Oh, there are critics of Homeschooling, we have heard all of the critical questions at one time or another. Just like any other homeschool family. There are so many questions people ask. Frankly, I am not sure why others are concerned about our children’s education? I think it comes down to a curiosity mixed with confusion as to why we would want to step outside of the box society has created.
Bottom-line for me is that at the end of the day I have to face my own reflection in the mirror and know I have done all I can for my children, and for me that includes homeschooling. When people ask what grades the children are in we all have to stop and think, I know {gasp} we have never focused on grade levels. I may have one child struggling in math and excelling in reading and another devouring History like it is candy. I move at their pace, if they have not mastered something there is no sense in moving forward. Yet if they are excelling I would never make them wait to the next school year to begin the next level. Which leads me to the next shock, we don’t have school years! Nope, life is learning and there is no need to stop just because it gets hot. We school to some degree or another all year. Last shocker for today, we don’t have a school week or hours…. sometimes school doesn’t start until the afternoon, sometimes we are doing school at 7pm and other times even on a SATURDAY.
Schedules are great and we have seen the benefit of them when we stick to them, and it is our goal to at least loosely stick to one. That being said, we are painfully aware that life has a way of getting in the way of any schedule.
Are there any holes in Homeschooling?? Absolutely, ask any homeschool Mom and she will be abundantly aware of where the holes are. As we are their teachers and we are with our children 24/7 we know where are children are struggling. We know that we can not possible cover every topic, but our goal is to teach our children to be self educating. To give them the tools to find the answers themselves.
This morning I became aware of one such hole… (here is the conversation that unfolded this morning)
Taliah (11 years old): ”Mom, why was yesterday a holiday?”
Me: ”It was Victoria Day.”
Taliah: ”Oh, okay.”
Joel (6 years old): ”What’s Victoria Day?”
Me: “Oh, it is a day we remember Queen Victoria’s Birthday.”
Joel: “Do we know her?”
Me: “No honey she died a long time ago.”
Hannah (4 years old) enters the room, “Who died a long time ago?”
Taliah and I: “Queen Victoria.”
Hannah: “Oh is she the lady who said, “Where’s the Beef?” ?”
Clearly this reveals a hole in their education 
I had not realized I had neglected teaching my younger children about Queen Victoria and her day.
Ironically, we live in a house that has never had cable or satellite TV (when we lived in my parent’s basement we did have cable as it was in their house).
Several months ago Dave and I were talking about commercials we remembered from our own childhood and the Wendy’s ‘Where’s the beef’ commercial came up. We headed to YouTube and showed the commercial to our children.
I am off to prepare a lesson on Queen Victoria! She really was a fascinating lady and someone I want all of my children to know. Perhaps I will post what I come up with, actually this could make am excellent lead in to Queen Elisabeth’s Diamond Jubilee celebration. After all, Queen Victoria is the only other Monarch to celebrate such a feat in British history.
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It's encouraging to know that you can have a successful homeschool without all the schedules and keeping certain hours, etc. I have a feeling that is how things will go at our house…I just can't keep up with keeping a specific schedule.
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My favourite queen! And not just because of Victoria Day! Hope your kids love her story as well!
Warmest regards,
Joy http://www.PardonMyPoppet.com
My recent post Poppet’s Pick Blogs – Week of May 21, 2012
My favourite queen! And not just because of Victoria Day! Hope your kids love her story as well! I love all the circumstances that led to her ascending the throne!
Warmest regards,
Joy http://www.PardonMyPoppet.com
My recent post Poppet’s Pick Blogs – Week of May 21, 2012
Homeschool moms rock! I never had the patience for it and my kids would have suffered watching their mother pull out her hair! I think parents know what's right for their children and no body should tell them how to parent. It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job! I had forgotten about the Where's the beef lady!
Blessings,
~Erin
This is very interesting post…. I'm glad that your home schooling is going great.. My love to you and kids..:)
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So funny! I love when kids come up with things like that and I have to find material to teach them about it. I've often wondered about Queen Victoria-I know she has her own holiday but don't know much about her.
She is very fascinating, she has quite the love story, when Albert died she dressed in black for the rest of her life, forty years!
What a great post. I love the flexibility of being able to fill the holes whenever we find them! Happy schooling!
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Kids are so to the point… "do we know her?" Funny!
I respect you for homescholing – makes being a mom tripple hard I'm sure!
leigh http://www.oneandoneequalstwinfun.com
My recent post When I Was Young Dirt Was Good – Turns Out it Still is!
It can be hard in some ways but it makes other things easier. It might be crazy around here but I wouldn\’t trade it for anything!
That's hilarious! I remember that commercial too. There's always going to be something we miss. The one thing that frustrates me about homeschooling is that we can't do it all and I want to do it all!!
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Oh I hear you! and there interests can take us in so many directions, it is a wonderful adventure!
Great post! I'm just finishing up my first year home schooling 3 boys and I must say, I've definitely noticed some "holes' but I'm trusting that, like you said, they'll get filled in as needed over the years, provided I lay a good foundation in how to be self taught.
I'm always a bit amused when non-home schoolers think what we're doing is so hard. I find my life is so much easier compared to when I was working part time and juggling school, work and extra-curricular schedules and my husbands committments, Plus it was more expensive and we lived in our van many days. I feel like I'm a better mom to my boys with so much less juggling and stress, and though there are difficult days, I truly enjoy a much simpler life now. Is this just me?
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It is so true I could never get everyone up and out the door so early let alone with their lunches packed. I love the Homeschooling lifestyle! Thanks for linking up on Friday, still working on getting the word out!
I love this story. I have both homeschooled and dent them off to a public school. I think homeschooling is great. 90% of the kids are way above grade level in evey subjuect. The parents are amazing too.