Deep Vs. Wide

I think one of the biggest fears for the homeschool mom is how to cover everything. And also, which topics and skills constitute “everything”? 

I’m going to let you in on a little secret from my days as a public school teacher: there is no “everything.” Seriously. Individual states have different standards for different grades, and each district will decide how those standards are going to look in their school. There will be similarities from school to school and state to state, but even with common core there is no clear alignment that applies to all schools.

As far as the individual standards that school districts follow, there has never been a teacher in any grade level who successfully taught every single standard to every student in their class and had them all actually master those standards. I don’t say this as a slam to our public school teachers, who are some of the most hard-working individuals out there, but because that is simply an impossible task.

So if we let go of the striving to “cover everything,” what should we do instead? I like to ask myself, am I teaching deep or teaching wide with my kids? Think about the people you go to for information about various areas; they are experts in a particular field, right? The midwife I’m seeing this pregnancy is a wealth of information on all things natural medicine. My husband is a pastor, so he gets theological questions on a regular basis; it wouldn’t make sense, though, for someone to come to him with questions about herbal remedies and the like, that’s not what he’s trained for and studied!

The same is true for our kids; I’m not saying we have to make our first grader choose a career path and only study things in that field of study. The point is to start paying attention to the natural passions and giftings your kids have been given, and start devoting more time to them than you do to other areas. Yes, there are certain skill sets and basic knowledge that EVERYONE needs to know, but it’s probably much less than you think. And if you’re a mama who’s been brave enough to take on homeschooling your kids, I’m betting you probably intuitively know those things. 

The longer I homeschool, the more I’m able to let go of the pressure to cram my kids' heads full of everything I possibly can by the end of the school year. Part of homeschooling is learning to surrender to the Lord's plans for your kids and let Him take the reins on their education. This might mean that your homeschool looks a lot different than you expected; you might, like me, find yourself studying a lot more zoology than you ever expected to because you have a kid who is literally a walking encyclopedia on animals. Or you might need to devote more time to art than “the experts” say you should because you have kids who are naturally gifted at it. Don't be afraid to dig in deep with your kids and really explore the things that make them tick; this will always be more meaningful than another unneeded math worksheet or grammar exercise.