My Homeschool Philosophy

Homeschooling was my husband’s idea to begin with (even before our first child was born). He had studied gifted education, and knew that giftedness flourishes in a rich, individualized environment. Of course our children would be “gifted”! If not though, intelligence will increase if the teacher thinks a child is smart.

I’d never even heard of homeschool before, but I started reading. And there wasn’t much to read at the time, mostly some books by Raymond and Dorothy Moore with titles like Better Late Than Early and School Can Wait. Soon I had decided that homeschooling was important, not only for superior academics, but so that I could respect my children’s time and not waste it with the administrative and disciplinary details that have to occur in the public school. I wanted time for them to play, to enjoy their childhood. (I remember calling my elementary school a prison.) I didn’t want them to have to repeat things they already understood. My goal was to have children who love to learn and who know how to learn.

Inspired by the Konos curriculum, I soon settled into a plan for our homeschool based on unit studies. The idea of tying all subject areas together under one topic really appealed to my step-sequential brain! The reality wasn’t exactly that way, however. We had some great units, but they were heavy on the history and language arts and somewhat lacking on the math and science. (We usually did math separately.) And all the things I wanted to teach my kids didn’t necessarily fit into logical little units (although I kept trying to make them do so!)

Along the way, I heard about Charlotte Mason’s ideas. Most of them were things I had already found to be successful in my homeschool, especially the concept of “living” books. Some were new ideas for me though: short lessons, nature journals, century books. These principles have worked well for our family. The idea of short lessons was a life-saver with one daughter who really struggled with math in the later elementary years. We agreed to ten minutes a day, and I would condense the lesson to one principle and just a few problems. She could do math, if it were only for ten minutes.

You can see why I call this a journey! Recently, I have moved closer to the Waldorf model of education. I haven’t abandoned the things I’ve been doing all these years, but Waldorf adds ideas that appeal to my spirit. Now I am more cognizant of life’s rhythms: the daily, weekly, and yearly patterns that structure our time. (I have long understood that structure was important to children, but Waldorf makes an art of structure.) Now I try to incorporate more creativity and imagination. We have more art and music in our home. We tell more stories. I feel that my life is richer than before.
My friend and mentor Melisa Nielsen, a Waldorf consultant, said, “Steiner [founder of Waldorf education] meant for this path to be for the teachers as much as (if not MORE than) for the students, because if the teacher is spot on then the students will absorb what they need as they need it.” I guess that’s why I love Waldorf!

Truly though, I love everything we have done as a homeschooling family. No matter what curriculum or game plan I have used, just the fact that I could spend every day with my children has been an incredible blessing. It’s really all about my children.