As a teacher, I see firsthand students struggling to keep up, reaching for anything that might help them stay on track with their peers. My biggest fear is that my own children could fall behind, and their teachers—through no fault of their own—might not have the resources or ability to support their progress. Having managed a total of 45 students (including myself – hello self-paced masters program!), I know firsthand that every student learns differently. Some don’t grasp a concept on the first or even second attempt, which can lead to frustration for both the student and the teacher. One of the most important things that I keep going back to is, how do my kids learn and how can I help nurture that learning?
Sophia is a bright girl. She is so excited to learn. Whether it’s at school, or outside with Sam while he changes the oil on the cars, Sophia is right there. I want to nurture that love of learning and transform it into her curiosity for life. I want her to approach everything in life as a lesson and that she can learn from it. Go a “no” at a job interview? Why? We found a double yolked egg! What causes that?
When Sam and I discussed taking the step towards moving and homeschooling our kids, I dove down a rabbit hole of all things homeschooling. What curriculum would potentially be the best, how do I plan my day, etc. There were tons of questions that lead to my investigation of different teaching and learning styles. I also thought, “Oh my goodness, through teaching Sophia math, I might finally understand math!”
The thing I hear the most when I mention homeschooling and what I see other homeschool parents say they hear is “What about socialization?” I truly want to understand if these people think all we do is stay in our houses isolated from the world? If you saw me in school, I wasn’t social. I had 2 friends who I would be with mostly because we had classes together, or in the case of when I was dancing, we danced together so we were around each other for hours on end. Tons of kids in traditional school don’t “socialize” in the way everyone thinks. I don’t plan to keep my kids cooped up in the house all day. There are co-ops, homeschool groups that do field trips, outside learning opportunities that will allow my kids to be around others. Did you know that Sophia doesn’t initiate play with her classmates currently? She will join if asked but she won’t do the asking. She is totally fine playing by herself.
My biggest point in homeschooling our kids is to nurture my children’s love of learning, their curiosity for life, and strengthen their skills for when they become adults and either go to college like I did or go into the trades like Sam. Whatever I can do to make them the most successful, I will do. Welcome to the beginning of my exploration of homeschool and once we make that transition, I will document every step we take! The good, the bad, and the ugly.