We've been homeschooling for awhile. If my math is right, and if I count preschool, it's been 9 years. That means I've been fielding homeschool questions, comments, compliments, and complaints for almost a decade.
One comment I repeatedly hear is, "You must be really patient." As if the patience fairy swooped down and sprinkled some of her pixie patience dust on me in the middle of the night–the night before I started educating my children at home. Really, folks. It did not happen.
And a question I'm frequently asked is, "What grade is he in?" Followed by a quick, "How do you know he's learning what other 5th graders are learning?"
Let's be clear about something {and I speak it sweetly and with patience}: I don't want him to be learning what all the other 5th graders are learning.
Why not?
Because he's an individual.
My son is unique. He has his own gifts, talents, and struggles. He has strengths and weaknesses differing from any other 5th grader I know. We are striving for a custom education based on his individuality.
Because he has specific interests.
One of my favorite cartoon characters, Calvin, sums it up when he claims, "I go to school, but I never learn what I want to know." What happens to children who never get to learn what they want to learn? Eventually, they lose their curiosity.
What my child needs to know goes beyond the typical course of study for a fifth grader. What he needs to know, and what he will remember, is what he wants to know.
Because I want him to be self-educated.
He asks questions. He knows how to find answers. And these answers spur him onward to more questions. I want to continue this not-so-vicious cycle because I agree heartily with Charlotte Mason's claim: self-education is the only real education there is.
Because I want him to be a critical and creative thinker.
I want my son to be able to produce his own ideas, to be a problem-solver, critical thinker, and creative genius. These things are more easily achieved when my son is allowed to develop his own what-I-must-learn list.
So, are my children learning what they need to know?
Yes. They are. I make sure they have a foundation education, and they are quite capable of doing the rest, without any help from state standards.
Do you have a homeschool critic in your life?
Read other blog posts written by homeschooling moms
about how to answer the critics.
Great Job! I homeschooled my daughter before I rejoined the work force again. I enjoyed it and so did my daughter and some of the kids hanging around us. She skipped a grade when I enrolled her in the public school system. So be grateful that you are able to do it.
Thank you. This was very encouraging. You and Jimmie are blessing me today.
These are great points, Ami! I think the problem is that so many people want to compare our children at a “snapshot in time.” Where are you in fifth grade, or whatever. But that isn’t fair, and it’s not sustainable, and it doesn’t model real life. (I don’t know the last time someone tried to compare me to another 30-year-old and see if I was doing it right or not, thank goodness!)
I so appreciate you sharing this today!
Yes, yes, yes! Love that John Holt quote, too.
Amy, I love reading about your heart for your children and their education. More people need to hear just what you wrote that education really is about instilling a foundation upon which our children’s curiosity will flourish. (Oh and please tell me the patience fairy exists and that you’ll send her to my house.)