When you buy new homeschool curriculum, how do you know what you should buy? This all depends on how we understand what an education is anyway. “…Education doesn’t need to be reformed — it needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is not to standardize education, but to personalize it, to build achievement on discovering individual talents of each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions.” Sir Ken Robinson, author of The Element What better place to learn than a home environment? And if this is education, then the hunt for the perfect curriculum will not be required. And in my experience, finding that perfect curriculum won’t happen. It will be as elusive as the Rosetta Stone. (Wait, we saw the Rosetta Stonein a London museum in 2012.) Okay, it’ll be as elusive as my attempt to write this simile. So how do we decide how to buy new homeschool curriculum? Much curriculum exists, but a perfect curriculum does not. One can learn snippets of information from… * textbooks,* Wikipedia,* biographies and memoirs,* experiments and observation,* apprenticeship positions and play,* and solitude and within big large groups. But a perfect curriculum, you’re not going to find it. Download the Homeschool Mama Reading List 1. First of all, what IS curriculum? Perhaps that question is goofy to you: if is, you may move on and ignore it. But for those who ask, what constitutes curriculum? Anything someone learns from. Which, as you know, can be a whole lotta possibilities: * I see it in a Wii system when my child learns hand-eye coordination playing Wii tennis.* I see it in a tennis racket when my child learns the game in real time.* I see it in a chess board when my child learns strategy.* I see it in a book, obviously.* I see it in an Usborne-internet linked book, a historical narrative like To Kill a Mockingbird or Jan Hudson’s book, Sweetgrass, a fun poetry book by Shel Silverstein, a chemistry textbook, graphic novels, an atlas, or any book whatsoever, yes, whatsoever.* I see it in my child’s Mac laptop when my daughter edits and creates videos for her YouTube channel.* I see it in the daily use of a math workbooks, using a calculator for play, using measuring cups in the kitchen, or doing word problems calculating tax and tip at a restaurant.* I see it in a can of paint when my child decides to paint over her childhood favourite-fuchsia walls for a teenage white.* I see it in a measuring tape, hammer, and circular saw when my son and his dad build a goat barn.* I see it in games, like Professor Noggins, Scrabble, Pictionary, Scattegories, Monopoly, Chutes & Ladders, math dice, or any of the one bazillion games we have in our family room.* I see it in the arts and crafts closet when a child learns to draw with Mark Kistler’s Draw Squad or the girls start their ...
This summer I learned what my kids don’t need from a school: socialization. What I don’t provide my children at home (but schools can): marimbas, of every size, shape, or number. I don’tlead a children’s choir (nor could I). I don’t have a drama club (though I probably could). And I don’t oversee two hundred children at a time (& I definitely wouldn’t want to). So we registered our oldest daughter in a summer music school for a few weeks in July, instead. So what did I learn about why kids don’t need school socialization? Download your Homeschool Mama Reading List She lovedit. She loved the class offerings: marimba, choir, backstage prep, and piano lessons. Her gregarious nature loved to meet new people, watch kids her age mix with different ages, see how they think, and learn what they value. She loves dancing and performing and singing at the final pep-rally-like party. She had a grand time. And I loved it too. These music school people knew what they were doing. Since I’m unwilling to purchase, or even rent, a xylophone for my home, or teach my children to stay on pitch (I don’t even really know what that means), off to summer music school she goes. It was an experience like nothing I would provide at home. But what I didn’t sign up for, though I should have known that I would have signed up for, was the incredible drain it would be on my daughter. * It wasn’t just because she had to be up early, by 7 am at the latest. * It wasn’t just because she needed to have her chores completed before she left, or pack lunch (she kinda liked having cheese strings and pre-packaged food, though). * It wasn’t because she needed to do her paper route after her full day of school. I saw that she was drained because she was surrounded by people. * people thatdemanded her attention,* people thatindirectly, or directly, suggested how she must be, act, dress, or talk. She didn’t have time to process all the information rushing at her. She didn’t have someone to process that with. She didn’t have a quiet moment to just think, to be lost in her thoughts (like she could be at home). You might say these experiences are normal. Download your Deschool your Homeschool Checklist The school experience is normal. In our culture, it is the norm.
I was asked why I homeschool, again. Sigh. (How not to answer in essay format.) After eleven years, I have so many reasons now. So how do I be succinct? This is why my family homeschools. And I share the book (& the 8 reasons) that convinced me in one week. Get your 19 Tips for New Home Learners Why my family homeschools? Because living in this world, and discovering all that it has to offer is intriguing, interesting, and energizing; and I wouldn’t want to do it without those that have been placed in my care for an abbreviated time. I want to learn to live and learn about life with my family for the days we are given together. I picked up a book on our spring vacation to a resort mountain town over a decade ago. I had a spare afternoon, an opportunity to leave my three little girls with my husband and go out for an afternoon, to do nothing. No unfinished phone calls, no bookkeeping, no housekeeping, no childcare. This was a free afternoon, and there weren’t many of them as I had three kids under six. I’d finished my most recently borrowed library books. No extra books sitting on my nightstand. An exciting crossroads—carefree and bookless. I ventured to the chic bookstore on the main street, and perused bookshelves–if reading was something I was born to do, I was in the right place. Thumbing my way through the parenting section, I came upon a book entitled: The Homeschooling Option: How to Decide When It’s Right for Your Family. (No, it is not! I thought.) So many acquaintances were going in the homeschool direction. * I’m not looking for a mission to step outside the crowd and be different. I’m a mainstream kinda gal.* I don’t have kids with behavioural troubles in school–just a little sassiness and arguing at home. * No one is complaining of bullying. (If anything, my oldest is a social butterfly with clever ideas to keep her friends engaged.) I decided I would read the book to determine why I wouldn’t homeschool, then I would have my reasoned arguments and get on with the busyness of family life. Was it the first chapter or the second where I began to identify? 1. Did public education inspire a desire for learning for me? To me, it felt like a holding station, keeping me back from living the rest of my life. To me, it was a place I wrestled with my identity, responded to social labels, and uneasily engaged in uncertain peer interactions. Did I learn? I suppose there were things I learned. I remember a keen grade 7 math teacher who seemed fun and as relevant as Robin Williams in Dead Poet’s Society. I remember a grade 12 teacher, though she was far from fun, made her quick judgment on me correctly as she stopped me in a hallway one day and said, “I see some kids that read and I see some kids that watch television, you need to pick up a book.” And though her judgment didn’t serve me or propel me toward reading or writing or anything academic, rather it highlighted my sense of inadequacy, she saw me and she was right. My tv-watching coping mechanism helped me survive my ...
There are things I want to impart to my kids, no question. But learning doesn’t necessarily happen because I said something out loud, or because I have the kids read through a passage, narrate a passage, do the math worksheet, complete the lab report, or watch the video. There were some days, I expected them to be like little computers that could receive a daily upload. (I did this because it made me feel that their education was created & measured). If I could do the work to research a topic, buy the book, plan the lesson, and teach it once, twice, then reinforce it, the kids should learn, right? Alas, with many kids and many years, I’ve learned that most learning does not happen that way. So how to facilitate child-led learning in your homeschool? Download your Deschool your Homeschool Checklist In my early homeschool years, I often tried this classical teaching approach, doing the readings, lectures, and reviewing or expecting my child to return their readings with narrations (aka homeschool mama testing), and I was utterly surprised, and often frustrated,that they couldn’t regurgitate what I’d taught. Surely if I had done the work, and been creative and interesting, they would be able to regurgitate what I had so eagerly wanted to share with them. Rather, I learned these things: * If kids can discuss their readings, they are much more likely to process and keepthem stashed inside their brains. * If they can narrate, or tell me back something, I am much more likely to hear them regurgitate that fact later. But not always.* If we discuss it more than once, more than twice, it’s likely locked in. At least temporarily locked in.* But if they are interested in a subject, their little brains are fully front(al) and present. * There is no need to entice them to engage. * Engagement comes naturally, and easily, and is so much more fun for me to encourage their learning and their experimenting. * And obviously, this is so much more fun for them.* Oh, the depths they can go if they are given time to pursue their interests. So, of course, I have learned to bend in this direction. I’ve since learned that child-led learning in your homeschool WORKS. It works! Use this Deschool your Homeschool Workbook to Bring More Ease to your Homeschool Deschool your Homeschool Journaling WorkbookDeschool your homeschool journaling workbook that aids in your self-exploration, to get clear on how to bring freedom & individualization. $9.99 $5.99 Shop now 1. Your kids’ interests can always be accommodated in your homeschool. Our oldest daughter had a long-time interest in British history. It may have been Usborne books that introduced her to that subject area...
Two guys played in their garage tinkering with computer stuff for years: they became rather successful. Do you know who they are? You’re very possibly holding their Apple product in your hand. Curiosity and education: we know they work hand-in-hand. A good long while ago, there was also a curious artist and scientist who wondered why the shifts in constellations occurred. The church didn’t like his conclusion. In fact, the church government was ready to have this man’s head, literally. If he continued his blasphemy against the Scriptures: because clearly, obviously, the Scriptures declared the Earth was at the center of the Universe. Despite accusations of blasphemy and living under house arrest for the rest of his life, his seemingly questionable theory that the earth was rotating around the sun later became a scientific fact. (As you are aware). Let curiosity reign and education be individualized. Download your Deschool your Homeschool Checklist “If you can imagine it, you can...
Let’s talk about gaps in our kids’ home education. We can homeschool beyond doubt, uncertainty, and that not-good-enough feeling when we get clear on the question, “What makes you question whether your kids’ education isn’t good enough?” So what about gaps in my child’s home education? Download your Deschool your Homeschool Checklist These infamous things called gaps: what even are they? Gaps. * The word suggests there’s something missing.* Someone forgot something.* Someone didn’t catch all the details the first time, the second time, the quadrilionth time.* Someone forgot to share something.* Someone’s missing something. (Or if you’re thinking about the latest fashion trends with reasonable prices, from a place called The Gap, that’s not what we’re talking about today). Straight up, I don’t believe there is an education out there that doesn’t have gaps. It’s not a thing. There are no children anywhere who make it through… * public school, * private school, * tutor...
There are many families who decide to remove their kids from school to bring them home to homeschool. And there are some who always knew they would homeschool. This episode is dedicated to the new(er) homeschool family that is bringing their kiddo home from school. I’m going to share with you my experience transitioning from school to homeschool. But first I want to share Michelle’s experience of overwhelm when she first brought her son home… Michelle brought her kiddo home sometime during the pandemic and she was feeling challenged. I asked her, what do you think your root for overwhelm is? Michelle said, “I think everything! But seriously, almost everything. My house is a mess, I’m worried I’m not doing the best for my son, I’m pretty sure he has some sensory processing issues that I’m trying to navigate on my own. We have no homeschooling friends. And if one more person in my family says the S word! It also doesn’t help that I feel my extended family “quizzes” my son a...
Amy from Saskatchewan asked, “I have all the fears I suspect most moms might have begun their homeschool, but I also have a sense of peace that has replaced my sense of dread when I sent him to school. Do you have any tips?” If I could share a cup of tea with Amy, these would be my first thoughts. Download your Guide for your First Homeschool Year Here’s a beginner’s guide to your first year of homeschool. When my kids were young, our third daughter was just a baby, I was driving our oldest daughter to kindergarten, twice a day to a private school. The kitchen would be a disaster as I backed the minivan out of the attached garage, kids bundled in their snow gear, all three of them, consent forms signed for whatever activities Hannah needed permission for. When I returned from that 45-minute jaunt, I’d come home to a disaster in the kitchen so I’d clean that up and occupy the youngest two. When the kitchen was reasonable, I’d bend down to pull out my second daughter’s learnin...
What are you going to hear on Season #3 of the Homeschool Mama Self-Care Podcast? Season #3 Homeschool Mama Self-Care Podcast is dedicated to the new(er) homeschool mama. If you’ve been homeschooling for just a few years, a few months, or are planning to homeschool in the upcoming fall, then this podcast season is dedicated to you. Download the Deschool your Homeschool Checklist In the season #3 Homeschool Mama Self-Care podcast, I’m going to share with you the most important elements you need to consider before you get started. Or now that you’ve begun to identify how things actually work in your homeschool life, I’ll share the most important elements of the homeschool life that will help you clarify & reorder how you’re doing this homeschool thing. * A Beginner’s Guide to Your First Year of Homeschool* the surprising transition from school to homeschool* What about gaps in my child’s home education?* curiosity and education: how to facilitate it* How to Facilitate Child-Led...
“There is no one way to be a perfect mother–and a million ways to be a good one.”–Jill Churchill Someone shared this quote in a women’s group very early in my parenting years. And I’ve kept it on my fridge ever since. Who knew this parenting thing wouldn’t be a cinch. Get your free Homeschool Mama Mini-Retreat Enter to win the Homeschool Mom Giveaway on Instagram. (This homeschool mom giveaway is for you if you need perspective, inspiration, and a little nurturing.) Turns out the same can be said about homeschooling too: There is no one way to be a perfect homeschool mom–and a million ways to be a good one. I reada lotof parenting books before I had my first baby, so I was set. (You’re giggling,as you should be). When I overheard my two teenage daughters recently speaking about how they will parent someday, I didn’t interject. (I stayed in the room to listen,of course, but I didn’t say a thing.) When one of them suggested that they knew what mom was thinking about their c...