Whether you’re just starting off on this journey of homeschooling and need a little guidance or have been at it a while and need a pep talk, sometimes it’s good to review the basics. What better way for a homeschooler to do that than with this homeschool alphabetical guide, ABC-style.
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My second son is a junior this year. STEM subjects come naturally to him. For example, he is currently holding a solid A in calculus, and given the choice between spending an afternoon testing physics laws or digging into Shakespeare, well… the Bard would lose.
I’m parenting and homeschooling a high schooler who doesn’t have a strong literature bent, and I know I’m not alone.
Science, technology, engineering, and math fields (STEM fields) are highly touted. But friends whose teens have similar interests are often surprised that we’ve chosen Sonlight for our STEM-leaning son.
People do have their strengths. I’m not saying they don’t. But when a child is an ace crawler, we don’t decide that they don’t need to walk.
In every area of parenting, we are to encourage our children to branch past their comfort zones and try their wings in newer, challenging areas. That doesn’t change just because your daughter is older and her interests are becoming more specific.
Just as you wouldn’t have given up on reading instruction earlier on when her math skills took off, you now need to continue offering progressively more complex literature. Higher math and science and advanced reading are part and parcel of a rich education.
If your child thinks that great biologists, engineers, statisticians, and computer programmers are ignorant of the vast body of great literature, they’re misinformed.
People who are successful in their area of expertise are rarely the type who never pick up a book. Great literature is the universal common denominator among innovators from all fields. It’s the background music to which the symphonies of science and math are written. So STEM students need great literature, too!
Besides simply being an excellent exercise for the brain, great literature like the selections from Sonlight’s high school curriculum allow teens to enter in to the Great Conversation— the tradition of great writers and thinkers, expanding on the ideas presented in earlier works. The majority of adults in America have read To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, and The Chosen. These titles are a starting place for engaging with others in the context of a body of shared knowledge.
Literature also provides a window into the emotions, experiences, and worlds we otherwise can’t touch, giving us a deeper human experience and one that develops us into well-rounded and empathetic people willing to be used by God for His glory. Reading about men who’ve experienced war, women who have suffered mistreatment, and political regimes run amok makes us better able to bear the burdens of our neighbors.
Given those qualifiers, the life of every man is clearly made better for the books he has read. There’s no reason not to enjoy a buffet of great literature throughout high school. Personally, I’d be delighted for one of my children to become an auto mechanic. I’d be even more pleased if he or she was an auto mechanic who had dipped a toe into Jane Eyre.
Sonlight has homeschool consultants available to talk to you about choosing the perfect high school curriculum for your teen. Click here to schedule an appointment.
Have you seen the video where someone is trying to line up a litter of cute, cuddly kittens? If you haven’t, let me spoil it for you: it doesn’t work very well! As you can imagine, it’s a full thirty seconds of constant redirection, repositioning, and mayhem. To everyone watching, it’s hilarious, but to the poor person trying to herd those kittens, it's exhausting. This image hits close to home for homeschool moms of multiples. Some days, homeschooling multiple children is very much like herding cats. As soon as you get one seated, another pops up and wanders off, and the day is similar to the old whack-a-mole game. Can you relate?
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For obvious reasons, people want to know the ways homeschooling can be good for their children. Many people also talk about how it benefits the adults, but always in context of their role as a parent or the family as a whole.
What about the parents as individuals? What opportunities will homeschooling give a parent to grow as a person, not only as a mom or a dad?
There’s simply no way to add the major commitment of homeschooling without it impacting the pace of your days. Regardless of your natural bent in this area, you’ll have to make some changes as a homeschooler.
If you tend to be a structured person who thrives on schedules, you’ll have to flex. You will discover the ability to set aside your plan and move forward with a smile on your face.
If you’re one who usually goes with the flow, you'll have to be disciplined. You will experience the value in setting firm boundaries and enforcing timelines.
Learning to swing a little toward the opposite end of the time management spectrum is one big way you will grow as a homeschool parent.
What is your homeschool super power? Is it one of these:
Whatever it is that you’re good at, homeschooling gives you a chance to either discover an latent strength or confirm one you already knew about.
Although a prideful attitude that believes your strengths determine your worth is a problem, an awareness of what you do well is a positive thing when you look for ways to use your strengths to improve your own life and bless other people.
There’s nothing like sharing a roof with people to make your own weaknesses clear as day! Homeschooling ramps up the intensity of that awareness.
How is this apparent negative actually a positive? First, it keeps us humble. As we see and accept that areas of our life need improvement, we’ll more easily accept and have patience with the flaws in others. Second, it gives us an opportunity for personal growth. As the saying goes, acknowledging a problem is the first step toward resolving it. Rarely does a weakness manifest in only one area, so our efforts to make changes pertaining to weaknesses in homeschooling will have a ripple effect in the other parts of our life.
Homeschooling provides ample opportunity to seek the peace and wisdom that only God can give:
Whether it comes from frazzled desperation or contented gratitude, anything that consistently drives us to our knees in prayer and leads us to read our Bibles is a good thing. The more our own spiritual tank is filled, the more we’ll have to share with others.
These four benefits will clearly make an impact on your family as you homeschool, but they’re also life skills that will serve you and those in your life well long after your nest is empty or your kids have transitioned to other schooling options. Homeschooling, after all, isn’t just about the kids. It’s about everyone in the home, including the parents.
Curious to see what a homeschool lifestyle might look like for your family? Go to SmoothCourse to explore your curriculum options.
Your Instructor’s Guide is highlighted and indexed. Pencils are sharpened, and your basket holds all the books for the day. Your coffee is hot. The Bible is open to the right page.
Everything is perfect. Then, it dawns on you. Something is missing. Where are the kids?!
I can relate to this scenario because it happens to me regularly. Reining in a first grader, a kindergartner, and a preschooler is no small feat. Add in the infant who equates napping with medieval torture, and wow! I’m sure you can understand why I hum the Mission Impossible theme song as I make breakfast each morning.
Fortunately, I have a tried and true arsenal of tricks to rein in my kids. Through trial and error, toil and strife, I have found joy in homeschooling, too. I have a strong belief that homeschooling, although hard (cue that Mission Impossible music), is the right choice for our family! I also come equipped with a lot of caffeine and complete faith in Jesus: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
Truth? You have to feed them anyway! Use this fact to your advantage. While your kids are eating, you have a captive audience. After you satiate their minds with knowledge and their bellies with food, they’ll be ready for a mind break and off to play. In the wake of the storm, your coffee will taste so much better!
All those books that are wonderful to snuggle up to on the couch are just as enjoyable, if not more so, outside. Read under a favorite tree, on a picnic blanket at the beach, or on the front porch just before a storm.
Homeschooling would be a piece of cake if it weren’t for all our other earthly needs. Still, cars need oil changes and pantries need groceries. No matter how hard I pray, dinner still won’t make itself. Being portable is the solution.
Take your Couch Subjects™ with you! I keep our current Read-Aloud, Readers, and reference books in a ready-to-go bag that I can grab on the way out the door. We have spent many an oil change reading up on Greek myths. Just ask Bill, our service guy. He’s learned a ton too!
Table Subjects™ work the same way. Invest in a few clip boards with internal storage, so the kids can quickly unearth copywork or science worksheets on the go. I recommend keeping a glue stick and a pair of safety scissors handy as well.
You’re going to be in the car anyway. Plus, the kids are trapped. Go for it!
Lyrical Life Science is a current favorite with my kiddos! You really haven’t explored all science has to offer until you’ve sung about cold blooded vertebrates to the tune of When Johnny Comes Marching Home!
Sometimes I need everybody in one place when it’s not meal time or driving time. My solution? I play chopsticks on the piano. Seriously, it works!
When they hear chopsticks being played, the kids run to the room and have a seat on the carpet for announcements. I make sure to reserve this method for when I’m calling them to do something fun like poetry tea time or hands-on history!
Now, here’s the whole truth about what happens when I have finally achieved the perfect homeschool flow:
Fear not! Just take a deep breath, pray, and pick any one of the options above to get back on track!
Your turn! I’d love to hear and try some of your suggestions! What methods work for you? How do you reign the kids back in when they go off course?
To find out more about Sonlight's complete book-based homeschool programs, order a complimentary copy of your catalog today.
Singapore Math is just one of many fantastic math options Sonlight offers. If you are happy with your math program, don’t switch! I’m not raving about Singapore to stir up discontent or doubt. I'm just sharing our experience which may help you find your place in the wild west of math curricula.
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We’re faced with a variety of decisions every single day, but occasionally we have to make one that’s life-changing. Perhaps it’s a career switch, uprooting to move to a new place, choosing to expand our family through adoption or pregnancy, or pursuing a risky medical treatment when there are no great options available. Sometimes it’s deciding to homeschool our kids.
People choose to homeschool for a myriad of reasons and their why can change over time.
The reasons may be very practical.
Perhaps the reasons are more about personal convictions and values.
Although some people’s motives for homeschooling aren’t ideal, what generally matters more than a motive itself is that you can articulate what yours is.
The first reason it’s important to know our why is because it will light a fire under us, helping us move forward when we’d otherwise remain stagnant or retreat. No matter how strongly we believe that homeschooling is the best option for our family at a given point in time, there will be moments when the only thing we want is put all the kids on a bus and have the day to ourselves. A particular subject will get boring, we’ll feel overwhelmed by all the responsibilities on our plate, or we won’t feel like researching the best method of helping a kid who’s struggling to learn something.
In those times, it’s critical to remind ourselves of our why. There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging whatever aspect of homeschooling is difficult at the time, and we should certainly make adjustments when necessary, but most of the time we simply need to keep our eyes on the prize. By remembering what prompted us to take the homeschooling plunge in the first place, we’ll find ourselves more motivated to persevere through the parts that are less than dreamy.
The second reason for clearly defining our why is that it reins us in, keeping us from chasing every homeschooling wind that blows by. It’s a blessing to live in a time and place with a plethora of resources and options available to homeschooling families. However, that vast array of choices becomes a burden if we feel compelled to follow each new trend or experiment with every approach. We lose continuity and stability if we’re always jumping from one thing to another, trying things simply because they look fun or are working well for people we know.
Sure, there will be times when we need to shake things up a bit for one reason or another, but focusing on our why will help us stick with what’s working for our family. It serves as a checkpoint to make sure that we’re only doing those things that serve our homeschooling purposes, saying no to everything else.
Why have you chosen to homeschool? Is that a question you can easily answer? If not, I challenge you to think it through until you know exactly what it is. Then allow that why to be what both pushes you forward and pulls you in along your homeschooling journey.
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