Top 5 Homeschool Lessons My Children Taught Me

Even though I was my children’s homeschool teacher through high school, my children taught me some very important lessons as well. Here are my top 5 homeschool lessons my children taught me:

1. Maria Montessori was right. You really can follow the child.

Throughout my children’s childhoods, my husband and I used Maria Montessori’s philosophy of child-led learning. One of my favorite quotes is

“Let us leave the life free to develop within the limits of the good, and let us observe this inner life developing. This is the whole of our mission.” – Maria Montessori

Will, 20, Deb, and Christina, 15, in Prague during one of our unforgettable experiences from figure skating while in the Czech Republic for Will’s Junior Grand Prix Final, November 2005.

By observing my children over the years, I learned that it was safe to just let my children show me what was right for them. Often, my husband and I gave Will and Christina opportunities to experience different activities.

Then we let their natural tendencies and interests choose which to stay with. We gave Will and Christina experience with a number of sports, especially skiing, roller skating, ice skating, karate, and tennis. They also experienced piano lessons, drum lessons (Will) voice lessons, and dance.

Both Will and Christina chose ice skating as their favorite sport. Our whole family had amazing, life-changing experiences through figure skating, and Will and Christina both found careers in figure skating. Will had an interest in music and DJing, so he became a DJ at age 15. Will is still a DJ, too, with his own business, Dancing DJ Productions.  Christina was always a dancer – and still is as a professional ice dancer and Zumba instructor.

2. If I have questions, I just need to ask.

In the same way that I learned from homeschoolers that I just needed to ask questions at homeschool conferences, seminars, and groups (now there are lots of online places to ask questions as well!), I just needed to ask my children if I was wondering about something. Was it time to try a new curriculum, or did they like the one we were using? What did they want to study this year? What did they plan to study in college? Should we drop an old tradition and try a new one?

3. Homeschooling truly is about family.

Will, 20, and Christina, 15, with a skating tour group hearing about the infamous sign over the gate at Auschwitz that reads “work sets you free,” November 2005.

My children didn’t want or need school at home. They needed homeschool. The more I could merge our schooling and family, the happier we all were.

As we went through the years of homeschooling, our homeschool looked less and less like school at home and more like our family doing schoolwork as part of our normal day and family activities. We learned to embrace the freedom homeschooling gave us to go out and do fun, educational activities during the school day and take family trips when others were in school. We loved being able to say: “This is our school day. Is this cool – or what?!”

4. I don’t have to be perfect.

I was notorious for not planning or recording our homeschool activities as well as I should have. And sometimes we just got totally off schedule.  But what was great was that Will and Christina didn’t worry about that. So I really didn’t spend a lot of time worrying about it, either. And guess what … it didn’t matter to anyone in the end. What Will and Christina missed in direction from me they got from themselves. And that self-direction helped them both earn straight A’s throughout their bachelor’s degrees (and helped them love their college experiences)!

5. All you need is love. (via my children and the Beatles).

Will, B.A. in Communications from Prescott College, Prescott, Arizona, 4.0 GPA, and Christina, B.A. in Performance and Professional Practice with First Class Honours from Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, England.

Many wonder how much education and training is needed for parents to homeschool their children. Yes, I had a bachelor’s degree. And that helped us homeschool without hassles from anyone (since people assumed I knew what I was doing as a teacher).

But I wasn’t certified to teach in a public school. My bachelor’s degree was in liberal studies with a concentration in Montessori elementary and early childhood education.

Having a bachelor’s degree (of any type) enabled me to administer the required biennial standardized testing in Colorado (which allowed us to test at times throughout the day that worked with OUR schedule during OUR set testing week). And my Montessori certification definitely helped me confidently use the Montessori principles I love with my children.

But a degree or teacher certification certainly wouldn’t have been necessary. I truly believe that parents without any formal teacher training can be wonderful homeschool teachers. With homeschool conferences, seminars, online support, local homeschool groups and tutors, teachers’ manuals and educational supplies, anyone who is committed to homeschooling can find a way to teach the ones they love.

Of course, not everyone is meant to homeschool, and that’s fine, too. But if you do want to go the homeschooling route, my children showed me that it’s easier than I would have thought. All we really needed was the love for each other that led us to find a way to do what was best.

Note: This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared the many lessons their children have taught them.

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Visit Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

• Affection — Alicia at I Found My
  Feet has finally become a hugger and kisser, now she has
  someone sweet and small to snuggle with. (@aliciafagan)
• Learning from Daniel — Amy at
  Anktangle hopes that she and her husband will always be open
  to learning from their son. (@anktangle)
• Kids Cultivate Awareness of Universal
  Truths — From forgiveness to joy, Amy Phoenix at
  Innate Wholeness has become aware of deep truths that come
  naturally to children. (@InnateWholeness)
• What the
  Apple Teaches the Tree — Becky at Future
  Legacy has learned about imagination, forgiveness, and
  strength.
• A Lesson in Slowing Time —
  Bethy at Bounce Me To the Moon revels in the chance
  to just be with her baby.
• Learning From My Children: I Am So
  Honored — WAHM Chante at My Natural Motherhood
  Journey is learning to choose tea parties over work. (@MyMotheringPath)
• P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E — Now that she’s a
  mother, Danielle at born.in.japan is finally
  learning about a personality trait she lacked. (@borninjp)
• Top 5 Homeschool Lessons
  My Children Taught Me — Deb Chitwood at Living
  Montessori Now shares what she learned from homeschooling
  her (now grown) children. (@DebChitwood)
• Learning to Live in the Present By Looking to the
  Future — Dionna at Code Name: Mama
  finds the patience to be a gentle parent, because she knows how
  fleeting childhood really is. (@CodeNameMama)
• The watchful Buddha boy — At
  Dreaming Aloud, they are learning to cherish their
  thoughtful, sensitive child in a action-driven, noisy world. (@DreamingAloudNt)
• What My Children Taught Me —
  Dulce de Leche‘s children have taught her to value
  herself for the wonderful person and mother she is.
• Lessons from the First Year —
  Having a child made Emily at Crunchy(ish) Mama
  realize that her decisions affect more than just herself. (@CrunchyishMama)
• Lessons from Loss —
  Erica at ChildOrganics learned so much from the love
  — and loss — of her sweet Bella, five years ago. (@ChildOrganics)
• The Socratic
  Baby — Erin at Multiple Musings has
  so-called “identical” twins to serve as a daily lesson in nature vs.
  nurture. (@ErinLittle)
• Learning to be a Mother —
  Farmer’s Daughter learned the type of patience that
  enabled her to calmly eat one-handed for months and change clothes
  seven times a day, before noon. (@FarmDaughter)
• A Few Things Being a Mom Has
  Taught Me — Heather at Musing Mommy
  shares the curious, hilarious, and sometimes Murphy’s Law-like
  tidbits we learn from our children. (@xakana)
• I Feel You — Motherhood has taught
  Jamey from At the Bee Hive empathy, and it extends
  beyond just her child. (@JameyBly)
• Lessons From My Child… —
  Jenny at I’m a full-time mummy shares the inspiring
  ways she’s learned to expect the unexpected — and have a camera
  ready! (@imaftmummy)
• My child is my mirror — Jessica
  Claire at Crunchy-Chewy Mama has seen herself in her
  children – and it’s not bad. (@crunchychewy)
• There is enough to go
  around… — Kellie at Our Mindful Life
  learned that love doesn’t diminish when it’s shared.
• Learning From Our Children, Every Day —
  Kimberly at Homeschooling in Nova Scotia, Canada is
  continually inspired by her children. (@UsborneBooksCB)
• Life Lessons From My
  Children — Kristen at Adventures in
  Mommyhood has learned that every slug is fascinating, doing
  the dishes is fun, and sharing a banana is a delight. (@crunchymamato2)
• Things I’ve Learned From My
  Children — Kristin at Intrepid
  Murmurings uses pictures to share what she has learned from
  her children. (@sunfrog)

• Beyond the questions lies the
  answer — Lauren at Hobo Mama stopped
  wondering and started knowing — loving and liking our children comes
  naturally. (@Hobo_Mama)
• Learning from
  Children — Lily, aka Witch Mom, finds
  out just how enchanting balloons can be. (@LilyShahar)
• Lifelong Learning — Lindsay at
  Living in Harmony has learned that what works for one kid
  might not work for another. (@AttachedMama)
• Walking alongside my
  daughter — Lindsey at Mama Cum Laude is
  learning to give the clock less power over her family’s life.
• Things my baby taught me about
  me — Luschka at Diary of a First Child
  is proud of how she has grown as a mother. (@lvano)
• From my children, I have
  learned — Mama Mo at Attached at the
  Nip has a litany of beautiful lessons, from selflessness to
  sleeplessness.
• The Little Things in
  Life — In a simple and lovely prose poem, Mandy
  at Living Peacefully with Children shows how adults worry
  about the wrong things and forget the little, important ones:
  watching ladybugs, jumping in leaves, cherishing each moment as it
  comes.
• The Virtues of Motherhood —
  Melissa at The New Mommy Files has had opportunities
  to learn from children as both a teacher and a mother. (@NewMommyFiles)
• My Kids Have
  Taught Me That It’s Time To Stop Blogging —
  Melodie at Breastfeeding Moms Unite! has learned
  that childhoods fly by too fast to blog. We’ll miss your wonderful
  online presence, Melodie, and we wish you much peace and happiness.
  (@bfmom)
• Having Kids Has Taught me a
  Thing or Two — Michelle at The Parent
  Vortex learns all day long — from fun facts about hedgehogs
  to tying a complicated wrap with a screaming child and an audience.
  (@TheParentVortex)
• We Could All Learn from the
  Children — Momma Jorje takes time to
  get on the floor and play so that she can see the world through her
  child’s eyes.
• Teaching Forgiveness —
  Mrs Green at Little Green Blog has a daughter who’s
  taught her unconditional love — even when she feels like she does’t
  deserve it. (@littlegreenblog)
• Parenting as a joint
  venture — Olivia at Write About Birth
  appreciates watching the astonishing way her children learn. (@writeaboutbirth)
• Beginner’s Mind — Rachael at The
  Variegated Life learns from a child who builds bridges to
  nowhere, calls letter magnets his numbers, and insists dinnertime is
  truck time. (@RachaelNevins)
• A baby’s present — RS at A
  Haircut and a Shave presents a short poem on the differences
  between a baby’s mindfulness and ours.
• Self-Confidence Was Born With My
  Daughter — Sara at Halfway Crunchy
  learned to trust her instincts by responding to her child’s needs —
  and saw her self-confidence bloom.
• The Importance of Being Less Earnest —
  Seonaid at The Practical Dilettante has one list of
  earnest and one list of silly things she has learned as a parent. (@seonaid_lee)
• Lessons my children have taught me —
  Sheryl at Little Snowflakes learned that attachment
  parenting was the best way to meet the needs of her child and
  herself. (@Sheryljesin)
• Till the water is clear — Stacy
  at Mama-Om learns that being present is the best present. (@mama_om)
• I Hold It —
  Stefanie at Very, Very Fine has learned that the
  ability to communicate is much more important than the number of
  words a child knows.
• What My Children Taught Me About Letting
  Go — Summer at Finding Summer is
  learning from her kids to laugh in the face of heartache. (@summerminor)
• Finding My Tools — The
  Artsymama has applied some of what she’s learned as a mama
  in the classroom, with great results!