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Melanie Andersen's Website God | Family | Health | Education | Environment |
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Family
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Overcoming a Homeschooling
May-August 2003 We had been flying through school with Justice. In two years, he went from Preschool to Grade 1 (which should take 4 years). But then I noticed that his love and enthusiasm for school of two years ago had turned to dread and torment and we began arguing about him getting his school work done. So we stopped homeschooling for a couple of months while I figured out: Why was I homeschooling? What caused it to no longer be fun for Justice? How can we bring back his love of learning? I came to realize that we were moving way too fast for him developmentally. He was smart enough to do all the work, but a boy his age should be playing more and sitting at a desk less. His peers were doing arts and crafts and singing songs in Junior Kindergarten. Justice was doing 6-8 lessons a day. His peers were going to school for 1/2 a day, he was homeschooling all day. What happened? I think I became really excited about how fast he was developing and moving through the curriculum compared to his peers, so I kept pushing him to do more (because I could see that he could do a lot more). But I think I was also motivated by an internal insecurity. I had to prove to everyone we knew, that homeschooling was better than public or private school. I had to prove that I was a good mom and a good teacher and that my kid was the best. Once I became conscious of my own insecurities pushing Justice too hard and erasing his enthusiasm for school, it was easier to say: "I know he's smart. I know I'm a good mom and a good teacher. I don't have to prove anything. My fears should not be what's driving our homeschooling. Let's relax for a while. Slow down and have fun again." I reminded myself of why I was homeschooling: moral training and protection from the morally and socially damaging school environment, to customize his education, to give him a superior education, to raise him the way I think children should be raised (not how the government or television thinks he should be raised). It is very common for burnout to occur in families trying to use the Well-Trained Mind Classical Education Curriculum. We were no exception. I feel like this has been a rite of passage in our homeschooling journey. I talked to other homeschooling mom's about it and it is a common phenomenon to start from a place where you're out to prove yourself and your child. But it's not a race or a competition. Education is supposed to inspire, be fun, interesting and exciting. This is when I came across the Sonlight Curriculum. Their catalog was full of testimonials of children begging for more school, sneaking books for next semester because they want to read more, begging for their textbooks as bedtime reading. I thought to myself "this is exactly the kind of enthusiasm and love of learning I want to create in Justice?". I reexamined all the homeschoooling resources I knew of and tried to create a better curriculum for Justice. During this time, I also became trained as a Montessori teacher. I was thinking of starting a Baha'i-inspired Montessori school. I love the Montessori curriculum but I have tried to use it with my children about three times in the past year and for some reason, we just can't do it. So I have since dropped it and look at my diploma as a good job to fall back on if I ever need to get one. I am most trusting of The Well-Trained Mind, The Elijah Company Catalogue, and the Sonlight Curriculum for my homeschooling advice.
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