use the textbook or worksheets, or make up creative art projects, word puzzles, flash cards, etc. But at the end of the day facts and dates and arithmatic are only half of the battle. Remember to include play, dont get so caught up in the educational aspect of things that you forget that children learn so much through play. Being creative outside making forts in the woods, by fishing in the creek, by playing house or tea party, or even grovery store. They figure things out through puzzles and games. Again more than just academics. But what about team work, being a leader, sharing, critical thinking, exploring, problem solving etc.
All equally important skills to have as adults.
9. That its ok to bring God back into the classroom
How reforeshing is it to know that we can not only talk aboutJesus but teach about him as well. We can read the bible, enjoy bible studies and learn memory versus. We can pray everyday and truly embrace our Christianity.
Not that we ever denyed our faith while in Public schools but sometimes the talk of religion in certain settings is frowned upon.
Now we can screram his good news from the roof tops!!!
10. Most importantly remember the WHY...
Dont forget even on the hard days, on the difficult days or even on the days you feel like giving up. Why you started this journey in the first place!
For whatever reason you decided to take the path less traveled it was important enough to take the leap. Remember that! I have so many reasons we started homeschooling. Bullying, Covid, reliious reasons, peer pressure, the crazy world of sex, drugs and violence we live in today.
But whatever reasons you found important, dont lose sight of them. This can be the hardest thing you have ever done all while being the most incredible journey of your life. Enjoy it! Embrace it! Let your children be children. Go with the flow and have fun!
So, no matter what life throws at you, Go for it. Trust in yourself and remember youve hgot this! Kids will be kids and youll have bad days along with the good. But the end result is so worth it!!!
Now go grab some coffee and go get it!