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 Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 9:41 pm
@ Rhoslyn: Yeah, that sounds like a bad version of home schooling. Most home schooling programs advocate things like volunteer work, a *ton* of home economics (aka, "Hey kids! Let's learn how to clean the house!"), and children helping to start up and run a home-based business. Any home schooled kid who comes out the other end unable to converse civilly with people of all ages and unable/unwilling to figure out how the laundry facilities work has been ill-served. To contrast your example, my son who fears and loathes all people now has friends both his own age and older (and, to a limited degree, younger - he's kindergarten age, after all). He's even confident enough to start conversations with people he's never met! At 5, he has a responsibility chart up in the kitchen, and anytime he gets a full day of smiley faces (aka he does all his chores) he can redeem that for video game time or a comic book - or another favor if he makes a good case for it. And we're learning the difference between a request and instructions (I'm learning to give clear instructions instead of making them sound like a request, and he's learning to distinguish which is which). He's been helping me bake for years already, and in a few years he'll be old enough to help with mealtime prep work instead of just standing on a chair to watch. My daughter (almost 2) just started helping with making baked goods this year too - and showed the good judgment to *stir* with the spoon, not toss the dry ingredients out of the bowl. I'm so proud!
Now for the grand announcement:
WE'VE FINISHED OUR FIRST QUARTER!
I'll be spending the next few days putting together the paperwork and sending it in, as well as registering for a portfolio review with the county (for people in their first year of home schooling, they check in the Fall, probably so that issues can be ironed out long before they become entrenched). I'm so excited! It took some settling into, but I think we're really getting the hang of this now. I'm nowhere near as panicked and easily frustrated as I was in the beginning, so of course neither is my son. In fact, he's started playing with me in ways that incorporate whatever we've been learning recently - alliteration is a big hit at the moment, as are the foreign-language songs.
The social change, though, is really what's been the most amazing. When we started home schooling, Lucien wasn't willing to talk to pretty much anybody outside our immediate family. If anyone tried to talk to him, he would growl at them or, on a bad day, try to hit them. Lately, he's been telling complete strangers that he likes their shirt (or something similar), and at his last kung fu class he and another boy hugged goodbye and two older girls exchanged congratulations with him on a good class. Since I switch off with my husband on who takes him to class, I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the other mothers at the kung fu school's Halloween party had been greeted at some class or other by "Captain America" or "Batman" or "Wolverine", and were quite enchanted with my son's polite speech and charm. Who knew?
So yeah, I don't think I'll be worrying anymore about the "socialization" issue. We're good.
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 12:38 pm
It sounds like you have a very well behaved young man, and that's great! You did tell me a few things I didn't know; like I didn't know they want them to do volunteer work and the like. It sounds like you guys are going to go far with home schooling. I think the issues with socialization in homeschooling are mostly from the parents' inability to figure out HOW to socialize their child. But he has kung fu class which I'm sure is a great way to socialize, and it sounds like he's pretty popular there.
I scrolled back through the thread a bit and Monsieur Le Petit Panda made me laugh. That's great. biggrin
Congrats on finishing your first quarter!
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 2:29 pm
@ Rhoslyn: Well, I don't know about "they" - the whole point of home schooling is to raise your children the way you *want* them to be raised, instead of hoping that the teachers see the world the same way you do. Now, for myself, I think that personal responsibility and awareness of the needs of others are very important things for a child to learn. Not everyone will feel the same, though I can't say I have a good opinion of someone who raised their children to be codependent...misses the point a bit, I think. And, of course, universities do generally give preference to applicants with a wide range of experiences, not just good grades. Most of the books I've read about home schooling seem to take it for granted that the average home schooling parent will want to instill some good values and strong character in their children. My favorite strongly advocates helping the children to start and run their own business! We'll be looking more at that once we've learned basic reading, addition and subtraction. At the very least, my kids will be helping out in my office.
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Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 2:36 pm
Announcement of Awesomeness!
Lucien's first portfolio review was on Friday. This is where the parents and children meet with county reviewers and bring all their work with them. Well, maybe not *all*, but some parents get very nervous. The county reviewer goes over what they've brought to determine whether or not the child is actually being taught as per county and state requirements and writes up a quick sheet saying what needs to be improved (or any other comments).
Lucien got a great review, and was a perfect gentleman without having to be bribed or coerced, though he did decline to demonstrate any of his French or Spanish songs. The only thing the nice lady said we might change is to keep a reading list of books we're reading together (or that he's reading on his own, once he's able). That'll be a nice bulleted MS Word document, and if this past semester is any indication we'll end up with almost another binder full of book list! Well, it'll make them happy. Item #1: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. We're on the last couple of chapters now.
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Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 2:18 am
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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 7:39 pm
The final week of the semester, and we've just started the reader!
Phonics basics are covered, and I've been working with Lucien for weeks now on learning to sound things out. I didn't think I was really getting anywhere, but today he got all four words in about fifteen minutes! Okay, yeah, three letter words aren't all that hard, but considering he's just starting, I'm over the moon!
I've also discovered a nice side effect of home schooling. A couple of days ago I was hanging up laundry in my daughter's room (she's 2) while she jumped on the bed. At some point, I realized she was *counting* while she jumped! She skipped a few, but they all went in ascending order, and she stopped somewhere in the upper teens (Lucien is learning 18 now). Somebody's been listening in on lessons, I think. Of course she won't do it now for anyone else...but I was floored!
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:23 am
Your babies are so smart! Im actually starting to wonder if I should too my daughter is one years old and is showing she is mature and catches on things very fast.. My husband said to not to but Im worried she will get bored and be like me and my husband in school and not even try... Im actually planning on buying some activity books for her and me like ABC stuff and numbers... Sadly XD she doesnt like the idea of crayons and tries to eat them out of anger and throw them.
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 3:27 pm
Yeah, I actually never had any luck with activity books. My kids weren't fooled - they never see *me* doing them for fun! Probably your best bet is to read to your wee girl. That way you're both having a good time, and she's assimilating proper sentence structure, vocabulary and grammar. I also sneak in things like foreign-language cartoons. Immersion at younger ages is a fantastic help later when they start officially learning a foreign language. It's like switching that part of their brain on so it's more like remembering something they forgot instead of learning something brand new. Every kid is different, of course. Maybe your daughter would enjoy an activity book with stickers instead of crayons. I always hated crayons my own self, because colored pencils worked *so* much better.
What my daughter and I are reading together now (I read, she listens) is a series for young girls by Terry Pratchett, following the adventures of Tiffany Aching, who is learning to be a witch. It's a great series! The author was very proud to be inducted as an honorary member of a Brownie troop for writing a decently intelligent 9-year-old. In order, the books are: The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, and Wintersmith. He's got another one in the works called I Shall Wear Midnight. No idea when that's due out.
Call that a suggestion. I've also been pointed in the direction of the Tinkerbell series of books. My cousin's daughter swears by them.
If you want her to be more artsy, try drawing with her. You draw something, and let her have her own small pile of paper and a pencil. My kids both ate that up with a spoon, though it usually devolved into demands that I draw several million things for them. My son is finally confident enough at 5 to start drawing his own stuff now. Currently we have Superman, Batman, Stitch, and Ryo-Ohki hanging up on the fridge. Oh yes, and a flame-winged angel with a flaming sword (he liked that part of Genesis).
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 6:44 am
I actually was thinking of looking up tinkerbell she loves her! because I have a book on faeries and every now and then I pull it out and Go Oh look kay I think Thinkerbell is really A flower faerie and such so now she goes AERIE MOMMA AERIE when ever she looks at her toy box or tinkerbell.
And the sticker Idea I might try that seeing as how I was just scribbling with markers I just got and she showed interest then just wanted to eat them.. And I have her watch noggin and sit there with her and pretend to interact with the show like were in it solving puzzles and such and she likes that. And he granddad is teaching her 1-5 Because she loves those numbers I tried to go past and she screamed at 6 stop.
And another thing on reading she showed interest in my friends national geographics because of the pictures but she wouldn't let go of them Might have to buy them for her and read those.
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Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 8:49 pm
So cute! She loves National Geographic, huh? I wonder sometimes if that's a hint about what they'll grow up having a passion for. It's not good to assume, I know, but...huh. Photography? Geography? International travel? Of course, if you're good at drawing correspondences you're probably *guaranteed* to find a way the magazine obsession ties in with her career later, but still. So far my son is most interested in our comics and gaming books, but as he learns to read on his own he's getting more interested in my vast collection of fairy tales from around the world. I guess we'll see what they do with those interests later, huh?
Oh yeah, we've finished the third quarter, so we're in the home stretch! I've got his registration form for 1st grade all filled out and ready to roll, and his book order won't be far behind. That way, when he runs out of math book (1 chapter left...he likes math) I don't have to make stuff up for the rest of the year. Now all I have to do is figure out what the blazes I did with his official attendance record. sweatdrop
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 8:31 pm
*Doing the Happy Dance*
Almost finished! We're going for our year-end(ish) portfolio review on Friday, and our last official day is June 5th. I'm still trying to get Lucien psyched about singing some French and Spanish songs for his end-of-year party, but I'm not sure how well that will work once he sees actual people. Well, at least everyone will get to marvel over his body organs, skeleton, artwork, and pink bird feeder (he likes pink). Maybe if I start singing the songs on my own, his Pavlovian response will kick in and he'll sing a few.
After that, I just have to go over the coursework for next year and get the schedule written up over the summer break.
~This is the song that never ends...~
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 8:27 am
your really making me think maybe i can do this ...
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Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:02 pm
LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!
I'm the person who told my sisters I had decided to home school (they do as well), and they both informed me that I just wasn't organized enough to pull it off. Now at the end of Year One, I do the happy wiggly In-Your-Face Dance! Give me enough binders and a spreadsheet program, and I can kick their Type A butts! Their fallback position is now: "Yes, well done, you finished Kindergarten. Now the next year is when *real* school starts, and you'll see what it's like to *really* teach your kids."
I thumb my nose at their Aunties.
If I was able to teach my son to READ (we're finding comic books stashed under his pillow now sweatdrop ) and do basic math, I think I can handle the more fiddly advanced stuff.
What is it with people who love to tell you you can't do the things they're doing, because you're not good enough? What kind of attitude is that? I'm sure it's just Sibling Rivalry, The Adult Years, but please - give it a rest.
You really can teach your kids if you want to. What's needed more than anything else is simple dedication. You can get lesson plans and teacher guides to help you with the academics. What you bring to the mix is the gumption to make sure that, even on days when they cling to their beds or throw tantrums in the hallway or mumble or stare off into space, your kids get the education they need. That's it.
Captain my Captain, if you have the creative ability and dedication to sew clothes, you can totally do this.
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Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 2:27 pm
VACATION!!! We are done with Kindergarten, and I have two binders full of his school work and all his reviews stating that I am in fact doing what I'm supposed to. I think I need to repurpose the closet in the basement to hold all his school records - after all, I'll be doing this for the next decade+. Even if it stays to just two binders per year, that adds up.
I can't believe there are some home school parents who prefer to just throw everything out at year-end. I understand the "Woohoo! We're done!" aspect, but it isn't exactly unheard-of for neighbors or family to make anonymous calls to Social Services claiming parents aren't educating their children at all... I get that there are legal protections against search and seizure and unreasonable intrusiveness, but - well, I'd rather have the documents ready to hand just in case. Legal challenges can be brutal, and good record-keeping can save a lot of time and money and stress. To me, that's worth the price of a three-hole-punch and a couple of binders every year. Not to mention, what a trip down memory lane!
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Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:57 pm
biggrin Congrats! I am actually about to get the first dress started sewing now... Sadly i have to get her to sit still to get waist measurments i was telling mike I know her torso (shoulder to slightly above knees ) is 14 inches and the I will get 2 extra inches in and have a nice length XD just have to buy the stuff!
And Im really gonna start looking into Pre school starter stuff because kaylee has wanted to actually read lately so it will be good biggrin
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