What’s Your Why? The Heart Behind Homeschooling
What is your goal? This is the heart of your homeschooling.
It’s important to know your why before you start.
In homeschooling, there’s likely a major reason you chose to homeschool. Perhaps it was safety, special needs or content control. But there are also deeper reasons that are at the core beliefs and values of your family dynamic that spur you towards homeschooling.
Your child may be very good at reading or writing and you want to give them opportunities to excel in that. Or maybe they are autistic or have ADHD and you would prefer tailored lessons and flexible scheduling in the safety of your own home so they can succeed.
Whatever the case, your goals and beliefs for this choice are part of your philosophy. And teaching often reflects your parenting philosophy.
What Type of Philosophy Do You Relate to?
Types of Homeschooling Methods
- Classical Approach: Co-ops, languages, arts, writing and study/research skills, focus on the three-R’s: Reason, Record & Research.
- Unschooling Approach: Unstructured, child-led, hands-on, improv learning, experience based.
- Flexible & Eclectic Approach: Some structure, some not structured, night or varied schedules, traveling, experiences and a hybrid of the basic core subjects but also embracing hobbies and interests.
- Waldorf and Montessori Approach: head, hands and heart, holistic nurturing of the child, artistic and natural interests of the child with real world application.
- Charlotte Mason Approach: short lessons based on living books and observation.
- Online Approach: Curriculum and all content/lessons based online for student to complete and task based.
- Multiple Intelligences: More than just logic and language, this teaches to all strengths and styles of learning.
What do you aim to achieve?
Like any other task in life, it’s important to know your aim or what you want to achieve. For many of us, homeschooling has been an ongoing life choice for generations. For others, it wasn’t a choice but the only option given the current state of the school system. Perhaps you chose it out of obligation or in an emergency because of your child’s situation. Drastic or not, knowing what you aim to accomplish in the short term and long term is going to help your success in homeschooling.
What do you want your child to accomplish?
Some of the Questions to Ask:
- How do you want them to succeed?
- What is the purpose and gain to all the lessons/tasks learning?
- If they are at long division too early, what will you teach instead?
- If they aren’t grasping the concept, how can you teach differently?
- Can you teach differently with unschooling, interactive activities, co-ops, hands-on, outdoor, travel?
The Simple Truths
- You wouldn’t have a child read Shakespeare before they are old enough to understand it.
- You wouldn’t have a child learn algebra before learning skip counting.
- Teach to your child’s skills and interests so they engage in the content.
- Your child loves to read and write – so you provide opportunities for that.
- Are they college bound or trade bound? If so, what skills can they learn?
- Engaging and finding balance between the real-world skills and technical/logical skills.
Example: If your child enjoys music and wants a career in it – you help them get there by guiding them and providing training classes, theory skills, practice, group or private lessons and more. Going deeper – they also need to know how to read and write so they can succeed in the business aspect of music and in life. So you focus on music-related lessons and basic skills to go beyond music. This may be a Montessori approach. There’s no wrong answer. The idea is to tailor to their needs – and know your why to homeschooling.
Heart of Homeschooling: Beginning, Middle & End
Beginning your homeschool journey
- How to start and possibly de-schooling (if you are starting after a long time in public school)
- Goals of teaching your child whether you are starting from birth or beginning after years in public or private school
- Choosing content and why
- How your parenting affects your teaching
- What environment and experience do you want the children to remember?
In the Middle of It
- How is your child growing and adapting?
- How are their interests growing?
- How does the content help them or hinder them?
- Are you seeing progress in subjects or content understanding?
- Is their learning at the age level appropriate?
- Are they enjoying the materials (some can’t be helped but overall?)
- How is the learning feeding into their specific skills, interests and learning styles?
- Is a more structured approach helping or hindering?
End goals as your children grow up and “age-out” and end schooling
- Preparing them for the real world.
- How are their interests and hobbies influencing schoool?
- Is the content making sense?
- Do you want them to be college ready or trade ready?
- Teaching to the trade or teaching to the college/university route?
- Teaching holistically – can they self-sustain and self-moderate?
- Emotional, physical and mental stability and health.
- Are they being prepared to live on their own, get a job, handle the everyday?
Regardless of the path you choose in homeschooling – know your heart and your why. We all have goals and aspirations in our why. Whether you chose homeschooling for family, connection, safety, content control or something else, know your why behind the choice.
Your child is the most important to you and you are helping guide them into the future. Find the heart of your homeschooling, your whys and goals. There will be bumps along the way and challenges, but keeping a careful eye on the goals and why will keep you motivated and going strong. Remember your child will eventually be an adult and living on their own. Choose your heart and why and the rest will be a success.