I started homeschooling unofficially in 2009 and officially in 2011. I am currently educating Little Man and MKat, who are our 7 year old and 6 year old children, the last of our 6 pack.
So many people ask the same questions of us regarding our choice to homeschool: Why? Where? When? How long? What do we use? How do we socialize?
Why: Reasons include health concerns, religious beliefs, political views and educational doctrines. We started homeschooling Kiddo when she was going through cancer treatment. We began homeschooling her sister, Little Miss, a year later when she had strep 9 times as a kindergartner and was preparing for surgery to relieve her of her overworked tonsils. In the six years we homeschooled Little Miss, we developed solid answers for every other question on the list.
We believe we are the parents and the first educators in our children’s lives. We realized quickly that the educational system is no longer able to entertain biblical principals, and we did not want our children to be exposed to the multitude of religious perspectives outside of our own while still in the elementary phase of their educational careers.
We have very conservative political views, and we don’t want to feel persecuted for teaching our children the same points of view. We do have strong beliefs on current agendas in our society, and we feel that grown up talks should be held among adults and not inflicted on children in any capacity.
Finally, as a professionally trained educator, I do not agree with the educational methodology used in today’s modern American schools. I love my educator friends, but we do agree the methods used today are not as effective and are often responsible for the frustration towards school in general.
Where and When: We homeschool in a dedicated space in our house, but we have used the dining room table, the picnic table outside, the floor in our bedroom, and gasp, even in front of the television! We know we have 180 days of lessons to complete within a one year time frame, and we stick closely to the public school schedule, but with the gentleness of our personal schedules. My mother passed away unexpectedly, and we simply took a week off from school while we visited and mourned. No notes to the school board, and we don’t have to feel guilty when we travel to San Antonio in a few weeks with Dad for work.
When is always a two part question. Most want to know if we school all year or in blocks, which we say, “Yes” to both as we have a rigidly flexible schedule! I plan a week at a time with a glance at the entire month, but I gave up my annual curriculum maps a few years ago! The other part to the question is what time of day and how long do we do school each day. The answer is shocking to most when I say just a couple hours each day at MOST. Yep, we don’t spend four to six hours a day doing school work. My kids play on the playground in our yard as much as they do solving math problems. Yet, we manage to complete phonics, language, math, science, social studies, reading and Bible lessons each week with such a light schedule. How you ask? I am teaching to TWO students, and I know their strengths and weaknesses! My friend teaches 21 kids in her class, seven of whom are special needs. She has to ensure all get to the same level at the same time to pass the same test, and she only gets a block of time for each subject. If my kiddos don’t understand a topic, we get to spend more time each day reviewing and remediating.
I am always asked what curriculum I use. I currently use Abeka for math and language because both of my kids are under second grade. This curriculum is excellent at teaching the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic at these earlier grades. At second grade we will drop Abeka phonics/language and pick up Wordly Wise and Shurley English. They have mastered reading by this level so we focus on reading comprehension through the use of chapter books and literature review. We change math around 3rd/4th grade to Saxon Math because the basic math concepts have been established and Saxon is slightly more challenging. Science and Social Studies during Elementary are thematic units, which don’t require a set curriculum. I find that the boxed books are less engaging and don’t encourage as much hands on learning like we get from thematic studies. We love to do Notebooks and Lapbooks for many of our studies to keep our work fun and organized. I purchase a used school curriculum for middle school for the concise layout of the material yet supplement with the thematic unit styles of elementary lessons. I do not purchase DVD instructional materials such as from Abeka, nor do we do online curriculum, but to each his own. In addition, we have music and movement, foreign language (Spanish and ASL), as well as lots of art!
The last question is everyone’s true concern-socialization! Anyone who knew Little Miss would tell you she never appeared unsocialized! She was in dance, piano, scouts, church, baseball, and so much more! Currently Little Man and MKat are involved in church, dance, and football. They don’t have trouble making friends, and they have time to play and be kids. Tonight we have a ball game at 7:45, and are not worried as we don’t have to be up at daylight, and we we won’t be exhausted from a full day of school and homework! Our kids get to see friends more, visit family, and go on field trips frequently. When the timing is right, we meet with other homeschool families for outings, but we usually enjoy more family time!
Do I recommend Homeschooling?
This is a tough question to answer because I don’t want to sound pious. The answer is often, “no”. I always follow that up with this: unless you want to have no personal time to shop, mingle, clean, etc. on your own. No, unless you are disciplined enough to do it daily/weekly. NO, unless you are comfortable teaching even if you don’t understand or like the subject. No, unless you can afford to have one less income in your household. No, unless your family unit needs this more than it needs the alternative.
I don’t homeschool better than or worse than other homeschool families, but I have learned to do it the way that works for us. I have required much more discipline to homeschool my own children in my own home than I EVER did when I had a classroom filled with other people’s children for six hours a day. I used to turn in my lesson plans every Friday for the following week. There was always the potential someone would pop in for a review, assessment, or visit, so every lesson was scripted and well planned. The day ran efficiently on schedule to keep up with pre-planned assessments. I dressed professionally, meaning kiddos took me seriously, which is much harder to command in your PJs. The kiddos had accountability to perform too, as to many off steps meant a call home for corrective action/support was always possible. As the teacher, nurse, coach, and principal, I don’t have the back up and cannot call “home” when Little Man won’t listen or finish his work!
I also follow up with “and yes” if you want to spend more time with your children. If you feel your child’s needs are not met at school in the current situation, and you can afford the time and resources to educate them adequately, then by all means, go for it. The hugs are often payment enough. The tranquility that settles over your family in the months following the transition can be quite affirming. Being able to love and guide your child through the tough but navigable waters of adolescence is the most rewarding job as a parent educator. Helping them build confidence and assurance to grow and learn beyond their own expectations is incredible. Seeing your child meet milestones not even assessed in an average day helps you appreciate your child in a whole new light.
With all that said, bottom line is, our family needed this time together. Some days it is the hardest task I have been assigned, and I want to quit plenty of times. Then, when my kids wrap their arms around me and tell me they love their school, my heart is filled with images of memories I would have given to a stranger to enjoy and not appreciate. Our time with our kiddos is never promised, and I don’t want to give that all away to others who may not remember the struggles my child carries on a daily basis. Home is safe, and we often don’t have to deal with other issues on a daily basis because we are so comfortable here.
How about you, do you homeschool? Do you wish you did? Are you thinking about it but afraid to get started? Continue to check back in as we share our journey!