Like Kandace Springs, Alma Deutscher is homeschooled and musically gifted. But Alma is much younger than Kandace, and has already premiered her first opera. The BBC created this documentary about Alma, a must-watch for parents and classical music fans alike:
I’ve always believed that it’s up to parents to decide how to raise their kids. But I’ve got to admit that stories like this are certainly not good for the homeschooling movement. Kids need boundaries for their own security, not to mention learning how to live in society. Wow. I guarantee this is not what our homeschooling household looked like.
T is for time. Homeschooling gives you time with your kids: time you wouldn’t have if they went to school, and time you’ll never get back.
I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but I can verify that children are only young for a very short time. Now that my four are adults, I cherish the memories we made over our years of homeschooling.
No, it wasn’t all easy, and there were days when I never would have believed that we’d make it all the way through high school. But looking back, I’m so glad our family was a homeschooling family, because it gave us time to enjoy being together before everyone grew up and went off on their own paths as adults.
Try a free lesson from my Bible study written for mothers and daughters: Women of the Old Testament: 14 In-Depth Bible Studies for Teens.
Q is for quiet. When you’re with your kids all the time, the need for quiet slowly builds up in your system until one day it overwhelms you.
Instead of losing it with your kids because you’ve reached your noise and interruption limit, why not plan for specific times of quiet that will allow you to recharge? Make appointments on your calendar for regular walks by yourself, solo visits to the public library, dates with your laptop at the local coffee shop, or alone time spent on your favorite pastime (mine’s quilting).
To truly enjoy these noisy years of learning with your children, you need the balance of quiet times on your own.
The teen years can be great ones if you go in with your eyes open. Check out “Ten Tips for Coping with Temperamental Teens.” (PDF)
N is for nuisances. When you homeschool, the nuisances of daily life become magnified, because instead of taking time away from housework or other household activities, they interrupt your work with your children. All it takes is a badly timed phone call from a long-winded friend to completely throw off your careful explanation of fractions that your child was just beginning to understand.
Try to control nuisances ahead of time by screening your calls, or by asking family and friends not to call just to chit-chat in the mornings, or the afternoons, or whenever you tend to work with your children on their studies. Hang a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your front door if you have to. Nuisances eat up valuable time; don’t let them!
Why should you teach your child to be frugal? Because it’s great preparation for the future: learn more in “Teaching Children to Be Frugal.”