A slow homeschooling approach

I've read that homeschoolers generally begin each academic year with tremendous momentum, planners and detailed lists in hand (as someone who was homeschooled until seventh grade, I can personally attest to this). With gusto, they jump into concentrated study, co-ops, and organized activities. By the end of winter, their energy may slow as they push through core subjects. The knowledge they started the year out strong gives them hope; the recognition that at least we got a lot done in the beginning. 

And then there's me. 

I arrived at the year's beginning with fairly relaxed homeschooling plans, and even those have slowed dramatically. We don't have the excuse of a pregnancy, new baby, or  major move, either. We have absolutely no excuse for moving at a snail's pace, aside from one: we're really enjoying a slow education. 

My three-year-old was a little unnerved by the huge tortoise
that kept trying to climb out of its enclosure, but it was pretty cool to see. 

The term "slowschooling" popped in my head as I began this post, and lo and behold, plenty of other people have already created hashtags and articles about this topic. There's comfort here, in knowing that I'm not the only insane homeschooler who is trying to step away from the rat race of education that sweeps through countless communities. As my husband and I tell our sons all the time, whether they're running down the hall to the bathroom or sitting down to eat dinner, "it's not a race." 

I've been trying to ensure a quiet growing time for myself and my kids, and it's honestly incredibly refreshing and liberating. We are learning, pursuing virtue, having a ton of fun, and simply enjoying the gift of life together. 

Over the summer, I had the idea to do unit studies on countries this year (I'm very thankful that Jenny has so many great resources and ideas!). I think learning about other cultures is incredibly important, and I really just wanted an excuse to go to ethnic restaurants or make fun foods. So, I asked my oldest son to look through our atlas and pick a handful of countries to study, and then I paired each with a month that I thought would work well. I decided we would study Ireland in August, and after nearly two months, we're still focused on Ireland (though I did just get around to requesting our library books for our next country, so we should start England in the next couple weeks). 

We've been, reading book after book about Ireland and Irish culture (tip: it's AWESOME to study Ireland when it's not anywhere near St. Patrick's Day, because it is so much easier to get library books about Ireland!). We've frolicked through a local park to find fairy houses and play in what my three-year-old calls the "steep ruins." We've visited a local snake museum, which seems appropriate due to the legend of St. Patrick banishing snakes from Ireland. We've blasted Irish music and done a little bit of ceili dancing (until it turned into a dance party to Pokémon music). Covid-restrictions permitting, we hope to visit a local pub in the near future, too. 

I've realized that the "typical routine" of doing schoolwork in the morning does not make any sense for us right now, so we devote our mornings to exploration, stories, and outings. When the younger children are still napping (after I get my solitary "rest time"), I'll sit with the kindergartener for a few minutes of reading practice. I think there's a lot of wisdom to the time-honored focus on "reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic," so those are our main academic focuses. Months ago, of his own initiative, now-kindergartener started teaching himself math. It's been fascinating to watch the lightbulbs go off in his brain as he excitedly runs to me with his most recent mathematical discovery (a recent example: "Mom! Ten sets of ten is one hundred!"). 

Baby Girl absolutely loved getting up close to the snakes.
As much as she loved crawling up to them, though, I couldn't let her do that too
much since both the resident iguana and a small tortoise
were wandering around in the rooms.  

We may not have piles of textbooks or workbooks that I can hold up as tangible proof of my children's education, but we have their rich lives as a witness. The day will come when their educational needs will require more books, more structure, more benchmarks. The day will come when we ferry them across town nonstop as we attend different activities and commitments. For today, though, we're simply enjoying the chance to slow down and live.

We do have piles of papers, however. My boys love sitting around playing "paper games,"
which involve them drawing maps, video game characters, and/or monsters that you battle with stick figures.
They created this activity themselves and spend hours doing this work each week, it's pretty great. 

I've noticed in some homeschooling communities now, with all of the resources and curricula options, there also is often a pressure to thrust our young children headlong into intense academics and commitments. However, while this approach works well for some families, I'm finding that it's not our path at this time. Right now, our life is a peaceful rhythm of Mass, picture books, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, loads of playtime, and outdoor discovery. It's been a wonderful journey so far, and I am excited to see where our educational adventures lead!