Spring 2020

HOMESCHOOLIOWA.ORG

s I write this, the world is trying to figure out how to get

back to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic. To tell you

the truth, I’m ready for normal; at the same time, know-

ing that once we get back to normal, I’ll be wishing we were

back in the not-normal days of staying home, not running from

place to place, and enjoying undiluted family time.

It feels like a LONG spring break as schools are shut down and

even our homeschool has suffered from the lack of motivation.

(I keep telling my wife to quit for the year, but she’s still plugging

away.)

I know that many homeschooling

moms struggle through these wonder-

ful times because they feel the guilt of

shirking school responsibilities. I read

their posts and hear their hearts. They

press on at times where they should

rest because they fear… EVERYTHING.

These moms are afraid their kids will

get behind; afraid that they’ll forget

what they learned; afraid that they

won’t ever lead productive lives, get into college, or land suc-

cessful careers. That fear drives parents to push, cram, and stuff

as much school into their lives and heads as humanly possible.

They’re susceptible to every “expert” and philosophy that shows

up in homeschool conventions and social media posts.

The homeschool movement coined and promoted the idea

of fostering a love of learning; yet, most homeschooling moms

have fostered a “hate” of learning. Instead of inspiring their chil-

dren to love exploration, discovery, and learning, all of which

homeschool SHOULD foster, moms find their children fighting

them tooth and nail to “do school.”

Let me just say from the start that I BELIEVE homeschooling

should foster the love of learning in our children. Its very design

enables learning to be experienced in a way NO public or private

school can provide. So why is it not the case inmost homeschools?

I think the answer is simple. We’ve believed and adopted some

ideas that are not true and that

kill inspiration

and the

love of

learning

Here they are:

• Longer is better

• More is better

• Earlier is better

• Harder is better

• Classics are better

• Busy is better

• Textbooks are better

• Standard courses are better

• A’s are better

Now, I’m not going to give away the

whole farm

(you’ll need to come to the Homeschool Iowa Connect

event this year to hear the full blown thoughts on this topics)

but

let’s just look at a couple of those “wrong ideas.”

Longer is Better

We’ve been taught wrongly that if our kids spend more time

doing something they’ll learn more. That’s just not true. And

even if they did learn more, they often end up hating the very

thing they spent so much time doing. I’d even go as far as to say

YouWant Them to

Love

Learning?

BY TODD WILSON, HOMESCHOOL IOWA CONNECT 2020 SPEAKER

There is nothing noble about

beating everyone to the

end of the race.