𝐀 𝐃𝐚𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐊𝐢𝐝𝐬

In 2007 after our kids had grown up I asked him the following questions:

𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵?

Yes, definitely. I enjoy the closeness and familiarity that I have with my kids, now aged 20, 24 and 26. I feel our relationship is one of friendship, rather than parent to child and vice versa. I find that I can learn as much, probably more, from them as they can from me.

𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯?

I feel like I could have involved them more in my day-to-day life and hence spent more time with them when they were growing instead of rushing around doing everything myself. In spite of this I am amazed at the range of skills they picked up, especially their ‘give it a go’ attitude – everything is worth a try. This is something I didn’t consciously teach them.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺-𝘵𝘰-𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯?

Very little; Beverley was the organiser and main instigator of homeschooling activities. She planned everything and I was happy to help out when asked, especially doing science experiments and projects such as building models, electronics, etc. We did a lot of leisure activities together as a family and the children helped out occasionally with our building and gardening projects.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦?

Keep an open mind. Understand that everything your child does is educational. Don’t lecture; work from where the child is at, build on what he understands and use language and concepts he can grasp easily at whatever stage he is at. Don’t assume you can’t learn from your children. Really listen to them and be genuinely interested in what they are doing. Try not to take over but be a helper. You can’t teach anyone anything, but you can help them learn.