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Homeschool Tall Tale #4: My Child Must Do Every Single Exercise In Every Single Textbook

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homeworkCan a homeschool student experience “homeschool burnout?” Absolutely, homeschool moms can experience burnout, why should it be any different for the homeschool student?

What causes us to “burn out”?
• Overextending ourselves
• Not being prepared
• Spending too much time away from home
• Choosing too many “good” activities instead of the “best” activities

If you demand that your homeschool student completes every exercise in every textbook, you may be the reason for their “homeschool burnout.” Why would a curriculum put so many questions, assignments and activities in each lesson, if they did not expect your child to do them all? Because they expect the teacher a.k.a. homeschool mom to be discerning and reasonable.

People learn from repetition so having an abundance of questions, assignments and activities can be a good thing. The publisher is supplying you with options, not requirements. That’s important to remember.

If a child is having trouble understanding a concept, he may need to do some more of the problems to understand the problem solving process. However, don’t just assume that more of the same thing will fix the problem. This is where our discernment comes in.
• Maybe he didn’t understand the directions.
• Maybe he doesn’t understand the underlying concepts and YOU need to teach it in a different way instead of repeating more of what he didn’t understand.
• Maybe he learns better by discussing the concept with another person besides just reading about it.

Remember, more is not always better. Yes, sometimes repetition is needed. However, if a student is repeatedly having a problem, doing more of the same thing won’t help. You need to find a different way of explaining the concept to them.

If your student already understands a concept by reading, discussing or answering a few questions on the topic, why make them do more and more of the same thing. It’s one thing to teach your children to follow through with their assignments and projects, it’s quite another to be redundant. Don’t be a slave to your teacher’s manual, use it as the tool that it was meant to be.

Filed Under: Home Education

Homeschool Tall Tale #5: There Is a Perfect Curriculum; You Just Haven’t Found It Yet.

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1211494_one_wayUnschooling, unit studies, self-directed learning, traditional curriculum, delight-directed learning, classical studies, principle approach. Homeschoolers use all of these educational methods successfully. How can all of these methods work? Surely, there has to be the “perfect” curriculum and you just haven’t found it – yet.

If you are struggling with the curriculum that you’re using, it could be you are using the wrong curriculum approach with your family. But could it be that the frustration is not with your choice of curriculum, it’s with your attitude about your children, homeschooling, yourself and that attitude is rubbing off on your children?

Most homeschool moms are “idea” people, but we have a problem with follow through. (Ask me how I know this!)

Yes, some curriculum options will work better for your particular family, but there is no perfect curriculum. Each one has its benefits; each one has its draw backs. Choose the one that best fits your family’s lifestyle and be consistent with it.

Remember the joy and excitement you had when you first started homeschooling. Recapture that attitude. You will find that you enjoy homeschooling again and so will your children.

A positive or negative attitude is not a feeling that we can’t do anything about. Attitude, whether good or bad, is something we choose.

Filed Under: Home Education

Homeschool Tall Tale #6: If You Homeschool Through High School, Your Children Will Have Gaps In Their Education.

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Every single person has some gaps in his education, and that’s all right. If you’re honest with yourself, you have to admit that you have learning gaps too. We all do. The purpose of a quality education is not to teach your student everything they will ever need to know by the time they graduate. Life is a continual learning process. Your true purpose is to guide them to have a love of learning and help them develop good study skills. Then they will be able to learn and accomplish whatever tasks are set before them.

So many homeschool parents are upset if they are not able to get their children to complete every single text book assignment in the curriculum teacher’s guide. Most guides give you, the teacher, a wide variety of assignments to choose from. That does not mean that the curriculum developers expect your children to complete every possible assignment.

Quality is much more important than quantity. Give your children the freedom to be creative, give them time to be inventive and let them see a project through to completion. When you plan too many assignments and projects, and not give children and young people the needed time to finish and enjoy them, you are setting your students up for what John Taylor Gatto calls “the tyranny of the bell.”

Do you remember when you were in school and the bell rang to signal that you had to move on to the next class? That “bell” was so frustrating. You were either involved in a class discussion or doing an assignment that intrigued you or you were struggling with a new concept or dealing with a difficult assignment, and then “that bell” would ring. You were on the verge of figuring it out or it was almost your turn to ask the teacher your question, but instead you had to move on to the next class. Grrr!

But now, you’re homeschooling and you can give your kiddos the freedom to delve into deeper issues, explore different outcomes and develop their joy of learning. What could be better than that? That’s what true education is all about.

Filed Under: Home Education
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