(pronounced slew, up here on the Canadian prairies…so it rhymes!)
So for the last two years I’ve been struggling with my home school. Nothing seems to work the way I want it too. I plan, buy books, schedule, and then hate the outcome. I know that no plan survives contact with the enemy, but what happens when I feel like the plan is the enemy?
So I’ve been spending the last couple of months musing about what I should do. I didn’t get any real insight about what to do, but I did realize that I have been idolizing academia.
I want for my children to be smart and well spoken. I want for them to be able to impress people with their knowledge and insight. I want them to be intellectual powerhouses.
But I also want them to be themselves. To be simple. To be happy.
There is nothing wrong with knowledge. But when my whole daily focus is on the acquisition of knowledge than something is wrong. Even when I mixed in some fun with the knowledge part, I realized that a part of me is just getting it done, so we could get onto real school.
And as long as I am not willing to acknowledge that at some level I am disturbed by such a focus, my home school won’t be enjoyable. My children will learn, and grow, and perhaps even succeed by worldly standards, but something will always be missing, from my life, from theirs, from our home.
The little things? The little moments? They aren’t little. John Kabat-Zinn
I want to teach my children. But I want to do so with joy and vivacity and simplicity. It’s not just about the textbooks. In fact, I’m suspecting the textbooks are one of the least important parts.
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Amen and Amen!!!
It is so easy to get caught up in the academia and wanting to prove that homeschooling is as good as public school that we forget that that is not our standard. Christ is.
Again, I completely get you. My husband and I again are trying to hold fast to the truth that on the last day, if all my children know is that Christ died for their sins, that they need a saviour and that all who repent and believe on Him will have eternal life then we did just fine. Of course being literate is highly important, and being an intelligent communicator of the gospel to others is highly important. But the Lord is NOT going to quiz them on the Czars of Russia before saying “Well done my good and faithful servant”.
I’m starting to think that my basic curriculum for my (so far)5 girls needs to be Titus 2: teaching them to be workers at home, loving their husbands and children and preparing them to teach others to do the same. And for my son, he needs the skills and resources and motivation to lead a household in faith and maturity in Christ, and to provide for them in a way that is complementary to family life.
What I’m finding is none of that comes in a box from a curriculum supplier. That all just comes from the one book I have called “the Bible”. Guess we need to get all of us into it in a whole more ‘real life’ kind of way.
I believe homeschooling is the greatest challenge a family can take on, and yet still the most beneficial task, too.
I cannot really give you any solid advice, as I am not homeschooling (I come from Germany where it is forbidden, otherwise, I really might try it). But I understand your striving for the best way in teaching your children. It is already a challenge for those parents who are not bearing the main responsibility alone, but share it with teachers and tutors.
I remember your husband saying “homeschooling is more of a philosophy”. So actually, when you decide to homeschool, you know that you will not follow the current lesson plans of the public schools word for word. It would be impossible, and it would not be what you want anyways.
You seem to give your very best. And if this means anything to you, know that I’ll include your family into my prayers.