Second Generation Homeschooler | An Interview With Tiffany

Here on the blog, I love to share, not only our family’s life homeschooling, but “our life” collectively as homeschoolers. That is why I regularly post interviews with everyday homeschool moms just like you! I hope you will be encouraged by reading this story: Second Generation Homeschooler | An Interview With Tiffany

Video: Second Generation Homeschooler | An Interview With Tiffany

Introduce Yourself

Hi, I’m Tiffany! I have a blog at growingdawn.com where I share about homesteading, homeschooling, faith, cooking, and a hodge-podge of things that I’m passionate about. I’m a musician and a mama of four boys ages 10, 8, 6, and 3. We’ve been homeschooling all the way through so far, and I was homeschooled myself as well!

What attracted you to homeschooling?

Well, in some ways, it was kind of like there was no other option for me to choose for my kids. I guess because I was homeschooled myself, and I really enjoyed it. Looking back, I can see the value that it brought to my life.

My favorite thing about homeschooling is the time and freedom it gives my kids, and our whole family, really. And being the primary ones to shape our kids’ worldview is very important to my husband and I. I love that we’re able to instill a Biblical worldview in them and not have as much outside influence from the culture of the world, which goes against Christian values in many ways.

Was there something about your experience being homeschooled that made you want to homeschool your kids?

I really enjoyed having the time and freedom. It gave me the ability to work on things that I probably otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to do. I got to spend a lot of time learning music, learning computer skills, and just honing in on those more specialized skills. I think it would have been hard to find the time to focus on those things at a young age if I had spent 6-8 hours a day in a typical school. And in public school, it’s a little more difficult to find people that will pour into you in an individualized way.

How does your homeschool look the same or different from how you were homeschooled?

There’s definitely ways it’s both the same and different. The way that it’s the same would be the values that we’re instilling in them. They are the same ones that were instilled to me. I think that’s just a testament to homeschooling being a way to practice the Biblical idea of passing down wisdom and telling of God’s faithfulness–in a way that will actually affect generations to come. If anything, my husband and me have made growing our kids’ faith an even more central part of our homeschooling. We’re focused on that.

As far as ways that it’s different, the main one would be the homesteading aspect. I did not grow up farming at all. In fact, I was actually very squeamish about blood and guts…which, come to find out, plays a pretty big role in homesteading! I am really glad that our kids are getting to experience some of the realities of living off the land at such a young age.

For those of us who were not homeschooled, it seems like an advantage to go into it having had that experience. Can you give advice to new moms who weren’t homeschooled themselves?

For me, I don’t know any other way. I was homeschooled all the way through twelfth grade. I never went to public school. Of course, we did a lot of social things like going to co-op and other extracurricular activities. But what I see new moms doing the most is taking on the unnecessary pressure of making your homeschool look like a typical public school classroom. I would say to let go of that expectation, because it’s probably not going to look like that at all. And that’s okay, because it really shouldn’t!

Especially in the younger years, focus on the basics like reading, writing, and math. Read to your kids. Involve them in your everyday work and responsibilities, because they are learning so much more from that than you know. Involve them in your cooking, cleaning, and whatever else that you are doing.

In what ways is your homestead a part of learning with your kids?

Homesteading gives our kids an opportunity to learn a lot of life skills like taking care of animals, cooking, and gardening. I really like that it teaches them compassion and appreciation for animals and for the land. Also, it gives them the opportunity to see all of these living things fulfill their purpose in real time as opposed to just reading about it in a book.

Now, there are some tough things in homesteading like death and getting attached to animals. But I believe learning how to accept that has been really healthy for them. More than anything else, homesteading has grown my kids’ character, which I think is one of the most valuable things that they could gain.

What has been your biggest challenge?

One thing that I think a lot of people deal with is having a strong-willed child or one that is really active and doesn’t respond to just reading a textbook and answering comprehension questions. My second son is like that, and it has been challenging to adjust to his learning style. He has really taught me to let go of my expectations of how things should look.

It’s stretched me, because I’ve had to figure out how to teach things in a different way. I am intentional to give him more hands-on learning and to just go at his own pace. So yes, I’ve overcome the difficulties by being willing to let go of my expectations. And I can have pretty high expectations sometimes, so it hasn’t been easy… but it has been good.

Another challenge has been adjusting to having multiple kids in school. That was really a struggle at first. Every time you have another child come up into Kindergarten, it’s just a big adjustment. We have four kids—one of them is a toddler right now and the others are school age. Again, managing that has come down to me letting go of unrealistic expectations and being willing to be flexible with our scheduling. When things get tough during a school day, sometimes it helps to just put things away for a while and remember that we aren’t trying to fit into that “typical classroom” box.

What is it like homeschooling all boys?

I don’t know it any other way! To me it’s just the way it is. I do love having my boys. They are very sweet. And even though I have all boys, they are each so different. They have different personalities and different fun things about them that I enjoy. Yes, they are a bit rowdy sometimes and are very good at stretching me mentally, but I really just try to lean into the way God made them by letting them express their testosterone (in a healthy way, of course). We take a lot of breaks to let them get that energy out. Overall, it’s great, and I love it!

Tiffany’s Favorite Resources

Gather Round

The last few years we have been using Gather Round and I do really like it for the ages that I have. As they get older, I think we will have to move to something else, but it’s really great in the elementary ages and I have a lot in that age range right now.

Reading Eggs

This is an online resource that is approximately for ages 3-7. It teaches them phonics skills and slowly putting sounds together. They have really enjoyed this and learned a lot from it.