Some Thoughts on Homeschooling

I have written a lot of post on homeschooling.  It’s such a huge part of my life, so I am dedicating this week to Homeschool Week!  I have had a lot of emails lately asking me how I liked using the Family School last year.   I am going to write a whole post about that, but I first off want to respond to some questions and misconceptions about homeschooling that people have recently asked me.

What I Think About Public School? 
I think a lot of people think I am anti-public school.  No I am not!  I  don’t hate the public schools, I don’t hate any school that helps educate children the right way.  (Common Core is scary to me, but I don’t really want this post to go there, so if you don’t know what Common Core is, educate yourself about it.)  I sent my two oldest children to public school Kindergarten.  They loved it, I loved it.  If you send your kids to public school I don’t judge you.  I don’t look at you and think, I can’t believe that lady doesn’t homeschool her kids.  Not at all.  I think you are awesome, I really do!

Do I think parents should be involved in helping educate their children?
Of course I do!  One of our greatest roles as parents, and especially as mothers, is to teach our children.  So whether you homeschool or not, be involved in your children’s education.

Is Homeschooling for Everyone?
No, it’s not.  I don’t think homeschooling is for every family.  But for my family I know it is the right thing for us.  My husband and I have prayed about it and it is where we feel strongly our family should be.

Don’t you have to have a TON of Patience to Homeschool?
A lot of people say to me, “You much be so patient to homeschool your children, I could never do that, I don’t have patience”  You don’t have to have a ton of patience to homeschool.  You just have to have a schedule!  What do I mean by that? I only loose my patience if there is chaos in my house.  If kids are walking around saying they are board, fighting with each other, or running around like crazy kids I don’t have any patience for that.  That’s what happens during summer break.   I have so many people tell me that they would homeschool if they had more patience.  Um…I don’t have a ton of patience for crazy chaos.  I don’t think anybody does.  But if your kids know what they are supposed to do and when to do it it won’t get to chaotic.  I am not saying it doesn’t get a bit chaotic in my house.  It does, and I loose patience, but we move on and I pray a lot 🙂

What About Socialization?
This is one of the most frequent question I get asked.  There are a ton of stats that say that homeschooled children are better socialized than public school children.  I wrote a lot of research papers about that in college, but I won’t get into that.  So what do I do about socialization?  My kids have friends in the neighborhood, friends from church, friends from soccer, dance, track, etc.  I just got involved in a homeschool groups that meet together once a week at a park or we go on field trips.  Some thing I love about socialization and homeschooling is that my kids aren’t being bullied, they aren’t hearing things that I don’t think are appropriate, They are around kids of all different ages, and they learn how to talk with adults without being scared.  My son, when he went to public school kindergarten was so scared of the principal because all he know about her was that you didn’t want to go to her office.  LOL

You Poor Homeschooling Mom…
Sometimes people look at me and I know they are thinking that exact phrase. They think, oh how sad, she can’t go out to lunch in the middle of the day, or go to park day with her little ones, she must be so exhausted.  Oh boy do they have that exhausted part right, I am exhausted because I have a new born that wakes up every 2 hours… Not because I homeschool.  I have an awesome husband that after he gets home from work, or before he leaves in the morning give me ME time!  I have time for exercise, time for blogging, time for shopping, and also times for nights out with friends.

How can I handle being home with my kids all day long?
This is a hard one sometimes, I will admit. But here are some things I came up with….

• Because I like them!  It’s true.  {I know you like your kids also, even if you send them to public school.} 
• I love to see them learn.
• I love being their teacher
• One of the most exciting things in the world is when your son/daughter finishes a whole book that he read on his own. 
• I get them for their best hours of the day.  They wake up, eat breakfast and are happy.  The hardest hours for my kids, and I think a lot of kids, are after 4:30.  Thankfully that is when daddy comes home from work and together we finish the day getting them dinner, playing games, taking them to and from practices and putting them to bed.  

How long am I going to homeschool?
I am homeschooling this year!  That is what my mom always said to people.  She homeschooled us until 7th grade when we went half day and then we fully integrated into the public school in 9th grade.  A lot of people have asked her why she put us in when we were older instead of homeschooling us during the scary age.  Her reply is from a scripture in Proverbs,  “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” and also a quote from the Prophet Joseph Smith, “I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves”  She knew that if she taught us when we were young, correct principles, that we would have a good foundation, and be strong enough to get through the hard times in high school.

As for me, I don’t know what I will do.  I think it will depend on where education is in this world, where we live, and the kind of schools that are around us.

Do  I have to have a degree or be really smart to homeschool?
Someone asked me the other day if I got my degree to homeschool.  She seemed pretty concerned that I didn’t.  No, you don’t have to have a degree, but yes, it would be good if you read the lessons you are supposed to be teaching them before hand so that you know how to teach it.  So basically you need to be one-lesson-ahead-of-them smart! 🙂

Then how do you know what to teach?
There are so many amazing resources for homeschoolers now a days.  That isn’t even a concern anymore.  You can find so much online.  Especially using The Family School for my main subjects, I just had to find curriculum for Math and Phonics.

How long does it take me to homeschool?
However long you want it to.  I feel like a good homeschoooling day is about 4 hours of learning.  

So what is my Day like at home?
If everything was perfect I would get up at six, study my scripture, exercise and be ready to wake my kids up by 7:30….but with the new baby that doesn’t happen, but one day it will!  This year I decided that with my schedule, I don’t have an exact time, just a list of things that need to get done that day.  I used to do that time thing and it drove me nuts.  I have an order to how everything should flow, but watching the clock all day long makes me grumpy if we would even go over by 10 mins.  So I got rid of the clock

• I have 5 kids between the ages of 10-5 months.  Our mornings start around 7:30 with eating breakfast and doing chores.
• Next the two oldest kids go read scriptures, write in journals and practice their instruments.
• I work with the 2 younger ones for an hour, reading to them, writing in my 5 year olds journal, and playing phonics games with them.  {While holding the baby and juggling 29 fruits…ok not really}
• Around 9:30 the baby goes down for a nap and the 2 year old watches a show and I do math and language arts with the 3 older kids. I rotate helping each one when they need it and check on the 2 year old.
• While I make lunch they do French or their Typing program on the computer in the kitchen.
• At noon we have lunch, and then they go play outside or in the playroom if it’s to hot.  I encourage them to go out during school for at least 20 mins.  I catch up on emails, any printing that needs to be done and waste a bit of time on Facebook.
• Around 1:00 we start our family school lesson.  My 10 and 7 year old are fully involved, the 5 year old comes and goes as he pleases and if all is good, which so far so good, the babies are napping.  By 2:30 we are usually done.  The lessons only take about 40 mins, and then they do their record projects after, which take as much time as you want them to put into it.  Some times it’s an hour, some days it’s 15 mins.  It just really depends on the project!

So there you go.  If you are considering homeschool, or have any questions you would like answered on the blog this week, email me at thethingsilovemost@gmail (dot) com.