Using Homeschool as a Family Togetherness Tool

I won't try to convince you to homeschool... I promise.

Bring up the topic of homeschooling in any size crowd and you'll get a whole host of reactions - some good and some completely painful. Over the past 10 years of homeschooling, I think I've heard just about all of them. Some of them have been completely supportive and encouraging, and others have been, well, dicey...

"Oh. Homeschooling. That's interesting." (with sarcastic tone and raised eyebrow)

"I could never do that. My children are just too smart."

"What do you use for curriculum? I'm an educator - that's why I'm asking."

"What type of training do you have?"

"How could you do that to your children? Aren't they lonely?" 

"What about your career?"

and yes, even, "I don't believe in homeschooling." 

So, I'm not trying to bring up the topic with you, dear reader, about the value of homeschooling.

(Just in case you live in one of the camps described above - and if you do, that's fine - you're totally welcome here.)

I won't try to convince you that homeschooling is a good thing - that debate can wage elsewhere.

I just want to tell you a story about how it can be a game-changer for family togetherness.

Here's what happened to us this week. 

Wednesday was our first full day back to homeschooling after a long summer break, and the kids had been complaining about it for weeks. They wanted summer to go on forever this year, and to be honest, I did too. I was nervous about my oldest starting high school and my youngest starting middle school, and I didn't know how I could keep juggling that with work, my own education, and our big new adventure coming up later this year (details below). But I pulled myself together, did the research, mapped out this year's curriculum, set a few guiding principles, and bought new supplies.

Still, I just wasn't sure it would work again. The past 10 years of homeschooling have allowed us to have the best adventures of our lives, and still, I doubt my own abilities to make it work again every single year. Why do I do that? I have no clue, but to cope this year, I turned my nervousness into excitement, wrote the first-day-of-school-letter to each of my kiddos, and anxiously waited for them to wake up for our school year to begin.

Several hours later (teenagers sleep late), we started our day of learning. Then, after a bit of syllabus-style overview, we settled into our old routine - breakfast with books, read-alouds and book chats, research and writing exercises, nature walks, mad math sessions, individual work, and everything in between flowing just like it had in previous years. It was fun and hard, but it was a good day.

And all of a sudden, I realized how much I missed them this summer.

How could that be? They've been right here all summer long, filling their days mostly hanging out around the campground enjoying camp life, reading, and playing video games with their pals. So how could I have missed them? We did plenty of stuff together this summer - games, swimming, hiking, campfires, a trip to NYC, volunteering at the library, talking about all sorts of things. It hadn't felt like a bad summer, but still, this felt different. 

And I realized there's a deep connection that happens in our family when we're learning together.

I haven't figured out how to get it any other way.

Not too many homeschoolers talk about this deep connection. On some level, it feels like if we talk about the magic, then the magic might just disappear.

But I know better - I know that plenty of families (homeschooling or not) have this kind of connection when they learn something new together. I know we're not alone.

I also know that I don't want this deep connection to end, even if we choose not to homeschool one day, or even when the kids grow up and move off to college. I hope there's a way for our family to learn something together for as long as this world is spinning.

This year we hope that looks like cephalopods, cetaceans, sailing, and sun-catching because we've got plans to be by the sea for all of 2019-2020.

And it's only because we live in times like these that we can learn that way - I am so thankful to be homeschooling!

So, if you happen to be reading these Togetherness Tip emails on your search for a way to get that deep connection with your kiddos that you can't find any other way, I say homeschooling might just be something to consider. It sure has been working for my family. (Click here for even more on the question, "Could you homeschool?")

Still have questions?

Check out these posts for more info:

• How to Homeschool, Road-school, and Oceanschool

• The 3-Step Strategy for Successfully Homeschooling Any Subject

• Making a Case for Worldschooling

• A Day in the Life: Desire-Led Worldschooling with 12 and 14-year-old boys (while working from home)

• Traveling More: Could We Homeschool?

• Why Staying at Home Isn't a Waste (& How to Make It Happen)

Want to see what books and resources we’ve used over the years?

Check out these old travel blog posts for book lists

• 2020-2021 (A New Kind of Worldschooling)

• 2019-2020 (Oceanschooling)

• Stay Sharp This Summer: Kissing Summer Slide Goodbye For Good (Summer 2019)

• 2018-2019 (Teaching from Rest)

• 2017-2018 (College Prep Roadschool Update)

• 2017-2018 (Trying some online stuff)

• 2016-2017 (Roadschooling Update)

• 2016-2017 (Eating Fried Worms and more)

• 2015-2016 (Our First Taste of Roadschooling)

• 2014-2015 (The early years)
  

And don’t forget to get outside every day, too - that’s where the real learning happens (and nature therapy helps mamas in all sorts of ways, too).

Do you have a dream to homeschool your kiddos? Or are you in the midst of living that dream? If so, what part of homeschooling brings the most connection to your family days?

Come see me in the email group and join the discussion, ask your question, or chat with me about how to get more help. I’ll see ya there!