So, as most of y'all probably know, I'm homeschooled. It hasn't always been that way though. I started back in kindergarten at a small Christian school our church had and, for all I knew, it was always going to be that way. But then Covid happened (that's how alot of stories from recent years go, huh? :P). We finished that year doing work at home through the Christian school, but then they announced that they were closing the school permanently for various reasons. So I started ninth grade as an independent homeschooler, and it's been that way ever since! (Isn't it amazing how God can change things so quickly?) There are things I miss about our little school, but, even just looking back over the past three years, I know I have learned so much. God has used (and is using!) homeschooling to make me into the person He wants me to be, just like He used the school to do that before. Besides life lessons, I've also gotten to learn some things about homeschooling itself. Some of these tips may not work for everyone. And that's okay. That's one of the beauties of homeschooling: each family and each person is different, and homeschooling helps to allow us to fully embrace that. But, with that in mind, here are some tips /things to remember that have helped me/my family! 1) The goal is learning to the glory of God. It can be easy to lose sight of this in a school. There are teachers and other students who see your work and work alongside you, so it can be easy to do it for them. You're constantly having work graded and checked, so it can be easy to do it for the grade on the report card. But homeschooling has a way of making you stop and ask yourself "why?" Why do I spend hours a day working on school? Why am I writing this paper?
Checking the to-do boxes is not the goal. Getting good grades isn't even necessarily the goal (that's only a way to measure learning; for some kids, this doesn't even measure it well). Learning and preparing to do whatever God gives us to do is the goal. 2) It's not about what other people think. Not everyone is always going to approve, no matter what you do. There are people who will wonder if you are going to have good social skills. There are people who will wonder if you are going to be ready for college. Will you even get a diploma? Even other homeschoolers may look down on each other. "This family can't be as smart as ours because they only do school for half the time that we do." "They don't even start school until the afternoon! They must be lazy." "That curriculum has so many gaps in it that I don't know what they're thinking trying to do that for their kids." These aren't Christ-like attitudes. First of all, we need to watch out for these attitudes in ourselves, but secondly, let's not fall prey to just trying to please everyone. People will doubt that what you're doing will work. But that's okay. As long as we're pleasing the Lord and being diligent at what He has for our unique families and personalities, we're doing the right thing. 3) There doesn't have to be a set schedule for the whole household. When we first started homeschooling, we tried to do school relatively all together. Everyone has breakfast, then everyone starts school, then everyone does Bible class, then everyone does math, etc. This may work great for some families, but we found that it actually worked better for us to each do school at our own pace. Some of us need more sleep than others. Some of us are motivated by getting up at 4:00 in the morning and starting our work. Others just want to sit down and read a book for an hour and start school later in the morning. Some of us may like to do science first, while others prefer to start with, say, English. Some of us may enjoy working on some school in the evening, while others just want to be done by 3:00. And that's not something to be afraid of. It was different switching to this mindset after having been in school, but it created alot of freedom once we did! 4) Lean into your learning style. In a school, there has to be a set assignment for everyone. This makes things run smoothly, and it keeps kids from feeling like another student is being favored by being given a totally different assignment. But one of the wonderful things about homeschooling is that you have the freedom to do what works for you.
5) Be flexible, but be structured. There is a balance to be found here. A schedule is good. People thrive on goals and work to be done. Having a set time for doing school helps us to get it done and not have to constantly try to fit it in around everything else.
6) Just do it. Focus.School usually doesn't have to take that long, but you have to sit down and focus. This might mean making a rule that you won't get into any long conversations until school is done. This might mean blocking certain websites or apps so that you don't give in to the pull to watch that "one" more episode or check Instagram that "one more time." It might mean scheduling a time to do chores and other responsibilities so that you don't feel obligated to them when you really need to be doing school. Being at home is distracting. If you let it be anyway. There's a tendency to jump up and do this chore "real quick," to watch just one more episode of your favorite show before finishing school, or to stop and talk to someone and realize forty-five minutes has gone by. There's lots of ways to make this happen, but the key is that you have to sit down and focus and leave the other things for other times. 7) Have a clean work area.When there are random objects laying all around you, it can be difficult to focus on what you're doing. It's too much for your brain to keep track of. What would you think of a classroom that had books, cups, shoes, leftovers from the kids' lunch, and random things that got used the day before laying all over? Probably not very highly. That's not a good learning environment!
8) Extracurricular things are important.
Not only do these things give us something to look forward to, but they also tend to be some of our favorite memories and provide practical and memorable learning experiences. 9) Remember your purpose.There are days where you won't feel like doing what you have to do, whether you're a homeschooler or not. Our flesh naturally does that. With God's help though, we can get past that. Not only will He give us strength and guidance, but He can also help us to remember why it was we started. Are/were you a homeschooler? Do you have any tips or thoughts about whatever method of school that you do/did that you would like to share?
2 Comments
Lilly
5/8/2023 09:32:17 am
I've been homeschooled all the way through (I finished October 2022), and I am so grateful for it! I've loved the flexibility and how I could learn using the style(s) the best fit me. I agree with all the things you said.
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5/8/2023 03:32:55 pm
Oh, yay for having finished homeschool! And yes, the flexibility is a huge plus for our family as well. :D
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