Sick Days, Interrupted Days, Impossible Days- Every Day, Power Through.
Over our years of homeschooling, I have encountered an expectation that is not only unrealistic, but that contradicts one of the prime benefits of homeschooling;
Freedom.
Homeschooling has more benefits than can be counted.
The personalized education,
The ability for your child to move at their own pace,
The spiritual growth and autonomy,
Self-motivated learning,
...and many more.
But if you ask a homeschooler what their top three answers are to the benefits of homeschooling, the advantage that will be on everyone's list is freedom.
Freedom to advance or slow down, freedom to devote as much time to learning as desired, freedom to choose what topics are explored,
and freedom to schedule learning that fits their family.
That Doesn't Fit.
There are numerous days over our years that have simply not worked out. Days that I had invested valuable plan time on, an outing, an activity, and it didn't go to plan.
These days happen for multiple reasons;
one of us woke up sick,
frustrated learners needed rest,
life events took priority,
unexpected home repairs took over,
a multitude of reasons.
In these days though, I don't ever count learning as lost.
Each day whether our planned, or deliberate, learning occurs or not, I know they are still learning. They are learning life skills; time management, flexibility, balancing life events, scheduling, finances, how to run a home, etc.
Learning is still thriving in these days, where it may look to outsiders as a "day off".
By their thinking, being that we took that "day off", we must clearly now make up that day.
This is where confusion sets in,
as I am reminded of the freedom embedded in homeschooling.
While, yes, there needs to be 175 days of instruction on our homeschool calendar, there likewise has to be 180 days in the public school system. When a student in the public school system takes a sick day, bereavement day, or heads off to an appointment, those days aren't forced to make up. Why then in our homeschool, where learning is happening in each and every day, in all aspects of life, is there an expectation that a "missed" day needs to be made up?
I'll emphasize,
I am not trying to fudge the numbers (I don't need to),
or opting out of learning (I miss it when the plan fails),
or avoid teaching my children (my favorite thing to do).
What I am doing in these days, is optimizing the freedom that comes with homeschooling.
Teaching my children that caring for one another on sick day takes priority.
Instructing them on how to maintain a home, finances, and scheduling.
Yes, that is indeed "counting" as a day of instruction. While it may not look like standardized curriculum on paper, that is the expectation of homeschool, and its beauty.
That is what fits properly in my homeschool expectations.
So, if you encounter this expectation placed on you during your homeschooling journey, find encouragement in knowing,
you have the freedom to dismiss this unrealistic expectation.
