The World Opened

Learning to Love Learning

I am a second-generation homeschooler. That’s not to say I have all the answers. But I completed 8 years of homeschool education. I went on to public school for high school (my own personal choice), and then obtained my associates degree. Later completing my bachelor’s degree as well. Being homeschooled for the first 8 years of my 16-year educational “life” was never a hinderance. If anything it set me above my peers. My ability to self-regulate and manage my time surrounding my work and study. As well as just being more comfortable with learning in general, was always something that served me well.

When our oldest son entered kindergarten, we quickly saw the red flags that comes with having a high energy, young boy in the school system. My husband and I saw the flashing red signs that our son would end up being labeled and put into the box of “too much”. Potentially ending up resentful of school and not learning to love learning.

Where to start?

We pulled our son out of the system after “graduating” from kindergarten. I had experienced what homeschooling looked like and could function as. I knew in my mind the general priorities that I wanted for our son’s education and how much could truly be achieved, my husband was walking blind into the situation. The first thing we did was got him back to loving to read. School had made my son so ashamed and fearful of reading out loud. He was slow at it and made mistakes. Something that a class full of 20+ 6-year-old children has no time, patience, or grace for. We took it back to basics. Trips to the library, reading every sign we passed by, asking him to read ME bedtime stories.

For the first two months after leaving the system we just read. Nothing “academic”, nothing serious. Lots of picture books and Dog Man. When I caught him reading in his bed, the couch and the back porch swing, alone and without prompting, I knew he had recovered from the rejection he felt that first year of formal education. With his confidence back, we pushed onward! My husband asked, where to start?

MVP – Most Valuable Priorities

My husband and I sat together, and we discussed what the goals were for his education. What kind of person and learner did we want him to grow into? We came up with our top three goals. Reading comprehension, foundational math skills, and knowing how to learn. Every family may have different goals. Another family may prioritize Bible study and multi-language fluency. That’s the beauty of homeschooling; you get to prepare your child for the world as you know it.

We decided that if our children could read anything they picked up (and understand it), preform any math they would need in the “real world” with mastery (fractions, addition/subtraction, the ability to do long division and multiplication by hand, etc.), and have the skills to teach themselves or be taught, opportunities arise. Together we worked to pick curriculum that met our goals. As first grade began at the dining room table the world opened up before us.