| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| ashcordes |
Posted - Feb 26 2007 : 12:09:44 PM
Just wondering if anyone here homeschooled their children and if so do you have any advice, etc. for me as I try to make this decision for me and my children. My hubby thinks I've lost my mind to want to try to do this, but he thinks that about most things I do that are "different from the mainstream".
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| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| TheSoapMaven |
Posted - Mar 27 2007 : 3:15:44 PM
Dont have time to read all the responses right now...will a little later. But we too have been homeschooling forever!!! Since 1988. So 19 years here too! Would NOT change a thing. My oldest son has a little man who just turned three. He and his son's mom had never really discussed this subject but in his work he has to visit area high schools (they live in the city)and as soon as he left one yesterday, he called his son's mom and said "I dont care if I have to work THREE jobs, Sam is NOT going to public high school!" To which Sam's mom says "Well, gosh I just assumed we were homeschooling him." Awww ... I sure hope so! It isnt for everyone I realize but I kinda believe its for everyone I love! Anyway Zach (my oldest) just couldnt wait to tell me. He knew it would make me feel really good. Not that I would butt in if they decided to do otherwise. I raised mine by my rules and they are great parents so whatever they decide will be what's right for them.
I have real REAL strong feelings and opinions on education so I will read ALL the posts before I go butting in here! I will say however when people ask or offer their opinion on "socialization" I just try to explain as nicely as possible (and that can vary depending on how they take my answer and if they continue)that I am not raising children, I am raising adults. And I think our society reflects just how well the present system is working. Not that my children are perfect, they most certainly are NOT. But neither are their parents! But I challenge anyone to have a better relationship with their grown children than I do. And that was much of my goal in their education, to not only school them in educational requirements, but to prepare them to enter into relationships outside our family. Growing up secure and confident was one thing I wanted for all my children. So far, so good. More later.
Susan
http://www.thesoapmaven.com
http://notquitejunecleaver.com
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| Hannah |
Posted - Mar 27 2007 : 12:30:39 PM
Hi, I know this topic is already three pages long but I wanted to add in that we home educate. I don't like the term "Homeschool" because it conjurs up images of kids penned behind desks all day. We have a son in kindergarted and a daughter doing a mix of second and third grade. Each child learns differently and we've found home educating to fit us perfectly. Our son is very analytical and likes to figure out how things work, doesn't care a thing about reading yet, but knows more about machinery and tools than most. He's 4 yrs old. Our daughter reads chapter books and is our social butterfly. She's 6 yrs old. NY state requires us to register our kids when they turn 6 so this is our first year of filling out loads of paperwork and taking the required testing. Some states are much more home education friendly. NY gets a "F".
Each day I have a few pages of work for the kids, usually a math page and reading/writing assignment for daughter and tracing letters for son. After that, just make the rest of their day a learning experiance. We tapped our trees for maple syrup, picked out poultry that would do well in our area, learn fractions when baking, the color wheel while painting, ect. We read a lot and that covers history/geography and science subjects. There is a homeschool group we belong to that offers soccer and group lessons on various subjects, swimming, ect. |
| Sweet Harvest Homestead |
Posted - Mar 26 2007 : 6:31:03 PM
Whoa Rosemary! A big pat on the back to you girl. Great Job with your daughters.
Lindy
www.sweetharvesthomestead.typepad.com |
| cabingirl |
Posted - Mar 25 2007 : 06:19:14 AM
Hi everyone, I am new here and want to add my thoughts to this post. I homeschooled both of my daughers K-12 and loved every minute of it. We did use a structured school plan and they did very well. My oldest will graduate from college in May with honors and our youngest will be a senior in college next year. Both have remained on the Dean's list throughout their college experience. If your heart is really in homeschooling and your are dedicated, I think you can make a success of it. I realize that different children have different problems, but I think with time and prayer it can work out for you.
R-Mary
"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
www.lifeinacordwoodcabin.blogspot.com |
| Lizabeth |
Posted - Mar 15 2007 : 12:07:59 PM
As a "graduate" of homeschooling... I loved my experience. My mom went through phases of unschooling, school at home, and a mix of both (do these minimum assignments, then whatever interests you). She eventually settled on taking different approaches for different children (I'm the eldest of six, all have been homeschooled) which meant she could approach and present learning in the way most compatible with the child's age and personality.
I am reading "Minds of Boys" an interesting book that presents how to best aid boys in their learning. there are even two chapters related to preschoolers! My son is fourteen months old and we are just starting to go to a mothers of preschoolers group, and a friday morning play group at our local childrens museum. so even now his learning is beginning.
My husband is a ps ms teacher. we haven't yet decided how to school babykins. but I'll certainly consider homeschooling!
http://www.handcraftsbyheather.com |
| marisa |
Posted - Mar 15 2007 : 09:49:33 AM
Holly (armywifey) - I completely agree with your philosophy!! Great posts!
We are doing kindergarten, and we loosely use the Heart of Wisdom approach. http://www.heartofwisdom.com. |
| Sweet Harvest Homestead |
Posted - Mar 06 2007 : 6:03:02 PM
The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise.
A most excellent book Tasha. I have it by my bed and read from it often.
Lindy
www.sweetharvesthomestead.typepad.com |
| GaiasRose |
Posted - Mar 01 2007 : 12:05:57 PM
while we have not begun any formal educating yet, as MN law does not require us to start compulsory education until age 7, grace is 4.5 and reading, has an affinity for science and geology specifically, can count sky high and is starting basic math applications. She knows more than any 4.5 year old I have known and I am so proud of her! We are going the unschooling route. I have read many a book, essay and journal on homeschooling and unschooling and I feel this is the best route to go. I can already tell you that once when I treid to sit her down in the craft room(when it was just my office) with a chalk board and desk that we both got frustrated and burned out. It is only in learning naturally that she has been able to learn as much as she has. I have a 4.5 year old reader! I can't be doing anything wrong if I have a 4.5 year old reader!
The best book I have read, I must say, is "The Well Trained Mind" and forgive me but I am coming short on the two authors, a mother and daughter, and I am not able to go find it at the moment....but of my books ont he topic, I would say that it is the most valuable to me. It is pretty much the curriculum-if you want to call it that- that I will be using. It is an awesome guide.
While one does not need education to teach their children, I am very thankful for my education. It was VERY well rounded. I attended UWEC, Colorado College and The College of St. Catherine. The best education I got was at St. Kate's and I take from the three what I need and toss the rest in applying it to teaching my kids.
In my opinion, language is the key to learning everything else-I was an English Major afterall. Once language is mastered, and it's ins and outs, the rest will come because the rest really is just language. Math-universal language, science-universal language. When one reads abuot things they have an affinity for, in addition, then their knowledge of that affinity becomes better and their language skills become better.
Oh I could go on and on....education is in my heart, but not for realy being a teacher, but in learning all I can....I am excited to learn along side my kids, because lets face it, we DO learn something new daily! To incorporate Greek and Roman mythology into why we hang mistle toes at Yule, or when we celebrate the solistices and get to teach about the Earth's rotation and axis and such, or to relate the bean sprouts we had at dinner the other night with botany and horitculture and growing a garden....showing childrent hat that bean sprout would have grown into something grand but is also as equally grand in it's current state. Learning about the different forms of water when they all seem to occurin one day in a Minnesota Winter...IMHO,t here is somuch to learn without the use of a standard curriculum. Of course we read and learn from books too...but the attention span of a 4.5 year old is not great for learning directly from a book. they need to be in on the action, you know?
that is all I had to say on it thus far in my tenure as parent educator.
~*~Brightest Blessings~*~
Tasha-Rose
Blogs: http://gaiarose.wordpress.com
http://frugalwitch.wordpress.com
http://tasharose365.wordpress.com/
Homepage: http://mysticwoodsfarm.com
http://gaiasrose.etsy.com
Birth is safe, interference is risky; TRUST BIRTH |
| sleepless reader |
Posted - Mar 01 2007 : 11:23:22 AM
(long answer)
Shannon, you have recieved so much good advice already! I'm still going to drop in my 2-cents worth :)
I have been homeschooling my daughter for four years now.It is the best thing I could have done for either of us! Every summer, just before we start back (we are with a charter school) I give her the option to return to "regular" school. She keeps refusing. She has blossomed into quite a learner. She isn't as "fast" as some of her friends when it comes to knowing multiplication, but then she was never speed tested on those things. She is vary curious about the natural world and loves any thing related to science. She has become quite a reader too :)
My son chose to "come home" for his JR and Sr years of HS. HE was able to take some of his courses at the community college. He was invited to a dance or two by friends, so he didn't feel he was missing the social stuff. He did so much better at home where we were able to discuss his studies and where he wasn't assigned any busy work.He now attends community college full time.
I agree with everybody who says get your husband's support in this. My husband has been very supportive and has even been our "substitute" teacher if I need a day off for something.
Here are some things we do and "count as school": gardening (science, PE , history, and language/Latin); beach day (science, PE); trips to the symphony/children's concerts (music, history); sewing (math, art, history) just to name a few. The thing I love most about homeschooling is being able to be outside the box.
Good luck with your decision,
Sharon
PS We do go through a spring fever slump every year where we don't want to do work, don't want to do anything but be outside...I feel it coming on now! Since I know it's bound to hit us, I try and beef up the work she gets done between January and March :) It's all about finding what works for your family.
Life is messy. Wear your apron! |
| Love-in-a-Mist |
Posted - Mar 01 2007 : 09:39:36 AM
As soon as I am done being sick, I'm going to make a trip to the book store
Farmgirl and mother of 2
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| ArmyWifey |
Posted - Feb 28 2007 : 7:14:38 PM
Hey with 4000 square feet you can have your half and I'll have mine! My kiddos wouldn't mind one bit helping with the chores -- at least not initally! ;)
I love to decorate too --- that's one fun thing about being military I always get to change it up when we move! I told dh that I will know exactly what I do and don't want in a house/kitchen when we retire! Bathrooms are fun because they're small.
you're welcome for the encouragement.
Blessings,
Holly
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!
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| sweetproserpina |
Posted - Feb 28 2007 : 5:23:31 PM
quote:
Originally posted by ArmyWifey
Thought this article was very telling as well:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070228/us_nm/students_boredom_dc
dont' know any high school homeschoolers who say they are bored personally
food for thought,
Holly
I'm not a homeschooler at all, but as someone who has (relatively- about 7 years ago) recently finished public schooling, I have to agree that school, for the most part, was boring. So much time was spent on 'busy' work it felt like a waste of time to me. I once even had a teacher tell me that I would have been better off learning on my own at home because most teachers set such a slooow pace. Yikes!
"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world."
http://theprimroseway.blogspot.com/ |
| Sweet Harvest Homestead |
Posted - Feb 28 2007 : 5:08:09 PM
We homeschool too.
Started out using Abeka and then switched last year to Sonlight. I tried to act like we were in a formal school setting. I got the desks and put up posters a chalk board, you name it.
I have found over the last couple of years though that the best way for "us" is just being a lot more relaxed.
A good book to read is Better Late Than Early and The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook.
Both are by Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore. Also Ruth Bechicks The Three R's.
All three books helped me to not be so pushy. I, like a lot of you had a hard time with relatives thinking that we had lost our minds. I found myself wanting to show them that we were going to be a success at this no matter what. Unfortunately, I pushed my little boys too much when they were not quite ready. ( glad I am out of that silly mindset now ).
We really do enjoy it. We start at nine and are finished by noon. They are young yet but are learning so much.
Best of luck to you.
Lindy
www.sweetharvesthomestead.typepad.com |
| Love-in-a-Mist |
Posted - Feb 28 2007 : 4:03:06 PM
Lol, sure you can move in, but you have to help clean house and the barn! Oh yeah and mow and weed.
My brother came to visit last Fall. While my hubby was gone hunting, my brother was up early cutting wood and building fires. He had to help me bring feed in to the barn once. He said he wasn't coming back because it was too much work. And that I tricked him promising he could have his own room and bathroom when really I was just trying to get him here to put him to work. lol He is in the Air force.:)
Before we moved in we lived in a tiny trailer house in the front yard. I didn't know how good I had it. This house has 3 fire places and 4 bathrooms. I ran out of bathroom themes! And I Love decorating. It's not all nice and ritzy either they built it and that was it. It hadn't been worked on, painted, nothing for 30 yrs, if it broke it never got fixed because farming took all my father-in-laws time.
Oh well, I am going to talk to my husband tonight about all this. And make some pros and cons lists like you said. Thanks for the encouragement.
Shannon
Farmgirl and mother of 2
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| ArmyWifey |
Posted - Feb 28 2007 : 12:48:45 PM
Thought this article was very telling as well:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070228/us_nm/students_boredom_dc
dont' know any high school homeschoolers who say they are bored personally
food for thought,
Holly
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!
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| ArmyWifey |
Posted - Feb 28 2007 : 12:38:53 PM
Shannon,
You can do it..... all those chores ARE homeschooling. ANimal husbandry, science, etc. The Bible says in John you can do NOTHING without Christ and that includes homeschooling, being a military wife, and farming! With little ones you really only spend about 1-2 hrs doing school and then you're done! (20 minutes per subject covers reading, writing/handwriting/copywork, math, Bible and spelling which is plenty in my book for kids under 4th grade!)
I've known a lot of people who get out of the military for the wrong reasons or because they thought life would be easier on the "outside" who wind up getting back in for a time. There are lots of hard things about the military but there are lots of wonderful things too.
I had lots of friends who told me I should put the kids in school while hubby was on his last deployment (2nd go round in Iraq Mar05-Jan06) and I seriously thought about it but for us this is normal and it would have been more stressful to have to deal with the school on top of everything. The kids wouldn't have known what to do.
Sometimes it helps me to sit down and make a pros and cons list, and a sample schedule to really SEE what it would be like -- if hubby can help with it that's even better.
Really cover this in prayer and with hubby too if he's willing.
Blessings,
Holly
ps--- another thin to revamp is your concept of what chores the kids can do they usually are able to do more than we give them!
Oh and can I come live with you? 4000sq ft? Yowza! None of our homes have been over 1700!!!
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!
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| _Rebecca_ |
Posted - Feb 28 2007 : 11:18:50 AM
I homeschooled my oldest child for 2 years until a classical Christian school opened at our church. Now my oldest and my second oldest go there and they love it. I am glad that we homeschooled in the absence of a classical school for them to go to, but to be honest, there is something about them learning their subjects with other children in a classroom and having chapel once a week and having to learn with others. Their school is working on accredidation and it will go up through the 12th grade. It is a big expense to send them there, but I see so many benefits to it.
On homeschooling, we used Veritas Press for curriculum. This is what their school uses as well. We shopped at homeschool fairs and talked to lots of people. I love David Quine of the Cornerstone Curriculum too.
With Grace,
.·:*¨¨* :·.Rebecca.·:*¨¨* :·. "Take out the weeds from some wild spot, remove each stone that shows, plant seeds of friendship good and deep, and tend the plant that grows." Mary Freeman Startzman |
| Love-in-a-Mist |
Posted - Feb 28 2007 : 08:42:27 AM
Thank you for your insight and prayers Daile. I asked my son last night what he wanted and he said for me to teach him. I asked if he would miss his friends at school and he said "Just James, but we know where he lives now"
I mentioned everybodies points to my husband and he agreed, without talking much, which is good. I'm not sure exactly where he stands on it now.
Another "problem" that keeps coming up for us, is my husband does not like farming. Right now he is the only son that has come back to the farm and his Dad can't do it alone, he is ready to slow down and retire. His parents gave us the house that they built 30 yrs ago, and moved into a smaller one on the farm. Alot of sacrifices have been made by all to keep the farm going. When his brother comes back this Fall, my husband wants to join the reserves. He got out of the Marines right before 9/11. And felt like he never got to do what he was trained to do all that time. He tried joining the fire department and became an EMT, but it's just not cutting it he says. When we got married he wanted out of the Marines so bad and to come back to the farm. It's hard for me to support him, I feel like he is being very selfish. But he makes himself miserable and everyone around him. I usually feel like it is my fault that he came back to the farm. This morning I asked him, exactly how we ended up here, because I don't remember having a conversation telling him I would only marry him if we came back to the farm.
He said it was HIM and at one point when we were engaged I was going to go to nursing school and he was going to go to sniper school. I feel better about it, but I just want to yell at him that I don't always like being a farmer's wife but that's what we chose so too bad, get over it.
I have to think about how this is going to effect my home schooling decision. If he goes back in and gets deployed, I have sooo much responsibility here. We have horses, cows, llamas, sheep, chickens, rabbits, cats, dogs, turkeys and a 4,000sq ft house and 5 acre yard. All these animals are ours too, they have nothing to do with the others on the farm. I can barely handle it all when he is here.
OK sorry for whining. Any advice?
Farmgirl and mother of 2
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| ArmyWifey |
Posted - Feb 27 2007 : 9:50:32 PM
We used to joke that our hs pregnancy rate was because it was built over the old red light district! (seriously -- I'm from Tombstone, AZ).
just an aside
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!
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| Love-in-a-Mist |
Posted - Feb 27 2007 : 9:07:01 PM
Wow, I had no idea about the cervical cancer vaccine.
We have a problem with teen pregnancy in our town. We have a teen parenting building across the street from the high school. They built it about 12 years ago when I was a sophomore. There were 2-3 pregnant girls my whole time in high school, Juniors and Seniors. This year there have been 16 in high school, 3 in Junior high and 2 in 6th grade. A few of them are on their 2nd baby. The girls are so starved for attention at home, they finally found a place to belong. The ones looking in, see all the special attention the girls are getting and decide having a baby is a good idea. It's so hard to watch and there is no easy answer. That was one of the things that got my husband to agree to home schooling.
Farmgirl and mother of 2
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| sweetoatmealhill |
Posted - Feb 27 2007 : 9:03:31 PM
I've only been homeschooling our 5 year old for about a year, but at this point I don't plan on making any changes. I will be the first to admit it has been a growth period for me much more than her. I've had to adjust, but God has used this to grow us both as mom/dghtr, and as individuals.
I started out with more of the traditional PS picture in my head, but that didn't really work all that well. I know there are others who's homeschooling looks quite similar to PS, but if anything I've been moving away from it. I knew that I wasn't the sort of person to research and organize my own curriculum as some I know do, so I had to work with something else. I liked the idea of the Charlotte Mason concept (basically, using quality literature to teach any subject in a wide variety of ways), but knew from the beginning that I needed more structure.
When I started I was using a book called Five In a Row. Basically you read a quality book for five days with your child, and each day would use it to study one or more different "subjects". It is a great idea, but didn't provide ME with enough structure. I would let tasks and other children take priority, and it was too sporadic to be good for anyone.
We bought Sonlight curriculum in October, and I have to say that while I don't think it's perfect at all, it was an answer to prayer. I have the choice of a 4 or 5 day schedule and it tells me exactly what I need to do each day. The beauty of this is that I can completely choose what I do and how I do it. I can take a lesson and teach it some other way, I can skip it altogether, or I can make it stretch on for weeks.
I've had to deal with my daughter fighting me (we also are too similar to not lock horns some), but God has used and is using it to do awesome things for us both. It has actually brought us closer together and continues to do so.
I also continue to struggle with what to do with the younger siblings while teaching. It's relatively easy now because teaching a kindergardener doesn't require a lot of time per se, but I see this as a growing challenge in the coming years.
Next year I'm enrolling my dghtr in a one day program at a local Christian school that will provide art, PE, music, and science. This is both for needed time for us to be apart, and to give her an even wider scope of life experiences.
By the way, I also had family worry about our kids becoming "weirdos". I have to say that my viewpoint is that if homeschooled kids grow up as unusual individuals they would have been so even if they went to PS.
If you pray about it and feel God leading you to try again, I definitely would encourage you to seek out support and resources from minute one.
Thanks for the oppurtunity to reflect, and I am praying right now for you. |
| Aunt George |
Posted - Feb 27 2007 : 8:36:49 PM
Thank you for this discussion. I have been seriously considering homeschooling my two daughters. They are doing well in PS, but there are things happening in the middle school that I really don't want to expose them too. Also there is a bill before legislators that would require all 6th grade girls to get the cervical cancer vaccine...I'm sorry, but I am against that being a mandate for school attendance for girls. There are other reasons of course, but I saw the love of learning squashed in my son in 5th grade, and I don't want that to happen to my girls. Well, getting sleepy, thanks again for this wonderful thread of conversation!
http://auntgeorgeshouse.blogspot.com/index.html
Thanks for checking out my apron and sewing musings! |
| Love-in-a-Mist |
Posted - Feb 27 2007 : 7:55:50 PM
I like reading what you all have to say, so dragging on is good. lol
I'm not sure where God is calling us. My view of what home schooling consists of, is still changing and growing.
One thing I really like about Christian school is learning about the bible and applying it to life. I am a relatively new Christian and still learning and discovering things myself. There is alot that I don't know. I feel it gives them a head start on life.
In Oregon, home schoolers have to take state tests to make sure they are keeping up. That is the only reason I am bringing up testing.
I never thought about how much control you and kids have over what they learn as it relates to what they want to be. What a big head start in life. I never graduated high school, I went all the way through though. They lost me after 8th grade. And you guys are right, they killed my love of learning. I am just now discovering it again and it is so much fun. In high school if it didn't have to do with horses I wasn't listening or didn't care. When I was told I should find something else to do I just rebelled more. Throw in my parents divorce and knowing we didn't have enough money for me to go to college and I didn't graduate.
I want my children to be encouraged to follow their dreams and do what God is calling them to do.
Farmgirl and mother of 2
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| ArmyWifey |
Posted - Feb 27 2007 : 7:02:39 PM
Just another thought -- I know I'm draggin on here sorry!
I personally think that pre-school and even K are usually unecessary. Most kids just need parents who pay attention to them, color, play with playdough, pretend play, numbers,lots of reading aloud, copying words out of books or off signs, letters, things like that! That being said if you and hubby feels it's necessary that's fine I just wouldn't put out the money. I was worried with eldest dd (17yo) if she would measure up to all her peers when she started school. We couldn't afford pre-school and we just did at home stuff like I mentioned above but she far exceeded them from the first day of school!
Also your "real" world is different than mine......etc,etc. So what does that really mean? Define it for you. Example: The real world for my chidren includes the war in Iraq in a personal way so they know exactly where Iraq is on a map, and probably more about some of the issues than their non-military counterparts; Geography is practical -- everytime we move!; our real world means Daddy doesn't come home every night or even at the same time every night - our schedule is differnt than a 9-5 job at this point, etc......
DH is quite happy as well with homeschooling because when he's off - we're off if we want to be. We have much more flexibility to spend time together as a family and do things together without worrying about the school's schedule or how many absences we have or when we can withdraw the kids for the year, etc,etc.....
Blessings!
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!
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| Persephone |
Posted - Feb 27 2007 : 6:15:03 PM
Can't speak to the formally schooling question yet, the short answer is won't be doing that at all. But I wanted to say that I was in a private Christian school from first through 7th grades, and the only thing I missed out on in the private schools were bad words (though I did learn a few, they weren't tossed around like they were in PS), and sex jokes. I wasn't sheltered in any way that has impacted my adulthood, and I dare say that I got a much better religious education than my dh, who was PSed all the way. I'm glad for that today. |
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