The Jones family is ready to begin school at 8 a.m. every weekday morning. Their children have their individual places to sit and their personalized tote with their learning materials. They sit, focus on their work, and finish before noon. Then they fan out to work on their individual learning projects.
The Williams family is a rural family. They garden, raise livestock, and are heavily involved in 4-H and the local youth group. They receive their assignments by the week with the freedom to work as they desire, as long as they are finished by the end of the day on Friday. No fuss. No muss. Everyone works together like a well-oiled machine.
Then there is the Richards. Mom tries to get everyone going by at least 9. She tries to keep the peace. She works hard on keeping the housework manageable, but it is a constant battle. This family has a couple of children with challenges. Emotions run like a roller coaster on most days. She feels happy when she can get the basics covered by the end of the week.
It’s easy to judge ourselves a failure when we look at our insides and compare it to the other homeschooling families’ outsides.
I’m not sure what I would have done if I had not already experienced some level of success with my three older children by the time my youngest reached school age. Even though I had ditched much of my teacher education over the years by teaching my older kids, by the time my youngest was old enough, everything I thought successful homeschooling looked like got chucked out the window.
It’s funny looking back as my ‘baby’ turns 30. I think of all those doctors who gave very negative prognoses. Then I look at my very successful 30-year-old son who is teaching at a residential school, married, and a new father.
He didn’t read until the age of 10. I tried every program I could get my hands on. Finally, a pastor talked to me. He told me to use the Bible. I did. We would read the Bible for 15 minutes a day. Then Dick & Jane for 10 minutes.
At 10, he could not read at a 1st-grade level. By the end of the year, using these methods, he was reading at 3rd grade. By the end of the next year, he was at grade level. AND he loves to read today. He reads very thick books, Old English literature style.
Math…don’t even get me started with the challenges we had in math.
Or writing.
Yet, today, he has the needed skills to be successful.
I kept trying to teach in a way he needed to learn. I forgot about the scope/sequence charts and what each grade level required. I focused on what he needed to know to be successful as an adult.
Because of the eclectic method I switched to, my youngest ended up graduating with double the credits needed.
Did I feel like homeschooling him was a failure? No. Because my standard for judging success was not what society considers. I wanted him to be able to work in the field of his choice, using His God-given gifts. I wanted him to have a personal relationship with God. To be able to communicate effectively. To get along with all types of people. To have a heart of service.
His education was different from his siblings’. But it was just what he needed. I kept trying until we found a method that worked.
Fortunately, I learned with my older kids not to compare myself with other homeschooling families.
That’s the beauty of homeschooling. We are not trying to turn out little copies of the kids in public schools. We are working to help our children grow to become the people God designed them to be, fulfilling their God-given purpose.
When we focus on that, then we will be successful, no matter what our homeschool routine looks like.
Something to think about.
**I have free homeschool resources on my Skool page, Living Ready Collective.