|

My Homeschool Journey

It’s August once again! I’ve eagerly planned the curriculum and the schedule for our new school year ahead. We completed day 4 today, and I’m thankful all has gone well. My youngest is marking the days on the calendar with a heart. That’s a good sign that he’s enjoying his Kindergarten experience so far.

I should introduce myself. My name is Christina. I am a wife and mom to three kids. I am also a musician, teacher, house-cleaner, book-keeper, and frequent counselor of conflict resolution. We make up a family of five, we enjoy life in the rural Midwest, we love music of many kinds, and we are homeschoolers.

We began homeschooling six years ago when my oldest was going into the 3rd grade, my daughter was entering Kindergarten, and our youngest was due that upcoming October. A friend of mine told me years after that fact that she thought I was crazy! I would have thought that too! I never thought I would homeschool, ever! I had found a small private school in our community that felt like home for our family, and I was set. Until I wasn’t.

Life began to pull in so many directions during that last year in a brick-and-mortar school. I couldn’t understand how it was so chaotic and my kids were yet so little. Even a good thing can be too much. I had to bring it in. That Spring, I started looking into the idea of homeschooling, and that May, I went to my first Homeschool Conference, where I knew this would become reality for us.

This is the beginning of our 7th year, and it’s a big one for us. My oldest is a freshman in high school, my daughter is in 6th grade, and my youngest is embarking on Kindergarten. I’m both excited and a little overwhelmed as I face the next 176 days of school. (I don’t actually count the 180 days, but you get the idea). 😉

I’ve been wanting to write a blog about homeschool, and I decided to finally take the plunge. I hope to write about what I’m learning, what we’re reading, what we’re doing, and how we’re growing as individuals and as a family.

Homeschooling has taught me something invaluable; how to be a life-long learner. I used to think in a more limited and narrow way. I saw various aspects of my life as a project to be completed and finished in the ‘right’ way. I have since learned that my life is constantly ebbing and flowing from season to season with continual learning and a variety of possibilities. I’m learning to be a learner! I believe our homeschool has opened my mind to this realization.

A Journey of Learning

As I’ve continued to homeschool my children, I’ve realized some truths about life and motherhood. Furthermore, I’ve learned some lessons along the way.

At first, I thought, how could I ever know if my child was say a visual learner or a kinesthetic learner (and I didn’t even know what kinesthetic meant!)? I have learned quickly that not only do I have a visual learner, but also an auditory AND a kinesthetic learner. Life doesn’t yield a one-size-fits-all solution or strategy; even in my homeschool.

I’m also learning that one way of “doing school” isn’t the best way or the only way to become educated. 

I’m learning that patience with my children is actually relationship. It’s not how long can I put up with my kids, but rather how can I enjoy them and communicate with them?

I’m learning that life doesn’t turn out as I expect it to turn out.

I expected the learning curve to be quite steep as I began to homeschool. One thing I did not expect or consider is the community of homeschoolers. I have met incredible people in this community, and though I’ve met awesome families and fellow homeschool moms, I’ve been surprised at how few homeschoolers there are in my community (though the numbers are growing). I have to be very intentional in my search for community, because not everyone homeschools.

We seek out friendships and relationships in order to share the things we have in common with someone. It’s not easy to go against what’s popular or common. Though homeschooling is not what everyone else is doing, I know it is so very good. Homeschooling is so good for me, so good for my kids, and so very good for our family.

I hope this blog can be a diary, a journal, a sharing space, and most of all an encouragement to any other homeschooler out there. Do you feel alone in your journey? The truth is, you are not one of the many, but rather one of the few doing a very good thing, a great thing. I’m out here too. You are not alone. Keep walking this journey, and you may learn something and find someone; a friend or a best friend along the way. I know I have.

Keep walking friend,

Christina

Do you homeschool? What has your experience been with the homeschooling community? Please share in the comments. I’d love to chat with you.

Have you thought to yourself, “I’d never do that!” about homeschooling, but want a peek into what it’s all about? Come join me at keepwalkingfriend.com. I’d love to meet you, and I hope the blog can be an encouragement to you in your journey.

Similar Posts

2 Comments

    1. Hello Julia! That is a great question. I’d like to search into more ways to discover learning types, but I can share what I’ve learned so far. (I feel a future blog post in the making!) 🙂

      I’ve learned that each child is so different. I’ve discovered clues by watching them. Then I take these clues and try to match the curriculum or learning event with their best type: auditory (hearing), visual (seeing), and kinesthetic (movement). An auditory learner will thrive on read-alouds and even video/online learning. A visual learner will thrive with charts, art work, books with great illustrations, stickers, color, glitter (!!), etc. A kinesthetic learner loves to touch what he’s learning about: Hands on experiences, manipulatives & counters in math, abc letters & puzzles, etc.

      So here are the clues I’ve spotted. My oldest is the one who can watch a movie in one sitting, or sit to listen at story hour. He also loves to make sound affects, copying the noises he hears. He is my auditory learner. My daughter was very different even as a baby. She didn’t enjoy a story at bedtime, so the most I could read was Goodnight Gorilla, which was all illustrations, and not many words. (She actually loved many songs, whereas my oldest loved many books.) As she grew into toddler and preschool days, she would doll up with hats, hair bows, shoes, and more accessories. She would change multiple times in a day, just because she loved to pick out something to wear and showcase it for all to see. She is my visual learner! She is all about the colors! My youngest was the one who took the time to looked through each book on the shelf and place it next to him on the floor. He plays with the cards of Uno, sorting them by colors, and he loved the board puzzles most of my three. He wants to touch ALL the things! He is my kinesthetic learner. 🙂

      This is just a sample of the clues and the things I’ve learned by watching my three. And by the way, though a child fits a type of learning, it doesn’t mean they can’t learn by the other types as well. Learning types is just a guidepost and help to making your homeschool even better! Thank you so much for reading Julia! I hope you have a great week ahead.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *