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“What is most important and valuable about the home as a base for children’s growth into the world is not that it is a better school than the schools, but that it isn’t a school at all.”
John Holt, widely considered the father of unschooling
I think many of us who decide to homeschool can relate to this quote by John Holt, author of How Children Fail and How Children Learn. The traditional school setting of a classroom encourages memorization and regurgitation of information, discourages creativity, and worst of all, keeps children from being what they are by nature, curious.
John Holt, a proponent of homeschooling, and specifically unschooling, firmly believed that kids don’t need to be forced or bullied into learning. They will simply begin learning what they want to learn when they are ready to learn it. Kids by nature are incredibly curious. For example, I have read that when a child begins showing curiosity about the bathroom, they are probably ready to begin potty training. To us, this same idea applies to any other subject.
Our daughter’s kindergarten year started in 2020, the year COVID hit. Before hitting school age, we were already working with our daughter on learning the alphabet, numbers, and we took her to story times at our local library, to name a few things. Once she was officially school aged, though, I started planning and implementing a rigid school schedule to ensure she was meeting the requirements of the Board of Education. I bought activity books for every subject I could think of and tried to structure her day as if she was in a classic school setting; let’s just say it didn’t go very well and many tears were shed. While I prefer a more rigid schedule, my daughter does not, and she fought me every step of the way until we found a schedule that fit her learning style better. Keep in mind she is five at this point. My idea of a good schedule was for her to work on each subject for 15-30 minutes a day. By putting the importance on the standards and requirements instead of how she learned at that point, I caused avoidable headaches. Once I realized where I was going wrong, I took a step back and we focused on each topic for as long as her interest was held. Some days, she lasted 30 minutes, some days only 3. Fast forward to today, her natural interests push her more towards certain topics (like Egyptian mythology and literature). It’s my job as her parent to engage her imagination with topics she’s less interested in (like division and spelling).
We as parents know our children better than anyone. We know just how far we can push them and when we need to back off. Teaching our daughter in general has been a challenge. But, again, once I started watching her play, I began to see how I could teach her in a way that made sense for her. Our daughter loved the story time at the library where we lived when she was around 2-3 years old. She enjoyed the story time setting of interacting with the storyteller and other kids, the singalongs, and the crafts after. So I started imitating it at home. We were able to read 2-3 books at a time and soon, she was creating story times with her stuffed animals. It was then I knew she was ready to start reading. We started our learning with Bob Books and slowly made our way into Dr. Seuss. In fact, the first book she ever read on her own with us was Green Eggs and Ham. It was definitely a process, but during that process, my daughter and I were bonding and learning. Fast forward to today, being almost 10 years old, and she devours books like no kid I’ve ever seen. And now she and I share a passion for reading.
Our son is technically considered Pre-K and his learning style is very different from our daughter’s. Again, like with our daughter, we taught the alphabet, numbers, shapes, and I read to him, which he thoroughly enjoyed, and still does. While he didn’t show too much interest in learning to read, I made the decision to engage his interest in wanting to learn to read. Right now, he is very much into Paw Patrol (huge surprise, right?) – specifically Chase. To make learning more engaging and fun for him, I find reading materials and activities that relate to Paw Patrol. By approaching it this way, he is learning concepts with characters he knows and enjoys. In addition to Paw Patrol themed learning, I used our Bob Books to get him started and boost his confidence. After that, a friend recommended Easy Peasy. With Easy Peasy he gained more confidence in his reading skills and enjoys showing off his spelling, especially if he’s come across the same word multiple times. So, with Chase on the Case and Easy Peasy, teaching our son to read has been a leisurely stroll through the park.
As I have been on this homeschooling journey, I learned that one of the most important things when it comes to homeschooling my children. We need to understand how they operate. Does your child prefer a loose schedule or rigid one, does your child prefer to figure something out independently or have you there explaining and teaching it? This list of questions is, by no means exhaustive, but if you’re able to answer them, not only are you going to be more successful homeschooling, you’re going to figure out what kind of materials you want to use and understand your place as your child’s teacher.
While I believe there are numerous benefits to homeschooling (more to come on that topic in another post), the examples above of my son and daughter learning and me being able to witness it are just two beautiful aspects of being a homeschool family. Homeschooling is about giving your kids an education that only you can give them. Homeschooling is about fostering their innate curiosity and letting it bloom and prosper, which is why we created the Farmapeutic Homeschoolers online community where homeschooling families can have a support system and a roadmap; especially those new to homeschooling. Join us on this journey and let’s make this homeschooling community a thriving one!
After joining, leave your homeschooling story in the comments section. We look forward to connecting and growing with you!
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