Any homeschoolers out there?

[Suz]

Just wondered if any of you homeschool.
I'm thinking about it. Have read so much great info. about it!

[MK]

Hi! I homeschooled my firstborn for two years, then I had to re-enter the world of "gainful employment", so he pretty much taught himself the third year. This year I put him in public school for the first time, in second grade according to his age, but testing shows him to be at a third grade level. He is thriving socially as well, being a naturally gregarious child. I am still brainstorming on finding a way to be able to homeschool ds#2 for at least the first year or two as well. I don't want him to miss out on that special one-on-one time his brother got. I just don't know how I'm going to do it with my erratic work schedule. A lot of the time if I am not at work I am asleep, since I work in a bakery, and production is done during "normal" sleeping hours. Dh just doesn't have the energy to do the teaching and planning. He is home due to a chronic illness.

I will tell you this: Even though ds#1 is doing terrific in public school, I don't regret keeping him home the first two years for even a moment! It was such a special and valuable time for our family, a way of life we will always cherish with fond memories, even if we never get back to it. The feelings I still have relating to that particular way of life are simply undescribable. I can honestly say I have lived a dream.

Anyway, if you need more ideas on what our schedule was like, what kinds of activities we did, how I planned our "lessons", etc, just let me know, I'll be happy to share.

[Suz]

Hey, thanks for the reply!! My son is actually in 1st grade at a wonderful school that I sub at and my daughter goes to their preschool. The school only goes to 1st grade and we are deciding what to do next.
I have been doing so much reading and research on Homeschooling and it has really gotten me excited about it -in fact, it makes ya wonder why everyone wouldn't do it. Although, I know that there are many factors involved.
But the benefits from it are just amazing!
We live on a farm so it would really be a great thing for us. Plus my kids are very involved with other youth activities thru the church and they both play in-door soccer.
I will keep you posted as to what we decide. I just contacted a lady who is head of a homeschooling group in our area. They get together for fieldtrips, etc. I'm finding out that it is really a big thing now and that there is a lot of support out there.
I'm sorry that you had to stop homeschooling. And am so sorry to hear about your husban's illness!
Thanks again. I would love to hear what your schedule was like when you homeschooled.

[MK]

Suz-- I looked you up on the personal info page, and your email wasn't available,so I'll just make this post really long. :)

Anyway, I have two boys, ages 7 and 5. I began when #1 was just 3 1/2 and begged me to teach him to read. I put it off until he gave up on me and started trying to teach himself, lol. I decided then that I'd better help him, considering how irregular our language is. Shortly after he turned four I went over to the school and interviewed a kindergarten teacher for ideas. That interview turned out to be extremely helpful and productive! She told me about her classroom routine, including "opening exercises", and how she alternated activities between active and quiet. At that time ds#2 was just 18 months old.

So everyday at approximately the same time the three of us sat at the kitchen table and started our "school". We read a story, had a prayer, had a song, recited our "school spirit chant" (we also had a "school flag" that the kids helped make)went through the calendar, reciting the months of the year, the days of the week, and acknowleding the present day and date. We counted (we had a number board on the wall too)by ones, fives, and tens, and also did high jumps, jumping jacks, and a couple other "wiggle exercises". All this usually took 30 minutes to an hour. Then We got down from the table and I directed the baby to his area, where he had several educational toys on some low shelves. While he played my "kindergartner" (age 4)and I would do a reading lesson, practice writing letters, and do some simple math concepts. I kept each subject as short as my son was interested. If he got frustrated or tired we stopped and went on to something else. Some of our lessons included card or board games, such as Chutes and ladders (but instead of merely playing the game, I made math problems out of each turn). As questionable as it may seem, we played Black Jack. Anyway, after the academics we went outside for physical exercise. "Kindergarten" only lasted 2 or 3 hours a day. We also included an art project in there somewhere too.

When we progressed to first/second grade the lessons got more advanced, but we did pretty much the same kinds of stuff: we "experienced" the lessons. We played games, and invented new ways to make them challenging so they would mean something, and we pretty much just looked at every daily living experience and tried to place it in a subject category. Overlapping was good, too. For example, for his fifth birthday he got one of those hot wheels city sets that says "adult assembly required" on the box. Well, neither dh nor I had the time to put it together right away, so the day after his birthday he put it together all by himself! It took him the whole day to do it, but he got out the instructions and put it together. I counted that as math and reading in one shot!
When we lived in an apartment complex that had a pool, we often did our science lessons out there too. The rule was we had to do the stuff he didn't like so much first(like penmanship and reading- yeah, after he learned how it wasn't so great anymore), and if he was cooperative we would have time to hit the pool. In addition most of our neighbors were immigrants from Central America, and did not speak any English. Trying to make friends and communicate was extremely challenging. Result? PE, Science, and Social Studies all at once! LoL We could often combine music and art together, or music and social studies together. Participating in a family or holiday event counted too!

Math/nutrition/health/reading could be done at the grocery store, we had spur of them moment lessons in the car on our way somewhere via discussion/observation, or even in the rocking chair early in the morning or right before bed, in our jammies on a variety of subjects! We took our lessons and books in a bag with us to the dentist and doctor's office, and to dh's client when dh was still working and I couldn't have the kids with me for whatever reason. It was so wonderful and convenient.

We also did count certain tv programs in the day's curriculum as well. Most of these programs covered science or social studies, and some of them were written into the day's lesson agenda.

Here in Utah the homeschooling law is pretty lenient-- for children over the compulsory attendance age of 6 yrs, you just have to fill out a homeschooling information form with the public school system, so it is made known with them that your child is accounted for and being educated by someone, somehow. I kept a journal detailing our lessons, activities, agenda, and my son's progress. I also obtained a corp curriculum handbook from the school each year and checked off each item as we went so I could compare my son's progress to what he should be learning, so I would know what I still needed to expose him to, if we hadn't gotten to it yet, and what we could back off on if he was way ahead.

The last year before entering public school, we actually did what would be called "unschooling" because my life became too complicated to keep an agenda. At that time my son (then age 6)developed an intense interest in geography, and would spend HOURS perusing and memorizing the World Atlas. He looked up places, made up imaginary trips, traced and drew maps freehand, read the demographical and topographical information, and when we went somewhere in the car he would observe the surroundings and reflect on the things he had studied in the atlas-- and lecture us! He is still an avid geographer, and sometimes "shares" information with his class at school when the subject arises. And like I said, in spite of him being pretty much left on his own for a year, testing has shown him to still be a year ahead of his peers. My family (all four of us, not just dh and I)feels that we have made a great accomplishment with our homeschooling project. It is the richest and most rewaarding time period we have ever had together. Well, good luck with your decision, and do let me know how things turn out for you! :)

[Suz]

How wonderful that must have been! Your "routine" and activities go along with everything that I've been reading about.
What is a corp curriculum handbook?
I'm assuming that it is a list of what should be learned in each grade.
Is that something that I can just call the school and get easily?
Thanks for all the info.!

[MK]

Originally posted by Suz
How wonderful that must have been! Your "routine" and activities go along with everything that I've been reading about.
What is a corp curriculum handbook?
I'm assuming that it is a list of what should be learned in each grade.
Is that something that I can just call the school and get easily?
Thanks for all the info.!

The corp curriculum handbook is just a small booklet with a list of objectives for a specific grade. It begins with a sentence like: "By the END of 2nd grade the AVERAGE child will be able to demonstrate the following skills"... and then it lists a whole bunch of basic skills for each subject category. Very handy and useful, and yes, just call the school and ask the principal or school counselor to send you one.

Your welcome, glad I could help! :)

[Steph and Rick]

Hi,
I homeschool my son (6 1/2yrs old). He has never been to school, and as long as I can I will keep him home. We decided to homeschool before he was even born. We made this decision for many reasons: social reasons, academic reasons, family unity reasons etc.
While in university I wrote my Sociology honours thesis on Homeschooling and Socialization. Through my research, I learned so much and became a true believer in homeschooling. Of course, as with anything, it is not right for everybody, but if it works for your family and you believe in it, I say go for it!
So far our family is really enjoying it. We find that we are all learning so much every day! Our son is thriving and is reading and doing math at a grade 2 level.
There are so many opportunities to teach your child when you homeschool. A simple walk in the forest can teach about nature studies, math, science, and senses. A trip to the grocery store can teach math, budgeting, healthy eating and organization skills. The whole world is truely our classroom.
In our area there are about 400 homeschooling families and many of us get together regularly. We also organize various classes and activities for our children.
Good luck!

[windling]

I am planning to homeschool myself, and am in the process of getting information together. It's such a huge task, and can be very daunting. The worst part for me is trying to convince his dad, who is leaning toward public school for not good reason he can come up with. Mostly he's lazy (but I love him, and he does have SOME legitimate concerns).

[MK]

Congratulations, and Good Luck! It only seems daunting at first, when you're not sure how everything is supposed to fit together, but once you get into it, it's actually surprisingly easy-- and fun! Take some cues from your kids, they will help you a lot. And as always, if there is anything we at IB can do to help or support you in any way, just let us know. :)

[Boons]

We are going to do it with our sons. I am not at all thrilled with the schools available around here. MK I read your posts and got so much from them. Our oldest just turned 4 and I was wondering exactly when I should start structured schooling. From reading your post I think I can start now! So far I have worked with him a lot but it is very non structured. By this I mean that if he doesn't feel like it a particular day I don't push it. He took up a great interest in learning and mathematics by the time he was 3 which is when I decided to grab ahold of that interest and nurture it. Now I have added phonics in as well as some science. We have a special corner in the playroom where I have all of the things I use to work with him. After reading your post I am thinking about using the den instead. Like a bolt of lightning it strikes me that removing his from the playroom atmosphere would create structure on it's own. Thanks!

[MK]

You know your child best. When we started our place was so small we didn't have a den. We started in the breakfast nook, and ended in the living room, on the floor. And if he didn't want to do it, I didn't push it. Most of the time I would ask him, "shall we do math or reading first?". Then I would ask, "do you want to play a board game or cards?" I remember one day I asked him, "Do you like our school?". And I will never forget his answer: "Yeah, but we don't really do school." And I said, "Then what do we do?" He said, "We just play all day!" We didn't get "compulsory" until he reached age 6, then I made him do the stuff he didn't like, and that he needed the most practice on (like penmanship) first. Then I offered the choices in the activities again. I had a written agenda, but I was flexible enough to substitute if there was something else he wanted to do instead, such as measuring cups of water in the bathroom sink instead of playing cards.

I am so glad my recollections of my family's homeschooling helped you. Good luck, and may your experiences be as rewarding!