Recently a friend, who is interested in homeschooling through the middle school years, came by to talk about my homeschooling journey and what works and what definitely has not worked. Before I began sorting through the various curriculums and teaching strategies we (Miss Sam and I) experimented with and those that we have found success with, I gave her a piece of advice that was given to me when I first began this journey (has it really been over a year ago????). That advice was so thoughtfully given by Heather from Christian Unschooling:

Do not jump into anything right away. Allow time to ‘decompress’ from traditional school. Allow time to get to know your child again. Allow time to learn how your child learns best. Nothing is set in concrete. That is the beauty of homeschooling. You can adapt as each learning opportunity presents itself.

I followed this advice as best as the educator in me could. It was difficult for me to ‘let go’ of the structured learning environment (I still struggle with this on occasion). Anyway, as I took my friend’s hand and we traveled down the past year of being a homeschool mom I realized that both Miss Sam and I have accomplished much. How did we turn the initial chaos into a smooth learning routine?

• We worked together to see what worked for us as a ‘team’…not just ‘student’ and ‘teacher’.
• I had to learn to listen to and respect Miss Sam’s input into various methods of teaching and learning.
• When the learning environment began to get ‘tense’ we learned together that it was time for a ‘change’.
• We had to take into consideration not only our ‘biological’ schedules but also our ‘environmental’ schedules when approaching ‘teaching’ and ‘learning’.
• I had to ‘let go’ of constricting notions of ‘teaching’.

Miss Sam recently had her yearly evaluation. She has been given the ‘go-ahead’ to proceed to the ninth grade. Because Florida does adhere to stricter guidelines for high school homeschooling (in order to graduate and go on to college) our present methods of homeschooling are going to make a minor shift. We will continue to navigate these changes by continuing to:

• work as a team
• listen and respect each other’s opinion
• recognize the signposts for change
• keeping circadian rhythms and environmental schedules in the mix
• keep the learning parameters flexible

Today I am grateful: for the opportunity and flexibility to homeschool Miss Sam.