It’s the thing nobody ever talks about…but I think nearly every homeschooler experiences. When we get past the excitement of new curriculum, fresh notebooks, pristine crayons and planners full of aspirations…when the honeymoon is over, and things aren’t working. What now?
I read an email today from Todd Wilson, “The Familyman”, and he mentioned the best homeschool advice of 2022:
THROW OUT THE OLD GAME PLAN! …and let God do what He’s going to do. Flow with the punches, get less done, quit trying to MAKE it work. Just let it happen. And if it doesn’t, let it not happen.
That’s where we are. Kicking it all to the curb. Frankly, I was all set to let her do some virtual classes, go through the motions, fulfill the requirements, and call it good. But I can’t let such a passionate kid do something so dreary and boring. I feel like we are on the precipice of something big, deciding to make nurturing the soul and the love of learning the new lesson plan instead of ordering everything toward a good paying job or prestigious career. I feel I’m accountable for her soul, first and foremost, and it is woefully withering under the current regimen. We have the luxury of not having a lot of governmental surveillance in our area (no standardized testing, required portfolios, etc.), and Katie ages out of compulsory education regulations in a couple months, so we are learning to relax a bit. We’ll be embarking on a Fun Schooling journey with our high school sophomore, and I’m looking forward to watching her thrive again.
First, I’m wanting to do some introspection on my own educating philosophy and methodology by using this. I need a reboot. If I don’t have my head in the game, I’ll fall back on stale ideas and fruitless lesson plans once again. I’m having to reeducate myself, honestly, because I like things orderly, predictable, ticking all the boxes. For that reason, box curriculums, and open-and-go materials that were already laid out have been my go-to. Nothing open-ended, just tick off the boxes and be done. No wonder there was no wonder. Sigh.
By the way, if you have a child dealing with dyslexia (like our daughter), dyscalculia, or ADHD, this group has already been very helpful for me. There is even a post where you answer several questions, and you’ll receive some guidance on what journals, handbooks, etc. to start with based on your child’s interests, career goals, and learning differences.
We’ll have to transition gradually, since I’ve essentially exhausted our curriculum budget for this school year. I made a huge mistake choosing materials that spoke to my learning style (you’d think I’d know better by now, but they looked SO beautiful and wonderful)…it was a colossal failure. So, for starters, I’m getting the IQ Challenge book from the Dyslexia Games Series C set to begin addressing some of Katie’s frustrations in learning and information processing. They advise not adding any other language arts resources until the student has made it through the entire set, so I’ll hold off on this until later. Then I might launch with this handbook, which addresses her love for animals (she thrives on volunteering at our local animal shelter and the zoo). Then later we’ll incorporate this main curriculum plan, which targets her love of art, covering:
- Planning & setting priorities
- Artist Biographies
- Reading & writing
- Film study
- Art History
- Art challenges
- Comics
- Math practice
- Drawing Games
We’ll make good use of our library once again, with Monday afternoons tentatively scheduled as our day to go and gather our goodies.
Eventually, I’ll incorporate these:
- All About Money, Economics, and Business
- A Treasury of Psalms & Proverbs
- Travel Dreams Geography & Social Studies Journal
- Pondering the Past: Classic Literature
So…come along and follow our Fun Schooling journey! I can’t wait to see the light in her eyes again.
I’m making a special category for these posts, so they’ll all be grouped together. Stay tuned!