When our oldest was a newborn, I remember watching the neighborhood children walk to the bus stop in the morning and in my post-partum haze, thinking of how sad I will be when our little love goes to school. While those baby blues were perfectly natural to feel, I never imagined then that we would be homeschooling a few years later.
In fact, when my mother told me there was a homeschooling seminar at our library, I did not see why I should go. But after some discussion, I trusted her advice and went as just an option to consider.
Since I had not been formally trained as an educator, I didn’t think I could teach our child. I learned that I didn’t need a degree to teach our children. I didn’t have a degree in teaching my child how to walk, talk, etc. While those are different than the education of other subjects, I left the education seminar feeling empowered and my mind was changed.
I found we could teach our children all the way through to high school, keep our own records, purchase a Catholic curriculum and, if we wanted to, enroll our child with an accredited program. I also learned Rhode Island homeschooling laws are straightforward and there are many homeschooling groups in the area.
We have been homeschooling for almost 7 years, I am so thankful that we can and try not to take it for granted, even on the more difficult days. I often use the phrase the “the beauty of homeschooling” to describe various situations. Here are some of those situations, plus some tips that we picked up along the way.
Go with the flow of your child
In the beginning, I would plan our days and expected our child to learn according to my lesson plans. I quickly learned that sometimes our child would absorb and understand the material with no problem, but other times, they would need extra time to learn something. Taking things slow when we need to and speeding things up a bit when the material is well understood is one of the major reasons that we decided to homeschool in the first place. Homeschooling allows us to take our time, rest, recharge and tackle obstacles from other angles.
Since the child to teacher/mom ratio is small, I can better focus on the individual needs of our children. Plus, where I lack in certain subjects, my husband is better at and he can help when needed. If things ever get really tough, we can hire a tutor to help. Also, we can enroll our children in an online school if we decide that would be best.
Set your own schedule
We enjoy setting our own schedule to accommodate our family and any needs that may arise. Having a schedule is great for day-to-day and making changes when necessary is easier when you have a schedule set. We usually finish our lessons by lunchtime which allows our children to engage in other activities that they are interested in, such as go outside, listen to music, pray the Rosary, read and “just” play. Homeschooling also makes doctor appointments, Holy Days of Obligation and other situations much easier to manage.
Quiet Time
The beloved quiet time. It happens each day (or when we can) where everyone goes to their room for an hour or so. This is especially helpful with little ones who still nap. Older children can play quietly, read, color or nap if they want to. Plus, mom or dad can get a break as well.
Field trips
Visits to the zoo, playground, library, beach, parks or other places during “regular” school hours is a treat. We school year-round with breaks usually around major feast days and we also schedule our breaks while brick and mortar schools are in session. With less crowds and more space, this is certainly a great benefit of homeschooling.
Dive deeper
There are subjects our children enjoy more than others. While we teach all the necessary subjects, we go deeper with the subjects that they like. We also set aside time to teach more about our faith. We specifically chose a curriculum that was from a Catholic homeschooling company so that the materials and lesson plans would incorporate God and the faith into every subject, not just Catechism. Also, if a curriculum isn’t working for your child, you can pick another one or supplement with textbooks from another source.
Family time
“The days are long, but the years are short.” Our children are only going to be under our roof for so long, so we want to spend as much time together as we can. We want our children to be formed by us and our example and not the world. Homeschooling also allows us to be together when my husband has days off from work as otherwise, our children would be in school and miss out on the extra family time.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. John Bosco, pray for us!
Christina Frye is a lifelong Rhode Islander, wife, mother and founder of Catholic Mom Rhode Island, www.CatholicMomRI.com.
