It seems everything I read these days is filled with anger and hate. As a neuro-spicy human who over-feels emotions (both from myself and others), this has made it difficult for me to interact with people recently. The tipping point for me today (and inspiration for this post) was when a read a comment in a group that called homeschool parents “wannabe educators.” And I am heartbroken.
As a homeschooling mom of two neuro-spicy mini-citizens, I can say that nothing has ever weighed more heavily on my shoulders than ensuring they are properly educated with the knowledge and skills to help them survive and thrive in the world.
Homeschooling can be a daunting task, especially for parents who are new to it. Researching, planning, and leading daily lessons can be enough to make any sane person run for the hills. Add on the pressure of ensuring your child(ren) receive a quality education and it's easy to feel overwhelmed and doubt yourself – especially when a group you viewed as a safe space starts to take a turn.
The truth is, I feel called to homeschool my kiddos. Nothing else feels right in our particular situation. We tried private schools, public schools, Montessori schools, virtual schools, and nothing seemed to fit our family, our values, or take into account our neuro-spicy nature. As someone who has worked in various education settings for 10 plus years, I feel confident that even if we don't know the details of everything we do, my husband and I are still our kids' best teachers. But not everyone shares this level of confidence. There are parents who are unsure of their decision. Parents who are one mean comment away from throwing in the towel. If that sounds like it is hitting close to home, the rest of this post is for you:
You Know Your Kiddos
No one knows your child better than you do. You know their strengths, weaknesses, interests, and learning style. This puts you in a unique position to tailor their education to fit their needs. You have the freedom to choose the curriculum that works best for them, and you can adjust it as needed. And the most important part of that sentence is adjust it as needed. My kiddos have a standard curriculum that we use to act as a starting point, or a base level of information. Then we fill gaps or dive deeper with a lot of conversations, games, puzzles, documentaries, projects, research, more conversations, movies, more research, and comparing all of that to our beliefs and values.
Quality Over Quantity
I am a strong advocate of teaching our kids how to learn. Unlike previous generations, information is readily available for our kiddos, and there is so much that is created by those with ulterior motives or hidden agendas that it is imperative that we teach our kiddos how to check the validity of that information as soon as possible. I didn't learn how to do that until I was taking courses for my Master's Degree – let's do better for our kiddos.
Individual (Positive) Attention
One of the biggest advantages of homeschooling is the ability to provide one-on-one attention to your child. In a traditional classroom setting, teachers have to divide their attention among many students, making it difficult to give each child the individualized attention they need. As a homeschooling parent, you can focus on your child's specific needs and help them excel in areas where they may struggle. This is especially helpful for other neuro-spicy parents and kiddos.
Flexibility
Another benefit of homeschooling is the flexibility it provides. You can create a schedule that works for your family's lifestyle and needs. You may prefer to get your kiddos started on their subjects first thing in the morning, or wait until after they eat and wake up a bit more. You can choose to cover more material on days when they have more mental energy (aka more spoons) and less when they are struggling. You can also choose from various modalities – projects, experiments, reading books and discussing them, watching documentaries, and even googling information (with parental supervision and support) are great ways for neuro-spicy learners to dig into content.
Closing
I can tell you that I routinely question what sort of life my kiddos will have when they grow up. My hope is that they will know how to learn new information, how to communicate effectively with others, how to advocate for themselves and others in a way that brings peace instead of anger. I want them to feel confident in their individuality, knowing their gifts and how to apply them. And I want them to seek help when needed, and offer it consistently without expectation.
So far, I haven't seen these learning objectives written in the State Education Standards I have reviewed. But I believe they are just as (if not more) important for our kiddos to learn in school. So if you are feeling called to homeschool as I am, stay strong in your path. You are the best educator that your child could have.
0 Comments