Choosing Curriculum

 

Homeschooling parents want to know three things:  What are the best products?  Can I do better?  And Am I doing enough?

Choosing homeschool materials can be time-intensive and can require much research on the part of parents. Some years ago, parents had to deal with the dilemma of having very little to choose from.  Today, we are lucky enough to be homeschooling at a time when the choices are amazing and when more becomes available each year.  Of course, the yin to this yang is that it requires more time and attention on our part to sort through the available curriculum and materials in order to locate and aquire the “right” materials for our family.
It helps to talk to other homeschooling families, but each family you ask will have different answers!  At first, thosesewing-1 early years of homeschooling, this can cause a parent to lose heart.  Eventually, the fact that every homeschool family is unique becomes one of the best things about homeschooling.

When it comes to choosing curriculum, remember, your family’s needs are more important than any expectations you will read/hear/feel from outside sources.  Trust your instincts where materials are concerned.  Why buy “Spelling, Level 3″ when your child, regardless of age, needs “Spelling, Level 2″?  Ignore those “levels” and “grades” that are attached to most material and choose each subject based on the level of your child, rather than the other way around.  Think of it as a quilt.  Choose the materials, sizes, shapes, textures, and quality that appeals to you and make it your own.quilt-11

There is no reason why you can’t combine materials from across the spectrum into your homeschool day.  A book from here, a film from there, workbook from a third place.  Happily, we are living at a time when our options are open and we are the seamstresses of our children’s education!  Choose pieces that you love, pieces that appeal to them, pieces that are unique.  Blend them into a work of art that is your child!

A father was shopping in the store this morning.  He and his wife are fairly new to homeschooling and they had come to shop, browse, educate themselves.  He asked me something along the lines of “what are the benefits of homeschooling”.  My Top of the List is the fact that I can teach my children at their level, rather than at the level of their peers.  In this way, we can zoom forward or stay in one place for awhile.  Flexibility.  Accept it.  Love it!

Will you use secular or Christian materials?  Again, this decision is one that wants to mesh with the goals of your family.  And it is possible to combine the two in order to find the materials that make sense to you.

I realize that these aren’t answers, per se.  But no one can tell you what is best for your family.  You will know it when you see it.  So, take some time, browse, educate yourself, ask around.  Eventually, you will find the materials that feel like “home” to you.

Are you still feeling confused?

Wanting more concrete assistance?

Check back soon.  I will talk more about various homeschool approaches and some materials that “fit” each one.

At Least TEN Good Reasons to Homeschool

atheist homeschool

What are the top ten benefits that homeschooling has to offer that your friendly, neighborhood public schools may not offer?  Well, the way I see it:

10. Your child can have an individualized education.

• As the parent, you can skip the child any number of grade levels and there is not one administrator bending over backwards and trying to explain why it is not possible. Does your child know it already…then SKIP IT this time! Is your child interested in a particular subject…spend lots more time on it!
• No classroom bells ending the period: ample time to complete, investigate, explore more, follow your bliss, surf, continue your learning!
• If a child has asynchronous development (and what child DOESN'T?), you can customize the work for acceleration in one area and remediation in another. My two children vary in their levels of skill in each subject…and we can accommodate each of them easily!

9.  Homeschooling can give a child the gift of time because it does not generally take 6 or 7 hours for a days’ work.

•  A child can follow his interests for hours a day!
•  There is plenty of time in the day for expanded exploration and extending fun and interesting activities on any given topic.
• There is time for household chores, play, hobbies and guilt-free reading for pleasure
• We take 1-3 hours per day for structured lessons…all of the rest is for following individual interests.

8.  The classroom has no walls.

• Field trips can occur at the parent’s discretion and can be spur- of-the-moment decisions.
• Pick up and move outdoors whenever you can.
• Follow up activities from a field trip can last as long as the interest lasts.
• Instruction can take place at the library, park, or even in the car on the way.

7.  The family can travel and not be subjected to a school calendar decided by the schools.

• A trip to a favorite tourist spot with all the educational value of the monuments, museums, and tours can be considered “unexcused” absence in the school system, not so if you are homeschooling.  
• All homeschoolers LOVE the off-peak travel benefits!

6.  Most homeschoolers have freedom from bureaucracy.

•  No rules about who can participate based on geographic location.
•  No rules about who cannot participate.
•  No rules about when to begin and when to end.
•  No rules about WHAT to teach WHEN.
•  No rigid rules to get in the way of your child’s needs.

5.  There is a short commute time from home to classroom.

• There is no strange zoning where your child is bused to a school on a 45 minute bus ride when there are two schools closer that the bus drives right past.
• NO WORRYING about that stranger that you heard about on the news who has been seen handing out near bus stops and schools.
• No car line in front of school for those that live too close to ride the bus.
• No tardys, no missed recesses, no lunch bell.
• No bus at all.

4.  Curriculum can be presented in a manner that suites the child.

• Parents can choose a traditional method or non-traditional.
• Curriculum can be modified without worrying about the implications it has on an entire group of students.
• If materials or approaches aren’t working a homeschooler can immediately try something else.
• Parents and children can learn together what method of learning WORKS for that child!

3.  Mastery learning is possible.

• Your child can master the content of a lesson before moving to the next lesson without inconveniencing others. Take as long as you need to on integers.
• Homeschoolers know that all kids get "A"s in all subjects.  Why? Because you don't more forward until your child is ready!

2.  There are no afternoon and evening homework battles.

1.  The PLACEMENT TESTS are not mandatory for a homeschooler.

• Woo Hoo.

Homeschool Co-Op Ideas

atheist homeschool atheist homeschool atheist homeschool

Many areas of the country now have wonderful homeschool support/educational/or co-op groups. These groups are a great way to share your skills and to learn more from other families around you. A Co-Op means, Co-operative…sharing your passions and learning about the passions about others…for free or cheap! For example, our family is heavily into the hobby of astronomy. We offer observing nights on a regular basis to our homeschooling friends, while they offer their skills to US!

As a family new to this form of sharing-the-love, you might be experiencing anxiety trying to think of something to offer your group. I know the fearful questions in your mind:  Do you have a skill? What are you qualified to teach? What can you do?

LOL…listen, we have all been there. Fear not, you have plenty to offer. Later you will think of things that interest you and that you wish to share with the group. For now, here are a few ideas you might like to borrow, keeping in mind that your children might have ideas of their own!

Homeschoolers are all about field trips, though it can be difficult to think of unique, educational, and fun places to explore as a group. I am certain we have all had our share of trips to the museums, parks, zoos, nature areas, theaters, and cultural events. Although I have created this list mostly from my brainstorming, I have also included wonderful ideas that I have seen or heard of through my own or other homeschool groups. Have you thought about some of these places:

• Attend civic meetings
• Use Public Transportation to get around town, use the posted schedules
• Swimming
• Creek or Pond Exploration
• Peterson Guides and Nature Walk
• Answer the phone for public television or radio fund drive
• Visit the state capitol
• Local History Field Trips
• Our community has some great hobby clubs that have meetings open to the public, including rock club, robotics club, astronomy club, ham radio club, and rocketry club
• Political Rally
• Go to the Airport
• Visit a Nursing Home and Sing
• Pick up Trash on an Empty Lot
• Daytrips
• Attend public lectures at local libraries, community center, community colleges
• Explore the Library
• Walk downtown taking pictures of interesting architecture
• We once visited a control tower at a small airport…very cool!
• Follow a creek and discuss how it oxbows, erodes, changes
• Tour the local university or college
• Mini Golf, create your own!
• Local tv/radio stations/firestation
• Tour of a local quarry, water treatment plant, utility company, city hall

I have found that one of the benefits of these unique field trips is that our children become familiar with and interested in the general functioning of our town. Since some of our trips, my kids now follow local news that mentions these place and they have really formed an attachment to our town; they have a real sense of belonging. Additionally, many of the people who work at these places are delighted to have visitors. Something I learned from a friend, if you interrupt a days’ activity at some places, it is such a kindness to bring a platter of brownies to thank them for hosting you!

ART

The Arts:  another place where homeschoolers excel! Parents would LOVE to have the mess at your house instead of their own and children love messy projects…serendipitous for you! There are so many ways to explore the arts. This list is not at all inclusive! In fact, it is only limited by my imagination at this moment. I’m sure that your imagination can come up with many more ideas. Turn your hobby into your next co op class idea.

Art work can be expensive or free. Use the resources available to you within your homeschool co op to find others who are interested in exploring the arts and combine your talents and resources. A clever method of offering good co op classes is working with another family within the co op in order to offer the best of both of your resources!

Here are some ideas for exploring the arts:

• Preschool Arts and Crafts
• Guitar Folk Singing in the Round
• Skits
• Tie Dye Extravaganza
• Woodworking
• Embroidery
• Study Abstract Art or Artists
• Visit Local Art Galleries or Local Artists and Artisans
• Gourd Decorating
• Beading
• Mendi, Henna
• Foreign Film Study
• Film Noir
• Paint a Room
• Weave
• Make a Movie
• Play Dress Up
• Dance With Bollywood (or other cultural music and dress up)
• Beginning Music Lessons
• Organize a Dance
• Photography
• Explore Poetry Types
• Sewing/Knitting/Crochet
• Explore an Artist or Musician or Historical Figure a Month
• Knot Tying
• One Family we know has the kids PAINT THEIR CAR!
• Finger painting
• Anything with Glitter and Glue
• Face and Body Painting
• Teach knitting from yarn purchase to finished product
• Study 30s films, early films, 50s films, any genre!
• Friendship Bracelets
• Make your own soap
• Design a logo for your co op
• Design and put out a newsletter or poetry booklet
• Campfire songs
• Write and perform a one act play
• Karaoke
• Paint t shirts
• Scrapbooking
• Creating art out of scraps and junk
• Make Paper
• Nature Crafts
• As for art projects, the sky is the limit!

OUTDOORS

While the weather cooperates, we all love it that we have the chance to take our children outdoors all day. It is a great way to get that sense of “this is why we homeschool” when you are able to find a great destination and give over totally to the outdoor experience. There is more that you can do than just play while you are in the parks! Try some of these ideas for free or very inexpensive co op class ideas at a local park, your home, or other public location:

• Orienteering
• Create an Obstacle Course
• Archery
• Cooking with Nature
• Create a Map
• Bring Binoculars and Microscopes
• Rock Collecting
• Hayride
• Basketball
• Bike Riding
• Clean a stretch of road or a favorite park
• Perform on the stage
• Scavenger Hunt of nature items (don’t remove them!)
• Photographing the letters of the alphabet in nature
• One wonderful woman I know stages a full out Olympics at the park!
• Power Ranger Day
• Spy Day
• Rocketry
• Group Games
• Jump roping and Jump rope rhymes
• Fly Kites
• Water Play Day
• Adopt a Family, Adopt a Road
• Plant a veggie, flower, or specialty garden

ACADEMIC CLASSES

Some obvious classes to offer are scholastic skill building. Classes that might be offered every week for the duration of the semester. Ongoing educational sessions that build on certain skills. Of course these classes require more planning. Some of this type of class might be a reading group, poetry writing, or math tutoring. But have you thought of these ideas?

• Current Events Review
• First Aid
• Homework Help, Tutoring
• Toastmasters, Public Speaking
• Bookkeeping, Personal Finance
• Study the Constitution
• Science Experiments
• Babysitting Skills
• Ethics Discussions, Socrates Cafe
• Pet Care
• Learn a President a Week
• Electrical Circuits
• Beginning Typing
• History Chapters
• Price Comparison Shopping
• Ethics Discussions
• Budgeting
• Creating a Resume
• Historical Fiction Reading Group
• Have a pretend Store and use real money
• American Sign Language
• Other Language
• Math Games
• Measuring
• Preschool/Early Book Reading with small project
• Baking Cookies/cake/cupcakes
• Write and produce a newscast
• Research a third world country each week
• Using your PC
• How Does it Work? AKA DESTRUCTION!
• Learn about propaganda
• Show and Share
• Board and Table Games
• Rock Club
• Create a Service Project
• Explore Southern Cooking
• Reading Time: Have the big ones read to the little ones
• Card Games
• Pokemon/Yu-gi-oh/Other card game day
• Yoga
• Volunteer at a local charity or soup kitchen
• Exercise class

EXTENDED FAMILY

Make sure to get your family involved! Groups of families working and playing together are a part of what makes the homeschooling lifestyle so remarkable. Talk to your relatives and see what skills or hobbies that they are willing to bring to the group as a way to participate in the education of your little ones by sharing their passions and interests. How about planning some activities that include extended family members…perhaps the ones who are curious about the homeschool decision.

Create activities that fit your family, your group, your home. In general, keep it simple and fun! Try some of these fun activities that are family-pleasers! Your family members will find them irresistible and feel proud to be a part of educating their loved ones!

• Bowling
• Play Bingo
• Grandma and Me Tea
• Make Fruit Salad
• Tell Family Stories
• Make Stone Soup
• Host a formal dinner party
• Go Caroling
• Camping Trips
• Raise funds for the community, donate for a community project
• Create a garden on a bulletin board from construction paper
• Have a yard sale
• Talk about Careers
• Collect books for your local library
• Have a car wash to earn money for a charity
• Manicures
• Bake Bread

COMPUTERS

As the wife of an IT guy, I would be remiss if I didn’t include some great computer class ideas! There is no doubt that the internet is a wonderful tool for our children. Why not use what is at our fingertips to improve our skills and to increase our knowledge? There are practical and fanciful ways to use the computer.

• Create or update the Webpage for your Co Op
• Edit the Co Op Member List
• Learn how to use MS Publisher or Paint
• Learn how to create Power Point Presentations
• Contact a HS group in another state and create a pen pal network
• News Reviews
• Robotics
• Create a Youtube channel
• Letter Writing
• General WWW Usage and Safety
• Contacting Political Figures by mail
• Creating petitions
• Surveys for your co op
• Designing Personal Books
• Resume Writing
• Design a Menu for an Upcoming Meal
• Write a Newsletter
• Create Origami
• Learn Photoshop

The key is to keep is simple, make it fun, don’t overburden yourself, and follow your own bliss! Include your children in the brainstorming and planning phase! My children have come up with some wildly successful co op class ideas, from a Power Ranger Party to swimming at the local pool to scavenger hunts across town. Children enjoying getting messy and creating things and most parents would be THRILLED to have these fun events happen at someone else’s house! Volunteer activities promote wonderful growth in our children and are much more fun when done in groups. Check out idea books at the library for even more ideas. If possible, get your hands on Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or other Scout handbooks for more great ideas, skits, and projects.

Can YOU think of any ideas to share?

Ask the Experts

Are you struggling to figure out why certain materials don’t work with your family?

If you have to stand over your child and help them with almost every item in a text or workbook, then you need to figure out what is wrong.

Either:
a.)  the work is too hard,
b.)  the work is too easy,
c.)  your child knows that he or she can finish quicker if *you* answer the questions for him
d.)  your child does not learn well using this material
e.)  your child may have a hidden learning disability or
f.)  none of these!

It is a tough call – but you CAN figure it out.  Luckily, you’re in the right spot to do just that!

Having various materials in the house doesn’t guarantee that they will be used.  So why not sit down with your child or children, go through a stack of books and materials and ask them to RANK them, comment on them, CHOOSE them.  Which are their favorites?  Which do they not connect with?  What is appealing about the things that they choose?  And what can you fit into the materials to fill in the gaps?

Include your child in the choices and you will see better cooperation and more motivation!

Putting the "Home" back into Homeschool

Choosing to be at home: A crucial step in creating a better homeschool environment is to be…at home! We need the long stretches of time that go uninterrupted by doctors, trips to piano lessons, vet appointments for the pet, post office, and grocery shopping are essential to create a feeling of time and space to learn. Just because you are at home, does not mean that you are “available”. Schedule “at home” days that are inviolable, fixed, and respected.

Pick up your calendar and mark large “X”s through one day each week. This is the day that you are not available! This is the day that you and your children will be at home. Being at home.
Oh, you will find many, many reasons why you can’t keep this little sacrosanct day. We’re not used to putting ourselves first! But keep yourself disciplined! Keep this once-a-week schedule firm. Be together at home. Cook. Lessons. Chores. Movies. Games. Hang out. Talk! After those first few times when you can’t keep this little promise to yourself, you will find that it becomes easier to say “no” to all of the outside activities and to put this family time first! You and your children will look forward to the “home” in homeschool again!

Eventually, you will be surprised at how carefully you protect that day!

Be smart about outside activities. There is no doubt that homeschooling families can find many, many opportunities outside of the home. Lessons, play dates, classes with friends, field trips, museums, et al. I am sure we can all point to dates on our calendars from this month that have all seven days FULL of fun and great activities outside in the community.

We all feel the pressure to do more! Go more! Participate more! Schedule more!

It’s not that I don’t appreciate what prodigies our children are! I know how important these events can be. I also know how important lunch at the kitchen table is. Food that didn’t come through the car window. Juice boxes scattered in the car. Movies and music collections strewn about the vehicle as you drive, frenzied, from here to there. Schlepping! Yes, we have all been SCHLEPPING!

Remember the free time we promised ourselves? Remember the dream of allowing our children to fill those hours with activities of their choice? Remember playing for the sake of playing? Remember the fun of just “hanging out”? We promised ourselves that we would provide a happy childhood to our children. Let’s keep that promise!

Trust

You have probably figured out from your reading that there is no “right way” or “wrong way” to homeschool your family.  In fact, there are as many styles of homeschooling as there are families who do it!  In the beginning of the road to homeschooling, these statements scare the heck out of you!   Later, they will comfort, encourage, and sustain you.  Promise.

You will find books by many leaders in the homeschooling field who seem to have “answers”…and many things that they have to say are very sound and helpful.  Of course, the truth is somewhere in the spaces.  Somewhere in there is the space that works for you and your children.

Whether or not you have determined what style of homeschooler you are, there is one thing that we all have in common.  We all love our children and are striving to do the right things for them.  All of us spend many hours agonizing over this decision and came to this decision due to strong conviction.  Trust that.  Even if you can’t put it into words immediately when being asked, you have reasons and they are valid.

For this post in the ENCOURAGEMENT department, I have five words for you.  Words that I believe with my whole heart.  Words you can tape on your refrigerator.  Words you can remind yourself anytime the anxiety hits.  Words that live at the heart of being a parent:

TRUST YOURSELF.  TRUST YOUR CHILDREN.

You CAN trust yourself to do the very best that you can do in any given moment.  You will change, improve, add, subtract, move forward, continue to learn, and you will make mistakes!  And in each moment, you will do the very best that you know how to do in the moment.  And that is OK!

And Trust your children because they will learn.  They ARE learning!  They learn while they are playing, sitting quietly, riding in the car, or are frustrated with the correct way to hold a pencil.  They are learning every moment.  This is good.  This is as it should be.

You can do this.

You are a very capable adult and you can do this

Reading Aloud

Reading aloud to our kids is one of the unique pleasures of home
education. I hope that you read aloud to your children. 

I hope you do it
every day. 

There is no doubt about it, homeschoolers are a lucky bunch!  One of the things that our family enjoys is reading together each night.  Although the kids are 9 and 13, we don’t feel that the day is “complete” until we spend some time on the couch together!

While I’m reading, of course I use the different voices (I do a great KGB bad guy…).  But I also stop every so often and talk about a vocabulary word, talk about locations, motivations, even about character development.  My kids enjoy these breaks because I hear them talk about them later in other conversations.

So, as a mother, I am proud to introduce the kids to various poets, literature, biographies, short stories, even Mad Libs make a great night time reading experience!  It is truly one of the best times of the day.  I know that you will agree, a good deal of bonding goes on…behind the pages!

Homeschool Siblings

Many people are writing, writing, writing about homeschool. The process, the problems, the resources, the pros and cons. But few people have written about something that I think is a prime PRO of homeschooling. My children are friends with each other!
I’m not comparing, bragging, anything! Just observing.

My kids enjoy one another. They share some interests and have learned to respect the interests of their sib and to participate in that activity at times. Look, when other kids are here…FORGET IT! The boys go hither and the girls go yon. (well, sort of!) But when the kids have free time together, they actually enjoy one another’s company!

Their bond has happened in spite of differences in gender, interests, age. They include one another and share many secrets, inside jokes, and expressions of affection. They seek one another out for help, advice, humor sharing, lesson help, hold hands, and simply enjoy being together. They even play together, at times, when friends are over visiting one or both of them. Maybe it comes from the simple fact that they spend more time together.

Add to this, when one has a friend, that person is also a friend to the other as well. Now, isn’t that nice?

It wasn’t like that in my family! We had lines through the rooms, separate everything, and frequent fights. I firmly believe that it is a homeschool environment that doesn’t create unnatural divisions that has encouraged their friendship. They have their moments. They are, after all, very different and very busy. But, overall the bond between this brother and sister is a wonder to see.

If they were in school, would I see a different story? Would Elizabeth find it cool ONLY to hang with the 13 year olds? Would John refuse to every touch anything “girly”, thereby forfeiting his play with his sister? I can only guess that the division between them would have happened long ago and would be firmly in place at this point.

I heard laughing in the family room the other day. I walked in to find them pushing the couch across the room, laughing at themselves as they slipped and slid onto the floor. I walked out of the room with a smile in my heart and on my face, leaving them alone, together.

And I’m not going to kid you, this “perk” of homeschooling is worth everything to me!

Lifelong Learning

 

I wanted my home, our homeschool experience, to produce two children with the ability and desire to become a lifelong learners. What do I mean by this? I’m not sure an official definition of “lifelong learner” exists, but I think of it as including:

• Active Researcher: I hope my children will learn to FIND OUT whenever they have an interest, question, or new topic of interest. I hope they learn to enjoy the process of research and use that process to seek out information for decision-making and better understanding. I hope the habit to LOOK IT UP becomes so natural to them that begin researching as soon as the notion gains more than a murky part in their thinking.
• Critical Thinker: I hope my children learn to use a logical series of strategies to analyze and determine the validity of incoming information. Will they seek new information with a degree of skepticism, with an expectation that there will be proof behind factual statements? I hope they do.
• Effective Communicator: Superior written and verbal communication is the hallmark of a well-educated person. I hope my children work hard in their lives to facilitate good communication. Will it be a priority to express themselves clearly and completely? I certainly hope so.
• Self-Directed Learner: I want the kids to seek information on their own, without being told, assigned, or otherwise having outside expectations that promote the activity. I hope that their curiosity becomes active, dynamic, and endless. Free of assigned work, will they read and read some more to satisfy their interest? I hope so.

It seems to me that using real-world scenarios and situations to practice these skills goes further to create lifelong learners than any classroom set up could ever do. Our world today is incredibly information rich! It is incredibly exciting to be able to look for, and find, interesting information without any intermediary dishing it out. The worldwide web is a marvel!
If my children become lifelong learners, no matter what else they accomplish in their lives, I think that our homeschool experience will have been a success!

Should We Homeschool?

Should We Homeschool?

I’m not going to kid you, homeschooling is not always an afternoon in the park.  It takes commitment!  It can take cash!  It takes time and heart.  Okay, so it’s not perfect.  Here is a list that I have gathered from here and there on WWW of the “negs” and “pos” of homeschooling.  When I get a moment, I will come back and reply to those that need it!

Homeschooling Negatives

1. Socialization – some families are simply not terribly “SOCIAL”.
2. Reduced income – generally one parent has to give up work.
3. Upper level courses and exams can be harder to organize.
4. With your child all the time.
5. Child could be indoctrinated.
6. Full responsiblity for child’s education
7. Participation in team sports may be more difficult.
8. Constantly required to justify your decision.
9. May need to juggle different age groups.
10. Have to still cope with the child’s education during emergencies.

Advantages

1. Socialization – children can choose friends that suit them.
2. Freedom from peer pressure.
3. Education matched to child.
4. Flexible scheduling.
5. Able to instill family values.
6. Testing or not to suit family philosophy.
7. More time spent together as a family.
8. More relaxed – no queueing outside classrooms or school activities
9. 1 on 1 attention for child.
10. Curriculum can be extended over infinite time.