Homeschooling is not school at home!

Now don’t throw stones dear friends who are more traditional. Hear me out.

Old Schoolhouse

When you reach that point you realise you are going to homeschool. Many of us tried (myself included) to reproduce the school atmosphere and teaching methods at home. There really is no need or value in doing that.

First let’s look at the timing of school. School runs from September through June. Schools tend to be 5 days a week up to 8 hours a day. Homeschooling allows you a great deal of variety in this area. You set your homeschooling year, even if your state requires 180 days of instruction. You can and should mark every day homeschooling, field trips, meetings, etc into a log to meet your requirements. That means that you can start your year on August first taking a long Christmas break off. Or school year round with larger breaks through the year. You decide what fits your family that best.Let’s look at the hours per day homeschooling. One on one teaching or even with your family is much more efficient than a large classroom. You will finish teaching a subject in less than 15 minutes usually. The work time may be longer. I don’t give homework regularly. We do our work right there and finish multi subjects with multiple kids at lunch. The rest of the day and weekend is life time.

Second the physical structure of the school room versus home. I won’t argue kids need a solid surface to work with their material. They need a solid, comfortable chair to sit at. Lighting is a must. Your dining room table will suffice for most of that. Have a set place for your child’s work and material like pencils, crayons etc. We had separate desks for the kids at one point, remember I started out with the copy the school idea. Just like in school they became a place to hid things they knew they couldn’t have during learning time, like candy and also a mess! The desks are now my end tables. hee hee

Third the subjects and the time frame the public school gives for learning material. I am aware of the material that a child my child’s age would be learning. I use this as a loose guide to where we might have some weaknesses or a need to cover a certain topic. I do not teach as per the state school objectives. I think they are pale and unexciting. I do have a learning structure to our year but I am not constrained by it. Homeschooling allows us to follow rabbit trails. One year a friend was cleaning out her shelves and gave us an electricity experiment book and package. The kids stopped everything and we worked with that electricity project for over a week. We even got dad in on it showing us how homes were wired and what a series circuit was. Also the time frame for reading, math skills, writing skills etc. is based on an average student, and the needs of a state to push their educational goals. This means it has little to do with your child. If your son doesn’t understand reading in First grade, or Second but he is making progress towards that goal he is still within age norms, but the school would consider this behind.

It may take some time and few months actually homeschooling to get your groove. Stay open to non-traditional ways of learning. Creating an atmosphere in your home that is enriched and comfortable. Homeschool is not a strain on my family rather it has become a foundational piece of why we are so strong. I hope you enjoy your journey!