How we Homeschool, part 1

I’m not in the business of running an elementary school. I’m in the business of nurturing growing human beings, of meeting their needs (whatever that may entail), of teaching them that the most important things in life are health and love for all.

One of the most common questions I’m asked is how we homeschool. I get it. Before we started homeschooling, over 11 years ago, I was intimidated by the prospect. Then I read 2 books that gave me all the confidence and guidance I needed. First was A Charlotte Mason Education. Charlotte Mason was a delightful, insightful, inspiring person from long long ago.

“Charlotte Mason believed that children are able to deal with ideas and knowledge, that they are not blank slates or empty sacks to be filled with information. She thought children should do the work of dealing with ideas and knowledge, rather than the teacher acting as a middle man, dispensing filtered knowledge. A Charlotte Mason education includes first-hand exposure to great and noble ideas through books in each school subject, and through art, music and poetry.” —AmblesideOnline

We fell in love with the Charlotte Mason philosophies of spending lots of time playing outdoors (exploring, studying, and appreciating nature), and reading great literature. From the beginning we have found CM inspired book lists on blogs (by googling Charlotte Mason books), and on the AmbelsideOnline website, disregarding the suggested ages for certain books (reading books above and below “grade level”), and following our own reading schedule. There are weeks that we can’t get enough of books—just cooking, and eating, and reading all day long. And there are weeks that we spend almost all of our time outside—finding all the best parks, trails, woods, streams, and mountains. All the hidden gems within driving distance.

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is: Don’t feel like you have to follow any one homeschool philosophy completely. It’s not about finding that one style or curriculum that you agree with 100%. For most of us, there is no such thing. You are homeschooling, and that means YOU make the rules!

The second book that a friend recommended to me, which inspired me even further, was The Call to Brilliance. This is a beautiful story, lovingly written by a homeschooling mom. You can call it “unschooling” but I’ve always hated that word, preferring “delight-driven” instead. I explain to people that life gets a whole lot more fun and a whole lot more educational when you make learning your lifestyle. When you see how awesome it is to be alive, and how awesome it is to learn. When learning is just a way of living. 

We’re all born full of curiosity and wonder. We are born full of love, wanting nothing more than to be held, and taken care of. We learn about love from our parents. We learn all by ourselves how to talk, how to crawl and then walk, and then run. This is how I feel about homeschooling. We can keep this desire to learn, and this ability to love, as we grow older.

The second biggest piece of advice I have is: Don’t worry if you don’t have it all figured out, just take it one step at a time. I think a lot of moms don’t think they can homeschool because they can’t picture what it will look like, or because they don’t have it all planned out. The secret is nobody does. And that’s precisely why homeschool can work so beautifully—because you’re constantly trying new things, and figuring out what works best for your family, and for each kid individually.

It fascinates me to see how drastically different my kids’ personalities and learning styles are. What a gift it is to embrace them for who they are, and to customize their paths to adulthood.

My kids all share a passion for literature (as will any child who is read great books) and nature (as will any child who spends lots of time outdoors). But Zoe has always been more theatrical, while Ginger is more analytical. One is very dreamy, and one is very practical. A small example is last night at dinner, on our way home from the airport. Zoe took out 2 pens to show us, that she had bought in the hotel gift shop. These pens are made of clear bright acrylic colors, with flecks of glitter, and topped with beads that hang like jewelry from the end. Zoe explained that she would keep them to look at, even after they ran out of ink. Ginger on the other hand, scrunched up her face and said that SHE would never buy something like that, because pens are for writing, not decoration, and we already have lots of pens at home. She said our pens were boring, but that doesn’t matter, it’s not what they’re for.

And of course, Ashley, as you know, has permanent brain damage, and although she is 14 years old, is more like a young child as far as her abilities are concerned. We love Ashley just the way she is too. She has such a passion for people, and she finds such delight in little things like going to the grocery store, that you can’t help but feel inspired by her love of life.

I’m realizing that I could keep writing about this forever, so I think I’ll stop here for today. I’d love to hear your thoughts, and what parts you would like to hear more about on this subject. Please leave a comment and tell me 🙂

♥, Kelly