What was the best homeschool advice you received over the years?

[mlktwins]

What was the best homeschool advice you received over your homeschooling career?

I have received a lot of terrific advice from so many posters over the years, but mine would have to be that the best curriculum is the one that gets done!  I read this somewhere on the board when my guys were in early middle school I think.  Now that I am at the end of our journey and preparing myself for an empty nest next year, I have been thinking about what I would do differently if I had it to do over.  There are a lot of things I would change, but I tried to cram so much "stuff" into each year - more than we could possibly get done.  I wish I had chilled out a bit more, researched and purchased a little less, and focused on what I knew worked or would work for them.  They are turning out just fine, but I made it harder than it needed to be!

 

[freesia]

Teach the child on your couch and connect before you expect. 

[Farrar]

Someone said that whole marathon not a sprint thing to me when my kids were still pretty young and I'm glad I tried to take that to heart.

[cintinative]

Pretty much the same as Freesia's: teach the child in front of you.

[Serenade]

1 hour ago, mlktwins said:

What was the best homeschool advice you received over your homeschooling career?

I have received a lot of terrific advice from so many posters over the years, but mine would have to be that the best curriculum is the one that gets done!  I read this somewhere on the board when my guys were in early middle school I think.  Now that I am at the end of our journey and preparing myself for an empty nest next year, I have been thinking about what I would do differently if I had it to do over.  There are a lot of things I would change, but I tried to cram so much "stuff" into each year - more than we could possibly get done.  I wish I had chilled out a bit more, researched and purchased a little less, and focused on what I knew worked or would work for them.  They are turning out just fine, but I made it harder than it needed to be!

 

This is me.   Both the best curriculum is the one that gets done, AND trying to do more than we should have.  I, too, wish I had chlled more.  Oh, the wonderful unopened "extras" I still have in my schoolroom -- the things that we didn't get to because we had to do the essentials.  I met a young homeschooling mom this past weekend, and this is what I told her -- to make sure she left time for the fun stuff.  

[MJmom]

Something I learned on this board that blew me away was learning the difference between teaching content and teaching skills. I was leaning too heavily into content, but focusing on skills is the most important thing. Ever since then, I am intentional about skills and make sure they are the priority. It really healed me focus our homeschool. 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

That sometimes your homeschooling will look different from what others do, even from what friends you love choose. And that this is just fine.

 

[RoundAbout]

Don't let life get in the way of homeschool.

Life is filled with doctor's appointments, family visits, trips, moves, health issues, etc. and if you let every little thing derail homeschooling then it can really set you back. As a military family we had to deal with frequent moves and deployments as well. This piece of advice got me to work around life, make school a priority, and provide some consistency (even if it was just math and reading) in the midst of change and chaos. 

[lmrich]

Learn along with your children. Don't worry about teaching chemistry when your child is in second grade.

 Show them that being a life-long learner, reader, project-doer, planner, etc.. makes for a full and interesting life. 

(not homeschool advice but teaching advice - school outside is better)

[ScoutTN]

One size does not fit all. 
 

[Roadrunner]

Don’t jump around too much on curriculum for wrong reasons. I think beginning and finishing something that’s written as a progression has value. 

[Momto6inIN]

HS'ing is a full time job, so treat it like one.

Plans are beautiful and fun to make, but write them in pencil and hold them loosely.

When in doubt, wear the mom hat instead of the teacher hat.

[Brittany1116]

You don't have to teach every subject every day or every year.

Elementary is for exploration, not expertise. 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

For moments when the student is stressed and having a moment, Eat a Sandwich, Take a Shower, Take a Nap.

This was SWB advice from a conference workshop a decade ago. It also helps when homeschool parents are having a moment.

 

Don't forget that the student is also a human being that you have love and affection for. Sometimes academics do need to take a back seat to cocoa and snuggles on the couch. (And sometimes you need to sit down and learn the algebra or grammar alongside them in order to give them the support they need.)

[MamaSprout]

I have a couple, but my first one is kind of weird. Never take away learning as a punishment. I was about to make dd skip a day of science camp for being mouthy and another parent on a different board called me on it. That experience lead to a whole process of writing up a contract of "rights and responsibilities" for my then-tiny lawyer. She signed a copy every year for three years and held me to the letter of it. She mostly followed it herself.

The other is a version of "The right curriculum is the one that gets done." AoPS was recommended to us when we had her evaluated for a grade skip early on. We dipped in and out of over the years, but she always hated it.

We did other competition math books and some EMF for fun, which she liked, along with the usual suspects- Singapore, Foerster etc, but I kept trying to find math "good enough" for a STEM kid. We kept ending up back at Derek Owens.

Dd just told me this year, "Homeschool advice? Just do the Derek Owens. With a group of friends if you can find them. Then find a good DE Calc teacher."

(She's tutoring AoPS Calc this year, so I didn't ruin her education or anything, lol. Because it's on her desk at college she gets "nerd street cred" with the homeschool grads who wander in. It's like a secret handshake or something.)

Edited September 24, 2022 by MamaSprout

[Laurel-in-CA]

I've said the "marathon, not a sprint" thing a lot of times! I've also given away plenty of unopened curriculum.

One thing I had to decide was relationship over scholarship. This meant one child "graduated" early and went to CC...it was right for him AND me that he should challenge himself in new ways. It also meant one child went to a charter with accountability to another teacher in high school...her lesson plans, not mine, but I got to be the equipper instead of the demander. It was right for us both to have that buffer and the teacher worked well with my student too, and listened to me. Some days that mean we had a reading-only day or a character day or a very long nap.

I got more relaxed and flexible with every kid. And life happened. My last kid did her senior year online at CC because covid and layoffs came and I had to go back to work (after 15-plus years homeschooling). She did GREAT and is enjoying having at least one in-person class this semester, her first year as a CC-only student.

Outside activities are valuable BUT keep them in their place. For us that was 4H (horse-crazy kid, dog-crazy kid, public speaking kid) and AHG (4H did not cut it for the youngest), along with Community Bible Study with kids and teen classes. Leadership, mentoring, ease with public speaking were all great fun and great benefits...but we watched the time-commitments for balance. We never did sports because no $$ but survived without them.

[Green Bean]

If it ain’t broke, don’t go looking to fix it.

New and Shiny does not equate to better than Tried and True.

Pick your books, then put on blinders.

The best curriculum is the one that gets done consistently. Someone said that one already, but how true it is.

Teach the child you have, not the one you wish you had.

Just because they can doesn’t mean they should. Meaning: yes, child can do advanced things young, but said child now grown is glad we didn’t push him as it gave him space to figure out himself and to see himself as more than just his intellect.

Edited September 26, 2022 by Green Bean

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Green Bean said:

If it ain’t broke, don’t go looking to fix it.

New and Shiny does not equate to better than Tried and True.

Pick your books, then put on blinders.

The best curriculum is the one that gets done consistently. Someone said that one already, but how true it is.

Teach the child you have, not the one you wish you had.

Just because they can doesn’t mean they should. Meaning: yes, child can do advanced things young, but said child now grown is glad we didn’t push him as it gave him space to figure out himself and to see himself as more than just his intellect.

Yes to all this!

[Corbster98]

Homeschooled for 14 years before I graduated my last one this past May.

Best advice was to not try and recreate ‘school’ at home after I pulled my oldest out of the public schools in 3rd grade. 

[Shoeless]

It's ok to stay home and not sign up for a million activities. If driving all over God's green earth for "enrichment" is making everyone frazzled and tired, drop the enrichment. The kids will be fine.