Are you part of the mighty wave of homeschoolers sweeping across our nation? If you’re reading this you’ve, at the very least, considered it. Before you add another how to article to your Homeschooling Pinterest board – let this strengthen your confidence and reaffirm your plans. ♥
#1: Your child will not lose academic ground.
Imagine a group of children riding bikes down a road. They all must stay within the safe lines and move at the same pace. They are all seeing and experiencing the same scenery. Some are distracted by the rider in front, another is being bumped by the rider in back … one thing is for sure, the goal in mind is to get all the children to the same place at the same time.
Now imagine a little boy daring enough to venture down a side trail. He veers off and is surrounded with wild flowers, trees with out stretched canopy’s, wildlife, streams with jumping frogs and camouflaged fish … the scope of his learning adventure has been greatly widened and richly experienced.
This is not in criticism to the public school; this is about enriching your child with applicable tools learned through self-navigation and curious pursuit. At the end of the school year, your child will have multiple memories of great learning adventures through books, museums, documentaries – and much more! Their character and sense of belonging will be sculpted and strengthened as you engage them with house chores, visits with friends and family, and instill in them their intricate and necessary role they occupy in your family.
No, your child will not lose academic ground – they’ll learn to navigate their academics with curiosity, and in doing so, those lessons become foundations to their life-long successes.
#2: Now is the time.
Our children are being engaged in an adult world – they’re being placed in predicaments that many mature adults struggle to navigate! With emotional responses and ignorance that abounds, our children are forced to live in survival mode on a daily basis. Their developing brains are learning how to cope, survive and make sense of their surrounding – we must not let trauma teach them.
Now is the time to protect them, nurture them and develop their world-view. Now is the time to discuss Marxism, Socialism, Communism, Capitalism … freedoms we have (like homeschooling) and how we got them. Now is the time to encourage learning by demonstrating learning. You will not have all the answers and that’s good – you will demonstrate to your child on how to search for answers to formulate a well thought out opinion. An opinion that is not swayed by fear or pressure – but stands firm on a solid foundation of research and truth.
#3: This homeschooling gig is temporary.
Take it from a woman who has graduated two from homeschooling. The season of having our children home all day does not last. Each grade goes by faster than the previous. There will come a day when bedrooms get dusty and no longer require your cleaning lectures. Without causing you to weep over time gone by and time running out – do something today (and every day) that empowers the present.
Empower your home with activity that encourages growth, curiosity and peace.
You can do this, and for what it’s worth – I’m proud of you. You’re taking a stand against that which is causing destruction. Most admirably you’re stepping onto grounds you may not have wanted to step on nor thought you ever would! In time you’ll see all the wonderful benefits of homeschooling – and there are many! Give your children time to acclimate to their new ways of learning and give yourself some grace to not have everything perfectly figured out or planned well. You’ll learn together what works and what doesn’t. I pray you see all the blessings that are in your off-road academic adventures.
More encouraging reads!