Homeschooling For You

In the education world we spend a lot of time talking about how to engage our children, how to spark their curiosity, how to follow their interests and surprise and enchant them, and all of that righty so. What I would love to add and talk more about is how do our homeschools engage us as the parent educators?

We have taken on this massive responsibility and embraced this lifestyle as a family and I really believe that it should be something we enjoy and that looks like us!

In our family our days are a bit of a dance between what my children are interested in and enjoy and what I am curious about or want to try. WE are "Willms Grove". WE are partners in this life of learning and WHO we each are is a critical component of our education. 

In navigating this adventure we can't forget to acknowledge and nurture a key piece of the puzzle - ourselves! And not just in the form of self care when the "school" day is done, I 100% believe that home educating should feed our souls too. That it should bring life and joy to our days. 

People often ask me for curriculum recommendations and I'm the absolute worst for giving them because I don't use them. For me, curriculums take the fun out of teaching. Why? Because I LOVE the planning and the creating part! Are curriculums bad? Quite the contrary! They are awesome. They are like Hello Fresh for teaching - they come with most of the ingredients, are well balanced and save time and energy. 

But with a personality like mine and a mind full of more ideas than I'll ever get to do in a lifetime, I NEED the outlet that crafting our learning gives. Curriculums make me feel claustrophobic, so even with beautiful programs like Brave Writer, I pick and choose what I want to work into our days. 

One thing that has surprised me the most about homeschooling is how much more curious I've become. Curiosity is a beautiful phenomena. When given permission to explore and when restrictions of time and energy are taken off of it, it explodes into this constantly moving, delightful force. The simple "I wonder..." thought starts to feel like an invitation into adventure and awe. So much delight and learning will come when we make space in our days for curiosity. 

Furthermore, YOUR curiosity counts! Think of how thrilling it is to see your child engage content and be filled with questions and wonder. Your kids will be thrilled to see that in you as well. Sometimes they will even take their cue from you, seeing something that lights you up will direct their attention and open their minds to discovery. 

That said, even if your interests and curiosity had NO benefits for your children, it would still have value and still be integral to your homeschool days. 

One practice that facilitates this group effort towards interests in our home the most is reading aloud. There are many things that I could just assign as independent reading throughout our day and things would be learned but we would miss constant opportunity for curiosity sparks and the collective enjoyment of what we are learning. 

We always have a read aloud novel on the go and I love experiencing a story together. I love stopping constantly to talk through our reactions and make predictions. Books become shared experiences that are strikingly similar to real life shared experiences. Every time we see a pheasant in the wild we refer to it as a "fool bird" and giggle because that's what Brian from Hatchet calls them. 

I think it's worth mentioning that I don't choose novels that I don't want to read. My interests count here as well. That said, I also honour my children's opinions and if they are hating a book we ditch it. If one of them is still enjoying it then they can continue (sometimes with me and sometimes without). Most often I find that we have a similar standard for the books we're reading and the books we've stopped have been ones none of us were enjoying. 

We read the entire Hatchet series because it was one of my favourite childhood books. I dare to even think that approaching our homeschool with my interests accounted for as well helps my children to understand that "it's not all about them". I hope that it is keeping entitlement somewhat at bay for them to understand that mom has interests and opinions as well and that for us to enjoy our days, school should be enjoyable for all of us. 

We read out loud most of the content we study. I am constantly learning new things and am fascinated by what we are studying. I don't want to miss all the intriguing wonders of the solar system by having my son read it to himself. Instead I have him read it to me. We pour over books about the human body, about rocks and minerals, about Ancient Rome, etc and we all participate in the learning. 

Do I do a ton of stuff that I don't particularly enjoy? Of course. Mostly things like cooking and cleaning ;) Ha. But seriously, I facilitate my daughter's desire to DIY ALL the things. I'm a DIYer myself and though I really have zero interest in making a glitter globe I do it with her because it's important to her. I help my son research weapons and make time in our days for him to illustrate them. Even if I am not particularly interested in the content they are I AM interested in their learning and their hearts. I am happy to honour their interests and explore them alongside my children. As with all things - balance is key. 

I want to champion them on, to facilitate the things that make them come alive and along the way I want them to see me as a person as well who has interests and passions. My desire is to see a collective play out in our days where unique individuals come together, learning together, challenging one another and sharing with each other. 

~ Monique

How do you engage your own interests and passions in your homeschool? I'd love to hear!