Including Teens in Family Learning, Interview with Amy Sloan

The Homeschool Highschool Podcast

This week on Homeschool Highschool Podcast: Including Teens in Family Learning, Interview with Amy Sloan.

Including Teens in Family Learning, Interview with Amy Sloan

Vicki is so excited to talk in this episode with Amy Sloan of Humility and Doxology, because she is going to bless us with two things!

1. The opportunity to listen to a second generation homeschooler! This is so much fun for us old timers: What a treat to listen to the wisdom radiating from another generation of homeschooling moms (especially homeschooling moms who were homeschooled themselves)!
2. The opportunity to glean some wisdom on how to make the most of homeschooling multiple kids without losing the teens. As you may have noticed when homeschool moms are busy with the intensive hands-on learning with the youngers while the teens are doing more independent work. While this is good and right, it can be easy to feel like family learning time gets lost. No fear: Amy’s been through it as a homeschooler and a homeschooling mom of multiple kids (ages 6-16). She has ideas!
3. BTW- Amy’s husband is a second generation homeschooler, himself!

Amy Sloan
Photo used by permission

Wisdom from Amy: What did she like about homeschooling so much that she decided to homeschool her own kids?

• Freedom and flexibility
• Design education programs that fit each kid’s needs
• Ability to use real books (and not just textbooks)
  • Check out our post on light-hearted classics teens like
  • Or this post on high-interest books for reluctant readers
  • Check out 7Sisters complete list of our literature study guides to build on the richness of your read alouds.
• Ability to really delve into the ideas (rather than simply regurgitating information)
• Ability to invest in other homeschool moms through her blog and podcast (Homeschool Conversations)
• Ability to share a family culture
• Ability to design her curriculum around the core concepts of humility and doxology
  • Humility: to not think of oneself more highly than one should
  • Doxology: learning and wonder lead to worship

With kids aged six through sixteen, she wanted her youngers to have shared family memories of “family learning or circle time” even though her teens naturally are more active in things outside the home.

This is all the more true as she sees graduation approaching for a couple of her homeschoolers.

So she calls the family together in the morning. Together they share:

• Classic books
• Beautiful poetry
  • For teens who LOVE poetry and want to earn an ELA poetry credit or just enrich their poetry experiences, check out these posts
• Famous speeches
• Prayer time
• Scripture memory (adapted according to age-level)

She does remember that her teens have many demands of the their time and energy so she is careful not to overwhelm them. She spends some extra circle time with the youngers after the high schoolers are dismissed. (She also remembers that teens sometimes have demands or needs that precludes their participation on some days.)

More details on Amy’s circle time with all the kids:

• Memorizing longer passages of Scripture (like a chapter or two, a couple of verses at a time, memorized by reading together responsively. For instance:
  • Select passages from Romans (two to six verses per chapter)
  • Sermon on the Mount
  • Favorite Psalms
  • Hebrews 11
• Memorizing Shakespeare passages
  • Amy has a curate playlist on her website, with kid-appropriate clips and ideas
  • Select passages from Much Ado About Nothing
  • Marc Antony’s funeral oration from Julius Caesar
• Favorite books vary by seasons of life
  • Historical novels
  • Random and fun books such as:
    • King Arthur stories
    • Fairy tales
  • Serious inspiration like Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

What kind of buy-in do teenagers need when communicating about family learning?

• Keep a positive relationship
• Keep communication open to discussing teen needs
• Help them pick poetry and speeches that will interest them

What advice, having been homeschooled herself, does Amy have for homeschooling moms of teens?

• Read widely
• Read deeply
• Make sure they have plenty of time to read and do their own schoolwork
• Know when to outsource classes. Her teens have enjoyed:
  • Great books and writers
  • Chemistry (with our friend, Dr. Kristen Moon)
  • Mr. D Math
  • Dual enrollment at local college

Amy has found that learning poetry, speeches and classic books together, helps older teens learn more deeply as they work alongside and with their siblings.

Connect with Amy at HumilityandDoxology.com (download her freebie A Year of Memory Work) for lots of memorization ideas along with 100 favorite poems.

(Also, if your family is working on poetry memorization, download this freebie of illustrated classic poems, set to music for memorization.)

Don’t forget to check out her Homeschool Conversations podcast.

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