When you are starting the homeschool journey, there is a lot of information to sift through. It’s so hard to know who to turn to when you have questions. Luckily, I found Cathy Duffy early in my homeschooling journey.
Cathy Duffy is one of the most influential homeschooling authors and advocates. As a homeschooling veteran and consultant, her advice has helped thousands of families find success in educating their children at home.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed with homeschooling or just need a new perspective, these 13 quotes from Cathy Duffy are sure to inspire you. Let’s get started!
Teach How Your Child Learns Best, Not How You Learn Best
Whew, this was a big one! I love learning from reading and writing. If I were a homeschooled student, I would prefer to use a traditional curriculum with a workbook for each subject. I love structure and organization.
But, I tried that with my son, and guess what? He was so bored. It was hard to get him to participate. (I suspect this will change when he is older.)
Once I read, Cathy Duffy’s 102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum, it clicked! He needs more fun, games, and hands-on activities!
Guys, I cannot begin to describe the difference in our homeschooling when I implemented this. This is how we set up our daily Kindergarten routine to make it much more fun than working from a workbook. The first day I switched to this method, he was so eager to learn, plus, I had a lot more sanity!
Parents tend to try to teach their children in the way that they learn best. Instead, Cathy Duffy recommends finding resources and methods that meet the needs of your child, while still making sure it is something you are comfortable with.
Determine What Your Children Need to Learn and Set Goals
Instead of starting out with a curriculum, set goals that you would like your children to learn for the school year and make a list.
This alone takes a huge burden off of homeschooling parents. When you think about all your kids need to learn, it is so overwhelming! Break that long list down.
For instance, our goals are:
- learn to identify all numbers 0-30,
- learn what sounds each letter makes
- learn to write first and last name
- learn to do single-digit addition
- learn to do single-digit subtraction
- write CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words (ex. hat, dog, cat)
- write short sentences (ex. The car is red.)
- read 30 sight words
- recognize common shapes
- understand time of day
- understand weather and seasons
Making this list was a game-changer for us. It is much less overwhelming than having multiple workbooks and concepts to teach.
Once we master these goals, we will set some more goals!
Check Your Goal List for Progress
What good is a list if you don’t check the list for progress?
At the end of the year, Cathy Duffy recommends evaluating whether the goals set were reasonable.
Did you set too many goals? Did you rush through the goals which pushed your children harder than you should? Were the goals challenging enough? Did you not meet enough goals?
Once you have the answer to these questions, it is time to make your next list, taking these things into consideration.
Homeschool Does Not Need to Look Like Traditional Schools
When you haven’t been homeschooled yourself, you don’t know any different than what traditional schooling looks like. For this reason, it is easy to try to imitate a public school structure.
Homeschooling gives you so much more flexibility and freedom than traditional schooling does. You can do school 3 days a week, do schoolwork only in the mornings or evenings, travel homeschool (we travel A LOT), unschool – whatever you want!
There are Learning Opportunities All Around Us
It is easy to get wrapped up in curriculums without thinking about how children have learning opportunities everywhere.
Cathy Duffy suggests teaching children by cooking, playing games, giving allowances, grocery shopping, and writing thank you notes. If you think about it, it makes complete sense. If you get too wrapped up in the idea of buying a curriculum, you may spend an absurd amount of money on unnecessary material that you won’t end up using.
I know I did…
For History, Real Books are Better than Textbooks
Cathy Duffy recommends using real books as opposed to a history textbook for elementary age students.
Here’s why.
- History textbooks are very boring and do not tell the whole story, just a condensed version.
- History textbooks are written by biased authors that must be approved by the state before being used in schools.
- History textbooks cut God out of history. If you are a Christian who wants your children to learn about God and his impact on history, you will not find it in a state-approved history textbook.
- History textbooks are written for facts to be memorized and regurgitated on tests. This causes a dislike of history for many students.
- Kids need to hear the full story, not a 1 paragraph version.
- Students who read real books tend to have more historical knowledge than those who learn history from a textbook.
I’m so glad I read this before buying any history material. Now, we get all of our history books from the library, for free.
Science in Elementary Should Be Observation-Based
Good news! You don’t need a science curriculum for elementary-age students either!
Cathy Duffy recommends that children learn through observation, science experiments, and reading about scientific topics of interest.
For example, today, we were reading a book about the winter. My son didn’t understand why a salt truck was used to melt ice.
We conducted a science experiment with ice and salt, and now he understands and was able to experience it first hand.
Perfectionist Children Need Structure and Routine
I have a Perfect Paula on my hands. Once you read Cathy Duffy’s 102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum, you’ll understand.
Basically, he needs security, predictability, structure, and routine. He needs to know what is expected of him, he enjoys reviewing topics he already knows, and he does not like making a mistake. He is such a perfectionist, that he doesn’t enjoy learning about new concepts or trying something he isn’t good at yet.
It is tough, but reading her description of his learning style really helped me adapt my teaching style to fit his needs.
For example, today, when we were tracing letters, he accidentally skipped a letter. Instead of saying “you missed a letter” I said, “that L was hiding from you, wasn’t it?” He giggled and went back and fixed it. Had I told him he missed the letter, he would have sulked and been upset with himself for making a mistake.
Teach Concepts by Mixing Learning Styles
Think back to school, when you were learning about chemistry for the first time.
Hands-on learners would have learned best by mixing chemicals together to see their reactions.
Reading and writing learners would have learned best by reading the chapter first or writing an essay about it.
Auditory learners would have learned best by hearing a lecture on the topic.
Visual learners would have learned best by watching a documentary about chemistry.
My point is this – whichever way your child learns best should be the way you introduce a new concept.
When I introduced fractions, I used Melissa and Doug’s wooden pizza set. I started by asking him to give me half the pizza, and so on and so forth.
Had I tried to explain fractions or written out fraction math problems for him to solve, he would have refused to listen or try. Because I made it into a hands-on game, he was super into it.
Then, once he understood, we could move forward with explanations and written math problems.
Children Don’t Have to be in the Same Grade for All Subjects
Non-homeschoolers are constantly asking what grade homeschoolers are in. That’s a good question!
Children learn different concepts at different speeds. Some homeschooled students that would be in 4th grade in a public school are in 5th grade math and 3rd grade reading. That’s ok!
If they were in a traditional school, they would be sitting in a 4th grade class that was too hard for reading and too easy for math.
This is another reason to be careful about purchasing a big box curriculum for a specific grade.
Homeschooling Helps Kids Pursue Their Passions
Homeschooled children can learn about their interests more easily than in traditional school settings.
For example, my son is obsessed with flying drones. At 5, he can name about 15 different types of drones, knows how to fly many different types, knows how to sync the controller to the drone, and knows the functions of multiple drones. Recently, we were at Best Buy, and he was blowing the mind of the guy helping us. He couldn’t believe his knowledge on drones at such a young age. (He is only 5!)
So, we incorporate his love of drones into his school work. We can learn how they work, how to fix them, and how to search for YouTube videos about drones. For a wiggly boy, it isn’t much fun to learn about letters the traditional way, but learning how to search for your favorite drone (a DJI Spark.) on YouTube helped him learn those letters. Now, he never gets “L” and “J” mixed up anymore!
Make Learning More Enjoyable and it Won’t be a Struggle
If you make learning fun, kids are much more likely to participate. Learning will not always be enjoyable, but if you can make it as fun as possible, you will increase motivation to learn. Homeschooling days are such a struggle when you have an unwilling participant.
Cathy Duffy suggests creativity, catering to your children’s interests, and incentives as a few ways to make learning more enjoyable for children and parents alike.
It’s Ok to Combine Different Homeschooling Styles
There are many homeschooling styles – traditional, Charlotte Mason, Classical, Unit Study, Independent Study, Unschooling, Waldorf, and Eclectic. Electic homeschoolers – like me – take all the best ideas from each homeschooling style and make it fit their family’s needs.
It is another reason I love homeschooling so much – it is completely customizable.
Conclusion
If you’re considering homeschooling or already homeschooling and looking for some insight, I highly recommend researching Cathy Duffy. Cathy Duffy has been there and she offers sound advice for anyone starting out.
Check out her 102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum.
Remember, don’t feel like you have to mimic public school at home. You can tailor your homeschool experience to fit your family’s needs and learning styles. Don’t be afraid to mix and match different homeschooling approaches either – as long as your child is making progress, that’s what counts!
What are your goals for this year? How will you track your progress? Let us know in the comments below!
