Dear Brand New Homeschool Parent,
As you get started with homeschool you are going to hear a lot of opinions and advice from so called 'experts' and other homeschoolers. The most important thing to remember is that YOU are the expert on your child(ren) and YOU are the one Heavenly Father sent your child(ren) to. That entitles YOU to make decisions and receive inspiration for their education. As one of those homeschoolers I'll gladly share what has worked for us and what I think may be helpful to you in starting.
First of all, I
think a really good first step is to ask yourself what your goals are with
homeschooling. What are your reasons and
what do you hope to accomplish? Knowing
your end goal will keep you heading in the right direction when you're sorting
through ideas. The way I approach our
school time is a result from asking myself this question. My personal goals in homeschooling are in
this order:
1. Raise children who have testimonies of the Gospel and
live it.
2. Raise children who have strong family relationships.
3. Raise children who know how to work.
4. Raise children who love learning.
2. Raise children who have strong family relationships.
3. Raise children who know how to work.
4. Raise children who love learning.
You'll notice that my LAST goal addresses academics and it
isn't to see my kids get good grades or become math wizards. I was always a good student as far as grades
went, but never loved learning until I was in college and consequently never
learned much until then. So when we get
to the academic part I focus on keeping it inspired for all of us. I want them to love it from the start.
These goals manage how I approach each day. First of all, we have a family
devotional. If nothing else gets done,
that should in my mind. If we are not
getting along, being kind, etc. that is addressed before we move into our academic
time, and we will stop those activities to readdress family relationships as
needed. I also place snuggle time higher
on my priority list than academics. When
life gets hectic and we haven't been feeling very harmonious, we will have
snuggle days instead of school days.
Work gets placed before academics as needed. Mostly the kids have regular chores that
they do after school time each day, but I would rather see them learn to work
hard than spell correctly so it comes first as needed especially when we have
family work projects. This is a glimpse
of how I prioritize that list. It keeps
us on track.
Second, I think
creating a simple schedule is the next most helpful thing. Set aside a few hours at the same time each day
that you are going to give your child(ren) your undivided
attention. Then choose a few things to
work on each day. Keep it VERY
simple. This year our schedule was:
-Family Devotional
-Learning to Read time (as long as their attention spans held out)
-Math time (no set time, just a simple lesson)
-Learning Activity time (this was whatever I felt like each day and usually just one: a craft, science experiment, penpal letters, cooking together, etc.)
-Read Out Loud time (again no set time, but this is when I would read out loud to the kids)
-Learning to Read time (as long as their attention spans held out)
-Math time (no set time, just a simple lesson)
-Learning Activity time (this was whatever I felt like each day and usually just one: a craft, science experiment, penpal letters, cooking together, etc.)
-Read Out Loud time (again no set time, but this is when I would read out loud to the kids)
When we first started homeschooling we only had family
devotional, a learning activity, and read out loud time. It was enough to get us started and once I
was comfortable with it, it was easy to add in things. Next year our schedule will be very similar
to this year except we won't have learning to read time anymore because my oldest two are now fluent readers and the next two aren't old enough yet.
Here I'll point out that you don't have to do everything the
public school does. You don't have to
have all the subjects and busywork that they have. You have the advantage of working one on one
with your child(ren) and going at their speed and their attention span. Most worksheets are just busy work and a
waste of time. If they aren't really learning
from something, it isn't worth forcing them to do it.
Third, once you
have goals and a simple schedule, focus on keeping it inspiring. If they're giving a lot of push
back they probably aren't learning much. If
you're hating it, there is something that can change. Intelligence comes from God as the scriptures
say and as such brings happiness. There
is a certain amount of pressure that is right for each kid, so I'm not saying
don't apply pressure. I am saying keep
it at the right level. Learn about
things they are interested in. Learn about
things you are interested in because your enthusiasm will be contagious. Be willing to go slower than the world says
is necessary if that is what really works.
Be willing to skip assignments that really won't be beneficial or jump
around in the textbook (if you're using a textbook...we aren't). Don't
turn school into a checklist, and it will be much more enjoyable and they'll
learn so much more.
Again, remember that you are the expert on your child. One of the hardest things about homeschooling
is worrying if your child is measuring up and if you're doing enough. However, the world really has no idea what
your child needs and it's important to tell yourself that all the time. Ignore the pressures around you so you can
receive the inspiration that is sure to come.
When we started homeschooling, I had no idea what to teach, but I knew
what my goals were and we were sticking to our simple schedule. I was diligent with giving the kids that much
of my undivided attention and that was what opened the way for
inspiration. I simply knew when it was
time to add things in and when the kids were ready for new things because the
Lord was helping me. It continues to
be that way.
Fourth, be choosy
about curriculum and possibly wait to buy any.
It can be very expensive and then if it doesn't fit your style and their
needs, it can be a frustrating waste of money.
Every homeschooler I know has stories of jumping around between
curriculums. Right now, I only use curriculum for
math, and I waited until just a few months ago to purchase it when I was sure I
knew what I wanted. I'm so glad I waited
because I would have ended up with something totally unsuited to my kids' needs
and my teaching style. As for other
subject areas I'm finding we can learn without curriculum. I taught the kids to reading by simply
sounding things out phonetically, and they are learning to write through penpal
letters, art projects, and games. They
are learning spelling and grammar through reading. We learn science and history by choosing
library books on those topics that interest us. I wrote a blog post on this very thing
recently:
If you're interested in looking at our math curriculum, I'm happy to recommend it. I did find
it difficult to teach math without a curriculum, not because I don't understand
math, but because there are so many different concepts that I didn't know what
I was missing without some guidance. My
curriculum is very different than most because it isn't organized by grade
level. Rather there are only four books
that teach all the way to pre-algebra.
One book is on money and decimals, another on geometry, another on
fractions, and another on operations (addition, subtraction, etc.). I love it because once my kids understand a
concept they can move right onto the next without having to wade through hundreds
of problems on the same thing. On the
inverse, if a concept is difficult they can spend as much time on it as they
need to while still progressing in the other areas. My kids aren't at just one grade level for
math; Logan is way ahead for operations, possibly behind in geometry, and
probably right at grade level for the other concepts. I love that he can work on things as he
understands them without worrying about if he's getting it all done. You can look at it online here:
Last, if anything
I've said here has resonated with you, I HIGHLY recommend reading A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver
DeMille. (I get nothing from recommended this; I just think it's worthwhile.) We
stumbled on this when Logan was preschool age and it completely changed the way
I looked at homeschool. It was a
LIFESAVER because it showed me how we could homeschool without the battles a lot of
homeschool parents have. It's not a
homeschool how-to book, but rather a method that helps parents see how they can
do this in a more natural way than forced task managing. It also seeks to help parents give their
children the kind of quality education our founding fathers had, hence the
title. It is the reason I have so much
fun doing school with my kids and why I think they've been able to learn in
such leaps and bounds. I consider myself
lucky because I think I have a much easier and enjoyable time schooling my
children than just about anybody I know.
It's a really short easy read and is available at some libraries. It's inexpensive to purchase online as well.
Also, here are the links to a couple of other blog posts I
wrote that may be helpful. The first is another I wrote specifically to anyone who was thinking about homeschooling for the
first time; I said some of the same things, but mostly it's different. The second is just a
description of what a typical day looked like for us last fall.
Sincerely,
A Homeschool Mom Who Loves It
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