Why It Isn't Impressive That I Homeschool
4:01 PM
I have had three different people in just the last week tell me that they are amazed that I can home school, and it is kind of a popular sentiment. I feel like I need to dispel some common misconceptions. If you knew how I home school, and what my day looks like you wouldn’t be so impressed!!
I am pretty sure most people picture what they did in public school: sit down at a desk and do worksheets and projects all day long. They think that I do that! I DO NOT DO WORKSHEETS. EVER. My kids hate them. If they loved them and begged me for some then I’m sure I would get them some. But there are FAR better ways of learning than worksheets.
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| P(8) is teaching S(5) to read from our Scriptures. |
Several years ago, when I was deciding where to send my 5 year old to school, my crazy homeschooling sister (at the time I thought she was crazy for homeschooling) told me to read a book. It was Leadership Education: The Phases of Learning by the Demilles. The principles in that book rang true to my mama heart and I couldn’t deny that I felt prompted to do something about it. So, we started to home school!
One of the things that really stood out as very different was the phases of learning: here they are spelled out super simply. The more that I have watched my kids, the more that I agree with these phases. Kids learn differently at different ages and learning when their brain is developmentally ready is REALLY important. (Especially for boys this is a big deal in schools right now. I read Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax and frankly I was scared for boys growing up in this time!)
My kids are all in Core Phase still so our house is all working on the same thing. Here is a useful article on Core Phase. But basically from the ages 0-8 we are working to learn all the things that will make up the CORE of who we are. So, think of the most important lessons that you want your kids to know and that is what we are learning! Right/wrong, good/bad, true/false, personal identity, spiritual identity, family identity. We learn these things through work and play. (Mostly we play...a LOT! It is a sad, terrible thing that play is becoming less and less these days. Kids NEED unstructured play!)
From a psychology perspective I know that there is a certain amount of time that a child’s brain is totally open to information. That is the time that they absorb the truths that will largely determine how they function in the world. They accept everything as truth! At some point (I believe it is around 8) a filter is created and they are able to reject information that doesn’t agree with the “truth” that is constructed in their subconscious. I know that I cannot be perfect at setting up this truth, but I know that if I rely on inspiration and a lot of prayer I can definitely do better than public school. And SO many hours of their life would be spent there! What is most important during this time is establishing a great core. No amount of the 3 R’s could be more important than that in my opinion. (And in fact, I really believe that sometimes too many accolades for doing well at the 3 R’s too early can give kids a false sense of where self-worth comes from. )
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| I made this FROM MY OWN BRAIN mom! |
So, basically our home looks like any other home before kids go off to school with chores, lots of playing and imagination and reading and as much reading as we can. Some days it feels like all we do is eat and clean up, eat and clean up and then eat and clean up again. But while we eat and clean up we talk about all kinds of fun things!
Sometimes I feel inspired to do a fun science project, often the kids help cook, regularly we take field trips or explore in nature and sometimes all we do is laundry all day! We sometimes work on memorizing things (which looks like me memorizing something and them helping me, but they all memorize it anyway and it is super sneaky!)
But the thing is that the kids are learning ALL THE TIME.
Think about a toddler, do you have to sit down and walk them through step-by-step of how to roll over, or walk, or talk? NO! They observe and copy. So, my kids watch my husband and I, act it out with their Lego guys or their stuffed animals and then start trying to do what we do.
It follows then that it is REALLY important that we have good habits: spiritual habits, physical habits, education habits.
Finally, we go to commonwealth (a family school of about 30 homeschooling families) every Wednesday where the kids go to some classes taught by different moms and then every other week I go to a class also! I do memorization, essays, and read books and articles. I am doing the work of learning and stretching so that they will want to copy me.
Without sitting to do worksheets my kids have learned their ABC’s, numbers, simple arithmetic (add, subtract, multiply and divide), beginning fractions, beginning reading, beginning writing, memorization of almost all of the Articles of Faith, and Louisa May Alcott’s A Tiny Kingdom. We have dabbled in astronomy (have you seen this AWESOME experiment? Do it for real, it is SO COOL!), chemistry, physics, art, and engineering. In the last year we have read 8 chapter books together, and hundreds of picture books. We have read the scriptures, discussed the gospel, talked about their mission in life and made friends with each other.
We all really love homeschooling. It isn’t perfect, but I know that by small and simple means are great things brought to pass and it all happens while we eat and clean up, eat and clean up, eat and clean up. It is the rhythm of life after all, and learning happens through it all.
8 comments
I love this! You are amazing. Thank your for you thoughts and words!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mindy!
DeleteUmm it is totally impressive that you homeschool! You are amazing. Taking the time to shape little characters and hearts changes the world��!
ReplyDeleteYou are awesome! Love you friend!
LeAnn, you are right. This is the most important work in the world. Miss you friend!
DeleteLeAnn, you are right. This is the most important work in the world. Miss you friend!
DeleteYes!!! I love this! Cannot wait to share with friends and family. You share so well what our days look like. I laughed out loud at your eat and clean up example. So true. I feel the same. Thanks for sharing!! Now I'm going to check out the rest of your blog. Looks awesome.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenn-Lee! I'm so glad you could relate to the feeling. It is always fabulous to know you are not alone. :)
DeleteThese are great thoughts! It is always a bit baffling when people suggesting that homeschool is only for the superhuman parent. I never know how to respond to these comments, because the explanation doesn't fit into one sentence. Homeschooling looks different for every family, and that is just the way it should be. It really is about finding your family's style and working with your children to create a learning environment.
ReplyDeleteI love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!