”Do you ask a fish how it swims? Or a bird how it flies? No sirree, you don’t! They do it because they were born to do it!”
– Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Just like Willy Wonka was born to invent new candy bars, kids were born to learn!
This isn’t the first time I’ve written about why homeschooling works easily for kids of all ages. They’re even learning on sick days. And, on our recent trip to the lake, I was reminded (yet again) how kids are always learning – even on vacation!
It’s August…. The END of August….
If you’re being thrown into homeschooling unexpectedly, this might be the moment you start to panic.
Or, it might be when the panic you’ve felt rising for months turns into full-blown freaking out.
As a friend of mine says to lighten the mood when her kids are stressed out, “don’t worry… sausages!”
Take a deep breath. It’s going to be okay.
You never imagined yourself doing school at home. Or maybe you did, but not yet… and definitely not because schools closed suddenly during a pandemic! You don’t have the luxury of researching and planning over the summer months – this is happening NOW!
But for now – right now – you want to make the most of this. For the next three weeks or three months or however long it lasts, you want to take the lemons and make lemonade.
In this series we’ve taken a look at reasons homeschooling works for preschoolers and for early elementary students.
But when kids get older and their academic work becomes more “serious” can homeschooling really work for them?
Definitely YES!
In this series, I’m hoping to give you a glimpse into why homeschooling is so effective for kids of all ages.
In the previous post, I showed just how much preschoolers are learning all the time. Homeschooling is incredibly effective for young kids since there’s time to answer more of their bazillion daily questions and let life and learning flow together naturally.
As kids get into their early elementary years, their brains are still like sponges. They’re constantly soaking in information and now they’re old enough to make more sense of it.
I was asked again recently if homeschooling really works.
For some reason, I’m always caught off guard when I hear this. After all, I see home education work everyday!
My own kids… my homeschooling friends’ kids… students I see at our co-op… they’re all growing and learning and turning into capable young people.
Does it work? Of course it works! It’s been working in one form or another for millennia! Homeschooling is an amazing way to learn!
But only ten short years ago I actually asked the very same question.
Christian parents often feel like they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Or, maybe more accurately, we’re standing on the Rock in a hard place. We’re called by the Lord (our “Rock” in Psalm 18:2) to “bring [our children] up in the training and instruction of the Lord” but our “post-truth” culture makes that a seemingly impossible goal.
Traditional, Christian morals and values are eroding in our society at breakneck speed and we’re constantly inundated with messages contrary to Biblical teaching. Once-a-week, Sunday school flannel board lessons may have cut it thirty years ago (arguably), but times have definitely changed.
Homeschoolers have gained back a lot of time with their kids by keeping them home. But it still seems like it’s never enough! So, in the spirit of not wasting any more of this precious commodity, let’s get right to the tips!
The list below includes the top ten ways I’ve learned to save time in our homeschool. It’s organized from very general to very specific – hopefully there’s an idea for everyone!
WARNING: Just so we’re all on the same page, the following post is facetious and dripping with sarcasm. Please read it with this in mind.
If you’re looking to anger, alienate, or distance yourself from the homeschooling family down the street but just don’t know where to start, look no further! Here are 7 easy ways to judge them unfairly and really annoy them in the process!
I love autumn. The older I get, the more I prefer autumn to my previous favorite season, summer. Apple picking, cider donuts, colorful scenery, veggie garden harvests, and cozy sweaters on crisp fall days…. yes, there’s a lot to love about this season!
Except, of course, the inevitable cold or flu that someone catches and brings home to share with the family.
