Homeschooling has been an interesting experience for me. My husband and I were both homeschooled, so we're definitely familiar with the concept. I actually remember discussing how we would educate our children when I was still pregnant with Lisanna. Being that I'm a certified elementary school teacher, I thought she would go to whichever elementary school I taught at. But my husband insisted she be homeschooled so that he wouldn't miss out on time with her and she would get a Christian education. I also remember us deciding that we would just figure out it when we got there.


Kindergarten has actually been a really amazing experience for Lisanna. It's kind of been a meet-in-the-middle situation. Because we live in Japan, we want her to be able to understand and speak Japanese. However, we also want her to be fluent in English. After much thought and prayer, we decided to put her in a completely Japanese preschool. That means that from 9 am until 2 pm, she is completely submerged in Japanese culture and language. There is only one other kid in her class who speaks English.

She's really picked up on it fast! Her second year ends next month and she can now quite easily carry on a conversation. She can also read and write the first, basic Japanese alphabet, which really impresses me. I'm sooo thankful for this opportunity that she has to grow up knowing two languages!!

With all that said, we also recognized that it is really important she's fluent in English. She will probably still attend an American college (if she decides to go to college!) and get a job in America after graduation, so she should be fluent in English. The school I teach in is international with a full American curriculum, so that is a real option. However, schools in Japan, including my school, don't start until 1st grade. Despite that, students are still expected to come with a kindergarten level education concerning reading, writing, and math. That means we are realizing all of my husband's dreams and homeschooling, too. At least for kindergarten.


We started her kindergarten officially in September, and it's been an interesting journey. I've worked with many kids over the years, but I had never taught my own child. It's definitely its' own brand of frustrating and rewarding. I've been able to use some of the teaching techniques and strategies that I learned in college and in my own classroom, but some of them don't apply to my own kid. I can't have the same kind of consistency and professionalism toward her that I can have toward my students. I can't only put on my best and sternest face around her, because she also sees me at my silliest and in my pj's.

So, over this year, I've learned a few things that I'll continue to employ until she officially starts school in September.

1. Be consistent.

With her also attending Japanese kindergarten and me working full time, we found it was hard to make sure we did it consistently. She was tired or I was tired or we all forgot and now it's bedtime. She didn't make much progress at first because we did it so sporadically.
As a teacher, I know that consistency is key. You need to set a plan, make a schedule, and stick to it. Kids learn things based on how many times they are exposed to it. They need practice to get closer to perfect. That's why teachers assign homework each night, to make sure that whatever they taught is cemented in the child's mind by exposing it to them once again. The same goes with homeschooling and teaching a child to read - if they are not exposed to letters and words and phonics on a consistent basis, they're not going to learn very quickly. It wasn't until we finally introduced consistency that my daughter really took off.

2. Be forgiving.

With the consistency piece said, remember that you're in charge, so you have some leeway. There are some days where it just isn't doable. Some days where you or her are just too tired or busy and that's okay. Give yourself a break. You're a parent and maybe you even have other kids and a job. Take the day off, read to your child instead of having them read, and then get back to it the next day.

3. Be patient.

Teaching a kid to read is HARD. English is a very difficult language to learn because for every rule that you learn there are many, many exceptions. It's going to take some explanations and some time before your child is going to pick it up. When we started, Lisanna knew all the sounds of the letters in the alphabet and it still took her 10 minutes to read two pages of a BOB book. (you know, the ones that are like "Pat sat. Mat ran."

4. Be insistent.

Your child may want to give up at some point. Going back to my last point: it's hard. When it got hard, my daughter wanted to give up. She didn't want to sit there and struggle through short, boring books. She wanted to read her princess books and read them well.
But this is the opportunity to teach your child not just to read, but to teach them the valuable lesson of not giving up. Use it to teach them that life is hard and that persistence is key. Teach them that when you try really hard at something and you succeed, there's a sense of accomplishment. That when you don't give up, you get better.

5. Be encouraging.

I think this really goes along with most of my other points, but it is so important that it also needed it's own point. Kids respond to positive feedback. If they feel like they are succeeding, they're more likely to keep trying and keep improving. Have fun with them, get silly, offer some rewards. It can even be a reading reward! My daughter wanted to play a phonics computer game, so I had her read one real book to me first. She wanted me to read a princess book to her that is a little too hard for her, so I had her read a short book first or just read a few of the smaller words in the princess book. Make it fun for them, help them see their progress, and they will succeed.


So, other homeschooling mamas, what have you learned through homeschooling your own children?