I finally found you! I used a very eclectic style of learning that was different for each of my homeschooled daughters! Now they are well balanced successful young adults. My daughter who decided to go to college graduated suma cum laude on a full scholarship. My other daughter has enjoyed several promotions at her full-time job. 8:15 "If you focus on instilling a love and a joy for learning and exploration and wonder then that's going to make the process a lot easier and faster in the long run". I agree 100%
That's amazing to hear, Tanya! Thank you for sharing this picture of success with your daughters. You must feel so proud to see all of your time and energy showing such abundant fruit! ❤
I have a 9 year old going into “4th grade” that’s still on level 2 language arts and math curriculum. So thank you for this ❤ Also, I have guilt over doing a year of basically unschooling because I was dealing with chronic post covid with chronic fatigue and the onset of my POTS and MCAS. I was so sick and literally couldn’t do anything. Now my energy is back and I’m managing my symptoms and I’m excited to get back to more structured learning. But like I said, we are on level 2 work instead of 4. But whatever. I don’t want to skip over anything because then he would have REAL learning gaps.
I think we are “behind” in some areas because of a lot of traumatic events. My dad was killed in a wreck in May of 2018. So then I had to take care of my mom, and all that had to do with his death. Plus she was getting feeble (I’m an older mom with two adopted grandkids) and I needed to run her to Dr appts all the time or she was getting put in the hospital. So we began trying to find a house nearby so I could hav where closer to me or to find somewhere she could live with us. (Think mother-in-law quarters). So we were out running around all the time. Then Mama passed away November 2020 after having some surgery and losing her ability to walk. Of course, then I had to deal with my wicked step sister and all the stress she caused me and trying to grieve at the same time. I lost a lot of my focus that should have been on my kids. I’ve just now begun to feel like “me” again. So we are sort of playing catch up on some things and trying to find curriculum that works for us. I’m going to try Time4Learning and see if that takes a little of the load off of me. I know where my kids have “gaps” and plan to focus on those areas. Hoping to start school back in a couple of weeks. But even with all of the extra stuff going on, I still think it’s easier than planning my life around a public school calendar.
@@ritadyer9295 I’m so sorry to hear about all that you and your family went through. Life throws curveballs and all we can do is our best. We are doing catch up as well now but I’m trying to keep in mind that how fast we move through curriculum matters less than my son retaining the information being taught to him.
@autumnrose_noseinabook thanks. And I totally agree about retention. I’m going to try Time4Learning this year. At least we will try in the beginning. That way I can set the scores for what I consider acceptable for passing and they can’t move on without passing that. They will be answering to someone besides me. (At least in a way) I am hoping they will try harder in the subjects they don’t like. My 11 year old daughter is using an app on her Troomi phone (I think it’s just the calculator) to practice multiplication. So that’s good.
@@ritadyer9295 One of the most powerful teaching tools you have with your children is modelling how you deal with real life! You know what it's like to grieve, process through trauma, take leadership over a hard situation, and acknowledge great loss while moving forward with purpose. Your children have been growing in psychological and emotional ways that many don't experience at a young age and these are important coping skills you're teaching them. Sure, you may have paused on some other subject content, but they're now way ahead with understanding these other areas of learning. Keep moving forward at a reasonable and comfortable pace, and you'll see that content learning pick up again as you all find a new rhythm. ❤
Some sequences do matter…. We are struggling with math right now because my kids had some big gaps from public school… for example I have a kid who does not understand place value, she mixes it up, forgets it exists, etc. but she knows the sequence to do certain types of problems… so she was in 4th grade math and could do it (but struggled) and I had to pull her all the way back to 2nd grade math to reteach some basic math foundations that were missing. Hopefully when she’s all caught up she will actually understand math and not just be copying an arbitrary set of rules. I do agree that level doesn’t have to be correlated with age… every subject can be learned at different times and I am not worried about ‘catching up’ in math just about her actually understanding it 🎉
Yes, it's not about feeling the need to "catch up" because of gaps, but rather, recognizing what areas need to be addressed and working on those to lay a foundation for the next steps. Isn't it wild how what actually caused those missed items was rushing through the levels? Slowing down and re-enforcing old material is going to be exactly what your daughter needs. I'm glad she has you advocating for her learning!
I have an 11 year old struggling with multiplication. Math isn’t her “thing.” She will get it. Eventually. I’m not moving her on until she learns it. We will keep repeating it until she gets it. She will. Eventually.
@@ritadyer9295 Thanks for sharing how you're avoiding gaps! I agree with your approach to be more relaxed about it as a mom rather than pushing her towards a future, idealistic version of herself. Keep bringing up how far she's progressed as a way to inspire her to keep moving forward 😊
Learning gaps exist. I've been in the homeschool world for more than 35 years and I've seen it. One homeschooler I knew at 8 couldn't read and it turned out he needed specialist glasses. Another kid got to college and didn't know how to write an essay. Most homeschoolers I knew who started out in the '80s and '90s were very innocent in some ways. I've known homeschoolers who were never taught not to be rude, not to interrupt grownups, who were so unconventional as to be dangerous to those around them - like chucking a load of folding chairs in the church elevator regardless of what elderly ladies might need to get on the elevator on the other end, etc. I think this sort of rhetoric is damaging and encourages negligence in homeschool moms, and ultimately gives homeschooling a bad name.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. As I mentioned in the video, learning gaps are going to be defined differently depending on who is setting the expectation of what "should" be learned at a certain time. While the examples you mentioned are considered by most people to be less than ideal, they do not actually show that there were gaps, but rather expose a need for what can be focused on next. So with the college student, it's likely they learned essay writing when they needed to. What you mentioned about the struggling reader, that raises a great point that when our children bump up against challenges and aren't improving when changing up our personal teaching approach, getting a second opinion can be so helpful! This video isn't about encouraging negligence (my whole channel is about supporting with how to teach), but rather, how to settle in to what learning needs to be focused on right now, maybe in a new way, without the pressure band of shame.
If a child has not mastered certain concepts in a sequence of studies then they have learning gaps and it can make it very difficult as they progress. For instance if they dont understand particular concepts in math then they are going to struggle more and more because they have gaps. It is important to successfully complete each level even if it takes longer so there won't be gaps. What level a student is on shouldn't matter, everyone learns at a different pace.
Exactly! I'm glad you were able to take away from this video that the focus is on completing those foundational aspects rather than progressing forward anyway so that there aren't any gaps.
Hearing you say this is a huge relief, I was starting to think this way myself, then the indoctrination of school would kick in and I would feel lazy about not keeping up with "what they should know". Thanks for sharing
My homeschooling philosophy is a little different. I wished it was more flexible but I feel like I need to prepare for an eventuality. What if something happens to me?? Like cancer? There is no one else who could take over to teach my children so they need to be able to assimilate with not too much trouble into school
Yes, there are so many unknowns we are preparing our children for! Even with a secure plan in place, teaching them that relaxed flexibility will help with resiliency when something unexpected pops up. 😊
I’ve been homeschooling for 15 years. I agree that a specific timeline is not the priority. However, mastering content and skills IS, and content and skills build over time. This is where learning gaps matter. A child who doesn’t have foundational content and skills will struggle later. It sounds like you were struggling with letting go of ‘the right way’ to do schoolwork and going through a deschooling process for yourself, which any veteran homeschooler will tell you is necessary. It can take up to 4 years for a parent to learn what home educating really is.
I agree with you about taking the time to master those skills so that gaps don't actually happen! Isn't is wild how blazing through things quickly to stay on a timeline is actually what causes those gaps? Yes, I was sharing that layer of deschooling for myself to model what that might look like for others. I'm okay with holding both confidence in my teaching abilities and the humility of constant deschooling because I see this as a life-long sanctification process. Right when we master one area, the next area to explore and work on pops up! I'm not sure that we can use deschooling of our mindsets or even number of years as a measuring stick for who's figured out what home educating is.
I’m so glad you’re now embracing deschooling for yourself. I don’t think anyone ever figures out what educating is because it’s a constantly evolving endeavor that depends so heavily upon the child(ren) and circumstances within your homeschool. It isn’t something to be defined; it is something to experience.
The thing I most worry about is the order or sequence they learn a subject. I suppose unschoolers dont have a specific sequence they teach so I should probably let that one go
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I finally found you! I used a very eclectic style of learning that was different for each of my homeschooled daughters! Now they are well balanced successful young adults. My daughter who decided to go to college graduated suma cum laude on a full scholarship. My other daughter has enjoyed several promotions at her full-time job. 8:15 "If you focus on instilling a love and a joy for learning and exploration and wonder then that's going to make the process a lot easier and faster in the long run". I agree 100%
That's amazing to hear, Tanya! Thank you for sharing this picture of success with your daughters. You must feel so proud to see all of your time and energy showing such abundant fruit! ❤
I just stumbled upon your videos haha! I was like wait…I know this person.
We homeschool too! Keep up the good work :)
So great to connect here! I emailed you 😄
I have a 9 year old going into “4th grade” that’s still on level 2 language arts and math curriculum. So thank you for this ❤ Also, I have guilt over doing a year of basically unschooling because I was dealing with chronic post covid with chronic fatigue and the onset of my POTS and MCAS. I was so sick and literally couldn’t do anything. Now my energy is back and I’m managing my symptoms and I’m excited to get back to more structured learning. But like I said, we are on level 2 work instead of 4. But whatever. I don’t want to skip over anything because then he would have REAL learning gaps.
I think we are “behind” in some areas because of a lot of traumatic events. My dad was killed in a wreck in May of 2018. So then I had to take care of my mom, and all that had to do with his death. Plus she was getting feeble (I’m an older mom with two adopted grandkids) and I needed to run her to Dr appts all the time or she was getting put in the hospital. So we began trying to find a house nearby so I could hav where closer to me or to find somewhere she could live with us. (Think mother-in-law quarters). So we were out running around all the time. Then Mama passed away November 2020 after having some surgery and losing her ability to walk. Of course, then I had to deal with my wicked step sister and all the stress she caused me and trying to grieve at the same time. I lost a lot of my focus that should have been on my kids. I’ve just now begun to feel like “me” again. So we are sort of playing catch up on some things and trying to find curriculum that works for us. I’m going to try Time4Learning and see if that takes a little of the load off of me. I know where my kids have “gaps” and plan to focus on those areas. Hoping to start school back in a couple of weeks. But even with all of the extra stuff going on, I still think it’s easier than planning my life around a public school calendar.
@@ritadyer9295 I’m so sorry to hear about all that you and your family went through. Life throws curveballs and all we can do is our best. We are doing catch up as well now but I’m trying to keep in mind that how fast we move through curriculum matters less than my son retaining the information being taught to him.
@autumnrose_noseinabook thanks. And I totally agree about retention. I’m going to try Time4Learning this year. At least we will try in the beginning. That way I can set the scores for what I consider acceptable for passing and they can’t move on without passing that. They will be answering to someone besides me. (At least in a way) I am hoping they will try harder in the subjects they don’t like. My 11 year old daughter is using an app on her Troomi phone (I think it’s just the calculator) to practice multiplication. So that’s good.
@@ritadyer9295 One of the most powerful teaching tools you have with your children is modelling how you deal with real life! You know what it's like to grieve, process through trauma, take leadership over a hard situation, and acknowledge great loss while moving forward with purpose. Your children have been growing in psychological and emotional ways that many don't experience at a young age and these are important coping skills you're teaching them. Sure, you may have paused on some other subject content, but they're now way ahead with understanding these other areas of learning. Keep moving forward at a reasonable and comfortable pace, and you'll see that content learning pick up again as you all find a new rhythm. ❤
@@autumnrose_noseinabook 100%
Humans are heterogenous. Kids are asynchronous in learning. It's perfectly ok to be at different rates and ranges at every age and season!
Some sequences do matter…. We are struggling with math right now because my kids had some big gaps from public school… for example I have a kid who does not understand place value, she mixes it up, forgets it exists, etc. but she knows the sequence to do certain types of problems… so she was in 4th grade math and could do it (but struggled) and I had to pull her all the way back to 2nd grade math to reteach some basic math foundations that were missing. Hopefully when she’s all caught up she will actually understand math and not just be copying an arbitrary set of rules.
I do agree that level doesn’t have to be correlated with age… every subject can be learned at different times and I am not worried about ‘catching up’ in math just about her actually understanding it 🎉
Yes, it's not about feeling the need to "catch up" because of gaps, but rather, recognizing what areas need to be addressed and working on those to lay a foundation for the next steps.
Isn't it wild how what actually caused those missed items was rushing through the levels? Slowing down and re-enforcing old material is going to be exactly what your daughter needs. I'm glad she has you advocating for her learning!
I have an 11 year old struggling with multiplication. Math isn’t her “thing.” She will get it. Eventually. I’m not moving her on until she learns it. We will keep repeating it until she gets it. She will. Eventually.
@@ritadyer9295 Thanks for sharing how you're avoiding gaps! I agree with your approach to be more relaxed about it as a mom rather than pushing her towards a future, idealistic version of herself. Keep bringing up how far she's progressed as a way to inspire her to keep moving forward 😊
Learning gaps exist. I've been in the homeschool world for more than 35 years and I've seen it. One homeschooler I knew at 8 couldn't read and it turned out he needed specialist glasses. Another kid got to college and didn't know how to write an essay. Most homeschoolers I knew who started out in the '80s and '90s were very innocent in some ways. I've known homeschoolers who were never taught not to be rude, not to interrupt grownups, who were so unconventional as to be dangerous to those around them - like chucking a load of folding chairs in the church elevator regardless of what elderly ladies might need to get on the elevator on the other end, etc. I think this sort of rhetoric is damaging and encourages negligence in homeschool moms, and ultimately gives homeschooling a bad name.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. As I mentioned in the video, learning gaps are going to be defined differently depending on who is setting the expectation of what "should" be learned at a certain time.
While the examples you mentioned are considered by most people to be less than ideal, they do not actually show that there were gaps, but rather expose a need for what can be focused on next. So with the college student, it's likely they learned essay writing when they needed to.
What you mentioned about the struggling reader, that raises a great point that when our children bump up against challenges and aren't improving when changing up our personal teaching approach, getting a second opinion can be so helpful!
This video isn't about encouraging negligence (my whole channel is about supporting with how to teach), but rather, how to settle in to what learning needs to be focused on right now, maybe in a new way, without the pressure band of shame.
Thank you for being so transparent.
If a child has not mastered certain concepts in a sequence of studies then they have learning gaps and it can make it very difficult as they progress. For instance if they dont understand particular concepts in math then they are going to struggle more and more because they have gaps. It is important to successfully complete each level even if it takes longer so there won't be gaps. What level a student is on shouldn't matter, everyone learns at a different pace.
Exactly! I'm glad you were able to take away from this video that the focus is on completing those foundational aspects rather than progressing forward anyway so that there aren't any gaps.
Hearing you say this is a huge relief, I was starting to think this way myself, then the indoctrination of school would kick in and I would feel lazy about not keeping up with "what they should know". Thanks for sharing
I'm glad this was encouraging for you!
My homeschooling philosophy is a little different. I wished it was more flexible but I feel like I need to prepare for an eventuality. What if something happens to me?? Like cancer? There is no one else who could take over to teach my children so they need to be able to assimilate with not too much trouble into school
Yes, there are so many unknowns we are preparing our children for! Even with a secure plan in place, teaching them that relaxed flexibility will help with resiliency when something unexpected pops up. 😊
Oooooo! I needed this!!! Thank you darling! ♥️🥹
So glad to hear that 😊
I’ve been homeschooling for 15 years. I agree that a specific timeline is not the priority. However, mastering content and skills IS, and content and skills build over time. This is where learning gaps matter. A child who doesn’t have foundational content and skills will struggle later.
It sounds like you were struggling with letting go of ‘the right way’ to do schoolwork and going through a deschooling process for yourself, which any veteran homeschooler will tell you is necessary. It can take up to 4 years for a parent to learn what home educating really is.
I agree with you about taking the time to master those skills so that gaps don't actually happen! Isn't is wild how blazing through things quickly to stay on a timeline is actually what causes those gaps?
Yes, I was sharing that layer of deschooling for myself to model what that might look like for others. I'm okay with holding both confidence in my teaching abilities and the humility of constant deschooling because I see this as a life-long sanctification process. Right when we master one area, the next area to explore and work on pops up! I'm not sure that we can use deschooling of our mindsets or even number of years as a measuring stick for who's figured out what home educating is.
I’m so glad you’re now embracing deschooling for yourself. I don’t think anyone ever figures out what educating is because it’s a constantly evolving endeavor that depends so heavily upon the child(ren) and circumstances within your homeschool. It isn’t something to be defined; it is something to experience.
The thing I most worry about is the order or sequence they learn a subject. I suppose unschoolers dont have a specific sequence they teach so I should probably let that one go
Thank you for sharing that. It can be helpful for certain subjects to learn in sequence and for others, it doesn't matter. :)
😊
You are so helpful, Im on the same journey with my 2 boys. Thank you for making this video 🙏
So great to connect here! I'm glad this was helpful for you 😊