10 facts about how we homeschool

So many of you know that we homeschool. We’ve homeschooled for eleven years now. Eleven. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,and 11. One of the questions that I get so often is – what’s your homeschool style? your method? your groove? Well, maybe not your groove, but you know, a homeschooling family, or any family, kind of gets into their today I’m going to rest in the grass and think type of groove.

So what’s our style? I’d like to name us the Classical Literature Unit Study Unschooling yet Relaxed Learning family that uses Textbooks on occasion and enjoys a great deal of Delight Directed Learning along with Notebooking in the style of Charlotte Mason.

That’s us.

But more than that, I’ve learned to not be a slave to a label. Can you imagine me spitting out that label up there every time someone asked what our style was? Way too long. Complicated. Rather I’ve learned to embrace our family, our learning style and groove, and to not let a label, a style, or a method define us.

Here’s a bit of who we are – and our eclectic style – in ten ways.

1. We schedule knowing that life happens. No matter how I start in the fall – with the perfect program {we loved our year with Geography Matters and Trail Guide to Learning} or the perfect notebooking pages and the schedule mapped out till June – I can guarantee you that there will be something that will cause that schedule to veer off track. Quickly. Instead of getting discouraged with the days that get bumped, I’ve instead learned to embrace the days where we get double done and not fret on the days where we had to just exist in survival mode. It’s a one day at a time philosophy – an embracing of today – and being okay to sit at the table, be family, and play Mancala in the morning before math. Even though we’ll get math done later.

2. Kids are different. Not one of my children learns the same way. You’d think that after teaching for so many years that I would get the “system” down. Well, there really isn’t a system and a program that fits each of them. There are things that we love and carry over – All About Learning Press/Spelling and Reading, Saxon Math {yep, that’s what we use}, and more. Do I use them the same with each of them? No. But, I’ve learned to adapt our style at the moment to fit the child. Maybe I’ll use more narration with one and copywork with another or more hands on versus read aloud to teach a certain topic.

3. Media. My kids have learned to use media. I’m not a parent that moves away from media, but rather I’ve adopted the idea to teach them to use it responsibly. Hannah started blogging when she 12 years old and through the blogging ended up discovering many of her talents. My husband and I want them to be aware of media, to be wise with media, to set boundaries and time limits with media, and to ultimately learn to use it for the good.

4. We read.  We simply are readers, and I think our love of books has trickled down to our children. We have always made sure to have many books in the home and have encouraged reading. Grin – we start them young.

5. We don’t have a room set aside as a classroom. I wrote an entire post about this last year — where we learn — that details our home and learning environment . Bottom line? I’d love a room to store all of our homeschool items. The salt dough maps {made with a rice flour blend}, the piles of papers, the 3d models, the science experiments, and more. We just don’t have a place in our home that we’ve chosen to dedicate specifically for that. So we learn everywhere – in the kitchen, on the couch, on the front porch,  on the back deck, and in the car. Learning in our home isn’t set to one room. And, lol, it can include Star Wars books…

6. We never EVER have pencils that work. I don’t care if I just spent $4.39 at Target. Inevitably one of the little boys will pump out all the lead in the mechanical pencils or all the other pencils will have dull tips. Please tell me I’m not alone….

7. Free to Explore. I am fairly delight directed in my teaching style even though I have a list of goals and topics and basics that I aim to cover each year. I have gotten to the point where I’m comfortable letting them run with a topic even though it’s not on the schedule. Just recently Brennan found a science book about Elephants. For two days straight the conversations between the two of us consisted of Mom did you know that elephants can’t jump or the african elephant has more wrinkles and is much bigger and that they can live to be really old and the african elephant has bigger ears to keep cool?

8. Coffee. It’s our style. It’s my style. Thanks to my faithful Keurig or runs to Caribou Coffee I tend to always have a cup of Joe next to me while I’m working. Just don’t bump it so it hits my planner. And, sigh, yep, I’m often convinced into giving those littles just a sip.

9. Grace, grace, Grace. You’ve read my write about that need for grace. I have had littles in my house for my entire homeschooling career and I’ve learned about the need for grace. I’m going to say it again – just keep trying, keep working at it, but balance it with grace. Homeschooling, being a mother, having a toddler in the house – it all takes grace. I think the Lord gave me a Grace in my life to remind me to rest in grace.

10. Living Alive. Life can race by, the jobs can fill our page, the to-do list can be daunting, so much to do and so much to accomplish and yet, it can be so easy to be asleep and numb to all there is good around you.  It’s a balance of learning and pushing the math facts {cause you know we need to know how to multiply} versus stepping back when needed and focusing on the heart. In our homeschool, in our family, and in our lives I want to foster this attitude of gratitude, joy, and respect for each other. And that attitude, that heart for our day in our family, means family matters, that hearts matter, and that we are so thankful for the gift of each day and the opportunity to spend time with each other learning, growing, and sharing life.

That’s our homeschool, our life, our groove.

In ten reasons.

~Rachel