I loved public school and I have a degree in Elementary Education. I NEVER planned to homeschool. As a teacher I collected books, educational games, and school supplies that spilled out of every closet and shelf in my home. I was probably as prepared (on paper) as a mom can be to teach her own kids, but when life happened and I pulled my oldest out of public school I had NO idea what to do next.
So, I got desks and a flag and made a bell schedule and even a hall pass for the bathroom. I hung up a map and an apple shaped clock on our wall. I purchased textbooks and worksheets. I tried to make my home like “school”. Because that’s what I knew school to be.
Now, this approach might work for some families, but the baby ate my posters, the textbooks were boring, my kids didn’t want to sit at their desks or follow the hourly schedule. And suddenly, learning with my kids was no longer a natural part of our day, it was a chore- forced and stressful and frustrating. So, I went back to my college education notes looking for a solution to my teaching woes.
In my elementary education courses we visited many school classrooms. We were taught to look for the best practices that we could emulate in our future classrooms. In our observations and research we learned that the best schools- the most effective schools- all shared certain characteristics.
The BEST schools were ones that provided:
individualized instruction
hands-on projects
field trips
subjects integrated together
real life applications
natural, comfortable seating
safe learning environment
teachers who loved their students
values based education
Hey, wait a minute…that sounds a lot like learning at home! I realized that I was doing things backwards- I was trying to make my home like school, when the best schools (private, charter, or public) try to replicate what happens naturally in a home learning experience.
Friends, you have a major head start over the best schools- your school already feels like home. Don’t try to be like school. You aren’t school. You are home. Be like home. That’s what the pro’s are doing.
If your idea of what school at home “should be” is ruining what homeschool naturally is, grab a book and snuggle up on the couch together. Read together. Ask questions together. Find answers together. Learn together. That is homeschool.