Homeschool Discussion

[jdslo...@gmail.com]

Today I had the opportunity to sit down with Danielle Pruitt, Cliff Pruitt, and Nathan Brewer to learn more about homeschooling. There are a lot of uncertainties in the public school system right now and I am feeling the pull to take charge of my children’s education and start homeschooling. During our time today I was not only reassured that this decision was the right one for our family but I learned a few things that I hadn’t yet considered. 

A big aha moment was realizing that I don’t have to be forced into the public school schedule but instead I can do a gentler, year-round school approach. I could even start our school year in January and wrap up in August or September, just in time to enjoy the fall festivities and holidays! I was also reassured that it is OK if I don’t know how to teach a certain subject. The structure of homeschool allows for the whole family to learn together and what we don’t know there is always a resource to find the answer. 

What's really nice about homeschool is that I can teach to each child and meet them where they are. My children have strengths in very different areas and have very different styles of learning. In public school my boys will both be taught in the same format and unfortunately they will received very little one on one direction. I love that I will be able to teach specifically to each child in a way to strengthen their weaknesses and follow and grow their passions that much more. There are also many opportunities for homeschoolers to socialize with others, whether it be co-ops, field trips, or volunteer opportunities. We just have to figure out what is in our area and get them signed up! 

Thank you Danielle, Cliff, and Nathan for taking your time today to talk with me and answer my questions! I am excited for this new adventure!

[JnBrymn]

Adding on to what Jessica said, I took away a lot from our conversation.

Day to Day

The Pruitts generally start school at 9AM and go until lunch. That's typically enough time for their 3 kids to get their schooling in. School starts with focused time on the older child first because once he knows his tasks for the day, he is mature enough to independently plan his own day. Then Danielle works with the younger 2 children who need more attention at this point. They have lunch, and then the afternoon is chores and then freetime.

One thing that Danielle emphasized is the flexibility of home schooling. If one of their children shows an interest in a particular idea, it's ok to dig in! In public school you can't do that, because the class has to stay on a strict and cooridnated schedule. Another nice thing is that the school calendar can be totally different. The Pruitts live in Florida and home school throughout the summer when it's too hot to go outside much, but then take off for the entire stretch of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Academics

I had questions around how to make sure that my children will be able to keep up with their grade level academically.

Cliff said that children are natural self-learners and that the core focus of homeschooling his children are life skills first: critical thinking, resonsibility, and above all, learning to learn. Cliff and Danielle says that reading, writing, and math typically follow naturally from a child's curiosity and wish to learn more about the things their presented with.

But that said, it is still important to make sure all the bases are covered for reading, writing, math, science, etc. Danielle says that homeschool flexibility again is hugely helpful because you can customize the curriculum for the child. One of her children was having trouble reading, so Danielle focused upon that deficiency and soon her son was back on track.

Nathan was in homeschool during highschool and he also underscored the benefit of flexibility in curriculum because he was able to "major in his majors". Nathan excelled at science and math (he's a PhD physicist after all), and homeschool allowed him to seek content that continually kept him challenged. He feels that homeschooling has helped shape him into a life-long learner.

Socialization

An important aspect of my own public school experience was having a network of peers and friends and this is one place that I'm concerned about homeschool. However, the Pruitts and Nathan assured me that we can meet my daughter's social development needs. Homeschools often interact in co-ops, which often includes an opportunity to connect with other homeschool kids. As you "plug in" to homeschooling networks, there are field trips and social activities where you get to form relationships with the same people. One possible benefit that homeschoolers have is that their social circles _can be_ more diverse in terms of age group. Compaired to public school students, homeschoolers are often more comfortable with people outside of their age group because they deal with more age groups in their normal social interactions.

Thanks for your time, folks! I learned a lot.

[JnBrymn]

Also... this is apparently why my 2yr old son was so quiet during our meeting 😱:

[kozis...@gmail.com]

Adding to Jessica's and John's responses is honestly hard, since they really covered our penny chat extremely well!

But there is two small things that have not been mentioned yet: 

Danielle shared

- https://hslda.org/, a legal website that very interesting state-specific articles and other resources on the topic and

- https://readingeggs.com/, a website to encourage and improve reading skills in young readers generally

Lastly, I would like to thank Danielle, Cliff, Nathan, John and Jessica for taking the time and letting me be part of this incredibly interesting conversation! 

This was extremely encouraging and I can't wait to develop a homeschooling curriculum for my own child.