Real Life Homeschooling

Among the many changes that make their appearance when a new baby comes are changes to our homeschool. No two of my six years of homeschooling have been the same. Despite my tendencies to want to find the "perfect fit" in the way of a schedule and technique, I am learning that the chore charts, the textbooks, the daily schedule- all are buffering agents between one change and the next. . Much like parenting, when it comes to homeschooling there is no one "right" way. There is a sign near my front door that reads, "If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies." I suppose my efforts to bridle the experience of homeschooling and devise one tried and true technique that will carry us from year to year are in vain. But that's not such a bad thing...

I have taken the kids to Apple Hill 3 times in the past 2 weeks. Any bit of guilt I carried for breaking the schedule and leaving on a "school day" dissolved as I realized that this is where true learning takes place. After all, if I deprived my children of the spontaneous opportunities of climbing on hay bails, watching a cider mill in action, meandering among crates of colorful squash, pumpkins, and gourds, feeding farm animals, and enjoying the bounty of the season, I would be an accomplice to the very oppressive, hyper-scheduled, exhausting effect of public school, which is one of the reasons why I kept them home in the first place. Kids who spend 6 hours in school every day, 2 hours in transit, and another 1+ hours on homework do not have the same time and opportunities to develop their talents, enjoy one another, and follow their natural curiosities as I have chosen to give my children through homeschooling. Now, go back and read that sentence carefully. My intent is not to bash public school or make it seem inferior, but to honestly point out that much of my kids' character and all of their talents have been developed through our efforts in homeschooling. My error was in believing that public school can be carried out at home, because it can't.

Textbooks are great, but most of our learning takes place in conversations that are generated from them. I am learning to use textbooks as springboards rather than an absolute. Conversely, this lessens the pressure to complete x amount of assignments in any given day.

Don't get me wrong, I am a firm believer in teaching my kids fundamentals such as Pythagorean Theorem, quadratic equations, Boyle's Law, and how to find the area of a trapezoid, and these aren't things my kids will pick up through playing in the backyard- I get that. For what it's worth, Ashlee scored in the high end of proficient to advanced in all of her last STAR test scores. However, the areas where my children are most accomplished have been a direct result of the free, unstructured time provided them by homeschooling. The countless hours spent playing piano, dancing, crocheting hats, building habitats for bugs and frogs, practicing acrobats on the trampoline, and picking apples to put in our pie have not come through penciled in assignments. I realized today as my children chased each other over hay bails and ran up tractor tires with no hands that this was P.E. While trick-or-treating last night we had a conversation about the waxing and waning of the moon, only to have it re-visited in one of our free reading books today. I love when life aligns itself with our studies to provide invaluable teaching moments like that.

Above all, my kids are safe. In the scheme of things, taking 3 months off to honor the arrival of a new baby will be far less detrimental to my daughter than sending her to 7th grade public school where she will be taught gay history... just saying. I would rather undo the effects of too much computer time than the hurt of being bullied, or the denouncing of religion, or the celebration of a "holiday party" when it's really Christmas.

So now I have a new resolve and it is this: no typical days. The only thing I will schedule into my day is spontaneity (okay, as spontaneous as I can be between the diapers, dishes, and laundry.) My point is this: trying to keep myself from breaking the "schedule" is like trying to keep life from moving forward. If I wanted the same schedule, same routine, same books day in and day out, I would send my kids to public school. But I don't, we homeschool. Teachers have their place and bless them for it; the masses must be educated. But like I told Ashlee, try giving your classroom teacher an infant, throw a toddler in the mix, have her clean and decorate the classroom, then have her be the lunch lady and the janitor and you will appreciate the role I have taken on. Hence my efforts to shift to "real life" homeschooling. The phone will ring, the baby will cry, and just when you've settled into a good history lesson you will be summoned. That is the "home" element of our homeschool. Nevertheless, my children are learning and they are thriving, and they are safe. I never have to wonder about what they did in a day. I believe there is something inspired about the mass immigration towards homeschooling, and it makes my heart smile every time I hear of a new family being called to take this path. The golden nuggets are there if you look for them.

As I sit here now I feel this was more for me than you, but those are my thoughts and I invite you to take them at face value. I don't profess to have it all figured out, but I unapologetically do the best that I can. The world is on a downward spiral and public schools are no exception, and if this is uncomfortable for you maybe it's because you know it too. If ever you have felt the seeds of homeschooling land in your heart, try giving them some fertile soil. You just might be surprised at the fruit you can bear. Which brings me to another sign I have hanging in my kitchen...

With God, All Things Are Possible