This is a concern that parents, going into homeschool, have. It is also a question that I have been asked many times - "Are you qualified to teach?"As parents, I believe, we are naturally born teachers. We teach our children how to eat, talk, walk and how to be pleasant, disciplined little people (or we should be anyhow).
The author of our curriculum, Ivana Ries, has said that it is much better if you do not have the strict routine that a teacher has become accustomed to. This is the beauty of homeschool, no one knows your children like you do and the way they learn best. Learning is not about getting an "A" or "B" on a report card, due to work crammed in the night before, never to be recalled again (sound familiar?) but rather an enrichment of our children's minds and in finding their natural interests and talents, furthering their knowledge for their futures.
We do not have a school bell that goes off at 07h45, line up at the door after a mad rush to get ready. Instead, we eat breakfast together as a family, do our morning hygiene routine, take our books outside and read under the trees, now that it is warmer of course. The other day we were reading in our bird watching book, part of our Zoology course and the Weaver birds were at work building their nest just above us - this is something my children will never forget, learning is alive and real for them. On fact, I often find them outside with the binoculars, watching the birds. I know when they write their assessment next week, without "learning" for it, there will be no problem recalling information.
When it gets a little warmer, we go inside for our disciplined subjects, English, Afrikaans and Mathematics. This is a quieter time, my oldest daughter does more self study and gets on with her work, while my time is spent with my youngest, teaching her the basics and giving a helping hand while she is still learning to read. So, learning happens naturally, you do not have to be qualified to teach enquiring minds that are curious about the world around them.
Our days are more peaceful now and best of all -
NO HOMEWORK IN THE AFTERNOON!!
We do not have a school bell that goes off at 07h45, line up at the door after a mad rush to get ready. Instead, we eat breakfast together as a family, do our morning hygiene routine, take our books outside and read under the trees, now that it is warmer of course. The other day we were reading in our bird watching book, part of our Zoology course and the Weaver birds were at work building their nest just above us - this is something my children will never forget, learning is alive and real for them. On fact, I often find them outside with the binoculars, watching the birds. I know when they write their assessment next week, without "learning" for it, there will be no problem recalling information.
When it gets a little warmer, we go inside for our disciplined subjects, English, Afrikaans and Mathematics. This is a quieter time, my oldest daughter does more self study and gets on with her work, while my time is spent with my youngest, teaching her the basics and giving a helping hand while she is still learning to read. So, learning happens naturally, you do not have to be qualified to teach enquiring minds that are curious about the world around them.
Our days are more peaceful now and best of all -
NO HOMEWORK IN THE AFTERNOON!!
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