Many people probably imagine homeschooling looking something like this: a family wakes up at 6 a.m., proceeds to the breakfast table for some quick cereal, and sits for 6 to 8 hours.
The life of a real homeschool family is much more complex; learning is integrated into family life so it is spread out. Academic objectives are met, but often before running out to buy groceries, visit family, or in between errands. Day trips are incorporated into student learning, and other fun activities. But the thing about your average homeschool family is that… we are all different!
A homeschooling family that enjoys boxed curriculum (e.g. Abeka) might have a high schooler who sits at a computer desk for five hours a day. On the opposite end, you might have an “unschooling” family that spends a day a week at a nature center, go to the park regularly, and spends several months of the year traveling – especially while their counterparts are in public school. For some, homeschooling is not practical. We get it. It’s not for everyone. After all, some have to work several jobs and can’t spare the time; others just prefer a demanding career path that’s not compatible with homeschooling. We’ve met some couples for whom homeschooling… is just distasteful because of having
your kids around so much. But – for many of us, that is the point. We homeschool as a conscious choice that our investing in our children includes educating them. But we’re also fully aware that homeschooling has the flexibility to revolve around real life events – even when we have the flu, or the whole family will spend the next day at a funeral, or the car won’t work that particular day.
And if it seems strange this can work, consider the fact of many homeschooling advantages with the school day: we don’t need to waste time lining up students and then corralling them into “home room;” conducting massive fire drills, etc. We just teach. And for that reason we need less hours per day to be commensurate with public peers. Here’s are a few fun realities about us homeschoolers that you may not have realized:
- Some of us spurn textbooks. You know that big, bulky 800-page books from classes like Calculus? Well, you can do away with a lot of the “bulk” these days – keep it digital. (Cyber school exists for a reason.)
- While some homeschoolers will use the same curriculum for years, others like to mix it up and can switch gears – even curriculums – and still keep on learning.
- One mom will use the library and take out a hundred books a week, while another will spend $1,200 per child each year on a curriculum. Budget varies widely with us homeschoolers.
- Dads homeschool too! Mommy might enjoy homeschooling, but dad often participates by leading a weekly (better yet, daily) Bible study.
- A lot of homeschoolers use TV time and computer time as a platform for learning, instead of simply for entertainment. With the millions of videos on Youtube and other media, it’s easy to find a history lesson on Egypt or Napoleon. We also have interactive discussions about the content.
Anyway, to expand on a few things only touched upon in this post, I hope to write soon on myths about homeschooling. Until then, if you have any thoughts or questions you can email me by going to Menu: Contact.
Homegrown Harvest 