Homeschooling Perk #9

Posted by Cheryl | 0 comments

As I write this, it is just the beginning of the month of November. Halloween has come and gone, and here on Vancouver Island, the rains are now beginning to make their appearance. The foliage is at it’s peak, and is now starting to fall away and blow pretty much everywhere. This is the time of the year when homeschooling gets cozy – a little more time indoors, and extra time spent on the sofa together as we enter the worlds of Narnia, or Neverland through the pages of well written literature. Which brings me to the topic of this post.

I have started a monthly theme here at Heart of the Matter, in the form of my Top 10 Homeschooling Perks. You can read about last months perk here. This month however brings me to:

Homeschooling Perk #9: Your children will love to learn. This is a pretty big perk, and I contemplated making it Perk #1, but that is 9 months away and I simply cannot wait.

Presently, I am teaching one of the Sunday school groups at the church I attend. Teaching these kids has been a joy, and although Sunday School is quite different from Home School, my enthusiasm for these kids keeps me going. This Sunday, however my ears were tuned in to the words of one outspoken child who clearly did not want to be sitting in this class.

“I hate learning. Learning is boring!” he exclaimed.

This statement both alarmed and saddened me. How unfortunate that the love of learning was clearly not present in this child’s mind. One of the huge benefits of homeschooling has got to be the fact that one will rarely, if never, will have to hear those words. Why, you ask? Well, I’m not entirely sure, but I can definitely deduce that from my own experience learning is something that is on going, and is continually being explored by both the kids and the adults in our family. Learning becomes second nature -it is simply something that we do quite naturally.

Of course at least one of my children has been known to groan when asked to get out her math books, but generally I hear a lot of “Can we do science today?”, “Can I write a letter to my friend?’, or “Can I work on my story today, mom?” or more often than not: “Can I just finish one more chapter?”

I have discovered that when you homeschool, things like television, video games and pop culture tend to have a considerably smaller presence in the lives of these children. Instead these things are replaced with the likes of good literature, family time, field trips, physical activities, healthy friendships and endless learning opportunities. Subjects become alive and the kids become perpetually curious. The world becomes their classroom as they are not bound by the limitations of a poorly written text book. Learning becomes and remains exciting.

If you are considering homeschooling, then take this perk to heart. It has become and remains a measurable benefit of home learning. This is in fact, something our schools strive for, but more often than not, they end up falling short. Children are naturally curious, enthusiastic learners, and I have found that homeschooling continually fosters and increases the love of learning.

Cheryl has been married to her ‘do all’ husband for 13 years. They live in British Columbia, Canada on beautiful Vancouver Island. Cheryl has been homeschooling their two daughters ages 8 & 10, for 5 years. Her approach to homeschooling is mostly Classical with a dash of Charlotte Mason. She used to be one of those parents who thought they could never homeschool – boy, was she wrong. She enjoys blogging to encourage others that they too can homeschool if the desire is upon their hearts. She homeschool simply because – her kids are worth it. Please visit Cheryl at HomeSchool Journey.