Without delving too deeply into my preconceptions about home
school, home school families, cults, fundamentalists, and helicopter parents,
I’ll simply say that I never imagined I’d be here. I never thought I’d be a home schooling
parent. I'm still kind of shocked, honestly.
But, three weeks ago, I started home schooling my daughter. She’s six and in second grade. How did it happen? I loved her preschool. I loved her kindergarten school. Then we moved and I hated her first grade
school. After investigating all of our
options, I concluded that home school would be the best for us.
I can’t speak for other families, mostly because I don’t
live with them and I can’t read minds, so I know only of our experience. But here’s why we came to this decision.
We distrust traditional public education in California, and
especially our daughter’s neighborhood school.
We do not adhere to the belief that all children will get a fine
education via worksheets and crayons. We
do not believe that breaking up a child’s day by perpetually redirecting them
from something they may love is good for them.
We believe that presenting math in the context of real world
application, alongside botany, zoology, or climatology makes a difficult
discipline not only palatable, but exciting.
Young children have opinions and preferences, and fill-in-the-blank
paragraphs prevent them from discovering their true voice. Children loathe sitting inside at a desk, and
that feeling isn’t wrong. Children want
to explore their world and understand where they live.
We do not believe in standardized tests. They waste valuable learning time.
We believe education can be more. And that’s really what we’re setting out to
do.
Welcome to my home school.
I have rules. They’re big rules.
1. Have a lesson plan. When necessary, ditch it.
2.
If a child is engaged, do not interrupt. LEGOs, reading, math, gardening, cooking,
cleaning, sleeping, marble runs, bath, eating, Solitaire…do not interrupt until
they are finished.
3.
Finish what you started.
4.
Clean up everything.
I will answer some questions about how we’re home
schooling. These are the questions I’ve
already been asked frequently.
How will she engage with other children?
She will continue to maintain her friendships from her
previous school, as I developed friendships there as well. She enjoys close relationships with team
mates on the swim team. She is joining a
Brownie troop. We are joining a group of
home schooling families who are bent on hiking, biking, exploring parks, and
generally hanging out outside. She is
taking classes through a local science museum, and through our school she’s
taking Spanish, ceramics, cooking, and LEGO engineering. She’ll be around other kids who are also home
schooled. Home school will grant her
freedom from the pressure of
socializing with the same people every day, something she disliked about her
previous school.
How can you guarantee the quality of her education?
I can’t, but I’m building my curriculum around the
California state standards for 2nd grade. I am using approved math, printing, and
Spanish curricula. I can find a host of
science experiments at the library and on Pinterest, and I can break down the
concepts. I am a writer. She is addicted to reading. I have a monthly meeting with a teacher who
ensures that we’re progressing through a variety of subjects. Her job is to make sure “learning is
happening, the child is happy, and the parent is enthusiastic.”
What about physical activity?
During the warm months, we usually spend several hours
outside at parks, playing in our yard, playing with friends at the pool, or going
on nature walks. The kids climb trees,
jump in creeks, and swim. They spend
less than an hour a week on the computer and watching TV, combined. They do not sit around.
Are you doing it because you’re religious?
No. We will present
religion in a cultural context, but that’s it.
In that spirit, she will learn about multiple belief systems, and they
will all be presented as equals.
Will you be teaching Creation?
No.
Do you pay out of pocket?
No. We are given a
stipend that we may spend with approved vendors. All purchases must be further approved
through the school, and our teacher must see our purchases being used in our
curriculum.
I think that's it. If you've got a question, please leave it in the comments below. I’m really excited about this adventure with my kids. Though my little guy is in preschool, he gets
to take advantage of the quiet time, the building, reading, and even some of
the lessons. In our first few weeks,
we’ve done journal entries, covered the Big Bang and creation of the Universe,
learned about density with LEGOs, caught pollywogs in a pond, painted on rocks,
tin foil, and paper, and learned about circumference. We have an earthworm habitat. She’s designed an elaborate tree house
(inspired by The Magic Tree House series) and we’re all working on building a
sand box. Lots of hammering and nailing. We took a 210 foot string and created a mock
solar system, giving her some perspective on each planet’s distance from the
sun. She learned that a line is infinite,
but that a line segment begins and ends.
She began factoring.
This is just the first few weeks.
The thing is, I can explain all of this until I’m blue in
the face and many people will still assume I’m a religious fundamentalist who’s
trying to shelter her kid. And that’s
fine. Really. I don’t care because it’s totally wrong. I’m home schooling because I want her to get
out. I want her to have more friends
than just the kids at her school. I want
her to wake up naturally and approach school with a fresh, unhurried mind. I want her to take as much time as she needs
to work out the answers to the questions that boggle her inquisitive mind. I’m happy to give that to her.
And she’s happy. She
feels safe. In fact, I’m pretty sure
that what I imagined is happening because, while I was making dinner last
night, I looked over and she’d amassed all the supplies to run an ecology
experiment she found. She learned that
air doesn’t transfer energy and that bubbles, when popped, have a negligible
volume. In the context of ecology, foam
is a great insulator because it absorbs impact and prevents heat or cold from
escaping, but it’s awful for landfills.
Boom!
So I’m going to occasionally share what we’re doing, explore
my frustrations, and ask for help.
Thanks for reading.
