Recently, I was asked to give a "talk" at a homeschool bake sale/used curriculum sale/seminar. Our umbrella school administrator wanted me to talk a little about our story and offer some refreshment/encouragement for verteran homeschoolers. I was honored to do so. Here's what I shared:
I knew in my heart that we would homeschool our children even when our first baby was two months old. I remember mentioning to people that we might homeschool and they’d get all cross eyed, they’d start stammering and talking about GED’s.
When my oldest daughter was turning five and my second daughter was 2 years old, we had to publicly announce our decision to homeschool. With great fear and trepidation, we became one of "those". In my desire to disprove all the homeschool myths, I absolutely came as close as I could to making our first year of Kindergarten miserable. I was striving for joyful but instead I gave in to what I was familiar with. I took a room in our home and basically turned it into a replica of a public school room. We sat in that room for hours everyday. DRILLING FACTS! That winter our family had the flu for a month. And when everyone else finally got over the flu and I didn’t, we found out we were expecting baby number three. So out of necessity, school moved to my bedroom. I remember Katie being on the bed with her school books. I was just a few feet away from her, throwing up in the bathroom. I remember going over phonics rules and then throwing up. To this day I still associate phonics just a little bit with throwing up.
Our second year of homeschooling - found us with a first grader who was now six, my second who was now three and a newborn in my arms. I learned to relax. I learned that we weren’t going to have "school" at home. I learned "school" for my children would not resemble the school that I was familiar with. It would be something entirely different and just as (hopefully more) effective. We learned the addition facts to the sounds of a colicky newborn. Lots and lots of crying.
Life has continued for us. Our homeschool has grown to include the 10 yr. old who is finishing 4th grade, a 6 yr. old is in the midst of 1st grade, that colicky newborn is now 3 turning 4 this summer and working away at her "preschool". And we’ve added another baby to our family. The first baby boy. He just celebrated his first birthday.
Life goes on and despite it all - we did learn, we are learning and we will learn the phonics rules. And they still make me want to throw up. We’ve moved on to multiplication, fractions and long division. I’ve learned so much along the way. I’ve been blessed with wise men and women around me who came before me in this homeschooling journey. I’ve been able to ponder their words, look upon their habits and philosophy and glean from their experiences. I share with you a couple of those lessons.
1. If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live. in. I would not trade for anything the time that I have with my children. We love our homeschool schedule and the freedom it permits our family. I really know them and they really know me. I know how they spend their days. I know their study strengths and weaknesses. At times I move from one child to the next helping them with pre-assigned lessons. At other times a school day includes individualized lessons and learning, and also group learning in the form of unit studies. And even at other times, my children pursue their own interests and I facilitate their learning.
2. I have learned that "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." For our homeschooling family, the world is our classroom. Homeschooling is as big and as flexible as our family wants like it to be. At home, my daughter who is so creative can create to her heart’s content, and still learn math! At home, my daughter who needs to move can stand up at a table to do her work. At home, my other daughter who does not enjoy concentrating for long periods of time can break her day up into smaller segments.
3. To be able to be caught up into the world of thought - that is to be educated. In a homeschool, the idea of children being "ahead" or "behind" drops out of the picture. Because parents know their own children, and see their abilities, they can free each child to proceed at his or her own rate. Some children race ahead in one area, perhaps in math or reading. Some children need more time than others to master challenging subjects. Children learn to talk and walk at differing rates and at differing times. Why not the same attitude about learning to read and learning to do math, and other skills as well?
4. The aim of education is the knowledge not of facts, but of values. Homeschooling doesn’t require that a parent already know all subject areas. Clarence Page, a national columnist on a variety of subjects, and not a homeschooler, summed up his views about homeschooling with this comment "The home-school movement reinforces a lesson common sense should have told us long ago: Parents matter. You don’t need to have a doctorate in education to instill in children an eagerness to learn. The best educational support systems begin at home." So true of all schooling! In a homeschool, parents are often learning right along with their children. Parents get to remember lots of delightful concepts, such as how chlorophyll makes leaves green. No matter how they receive their education, we have decided that for our children it is more important that they learn character. You don't have to teach kids fit throwing, hitting, selfishness . Somehow they already know how to do those things. Do you want your child to be a living encyclopedia or do you want your child to be a living testament of God’s word? My husband and I choose character. If they are little genius’s with character all the better. But character comes first.
5. And finally, we have learned that Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it. The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think, rather to improve our minds so as to enable us to think for ourselves, rather than load the memory with the thoughts of other men.
Moms and Dads, we can do this. The things we do everyday that don’t seem extraordinary. They are. They make up eternity. Our kids will learn what they need to be well-rounded adults, who make an excellent contribution to society. If they don’t remember all the elements on the periodic chart, it will not alter their quality of life. Instilling character such as respect and honesty - Instilling a love for our Lord and Savior - Leading them to a relationship with Jesus - Seeing them accept the free gift of Salvation - that will make all the difference. That is eternity.
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