Competing in the country fair became a wonderful addition to our homeschool art program, and helped my kids learn to win and lose. I entered too so I could display the traits I was trying to teach.
Remember the story of the slow but steady Tortoise and the fast but lazy Hare? We are supposed to admire the tortoise’s persistence and admonish the rabbit for taking a rest, but is that the best way to see this lesson?
Developmentally appropriate education is when a curriculum is designed to match what children are biologically—physically, mentally and emotionally—ready to learn. It meets children where they are, gives them plenty of play opportunities, and helps them grow and develop.
I’m going to take a moment to give you a snapshot of what homeschooling was like at different points over the years. Because if you are just starting homeschooling, you wonder how to do it. I’m going to give you a peek behind the curtain of how it worked in my life.
In 2016 “No child left behind” was replaced with “Race to the Top” as the government answer to education in the United States. The program sucks. Let me tell you why.
As a first-time homeschool parent, middle school freaked me out. As a result, neither my oldest child nor I enjoyed her middle school years. I’m now older and wiser and can tell you what you really need to know about how to teach middle school at home.
One of my favorite parts of homeschooling is when we randomly stumble into a lesson. I like the joy of learning about something that was not part of the lesson plans and the wonder it creates for my kids. Found lessons involve taking a risk, setting aside plans and learning what life has brought into your day.
Math education has almost ruined math for more kids than we can count. Kids today are pushed to do math skills that their brains aren’t ready to do. So they think that they are bad at math when, in fact, they need to learn the way kids are supposed to learn. Through play!
Art is an essential part of a good education. Experts and teachers all say that we should be teaching art, both appreciation and the actual creation of art. And while I agree, this isn’t easy for every homeschooling parent to do. Books and videos are all great help. But at the end of the day, if you can’t draw, it is easy to feel overwhelmed trying to teach art to your child. But it doesn’t have to be scary.
There are a lot of reasons we all have mom guilt. Parenting is a minefield of opportunities to “fail”. For those of us who homeschool, that list can be twice as long. When you have multiple children, there are even more things to do and worry about.