Category: Homeschooling

Homeschooling, Parenting

Mirarme, Look at Me

February 21st, 2021
Mollie T. Cox

I had just boarded a boat to cross the Strait of Gibraltar, when I heard a preschooler holler “Mirarme! Mirarme!”

Although I had taken five years of Spanish classes, these were the first Spanish words I had immediately understood after two weeks in Spain.

I turned and saw two nearby adults whom I assumed were the girl’s parents and the object of her commands, “Look at me. Look at me.”

The young child wasn’t doing anything exceptional, just frolicking on the deck, but she wanted her parents to see and undoubtedly applaud.

When a college friend interviewed me for her sociology essay, I relayed this story.

That is what I needed to know,” she said. “What is universal across cultures? Children wanting their parents’ attention.”

Kay’s observation has stuck with me forty-four years. Children never lose their desire for you to pay attention to them.

What can you do when you don’t know what to do? When parenting or homeschooling seems too hard? Look at them and give attention.

It is the easiest to do and the hardest to remember.

Heading for the airport to fly to Madrid. My high school Spanish Club spent four weeks traveling though Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

Who is calling “Look at me?” Perhaps silently?

Homeschooling

February is Hard

February 14th, 2021
Mollie T. Cox

I love winter—and not just the snow and glowing fireplaces and hibernating inside. The gift-giving holidays occur during winter, and I so love giving presents. I have more opportunities to drink hot chocolate. I can bake muffins and pies and not overheat the house. I can snuggle under blankets piled high and not overheat myself.

However, February was my hardest month to homeschool. When I told traditional teachers how I felt, they agreed. February was hard.

The excitement of new subjects has worn off like the edges of our new books. The end of the school year seems far away.

What did I do? Eventually, I learned to accept it. There was nothing wrong with me or my children or my school choices. It was a hard point in the journey that had to be traveled.

Second, I looked for a break in routine. Once, we spent the entire day reading about animals in winter after I kept yielding to “Another chapter, please.” We built models: castles, Viking towns, a Roman amphitheater and much more. We spent more time drawing. And no regrets.

How do you handle your hardest month?

Homeschooling

Independent Learners

January 24th, 2021
Mollie T. Cox

Multiple speakers and magazine articles had declared children were natural learners. (Natural Learners? Or Not? here.) Even better, teens were independent learners and required little parental input.

Early one morning, I sold a used geometry book online. The buyer asked if I had my lesson plans, and I offered my experience as well.

“My sons could not be given geometry and left alone to master it,” I typed. “They are not always independent learners.”

The admission was important to both me and my buyer. She confessed that her teens were not independent learners for most subjects.

Swapping stories felt like a conspiratorial moment against peers.

I added, “I would be upset if a traditional teacher handed my sons books to master and told them to return when ready to be tested. Why should we be expected to do that?”  

I am grateful to the home-educating pioneers for their courage, legacy, and advice. I am grateful they invested in my generation. However, those with both time and willingness to write articles and speak at conferences were the parents most likely to have strong independent learners. I wish I had realized this sooner.

Which declarations do not match your reality?

Homeschooling, Winter

Hang a Bird Feeder

December 20th, 2020
Mollie T. Cox

My oldest son’s first clear word was dog. A family pet rushed into the living room where we were visiting Christmas Day. “Dog,” he blurted.

Bird followed. My toddler kept vigil over the birds eating the seed outside our kitchen window. “Bir” he said over and over. “Bird” corrected his visiting grandmother.

We moved, and moved, and moved again. Bird feeders were forgotten for twenty-two years.

Twelve inches of snow followed by nineteen inches of snow caused my husband and I to hang bird feeders on our deck.  We watched cardinals, blue jays, doves, woodpeckers, chickadees and more. We photographed them. We researched them. As the snow lingered, and word spread, the quantity and varieties on our deck increased.

This red-bellied woodpecker visits frequently.

My joy was mixed with sadness. My sons were in college. They were missing adventures and learning experiences that could not be regained.  If only I could go back twenty years and re-hang a winter bird feeder.

Does something need to be reinstated in your home?

Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!

Luke 12:24 (ESV)
Christmas, Homeschooling

Christmas Break: Is Yours Long Enough?

November 22nd, 2020
Mollie T. Cox

Until high school requirements and online classes prevented a month of Christmas, we didn’t have formal learning from Thanksgiving to January 2nd.  However, our activities covered language arts, social studies, thinking skills, and art.

We made cookies. We watched and discussed movies. We made presents—decorated t-shirts and calendars and sun catchers and wooden baskets. We sang, sang, sang—Christmas carols from beautifully illustrated books. Our favorite for the early years was Tomie dePaola’s Book of Christmas Carols

We read, read, read.  Holly, Reindeer, and Colored Lights: The Story of the Christmas Symbols by Edna Barth explained cultural customs. The Lion in the Box by Marguerite De Angeli taught city life in the early 1900s.

Between Thanksgiving and Advent, we read classics such as The Night before Christmas and Polar Express. We treated the stories like other fiction. After those few days, we focused on the true meaning of Christmas without leaving the boys culturally illiterate or deprived of fun stories.

A needed break.

How much break time do you need?