If I could start over with homeschooling...
If I could start over....
Homeschooling was not a journey I planned on making, yet, to this day, I consider it one of the hardest, most satisfying, most sacrificial, beautiful things I have done.
But if I could go back to the beginning with what I know now, having my eldest child in Classical Conversations Challenge 1 (freshman in high school) and my youngest in Foundations and Essentials (2nd year/5th grade), I would have done less prior to 4th grade. I would have read more, cared less about checking the box for every subject, and devoted more time showing my children how all things are connected, reinforced, and made clear through God almighty.
I understand wanting to do all the things, I did that; I wish I hadn't. We started homeschooling without an overarching curriculum and I did my best to piece together what I felt would work best. We did way too much. My children had spelling lessons, grammar lessons, math that took an hour each day, a daily page of handwriting, history lessons with worksheets, two different formal language arts lessons (I totally love Susan Wise Bauer's approach, but with everything else, it was too much extra work), formal science curriculum (Sonlight), PE of some sort, plus music lessons once a week. It was overwhelming.
But if I could go back to the beginning with what I know now, having my eldest child in Classical Conversations Challenge 1 (freshman in high school) and my youngest in Foundations and Essentials (2nd year/5th grade), I would have done less prior to 4th grade. I would have read more, cared less about checking the box for every subject, and devoted more time showing my children how all things are connected, reinforced, and made clear through God almighty.
I understand wanting to do all the things, I did that; I wish I hadn't. We started homeschooling without an overarching curriculum and I did my best to piece together what I felt would work best. We did way too much. My children had spelling lessons, grammar lessons, math that took an hour each day, a daily page of handwriting, history lessons with worksheets, two different formal language arts lessons (I totally love Susan Wise Bauer's approach, but with everything else, it was too much extra work), formal science curriculum (Sonlight), PE of some sort, plus music lessons once a week. It was overwhelming.
I wish I hadn't modeled my home classroom after a school classroom. There would have been less stress, fewer tears, and more joy had I met my children where they were, rather than driving them match and exceed their peers in the schoolrooms around town. Reading, math, conversation, and observation of the world around them (plus the awesome Classical Conversations memory work which we had not yet discovered) would have sufficed.
In spite of all that work I still managed to give my children the gift of "wonder," and right now "wonder" looks like the most valuable lesson they needed to learn. Basic reading, writing, arithmetic, and the CC memory work would have been enough. I love this journey we are on and I'm overjoyed that we are going to see it through to the end of high school, but if I could start over, I would have done less schooling and more living with my littles.
God bless you all as you walk through this school year. I pray this work brings you joy and your struggles lead you and your families to learning and laughter.
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