What is afterschooling? Why do it?

Afterschooling: like homeschooling, but for people who need to keep their kids in school.

You may already be afterschooling. Your child may be taking music lessons, or attending events at a local nature preserve, or playing a history-based RPG or video game. It may also include things like getting tutored or using online websites in subject in which your child excels or struggles. More formal afterschooling just means organizing or formalizing enrichment outside of school. 

While afterschooling could be as simple as focusing on one topic of enrichment, this blog will be more for people who need a broader array of learning. Spending an hour or two a week on competition math problems, for example, is not a complicated thing to arrange. Trying to arrange a more robust learning system is a little more complicated.

Why afterschool?

  • Your school doesn't offer a gifted program, or the gifted program is minimal. Or your child may  need extra help that is not forthcoming at school.
  • The curriculum does not cover subjects of import, or covers subjects in ways that do not match your values.
  • Remote learning seems like treading water rather than moving forward. 
  • You want your child to engage with subjects more deeply than remote learning or traditional schooling style might otherwise allow. 
If you have the time or resources or patience, it may make sense to fully homeschool. But for most people, that is not an option.

Why not afterschool?
  • Kids and parents are already busy.
  • Unstructured time is incredibly important.
  • While it's cheaper than private school, it isn't always free.
  • It takes effort and organization that may already be in short supply.
  • Teaching is not for everyone.
When I started my afterschooling journey, I did what we all do now; I looked it up on the internet. On message boards, there seemed to be two sorts of messages about afterschooling: "This is what I plan to do this year!" and "This is how I failed and why I'm giving up." The former included aggressive organization and lists of all the systems that would be used. Those posts made me sweat just reading them.

And then I made the connection. People fail at afterschooling because they try to do homeschooling, after school, which is A LOT. 

And so I decided that instead of fixing everything wrong with my kid's education, I'd just dip my toe. I would set achievable goals. I would use all the resources I could. I would prioritize. And most importantly, I would keep in mind that education is a marathon, not a sprint. Success in a few things is better than failure in everything. And though our time for afterschooling is limited on any given week, it's amazing what you can accomplish over time.

And, FWIW, afterschooling has been incredibly rewarding. I've learned alongside my children. I've watched them become interesting, well-educated people. I've noticed that they can now tackle bigger problems than they used to, with greater perseverance. I've seen them begin their lives as citizens of the world, with an awareness of the great variety of culture and thought that exists beyond our corner of things. It's hard to imagine anything more inspiring. 

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