I’m often met with crazy stares and “ohh”s and “ahh”s when I tell people that my kids are homeschooled. Everyone seems to think that it’s really hard and insanely time consuming. Given the way my friends bemoan the start of summer and celebrate the beginning of the next school year, I guess I can see why it seems so hard. And lots of homeschool parents seem to enjoy the special status afforded those brave enough to do it.
But as a homeschool mom, I have a confession: It’s really not all that hard.
True, I don’t do the typical curriculum homeschooling that others do, but my kids do have to sit down to do some stuff. It’s just that we’ve found creative ways to do it. Instead of doing endless pages of addition and subtraction work, we make it a little more fun.
Case in point: This was a math class
See that? Totally fun! Life was my favorite game growing up and we use it for math work. I actually make them figure out how much money they owe the bank and how much the bank owes them. At the end of the game, they have to work with me to add up how much everyone has. It’s awesome!
At this point, I know that some of you conventional teachers are freaking out. Don’t worry; they do have handwriting practice and reading. It’s just that we’ve decided to make it a little more fun. There are literally times where my 5 year old says to me, “Mommy, can I do more school work?” And Dimitrios has taken on his mom’s habit of bringing a book everywhere we go. They ask questions about everything and actually enjoy the process of learning. Who am I to stop that?
Yes, there are some times where I just want them to stop asking me questions. I mean, don’t we all have times like that? But I’m also so proud that they even want the answers. When I’m tired and don’t want to do anything, they’re self starters. It may not be as rigorous a day, but they still learn stuff on those days.
Mommy Soup 