[Tea] Common Mistake: Trying to Keep Pace with Traditional School

Welcome to "Tea with Julie," a weekly missive by me, Julie Bogart. My wish is to give you food for thought over a cup of tea to enhance your life as an educator, parent, and awesome adult. Glad you're here. Pinkies up!
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Cincinnati, August 17, 2024

Hi Friend,

Don't make the common homeschool mistake of pushing too hard too soon because you're trying to keep pace with traditional school.

Homeschooling is a way of life.

We don’t master a way of life, we practice it. There are good days and hard days and pleasant days and sad days.

Each day has a lesson—whether fractions or how to play nicely with a terrorizing toddler.

Each day offers a chance to grow—whether a garden of vegetables or patience.

We learn and live, as a family. We don’t master parenting or marriage either. We can, however, become more skillful, more in tune, more aware of how to create a beautiful life together. That’s what a way of life offers—a context for becoming.

We discover more about the homeschool way of life day by day. The finish line may appear to be the end of high school, but even that marker is artificial in home education. Not all kids choose a traditional high school path. And for children who leave home at 18 for college, you’ll notice that your homeschool way of life continues

in conversations,
on holiday breaks,
and well into adulthood.

Trust me on this. It’s gorgeous.

Education becomes embedded in the details of your relationships—the currency of family intimacy and love.

Rest easier. Be more curious about how you learn and grow together, and less concerned with getting enough done or mastering a method.

Welcome to the homeschool way of life.

For more support, listen to the Brave Writer podcast: When You Worry About Public School Standards. Also, here are some tips if your home educated child does transition to traditional schooling.

Warmly,

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