About a week ago, Heather B asked about homeschooling her kids and got some great responses. I'd like more advice about the first steps of home schooling. My two boys are 2 and 3.5, so it's early days yet, but I'm already doing some research about finding a curriculum for the Autumn, when my oldest will be 4 and ready for some structured learning (and I will be ready for a try at structured teaching). Catie's advice about Rainbow Resource was great, I will follow up on that.
Some background about us and why we're planning to homeschool: I had a varied education myself, most of the first of it in British schools in Europe, the end of it (high school) in American public school. I found that the public school experience was not a good match for me, and want to find an alternative for my kids; we're open to charter schools. We're on a very limited budget, and can't buy a great education for our kids...if I want them to learn Latin and Rhetoric, Music, Art and Philosophy, I'll have to teach it myself! We have an international family and a Grandpa who is uber-educated, wanting to help teach, and living in France. I envision us spending several months a year abroad with the kids engaged in learning adventures. I have some experience teaching. I'm a music teacher (just one day a week) at a small private school, and I've found I love teaching. As partners in co-parenting, my husband and I are pretty well-rounded. His background is in science and ecology (and he's very outdoorsy), mine is in music, theology and liberal arts.
I'd love to know if you have experience with homeschooling. How do I choose a curriculum? Should I use different curricula with different kids? Is it easier/better/more fulfilling to use a very structured curriculum or a more 'unschooling' approach? Is it better to piece together a system of different programs (one curriculum for math, another for writing), or to get a comprehensive curriculum that covers all the bases? Will I find that as I gain skill and confidence that I will want to design my own curriculum to some degree? I'm looking for primarily non-faith based curricula, although I'd be open to using ones that have a spiritual focus, especially if they open the door to a study of many faiths and spiritual practices.
This is new (and a bit scary) territory for me as a Mum. I only know a few homeschoolers and would like to meet more. I'd love to hear your experiences, both triumphs and pitfalls, with the early days of homeschooling.
Thanks for your expertise!
Wow, there are some great role models out there! Thanks for the advice everyone, keep it coming. I'm planning to get a French DVD program for the boys this week. We already play any DVD that has a French option in French (we only watch videos, as we have no TV). I'm also asking Dad to send me an occasional package of French children's books. I used to speak it when we lived in Belgium and hope to pick it up again.
I'm in the process of following up with all the great links and tips I've got this week.
Again, thanks. I'm feeling even more like homeschooling is right for our family and I'm getting confident that I can do it!
Hi I just found this site this morning and It looks like it has lots of good ideas
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/Science23.htm
I do believe that you have already set the wheels in motion with a plan. Also, you have already begun to homeschool, since you are a mum and you teach your children each day about life. There are no rules that say that children need to learn everything there is in this life, in 18 years! Somehow, folks think this way. Not us homeschoolers...it is from birth on..........
An ultimate plan is good. You have that goal in place, by stating that you want multi-cultural, art, ecology, music, latin, logic..etc. Next, listen and talk to them about "their" interest and begin to combine the two as you move along. There is so much information out there it would take 6 lifetimes to learn it all and since we have only one, we can take their interest and specific tools to make their dreams come to fruition.
An example of what we did: We started out with "school" at home- workbooks, classroom type feel environment. Threw that out the window due to lack of interest and boring days. We moved onto the unit study approach and that worked better. We didn't limit ourselves to time tables. My goal for them was to teach them how to find information and devour it with passion and to be able to communicate and write their thoughts down on paper. We learned so many things as we traveled extensively and made sure that we talked about what was around us. Whether that was a littering problem in Philadelphia or mission work with the Navajos in New Mexico! A well rounded child gains common sense and logic just by being exposed to many different lifestyles. Communication regarding those things with the parents is extremely important. Yes, we did math and science, but we did do a lot of unschooling along the way as we filled our life with diverse people and fun.
Design each day around the child and you will see the lights in their eye fill with excitement as they learn and grow.
Hi G. from a fellow inner hippy (attachment parenting, breastfeed, co-sleeping, organic food eating, recycling myself LOL)
You sound a lot like me in what you want to get out of homeschooling. Can I recommend the Oak Meadow curriculum? www.oakmeadow.com
It is not religious although world traditions, faiths and religions are certainly part of it. It is loosely based on a Waldorf education, although not as strict as you would find in an actual Waldorf school. I am using the preschool curriculum right now for my oldest (I have a 3.5 year old, a 2 year old, and a 6 month old).
Hi G.!
I'm a 41-year-old baby wearing, attachment parenting, co-sleeping, homeschool mom of 10 years expecting my seventh. I tandem-nursed the first three and eat organic when the budget allows.
Congratulations on your decision to homeschool. My husband and I decided to homeschool when my oldest was 3 mos. old and we love it and have no regrets. Based on your reasons for wanting to homeschool, I think you'll love the flexibility it allows.
We began using a complete curriculum to designing my own to now using a DVD program for my oldest three. Starting with the whole curriculum helped me learn what to do and how to do it. It gave me the confidence to then mix and match curriculums and materials based on what worked best for me and my kids. But you really don't need to purchase a complete curriculum from one source in the early years. Where your children are pre-K, you have plenty of time to check out materials before deciding--and if you change materials/curriculum mid-year, it's not going to matter like it possibly could in later grades.
Rainbow Resourses, as you mentioned, offers a great amount of wonderful materials. You'll find a lot there--it's almost overwhelming. Many of the other homeschool resource catalogs are more specific in their focus and offerings. You could go to homeschool conferences and conventions where vendors have their materials on display too. E-bay, funny enough, is also a good resource as each book/curriculum is described by a fellow homeschooler. However, you can no longer buy teacher keys on ebay.
It's all about what works for you and your individual child. Each child may learn differently, so you may find that what works for one doesn't work for another. As you're the one-on-one tutor, you'll learn quickly what works and what doesn't.
I would have liked to be more the "unschooler", but I believe it takes a lot of time to prepare the right environment for the child to learn, which I lack with many kids and not the best organizational skills. However, my kids still have a lot more flexibility in their learning being homeschooled than if they were public schooled. For unschooling, John Holt's Learning All the Time and David Elkind's The Hurried Child are good reads. There's also writings and books from Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore (Better Late than Early)and there's the Charlotte Mason approach (Narration, dictation, living books, etc.).
For Latin, Logic, Rhetoric and Philosophy, I use Memoria Press which is Classical Christian. I'm sure other resourses exist as well.
Homeschooling is, I think, a great adventure where you and your child(ren)learn together. It's what you make of it and there are great possibilities.
Your children will do well because they are being taught by you--the parents--who care for them and know them more than anyone else does in the world.
What I love best about homeschooling is-I love the relationship I have with each of my children because we're together more. My kids have good relationships with each other too. In a household of soon-to-be-nine, it's nice to have that harmony in our fast paced world.
For support and getting more answers to all your questions, there are homeschool websites on Yahoo that you can join for free. From there, you can learn about support groups and activities in your area.
Hope all this helps! Enjoy!
Hi G.,
Homeschooling is challenging but there are groups you can join that share curriculum. The Massachusetts Dept. of Education website - www.doe.mass.edu has the curriculum frameworks available so that you know what you need to teach at each grade level. As a public school teacher who has seen homeschool students struggle to integrate when enrolled in later years, I strongly encourage you to be very active in a homeschooling network so that your kids socialize with age appropriate peers on a regular basis.
Best wishes with your endeavors.
Take care,
D.
Okay I will take a stab at this. I homeschooled for 7 years. I found the public system wasn't working. I started with Konos because it is a unit study. I have also used others including the Robinson curriculum.
For what it is worth I think that you should teach the foreign language as early as possible. By this I mean do it the natural way, first you speak it then disect it.
Good luck on your endevors! L.
Hi G.,
You have some great questions. It sounds like you would really like the book "The Well Trained Mind," by Susan Wise Bauer. You can google it for more information.
I homeschool all my children, ages 10, 7 and 5. The oldest was in public school through 2nd grade, and if I could get those years back, I would never have put her in. One thing I continue to learn is that each child is different from the others. And, each child is different from herself from day to day. One of the biggest blessings of homeschooling is that I can do what's best for my children, not what the state tells me I have to do. Your question about what's best, structure or unschooling, is a question that has no right answer. I have some friends who believe that anyone who even looks at a textbook is doing a disservice to their children, and another of my friends has completely recreated a schoolroom at home, right down to the American flag hanging on the wall to which they recite the Pledge every morning. There are strong advocates on both sides of that debate, but it really comes down to what's best for your family. And, sometimes, what's best for one child isn't the same as for another one. One good thing to do is to find out your children's learning styles and then do your best to find ways to help them learn that suit their individual types.
You will come upon answers to most of your questions as you go along, and the most important thing to keep in mind is that nothing is written in stone. You can make changes as you go (although try not to spend a ton of money in the beginning like I did - and I wound up with a basement full of stuff we never use!), and you will find that some things that you love, the kids just don't.
The best advice I can give you for the beginning is this: be prepared for everything and committed to nothing. That way, you can experiment and grow and find out what's best for your family.
I would be happy to be in touch with you if you have questions about specific curriculum programs (I've tried them all, it seems!), or just want to know more homeschoolers. I don't know where you're from, but there are so many homeschool support groups around - I'd be glad to help you find one.
Hi G.- I'm another mom who's found her inner hippie (extended nursing, co-sleeping, home birthing, midwife student) and home schooling family. We started our home schooling journey about 8 years back with my now 19yo (graduated in 2006) son. Considering your life style & your varied interests, you may find that an eclectic approach works best for your family. Are you familiar with the "unschooling" concept? Some find it too loose to feel right for them, and others find it's the perfect fit for their children- our family falls somewhere in the middle and I think of our approach as being 'guided unschooling'. We let our children guide us to their interests, and build what we know they need from there. For us, pre-packaged curriculum just wouldn't fit.There are so many resources online, with a little help from google you can find everything you need. Public libraries are also worth their weight in gold when it comes to finding materials, and get-together opportunities.
If you don't mind me asking, what town are you from? Attleboro has a very active home schooling community, and I have heard there's another large group down the Cape. I'm in Taunton, the crunchy-community isn't especially large here (yet).
Best wishes
D.
I would highly recommend looking for Montessori home-schooling resources. It would fit very well with the idea of being abroad for a few months out of the year and is a fabulous child-centered, environmentally conscious (stewardship is a focus), caring, intelligent philosophy of schooling. I found a few online resources for you, but have to admit to not giving these particular sites any in depth reading (I am recommending this as a Montessori teacher and mama).
Good luck and feel free to email me with questions about Montessori in general at ____@____.com
http://www.montessori.edu/homeschooling.html
http://www.montessorifortheearth.com/
http://www.montessori.edu/homeschoolgroups.html
http://www.homeschoollearning.com/approaches/montessori.s...
Homeschooling is great in many ways, but make sure you get your children involved in some school activities too, like sports, after school activities and things like that. If you have a YMCA or something like that in your area, get them involved there too. I know a home schooler in grade school who participates in specials (art, PE, music, Spanish) at his public school. His mother wants to make sure he makes connections at an early age with his peers. Working in the public school system I have seen lots of kids transition to high school and it has been really tough for them socially. As children get older parents find the content of their curriculum gets too difficult for them to teach well. So, they will come to high school part time taking classes like science and math. I have seen how hard it is for these kids to find their niche because they have not been involved in the community as much, the kids don't know them (kinda like being the new kid). That is the best piece of advice I can give you...don't hide your kids away from their community and other kids, you will regret it when they are older. I will say that I respect you for your decision and I wish you luck...homeschooling is not easy and takes a lot of discipline. Good luck!
Hi G.,
I don't have much experience with homeschooling (yet) but like you I am interested and also we do a lot of traveling (my husband is an opera singer and we go to Europe often). Also,I have two boys but they are a bit older. Joshua is 6 and 1/2 and Christopher is 5. They are in school now but we have been open to homeschooling as an option for the near future. My husband was homeschooled as a child in Canada.
I don't have any information to share now but I thought I would write anyway. I wish you the best in your homeschooling adventure!I fully support your idea to homeschool and if you would like please keep my posted.
Best wishes,
M.
You don't need 'structured' learning to start home schooling early. My son went into public preschool reading, able to count to 100, knowing his colors. (Yes, he was bored-lol but we felt he needed the socialism of public schooling - personal choice we made).
The way we achieved early reading/math skills by making *everything* educational... and education fun. We had those foam mats with the alphabet that we jumped to, saying not just the letter name, but the sound it made (which helped with the phonics of reading).... we made games of counting things..
Anyway, the point is, to start early, make it fun.
Hi G.,
I don't have any advice, I'm at the same place you are researching homeschooling. The questions I have about homeschooling are the same as yours. My son is four years old and I'm not sure at this point I want him in a traditional school setting. I would be interested in getting the same questions answered as you.
I'm almost 40 years old and my mothering choices are much like yours. I nursed my son until he weaned himself and that was just a couple of months ago, organic eating, attachment parenting, co sleeping and soon to be homeschooling stay at home wife and mother. It's wonderful to see there are other mothers like us out there. Would you forward the information you get about homeschooling to me, I would GREATLY appreciate it!
Thanks,
C.
Windham, NH
