I know. You’re in the thick of it. All of the plans you spent so much time on in July and August to plot your child’s homeschooling…and here we are at the start of Advent and maybe you’re *behind* already. Maybe you’re thinking of this as you cut out white squares for snowflake cutting. Maybe, you think, they need to *earn* the snowflake craft by “catching up” on things thus far undone. Snip, snip. Do you feel like a homeschool failure? Like you have to decide between letting your kids be kids OR getting them ready “for the real world”?
It’s going to be all right. Really. Let them cut snowflakes. Keep reading to your young ones, keep your olders moving onto the next thing, and little by little, they (and you!) will somehow learn stuff. A lot of stuff. And then, almost suddenly, they will be 16, 18, 22…and you’ll realize that they’re ready to plan and plot their own educational endeavors and lives. That, even with your plans perhaps only half-done.
This happens even if you only get a half of a page of math done today because, well, your child wanted to cut out a billion snowflakes for the windows instead. And maybe you haven’t gotten around to phonics yet because you were too busy reading Dr. Seuss or Piggy and Gerald (over and over and over…). But you know what? You are building character. You are cultivating a wonderful relationship. You are TEACHING them more than can ever fit onto any transcript.
One of the best parts of slow schooling is ENJOYING your children while you all endeavor to learn about geometry or botany or Abraham Lincoln. You are teaching them *how* to learn, so that they will, hopefully, love to learn. And a homeschool graduate that still loves to read is far better than a graduate that read every “classic” book assigned but in the end threw away the library card for good.
Listen in as we discuss our first homeschool graduate. I know! Like we’re *experts* now, right?! No, not experts. But living in integrity with what we believe, that learning is a process, that learning is a joy, and that even in homeschooling, we are all still learning until the day we die.
Soon enough, we’ll be cutting snowflakes for the windows at our house. They’re going to be beautiful.
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Blessings,
Yay! The podcast is back! WHOOHOO I look forward to listening to it 🙂
It was so great hearing your voice again! I’ve been missing the podcast. I was blessed to get a glimpse of what is ahead for our family one day and was challenged and encouraged by many of the things you mentioned.
This is Debra. We have the privilege of worshipping with your son during the school year. He is such a gift. He sent me the link to this blog. And yes, I’m in the thick of it and I love your words! Thank you. God Bless!
How lovely to hear from you! Thank you for your very kind words and I hope that we may be able to meet someday when I come to visit him there. Many blessings!