My Adult Children are Homeschooling My Grandchildren – Now What?
Welcome and Happy Grandparents Day (September 12th) to all the grandparents of homeschoolers. You have an opportunity to be a treasured resource to your adult children and their children. Keep reading to find out how. Almost 20 years ago, I was listening to a radio broadcast on Christian radio and heard the host describe a list of things that were statistically known to help children walk well along their Christian journey. One of the items on that list was “having an adult, other than parents, who spurred them on in the faith”. I encourage you to be that person. And if you are the grandparent of a homeschooler, you have an extra special opportunity. Understand the Benefits The homeschool community is growing but still contains only a fraction of school-aged children in Canada. Many parents waffle a bit as they entertain the idea of homeschooling, and it can be a challenge for grandparents too; I encourage you to get on board early. Here is a list of benefits that might help you understand why your children have decided to take this on. There is more time to bond as a family Children are not immersed in competing worldviews day in and day out Families are less reliant on the government There is more time available to spend with grandparents Increased opportunity for one-on-one instruction More time to pursue interests Freedom to avoid the hurried pace of the typical school experience Children can more easily work at their own pace If you are still struggling with the idea of your children homeschooling your grandchildren, consider being supportive despite your reservations. Over time you will witness the benefits and may even become an advocate. The Nuts and Bolts If you’ve decided to jump in and support your children and grandchildren there are a few key things that would be helpful for you to know. Each province and territory in Canada has a different set of homeschooling regulations. Find out what they are in your area. Some homeschool families remain connected to the public school system while others are able or choose to be independent. For families connected to the public system, there are often checklists to complete throughout the school year; maybe there is something that you can take on. Here is a starter list of common homeschool terms for you to research classical education charlotte mason education unschooling and deschooling traditional homeschooling eclectic homeschooling outdoor/forest/wild schooling read-alouds copywork, dictation and narration living books and twaddle unit studies Support Once you are armed with basic information, you are ready to find out where you can fit in. You have talents, passions, interests, and wisdom to pass on to your grandchildren. Talk about it with the parents to see how you might be able to serve, but be sure to figure out what will work for them; maybe it will be once a week, maybe it will be once a month. I know an involved homeschooling grandma who is planning to teach German to her grands, but the subject matter does not have to be academic in nature. You can pass on your gardening skills, mechanical giftedness, start a book club or a weekly bible study. There is no shortage of ways to serve a busy family even if you are not interested in teaching. Take the time to figure out what might be a good fit for you. My Mum has been a huge blessing to us over the years. Once a week she came to help with laundry, make dinner, play games, and visit with the children. Those days often became my appointment and errand days, and I was regularly able to take time for phone calls and visits with friends. What I’ve described so far might seem like too big of a commitment for you or maybe your family is just too overwhelmed, at the moment, to figure out how to include you. Honestly, the smallest gesture can be so helpful. In an attempt to feed my family healthy food, I often found snack time challenging. Making homemade muffins, or dropping off a fruit or veggie plate might be just the thing to help your family. If you have the means, consider helping financially. When a family decides to homeschool, they take on a significant financial commitment, often living on one income and having to purchase all the needed curriculum, lessons, books, and supplies. Offer to pay for a set of swimming lessons, buy the art supplies, or fund a book-a-month club. Try to Avoid A key benefit to homeschooling is the opportunity to develop an individualized education that is tailor-made for each student. Therefore, it is counterproductive to compare one grandchild to another, either within a family or between families. It is completely acceptable to have students who start reading at age 4 and in grade 4. Avoid using spot quizzes to gauge how well this homeschool thing is working out. Instead, look at the relationships, and the developing character, faith, and love. Socialization is not something you need to worry about unless your grandchildren never leave the house. If they are going to the grocery store, getting together with other families for walks, hosting visitors in their home, and visiting you, they are learning how to socialize. Instead of being offended by your adult child’s decision to do something differently from you, take it as a compliment; you have raised a brave, courageous, independent, and responsible adult. Final Thoughts Your adult children are pulling a wagon and it contains the vision they have for their family and it’s a heavy load because they have a host of forces that are trying to pull that wagon in other directions. They need you to come alongside and help pull that wagon. Take the time to discover what their vision is and then, even despite not understanding all the parts of the vision, pitch in. Note to Parents If your children have a grandparent that helps pull your family wagon
Beautiful Feet Books Intermediate Ancient History
I’m just going to get this out of the way first thing: I loved using this curriculum! It made it easy to have a deep and rich history experience with my kids using literature – my preferred method of teaching. Teach without a Textbook I had never heard of Beautiful Feet Books curriculum or their literature packages, but as I was perusing the CEB website to try to combine my grade 6 and grade 8 students, for socials last year, I came across a few options, and the Ancient History Intermediate Package was one of them. I liked that the Beautiful Feet Books curriculum focuses on history (or science, geography….) using a literature spine instead of a textbook, and doesn’t require much prep-work. This ticked every box for me. I could easily work in a science text of my choosing, Aristotle Leads the Way, that integrated really well for my students’ ages and time-period studied. Flexible History Curriculum The packages can be added to or subtracted from if you have one or two of the books on your shelves already. We added Pyramid, by David Macaulay, and also used some of the supplemental books suggested like Pharaoh’s Boat, Black Ships Before Troy, Lysis Goes to the Play*, and refreshed from a previous year’s read-aloud of Archimedes and the Door of Science. We also added in Galen and the Gateway to Medicine, and slipped it right in between our socials and science textbook, for a really fascinating look at the history of medicine in the ancient world. Some of these books we read-aloud together, some they read independently, and some we read “side by side”. This means I read it ahead of time, and they read it during their school time as an assignment, followed by talking about it together–like a mini book club. Optional History Activities Our family included many of the hands-on art projects suggested like the following: making a Roman mosaic (you can get tile pieces and specific tile glue at craft stores), sculpting clay busts, planning a Roman city (using graph paper and then leveling up using a free 3-D design app!), and writing out phrases using the Greek alphabet. I made up one art/design project and that was to create an Egyptian pyramid complete with hidden chambers full of treasures, using Minecraft. My kids enjoyed all of these and really did some unique and creative work they were proud of. The curriculum comes with comprehension questions for every chapter of the books that go with the curriculum and adds in a few interesting links or other historical data/reading to go along if you want to deep dive. There are answers to these questions in the back of the teacher guide, as well. There are maps in every section to label and refer back to, and plenty of vocabulary words from the various time periods and cultures for students to define. I appreciated this bit of extra learning because if it hadn’t been included, I likely wouldn’t have had the time or energy to come up with maps, places, vocabulary words, and art projects on my own. History Curriculum for Multiple Ages Beautiful Feet Books history/literature packages have multiple options for junior high and high school levels. If you’re schooling multiple grades, you could even mix and match, and share some of the same books for both levels. This is what I’m planning on doing this upcoming year with both Medieval History Intermediate and Medieval History Senior High, and pairing with the next level in Joy Hakim’s science texts, Newton at the Center. I’ve gone through the guides and am already excited at the literature we’ll be reading together, the unique artwork they’ll create, and the depth of knowledge they’ll be diving into! *Out of any of the extras, I would just skip Lysis at the Play; it’s just a bit too young for middle schoolers, though it does give a good reference for daily life between boys and girls, and what a real Greek theater experience may have been like. My name is Sarah Mast and I homeschool my two kids in Ft. Langley, BC. One of my favorite aspects of homeschooling is the community gained, and I volunteer with a local support group to help foster that and connect others. My family loves the outdoors and traveling, and our weekends include skiing, swimming, hiking, or biking depending on the season. I found Classical Education Books at a conference and noticed their well-curated selection of children’s books. I kept tabs on their collection of the classics and hard-to-find books and reached out. Now I get to help customers hone their collections, and work on the ever-growing inventory here at CEB!
