There are so many ways in which homeschooling can occur. Some families imitate a traditional classroom in their home. Although this is not something that I would recommend, many families find that the structure works for them. And that’s what it’s about, finding what works for your family. Some families perfer to use homeschooling co-ops or make use of online classes. Then there are families that worldschool, unschool, roadschool, and so forth. And of course, some families choose to combine multiple methods, which is one of my favorite ways to engage my children. That’s the beauty of homeschooling. You can change course when need or use as many methods as needed to provide a well-rounded educational experience. One type of homeschooling method that we’ve been implementing lately is lifeschooling.
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What is Lifeschooling?
“Lifeschooling is the individualized process of discovering your child’s God-given gifts and talents, primarily through real-life experiences that happen within the context of your family’s unique situations and missions.” -Danielle Papageorgiou
For my family, this means getting to the root of things, telling and learning about what really is, that we learn about our own history as Afro Latinos, and that of people all over the world and still be able to partake in things that we enjoy. It is about representation, especially of us and those who are not generally shown in most curriculums or are inaccurately represented (like Egyptians being shown as white, when this African country is filled with Black and Brown people). This means uplifting countries that have been labeled by the current administration as being less than human. This means telling the truth about what happens in the Middle East and not labeling an entire group of people negatively. This means dispelling myths about Mexicans being immigrants when much of the United States was once part of Mexico and by providing geography lessons to visually see that Mexico is, in fact, part of America. Many media and texts often exclude facts for the convenience of institutionalized discrimination. We won’t take part in that. I am bewildered by the number of people that don’t know that the United States is not the only country in North America or basic concepts of humanity. It is our duty to show kindness to all of mankind, no matter the color or creed. This means teaching humanity, acceptance, and forgiveness.
Why We Lifeschool?
I’ve gotten a lot of questions as to why I choose to homeschool my children and why enabling them to shape their own view of the world without the lies or propaganda of media are is important. Most people immediately think that we are some sort of religious freaks. I really dislike the idea that a person’s faith makes them a freak or anything other than human. While faith can lead you to homeschool your children, it’s not our only reason. Truth is, I am not very religious at all, at least not in that respect. I don’t go to church or to a mosque regularly. You can instead think of our family as spiritually plural. I don’t ascribe to any one thing. I believe that every holy book is valid and I honor that and the people who believe. I introduce them to my children without putting my own personal views in place of the texts. I let them be led by the words and commandments that they read, encouraging self-discovery. I believe that this enables children to be able to view differences as blessings and be guided by an open heart.
We lifeschool because I didn’t want to just teach my children African history or the history of Puerto Rico, but I wanted to equip my children with life skills while encouraging their natural curiosity and passions. We cook, bake, knit, paint, read, talk about safety procedures, take hikes, and more. The kids have chores such as cleaning up their room or doing light cooking. Because I am also a technical advisor for a huge tech company I am able to teach my children how computing and coding work, which is really fun. They love making stop motion videos and recording gameplay sessions, especially my oldest who has just turned 13. We blow up things which tickles my 9-year-old silly. And my middle son, who is autistic, loves to create beautiful drawings and bake. My remote job enables us to travel each year and affords me the time to pursue my own business goals. Because we homeschool, my children also are part of my business. They help to pack, sort, and mail out products as well as give feedback on the learning materials that I create.
For my family, travel has been the biggest blessing that we could partake in. Travel is a great way to change your lens or view of the world. While we don’t yet travel full-time, we are able to travel for a few months out of the year. We extend our lifeschooling to our travel as well. We like to volunteer at churches or places of worship and take in the beauty of the old buildings, tour parks, and natural sites, learn about the history and languages used, and of course eat! I think that traveling has taught us that there is no right or wrong way of going about life. There are many roads that you can take. Everyone’s circumstances, opportunities, and ways of life different from the next. Rather than writing essays, I allow the kids to create presentations or webpages on their travel experiences using the photos that they take with their own devices. All of my children love to travel and visit new places. They learn so much more than simply using a textbook. Real life application plants learning in the subconscious. Because kids are having so much fun, they don’t even notice. For my autistic son, he is so much more vocal and independent when we travel. He’s also more likely to try something new, which was such a huge game changer when we first found this out. Seeing how other children approach their own daily lives is something that I believe opens doors to new possibilities for my own children.
What A Typical Day Looks Like
The night before, the meals for the next day are prepped and placed into the fridge. I use a rotating 5-week meal plan, so everything flows really well. The crockpot is a jewel. It can be loaded with oatmeal, fruit, and nuts, and then by the morning, you have a great meal. Lunch and dinner can also be made this way too. Because I am now a single mom, I try to take as many shortcuts as we can. We aren’t early risers. I know some homeschoolers are up at the crack of dawn, we are not. We are typically up by 9 am. Each of my kids is responsible for a meal, so the breakfast helper usually gets started. After cleaning up, we get into our school work by around 10:30 am. We spend about 45 minutes to an hour or so in each subject area if we are at home on that day. I try not to go over that time as I don’t want to boggle them down. Some days, we can do all we need to do in each subject within 30 minutes. We also don’t work on every subject each day. Some days, there are no separate subjects at all. At around 3 or so, the kids are outside or working on a project of their choice. During this time, I am working on whatever I need to do during the day. My remote work ends at around 8 pm, so we are able to eat dinner together. Like most families, we have a nightly ritual which includes kisses and cuddles. I’m still working on being completely kid free in my bed 🙂
Future Plans
We will definitely continue lifeschooling. I cannot see any other way of approaching education and life. I’ve seen the kids flourish and grow so much, and on their own terms. We’ve been looking for an RV so that we can travel and see more the United States before heading off to other adventures. My goal is to volunteer in every state while homeschooling and working on the road. We also want to meet more families that homeschool too. I didn’t think it would be as much work as it has been to find the perfect RV with enough room for us all and any family that may join us, but it has been. I’ve been able to test some of them out by using the services of RVShare, which let’s rent out different RV types for however long you want to need. We’ve also been knitting socks for migrant/immigrant children being unethically held in cages. We have plans to continue doing this. On the business side of things, I have plans for continuing the growth of my company and the kids also have a launch coming up soon for their business too. We’re really excited for these changes.
This is an activity journal which allows children to record their own thoughts as they journey through and experience the world around them.
Included in this journal you will find:
- Over 800 pages of content
- Weekly and Monthly format
- 12 postive affirmations for kids
- Maps to track travel/field trips
- Habit Tracker
- Goals Tracker
- Coloring Pages
- And more!
Ideal for K-8th grade.
Click here to download yours.
Hasta Pronto!
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If you are a homeschool mom needing some new ideas and encouragement or if you are completely new to homeschooling and you are looking for ways to get started, click here to apply for a Strategy and Brainstorming Session with ME! Let’s work together to get you to where you want to be!
Hi! I’m Kat aka Mama Dot! Nice to meet you. I’m a homeschooling mom of three boys. By day, I run a mom’s blog (Being Mama Dot) and subscription service (Wombology). In my downtime, I create resources for families homeschooling children of color at Our Learning Curve. I love coffee, reggaeton (music in Spanish), knitting, and reading. My favorite thing to do is to feel my feet in the sand. #beachbum. Currently, I am an MA/Ph.D. student in Africana and Latin American studies. When I am not in school, I spend my days running my online business and taking care of my little ones. Make sure to check out OLC’s Instagram, Twitter, or join us over at Facebook.