12 Things I Had to Learn Before I Would View Homeschooling as Fun

A post from the past…The 4th grader below is now in his 20s! My, how we loved learning together – and we happily still share knowledge.

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with homeschooling over the years.  We’ve tried all types of schooling, except boarding school.  We sent our children to public school, private school, homeschool, and blended school (a combination of public and homeschool).  With all that trying, you’re probably guessing that our eldest is older than he is.  He’s only in 4th grade!

Only recently have I begun to like homeschooling. There were several things I had to learn before I would view homeschooling as fun. 

Here are a dozen of them:

1.  Homeschool does not have to be in session from 7:45am – 2:45pm five days a week. Children can learn anytime; we can work around our family’s best schedule.

2.  Reading a comic book is still reading.

3.  Writing is more fun – and much more tolerable to a 4th-grade boy – if he can write about his favorite subjects instead of Lincoln or photosynthesis.  It is still called writing even if it is about Bionicles.

4.  Going to the beach can still count as school; we will call it a “Field Trip.”

5.  Learning practical skills is just as important as learning academics.

6.  Doing housework counts as school.

7.  Feeding the chickens counts as school.

8.  Drawing pictures, even of aliens, counts as school.  We’ll call it “Art Class”.

9.  Cooking and housework count as school.

10.  Math can be taught outside of a textbook by using it in chores or cooking, or as in, “Let’s feed 8 chickens with 2 cups of feed.  How much feed will each chicken get?”  (Oh, but we have 17 chickens….that gets harder)

11.  We can have school on Saturday if we want, and not on Tuesday.

12.  A bad day is still a school day, because something is learned every day even on bad days. I’m not the mama who is ahead of you in homeschooling knowledge.  I’m just the gal right beside you, trying to motivate the 4th grade daydreamer, keeping up with the 1st grade scholar, occupying the 4-year-old, and balancing the baby on my hip.  Of course, I do all of that at the same time, just as you are doing! 

Let’s walk beside each other, learning from each other.