Homeschooling is a lifestyle as well as an educational choice. Most people tend to live in boxes —
- I go here to this box this is work.
- When I go to this building that is school.
- When I come home – that is home.
Actually, life isn’t square. Life is messy and spills over into everything else. Homeschoolers recognize this and the educational button is pretty much always on. Life is a constant lesson and, for my family at least, school never ends. Learning only ends when we die — and maybe not even then!
The Homeschool Lifestyle
To make homeschooling a lifestyle and not a To Do List, families need to rethink a few things. One of the main ideas is to get away from education being in a structured place. I know some parents like to have a dedicated schoolroom, but in my experience as a homeschooler (and a cyberschooling) you’re never really at home, so why waste the space?
There’s a little joke within the community that homeschooling should be rebranded as “car-schooling”. This is because most homeschoolers are out on field trips, homeschool co-op experiences and taking care of life. Most of which doesn’t happen when you’re stuck in the house. I bet you’re wondering, how can you teach your kids anything while you’re driving a car? Oh, so many, many ways. Here are a few ideas:
Car-schooling Lifestyle Tips
- Utilize commuting time wisely. When you’re driving your kids from one activity or field trip to another there is a lot of time that can be used to teach the kids. A favorite of mine (if not my eldest daughter) was the use of audiobooks. We’d listen to history, fantasy, biographies and the like while getting to our destination. The audiobook can be paused at specific intervals to check in and make sure everyone is following the information and if they have an opinion (or four) about the subject matter.
- Teach Mapping Skills. I wish that I had thought of this when the kids were young. Instead of relying solely on the GPS, have the kids map out the route ahead of time and check their accuracy while you’re travelling. It teaches them how to use a map and makes them actively develop spatial awareness.My cousin came to visit once and he took the kids for a trip to one of the local stores. He told them that they had to give him directions to the store and he would buy some things for them. Sadly, it took them a looooong time to get to the store because while they were busy looking out the window all of their lives, they never truly paid attention to how they arrived to and from points A & B.
- Introduce them to Classical Music. There’s a company called Maestro Music that specializes in introducing kids to the classics through stories, puzzles, recordings of the music and workbooks. Anyway, you can add these to the playlists, have the kids listen and complete the workbook sections and you’re good to go.
- Use Educational Videos. If you have a car that is equipped with video equipment you can also grab some DVDs and away you go. We loved the Magic School Bus series and as they got older we started incorporating The Great Courses Plus into the mix.
Boost Literacy in the Kitchen
The purchasing, preparation and consuming of food takes up a lot of our daily lives. That’s why it’s one of the best ways to help your child exercise their literacy and math skills. You need to read well and have good comprehension skills to read recipes correctly. You need to understand and apply math skills such as multiplication and fractions to achieve the desired result. Cooking is also a practical application of chemistry skills as well.
Books to Get You Started
The New Making of a Cook – The Art, Techniques and Science of Good Cooking by Madeline Kamman. I purchased this book because although I can cook, I didn’t know enough about how ingredients interact to explain it to the kids if they asked. She goes into minute detail about:
- what causes various interactions between ingredients
- how to fix mistakes such as overbeating an egg that you’re using to make a dessert (sugar is the cure!)
- what types of bowls and other equipment is needed to make cooking pleasurably efficient
Another great book is What Einstein Told His Cook by Robert L. Wolke. He does a wonderful job of explaining some kitchen “mysteries” with a lighthearted scientific approach. I laughed as much as I learned listening to this book. He demystifies nutritional labels, debunks the “Salt Wars” and many other practical questions that arise in the kitchen. This book has expanded into a series so there’s lots more to learn. Yay!
Your Homeschool Lifestyle Will Bring Rewards
Regardless of whether you plan to setup a classroom or go free flow, homeschooling is a lifestyle and adventure worth savoring. I have lots of friends (hi Fran!) who have to remind me to chill out and let the plan work. It is so easy to get caught up in the details and miss the bigger picture.
While my kids definitely have their challenges with certain subjects, the one constant is that they all love learning. My children have absorbed the message that there are multiple ways to reach a goal; they just have to find the one that works best for them. And they do!
Homeschooling is never simple, but it’s also never boring. What’s your homeschooling lifestyle look like?
“I’ll never read every single book or go to every single place. But I’ll die in the trying of it.” – Jaden Smith
