Homeschool: Settling In

Ruby was reading a book to Henry this morning and it struck me that I really love this homeschooling thing. I'm exhausted as I write this, nine hours later, but I'm also appreciating the hidden benefits to teaching our kids at home versus outsourcing.

As we continue into this adventure, several new benefits have presented themselves, but three stand out today:

1) Our children really like each other - because they are learning the same material (at different levels) and sharing more experiences together, they are bonding over history and reading (Ruby reads at least once a day to Henry and once a day to me) and life in general, and I like seeing them be friends like that. They have a lot to talk about and they frequently discuss what they're learning.

Last year they each spent most of their freshest hours in different environments, with people we like and love, but who all scatter at the end of the school day. So they came home tired, having spent their best waking hours away from family, and each told the other about their day. But they weren't really sharing life together other than eating dinner and getting ready for bed, which I'll admit aren't our most peaceful times each day. Now, we usually eat breakfast together after everyone's slept as much as they need to, and it's much better family time.

2) We really like our children - My hypothesis on investing in children is being proven: the more you invest in your children, the greater the returns. I'll admit that I had a lot of fun last year, having more lunches with friends, having more alone time, prayer time, writing time and husband time while the kids were in school.

However, there is a thrill that comes with looking into your child's eyes as they tell you all about Squanto or how to find the answer to three times six or how they just wrote their name. I will admit it is a lot of fun watching Henry learn addition and subtraction by having a war with kanga balls and then seeing how many we each ended up with, how to even our totals, how many to add or subtract to get zero, and so on.

Len has been able to get in on the action, teaching a few hours a week while I volunteer locally. Yes, he works late one extra night a week to make up for that time, but it's great for him and great for the kids to spend that time together.

3) School is flexible, like life - There's been a virus going around the last few weeks, and it would have knocked each of our children out of school for a few days. However, since school is right here, we were able to keep up with our lessons. One night we built compasses out of needles and corks and tried them out at dinner. Once in a while our bedtime story is some component of the curriculum.

When we travel, school comes with us. It takes much less time to teach a concept to fewer children, and so we spend less time in lessons and more time practicing and reinforcing that concept as it occurs throughout daily life. Field trips happen one or two times a year in most schools, only because the logistics of transporting dozens of children with few adults can be burdensome. However, hands-on learning is how most children learn best. The flexibility of this homeschool model of education is showing amazing results so far, and we are only in our first semester. Not the easiest road, but it is lovely! :)