Stapp By Stapp: January 2008

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

How to Homeschool?

You there! Caryn, hey, what is it all about?

When I tell people we homeschool (homeschoolers have made the word a compound word), most think we have set up a school at our house with desks, text books in every subject, lunch period at noon, worksheets, lectures on every subject from Mom. I suppose that may have been my expectation.

Educational tradition is ingrained into my very soul. How can this child learn without tests, spelling books, and state mandated standards guiding each move? But the fact is-what was I thinking, the kids (at least mine) would have none of it.

Truth is....truth is, we kind of wing it over here. Just today I was talking to my friend/teacher, Natalie. I suggested, "Hey teacher-friend, wouldn't it be fun to concentrate on the the wars (i.e. Civil, Revolutionary, I, II, etc) next year." She says to me, "Yes parent-friend, I've got tons of novels, ideas, movies, etc we can use."

This year I thought it would be really cool to learn about the great artists. Every week we concentrate on an artist. The boys have seen more pictures of naked ladies this year than necessary, but that just goes to show you what happens when you wing it.

Winging sometimes causes insecurity. Sometimes I think, what the heck, nobody is learning a darn here. Slackers! Then one of my children says something extraordinary (usually not in front of anybody else, of course) like, "You know if you took all the planets and put them in a big ball, setting the big ball in the same orbit as the earth, the Sun's gravitational pull would...and I then turn to myself (feigning direct attention on the child) and think, "You've done the right thing Caryn. You deserve some recognition. You're top dog dude!"

Confession: After five years of homeschooling we traditionally use the math text book, to the chagrin of one particular child who prefers to ponder on his scientific and outer space enquiries and theories.