The Connected Homeschool

It’s 3:52 am now.  I woke up a few minutes ago and can you guess what was on my mind?  Yep… The Connected Homeschool.  This, of course, is my very first blog post and I wondered about the best way to begin this fascinating discussion, a.k.a. my new blog , about finding, choosing, and using homeschool resources.

In the past seven days, my son has finished winter basketball, completed a soccer evaluation, attended band class and four other group classes.  Later this morning he will join other young would-be speedsters in a “Pinewood Derby” race.  His schedule this week has also included Sunday School and Family Night at our church – and he had his braces adjusted .  I haven’t even mentioned the studies we do at home, or the wide variety of curriculum we use, but you can already see that we have found lots of resources to enhance our homeschool.  I’m looking forward to talking with you about many of the considerations (and limitations – like budget) that go into a search for resources.  But this morning, before I even turned the light on, it occured to me that the best place to begin our discussion might just be to think about why we have chosen homeschooling in the first place.  Why one-on-one?

When we speak about reasons for homeschooling, we often include the well known benefits of a one-on-one education.  Does this mean that we always keep our children at home, and only provide instruction to one child at a time?  A quick re-read of my son’s activities this past week suggests that we might mean something else.  When I am talking about the merits of one-on-one, in addition to the obvious benefits of one-on-one teaching, I also mean one-on-one planning.  Specifically, I am referring to the benefits of a parent led education.  Homeschooling parents teach many subjects at home.  As needed, we work with each child individually to help them grasp new or challenging concepts.  However, before we sit down to a math lesson, or drive to a science co-op we plan individually for our children.  This one-on-one planning leads us to seek out group kung fu lessons for one child, and ”Introduction to Poetry” classes for another.  We sit at the kitchen table to work with a math-resistant child in the morning and count out coins in a piggy bank.  In the afternoon, we take the same child to community theater rehearsals, where her smile (and talent) light up the room. 

The one-on-one in homeschooling makes this all possible.  The one-on-one in homeschooling leads us to choosing curriculum – or creating our own.  We find a class that best meets the needs of our children, or we start a co-op.  We meet for group instruction at libraries, churches, community colleges, even a friend’s house, or we invite other families to join us in the backyard for cool science experiments.  As we get swept up in our exciting discussions of where and how to find math curriculum, and when to toss the book in favor of macaroni noodles , lets not forget our starting point, that one-on-one educational plan that we are constantly reassessing for each child.  The greatest advantage of our decision to homeschool, to plan one-on-one for each child, is that we are reminded about the real reasons that we are seeking out the resources.  We are not looking for resources to teach some math, or to teach some theater.  We are looking for resources to teach some one, a child. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts.  Take good care.  -Joyce