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Wednesday, July 9, 2008

What I Wish I Had Known My First Year


When I started homeschooling I didn't realize all of the variety available and about the different choices to be made. I thought that I had to find the one perfect way to homeschool and stick with it.

I wish I had known - I didn't have to commit our family to just one way of homeschooling. Now that we've been doing it for 9 years, I pick and choose what works best with our family and each of the kids. Sometimes, during the middle of the year, we even switch to a Unit Study or Unschool for awhile. I've found that the most important thing is to make learning enjoyable for the children.

I wish I had known - my children don't have to read by a certain age. I pushed one of my girls in reading. I should have gone slower at it and made reading more relaxed and less stressful for her. She reads fine now, but she doesn't really enjoy it.

I wish I had known - how enjoyable joining a homeschool group can be. I was reluctant about joining, because I thought that my homeschooling methods would be critiqued. Once we did join, I realized that it was a great opportunity to socialize with other homeschooling families. My kids were able to see that there are many other kids who learn at home. They had kids to relate to.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with you about making learning enjoyable and not pushing your kids to read, etc., by a certain age. I've also met lots of wonderful people through our homeschool group. Great post!

Anonymous said...

Yes! Not all kids are ready to read at a certain age. Great tips here.

Mindy said...

I love what you said about home school groups. I felt the same way at first but now that I have joined several groups I find them to be an invaluable resource.

Anonymous said...

Great tips - - and some that I think we need to remember well after our first year...LOL!! (At least for me.)
Thanks for sharing!! : )

Anonymous said...

I completely agree! All of the things I wish I had known... well, experience is the best teacher, and all that.

I hope you enjoyed the salsa! :)

Have a lovely weekend!
Blessings,
~Shani