The Homeschooling Handbook how to make homeschooling simple, affordable, fun, and effective by Lorilee Lippincott
As an educator with 18 years of experience in the classroom, I think I have a good foundation for building my own homeschool and helping you create yours. I have been reading a lot to get inspiration and ideas and want to share them with you here. This is the first in a growing list of homeschooling books I will be reviewing.
Learning is a Life-Long Journey
“Parenting is less like building a house and more like taking a journey together, Looking at parenting like building a house assumes control, and it assumes completion, where neither of these is healthy or possible. Instead, looking a parenting as a journey with our children where awe all are learning and growing can provide the environment for our children to become strong human beings, and at the same time, create lasting family relationships.”
Create a Habit of Learning
“Our goals as parents are to help our children get in the habit of learning and to love learning. Having school be boring or stressful goes against these goals and is a drain on the whole family. Remember to use curricula and traditional learning methods as a tool and not a master in your school schedule.”
You don’t need to choose a particular program, method, or series of books to use in your homeschool. You can build upon the interests of your children. You might not know where things will lead but be open to the journey and have fun. Your children will also see that you are fully engaged in the learning habit.
Build Your Ideal School
“Remove all preconceived ideas about what school should look like and spend some time thinking about your definition of education. Identify your core non-negotiables and plug them into your routine. Then live your extra hours reading, talking, exploring, and playing as a family. It will come together.”
Figure Out What to Teach
Here are a few of the things Lippincott wanted her children to learn in their homeschool
- how to learn
- curiosity
- motivation
- ability to deal with change
- self-confidence
- self-starting
Write It Down
Lippincott encourages us to write down our goals and vision for what we want our homeschool to look like. She shares with us her family’s plan and it is inspiring. You can take it, modify it, and make it your own. Here is a brief section of it (with some slight modifications from me . . .
“Because the world is always changing, we have picked some skills we want our children to learn before they leave us and enter the world. We feel these life skills create a foundation for any direction will choose to go in life. They are:
- Different music/composers/instruments/eras/cultures
- Different art/artists/forms/eras/cultures
- Different sports and their rules
- Math, including algebra and geometry
- Reading well, and enjoying nonfiction reading for learning
- Complete (but basic) history of the world; all areas of the world in chronological order and how they affected each other as they started to interact
- Beginning biology, chemistry, and physics so they are prepared to advance in college if they choose
- Play two instruments well enough to enjoy them
- Be comfortable writing one thousand words a day
- Proper grammar
- Ability to speak in public
- Create and run a business
- Manners
- Investment, banking, budgeting, and the evils of debt
- Housekeeping, laundry, cooking
- Understanding of different world views—that other people can come to very logical decisions that are different from ours because of the way they wee the world
- Classical literature and poetry
- Basic computers and an understanding of coding
These are great skills that I think all children can benefit from. I also like how well-thought out and detailed the vision of her homeschool is. It is clear what they want to accomplish.
Let’s Start the Journey
Are you as excited about the homeschooling journey as I am? Please subscribe to this blog (you will find the form on the sidebar) and follow me on social media. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
