My family has been homeschooling for the last five years. Our two kids were used to seeing the school bus make the morning rounds to collect their friends and the quiet that followed as the neighborhood emptied and became entirely theirs, well almost theirs. A few blocks away, another family is homeschooling their five children. Last week school came home for everyone which resulted in a new reality for parents; managing their kids’ home education. For many, this change raises an already elevated anxiety level, as parents are questioning so many things including the effectiveness of learning within the home.
I’ve got great news for you! Learning happens everywhere!
For those of us that went through the public school system, we may nod our heads in surface agreement with this statement, but deep down feel the ingrained belief that “real” learning, the kind that gets you into college learning, only happens in the confines of traditional classroom and instruction. Maybe this is the moment and the circumstances that cause us each to question and reconsider this belief?
What if our children’s interest was reignited by this time of non-traditional instruction? What if the change to online learning, with opportunities to read in a treehouse or do math on the front porch, or discuss the chemistry of our dinner entree was a welcomed break from the routine? What if it made the learning feel more real life and relevant?
My wife and I have strived to create a family culture that encourages curiosity and empowers learning for all of us, all of the time, parents and children alike. We’ve always seen our home as the primary environment in which to foster this exploration. When we decided to homeschool our kids, we wanted all the rooms in our house to support this. For us, this meant having uncluttered surfaces and inviting sitting areas accessible throughout our home that could be used in the moment. We hung low, floating bookshelves in our living room to display titles on topics my kids were interested in and moved the coffee table against our bay window to create a spot for sprouting seeds, puzzles and art making. To minimize negative distractions we have our TV in my office upstairs. When teaching, my wife and kids move from living room, to family room, to sunroom, to outside to complete the school work. Before last week, our learning environments also included farms, regular trips to the library, co-ops, environmental centers, hikes, museums, and weekly meet-ups. This home bound shift has affected us too as we adapt to new boundaries. Regardless, this flexibility works for us as our kids experience learning happening everywhere and all the time, a new powerful message perhaps, for all kids momentarily out of their assigned seats.
Soon enough public school will resume for the neighborhood kids, and I know they won’t forget these few weeks in the early spring of 2020 when their routine changed. The question is, will their education ever be the same?
