On the School Years
The K-8 Issue
This is the crux of it all.
When you are homeschooling kids in the K-8 range, you are in the sweet spot, my friend. The pre-school years are largely spent cleaning up messes and putting out fires (hopefully only theoretically ones, but you never know), and trying to get a handle on how to run a home with littles running underfoot. You’re building your philosophy (whether you realize it or not) and coming up with routines to create a (mostly) well run home. While I would argue that Kindergarten is really part of the early years and doesn’t need to be lumped with the school years, I understand that’s a pretty counter cultural opinion. For the sake of this article let’s agree that we’re talking about kids who have started formal schooling, around age 6 or 7, or Year 1 in Ambleside-speak.
The high school years are a different animal in many ways, the lens often focused on the future. More complex subject matter, heavier work loads, afternoon jobs, friends, formals, sports, hobbies, dual enrollment classes, prep for the ACT, and post-high school plans disrupt what was previously a lovely and semi-predictable homeschool routine. While it’s a good, healthy, and necessary thing to grow, the bittersweet truth is your homeschool will begin to feel different as you have less control over everyone’s schedule.
Don’t get me wrong; I love both the precious moments of the pre-school years and the independent nature of the high school years but when most people think of homeschooling — at least the homeschool of Instagram reels — I’m sure images from the K-8 years are what come to mind. And not without good reason.
These are the wonder years of homeschooling. Life moves at a slower, more leisurely pace. The kids are maturing a bit and able to take on some academic responsibility. Routines and Rhythms of the home are pretty well in place and you’re able to see what an average school day looks like. In fact, a normal school day becomes a rhythm of its own.
You’re working through your philosophy of education, learning and growing as a person and therefore as an educator, hitting your stride and learning to balance — however imperfectly — the demands of homeschool life. You’re alive with curiosity and inspired by this thing called homeschool and there are many days (not all, mind you, but many) that you get to the end of the day and you, too, see that it is good.
Your little family is learning and growing, too. You’re ordering their affections and working with fertile soil. You begin to see tiny green sprouts from the seeds you planted in the early years and life is exciting. The kids are usually eager and interested in the feast you are laying. There is still lots of time to play outside, read aloud, and eat meals together. No one (school aged, at least) is napping or worrying about college admissions. It is, indeed, very good.
It’s also very hard. It’s hard when the routines are off. It’s hard juggling little sibs. It’s hard to be at everyone’s elbow when they need you and meet unique needs of multiple children. It’s hard to know which activities to sign up for and which groups to join and if you should do either at all. The dishes and laundry seem to stay in perpetual piles. The kids fight and meltdown and some days it seems like they’re not learning anything at all.
These years are also prime time for diagnoses and it’s hard working through challenges you may be just finding out about with your outside-the-box kids. You may be trying to find your new normal or fit therapy into your homeschool day . You may be tempted to switch math curriculum already or doubting your decision to homeschool in the first place and that’s all very hard.
But nothing worth doing is easy.
The struggle is worth it.
And you have time to figure it all out.
Homeschooling may not be able to stop the clock, but it sure slows it down in our favor.
Take pictures of your everyday life: your kids doing science experiments in the kitchen, with the dishes overflowing in the sink behind them; your kids on the swings at the park; an older sibling carrying a younger one piggy back; that lego structure your son built without instructions; the painting your daughter made.
Take pictures on the first day of school next to a chalk board that says what year it is and what grade he’s in, even if you don’t believe in grades yet (heads up, you’ll need to when you get to high school ;)). Record a video of your new reader reading a book to the dog and your daughter playing the piano and don’t edit out the mistakes — that’s growth you’re capturing.
Don’t leave the memories stuck on your phone. Print the pictures in a photo book. Upload the videos to a private Youtube playlist and label them by year. You’ll want to look back one day not at the birthday parties and big events; those are fun, too, but you’ll want to remember what an average homeschool day looked like.
Capture these precious memories as they sprinkle like sand through your fingers and take author N.D. Wilson’s words to heart:
“Watching one’s small humans age and grow up packs a serious punch. It’s like being stuck in a dream unable to speak, like being a ghost that can see but not touch, like standing on a huge grate while a storm rains oiled diamonds, like collecting feathers in a storm. Parents in love with their kids are all amnesiacs, trying to remember, trying to cherish moments, ghosts trying to hold the world.”
Savor the good times, mama - they won’t last forever. Pray through the hard times — contrary to how you feel in the moment, those won’t last forever, either.
Join a group (or start one). Make friends. Help your kids make friends by putting them into the same space on a regular basis with other great kids. Make sure to regularly cover the basics —Reading, Writing, and ‘Rithmetic really do matter a lot — but don’t stop there.
Cultivate joy in your homeschool by learning together; admire fine art, listen to brilliant composers, and sing. Blow off a whole day of school to bake cookies and read picture books and play at the park. Go on adventures. Study the Bible. Recite poems and drink tea. Teach them how to run a home. Memorize great speeches, poems, and scripture. Don’t neglect Shakespeare and Plutarch. Learn a new language. Watch movies about places and time periods you’re studying or travel if you can. Continue to read aloud far past when most people stop: at bedtime, at lunch, in the car via audiobook.
Celebrate all the holidays, no matter how big or small and find out why we celebrate the day to begin with. Ask questions. Seek answers. Tell stories. Do puzzles. Play games. Light candles. Laugh a lot. Loosen up. Listen to their narrations; I mean really listen with your eyes and ears and heart. Buy an instrument everyone can learn to play. Study history and geography and science and all the things. Encourage their interests and talents. Help them identify their strengths and gain confidence in their weaknesses. And above all, be your child’s guide, philosopher, and friend1 .
Resources*
All six of Charlotte Mason’s volumes, but especially this one
Simply Charlotte Mason, especially the podcast
Sally Clarkson, especially this book
Wild + Free, especially their conference, content bundles, and this book
Modern Miss Mason, especially her book
End of the School Year Traditions
What is the Best Homeschool Approach for a Child with Autism?
Silent Reading for Early Elementary
Break Week for Those Who Homeschool Year Round
15 Activities to Keep Kids’ Hands Busy During Read-Aloud Time
Our Favorite Special Needs Friendly Curriculum
Get Started Homeschooling: Begin
Get Started Homeschooling: Methods, Teaching Space & Routine
Get Started Homeschooling: Subjects to Teach & Curriculum to Choose
Get Started Homeschooling: Organizing & Planning
The Importance of Humor in Our Homeschool with Betsy Jenkins
The Importance of Heritage with Amber O’Neal Johnston
Fun & Fresh Foreign Language Study for Homeschool Families With TalkBox.Mom Creator, Adelaide Olguin
10 Tips for Homeschooling a Child with Autism
The Value of Teaching Through Stories with Jim Weiss
Record Keeping for Homeschoolers with Outside-the-Box Kids
Noteworthy Online Piano Lessons for Your Kids with Joseph Hoffman, Founder of Hoffman Academy
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing so you can encourage others just like yourself.
Till next time,
Cindy :)
*Many of the resources contain affiliate links. If you purchase an affiliate product, your price does not increase but I do get a tiny "thank you" portion from the company for recommending their products. I only have an affiliate relationship with products I use and love.
“The teacher who allows his scholars the freedom of the city of books is at liberty to be their guide, philosopher and friend” - Charlotte Mason, Philosophy of Education