I have a teaching degree and taught 5th grade for two years, when I was VERY young. I turned 22 on the first day of school and though I did a decent job, would do a much better job today after having been a parent. I had already decided that when I was blessed with children of my own, I would be a homeschool mom. After teaching classes of 20-25 5th graders, I figured that homeschooling a mere handful of my own children would be a piece of cake. I WAS WRONG. I have a huge respect for homeschooling mothers who do it right. Especially those moms of many who persevere year after year while pregnant and nursing and during financial strain. I wrote this little ad as a tribute to homeschool moms everywhere. It takes a special woman to do what you do.
I’ m not sure if I’m scared or encouraged by this 🙂 My oldest is only 3 and it will be 2 years before he starts school and I’m already feeling so conflicted on which option to choose!
Ha ha ha…you forgot no sick leave though nursing and doctoring duties required and no superannuation or sick leave…oh..and the tasting around older siblings…yeah..I am primary trained too…did it for years and now I home school one if mine for medical reasons and about to embark teaching his twin sister next year..I am pumped to have the both of them homedchooled..its been tough one home ed and one state schooled…bring it on…lol…do you still do it?…
Ha ha ha…you forgot no sick leave though nursing and doctoring duties required and no superannuation ..oh..and the tasting around older siblings…yeah..I am primary trained too…did it for years and now I home school one if mine for medical reasons and about to embark teaching his twin sister next year..I am pumped to have the both of them homedchooled..its been tough one home ed and one state schooled…bring it on…lol…do you still do it?…
I always get embarrassed when I’m told I’m some sort of superwoman for homeschooling my kids. I do understand how intimidating it seems, because I was pretty nervous. But now that I’m doing it, it’s really not a big deal. Mainly because I don’t let household things bug me–I had to be realistic and recognize that I would not be able to do it all or get it all done at once. I took a veteran homeschoolers advice and scheduled in a light or “off” week every 3-4 weeks in a term, so I could get things like that caught up. I also chose to follow the Charlotte Mason method, and don’t have any boxed curriculum–THAT would intimidate and overwhelm me, trying to keep track of 3 different schedules. I made my own schedule, in some cases my own curriculum (I wrote a genealogy-based history course for my eldest), so I’m not following someone else’s plan. Of course, well laid plans . . .I’m pregnant and having a rough first trimester, which means we haven’t done nearly as much school as I had planned. 😛 But I ALSO realized that for mine–first grade, K, and pre-K, as well as a toddler–all those extra subjects could take a back seat. As along was hit the four R’s (religion, reading, writing, ‘rithmetic), plus K and pre-K time (which is all of 10-15 min each), in a given day, we’re good. They get science through discussion and experience (watching the bread dough rise when I bake, observing spiders on our porch), art and music with Baby Einstein videos and cds and books, and they do their own PE by running in circles or asking to do my Tae Bo video. LOL That was a big release for me: learning, through reading and research, that children at this age learn more from everyday life and conversation than they’ll ever get out of a dry textbook or workbook. And kids this age should NOT be put in front of workbooks a majority of the time, but allowed to explore and observe and play. So that’s why I get squirmy when I get looks of awe and “I don’t know HOW you do it”, because I don’t feel I do anything. I just sort of guide them. I am keeping track of what scheduled things we haven’t done, and catching up when I can. Lessons are short when we have them, and we’re done by lunch time. But I took the pressure off myself, I don’t have to have a perfect house–my husband is happy to help with dishes in the evening–and we don’t have to do everything every day. I know they’ll get what they need, I can tell from things they say and do that they are more then on track, and school is still something they BEG to do instead of something they hate. That means to me that the low pressure way works. 🙂 Hope you found what does work for you.
Let me add, by the way, that there is no “right”. “Right” is what works for you and your kids. And for some people, if it IS too much, what is right is sending them to school. So doing it right is doing it YOUR way. 🙂
I have to say that kitchen clean up, laundry and janitorial duties should not all be yours. We homeschool moms should be training our children to be capable at life skills (age appropriate, of course). I should have started mine much younger than I did; they were interested, but I wanted to do it faster… it takes much longer to get them re-interested when they get older.
I love Tanya’s 4 R’s!!! I will definitely be using that one. 🙂
Also, homeschooling should not be school at home, unless you are schooling like a one room schoolhouse teacher. I have heard from a lot of moms who left public school teaching jobs to teach their kids that it was harder for them to make the switch. The environment and the focus are different. At home, you do not have to worry about crowd control, but you do have plenty of different distractions. What I love about homeschooling, is that home education looks different for every family, because every family, every child is unique… and what works for some may not work for another.
Thanks for writing the tribute! I love encouraging words. 🙂