Truths from a Homeschool Newbie
Contributed by Rebecca McAllister
Three years ago if you would have asked me if I would be a homeschool mom I would have admittedly told you NO. I am raising two kids that are three years apart and have a career as a sign language interpreter and a husband with an irregular schedule. I have always had my kids in child care or with family of some sort. But I also have often felt God nudging towards homeschool and Covid was just the nudge I needed to make the leap.
I am blessed to be surrounded by many families who homeschool (due to the nature of our husband's jobs, it is a natural fit) and with encouragement and lots of late night calls I was able to find a curriculum and a homeschool community.
I am three weeks into this journey and blessed in ways I didn't know possible.
Blessings have ranged from the little things:
slowness to our mornings and being able to let my littlest sleep in and not rush out the door
our home has become a calmer more peaceful place... not perfect or cleaner, just calmer
None of the end of the day emotional dump: you know the one; where you get in the car with your child after a long day and they TELL YOU ALL THE THINGS at lightning speed, and then you play catch up till bedtime to try and understand, but are never really on the same page and by the time you are it is already time to start over
To the bigger things:
no zoom anxiety, this is a big one for us
being able to read aloud as a family and learn my child's learning style as they explain the book the way they hear it to their younger sibling so they understand too
kindness; my kids have to be with each other more so they are learning how to be true friends not just with each other on nights and weekends, which has led to less fighting
real dedicated time (that doesn't feel rushed or that we are fitting it into our day) to read the Bible together as a family, you can work anything into your school day, we have piano practice and spanish as part of our school day
being able to take the time to know my kids deeply and know their interests and what their little hearts love
creativity is over flowing around here these days too; box forts to reenact that scene from the above stated read aloud book, creative play that doesn't need to be disrupted for the sake of time
We are also enjoying the freedom of homeschool, which in turn I am learning in this season doesn't look the same as the families who are distance learning. These freedoms have included changing the time of day we do school because our days look different, being able to lean into my kids and their need to be outside first or some days there need to not have a structured school day. For example, one morning I worked and my husband was able to take the kids with their nature journals on a hike and look for plants to document and draw which has been part of my oldest science curriculum, real world application for the win! Another perk, taking a Monday holiday and moving it to Wednesday because that works best for all of us. Also the choice in curriculum and seeing the year as a whole and choosing the direction my child will work towards for the year and the freedom to add or remove things that just aren't working. To be clear I don't mean we will never touch a math book again because I don't like it or my child is struggling; I mean that we have the freedom to take a break or move our day around because math is their favorite so it is the first thing we do instead of the last.
As a new homeschool mom I would like to encourage you that if what you're doing now in this season isn't working, you have options. Try something else. I did and I don't see us ever going back to how it was. There is so much beauty in this new normal.
Contributed by Rebecca McAllister