Cheating
Recently, I was in a very encouraging and lively Facebook discussion concerning a newbie homeschooler mom who was ready to throw in the towel. With a 6 year old. It was great to see so many other moms come along side her and encourage her and ask good questions. Among things recommended by many, including myself, was simply reading to her children. To just push aside all the workbooks and projects and curricula and read aloud, and then read some more. Then go play and do some chores together.
The mom and some other moms feeling the same were encouraged and open to the advice from the older, more experienced moms. During the conversation, the original poster said she liked the idea of shoving aside the school stuff and just reading and living life with her kids, but it felt like cheating.
And a light went on in my head. Bingo! Eureka! She was so right. We ARE cheating, beating the system at its own game. We moms, some with "only" a high school diploma, armed with very little in the way of materials or resources, are doing a better job than the public schools. We use far less money and time to accomplish far more!
She said something so simple and heartfelt, but something so profound. I love those moments when a basic truth hits me upside the head and I can see clearly what this mothering/teaching /coaching job is really all about. We can educate our kids by simply, and foremost, being a mom. It won't look like what goes on in a public school, It can't. And it shouldn't.
We have an incredible opportunity before us. We get to throw off the staus quo; the teacher mentality; the factory model of schooling, and engage in true learning.
Seize it. Embrace it. Ignore the nay-sayers. Gird yourself up, and be their mother. Because that's what all kids need: a mother. Not a classroom. Not a teacher. Not a peer group. They need you, and you are enough.
The mom and some other moms feeling the same were encouraged and open to the advice from the older, more experienced moms. During the conversation, the original poster said she liked the idea of shoving aside the school stuff and just reading and living life with her kids, but it felt like cheating.
And a light went on in my head. Bingo! Eureka! She was so right. We ARE cheating, beating the system at its own game. We moms, some with "only" a high school diploma, armed with very little in the way of materials or resources, are doing a better job than the public schools. We use far less money and time to accomplish far more!
She said something so simple and heartfelt, but something so profound. I love those moments when a basic truth hits me upside the head and I can see clearly what this mothering/teaching /coaching job is really all about. We can educate our kids by simply, and foremost, being a mom. It won't look like what goes on in a public school, It can't. And it shouldn't.
We have an incredible opportunity before us. We get to throw off the staus quo; the teacher mentality; the factory model of schooling, and engage in true learning.
Seize it. Embrace it. Ignore the nay-sayers. Gird yourself up, and be their mother. Because that's what all kids need: a mother. Not a classroom. Not a teacher. Not a peer group. They need you, and you are enough.
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