Before we got into this homeschooling thing, I spent a couple years reading (yes, me reading, big surprise there) about the different ways to homeschool, what it looks like from day to day, what the state of Virginia requires, etc. Over the years, Pete and I had known several different homeschool families and were very impressed with their children’s academic skills and the manner with which they interacted with both adults and other children. So, when we moved to Suffolk and I wasn’t about to put my kids in the Suffolk public schools, we began our experiment of homeschooling for 2008-09 year for Erich’s preschool. The 2nd half of that year we did school in our temporary apartment in Gainesville. We made it work with a few boxes of books and a kitchen table.
We moved into our new house last summer, and set up our schoolroom in the dining room. Sometimes our kids use their school desks (they were freebies from a Catholic school in Virginia Beach), but most of the time they use a square table with black chairs to work on their lessons and drawing projects. (Erich draws so many pictures every day that he could probably go through a ream of paper in a little over a week.)
We use Sonlight as our basic curriculum, but I also make sure that I add in books, projects, field trips, crafts and games that relate to whatever his current interest (sometimes obsession) is. For example, for the 2010-2011 school year, we will be studying astronomy (Exploring Creation with Astronomy) in conjunction with our general 1st grade Sonlight science curriculum. Why astronomy? Have you met Erich and Ben? They are obsessed with space, Star Wars, Buzz Lightyear, the moon, planets, and all things related. They have already taken in the Air and Space Museum downtown and the one at Dulles, along with the Hampton Air and Space Museum. They proudly wear the very cool t-shirts (that glow in the dark) that their grandparents brought them from the Kennedy Space Center. Yes, astronomy is a BIG deal in our house! Think about what you learned the most about when you were in K-12. Wasn’t it related to something you had a lot of interest in learning? I try to take that excitement and relate it to what they’re learning at every opportunity, sort of pouring on a little more sparkly glue to make a new (or maybe boring) concept stick.
I do use the public school’s scope and sequence as a very loose guideline for what I want to accomplish during our school year, but the freedom to choose HOW we accomplish those goals, and with what curriculum is what I love most about homeschooling. For example, Horizons K Math worked for us for preschool math, but at the beginning of Erich’s kindergarten year we traded it for Math U See Alpha. I wanted him to get the addition facts down solid so we spent the 2nd semester of kindergarten studying Addition the Fun Way and flashcards. We’re covering the same concepts but teaching it in a different style, specific to the way each boy learns, and at his own pace. Some concepts don’t come easy for Erich, and at home he doesn’t have to compare his abilities with anyone else. He can be confident with what he’s achieved on his own timeline, and I get the pleasure of witnessing the very moment when he “gets it” and his brain circuits click.
And the teacher keeps learning, too. Voddie Baucham said in his book “Family Driven Faith” that with homeschooling the teacher only needs to stay one week ahead of the student, and I guess that’s true, but I’m also relearning a lot of things I didn’t learn solidly the first go around. I’m not very good at Scrabble or crossword puzzles, but homeschooling is providing me with the by-product of better connected brain wires. And I get to spend more time with my children, who I remind myself are only little once. Although some days go smoother than others, I thank God for the means to stay home with our boys and watch them grow and learn and experience life.
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