homeschooling

If Only I’d Known: 25 Lessons from the Homeschool Years

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment
Collage of homeschool learning moments with text “If Only I’d Known – 25 Lessons from the Homeschool Years.”

It was one of the last workshops I gave as a homeschool speaker in the late 2000s.

The workshop title was, “If Only I’d Known.” Today I found the envelope containing my old workshop cards.

My kids were already graduated. This workshop distilled some of the most important lessons I’d learned the hard way through our homeschool journey, and it seems appropriate to share them before I slip them back into my archive file.

1. Be careful what you say.

  • Kids remember both the positive and negative things that come out of your mouth. And they will hold you accountable.
  • Kids, especially young children, parrot. Don’t say anything you don’t want to hear coming out of their mouths.

2. Have a support system

  • Regardless of how independent you are, you need a tribe of likeminded homeschoolers—”real world” or online, you need them.

3. Involve family members (especially older family members)

  • They have lived history and can share it
  • They can teach sewing, cooking, woodshop, auto mechanics…
  • It builds relationships and lets older family members know they still have a lot to offer.

4. Don’t buy it until you need it

  • You may never need that widget
  • You probably don’t need a school room

5. It is the system-schooled kids who are being protected from the real world!

  • Yours are actively learning how to live in it!

6. Worry and fear are destructive

  • Concern can motivate
  • Worry paralyzes and destroys
  • Jesus said, “Fear Not!” That means we can choose to stop worrying

7. Field trips, games, etc., are invaluable

  • The very things system schools don’t have time for are the things that often teach the most

8. Teach proper scheduling

  • Extra-curricular activities can be both a blessing and a curse.
  • Overscheduling causes stress
  • Stress causes health issues
  • Stress also causes strife, and the Bible says that where there is strife there is every evil thing

9. “Why?” is a reasonable question

  • If I, as an adult, understand why a thing is a certain way, I better understand the thing
  • Why should they do what you’re asking?
  • Strive for significance
  • If it matters to them they will put more into it

10. Know what you believe about education

  • And know why you believe it

11. Know thyself

  • Know what you will and will not do (being realistic)
  • This saves you from buying things you’ll never use

12. God designed each person specifically

  • Each has his own passions, strengths, talents, skills…
  • Bring each child up in the way he should go
  • Allow time, and provide resources

13. Every child is different

  • Prime Example: Learning styles
  • Strengths & Weaknesses
  • Don’t expect your child to be strong in every area

14. It is not a crime to toss non-working curriculum

  • Let me say it again, it is OK to toss curriculum that isn’t working for your child or family

15. Change is a fact of life

  • Don’t feel guilty about changing curriculum, approaches, schedules..
  • Where are things written in stone? In the graveyard

16. There are many ways to teach and learn

  • Use what works for you and yours
  • Don’t assume that what works for you is the only way

17. Few teachers ever finish a book

  • Typical Curriculum Book Structure:
  • Beginning—refreshes the end of the previous year
  • Middle—teaches new material
  • End—introduces next year

18. Teach them how to learn and you need never worry about what you missed

  • A man who knows how to learn can teach himself almost anything

19. Moments will be remembered

  • Don’t be so focused on “doing school” that you miss those moments—Moments that teach special lessons, build character, strengthen relationships…

20. Learning Happens

  • You can stop it, but it’s hard

     Life Teaches

  • Use life’s lessons, work with them rather than trying to force academics to overcome life’s lessons.

21. Even little guys can do laundry

  • Life skills are vital
  • Teach them how to help carry the load

22. Think REALLY long term

  • What will matter 1,000 years from now?
  • Relationship with God is paramount

23. Your responsibility is to prepare them for their whole life

  • Spiritual walk
  • Relationships
  • Life skills
  • How to learn
  • Academics

24. Homeschooling doesn’t need to be expensive

  • Get online and do your research. There are many ways to homeschool that don’t require expensive curriculum and supplies

25. “They say” is often proved a great liar

  • They say you need to do things a certain way
  • They say you must purchase _____
  • They say children must read by age _____
  • They say everything must be learned in a specific order
  • They say you can’t let a child “get ahead” of his peers
  • They say you can’t do this. BUT YOU CAN.

Homeschooling was one of the greatest adventures of our family life. Looking back, there are plenty of things I might have done differently—but I wouldn’t trade the journey for anything.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

Experiencing the Bible with Children

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

I was asked, recently, if I would consider writing Experiencing the Bible for Children. I’d really have to pray about that one because, though I spent years homeschooling and working with homeschoolers, it’s been a long time since I’ve actually dealt with curriculum for children, and in a sense this book is a Bible curriculum of sorts.

However, as a parent, I strongly encourage you to work through Experiencing the Bible with your kids. Whether you realize it or not, you are continually translating the truths of the world around you into a language your children can understand, and you can do the same thing with my book.

You may not be homeschooling, but if you know any homeschoolers you might want to talk to them about the power of studying as a family. Family discussions, with everyone having the opportunity to both listen and give input, can be truly power-packed.

They do much more than merely offer a rich setting for learning the material being discussed. They also let children of all ages witness their parents actively pursuing knowledge and understanding. This is huge, since much of what any child learns is from what he sees adults do. Yes, that old adage, “More is caught than is taught”? True!

Such discussions also help children, people of all ages, learn how to have true conversations and even debates without arguing and getting into fights. In today’s culture, where it seems we’ve reached a point of “fight first and maybe agree later” this is a vital skill.

Open family discussions can also head off potential misunderstandings. I have a personal story that is a classic example of what happens when a child hears something and fails to understand it, but doesn’t feel comfortable asking questions. The preacher was reading Psalm 23 and for the life of me I could not figure out why I wouldn’t want the shepherd to lead me beside still waters.

This is only a short list of benefits, but you get my point. I encourage you to get a copy of Experiencing the Bible, whether in paperback, ebook, or audiobook, and work through it as a family or in a small group.

You can get the book in all three formats at Amazon by clicking HERE.

You can also get the ebook, and name your own price, at Smashwords by clicking HERE.

Get into the Word and be blessed!

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C