Now that I'm a good 8 weeks into my third year of homeschooling, I'm delighted to find myself mellowing out, being more sure of myself, and trusting that children will actually learn even if they don't follow a drill sergeant's lesson plans. I'm happy to be shedding the old, traditional, and conventional ideas I had about education and child-raising. Yes, the two things are connected. I have learned so much about education and child-rearing in these last 2+ yrs
homeschooling because, you know what, the two things are intertwined. You raise
your child and you teach him so much. Of course you need to teach him more than
just life skills, and that is where algebra and chemistry come in, but in the
big picture, real life is a lot more like homeschool than like middle school!
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enjoying a lacing book |
Thanks to my youngest child who is almost 4 yrs old, I witnessed how a little one could become a toddler, then a preschooler and still stay in their home environment and still learn all the stuff they could be learning in a "school". Yes! Colors, shapes, numbers, letters! Songs, games, skills, and compassion. It's rewarding to see the leaps and bounds they make in simple things like how to hold a pencil (or crayon or marker), how to coordinate their hands with their body, and how to recognize letters. Their ability to memorize is freakishly strong. Fill their heads with words and verses that you want to hear them repeating.
I know there are so, so many different family dynamics and needs all around the world. Culture, work, relationships, and other factors all affect the decision that goes into how little ones are cared for. There is no one right way. Thankfully I am able to use many resources I've been blessed to have at my disposal.
I'm hoping this 'natural feeling' to our method will help our children feel like they are living their life rather than stressing over the next grade level. Do you remember being told in 4th grade to just wait and see the work you'll have to do in 5th grade? Or being prepared by your guidance counselor for Junior High? And then in junior high being in awe of the high schoolers while being in stress of the tales of academics? It continues until you're at the end of college typing up a resume wondering what to do next. I (possibly naively) think that a different grooming up through those years could possibly have a better end result. That by living life and having a natural childhood (yes, protected from issues that are not age-appropriate) a young person might be more well adjusted and ready to join the real world which, as I said earlier, looks a lot more like homeschool than middle school.
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