How We Homeschool

These are the posts I am always out to read when I come across another homeschooling momma’s blog.

“How do you do it?”

“What do you do?”

“Does it work?”

“How long have you done it?”

“Why do you do it that way?”

My mind just goes a million miles an hour because I want to know it all!

When I try to classify exactly how we educate our children I always come up with some weird description, “We’re a Charlotte Mason-y, Classical-ish, textbook-loving, unschooling, freestyling family with influences from Montessori and Waldorf who occasionally finds ourselves in the midst of an intense unit study.”

I think, technically, we should classify ourselves as eclectic, but who likes labels, right? Because otherwise, I’m pretty sure our homeschooling style and philosophy is what you’d call an oxy-moron.

We’ve come to where we are, and where we are heading because homeschooling, like every other single thing in life, is a process. It’s unique and individual, not only to each family but right down to each person and each person’s relationship with one another. Seriously. Even the way one of my children learn from me is completely different from the way they learn from their father or from their enrichment teacher. What works for me might not work for them, and vice versa. It’s all about being willing to be fluid and flexible and keep an eye out on the end goal, not the short game.

Primarily, I have three goals for each of my children’s education. (There are many, many more that I have for them also in all aspects… I’m kinda a big fan of goals!) These are foundational to all the choices that we make in both our day to day execution of schooling and educating and in the long term planning. Actually, these are pretty pivotal to most aspects of our family’s lives.

1. That they learn to know, love, and fear the One True God and desire to worship Him in every aspect of their lives. (For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Matthew 16:26-27)
2. That they will desire to learn for learning’s own sake and be capable of learning anything that is presented to them as necessary knowledge. (When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you to deliver you from the way of evil. Proverbs 2:10-12a)
3. That they grow into responsible, mature, Godly, capable adults. (That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 4:17-19.)

Not that we are always the best at reaching toward these goals (two steps forward and one step back and all that jazz) but, deep down, these are what we want for our children, for ourselves also, and so we keep moving forward in faith… albeit painfully slowly sometimes!

By keeping the long game in mind when I’m praying, planning, and spending money on curriculum, I’m able to ask myself these questions:

• Does this curriculum/ method/ ideology move us closer to our primary goals for our children, both in life and in education?
• Does this curriculum/ method/ ideology fit in with our family guidelines for material for our children to be exposed to?
• Does this curriculum/ method/ ideology foster or encourage an environment of contention or strife in our schooling relationship? Does it share qualities with other curriculum that does create these atmospheres?
• Does this curriculum/ method/ ideology suit both the children’s learning styles, our available teaching time, and their available learning time? Regardless of how awesome something is, if we don’t have time to get around to it EVER, it’s a complete waste of money!
• Does this curriculum/ method/ ideology encourage a sense of failure and incompetency or boredom? Does it require too much or not enough (and therefore discourage the children from eagerly approaching their schoolwork) each day?

If a curriculum passes these hurdles, then I look at the academic rigor of the program, the scope and sequences (to make sure it will line up with what my child needs to be studying that year), and what kind of review/ study method it uses.

Once I’m satisfied, I approach my husband with it for his approval to purchase and use. Let me clarify here: My husband almost always puts the final say for what we purchase and use into my hands and under my judgment. He believes that since I’ve dedicated myself to educating our children at home, and have put in the thousands of hours of education for myself, researching education methodologies, and implementation of educational methods, I usually know what I’m talking about.

However, I also believe that biblically speaking, he is the head of this household (Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything… Ephesians 5:22-24) and as such has the responsibility and ability to approve or disapprove of what I’m doing all day with his children. (And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4) So he has veto power, so to speak. Practically speaking, he’s the voice of reason. He can see straight through crazy advertising and claims and realize if we’re actually going to be able to make use of it or not. He can usually tell if it will drive one of my children to distraction, or will have the child bored to tears when all I can see is “I wanna use it!” He’s also great at taking an objective look at the time I have available in my schedule and seeing if I can adjust it to implement it or not.

If the curriculum/ method/ ideology passes the hubs’ criteria, we are jamming to go! Of course, since not everything in a specific ‘style’ is going to make it all the way to the finish, we are set looking to make sure that the particular area doesn’t become a gap in our children’s education… and thus we have become a home educating family with this crazy amalgamation of styles and philosophies! It seems to work pretty well for us, though.

We’ve definitely not arrived, though! I’d never feel comfortable saying “This is how we homeschool and this is how we will homeschool for the rest of our educating years.” People are far too fluid and life changes far too quickly! Who knows where we will be at next year, or ten years down the road? For right now, however, this is how we homeschool.