homeschooling hindsight

I have been participating this week in Homeschooling Torah‘s 2016 Homeschool Family Conference. Once the live sessions have ended the videos are archived, so go check it out! There is a wealth of wisdom!

One question I was asked, is what I would do differently in my homeschooling today, from what I did as a young mother (the things which would be joint parenting decisions would of course include my husband).

I would establish our family law in our home much earlier.

I would value my peace with my husband more than who was right or wrong.

I would spend more time with grandparents, if at all possible.

I would keep the biblical feast days and Sabbath rest as a family from the very beginning.

I would slow down, stress less over my home’s appearance, and enjoy my children more.

I would practice saturation love.

I would be less worried about teaching academics and more intentional about teaching hearts that love virtue.

I would narrow down my subjects to only the most foundational.

I would get off the “perfect curriculum search” hamster wheel (one on one teaching is more impactful than whether the perfect curriculum is used).

But I would use Homeschooling Torah from the earliest years.

I would have my children write out the text of Scripture for their penmanship and copywork practice.

I would learn Hebrew with my children.

And I would find a way to teach a musical instrument to all of our children.

I would not worry about socialization so much (turns out it was a false worry), and I would socialize our teens with mature, like-minded adults in our own company instead of youth group.

But just as importantly, I think, is what I did that worked, that I would do all over again:

I would teach reading with phonics in the Orton-Gillingham vein.

I would read aloud to all my children together, all through their school years.

I would read a wide variety of books to all the children together: historical fiction, wonderful literature and non-fiction, biographies … anything well-written which passes the tests of worth.

I would read together as a family in the evenings.

I would limit TV and electronics.

I would raise our children in the country with opportunities to do chores, cook, make things, garden, and care for animals.

I would teach the Scriptures from front to back, inside and out, as well as the historical and scientific evidence of their veracity.

I would do nature study, especially in the summers, for elementary science.

I would teach the history of Western Civilization with living books.

I would teach diagramming sentences as part of our English study.

I would teach logic in its place in the curriculum.

I would study Latin and other foreign languages with our children.