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I keep getting asked to write a planning post. I get it–it’s the end of summer, it’s really exciting, and planning posts are all you see on Instagram right now. I’m not sure how to tell you this, but…my homeschool planning is super un-pretty. It’s incredibly anti-climatic. And it’s a far cry from Insta-worthy.
In my last post, I described our relaxed, eclectic homeschool approach as a recipe–one that starts with a Charlotte Mason and Waldorf foundation, throws in a a generous helping of unit studies, sprinkles in some classical education, and occasionally gets ignored in favor of periodic unschooling. This recipe also changes often with seasons, interests, and with the phases in our lives. We are far from purists of any of these approaches, choosing rather to take what we love about each and combine them in a way that fits our homeschool rhythm perfectly.
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Like many homeschoolers, we embrace an eclectic approach that combines multiple philosophies or approaches. I often describe our homeschool as a kind of ever-morphing stew that starts with a base of Charlotte Mason and Waldorf, throws in a heaping spoonful of unit studies, stirs in some classical education, and occasionally gets ignored in favor of periodic unschooling. And it’s always changing–sometimes with the seasons, sometimes with our interests, and sometimes because life happens and we are okay with adapting as needed.
If you gather a group of 100 homeschoolers together and ask them why they made the decision to educate their children at home, you will likely get 100 different answers. Although there are certainly similarities in the reasons that we jump into this endeavor, the heart of the matter usually comes down to specific needs of a child, values of a family, or (in many cases) a series of events that made that family decide to abandon public school.
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I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of time (I mean a lot) thinking about homeschooling my children. It goes in waves–for a few months, I feel like I’ve got everything figured out and have cracked the code for what works. We’ve got a steady rhythm going, they’re engaged and enjoying themselves, and I feel good about where we are. But then we come down the other side of the wave and I start wondering, researching, reading blogs of how others are doing things, and for the next several months, I’m in tweaking mode, trying new things and second-guessing myself. Are we doing enough?