I can honestly say that over the past year or so, homeschooling (as it were) has been the furthest thing from my mind. You’d be incorrect to assume that the children didn’t learn anything or weren’t taught anything though. Lack of “school” does not equal lack of learning.
I read or skim far too many posts about planning, angsting, second-guessing, decision-making and the like from many homeschoolers. In the end, the kids learn stuff anyway. That’s the biggest thing the last few years have taught me, and now I don’t really do anything but let that knowledge wash over me. Melissa coined the phrase tidal homeschooling and in many ways it seems the tide has been out here for some time. Looking deeper, you;d see that despite that, things are moving along. I just no longer worry about it I guess. It just *is*.
Maybe this nonchalance about the whole thing led to the following conversation Emma and I had at the library.
Me: “Do you want to get more story books and easy readers?”
Emma: “No. I want to learn stuff. I want to learn about.. .OCEANS!”
Me: “Okay.”
Emma: “Mommy? Am I in grade one yet?”
Me: “You wanna be in grade one?”
Emma nods anxiously.
Me, shrugging: “Okay, fine, you’re in grade one.”
Emma BEAMS. Then she heads to the desk and flags down a librarian, “Excuse me, can you show me where the books about oceans are?”
Meaghan asked me recently when kids here start school. It’s earlier than the rest of the province because it all centers around the potato harvest. She’s planning on starting next week, and to that end went around the house gathering books she wants to read and study. No word from me beforehand, this was all on her own. She is almost done reading the entire Harry Potter series all the way through from start to finish. Again. this is how she “does school”, which may not be how you pictured it or how others do it, but it works for us, so we run with it.
There’s all sorts of other things going on in the background, things that the kids are involved with that don’t look anything like school but will eventually help them become independant adults. And to us, that’s what matters.
Wow, I really really wish I could adopt that attitude.
Sounds really quite familiar.
You’ve been at this a long time, though. I seem to recall that you weren’t this laid back when Addison was 6.
I’m starting to get into a rhythm now. I worry much less. But I am doing a bunch of planning today. Mostly because we are going to be in Europe with little access to english language books unless we bring them. And because Tigger has already told me some of what she’d like to learn about. So I’m looking for good books to bring with us. Hopefully by the time she is Meghan’s age, she can do all that planning herself.
Actually, when Addison was 6 we had just started and didn’t know *anything* really. All we knew was that the program the Christian school used could also be used at home so that’s what we did.
took a few years to clue in to other ways and that we didn’t have to do it that way. Seriously, at that time nobody homeschooled.
Or you could say it has taken me this long to figure all that out.
we live parallel lives in many ways. I bought “school at home” for Ben when he was 5. Never since. We unschooled from then on, well other than his couple years in school (that HE chose). It fits us. Katie has opted for “book larnin’” this year. oughta be interesting. I’m buying books for her and sitting back wondering how this will all play out. I think we’ll have fun.
learning happens. It just does. Even if you tried to keep it from happening, it still would happen.
Now you have me thinking of a blog entry……
If only 5% of school-aged kids today turned out like yours it would be a more polite,considerate,knowledgeable and empathetic world to live in besides being beautiful ( but then again I may be a bit biased)
I wish we could be more laid back – I suppose part of the problem is lack of role models, as we don’t really know any adults who weren’t processed through the school system. Am hoping that we’ll gradually grow into it as well.
Well, the first blogger I ever met, and coincidentally who got me in to blogging homeschooled her kids. She told me she didn’t really talk about homeschooling on her blog that much though, because to them homeschooling was really just living, so they talked about their lives. I think that is that place you are at. I am aspiring to be that way but fear my worrywartness will never quite allow that, even if the reality turns out to be like yours, which it usually does after the first 2 or 3 waves in September!
Do you think having kids who read already makes a difference in your ability to relax and not think about it anymore? Just curious. We unschool, but I still start thinking about new stuff we might like to do together when summer plans are done, books or science kits I might want to buy or find at the library, etc. Since mine aren’t readers yet, I feel like I have to do a little extra strewing.