Homeschooling Learnings: The Bean learning to read

Homeschooling was not ever something I seriously considered, until it became the only thing I considered. I am thrilled to report that after doing this for two years I finally was able to use my joke I have been sitting on.

“So is your daughter at Chancellor?” We are meeting new neighbors.

“Bean, what do you do for school?” I look down at her and smile.

“We are homeschooling.” She smiles up and runs off with the other children.

The neighbors look at me. Perhaps I am imaging the thoughts that I might have had before being in this boat, so I pull out my joke. “Well, you see, we don’t believe in evolution. So it works well for us.”

Two very polite, blank faces look back at me.

“I’m joking! So sorry, I have been meaning to use that for a long time.” Ah well, guess we won’t be close neighbors.

All joking aside I love this. I love organizing the day around lessons. I love writing up the reports for the district and keeping notes of what we do. I love reinforcing lessons throughout the day. I love what I am learning through this process. I love that I don’t need to pack lunch or schlep to someone else’s schedule. I love that we are free to be together and learn at her pace.

When I taught in a classroom the students were in 5th/6th grade and could read. I didn’t realize until I am watching my daughter learn how both reading and math are seriously a question of just forming the neural pathways by doing it again and again and again and again.

and again.

Different iterations, different colors, different books, different ways to break things down - but it is just a question of exposure and time. Until we reach where I am now and I don’t even think about 8+7 or 3+4 or 8-5. Or the spelling of these words I am writing.

I don’t need to think anymore that 27 is “two tens 7 ones.” Cane is not cain. Ate is not at nor is bite bit. To take a student from her first exposure to the alphabet to the unconscious mastery of words, spelling, and basic math is amazing to watch.

The Bean writes a sentence every day with the word family we are doing. We have a story of a pirate car that stopped because the driver spilled sap on her lap. Every day she adds a sentence and every day she reads what she wrote before. The word “because” for four days was tripped over and now she doesn’t even pause.

I keep telling her the world opens up when one can read easily - the joy of snuggling down with a good book and losing yourself in an adventure where you resent eating and don’t sleep. And meanwhile, we practice.

Again and again.