One major thing I’ve learned about homeschooling this–our first real–year of doing it, is that support is essential. There’s more support now than there ever has been, it’s abundant on the internet, in the library and fewer and fewer folks look at us cross-eyed when we answer the question, “where do you go to school?”
Most of the naysayers on homeschooling have an opinion about socialization, which probably would have bothered me about homeschool kids when I was in ‘normal’ school. They always seemed a little quirky, a bit odd, a little un-the-same. That is something I’ve come to cherish about the whole experience. I don’t have to expect my daughter to run home begging for the latest Disney channel craze covered apparel, and sometimes I have to remind her that not EVERYONE her age is familiar with Laura Ingalls…
This year we have been fortunate to participate in a Charlotte Mason group that meets about every 2 weeks. It’s been a great resource to encourage the kids in studiousness, and an outlet for Naomi to see that homeschooling isn’t so abnormal.
Here is a break down of the term that ended Monday:
Every semester we have a theme, for the past 10weeks or so it was farm animals. Each week we studied one animal, one of Grandma Moses’ paintings, the folk song This Land is Your Land, one composition by Aaron Copland, the notion of self-control, and each child recited a poem at each meeting. There were field trips to meet animals first hand, nature studies to learn more about them, games, poetry, and overall a lot of good learning by kids and parents.
4 Comments
I love the shots and this post. We don't homeschool, but I do believe we do quite a bit of homeschooling regardless, what I have come to call before/after schooling. We came very close this year to homeschooling and never did I worry about socialization. Honestly, it is the opposite…in regular school, I worry about our daughter not fitting in because she isn't immersed in all the Disney at home. (And as to why we didn't end up homeschooling….long story I will tell some day soon on my blog.)
Nicola
ps. You commented about thank you notes…this kind of gratitude could be a great homeschool lesson!
Thanks Nicola. one of my fears of sending our kids to school is how different they would be! It seems simpler to leave it out of the equation…and, i would love to hear about your journey–i'll keep my eyes peeled. & including the kids in the thank-yous is so important!
The juxtaposition of Disney apparel vs. Laura Ingalls really resonated with me. I take pride in the fact that my girls don't know the names of the Disney princesses. My girls go to a Montessori preschool now, but I'm really anxious about public school which, for financial reasons, has to be in their future. I just started reading your blog and I really enjoy it.
Great post Lacey!! Really wants to make me homeschool. Still on the fence here, but not due to lack of desire or faith in it. I just don't know how to balance it with wanting to be a postpartum doula….
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