You wouldn’t put your peace lily and your desert cactus on the same watering schedule, would you? Well, raising a large family is a little like tending a garden. Each child needs a different kind and level of care. Today on Home School Heartbeat, guest Marcia Somerville joins host Mike Farris to discuss how an understanding of childhood development can help your family thrive.
Mike Farris:
This week, I’m joined by Marcia Somerville, who homeschooled six children and has authored the Tapestry of Grace curriculum and is a good friend of mine for a long, long time. Marcia, thanks for being with us today.
Marcia Somerville:
Thanks for having me Mike, it’s always an honor.
Mike:
Marcia, when you talk to parents who are homeschooling large families, you discuss three areas of childhood development. What are those areas, and how can understanding them help parents in their childraising?
Marcia:
I think the big areas that a parent needs to be concerned about are the academic, physical, and social development. And what can happen to busy parents is they don’t keep track of all three. Cause, you know, you have lots of kids and each of those kids has different stages and the stages don’t always keep pace with one another. So sometimes you can be too focused on the academics and not realize about social issues. Sometimes you be too focused on the physical, like in sports, and not realize social issues. So all three of those types of development have to be considered by the parents, and it’s a hard job! The best way we found to deal with it has been to try to take semi-annual evaluations of each child on paper. Evaluate where each child is, how they’re getting along in each of the three areas, and then what we can do to make in-flight corrections.
Mike:
Marcia, thanks so much for sharing what you’ve learned over these valuable years of experience. I’m Mike Farris.
