This one has been a very inspired blog to write. This subject, "school at home" has been popping up everywhere and I going to share my thoughts on it. Feel free to comment or discuss...
When I first began homeschooling I went with what I knew. Chris and I ordered the best workbooks and textbooks from a top christian academy. I set my front room up to look like a kindergarten classroom. I implemented everything that I could remember happening in school. I liken it to when I stepped out of the institutional church. I tried to stick to my bible reading, praise and worship, and listening to sermons online on Sunday mornings.
I knew that the institution (both school and church) were not for my family, but I didn't know what was. So I did what I knew, at home.
The familiar model makes us feel more comfortable, secure in our decision, and perhaps a little more legitimate.
For some families this style works marvelously. Kids and parents thrive and home education is just what it's supposed to be - a nurturing, relevant, and creative education. For most, school at home is only a launching point, a place to start down a familiar road. Not many families I have met in the last 3 years do it this way. They move on to other styles that fit them better.
Since school at home imitates the public school system, it still carries the same issues and downsides that regular school does.
It all changed for me when I noticed Ben's joy for learning was withering away. He went from loving to do his workbooks and playing school, to seeing them as boring. He had just turned 5 and was beginning to see school as something to "get through" so he could get to the fun stuff in life. I began to ask myself some serious questions: Is he looking forward to what we do? Does he approach his work with reluctance or enthusiasm? Is learning exciting and natural or is it becoming a chore?
We were unhappy. All my dreams of having a nice little classroom at home were fading. In it's place my child was finding learning boring and that was simply not acceptable to me. What's the use of teaching my kids how to find and explore valuable information if they find it too boring to ever use it? I wanted them to not only be prepared for Harvard, Yale, or Brown. More importantly, I wanted them to be excited about the world that we live in. I wanted them to think for themselves AND to appreciate the classics... great books of the past, beautiful works of the symphony, a real understanding of the human race, where we come from, what makes the tree frog so colorful. I wanted to have my 6 year old search so in depth about a topic that at the library he goes right for the adult shelves(instead of the children's) because they have the "real" information in them. I didn't want him learning from dumbed down twaddle that this pricey, top notch curriculum was feeding him.
I was bored so I knew he had to be.
What this meant was that our family did not thrive under the institutional method. Some families do, but not very many. I realized that if my kids were in school they may be diagnosed with a host of learning disabilities to disguise the fact that they don't learn well in the institution of school. At home we can see that they just learn better using different models.
My boys are very hands on. They like to take one topic and bleed it dry. They don't like to do the typical "school" spiral method of learning a little more each year. They want to take a subject they like and sink deep into it. And they have the freedom to do so at home.
When we first began doing this I worried that they may not be up to par with what the kids are learning at school, but they are. They pass tests with flying colors. I don't need to give them tests because when I have conversations with them I know what they learned and what they didn't. But we do the monkey dance for the state at the end of the year and guess what, they do great!
The beginning of homeschooling is trial and error. Try a book, a curriculum, a field trip, a game and it works; the next one doesn't. That is normal and part of the learning process. School at home was our first step. I am now not so surprised that it was far from our last step. Just like when I cook an exciting new meal, take a vacation in a beautiful new place, or move to another city for a church that blows my mind, I have also realized that there are more fascinating and appropriate ways to homeschool than just bringing school home!
Thanks for reading!
Love,
Jackie
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