I have taught high school biology for 12 years of my life before I made the jump to homeschooling my own kids. I absolutely loved it. I loved inspiring young people and growing their love of the sciences. I look back on those years with a profound fondness of what I accomplished as an educator and homeschooling really doesn’t change that.
Teaching in a classroom of 30 and many times 35 students is very…VERY different from homeschooling. There is a tendency for all of us who have been educated or taught in a traditional school to homeschool like a traditional school. But we quickly learn that our kids aren’t happy, we aren’t happy, and this isn’t really working for us. Learning to homeschool has been a process of unlearning for me. I can’t teach my kids like I taught 30+ high schoolers because it isn’t the same thing. Here are a few things I have learned and unlearned on this journey.
What you do with one kid doesn’t have to be what you do with all your kids.
My kids are super different. Rylan is a studious human who is a teacher's dream. She learns quickly, has great focus, and is highly independent. Tegan on the other hand is squirrely, easily distracted, and needs extra time to learn something. When Tegan was in school we literally had a conversation with his teacher about Tegan making dinosaur noises in class. It was becoming a problem and we had a serious conversation about how making noise can impact others. For real, I had to ask him to stop making dinosaur noises in class. These struggles are still the same at home…I just bought Rylan noise cancelling headphones. So I teach them totally different. Rylan does a great job tackling her school work. She often likes to get it all done before she wants to take a break. I can have her skip content or move quickly through something. With Tegan I have to be more hands on and give more breaks. He isn’t successful if we try to do all subjects in a day. He is successful if we do two or three that day and sometimes one or none. He needs more time with things, so I give him all the time he needs. At first it was hard for me because I wanted him to progress faster, but that isn’t him, and learning this about him and accepting this has been a super important life lesson for me.
You have freedom…USE IT!
It has taken me some time to realize that I could do whatever the hell I want when it comes to educating my kids. At first I tried to have us do all core subjects at home, at the table, with a schedule. This of course did not work out well. We don’t have a schedule any more, we let things that interest us drive us. If they are interested in rocks, we study rocks. If they want to know how something is made we go to the place and find out how it is made. We use everything to learn about something. When your kids are in school you can’t just pack them up and head to Mesa Verde to learn about the indigenous people who are part of your state's history, but when you homeschool you can! Use it! Go to all the things, do all the things, and learn all the things. The learning environment is everywhere and to be honest at home at the kitchen table is not always where it comes to life.
You don’t have to be one kind of homeschooler
When I first started homeschooling I bought a curriculum that was Waldorf inspired. I really got into it. I bought the bees wax crayons, the blank paged notebooks, the scarves! I really loved all the things, but some parts were not my thing. Waldorf, Charlotte Mason, Unschooling, Wild and Free, AHHHHHHHH! It was really overwhelming. I am an “all in person” and for me I was ready to go all in ,but on all of it! So I had to work hard to let what moves me, move me. I love stuff about all these things so I take what I want and I leave what I want. I have leaned into the idea of being an eclectic homeschooler, who is always evolving, learning something new and then doing it differently. One podcast I have loved that has inspired me to just do me has been Homeschool Unrefined. This is a great podcast by two homeschool parents who are so encouraging and inspires you to be kinder to yourself. If you haven’t listened, go check them out!
These last two years I have learned a lot about what each of my kids need, how to use the freedom this has given us, and not being tempted to feel like a failure just because you prescribe to all of it. But, the biggest thing I think I have learned, is that in the classroom or at home my teaching philosophy hasn’t changed. My goal is to cultivate lifelong learners. I just want my kids to be curious, love learning something new, and let those things impact their worldview. If I can do that, then we all win.
コメント