08-7-2008

Questioning Homeschool

By Renae

Last week, the Heart of the Matter Homeschool Conference became my talk radio. Fellow homeschoolers encouraged while I taught lessons, dressed dolls, washed dishes, folded laundry, and skipped around the internet.

There were so many helpful ideas. So many passionate speakers. So many foundational truths. How do I sort it all? Even encouragement becomes cacophony unless the grains are sifted for a few sweet morsels to gnaw.

Grain Harvest in Montfoucault, c.1876 by Camille Pissarro
Grain Harvest, Montfoucault

It is easy to get overwhelmed. Full-color magazines with 185 pages of glowing reviews tempt me to purchase the latest, greatest curriculum. Veteran homeschoolers elaborate on what works for their families. Friends gush about the latest book they read. And I wonder,

Have I chosen the right lessons? Should I change our schedule? Why don’t I add more crafts? And timelines? I need to read more, and plan more, and…,and…

Questioning is not bad, but running after an illusion is detrimental. There is no perfect curriculum. There will be gaps in understanding. We cannot give our children everything they need to know to fulfill their purpose, but we can start them in the right direction.

Somewhere along the way, we need to learn and teach grace:

  • The free unmerited love and favor of God, the spring and source of all the benefits men receive from him.
  • Favorable influence of God; divine influence or the influence of the spirit, in renewing the heart and restraining from sin. (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)

Grace for ourselves. Grace for our children. Divine influence renewing my heart and restraining me with gentle, quiet truth.

Milling Grain, Ceylon, 1907 by Edward Atkinson Hornel
Milling Grain, Ceylon

Truth revealed in many ways. Sermons, speeches, friends, children, nature, and even my dreaded mistakes teach me. Shutting out the opinions, I reflect and realize I have a guide who loves and knows me and my children. He led me here, and His influence matters most.

The conference speakers shared great ideas and discussed pertinent information I look forward to reviewing. But they cannot all be adapted into our homeschool. Hulling the grains leaves me with golden gems worth savoring.

Related posts:

  1. Don’t Miss Heart of the Matter’s Virtual Homeschool Conference
  2. For Homeschoolers by Homeschoolers
  3. Looking at the Future

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20 Comments

  1. Summer 08-7-2008, 7:48 am

    This is encouraging to me and many other homeschool moms that read your blog too - I’m sure. Who doesn’t question what we are doing? We all want the same thing, the best for our children. But we need to follow our own hearts. One minister that I studied under would say that we need to, “Eat the hay and spit out the sticks.” I think that is a good analogy for finding what works for own homeschool too. Thanks for sharing!

  2. Heather Young 08-7-2008, 7:59 am

    I didn’t listen in but I know the feeling, it is easy to get pulled into all the great ideas and stuff out there. :) Then I have to remember who WE ARE and know that God knows what His plan for us is.

  3. MInTheGap 08-7-2008, 8:57 am

    As a family who is just starting out homeschooling, it’s hard to boil down just what to spend our time on, what good curriculum is and how to meet the law’s requirements.

    So many new things thrown at you at once.

    It is better to be caught up in the excitement of it, and learn from it than getting caught up in the comparison.

    God works uniquely in us and in our children, and gives us grace to accomplish what He wants. In the end, that’s more important than the uniqueness and number of projects we’ve completed.

  4. Daisy 08-7-2008, 10:13 am

    I needed this soo much. We start school on Monday and I’ve had one attack after another this week. From my best friend telling me that my children will never be salt and light and will rebel to the copier braking down. It has been one assault after another. Oh, how we need grace for each day. Help me, Lord, to lean on you and not on my own understanding.

  5. Tricia 08-7-2008, 10:21 am

    You are very right. We extend grace to others, yet somehow expect perfection from ourselves and our offspring and our homeschool.

    It is a set-up for failure.

  6. Emily 08-7-2008, 11:33 am

    “He led me here, and His influence matters most.”
    amen.

  7. Melinda 08-7-2008, 11:41 am

    I now what you mean. There are so many great ideas, methods, resources. We can’t use them all but I sure wish I could!

    Please visit Shore’s End for an important announcement and prayer request!

  8. beth 08-7-2008, 12:03 pm

    What a grounding, comforting realization of how His grace operates in our own individual homeschool journeys.
    “He led me here, and His influence matters most.” Words that I needed to be reminded of today, that apply to and I’m taking to heart in quite a few other areas as well. Thank you.

  9. Amanda 08-7-2008, 1:18 pm

    Thank you for the timely and encouraging post. We’ll be new to homeschooling this year, and already I’ve begun to doubt myself. Thank you for the reminder to keep my eyes on what it truly most important.

  10. Renae 08-7-2008, 3:20 pm

    I’m so glad you found encouragement here. I heard a couple of individuals say they were overwhelmed during the conference, and I obviously have the same questions myself.

    My hope was that others would be strengthened through exposing the echoes I silence in my mind.

  11. Renae 08-7-2008, 3:23 pm

    Summer,
    Eating the hay and spitting out the sticks fits well with this post. That was my point exactly!

    I’ve been reevaluating how I want to do our history lessons. Should I studying different time periods each year or do the whole Chain of Christianity? Then I realized I don’t have to know what I’m doing in two years. Just focus on the now. I’m not saying planning is bad, but obsessing over the plan isn’t helpful.

    Heather,
    Yes, it takes some understanding of the way you and your children are wired. I don’t have that all down yet, but when something works I stick with it. (or try to anyway)

    It might have been easier in some ways before there were so many choices for homeschooling. I’ve heard that a number of years ago all that was available was a few basics. That’s were I focus anyway. Bible, reading, math, and great literature. And I know you are even more relaxed than that. ;)

  12. Renae 08-7-2008, 3:24 pm

    MInTheGap,
    Blessing on your beginnings in homeschool! We live in Texas where we don’t have state requirements other than English and math. (I have to remember that positive as I melt in the heat of summer.)

    It can be a challenge to figure out how to blend what you want to teach into state forms, but there is help out there if you need it.

    Getting caught up in the excitement can be good, but I suggest taking some time to write out your purpose and goals for home education. You may not know that yet, but it helps when you evaluate curriculum.

    During the conference I heard someone say that it takes a couple of years to find your philosophy and methods. I understand that. I did a lot of that work when my son was a toddler, so I was set and stubborn before I started. :)

  13. Renae 08-7-2008, 3:36 pm

    Daisy,
    I can’t imagine how that must hurt coming from your best friend. You have to make choices according to your conscious before God, no matter the opinions of others.

    I’ll be praying for you and your family. May you find strength and peace today.

  14. Barbara Frank 08-8-2008, 9:13 pm

    You know, Renae, I feel bad about contributing to the general homeschool cacophony. But I guess we veterans just can’t help sharing what worked for our own families.

    Perhaps what you can take away from the conference is the fact that there are as many successful approaches as there are homeschool families. So whatever God leads you to do with your specific children (and whatever He leads them to become curious about on their own) will turn out to be just what they needed. :)

  15. Jennifer in OR 08-9-2008, 2:58 am

    Great advice on just taking what works, or simply choosing something, and leaving the rest. If we all let the Holy Spirit be our guide, there will be a lot less confusion!

  16. Renae 08-9-2008, 2:03 pm

    Barbara,
    I must not have communicated effectively. I do not thinks it’s bad for veteran homeschoolers to expound on what has worked for them. I so appreciate the recommendations of those who have gone before me. It is extremely helpful! Especially when they tell me to relax. :D

    What I was trying to address was the tendency to second-guess every lesson plan. We can easily focus on the externals, new curriculum, new books, etc., and end up thinking that something different will solve all of our problems or make homeschool easy.

    Yes, there is time to reevaluate what you are using to teach your children, but have a reason for seeking something different. And I guess it helps to have a reason why you chose something in the first place.

    Developing an educational philosophy really helps with that. ;) Mine isn’t concisely written out, but it is partly contained in the series Why I Homeschool.

  17. Renae 08-9-2008, 2:09 pm

    Jennifer,
    Thanks. It is hard sometimes to be satisfied with what you’ve chosen, but I’m becoming a bit of a pragmatist. If it works, I’m not switching anything. And even if it doesn’t work I’ll give it awhile. ;)

  18. Rachel at Keep the Way 08-12-2008, 9:03 am

    Beautiful post. Very encouraging, thank you for sharing!

  19. Amy Bayliss 08-12-2008, 7:25 pm

    Renae,

    I love your heart and your vision. Lots of people have awesome ideas about what our children’s education should look like but only we actually know our children. I am considered “eclectic” because I use so many different curriculums but I only do that because I am only using the elements of each that work for my boys.

    Great post!

  20. MInTheGap 08-27-2008, 10:47 am

    We sat down the other night to come up with goals, etc. It was a good exercise. Right now, I think we’re too close to the trees to see the forest, considering we start next Tuesday.

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