As the new school year arrives parents are busy helping their children get ready for school. New clothing, pens, paper, school books, and much more are needed to get students up and running in preparation for the return to school. The excitement is palpable, but for many parents and their children who homeschool, there is a different mood. Since part of the theory behind homeschooling is that every moment of every day is an opportunity for learning, summer is not really a vacation, but just another time to learn about different subjects in a different setting.
The summer is a great time for homeschoolers to take a break from their more formal studies such as math, science or history, but it doesn’t mean they stop learning about science or math. On the contrary. A trip to the beach can easily turn into an informal lesson about marine life, or the discovery and exploration of the new world, or estimating the number of people who are at the beach. When parents homeschool their children, they have a homeschooling mindset, and everything becomes interesting and worthy of learning.
Parents who don’t homeschool, but have thought about it, can examine the many resources available to help them get started. It is not necessary to invest in school furniture, classroom chairs or classroom tables. A school desk, kitchen table, or even folding tables will do perfectly for the more formal aspects of homeschooling. But a trip to the beach, a hike in the mountains, or even a walk to the mailbox, is also a classroom for homeschoolers.
While the homeschooling debate rages at all times, it’s important to take a look at the facts. Many people who send their children to traditional school environments assume that the homeschoolers never sit at school desks and never have any traditional learning time. This is, of course, not true.