Making Sure Your Homeschooled Child Doesn't Fall Behind
One of the great challenges of homeschooling is assuaging the worry that your child might fall behind their grade-level peers.
I get it! After 10 years of official homeschooling, I can tell you that this general fear is not just put upon you by your own fretting mind: it's a societal problem. We need to rethink the entire purpose of an education.
I'll help you calm those fears down right now.
I'm Aubrey Hargis, Montessorian and mom of two. I am also a homeschooler by choice. I love being that invested in my children's education. It's not easy, but every year I find myself doing it all over again and learning so much about the nature of child development. Because education is a journey we take with our children, and the opportunities for learning start over every day.
Hi, sweet friends! Welcome back to the podcast!
We're going to be talking about one of the things that strikes a deep fear in many a parental heart: the thought of their child falling behind. First, I want you to know: it's not your fault that you're worrying about it. There is a lot of societal pressure! (12:55)
Focus on Development: There are also a few things you should know developmentally: Children don't grow in a linear way...and all the things that we think children should know by x age are generally based in having divvied out skills over 18 years rather than being based in actual child development. Basically? Those grade-leveled benchmarks are bogus. (13:30)
Make Your Child Aware of Expectations: When there is a conflict between what SOCIETY thought my children should be learning and what they were developmentally inclined towards, I always let them know and made them a part of that conversation. (18:47)
Educating the Whole Child: The goal of education SHOULD be to grow a whole human being! When each of those pieces and parts develop is secondary to the fact that we are educating a PERSON, not a commodity. This is about aiding a child as they grow into their best self.(26:00)
Homeschool: Education at the Child’s Pace. The biggest reason I didn't put my own children in schools is because I wanted them to be able to develop at their own pace. A Montessori school should respect this development, but they can get caught up in the pressure to get ahead, too...and most are just as beholden to state and federal learning standards and tests. (27:07)
What is valuable learning? This idea that children don't learn at home but they do learn at school - or that the learning that happens from reading a book and writing down something is more valuable than playing outside...it doesn’t honor the way that children actually learn and develop. (28:33)
A real education starts from within our own heart. In truth: we remember what is interesting to us, what is relevant, and what is practiced. (31:33)
When you start to worry, keep your eyes and heart on the larger goals of education (33:00):
Literacy
Numeracy
Oral communication
Creativity
Civic Responsibility
Problem-solving
Now is the time for society to reimagine what school can look like! It’s also an opportunity for you to dive headfirst into homeschooling if you think it might be a good fit for you. I promise you can do it!
Gratitude (38:27)
Today I am working hard to be grateful for the injury that my son received to his hand just before his kindergarten year. It helped us live a slower, more deliberate homeschool adventure. While I am not grateful for the injury itself...I am grateful for the learning that we received from it.
