The Foundations We Build With Our Children Last a Lifetime

Disclaimer: This is not to say any one method of homeschooling is right or wrong. We all teach or un-school in a way that works for our family. This is what has worked for us!

Did I like learning the violin at age 6? Age 10? Nope. I was not too fond of it sometimes. But, I was a strong-willed child. If I had followed my interests all the time, I would have read the babysitters club books exclusively and sat around eating bonbons all day. A good bonbon is hard to pass. 

But guess what? My Mom knew that if she put the good and beautiful things in front of me and taught me, I would come to love and appreciate them. So I now have a musical foundation that I use daily and love. 

So what's the point? As homeschool moms, we all need more confidence in our teaching methods. Are we using the right curriculum? Are we firm enough when asking for things to be completed? 

Did my kids really care about British history at age 6? No, of course not. However, after reading excellent living books together and having them narrate, they love it. 

Does this mean we should all become Tiger moms? Of course not, but we can take heart knowing that our children will need and use the foundation of knowledge we give them now. They will learn to love learning over time and take it into adulthood.

My daughter thought she didn't like to write. But, really, she was struggling because she still needed to be given explicit spelling instructions. Once she had that, she was off to the races and now has filled pages with her writing. In fact, she has notebooks full of her writing. 

These foundations are so vital to keep children engaged and loving learning. Making more challenging skills fun and exciting is essential to achieving that. Our phonics program is designed to teach decoding words-which is hard- with fun and compelling stories that encourage hands-on learning as well. Without adding an element of fun into the learning journey makes for dull instruction, which won't keep a child's interest for long. 

When you give that foundation, laying the feast of great books, art, and music, teaching the habits, and having expectations, it allows them to jump off and dive into their own interests with more skills and confidence when they are ready.

We get to decide what those expectations are and which practices will be the most worthwhile in our own family as homeschool parents, which is such a blessing. 

These foundations are so important for your child to succeed, and that means sticking to them. Even when they want to give up. Even if you only put in a few minutes each day to each subject or skill area, that will add up over time. 

I think it's really important to balance the structured time with subjects and skills I choose with free time when they can explore what they choose. I encourage them to have a lot of free time in their afternoons while they are small (and when they are older) to do as they please and dive into their own joys! 

Which subject did your kids resist at first but discovered they loved over time? I want to hear all about it.