A source of anxiety for new homeschooling parents is just how to go about teaching their children and what exactly they are going to teach. What curriculum to order? Whether to use a curriculum at all? What room to use? Do we need uniforms? How will my children respond? How can I teach without qualifications? One most commonly asked question is: "how do I begin?"
The answer is so very simple.
You already have.
How many books have you read to your child? How many times have you helped him/ her to dress and groom? How many little discussions have you had? How much time have you spent together in your home just doing day to day things? Can you even begin to imagine how many words you have spoken to your child, how many emotions you have conveyed or how many times you have just looked with love into those precious young eyes?
The truth is that you were your child's primary teacher from day 1. That is why it is so natural and normal for you to remain the primary educator and why you can do the best for your child.
Learning is a progression - as the child learns, so you too will learn what works for your family and what doesn't. You won't know everything you need to know right away but the journey will teach you.
Homeschooling is a great challenge but also a great adventure, and one that I believe is well worth our undertaking!
Angela of Little Monkey Pouches and Barn Kitchen (boy, is she a busy Mum!) says:
"We homeschool because we feel that we didn't have children for others to raise. If we sent them to school, another adult would essentially be raising our children for 8 hrs a day, and we would get the few waking hours left to instill our values in them - and undo what what instilled in them during those 8 school hours."
Carmen of Natural Linens shares with us a bible reflection that inspires her in her homeschooling journey:
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
The answer is so very simple.
You already have.
How many books have you read to your child? How many times have you helped him/ her to dress and groom? How many little discussions have you had? How much time have you spent together in your home just doing day to day things? Can you even begin to imagine how many words you have spoken to your child, how many emotions you have conveyed or how many times you have just looked with love into those precious young eyes?
The truth is that you were your child's primary teacher from day 1. That is why it is so natural and normal for you to remain the primary educator and why you can do the best for your child.
Learning is a progression - as the child learns, so you too will learn what works for your family and what doesn't. You won't know everything you need to know right away but the journey will teach you.
Homeschooling is a great challenge but also a great adventure, and one that I believe is well worth our undertaking!
Angela of Little Monkey Pouches and Barn Kitchen (boy, is she a busy Mum!) says:
"We homeschool because we feel that we didn't have children for others to raise. If we sent them to school, another adult would essentially be raising our children for 8 hrs a day, and we would get the few waking hours left to instill our values in them - and undo what what instilled in them during those 8 school hours."
Carmen of Natural Linens shares with us a bible reflection that inspires her in her homeschooling journey:
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
3 comments:
Both of the above reasons were also two of our reasons for homeschooling. If you are considering homeschooling your children, the benefits far outweigh the cost.
I love how you pointed out that parents are teaching their children from day 1. That thought never entered my mind until the first few weeks of "doing school at home". It was this very idea that lead us to find ways of homeschooling that better suited our lifestyle. Learning together is so challenging and so rewarding.
Nice article.
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