The Homeschooling Assumption
But what about socialization they say? Seriously, do they think we live in a cave and never see anyone? All too often the concept of homeschool life is full of assumptions and misguided information. Save the caves for the meditating monks. Quite the contrary, life in our homeschooling family, and many others, involves jet setting around living a fulfilling, enriching, and connected life. Here’s how we do it.
Homeschooling in the Car Around Gymnastics and Errands, 2022
Just to be Clear
First of all, let me get a few things straight. Homeschooling does not mean children are unsocialized. There's a continuum of fake news spreading fear that homeschooling under develops children. I’ve even heard it said that homeschooling is not “real school”. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, homeschool children have the opportunity to excel in everything they do, for they most often have the selective attention of someone who loves them dearly and wants them to flourish. That being said, homeschooling parents also frequently network with other homeschooling parents and set up regular meet ups or co-ops for both social connection, learning, field trips, and day camps. Children enjoy undivided parental attention and coaching in a loving environment, and also branch out to spend time with others.
In our family, our vehicle guzzles a tank of gas each week just from taking our daughter to social events and her sports activities. She connects with other friends 3-5 days a week around studies. Mommy chauffeur and sherpa at your service!
By choice, I’m so busy and I enjoy what I do, yet I do delight in the days we stay at home and have a relaxed schedule. We have a good balance between jiu jitsu, gymnastics, piano lessons, field trips, social and homeschool meet ups, and stay at home days. Plus stay at home days may include any of the following; trampoline time, imaginary time in our daughter’s outdoor play world or in her room, tending to and harvesting produce and herbs from our organic garden, playing the piano, art, craft and science projects, or baking delicacies together, in addition to lots of reading and regular curriculum.
Furthermore, being a homeschooling family in Texas definitely has its benefits and was part of the reason for moving here. Every state embraces homeschooling to different degrees and we found Texas to be more supportive than where we lived in Washington state. We are enjoying our liberty to follow our core values, eat healthy at home, uphold our medical freedom, and sustain independence here in Texas, as well as, participate in the abundance of programs and activities that support the robust homeschool community.
Daily Life
Mornings begin with the ubiquitously important reading time, which when our daughter was younger, used to consist of me reading primarily to her. Every morning and every evening for almost 30 minutes on each end of the day, my daughter and I snuggled together and plunged into an imaginary adventure deep in the pages of a captivating book.
As our daughter’s reading skills developed, she began reading on her own, yet I still read to her at least once a day. We also spend time reading aloud together daily. She spends at least 20 minutes a day reading a book on her own, plus additional reading prompted through curriculum. Spending time reading to children and reading aloud together daily not only provides a peaceful time in which to connect, but also propels a child’s reading skills. Looking for ideas? The Read-Aloud Family written by Sarah Mackenzie, provides helpful insights and book recommendations, as well as, her Read-Aloud Revival website.
By Our Own Design
Structure of homeschooling is by our own design and affords families the independence of being our own architects. From my experience to date, no family’s plan is alike. Some families focus more on ranch life, especially here in Texas, raising animals, hunting, and living off the earth, while other families focus on an online and more technical environment. Some focus more on unstructured play, while others are more disciplined, and some a good blend of both.
Regardless of the structure, I have found homeschool children of all ages to be well developed, family oriented, well mannered, and thoughtful children who play well together and indifferent in their mix of ages. We have personally lived in a world free of name calling, group clicks, teasing, ganging up, and bullying because none of that exists in our amicable homeschool network of friends. Our daughter is almost eight years old and we have lots of development ahead, yet we feel confident we are raising her in a nurturing, supportive, and well connected environment with which she is already flourishing.
The Sacrifice and The Blessing
For us, it all began with conversations during my pregnancy. We decided that upon the birth of our daughter, I would stay home with her and raise her while my husband continued working. Although a financial sacrifice of suspending an income stream, being able to spend every moment with our child was, and still is, a magnificent gift. With the speed at which humans grow, we were blessed to experience first hand every magical moment of her development.
My husband also took a work break for about six months when our daughter was born. Although there was no paid paternal leave from his work, we had planned and saved for this opportunity. Both of us were able to devote our love and time to our daughter during these impressionable and foundational first months of life.
Upon returning to employment, my husband was fortunately able to work from home part time giving him the ability to connect with us briefly around appointments. Later, when the extreme lockdowns ensued in Washington state in 2020, we simply continued our already established regimen and enjoyed the added bonus of my husband working from home full time. We reaped the blessings from a bleak circumstance.
Signing “I Love You” on an Early Morning Walk on Kailua Beach, HI,
In the Beginning
We naturally began homeschooling our daughter at an early age. A handful of people had recommended teaching her sign language as a way to communicate prior to her developing speaking skills. We started practicing with our daughter at about four months old and found, as the months rolled on, she picked up basic signs very quickly. We saw the benefits of sign language first hand. She loved the well developed and timeless Signing Time program. We utilized it for not only learning sign language, but also for general knowledge of the world through their Treeschoolers shows. It wasn't long before we were able to communicate basic needs saving our daughter and our ears from uninterpreted crying.
When we noticed that our daughter's dexterity development was improving when she handled crayons and pencils, we added early learning books to her scribbling and drawing sessions. We made everything fun. Our daughter loved school time and learning to read. My husband also introduced money to her at an early age, on a very basic level, including earning income and saving coins and dollar bills in a jar. She loved the idea of saving money, so we capitalized that excitement and rewarded her a $1 bill for every board book or Bob Books for early readers that she read. She wanted to read every day for that dollar! Capital! (Our new favorite word from our recent road trip.)
Curriculum
Homeschooling is how people learned before the establishment of the school system was created to educate the masses, however, the abundance of educational options has exploded in recent years. Dropping our children off at school certainly takes the pressure off trying to figure out how to best proceed with our children's education. Even though both my husband and I went to school, the world has rapidly evolved since those days. To put it gracefully, we chose the path of taking full responsibility for raising our daughter and to be the humans that most impact her growth, core values, and personality, especially in these formative years.
Not everyone has the luxury of doing this, as it does depend upon one parent to relinquish a main income in order to take the teacher and care giver role. However, no matter what situation or choices we make in life, we can choose to be, as much as possible, passionately involved, engaged, and supportive of our children whether they are homeschooled, have a hired tutor guiding them, or attend a institution.
Reading, Our Daily Ritual, 2022
Gathering Intel
Smart phones certainly make life easier. When entertaining the homeschool idea, I took notes on homeschooling, Montessori, Waldorf, tutoring, and private school information. From all the years of taking my daughter to playgrounds and networking with other parents, I would load sites and links into my phone. I would then transfer everything to an excel spreadsheet on my computer to create a simply analysis of possibilities.
We had already established a great foundation with all that our daughter had learned with sign language classes, the early reading training, and the various activity books she enjoyed. We had puzzled together our own kindergarten and pre-school curriculum that came naturally to us of what we considered important skills with which to focus; reading, math, art, core values, and of course lots of fun, adventure, and imagination.
Now it was time to advance to a more cultivated approach with the help of an established program. Soon after moving to Texas, my husband and I met with our lap tops in the living room on a mission to delve into researching all the information we had collected. Our goal was set to choose a curriculum that day with which to proceed for our daughter who would be turning six in a few months. With tabs and websites of various curriculums open, we found ourselves repeatedly returning to The Good and The Beautiful (GB) program and dove into ordering their material.
Studying Outside, 2024
What a delight it has been utilizing the GB curriculum. The content is truly good and beautiful. The core subjects of Language Arts and Math are interwoven with culture, geography, art, and history so young minds develop a sense of the world all the while learning foundational education. Although it is very hands on education, GB also provides complimentary video content to assist many of the lessons.
Our daughter has enjoyed GB over two years now, however, she has moved through more than the levels of her grade by school age. Now that she's almost 8 years old, she is also able to complete much of the work on her own and has become more self-directed. With a little nudge from me here and there to stay on task, she is accomplishing so much more as time moves on. Additionally, due to the depth and time in which we focus on studies, homework is not an added part of our evenings. Instead, after sports activities, our daughter is either enjoying social time with family, a playground date, or an online meet up with a friend or her Tutu (Hawaiian for Grandma) before settling down for the evening.
Freedom & Flexibility
Our lives as a homeschooling family are always brimming with projects, activities and appointments. We create our week by design. We have a set schedule, yet have the opportunity to spontaneously make changes and spring into an impromptu adventure. The community connected sports in which we engage of jiu jitsu and gymnastics take place 3-4 times a week. We also add for example hiking, swimming, bicycle riding, yoga, walking, trampoline jumping, or ice-skating, depending on the time of year.
Nature Day Field Trip Fun with Homeschool Friends, 2024
Many museums and facilities offer homeschool rates. Most places are peaceful and free of crowds when we visit them during school hours. Homeschoolers enjoy museums, factory tours, gyms and sport facilities all free of the crowd and clatter of massive attendance.
We also have the luxury of going on vacation any time we choose since we are not locked into a system. Avoiding peak season travel has multiple benefits from shorter lines to saving money on trip expenses. Plus we always weave in some form of education during our trips, so homeschooling never really stops.
New Friends Made on our Recent Ski Trip, 2024
Deep Friendships
Even though we moved from Washington to Texas a few years ago, our daughter is still in regular contact with her besties from the Pacific Northwest. Thanks to video calls she has regular connections online with long distance friends. Our daughter has been able to maintain long term friendships, as well as, cultivate new ones in her local community.
Besties Enjoy Early Education Arts and Crafts, 2021
One of her besties was a friend she met at a playground swing when she was only three years old. Over time we developed a strong friendship, both mothers and daughters, and began a weekly homeschool meet up in which we led our girls in both light education, crafts, and play. As conscious mamas with children in a young development stage, we helped guide our girls to learn and practice communication skills, sharing, and working together. It wasn’t always easy, but it was wonderful to work closely with another mother who was also keenly aware of how impressionable children are and how we can parent from a conscious place both respecting and mentoring our children to empowerment. Since then I have read The Awakened Family, by Shefali Tsabary Ph. D., and reflect in gratitude on all we did together and how we continually practice mindful parenting every day.
Immersion
Another benefit to homeschooling is immersion. As with many homeschoolers, being able to dive in daily to subjects of interests, as well as, the core subjects of language arts and math, a child has the opportunity to deeply focus on and penetrate material.
We also study year round, so our daughter’s mental rhythm is continually flowing with no lag due to summer vacation. In addition, the combination of consistent year round immersion has bestowed her the gift of moving through curriculum faster than education standards. And… she enjoys it! Capital!
Studying Long Division Math in the Fresh Air, 2022
A Head Start
Upon moving to Texas, I remember reading about a homeschool family of five children who all finished high school two years earlier than following the regular school system. It was inspiring to read about this loving family whose children got a head start in furthering their education and developing their careers. Given the opportunity and support in an intimate home school environment, I could see how these kids compressed time and took advantage their situation. Texas offers an early college start for all high school students, homeschooled and those attending institutions, that will earn them college credits while finishing up high school requirements. Such a great opportunity!
Take The Lead
The beauty of homeschooling is that as a family, you take the lead. You design your life, activities, and curriculum around your family values. You create your life by design. You have the freedom, hand in hand, with the responsibility to lead the way for our future generations. It is my hope, and I hold in my imagination, that no matter what path we choose for our children, homeschooling, public or private school, that we become more compassionate humans in embracing and respecting our differences, with healthy debate, all the while uniting to serve and protect this great country our forefathers established for us all to thrive.
Enjoying the Culture of Mexico in a favorite spot, Sayulita, 2021
Resources of Interest
Surprisingly, there’s and endless supply of educational resources out there no matter what our age, some free and some at a cost. A good place to start for anyone considering homeschooling is the Great Homeschool Conventions offering events in five locations nationwide.
Listed below are just a handful of resources we have found or others have shared with us, and not just limited to homeschooling. Have another resource you’d like to share? Please comment!
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Embracing the homeschooling adventure with our daughter has been an extraordinary expedition, filled with learning and growth for both her and us.
Brit-Simone Kneeland, your eloquent storytelling brings this journey to life, painting vivid pictures of the challenges and triumphs we've encountered along the way. Your narrative captures the essence of this unique experience, making it resonate with anyone who reads it.
Thank you for sharing our story with such creativity and insight, truly reflecting the vibrant tapestry of homeschooling. Capital!