If I Was Starting Over Again

Posted by Debra | 0 comments

I had the chance to talk with a friend across the country who is pulling her son out of school and beginning their homeschooling journey today. She had so many questions — questions I was asking my veteran homeschooling friends 8 or 9 years ago.

It made me think about what I would do differently if I were beginning again.

1. I would read up on learning styles a bit more. Back then I think I went to a single workshop that gave me an overview of learning styles. It was in that workshop that I realized my visual, kinesthetic, explosive learner was going to shrivel up and die if I bought that workbook-based curriculum I had saved up for. I’m grateful for that workshop, but now I would go back and learn a little more.

2. I would guide our methods with broader brush strokes. The details tended to be the triggers that pushed my son and I into power struggles. We had enough hurdles in front of us in the beginning. I’m sure I added a few more just because of my, “I’m the teacher, that’s why.” attitude. If the overall concept was addressed, the method should have been more flexible.

3. I would totally and utterly trust all those friends who said, “Forget about testing.” For me, academics can easily take precedence over building a trusting relationship with my son. I would go back and evaluate each concept with a new perspective: what will most effectively reach his heart and mind today? Now, I know that if he trusts me then he will more easily move toward greater academic excellence.

4. I would begin with the child. I was fairly focused on finding the right curriculum (which is, of course, important). I wasn’t so much concerned with setting up “school at home” but I was concerned that our days would be content-rich. I’ve learned since then to let my children give real input into the direction our studies take us. I see now that their ownership over their own education is like gold.

Naturally, there are some things that I’m glad I did from the beginning – letting my son move, providing lessons in short “bites,” taking writing out of everything but writing, letting him choose what activity we would do next, and waiting for him to indicate an interest in an area (like learning cursive) before I saddled him with it. But we live and we learn. And I fully expect that I’ll look back on this, my son’s sixth grade year, and think “I should have done that differently.” It’s all part of the (my) learning process.

Debra Anderson has been married to her true companion for 15 years and has three sons under age 10. Debra’s passions are education, art, her husband, church ministry and missional living — not in that order. She has served as her co-op’s coordinator in Portland, Oregon and is a new resident of the Denver metro area. Debra has her seminary Masters degree in Christian Education and has always home educated their boys — even on the hard days. She maintains a blog at Emergent Homeschool.