If I Had It To Do Over Again

Here I am, 26 years later, thinking about what we’ll be doing for school next year. Did you read that? Twenty-six years! The cool thing is that every year is as exciting as the first. There have been a lot of changes over the years: babies, graduations, weddings, grand babies…and we are not done yet. I still have about 3 years to go in our home schooling journey.

As with any journey, there are twists and turns, hills and valleys. There were mistakes made. There were successes. There was a lot of learning going on and it wasn’t only the kids. The saying is true: the teacher learns more than the student.

I did not start out wanting to home school but I kept hearing little things here and there. One day I thought, “I could do this…at least for one year.” With my husband’s blessing, that was my plan — one year. If it went well, we’d consider another year. If not, no harm done, we’ll just start my little one in public school the following year.

Now what? How do you get started home schooling? I did the only thing I knew to do. I went to the bookstore to find books on home schooling. There weren’t many but the ones I could find I read, re-read, pondered, discussed with Danny, got excited about and began making my plans. With no internet to puruse, the one book that every home school mom had to read back in the early ’90s was Mary Pride’s Big Book Of Homeschooling. I read every word. Mary Pride was so encouraging and she introduced me to different philosophies of education and the curricula that used them.

My first thought was to “do school at home”. What else could our school look like but public school with one student. I set up a little table with various school supplies and a flag. The first few days we replicated public school. The curriculum I chose was designed for a private school and was very workbook centered. All went well for a few weeks and then my young student (5 years old) began to soar in his reading. Help! I had this huge teacher’s manual to teach phonics that was supposed to last an entire year and he was already passed it. I went back to my mentor Mary Pride. She gave me the courage to let him soar. Forget the teacher’s manual. That seemed very wasteful to me but I went with it. Ditched the curriculum and redirected my journey to home school instead of doing school at home.

Next stop, Unit Studies. I loved them. I learned soooo much. I read, I studied, I planned, I taught. My student did great. We were happy. Then eventually I burned out. More babies came along. The books all said that it was easy to teach many children at the same time through unit studies. They lied! Well, maybe not lied. I think they just had it all together and I didn’t. Or better yet, unit studies weren’t really my style.

Redirecting…Mary Pride also introduced me to Ruth Beechick. I LOVE her books on teaching children.  The 3R’s and You Can Teach Your Child Successfully were such a blessing to me.  Such a simple philosophy.  Teach children naturally.  Cuddle on the couch.  Read books together.  Incorporate dictation, memorization.  Gently teach math.  Just a loving mom and a child ready to soak it all in.  No need for a curriculum.  Day by day teach using her simple method.  What?  No curriculum needed?  I knew myself better than that.  I was all for gentle but with so many little ones needing attention, I needed a guide…a curriculum.

Enter Learning Language Through Literature.  These ladies also loved Ruth Beechick’s philogosphy.  Thankfully, they also realized there were moms like me out there who needed some guidance.  They created a language arts curriculum that incorporated Ruth Beechick’s philosophy of education.  It worked wonderfully me and my boys but there was still something missing.

After many years I had settled into a routine of LLATL, Saxon Math, Apologia Science.  Not bad but there was another philosophy of education I had been hearing about through the years.  I even read a book or two on it.  I just wasn’t wrapping my brain around it enough to implement it.  Then we moved to East Texas.  Charlotte Mason’s philosophy was to become a part of my life.

Charlotte Mason is huge in the Lufkin area.  I credit the popularity of it to one mom who loved it so much that she set out to teach the rest of us about its beauty.  For years Janey Phillips held Charlotte Mason meetings where she would patiently teach anyone who would listen about this method of educating children.  I attended her meetings at first just to get to know other home school moms in the area.  Then I kept going because I was intrigued.  Then Janey and I became friends and eventually we participated in a Charlotte Mason co-op together.

The Charlotte Mason philosophy is not anything like I started out doing.  It does not look anything like “doing school at home”.  Filling your home, your mind, your child’s mind with living literature instead of twaddle, beautiful music, poetry, art, foreign languages.  Who wouldn’t want that?  But there’s more.  Encouraging a hands on study of God’s nature.  Learning useful skills through handcrafts. It’s beautiful, a feast for the mind.

I have dabbled in Charlotte Mason for years.  Each year doing a little more.  I still struggle with doing it with the ease my friend does but I know my children and myself are richer for it.  If I had it to do over again, I would start out educating the Charlotte Mason way.  Just imagine starting off your 5 or 6 year old with all the beauty and richness of the world around them.  Every minute of their education is living and vibrant and causes them to think, ponder, allowing them to own it.

If you are contemplating home schooling or are already all in, take a look at her books (you can buy them but they can also be found free online here: Charlotte Mason Series).  Freestyle it your way if you’d like but if you are more like me and need some direction, there are moms who have created schedules, reading lists, and all kinds of helpful aids.  Two that I know about are Ambleside Online and Simply Charlotte Mason.

Finally, remember this: Whatever philosophy of education you choose, your children will be blessed.  Enjoy your children. Enjoy your journey.