Homeschooling~6 Weeks In and Refining Goals

According to my "Tapestry of Grace" teacher's manual, we are on "Week 6" of our Homeschool Year. Surprisingly, I had a rough start to my school year. I say "I" and "my" not "they" and "their" because I really do set the tone in our school. The kids are fine. It's me. I think part of it is just getting used to my oldest son not being here. And the other part is that we needed a shift of focus which brings a shift in goals. I have a bit more perspective after graduating one homeschool student and getting to reflect over the education we gave him.


I like to check the boxes. I like to see the "books read" pile get bigger and the "books that need to be read" pile get smaller. I can assign and assign and assign and get quite giddy over the whole process. They can read and read and read til filled to the brim. Education may or may not happen.


I am speaking to myself, but letting you all listen in... It's more important to know what to DO with the book than to conquer the reading of it. So, this year I am slowing down. We're taking more time to process and talk and do more with the information. 


In some cases I am back peddling. We're analyzing tests and making sure to search out and discover where the questions came from to help them learn to study. In other cases, we're taking time to understand the question before attempting the answer. Hopefully, this year, we'll just take more time. And hopefully, we'll make less check marks and the "books read" pile will be smaller. But we'll discuss, weigh, analyze, and dissect rather than devour. Hopefully we'll process, discover...and...wonder of wonders...learn...