City talk

When I go to the city, and I tell people we live in a very rural part of Wisconsin, on a farm. People say, “Oh, are you homeschooling?” It happens so often that I almost feel like homeschooling is a logical result of living on a farm.

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  1. Chris
    Chris says:

    When you decide to homeschool, there are a number of shifts that happen naturally. No cost involved:

    Your child is there. You are there. Your child asks a question. You have decided, when you decided for homeschooling, to answer questions thoughtfully, and not brush them off and not become impatient. So you answer succinctly. You leave enough unsaid to prompt a further string of questions.

    You take time to explore the questions/answers.

    You look things up together, extending the question/answer session even more.

    You honor your child’s curiosity, and the learning thus becomes self-directed with no extra effort.
    Extra expense? That is up to you and your resources.

    It is not all milk and honey. There are sticking points–such as practicing a skill.
    How many multiplication problems is enough to reinforce the lesson? How many is busy work?

    You continue to read to your child, even when he is able to read to himself. Even when reading aloud slows down the reading.
    It is up to you to find a new angle–a new interest, a new theme.

    Don’t answer any questions that have not been asked. This should’ve been job #1. Find a way to prompt the question, but don’t just present the answer. If you do, you turn into the school and its out-of-the-blue curriculum. And you overreach your child’s curiosity. And you dishonor your child’s curiosity.

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