We’re just starting our third year of homeschooling, so I’m still very much in the gee-I-really-hope-I-know-what-I’m-doing phase. I have found that I keep having these mini-epiphanies about my own education and applying them to my students. Today I’m sharing 3 lessons every homeschooling mama needs to learn.
1. Teach the child you have.
Sometimes my ideas about the way I want to teach are not the same as the way they need me to teach. My oldest child and my middle child are the best of friends, but also total opposites in so many ways. One is all about assignment lists and folders and calendars and having a workbook or printout in front of her. The other needs way more free time and hands-on activities and learning through play. I’m so much more like my older one in this respect, but I must be cognizant that my younger one has her own style and I need to encourage her in different ways.
2. Everything happens in its own time.
Believe it or not, there is no rush to learn . . . anything. It doesn’t matter if “all” first graders are doing xyz, or if someone declares students must be able to [fill in the blank with a random skill] by a certain age. Some subjects that I would love to explore with them they simply don’t have an interest in (yet). I don’t worry about them falling behind or missing out. Education is not a race.They have their whole lives to explore; I’m just a temporary tour guide.
3. There is no magic formula…
to the order of how concepts are taught in school. Yes, there is some degree of building on earlier skills, but with most things it doesn’t really matter. You don’t have to teach magnets in first grade, fractions in second grade, and cursivein third. If your five-year-old is reading earlychapter books, you probably don’t need to backtrack and make her do phonics worksheets. If your seven-year-old wants to learn to multiply and divide before mastering addition with carrying, by all means, go for it. The best laid plans are no match for your child’s natural curiosity.
What lessons have you learned on your journey as a homeschooling parent?
* This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. * Yearning for the educational freedom to explore your interests, talents, and passions? Oak Meadow offers experiential, progressive curriculum for kindergarten through grade 12. And each grade or course includes a teacher’s manual with 36 weekly lesson plans that cover all subject areas and include…
* This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. * Welcome to the Hip Homeschool Hop! Thank you for joining us! Looking to meet like-minded Homeschooling Moms? Stop by and browse through our Ultimate Homeschool Blogroll, and add your page if you aren’t already listed there! Now, on to the HOP……
* This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. * Link up your giveaways with Hip Homeschool Moms today – it’s Giveaway Day! If you are linking up a giveaway, be sure to first read our link-up guidelines HERE! *** PLEASE NOTE *** Giveaway sites that do not link back to Hip Homeschool Moms in…
* This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. * We homeschool year round. This approach has provided us with a much more relaxed homeschool environment and offers us the time and opportunity to really immerse ourselves in the subject we are studying. One of my absolute favorite subjects to immerse in is Botany….
* This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. * It’s a Hip & Hoppin’ Tuesday! Ready for today’s hop?? Looking to meet like-minded Homeschooling Moms? Stop by and browse through our Ultimate Homeschool Blogroll, and add your page if you aren’t already listed there! Now, on to the HOP… Don’t forget to…
* This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. * If it’s cold and snowing in your part of the country (or even if it’s not!), you and your children will enjoy making and using these DIY Snowflake Stamps! Whether your children are younger or older, you can enjoy making and using these stamps…
Hi Valerie, i also have two daughters who are as you described: best of friends with different personalities. But i resemble the younger one more, so I need to make an effort to be organized, have lists and calendars and files! Thank you for extending grace to us moms just starting out on this hs journey. It helps to know order doesn’t matter so ling as we are all life-long learners! 🙂
Regards
Janet
Oh my gosh, I needed to hear this! I think it’s easy for me to do, but ti gets harder when other people start prying into homeschool life… if that makes sense!
I am gathering my materials to start hs my 2 daughters(7.5&2.5), I am leaning towards eclectic but with so many options out there, I am afraid I’m gonna make the wrong choice. Thank you for this blog, it helps me see that it doesn’t have to be perfect and I don’t have to be perfect to teach my girls
Sara, I’m so glad our site has helped you! You are absolutely right! You don’t need to try to be perfect to homeschool! We all feel like we need to be perfect and do everything perfectly well, but we forget that school teachers are just normal people too. And we homeschooling moms have an advantage because we love our children in a way that even the best school teacher can’t. Blessings to you and your girls as you homeschool!
The more research you do into finding the “perfect” curriculum, the more you’ll discover there is no such thing as the “perfect” curriculum. You might find one publisher you like for phonics, but a different publisher for math. Maybe one company you’ll like for some areas of science, but not all. You might buy one curriculum, thinking it’s going to be good, but realize after a while that it’s just not what you had in mind, or that your kids just aren’t connecting with it like you’d hoped. Don’t be afraid to switch curriculums mid year, it’s okay! Give yourself grace, especially the first few years, to get to know your kids’ learning styles, interests, weaknesses, etc. Also, learn YOUR teaching style, weaknesses, interests, etc. I’m finding that as I homeschool my kids, I’m also learning a lot about myself.
I have six children, with the oldest being 16 years old. We have home-schooled from the beginning, but I still feel like a novice in many ways. One thing that stands out to me is that your children will generally learn to love what you love. I, for example, love good books (“whole books”) and we spend a lot of time reading together. Now the kids read extensively and learn things on their own all the time. I don’t like worksheets, schedules and records, so we have been weaker in the organization area. I must exert myself to overcome my own weakness. But in a sense, this is an answer to prayer since I asked God to make me more like Jesus. As I bring my weaknesses to Him, God delights in showing himself strong.
Thank you for that.
Hi Valerie, i also have two daughters who are as you described: best of friends with different personalities. But i resemble the younger one more, so I need to make an effort to be organized, have lists and calendars and files! Thank you for extending grace to us moms just starting out on this hs journey. It helps to know order doesn’t matter so ling as we are all life-long learners! 🙂
Regards
Janet
Oh my gosh, I needed to hear this! I think it’s easy for me to do, but ti gets harder when other people start prying into homeschool life… if that makes sense!
I am gathering my materials to start hs my 2 daughters(7.5&2.5), I am leaning towards eclectic but with so many options out there, I am afraid I’m gonna make the wrong choice. Thank you for this blog, it helps me see that it doesn’t have to be perfect and I don’t have to be perfect to teach my girls
Sara, I’m so glad our site has helped you! You are absolutely right! You don’t need to try to be perfect to homeschool! We all feel like we need to be perfect and do everything perfectly well, but we forget that school teachers are just normal people too. And we homeschooling moms have an advantage because we love our children in a way that even the best school teacher can’t. Blessings to you and your girls as you homeschool!
The more research you do into finding the “perfect” curriculum, the more you’ll discover there is no such thing as the “perfect” curriculum. You might find one publisher you like for phonics, but a different publisher for math. Maybe one company you’ll like for some areas of science, but not all. You might buy one curriculum, thinking it’s going to be good, but realize after a while that it’s just not what you had in mind, or that your kids just aren’t connecting with it like you’d hoped. Don’t be afraid to switch curriculums mid year, it’s okay! Give yourself grace, especially the first few years, to get to know your kids’ learning styles, interests, weaknesses, etc. Also, learn YOUR teaching style, weaknesses, interests, etc. I’m finding that as I homeschool my kids, I’m also learning a lot about myself.
I have six children, with the oldest being 16 years old. We have home-schooled from the beginning, but I still feel like a novice in many ways. One thing that stands out to me is that your children will generally learn to love what you love. I, for example, love good books (“whole books”) and we spend a lot of time reading together. Now the kids read extensively and learn things on their own all the time. I don’t like worksheets, schedules and records, so we have been weaker in the organization area. I must exert myself to overcome my own weakness. But in a sense, this is an answer to prayer since I asked God to make me more like Jesus. As I bring my weaknesses to Him, God delights in showing himself strong.