The title of this post may be a bit misleading. I can tell you why our family chose homeschooling but as far as how to homeschool... that question has as many answers as there are homeschooling families. Which is why I can only answer these questions as they pertain to our own family and circumstances.
Why homeschool? A good friend once explained it this way... "I am striving to raise saints...not scholars". First and foremost, our duty as Catholics is to get our spouses and our children to heaven. (Our spouses have the formidable duty of getting us there!) If we keep our eyes on the prize, parenting becomes so much easier. Decisions can be made much more easily when we look at our choices in light of this question "How does this help my spouse, my child, or me, on the path to Heaven?" It became apparent to us that having our children in a school setting was not helping us with this lofty goal. My purpose is not to speculate about what may be wrong with schools; I know many families who do not homeschool whose children are exemplary. Also, I, myself am the product of a public school education, so it can't be all bad! Our main reason for pulling our children from school was that we felt it was not helping them on their path to heaven. We do not espouse the idea of sheltering our children from the world. By homescholing, we feel we are getting them ready for the world! They will have those extra years at home to become more secure in who they are, so they won't be as easily lead astray by their peers. We are solidifying the role of the family as their main attachment. In fact, our plan, unless circumstances change, is to send our children to high school. Eventually, our children will be in the world. For us, homeschooling is the best way to be sure that they will go into the world shining with the light of Christ. Homeschooling, at least for the formative years, was the only option available to us which gave us the control over the content of material taught, the choice of which materials to use, and the advantage of knowing each of our children in ways their teachers never could, because no teacher could ever love our child the way we do. The flexibility of makng our own schedule and school calendar has been one of the things our children have loved about being home. The ones who are "morning people " have had the ability to begin schoolwork at 7AM if they wish. Their work day ends that much earlier.Homeschooling accomodates the late-riser as well. This child may be schooling during non-traditional school hours, but that may be the time that peak performance is achieved.
I would have to say that after homeschooling anywhere from one to four children at a time for the last six years, the rewards I receive are abundant. I can't tell you the satisfaction of hearing my second grader read, or work out a difficult math problem knowing that I was the one who has brought him to this point, with much prayer and help from above. The conversations that are sparked are priceless, and would never have occurred if they were away from home 8 hours a day. Just today, seven-year-old Thomas was pondering why the whole world didn't live in one big house, since we are all related. After all, we all came from Adam and Eve, didn't we? (Take that, Charles Darwin!) I said that that would have to be a very large house, and maybe we could look at the whole Earth as our house we share with all God's family, and our own house is but one room in it. He liked that idea.
While there is no routine from day to day in our household, each day usually begins and ends at the same time (at least for the little folk!) Somewhere after the big folk leave for school and work, home school begins. We try to do "book learning" first and as early as possible. While I love reading about families who homeschool without a formal curriculum, I have learned over the years that using text and work books for a "spine", and branching out from them into areas of interest works best in our family. We can use time late in the morning and after lunch for Thomas to pursue things that pique his interest. Usually it is something to do with science or art. I am so glad that he is home with me so I can enjoy his discoveries and give him the freedom to experiment, explore, and grow at his own pace!
What else do we do? We try to get to the library once a week; we join another homeschool family for Mass and breakfast or lunch (depending on which Mass we get to) and then either a craft or art lesson and project. We try to have these art projects coincide with the Church Year or with the season. One thing I love about homeschooling is how so any things you do can be multitasking... When we have our craft meeting we satisfy the subjects of religion, art, possibly history if we learn about a particular artist or style of art, and socialization (not just with other children, but with the priests and other parishioners of all ages) Other activites we participate in are Science Classes at a nearby children's science museum; ice skating; soccer; and keyboard lessons. As I write this, I am feeling satisfied that we are providing Thomas with a very well-rounded education. That is one of our goals in homeschooling!
I am hoping to have more spontaneity in our days as spring weather is upon us. Nature hikes, playground time and getting the yard ready for Communion and Graduation celebrations this spring are on my mind. Our Spring Science curriculum will be backyard nature, so this will ensure we get the yard in shape because we will be out there alot of the time. Being home with the kids has been an experience I would never change. Each year, as I relax into it, I enjoy it even more. This allows for more spontaneity in our days, and more confidence that they are still "learning" in any circumstance we may find ourselves in that day.
