heartofdakota.com

Hello HOD family,
This is our second year homeschooling and our second year with HOD. I have been so happy watching my children grow in their skills and independence with HOD!! One thing though has caught my attention this year and it’s making me ponder what my goal should be…am I desiring to expose my children to topics, time periods, etc or should I expect them to walk away fully “fluent” in each subject’s studies.

To clarify my thinking (and need for encouragement), I have two kiddos in Res to Ref, one using extensions, and one in Bigger. My younger one is on the younger side of the Bigger guide age limits, so I can see how she doesn’t always understand everything or remember everything. I’m thinking to just slow down things with her and maybe find some videos or extra picture books to help her through.

With my older two, I find us getting to the end of the week and wondering if we’ve merely checked off our boxes or have gathered new information, grown in our learning, and come away inspired in some way. Perhaps I’m asking too much of an 11 and 13 year old lol!! But sometimes the flow of the week feels so fast that I have to stop and wonder how much they are actually taking in. Which brings me back to my question…should my desire be more to expose them to themes, names, places, etc in history and science not worrying so much about their remembering all the details? Goodness knows, I don’t remember all that I had to learn back in my school days! But will some of these names and things stick? Should we go slower, try to find more extras to add in? How can I go about this so that I feel they are stepping away with some knowledge and understanding and not just merely checking the box to finish the day?

I hope that makes sense what I’m asking! I admit I may just need to change my own mindset and understanding! But I also desire for my children to have a better understanding and knowledge of the world around them.

Thank you for your thoughts!
Rachel

This might answer some of your questions:
https://heartofdakota.com/2021/10/14/kn ... r-mastery/

Hello Rachel,

You have a great question.

I haven’t found any of my children to walk away from a homeschool year fully fluent in every subject. I think their learning is much more than exposure, but I also think it is much less than complete mastery with full fluency.

What I do find though is to be absolutely amazed by how much they know if I stand back and think about it. My four children have always been homeschooled. My three oldest children know far more about history, politics, and economics than I do. They have an extensive knowledge of the Bible that was slowly built over many years. They continue to grow in writing and math while proficient in both. It is a knowledge base though that has developed over many years. They don’t remember every fact in books they have read, but they do remember many people and facts they’ve seen multiple times in different ways over a period of time.

I also find what they remember tends to reflect their different strengths, weaknesses, personalities, and interests. They tend to remember the information they connect to the most.

I understand your question though because I sometimes ask myself the same question!

May the LORD richly bless your homeschool efforts.