This is how my homeschooling with Miss.L10 the past 3 weeks went ~
Since my burn accident on 3 October evening, I homeschooled from my bed for several weeks. My littlest homeschooler had a wonderful time! It has possibly been her happiest homeschooling times.
Now that my injury has healed enough so that I can get up and take it slow, she reluctantly homeschools at the table.
Same content, but intimacy has made all the difference!
For young children especially, I would try find any curriculum that allowed me to ~
- share my Lord and my faith
- snuggle together with books and read, read, read!
- spend time off the schedule to investigate anything interesting along the way
- join my child in discovery and delight
- take notice and nurture a love of nature
- enjoy arts, music and poetry
- create with our hands
- expand our minds
- nurture our hearts
It is important to teach the basic disciplines – reading, language and arithmetic, but just follow Ruth Beechick’s 3 little books and you’ll do fine! And if you follow Charlotte Mason’s methods, your lessons should be short, precise and sweet.
As for a core curriculum, it is like an itinerary ~
Just like a travel agent who creates an itinerary for someone’s overseas trip, an “out-the-box” curriculum is a detailed educational plan for your homeschooling. The publisher may be highly qualified, be an expert in their field and may be very experienced, but you are the master expert of your child.
Regardless of what curriculum you purchase ~
Chose what works for each child (suits their learning style)
Chose an appropriate pace and time-frame (not too slow, nor rushed)
Leave out stuff that just doesn’t “click” with your child (forcing the matter just makes it worse)
Just as you would on a suggested itinerary, stay longer where you find something special,
and skip on over to the next destination when you are done.
You can change the order of things.
You can leave stuff undone or take longer to finish.
Personalize the journey!
You have my permission! [smiles]
Above all, cultivate an intimate relationship with your children.
If your curriculum stresses you or your child (tears, tantrums, depression and avoidance are classic signs of this),
if it rushes you and removes peaceful intimacy,
or if it makes you feel like you or your children are failing,
CLOSE THE FILE and put it away.
Go on a nature walk, have a picnic under a tree and read an amazing classic book to your children, listen to music that inspires, talk about current interests, and you will accomplish more in every way than any curriculum!
This post was written and submitted for the upcoming South African Carnival of Homeschooling (SACH Carnival)
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I really liked your write-up–it is so easy to lose track of the children in our quest to check everything off our schedules! But the schedules exist for us, not us for them, and although structure is good, it must also be tempered by what matters most–relationship. Thanks for the reminder!
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So true about intimacy, Nadene.I think it’s so important to remember what it is that really matters in the long run so that we don’t miss the opportunities to encourage this in our relationships with our children.
BTW I think you are so generous in sharing your creative output. I’m sure there are many who appreciate all the hard work behind it.
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A child, a snuggle and a book….homeschooling at its best. You gorgeous picture says it all!
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I’m sorry to hear that you suffered a burn injury. I wish you continued recovery. As for the connection between homeschooling and travel planning – brilliant! You’re so right, and considering myself a “travel agent” through education sounds fun – just the spark I needed as I plan the next term in our school year.
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Dear Fellow Travel Agent, have fun planning your itinerary and enjoy the journey this new term.
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God bless you, Naden! By His grace, you turned a difficult time into one that brought your family closer and revealed His grace, love and Presence to your children. Beautiful~~
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@Amy, thank you for your lovely confirmation and encouragement!
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Nadene, well said (again). It takes such a balancing act at times – and you are soooo right on the intimacy angle – and most of your tips in this recent post are those little (yet potent) things we need to be reminded of again and again.
May God bless you and the family – and hope your healing is 100% very soon!
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@Yvette, thanks for your blessings and good wishes. I think that balance is so hard to maintain! I need to pray and trust the Lord to help me keep the emphasis and focus on the important things.[smiles]
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bless you Nadene for sharing, it has been such a blessing to be liberated from the restrictions that we often place on or school work
thanks your sister in Christ
Samantha
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Love the encouragement. I am also happy to see you are healing up and feeling better 🙂 !
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Love the encouragement. Also so happy you are feeling better!!! 🙂
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Glad to hear that you are doing better, and for the special weeks of homeschooling in the meanwhile that you had. You are so right about curriculum–if it stresses–close it and move on. Your relationship with your child is far more important. We had to do that with math, and it made all the difference. Now that I found something that does work, I’m thankful that we left the old curriculum behind. My child now loves math. Never would have thought that!! Trust that you continue to heal and have many more special days with your children.
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@Rhoda, I’m so glad you and your son found a happy alternative for maths. Thank you for your kind wishes!
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Thank you for the tips and encouragement.
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Love the photo! Great advice we all need to hear, regularly!
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Thanks Sara, I will always treasure this photo!
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