This isn’t a novel or a brilliant idea. This is the simple, back-to-basics, return to exploration. You see, as I’ve completed a month and a half of homeschooling, I have come to the realization that I am teaching in a way that clashes with my own educational philosophy.
My teaching style has evolved from following the child’s lead to… here are your workbooks, let’s stare at this paper until we/you figure it out and/or have it memorized. I have become the educator I didn’t want to be, the educator I was afraid of my child encountering in school. How did this happen?
Inexperience
People assume that with an early childhood diploma, I would do a wonderful job teaching my children. However, following and meeting curriculum standards was an overwhelming idea for me. What do I do if I don’t know what I’m doing? I have these curriculum tools I need to use, aren’t I supposed to do every single activity from the materials I’m using?
Insecurity
I want my child to get the same education as the children in the conventional school system. How can I do that if I don’t follow every single aspect of the entire curriculum? What way is the “right” way? Unschooled, Waldorf, unit studies, multiple intelligences, school at home, child-directed, classical homeschooling… there’s so many choices! What if “my way” isn’t good enough? What if others look at what I’m doing and say, “Where’s the learning in THAT?”
Time
It takes time to plan out a homeschool curriculum. I was already feeling overwhelmed by the fact that it took 3 hours a week just to prep the basic materials for the week’s lessons! How am I supposed to think out of the box and try new approaches if the basics are so time consuming?
The Epiphany
Last week I sat at the table with my daughter and as she filled out her ninth worksheet. I remember in that moment, thinking, I’m bored…. this is boring.
Woah!
If this is boring for me it must be kind of boring for my daughter. Now don’t get me wrong… she LOVES doing worksheets and quite frankly if she didn’t love them, I think I would have had this epiphany much earlier. At that moment I felt an urgency to make a change, so we closed up the books and went for a nature walk.
We spent two hours gathering leaves.
We collected rocks.
We encountered little critters.
We hiked through paths…
… and enjoyed the scenery.
After we returned home the learning flowed into our day. We sorted leaves, tried to identify which trees they came from, researched chipmunks on the internet, made collages, and discussed the beauty of the river valley that runs through our city.
The simple act of a nature walk changed the way I looked at our homeschool experience. I realized that our classroom extends beyond the kitchen table. It isn’t confined to textbooks or worksheets. It trickles through our everyday encounters, our community, and the ebb and flow of nature.
I’ve had a radical transformation in thinking. Fortunately it came early in the year. We are shifting gears and making changes. I look forward to sharing our explorations with you.
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Yay! This sounds wonderful! Good for you!
Thanks Sanz! I’m pretty excited. Even though I know it will be a lot of “work”, I am certain the experience will be worth it!
How awesome that you had this epiphany so early in your homeschooling journey. :-) I’m definitely going to have to turn to you for advice once I am homeschooling my own kiddos. :-)
I do feel blessed that this epiphany came as early as it did. Hopefully by the time you’re ready to homeschool, I’ll be some stable source of support/mentorship.
I get the “oh, but you’re already a teacher” comment all the time. People assume that makes my role as home educator easier. In the beginning, I found that to be the exact opposite. I had to de-school myself so I could give my kids the education I want them to have. And, even now – 12 years in – I still find that I have to remind myself that I can do this “our” way – and that makes it the “right” way – for us!
It’s such a relief when I hear other homeschooling parents sharing their stories, learnings, and epiphanies. Thanks for sharing… it’s always nice to know you’re not alone.
That’s my favorite thing about homeschooling – you can take the education outside to nature! It seems like the learning never ends which is also great. I don’t have any kids yet so haven’t had to make a decision to homeschool or not, but I definitely respect those who do homeschool!
Nature teaches us so much! I learn so much just from visiting your blog and hearing about your chickens! It’s amazing.
I’m struggling with this myself, with my middle school daughter, but with the looming fear of high school transcripts/college entrance anxiety. What we are doing now, in month four, is not fun nor enjoyable for either of us right now.
Oh I can only imagine how much more challenging it becomes as the academic requirements increase.
You’re right, the classroom does go beyond the kitchen table and computer. Getting outside and learning from our surroundings is so valuable. I’m envious that you homeschool your girls. You’re doing a fabulous job Jennifer!
xoxo
Awww Tiffany, thanks so much for the words of encouragement. It’s such an interesting journey. As challenging as it is, it is so rewarding.
xoxo
Bravo! I never considered homeschooling until reading your blog. I was home schooled for a couple of years and I knew of other people growing up who were home schooled and I didn’t have a high opinion of it. But seeing how you engage your daughters has skewed my thoughts and I see it entirely differently now. I applaud the care and detail you put into your lessons and the daily curriculum. Your daughters are going to be well rounded and completely up to par with their peers. As an outsider who has nothing to gain from saying so, you deserve to hear it!
Thank you so much. It’s so nice to get that voice of encouragement every once in a while. I appreciate you taking the time to give me that “boost”.
xoxo
It took us about 8 weeks to really get comfortable with homeschooling. This is our first year too and our daughter is in 3rd grade. The hardest part for me was letting go of the idea of the traditional school format. Then my friend Denise (pearmama.com) who has been homeschooling her 6 kids for many years told me this, “Remember, homeschooling isn’t a mad dash to graduation, to see whose kid is the smartest. It’s a way for you to enjoy the process of your child’s learning. “. That really really hit home and changed my view. Once I realized this it made things so much easier! Good luck!
Such lovely advice. I’m always on the lookout for fellow homeschooling bloggers. Thank you for sharing and connecting!
I totally understand how you feel! It absolutely can be challenging! We just unschool now, and I think it makes things easier on everyone in our family and more enjoyable.
I love seeing/hearing how others approach their homeschooling. I’m so glad we connected through our blogs!
read and voted, hope you figure out a perfect way to home school your children, most parents and teachers never have that epiphany and they never make changes or slight adjustments to make things interesting again.
Thank you Gabriel. It’s work and it will take time but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. I have a feeling it will be a process that will be always changing.
I’ve been looking into homeschooling more and more. Madison is going to be 2 and I would prefer to not have her in the public school system. I love the photos and the fact that you’re learning even while outdoors. I’m sure the kids had fun.
The fact that you recognized that something wasn’t right and did something about it shows that you are a great mama for homeschooling, and no-doubt you’ll be more aware of the “boring” factor in the future. The pictures of your outdoors exploring were fun – must have been a blast for the kids!
So much learning separate from worksheets. Love it.
I have several friends who teach and being constricted with the standards and state curriculum really hamstrings them some. So I think that’s at every level. But too cool that you got out and did some teaching in nature. That’s totally a cool thing.
Hi Jennifer, l find learning more about home-schooling really interesting and enjoyed your post. Whilst l’m not home schooling my daughter, l am interested in teaching her things whilst she is at home, like after school or on the weekends. I want to teach her more than just recapping on what she’s learning at school….but more about the world around us and in particular about the environment. That’s so important to me, and something l don’t think she’s going to pick up on at school.
Oh my goodness–it seems like we are on the same journey! I have gone through such a similar path homeschooling first grade this year. After reading this, I took Zia on a nature walk–so good. It really does center you and help keep learning in perspective.