Home | Charis Buckland

We have a few more days of ballet until spring show which marks the end of the ballet year and church activities have slowed for a respite. We do a little “school fair” at the end of each year where everyone will save special projects or work they are extra proud of and display them in the kitchen. We have special desserts of course, to make the even extra special. Spring showers have allowed plenty of puddles to be splashed in.

We have been cleaning out the front room which houses all the books we own and the school desks with the art cabinet. The cabinet complete with all kinds of art supplies one can imagine, ready for use at a moment’s notice when the itch to create happens. The room had become really messy with all the papers filling the desks to complete and art projects drying and being displayed on the bookcases. It’s all coming back together now, though. Whew! It was getting bad!

Homeschool doesn’t always look or feel heroic. It looks like listening to a child read while putting a bun in another child’s hair before ballet. Cleaning up spit up while tearing out a reading quiz. Throwing a casserole together while people are fighting or crying (or both)! It can be frustrating when my ideals don’t match my reality. 

People often ask why we homeschool and what it looks like. Grab some coffee and let me share with y’all some common questions and fears I have heard or had myself. My parents are public school grads, as well as my three siblings, so I will send a little love to all you public school kids out there! For all you who educate your precious students at home, I am proud of you too! Homeschool adds a whole new element to home life and requires persistence and determination!

Homeschooling is trending. When I was homeschooled for eight years, it was actually really uncool! I laugh out loud when I remember my brother and I laughing about explaining it to friends under our breath! Now, it has grown and changed with many unique options for curriculum, schedule, and instruction. Even working moms are able to homeschool their children, which is fantastic for them! The following list includes reasons why I love homeschool: 

Solid foundation in academics and life. Since the classroom size is reduced, each child can be monitored carefully to be sure he or she masters each concept before moving forward. Many parents incorporate spiritual training as part of the school day, so they use Bible curriculum as well.

Provide greater challenge academically. For students who desire more challenge academically while remaining developmentally appropriate, homeschool works well. They can work more quickly where they are able or slow down when needed.

Shorter “homework” time. I cannot imagine going back to school for seven hours each day as an adult. I remember college was amazing when I had only a few classes in a day and the longest was an hour and a half! Woohoo! Homeschool provides a way to work through assignments all at once instead of saving homework for later practice. For students who need “wiggle time,” there is a place for it whenever they need it. For older students, they often participate in extra academic classes, athletic events, or arts activities with the extra time.

Flexibility to learn beyond the classroom. Homeschool groups and individual families are able to travel wherever whenever and experience arts, history, math, science, literature, and more through local friend trips, historical places, and theater programs. Families who need ideas can look into their local homeschool association to learn about opportunities to participate in. Two of my girls are old enough to be Teachers Assistants in ballet, so they help the instructor with ballet classes of younger girls. They love this and it helps pay for their tuition.

Ability to use teaching methods that apply to each individual student. Where a student thrives, he or she can blaze right along and move faster if needed, while another subject may require more time to learn. In this case, the student can take time to really grasp the concept before moving on to the next lesson. One of my girls loves learning games. I am not a game-lover but with our curriculum, we use the inline streaming option, so she receives instruction while watching the classroom activities on her laptop. She is able to participate in the games that help her learn in each subject. 

Individualized attention. Obviously with fewer students in the classroom, students get lessons created for them and education is monitored closely. Concepts are fully grasped before moving on to subsequent lessons. Each student can learn according to the best learning style! We have drilled multiplication tables when someone needs extra time learning those. We have taken extra time to go over special sounds while reading. 

Relationships. The ability to spend more time with children as they grow and mature is super precious. In reality, not everyday is a great day, but the quality time spent with children is sure to develop a unique bond. The years spent at home can be reflected on as a special time of life development. 

Socialization is often a concern when considering homeschool. Homeschooled students are some of the busiest, most social people I know! Psychologically, younger children, as in elementary age, are learning most from their parents at home anyway, so socialization seems to be of less importance the younger the students are.

The website homeschoolfacts.com writes that according to The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) “PBS Parents” Web page, National Home Education Research Institute president Brian Ray believes that socialization is not a problem for the vast majority of homeschool students.  Mr. Ray reports that “Research shows that in terms of self-concept, self-esteem and the ability to get along in a group, homeschoolers do just as well as their public school peers.”

This slow, hidden, consistent, beautiful, messy work at home is worth it. Days don’t always look like baking in monogrammed aprons, although we do wear embroidered aprons. 

Collecting eggs each morning from chickens is not what our days begin with, although I would love that! We don’t live on a homestead and our backyard feels about six feet wide.  There are tears when learning lessons beyond academics, like how to be responsible and do work with excellence. It’s often tough learning how to stay persistent and do work even when we don’t like it. Some days I wonder if it’s worth it. At times, I think maybe I’m not cut out for this. Sometimes I think it’s too hard. In the end, homeschooling allows us to leave a legacy of excellence and faith. We get to be there to watch first steps, first words being read, first spelling test, first time to make a good moral choice… This is what makes all the effort worthwhile. You CAN do this. 

Why do you homeschool? I would love to hear your stories!

Love,

Charis

Pic(k) of the day:

So I went through all the ballet tights recently to throw away all the torn ones to evaluate how many pairs to get while they are BOGO at the studio. This pile of tights in front of the “ballet station” made me consider how much money was spent on this pile of irreparably damaged goods. Yikes!