Fighting mini battles while we homeschool becomes part of our homeschool lifestyle. And it’s true that for many issues involving education, homeschoolers don’t wade in lukewarm waters nor take the middle of the ground approach. Being firmly decisive is key to surviving the harsh amount of negativity that is thrown our way.
Standing Firm on Homeschool Middle Ground
However, many things in homeschooling are more successful when you can step back and straddle the middle road. Sometimes taking an all or nothing approach can be counter productive, even extreme at times.
Look at these 3 reasons to NOT avoid the homeschool middle ground.
ONE/ When you do a unit study with multiple ages of children.
You can set your homeschool day up for failure when you use a learning resource that is too high above your oldest child’s head or one that is too young below it.
It’s a common mistake; choosing a unit study resource that is the grade level of your oldest child.
The secret to individualizing a delightful unit study topic is to choose the middle grade between the ages of your children.
Seasoned homeschool veterans know that it’s easier to scale down activities for younger grades. Use the example of a plant unit study.
Younger students can color, label and dissect a plant. Older students or high school students can use the same unit study, but expand the activities on it to a high school level.
For example, older students can include plant history, learn about the local plants in your area and even spend some time in an apprenticeship learning from local professionals about herbs or plants. Ideas to use for an older student spring from the middle of the grade resource that you are currently using.
Not all ideas are so easy to round up for an older learner, but they are more useful than a resource used for your youngest learner.
TWO/ When you mix and match homeschool curriculum.
It’s easy to use the same curriculum provider with all of your children. Why would you do that though?
Each child is as unique as each homeschool family or should be.
Take the middle ground, avoid the extreme by choosing just one homeschool curriculum and use pieces and parts of a boxed curriculum, unit study and another curriculum to create a study that is unique for each child.
If you’re using just one type of curriculum, then one or more of your children may not be benefiting from it as much as another child. Mixing and matching homeschool curriculum will ensure a better fit for all of your children.
THREE/ When you begin homeschooling high school.
I did it too when I started homeschooling high school and that is to right away in 9th grade take a sock it to him attitude when planning.
High school is not about controlling your teen through his high school years, but it’s about working alongside each other. It is a give and take.
You give because your teen is a different person than you and your husband and he has goals and inspirations now that he too wants to meet. But it’s a take also because you don’t want to give up all your goals or plans for your teen’s future and some things will be must-haves in high school.
What I’m saying is that you choose the middle ground in high school when you help a teen keep balanced in all subjects until he decides his goals.
Some adults don’t even know what they won’t do, so don’t put a lot of pressure on a teen. Take the middle road by keeping subjects balanced until a mommy track, college track or job track is decided.
Also, grab some other tips from my other articles Homeschool Confession – My Homeschool Mistakes, Go Ahead and Make a Mistake: Homeschool Without Fear and Homeschooling – Beginnings are Usually Scary, Endings are Usually Sad, but It’s What’s In the Middle that Counts!.
Don’t give up the fight in touting the decisive ways we need to take a stand when it comes to homeschooling, but just know that the middle ground can not only be productive, but necessary many times in your journey.
What else do you take the middle ground on while homeschooling?
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