Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Homeschooling Reevaluation


If there's one thing I've learned over our past 5 years of homeschooling, it's that near-constant reevaluation is necessary. That is both the beauty and the bane of homeschooling.

As homeschoolers, we're constantly reevaluating our schedules, our curriculum, our goals and our methods. Chances are good that what works one year or for one child may not work for the next. For that matter, what works today may not work tomorrow. So we are always paying attention to all those little nuances throughout our days.

So here at our house, this summer is a time of reevaluation. Eric and I have noticed some areas where our homeschooling is thriving beyond our wildest expectations and other areas where it's not doing so well.

This reevaluation is a little different and more difficult than those in the past. Our discussions are delving deeper than curriculum. And to be honest, it's been a somewhat painful experience for me. But I've seen a renewal of the partnership between Eric and I and that has been a wonderful side affect.

Discussions...thinking...watching...listening...reevaluating. That's what we're doing this summer. I'll let you know our conclusions when we reach them.

This makes wonder though...what does a reevaluation process look like for you? If you are a homeschooler, how do you deal with the deeper discussions on the overall success of homeschooling for your family?

Don't forget to stop by FiveJs to join Thirsty Thursday.

3 comments:

Amy Lynne 8:58 PM  

I am not a homeschooler, but I am a classroom teacher, so I reevaluate how I teach what and to who all the time. I am suppose to turn it off during the summer, but I am always looking for ways to become a better teacher. Sometimes it is hard to look at myself and evaluate my effectiveness, nevertheless, if I want my kids at home and in the classroom to succeed it must be done. Good luck in the process!

Jen - Balancing Beauty and Bedlam 12:08 AM  

oh yes - some heavy re-evaluation going on here as well. It's getting harder and harder as we span K- high school.

Joy @ Five J's 1:07 PM  

The biggest thing I do is to reevaluate WHY I'm using the curriculum I am. I make everything disposable and only continue with it if there's a good reason to. I don't want to do the same thing just because we've always done it that way.

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