Back when I was doing my Residency, I had never even given it a thought that I would be actually homeschooling, although we were exposed to it and even motivated by a family in our community. My husband had a prayerful conviction that we need to homeschool, although I wasn’t on board 100%. But once things changed around that I was ‘thrown into’ homeschooling, I gladly accepted this new chapter in my life and fell in love with homeschooling.
I immediately, as any new homeschooler would do, invested myself in learning different techniques and methods of homeschooling and philosophies of education, that I came up with a broad range of methods that I was drawn to, and since then incorporated into our homeschool. Over the years, I have applied several techniques and methods, some of which worked and some which haven’t and we now have our own eclectic system, based on what works for us, as a family, and which changes slightly year to year based on new ideas.
Homeschooling is never a ‘one size fits all’ endeavor.
Be fearless to try and see what works for you, keep the things that work and you find effective, and be bold to ditch what doesn’t.
There is no right or wrong way to homeschool, and you as a homeschool mom need to decide what’s best for your family. What works for one family may not necessarily work for another family. Sometimes boxed curriculum might be best; sometimes online curriculum will be best; sometimes a more individualized approach will be best- the decision should be yours, factoring into account your nature, your children’s nature and unique family dynamics.
These are some of my thoughts on homeschooling, and what I try to incorporate into our homeschool.
(1)Homeschooling is not just about academics, but also about character training and developing good virtues and morals. The purpose of education should be to produce virtuous individuals who can stand up for what is right, and lead the world tomorrow. All this fits into place when we raise warriors for Christ. We incorporate the Bible, character and virtues based stories, and saint study into our homeschool. Most importantly, when a character issue comes up, we try to address it right then, even though it is very easy to let it slip through.
(2)As far as methods go, we follow a semi-classical, semi-Charlotte Mason, eclectic approach. Even though there are terrific boxed curricula out there, I have always stayed away from boxed curricula, as I like to have individualized homeschool experiences for my kids. I like exploring different curricula, and put together my own curriculum, based on the needs of the family, or what I envision works best in the overall schooling, and for that kid. I do not like to confine them to the ‘box’. By the definition of eclectic, I basically put together different parts of different curricula and methods to find the best fit for our kids and family. Even the curriculum I do use, I tend to tweak the way I use it to fit my teaching style and kids interest.
(3) I try to encourage independent learning and self-teaching early on. I do not want to be the rate limiting factor in their education. Holding on to Charlotte Mason’s principles, I also strongly believe in providing the best material, and stepping out of their way, so that they can take off! I don’t want to be a stumbling block in their education, but want to encourage creativity and critical thinking by helping them teach themselves. I do offer help where needed, and I do teach a few subjects, but for the most part, kids are independent early on.
(4) I try to encourage kids to think for themselves and problem solve on their own, instead of finding the answers for them.
Kids need to explore themselves, they need to problem solve, and engage themselves without being helicoptered all the time.
When they fail or face a rough point, it is ok to help them, but not until they’ve tried on their own. Otherwise their growth will be impaired and will always seek dependence.
One good example from our family that I noticed recently: We do Skype piano lessons for a couple of our younger kids. I usually don’t hover around the kids(who has time for that?), but since it was our first experience with a Skype lesson, for the initial class, I decided to stay close to them to ‘help out’ . I was answering some questions for them and repeating the questions the tutor was asking, for them. The kids were talking in a very low voice, in a timid manner, so that I had to repeat what they said to the tutor. I then thought to myself “What am I doing?? I should step away and let them take on.” As soon as I did so, I noticed, that the same kids who were so timid in my presence, took off without any problems at all ! When we hover over our kids, we are basically boxing them in, and not having them come out of a difficult situation themselves. We need to move away, and let them take off, within certain boundaries and safe limits.
(5)With smaller kids I strongly believe that there is no need at all to over-academize their education, and in fact studies have shown that it is detrimental to later learning. At this age, I feel learning has to happen very naturally, and not enforced upon. Once they develop an interest in learning, it will set the stage for life-long love for learning. Children at this age learn best by role play/ pretend play. As long as the basic reading, writing and math is covered a day, I leave the rest to the child to discover what to learn. We have a richly stocked library of books, from literature to nature studies, to field guides, to fact books. They go about and pick up books of their interest and dig in, after their ‘required school work’.
With smaller kids especially, I feel it is very important not to impose any study materials that they are not interested in, as it will eventually pull them away from a love for learning.
This is the number one reason for me to be not following a boxed curriculum, as I want the kids to drive their own education. I like the flexibility that an eclectic approach provides.
Several of my younger boys were really driven to make History puppets of Ancient figures, Medieval Figures and Famous American Figures, while they were 2-6, and learned a lot in the process. But it was something that they were driven to do and which I had never insisted at all. I was amazed when my 2 year old started talking about Gengis Khan!
(6)With upper elementary level onwards, I put together a more rigorous curriculum and make sure they follow through; although I do leave room for changing curriculum if I see that it is not clicking with them at all. In general, when I choose curriculum, I go with ones that the whole family (atleast all the elementary level kids) learn the same topic or time period of history. That way, all the kids can participate in any discussions or group projects. It also works better when we do any relevant field trips.
With middle school and above, I individualize further based on their specific passions, and try to eliminate busy-work altogether, so that they will have more time for actual learning.
(7)With certain subjects , like math, we aim for mastery before moving on. I have them repeat lessons or concepts or tests if they haven’t scored at mastery level. I let them advance to the next level as soon as they are ready.
(8) I do not use tests much as a method of evaluation, but more so rely on the Charlotte Mason principle of narration. But at the same time, I do encourage my kids to participate in academic competitions whenever available. My older 2 have advanced to state level academic competitions several years and placed in the state level(competing with private schoolers and homeschoolers), all with their own motivation and effort.
(9)We keep a well stocked library of books that are readily available for reading, as well as a whole collection of ebooks. I strongly believe that if we surround them with good books, they will at some point be drawn to it and develop the habit of reading. We also keep good subject based reference books, and field guides.
(10)We do have a time, where we all come together and do memory work, bible verses, catechism, geography drill, latin/greek root words, and sometimes a short educational video. We sometimes lump in other stuff also, and call it Power Hour, though it doesn’t last an hour! Benefit of doing this is that we get to do this together as a family, with some benefit to the younger kids. Memory work is very powerful for the younger ages.
(11)Other things we try to do, but don’t end up doing very regularly are Nature Study and Read Alouds. Nature Study is very good to learn about the beauty of God’s creation as well as developing observation powers. Once in a while we do Nature weeks where I take the kids to a variety of Nature related field trips. Read Alouds are also something we try to do regularly, but don’t end up doing very frequently.
(12) I mainly look for flexibility, while structuring the homeschool day, to accommodate unforeseen needs. Especially with a large family, it is something very necessary. We therefore go for routines, rather than schedules. Kids are given a checklist of assignments that need to be completed for the day, and they go according to their pace. I will have special time slots assigned for any subject that I need to teach, and other times slots where we do things together as a family, mostly memory work or Read Alouds.
(13)Chores are also very huge in our homeschool. Each kid has assigned tasks which they are called to do either before, during, or after school time. Chores teach basic lifeskills and responsibility, that are very important for the wholesome development of the child.
(14)We take advantage of opportunities to socialize with other kids, through homeschool group activities, prayer gatherings and church. We also take advantage of field trip opportunities.
(15) Kids do have extracurricular activities we sign up for, although I have recently greatly limited the number of activities, and substituted some activities with online lessons, as I want to preserve margin, and have more quality homeschool and family time. I also try maximum to schedule all such classes during weekdays, before my husband gets home, so that we can keep evenings and weekends free for family time and other activities.
So this is a glimpse into our small world of homeschooling. It has looked different, throughout the years, although it has basically revolved around the same principles.
We as homeschool moms should feel free to be flexible over different seasons of life, and years, to accommodate to differing needs, instead of feeling you have to stick with some ‘standard’ out there, as there really is no one single standard!