This post is from contributor, Jenn Hoskins
For several years we have been a square peg in the round hole of the homeschooling world.
We do things differently than most families. We school 6 days a week and take Wednesdays off. Our long break is in November, December and January, and it’s really just a more relaxed school time as opposed to being truly off of school.
Even the differences from one child’s curriculum to another’s are huge. Some are full textbook style and others are practically unschooled. We walk a weird line of fitting in everywhere and nowhere all at the same time.
There seem to be unwritten rules out there somewhere that you need to fit a certain mold of what school should be in order to homeschool properly. The problem with this idea is that you are not bringing a public classroom home. You are instead educating your child in their real life and usually that looks very different than a public school schedule.
Your life may involve a husband who works overnights or is off on a weird day, like mine is on Wednesdays. You may have a child who learns unconventionally and needs a different approach than other children. You may live where weather is wonderful in the winter months, like here in Florida, and awful during the summer so you take your break at a different time of year.
All of these things are okay. I am writing you a free pass to shape your homeschool to your life. The only rules you need to follow are the homeschool guidelines in your state.
So how do you mold your unconventional homeschool?
Take a good look at your life. Where does school time fit best? Is that also the best time each child learns? Does more table time or less table time work? Does your visual learner learn more from a video on Netflix or your audio learner learn from an audiobook? Are you a night owl or early bird? Do you work better doing one subject a day or five subjects a day? Are your children learning more outside of your school times? If so, how can you change school time to teach them the way they learn?
There are so many variables in each of our lives. Tweak school to fit your life!
You may not fit into the traditional crowd when people talk about 9am, at the dining room table, Monday through Friday. Remember, this is your life, your children’s lives and your goal is working school in as part of their life, not having it be their whole life. That might look different, which is perfectly fine. It is okay to break the mold and do what works for you.
Embrace the square peg in a round hole that your homeschool is. To quote the great Huey Lewis and the News song, “It’s hip to be square.”
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- The Family that Serves Together Stays Together {including Family Service Project Ideas!} - July 10, 2014
- The Tale of Two Towers - June 16, 2014