The mistake I won’t make this school year

Last year was my first experiment with Homeschooling my own children.

I think the biggest mistake I made was to group and label my three subjects as *school,* thinking their smallness in the context of the day would make them more bearable than the long school day.

It didn’t.

It cemented in my precocious 5-year-old’s mind that school was a drag.  Particularly homeschool, since all those books she gravitated toward show only the *fun* parts of public school.

You know, special friendships, groups for music, art class, recess.  You never see Oliver laboring over letter tracers, or having to sit until he finished his work.

This year, everything we do as we follow the schedule is part of school.

Yup it takes up a good deal more of the day (or will after Monday, when Mother’s done with her outside commitments and plans), but it makes plain how much of school is sitting still and how much is exploring and delighting in the world they love.

This is the image I want them to have of school: yes there’s always work we have to do (just because we have to do it) but there’s many other things, and even the bonus of more time in the day with Mama.

3 thoughts on “The mistake I won’t make this school year

  1. It’s hard to find books that portray things fairly in either case I imagine. I particularly like Andrew Clemens for his portrayal of school where kids do have to do homework and teachers are human beings too. Not perfect, but good.

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