I've had a lot of parents recently ask about how we manage to do homeschooling. For some, it's a case of "How do you manage to do that and still work?" For others, it's "How do you do that without killing each other!?!" Still others want to know "How do you do it, because this year in school is getting crazy?"
When it comes to homeschool, I'm probably different than most. I'm not an "unschooler" who lets my child do whatever she wants whenever she wants. I also don't do an hour of religion and memorizing of bible verses every day. In many ways, the homeschool experience is not too different from the "traditional school" experience, with a few key differences.
* A class size of one means that everything is taught one-on-one. This allows me to have a good grasp on what's working and what's not, where we can skip ahead and where enrichment is needed.
* There's no grades--at my daughter's request, she doesn't get graded per se. That said, she still does paper and pencil tests in math (and I look them over to identify areas where a concept was missed or something that needs extra work). She also takes online "unit tests" for ELA, which does provide immediate feedback.
* She can work at her own pace -- if she wants to end her school day early and save work for the next day, she can do that. More often, she tries to work ahead so she can take a day off at the end of the week. She has a set amount of work she needs to complete in a week. If she doesn't, then she knows she'll be working on it over the weekend. (Thus far, she's had no desire to make things last into the weekend.)
* If something becomes stressful, she has the option to walk away for a while, compose herself, and return to it later.
* There's no homework -- or as she points out, all work is home-work.
* Extra-curricular activities are a must. Some she does at her old public school (LEGOs and VR Coding), some she does independently (swim lessons, Girl Scouts, Art Class), and some she does via a co-op.
I work full-time, and so we have separate work stations. Most of her work is self-directed, and anything else that she needs can be done during a coffee break of mine. Big projects, like science experiments, are done on the weekends if they require parental involvement.
Time permitting, this week I hope to write up what the experience is like to answer some questions about the whole homeschool experience. Stay tuned!
