My heartfelt desire is to raise children who have a passion to learn throughout their lives. Home education is a true blessing to allowing little ones to learn creatively, outside the rigid and structured schooling box.
This picture from the book,
Teaching the Trivium, depicts a homeschool which is set up to mimic a classroom.
This picture, also from
Teaching the Trivium, depicts the freedom of home education. Mother is seen reading to her little ones, while the toddler is keeping his hands occupied with blocks. Older son is completing his lessons, on the living room floor. Older daughter is completing a science lab in the kitchen, while another sister prepares a snack for the family. This book shows a realistic plan of study and helps frazzled moms to move from rigid homeschooling to the latter, more relaxed model.
The Lord has impressed upon my heart to include the children with me in my tasks; it is truly a wonderful way of learning. I have much to learn, myself, and I am so grateful to be on the home education journey.
I love having my little ones learning together, as often as possible. I tutor my older two in phonics and math, separately, and we all come together (even my three year old and infant) for read alouds, Bible, art projects, history, science, and more. I was talking to my eldest three and happened to look down and saw my sweet baby hanging on my every word. It was precious indeed and brought such a joy to my heart.
My littles enjoying the American Presidents Timeline we recently received.
Home education, to me, is education for life. There is no way that I can teach my children everything I want them to know, even if I taught them from dawn until dusk. But I can teach them to use the Bible as a compass for life. I can teach them to focus on people, not on accumulating possessions. I love this list of
10 Things to Do Before 10 years , because it covers the basics and focuses on the most important things. I prefer to do less bookwork, if that means I have more time to do service projects, such as visiting the nursing home with my children. I would rather not just crank my little ones through a system, but want to ignite a passion in them to learn for themselves. In the words of Yeats,
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." I want my children to have a fervor and a passion for learning throughout their lives. The Lord has also been showing me that my attitude and my behavior impacts my children far more than anything I say in lesson format. I can speak of the greatness of Christ, but if I don't live it, I am nothing more than a hypocrite, and my teaching will be for naught. Only through His abundant mercy and grace can my children see Him in me. What a privilege and honor it is to be a home educator!
Ten Things to Do Before Ten A fantastic starting place for beginning the home education journey. This easy to implement plan is geared towards educating a child for life.
A Formidable List of Attainments for a Child of Six This was a list of goals for each child, in Charlotte Mason's schools.
What has been
your inspiration in your home education journey?
"I believe it would be much better for everyone if children were given their start in education at home. No one understands a child as well as his mother, and children are so different that they need individual training and study. A teacher with a roomful of pupils cannot do this. At home, they too, are in their mother's care. She can keep them from learning immoral things from other children." -Laura Ingalls Wilder
