From Transition to Foundation Building

I have fondly referred to our first year of homeschooling as our Transition Year. Moving from a traditional schoolroom schedule with 20+ kids to our small group of multi-age children is, after all, a transition of Biblical proportions. Kids need to get used to mom taking on a new rule of authority. Mom needs to get used to kids being home 24/7. Then there is the added stress of being responsible for it ALL. This is my children’s education we’re talking about here—the very foundation that will propel them through life. That, at times, feels HUGE. There is also the process of letting go of the bureaucratic procedures that school districts impose on their staff and students. For example—I think I am ready to confess—I don’t give or keep a record of grades.

Let us not forget that the house work is the one to take a major hit here. Somehow we manage to get the basics done, but I’m not finding time for the detail cleaning or organizing and purging that goes along with maintaining a household of 6 and all their possessions (at least not to my standards). A quick observation reveals that I no longer have the time or desire to follow behind the kids picking up after them—and when I do, one area invariably gets left out. So the first floor may be meticulous to the naked eye, but the basements and the bedrooms look post-hurricanian. You can forget about parking a car in the garage (and let us not mention what the inside of the car looks like). The kids, having not learned to take on full responsibility for cleaning up after themselves, have not developed their picking-up muscles. But that too will come with time.

I’ve often called this process “going through the fire.” And in many ways, we’re still going through it. But I’m ready to look ahead to the next stage which I believe will be: The Foundation.

Slowly I’ve pieced together a picture of what I’d like education and learning to look like in our house. What character traits we’d like to develop. What habits need to be formed and which ones to start with first. Are we in the Foundation stage yet? I think we are getting there. But, the first few weeks (months?) of our fall term will hold its own mini-transition. We’ve previously focused on the basics of math and reading throughout our transitional first year and also over the summer. The fall brings the next step and a slightly heavier load of work that we have yet to experience. But I’m now looking past the transition to building a foundation which will include: development of habits in study and training the attention; good listening skills and the ability to take correction; and self-discipline in daily chores and consistency with picking up after oneself. This I believe will be the groundwork on which to build the remainder of our schooling years. What that’s called, I’m not sure yet.