If you’re considering homeschooling or are here because someone you know just mentioned they are considering it, I’m so excited you’re curious!

Homeschooling in its most basic of explanations, is learning at home rather than in a public or private school setting. Mirriam-Websters online dictionary defines it like this:

I personally like the transitive verb better, because homeschooling is so much more than school subjects at home. Without going too deep into the rabbit hole of school history, I’d like to give you a quick recap of what schooling has become, and what it once was.

School today:

School today is institutionalized, with rigid schedules, little opportunity to move, and limited socialization. (Before you come at me for that one, I’ll explain more.) Socialization is so much more complex than simply being around people your own age. In fact, many people feel only being around those your own age has created a deficit in the adaptability, communication skills and future success of our young people.

School today is also controlled by unknown entities, created specifically by the wealthy to create compliant factory workers. (Don’t take my word for it, go look it up.) While the Department of Education claims control, there are many more people at play than one organization. Not even considering the lobbyists wanting to push their next agenda on our youngest and most vulnerable population through new curriculum.

School today teaches so much information, most irrelevant to a child’s interests or future goals, that it cannot possibly all be remembered or used. In turn, many children finish their schooling years feeling frustrated, like they wasted their time, and unwilling to continue learning in either higher education or trade schools. Thus, leaving our workforce unskilled and unhappy.

School in ages past:

Schools prior to the early 1900s when the industrial giants had the bright idea of creating public school, were much more intimate. Many children were taught to read and write at home. They learned the necessary mathematics skills by working alongside a family member who owned a business or used those skills in some sort of trade. While learning math, these children were also learning some sort of trade or skill that would serve them long into later parts of their life. When one-room school houses came about, kids went to a school, but usually only until the age of 12 or so, then they began working and planning for their future lives.

So how does homeschooling join the best of both options?

Homeschooling gives families the freedom to both teach the subjects of reading, writing, math, history and science, while also giving the freedom to experience these subjects firsthand. While a child may not have exemplary writing skills, they may love writing letters to friends or family members. A child that doesn’t particularly like math, may love earning money and learning about financial responsibility.

The best part about learning while doing, is that it creates context for the skills being learned. This in turn, creates lasting knowledge and understanding. So when something is learned, it is much more likely to be retained and remembered later, as well as used for that child to formulate future plans and interests. Without context around these subjects, students learn to compartmentalize life, not embrace variety and engage with life with interest and exploration.

So, then what does homeschooling really look like?

The most beautiful part of homeschooling, is it can look different for every child! Every one of us is unique. We may share interests and abilities, but how we process information could be totally different. This is why I love experienced-based learning so much!

When you allow children to do the majority of their learning through exploration and curiosity, especially in their young elementary-age years, that child builds a natural love of learning. Without having to regurgitate facts and perform on tests that mean nothing to them, children continue to seek information with curiosity.

Homeschoolers that incorporate life experiences and follow their child(ren)’s interests, may or may not use formal curriculum to cover the main subjects. There are so many ways to meet the legal criteria to homeschool without costly curriculum, public cyber schools or fancy co-op programs. When you start to see real life as your platform for learning – because that’s what we are tasked with preparing our children for anyway – the fun and excitement really begins to build.

I’ll share more about daily routines, creative ways to cover specific topics and even sample transcript options for high schoolers as we go. But, for now, I hope this gets you a little excited about creating a lot more freedom in your child’s learning!

May God bless you and keep you!

Love,
Susan