There are many different ways to educate children, and there is no lack of advice for pursuing an education customized to each child and to your family life. The reality is that every parent is the best teacher for the children that God has entrusted to them. No one else will love them as much and have as much concern for their well-being than the people that have raised them as their own. The most important aspect of a child’s quality of life has little to do with the quality of education, but how strong the relationships are with their close family members.
Read below for our social media roundup of advice and encouragement for every new homeschooler and what we all really need to focus on as we raise our children and guide them in their education.
Homeschool Success...
What comes to mind when you try to define a successful homeschool journey?
That is a concept that looks different for each one of us... as it should be! But I confess that I didn’t always think that way.
See, I loved our school, and I loved my job as a preschool teacher. So naturally, I believed that my job as a homeschool mom was to replicate school at home. But, oh boy was I wrong. It took a lot of crying, reading, praying, reflecting, reevaluating, and receiving encouragement from other moms to realize that I was going about this all wrong.
Just like motherhood, homeschooling doesn’t come with a manual and what may work for one family may not necessarily work for another. I was trying so hard to fit into a box that doesn’t even exist!
So to you mama who’s navigating these waters for the first time, here are a few tips I wish I would’ve followed when I started...
- DO take time to read stories together, paint masterpieces, and go on nature walks.
- DO NOT try to replicate school at home.
- DO find resources that adapt to your child’s learning style and your family’s lifestyle.
- DO NOT try to fit into a curriculum just because it’s pretty or popular.
- DO pray, read books, and connect with others for support and encouragement.
And above all, trust your instincts and know that you can do this! I’m rooting for you mama!
This has been a fun month participating in #hereisourhomeschool challenge hosted by @intentionalhomeschooling. Today we end with best homeschooling tip. I really had to think about this prompt, because there are so many tips and which do you give? Stepping back and thinking what really matters in a child’s education, I really believe it comes down to these 3 things:
- Bible
- Nature
- Living Books
If you’re new to homeschooling, or maybe you’re a couple years in and feeling overwhelmed, take a step back and focus on these 3.
Read the Bible. Daily. The Bible is the richest History book I know of. It’s full of goodness, promises, grace, love, and forgiveness. Focus on reading its words and not a paraphrase. Your children will understand. Don’t underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit to reveal to them its Truth.
Bring your children outside in nature. Let His creation speak to their hearts and minds. Allow them to experience living science first hand. Let them roam and run, discover and explore, create and become friends with nature, and it will give peace to their souls.
Fill your home with living books. Allow them to be captivated by the thoughts and stories of great authors and great poets. Let them fight imaginary battles and win them too.
Accomplishing these three things will bring joy and peace to your homes. You are called to plant seeds in their hearts and trust the Holy Spirit to do the rest. Invest in your family garden by weeding out things that choke the roots, fertilize the soil, and daily water their souls.
You’ve got this mama! God has trusted you with your garden.
Reading is such an important skill. If my kids don’t learn anything else, I’d want them to learn to read and love it! Today these little brown girls got a private author read aloud of “Hello Curls”. Such a great read aloud time today.
How do we know if it's enough?
I have often felt terrible because I've not been consistent or I've forgotten to teach a certain concept. And at the end of the day... I've asked myself... am I doing enough?
But that's not the right question...Ask what is most valuable for your family. That's how you can know. It's not in what someone else can do or someone else's preset standard. Your homeschool is so much more than "school." It's so much more than individual concepts.
It's all about teaching precious children about the important things in life, and training them in the way they should go, and encouraging them in their dreams. Yes, of course we all should be striving to do our best and teach our children what is needful. But so often we beat ourselves up. So, I’m reminding myself and all my fellow homeschoolers... you are enough. What you’ve decided to do for your homeschool is enough as long as it supports your future goals. You’ve got this!
I wore my "Blessed to Be Called Mom" shirt yesterday to the high school graduation party we finally pulled off for our son.
My shirt says it all: I feel so blessed to have been able to homeschool & now graduate all eight of my children.
It's been hard. Very hard. But soooo worth it!
Here's my homeschool veteran advice, but it applies to students in any school setting, I believe:
There are only 3 things vital for children to learn. 1) To read; 2) to do basic math; and 3) to learn the joy of learning. That's all.
The first two are helpful for the third to work easier. The third will insure students are well educated in many subjects -- AND make them lifetime learners.
When I create lessons, I always find myself needing to cut back, reduce, fine tune, so what I *do* end up keeping is quality information that will help me create a picture, a story, of what I am bringing to the children. Every topic, from math to history, I must remind myself, I am not teaching so they can write or recite a thesis of information back to me. I am teaching to create an image of information, a feeling of connectedness to the topic, I'm planting a seed, hopefully impressing upon them a story that will speak to their heart and soul more than their intellectual faculties. Later on in life, whether months or years down the road, they can call on these images, grow their knowledge and draw their own conclusions based on their life experiences.
This way of teaching can be hard! It is so different than mainstream education where we fill children up with facts and reward them when they can accurately recite them back. But, I have seen with my children, lessons that speak to the imagination and feeling, lessons that let them *do* instead of passively learn, those are the ones that they connect with and create that lasting impression on their mind, body and soul.
This article has been written by homeschooling staff writers of The Canadian Schoolhouse (TCS). Enjoy more of our content from TCS contributors and staff writers by visiting our Front Door page that has content on our monthly theme and links to all our content sections.
Read more articles from homeschoolers sharing why they homeschool.
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).