Two years ago, when we first started home educating, I worried often if I was doing right by the kids. I worried I would not be able to teach them everything they needed to know to be successful. I worried if they would fall desperately behind their schooled peers. And what if home education didn't work out for us? And then they'd go back to school being the dumbest kids there! And people would make fun of them, and *que panic attack*
If you're feeling this way, take a deep breath. In and out. This feeling will pass. You can do this.
I don't worry about such things anymore. Why not? Little things, like Bug (3y) receiving an alphabet toy and spouting off all the letters and their sounds. I've never done anything more than read him stories and play with him. He learned those things without lessons.
Like yesterday when Papa read a new Word of the Day and Josh (9y) asked, "Is it a noun? adjective? verb?...." We've never done grammar worksheets. He learned his parts of speech from conversations.
Like at Thanksgiving, when Josh had a conversation with our dear friends from Parents For Liberty about taking the number 2 from zero to three dimensions. We've never done math worksheets. Heck, we almost never write any of our math down! He learned how to square and cube 2 by playing with Legos.
Like in the car when Josh asked me, "Why is it called 'frustrated'? Why did they pick that word to describe that feeling?" and he used my phone to Google 'etymology of frustrate'. I didn't even know what etymology was until last year! I certainly wasn't learning about it when I was 9!
Life isn't packed full of these moments. There is a lot of play and regular day to day activity in between. If I wasn't careful, sometimes these moments could pass unappreciated. But they are there, reminding me that the kids are curious and driven and learning every moment. Reminding me by home educating, we're doing right by them.
If you're feeling this way, take a deep breath. In and out. This feeling will pass. You can do this.
I don't worry about such things anymore. Why not? Little things, like Bug (3y) receiving an alphabet toy and spouting off all the letters and their sounds. I've never done anything more than read him stories and play with him. He learned those things without lessons.
Like yesterday when Papa read a new Word of the Day and Josh (9y) asked, "Is it a noun? adjective? verb?...." We've never done grammar worksheets. He learned his parts of speech from conversations.
Like at Thanksgiving, when Josh had a conversation with our dear friends from Parents For Liberty about taking the number 2 from zero to three dimensions. We've never done math worksheets. Heck, we almost never write any of our math down! He learned how to square and cube 2 by playing with Legos.
Like in the car when Josh asked me, "Why is it called 'frustrated'? Why did they pick that word to describe that feeling?" and he used my phone to Google 'etymology of frustrate'. I didn't even know what etymology was until last year! I certainly wasn't learning about it when I was 9!
Life isn't packed full of these moments. There is a lot of play and regular day to day activity in between. If I wasn't careful, sometimes these moments could pass unappreciated. But they are there, reminding me that the kids are curious and driven and learning every moment. Reminding me by home educating, we're doing right by them.
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