A Homeschool Day Doesn't Have to Look Like School
Today was a perfect example, this morning, we rode horses. The kids played outside, we did chores and enjoyed the cooler part of the day before the Texas heat settled in.
And our schoolwork? It waited until the afternoon, because it could. The books weren't going anywhere. There was no bell telling us we had to be sitting at a desk at eight o'clock, no schedule telling us that horses had to wait until after three.
We had the freedom to look at the day in front of us and decide what made the most sense for our family. And that, to me, is one of the most beautiful parts of homeschooling.
We Get to Choose How Our Days Look
Homeschooling doesn't mean that every day is unplanned. We still have things to learn, lessons to complete, skills to practice and responsibilities to take care of. But we have the freedom to decide how those things fit into our lives.
Some mornings, we start school early, get our work finished and enjoy the rest of the day. Other days, we spend the morning outside and open the books after lunch. Some days, we take school with us. And some days, what we had planned changes completely.
That flexibility has become one of the things I value most about homeschooling. Because life doesn't always happen according to a schedule. The weather changes, opportunities come up, a friend needs help, a beautiful day calls us outside, a road trip presents itself or an unexpected question leads us somewhere interesting.
And instead of feeling like life is interrupting school, we have the freedom to recognize that sometimes life is the school.
Learning Doesn't Have to Happen at a Desk
Some of our learning happens around the kitchen table, but plenty of it happens somewhere else. It happens in the truck while we're driving down the road, at the library while we're searching for books about something that sparked our curiosity. It happens at the river while we're exploring, observing, and simply spending time outside. It happens at the park, barn, work, grocery store, on road trips and in the middle of ordinary conversations.
We can read about history in a book and then dream about traveling somewhere to experience it for ourselves. We can learn about nature and then walk outside and find it all around us. We can practice math in a workbook and then use it while shopping, cooking, planning a trip, or running a business. The lessons don't always end when we close the books. In many ways, that's when some of the best learning begins.
We Have the Freedom to Follow the Day
There is something incredibly freeing about being able to look at a beautiful morning and say:Let's go outside, let's ride the horses, let's go to the river, take a walk, visit the park or spend the afternoon at the library.
We don't have to miss an opportunity because it doesn't fit neatly into a predetermined schedule. Of course, there are still responsibilities, we can't simply avoid the things that need to be done. But we can decide when they fit best. Maybe school happens before we go or maybe it happens when we get home and maybe the outing itself becomes part of what we're learning.
Homeschooling has given us the freedom to build our days around our lives instead of constantly trying to make our lives fit around someone else's schedule. And I don't take that freedom for granted.
Freedom to Live While We Learn
I think this may be my favorite part of homeschooling, we don't have to put life on hold for education, we can live while we're learning. My children can come to work with me and see what it takes to run a business. They can spend time caring for animals and learn responsibility, patience, and commitment.
They can ride horses on a beautiful morning, we can take a road trip and learn about the places we visit. We can spend the day at the river and learn simply by observing the world around us, we can go to the grocery store and talk about prices, food, nutrition, and budgeting or we can spend an afternoon at the library following a question that came up over breakfast.
And none of that has to be separate from their education, it is their education. They are learning how to live, how to make decisions and solve problems, how to interact with people and care for animals, how to manage responsibilities, be curious, how to adapt when plans change and how to find information. And mostly how to enjoy the world God created.
Those are lessons I want my children to carry with them long after they have forgotten a particular worksheet.
Our Days Don't Have to Look Like Anyone Else's
One homeschool family may thrive with a carefully planned schedule. Another may prefer to get everything done before lunch. Some families may have a dedicated schoolroom while thers may learn around the kitchen table. Some may follow a curriculum closely and others may leave plenty of room for rabbit trails.
And that's one of the beautiful things about homeschooling, we don't all have to do it the same way. Our family has the freedom to find the rhythm that works for us and even that rhythm can change. What works this year may look completely different next year and what works for one child may not work for another and we're allowed to adjust. We're allowed to pay attention and certainly allowed to say, This isn't working anymore. Let's try something different. There is freedom in that.
Today Was a Perfect Homeschool Day
If someone had looked at our day from the outside, they might not have immediately called it school. We rode horses, played outside, did chores, lived our life and later, when the afternoon heat sent us indoors, we opened our books and did some schoolwork.
But to me, all of it was part of the day. The riding, responsibilities, time outside, conversations, lessons, books and the life we lived together. Because homeschooling has given us something I never want to lose: The freedom to choose our days.
Not every moment has to be scheduled, not every lesson has to happen at a desk and not every learning experience has to look like school. We can take advantage of a beautiful morning, we can change our plans, we can take learning on the road and we can spend a day at the library, the river, or the park.
We can live our lives...and learn while we're doing it.
A Little Reminder for the Homeschool Mama
You don't have to recreate traditional school in your home, you don't have to follow the same schedule every day. You don't have to feel guilty for closing the books early to enjoy a beautiful afternoon and you don't have to say no to every opportunity because it wasn't written into the lesson plan.
One of the greatest gifts of homeschooling is the freedom to create a life that works for your family. So take the trip, go to the library, spend the morning outside, ride the horses, follow the rabbit trail, move school to the afternoon. Change the plan when you need to, learn in the truck, at the river, at the park or while you're living.
Because homeschooling isn't about keeping our children at a desk all day. For us, it's about giving them an education while we live a full life together and a lot of days, the greatest lesson isn't found in the book we planned to open that morning.
Most times...it's found in the life we were free to live instead.
Until next time, may your coffee stay warm and your children stay little just a little longer.
-Maggie
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