How We Homeschool: A Mission Statement

Let’s begin with Charlotte Mason:

It is much to be wished that thoughtful mothers would more often keep account of the methods they employ with their children, with some definite note of the success of this or of that plan. 

Do you keep account of your methods? Sometimes I do. Sometimes I plan - although not very often. Sometimes I plan from behind (thank you, Julie Bogart). I plan from behind when I get that awful feeling that I’m a terrible homeschooler, and that my children aren’t learning anything, and that I’m ruining their lives. Planning from behind for a couple of days always sets me straight. So then I stop again. I don’t really want or need a record of everything they do every day from the ages of 5 to 18.

But sometimes I hit upon something that works - really works. A game that means my children will practise their multiplication for hours at a time, or a book that introduces us to whole branches of thought we had never before encountered. And sometimes I have no idea what to do today, and I wish that I could tap into other parents’ treasure troves of things they have done that really work.

This Substack is an attempt to collect those discoveries. To be a record as well as a resource, an inspiration for us all.  

I want to know what you have done that really worked. I want to hear from unschoolers, and from families who work together round the kitchen table every day. There is room for everyone. I want to hear about the days in the open air that left you all feeling whole again, and I want to hear about how you finally got your child to understand how to tell the time. Like most homeschoolers I have come to see that education is not something that happens between set hours in a set place, but that it is a never-ending part of the business of life. That life is learning. So let’s hear it all.

I will get the ball rolling with a few of our own experiences. I would love to hear from parents far and wide about their own. E-mail me your stories, with a photo if you like. The only request I have is to indicate the age range of your child(ren) so that I can eventually make it easy to look for, say, maths activities for 5-7 year olds and so on.