Our Homeschooling Experience

There's no better time to start homeschooling than right now, the second best time is at birth. We made the decision to homeschool before our daughter was even born. My husband had attended public school his entire life and I had experienced homeschooling, private school, and public school. With our combined experiences we knew we wanted to give our daughter the gift of home education. The ability to gain a better understanding of each subject, the benefit of experiencing things hands-on rather than reading about them in a classroom. We both knew the best way to learn anything is by experiencing it firsthand.

To us, successful home schooling requires 100% commitment from the parent. Your whole existence and involvement with your child needs to be a meaningful, present, educational one.

As a baby we made sure to have deep meaningful conversations on a wide variety of subjects every day around her. Children learn best through listening and doing(as do most people). They are capable of comprehending so much more than most give them credit for. Something as simple as playing Barbies can be turned into a learning experience in some fun and exciting way.

We watched educational documentaries and thought-provoking movies. Then went on to discuss these topics in our every day lives.

The Wild Kratts was always a favorite.

Our structured homeschooling began at age 5 where we adhered to a strict curriculum for four years. We wanted to make sure our child had a strong foundation in preparation for when we would eventually transition into a more child lead direction. It's because of this strong foundation of the fundamentals I feel we are able to successfully allow our 11y/o to lead in their education.

Allowing children to lead in their education can sound extremely daunting and impossible to some. Most find their children begin to enjoy "school" and retain more information. Let's face it, we all have sat and read the same paragraph over and over only to realize you still can't recall what is was about. We all have off days and our children are no different. It allows them to listen to their bodies, and to rest when needed. Child led learning(CLL) never means a child has the choice not to learn. It simply means the individual has the ability to choose which subjects they would like to focus on(while still doing the others)and on their schedule. Many set larger long term goals rather than short day to day goals.

(For example: I would like to have lessons 25-35 complete by the end of the month)

When one has a passion for which they are learning they will do it to the best of their abilities and thrive within that area. "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

As parents it's our job to encourage and answer all questions, and if we don't know the answer, look it up and find the answer together. We never stop learning and it's important that your child understands that as well. If we stay hungry for knowledge as parents our children will mirror our actions.