My name is Tracy and I am a successful homeschool parent. What does that mean exactly? It means that I have homeschooled my kids from the beginning until they finished high school. I would call that a success and I didn't lose my hair in the process! :)
Today I'm continuing on with my "Start Thinking Like A Homeschool Parent" topic as I feel that the more you let go of the traditional school mindset, the better you'll be at teaching your kid(s) at home. We tend to grab on to what we've been taught or how we've been taught (good or bad) and use that as our foundation for teaching our children. STOP. Before you move forward with homeschooling, here's my thoughts on traditional school...
Most of us went through traditional schooling, whether public schools or private schools and then some of us went on to college. We are all familiar with the standard 20-30 students in the classroom with the teacher standing in front. Did you enjoy those classes? What did you like? What didn't you like? How many favorite teachers did you have? Why were they your favorite? What do you remember learning from these classes? Anything useful now that you're an adult?
I ask these questions to open your mind and think outside of the traditional ways we were taught. Because get this... it WASN'T all that great! I betcha 5 bucks that the stuff you remember is the stuff that happened in the classroom where the teacher was FUN. See the connection? Learning should be fun. Not enough traditional schools make learning fun, but you know what? Learning at home can be.
You got this! TM :)