We're done for the year! The Boy finished up all of his work! Except for a little bit of math, which he is working diligently on and The Baby finished all of HER work ages ago, so I thought I'd try and write some big Summary Of Our Homeschooling Year post. In no particular order:
1) I have a new appreciation for what schools bring to kids.
I really do.
For one thing, they provide a structured, safe environment where kids can GO all day long. And for some kids, like my oldest, this is the very best thing for them, the place where they can thrive. I am REALLY grateful for schools right now. My oldest kid is happy and thriving and I am relieved and pleased.
Schools also provide something else: they let kids know, swiftly and brutally, what other people will not tolerate. And this is, I think, a good thing for the most part - but it becomes a bad thing when the mores of the school are NOT the mores of the parents or of broader society as a whole and the child gets caught in the middle. See: small rural northern town; limited expectations for young boys.
2) There are lots of totally crappy homeschooling supplies out there.
I AM NOT KIDDING.
I'm also not going to link to any one product in particular, because most of these astonishingly crappy things are made by individuals. But I have more than a few completely useless books/programs/curriculum lining my shelves now and I worry about the quality of education that some kids are getting.
Also: if you want to be really, really disturbed, go read any big homeschooling forum for a while. OH MY GOSH. I read this one woman and her large brood of children had never had any exposure to art or music and I think the oldest was about 14. Did the rest of the forum think that was okay?
*weeps*
(This is from my mom, who taught for 30+ years: art and music are EASY to incorporate. Here's one way: Once a week, play a classical cd (borrowed from the library) for the kids. Tell them who wrote it and when. Give them a different kind of art supply - one week crayons, the next watercolours, the next playdough - and ask them to make art that matches the mood of what they're hearing. Voila. Recorders are cheap and easy to teach, most libraries have cheerful art history books for kids and dollar stores are full of art supplies. There's not a big excuse for skimping something that kids find so meaningful, even if you're not artistically inclined at all.)
AND what is WITH pre-packaged curriculums? I get lots of catalogs from various companies offering a whole year of school nicely boxed up for exorbitant prices. One popular company, for example, will send me a curriculum for The Boy and The Baby for around $1500 and that is WITHOUT math, science, art, music or languages. Good grief. AND this company - which is EXTREMELY popular - is also extremely American, so a Canadian child educated through them will learn history with an American slant AND without knowing ANYthing about their own history. My Canadian kids are going to know about voyageurs and Terry Fox and John A. MacDonald and Loyalists and Tommy Douglas and Confederation and Laura Secord and Habitants, thanks, and any Canadian kid being raised to think that some other country's history is more important than their own is being FREAKING SHORT-CHANGED. Canadian kids need to learn Canadian history and have spelling books with Her Majesty's U's left in them.
There are lots of cheerful homeschooling books out there, assurring people that "any mother can homeschool" but that is NOT true. You have to really be cheerfully willing to give up pretty much all of your time to homeschool (note my lack of blogging this past year. I HAVE NO TIME ANYMORE.) AND you have to be able to organize your time (digression: I thought I would have a HUGE issue with that, but it turned out not to be a problem. I AMAZED myself!) AND you have to be honest to yourself about your own biases and shortcomings AND you have to actually LOVE spending all day, every day with your kids. It's unfair to homeschool them otherwise.
3) People Have Been Quite Supportive.
Homeschooling is a fairly mainstream option in some places, but here, it's still relatively uncommon. We've yet to run into any negative opinions, though (well, sort of. A relative of my mother's - an educational superintendent of some sort - said to me "Homeschooling? Oh God, those kids never turn out well. At least you're reasonably smart. Maybe your kids will have a chance." So very positive! But my brother has some formerly homeschooled kids in his class, and he reports that they're all lovely, well-mannered, smart and popular. So my mom's relative MIGHT just be bitter.). Most people we know think it's a fine idea, though, which is nice.
My Brother The Teacher has really been amazingly supportive - he's an inventive, fun teacher and he's shared a lot of ideas with me that The Boy has really enjoyed. His writing ideas have been SO much better than any purchased curriculum I've found.... actually, he should write a book. PHONING HIM RIGHT NOW.
My mom has also been a lot of help - when I was overwhelmed, she would actually TAKE THEM AND THEIR WORKBOOKS AWAY FOR THE DAY - so obviously, I've been very, very lucky.
4) My Boy Is Happy Again
Last year at this time, he was a miserable first grader and we were VERY VERY worried about him. I still remember going to bed feeling just sick every night and then forcing him off to school in the morning and now he is HAPPY when he wakes up.
"I feel like I was in jail and you got me out," he told me.
*SOBS*
5) When Homeschooling Supplies Are Good, They Are Really Good
REALLY REALLY GOOD.
I have LOVED all of the curriculum we've ordered from Pandia Press - their science programs are solid, interesting, and experiment-based and their history program is WONDERFUL.
Both of the programs were VERY time-intensive, but I love history and The Boy loves science, so it was a great fit. We did lots of fun, quirky projects and experiments - we built a ziggurat! And we experimented with exothermic explosions! - and it was a really great basis for our year.
Did I like anything else that we used? Uhh... we used Singapore Math, which I know a lot of people are divided on, but it was a perfect fit for The Boy who is FIENDISHLY gifted at math and who only needed the briefest of introductions to ideas to get them. He's going right into Teaching Textbooks grade 4 level next year - I think - but we're going to stick with Singapore Math for The Baby, I think. Maybe.
6) You Should See How Well The Boy And The Baby Get Along Now!
They're like a brother and a sister in a freaking STORYBOOK! It's MAGIC! The Girl feels somewhat left out, so much of my non-homeschooling time is spend having Quality Time with her, but hey. She's a good kid.
So. In conclusion, this is what I've thought about homeschooling so far: It's eaten up all my time (and most of my money), I sometimes buy Acclaimed Homeschooling Supplies and then toss them in a rage across the room because THEY ARE KREP and my kids - all three of them, including the one who is NOT homeschooled - are happy. The end.
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33 comments:
Sounds like you are doing a terrific job. I like that you are trying to give each child what that child needs, and I hope you enjoy a wonderful summer off...also, that all continues to go well for them.
=)
thank you for this. Even though my oldest is two, we are pretty convinced that we will homeschool. I live in California where the system is crappy and it's not about being a good teacher, it's about union status. Probably by the time my children are old enough, there won't be any teachers left we will be such a broke state. We've already gotten rid of most of the music and arts at our public school anyway, and the math and science programs are atrocious. I'm scared though. I have an fine art degree and my husband has an engineering degree and we are petrified because there is a lot of confusing material/opinion out there. This has cleared it up a bit for me. Aaaannnd, now that I look at this comment, I should have probably sent an email. HOPE YOU HAVE TIME FOR MORE POSTS THIS SUMMER!!!
The Boy's jail comment? Heartbreaking.
So you did the right thing! And you did it well! Yay you!
Love,love,love,love,love this! Why?? Because "they are happy - the end."
I mean, really, if you're home schooling there's NO reason they shouldn't be right?? You should be able to completely adapt to your teaching style, their learning style, their interests, their needs, and they SHOULD be happy!! Sounds like you've completely succeeded.
There IS a lot of KREP out there but there is a lot of good stuff, too. And I giggled when you mentioned "her Majesty's U's" and I never really thought about the lack of Canadian-based curriculum. Someone should get right on that, they could be the first big distributor to Canada and make tons of money. ;) Just an aside, I had Singapore math recommended to me for my 2nd grade girl who is good at math, but that was after I'd already been sold on Horizons Math, so we got Horizons. She is 13 lessons into it (because we school year round and she was ready to move to 2nd grade math so we did) and we both love it. I think it's important to get something up on their skill level so they don't get bored with it, don't you think? Anywhoo...
OH! I was going to make one more suggestion, about music. My parents get season tickets to a local symphony and they've taken us to two of the performances. Now THAT is a great way to expose kids to classical music. Made me consider buying season tickets ourselves. My 10yo really enjoys it.
Kudos on a really good school year! =)
I love this post. So positive and yet honest. And also I am dying laughing "At least you're reasonably smart. Maybe your kids will have a chance." Awesome. REASONABLY smart. People are so awesome with what they say.
Wow, it's been a year?
good work. :)
For a really inexpensive, not very time intensive for you, good for kids approach you may want to check out Charlotte Mason, if you haven't already. and Ambleside online.
It's a real literature and real book approach to education, as opposed to textbooks and curriculum, and they have a lot of resources, including whole classic books available to download for free.
The best intro book I found for parents is "For the Children's Sake" by Susan Schaeffer McCauley.
She summarizes the Mason approach very well. I have a feeling you and your home schooled kids may enjoy it.
OH I am so happy to hear you guys are happy! I wish I had it in me to do this. I sometimes think my oldest would do better if homeschooled, its hard to say.
The comment from your son about getting him out of jail? *SOB* That's all you need.
And a big congrats to you. Homeschooling is a huge commitment, and you've done it and you're reaping the rewards of knowing what's best for each of your children.
Sounds like it was the right decision! I'm not built for homeschooling, and thus, my kids will always have to attend school. My son isn't all that pleased with this, but such is life. KayTar on the other hand loves going to school and is happy not to be "wasting her life at home".
Some homeschoolers never incorporate art and music into their lessons? Did I really read that right? Yowza. One reason I know I'd be a lousy homeschooler is because our entire day would be art and music. I'd be all, math? pfffft - boring! Let's do a craft.
It sounds like so much hard work. I just don't know if I am smart enough to teach my kids ALL they need to know. I clearly do not have the self esteem for it. ;)
It sounds like your kids are thriving, indeed. Well done!!!! :)
AND HAPPY SUMMER!
Sounds like a great report card to me!
Awww that's great! I'm glad they're happy and getting along...and you're keeping your sense of humor. :)
And I applaud you for getting all the subjects in there. I think if I tried homeschooling, I'd be overwhelmed and thinking each week, 'Oh, I have to do that!'
My children are American, and I still want them to learn world history, and American history from an outsider's perspective, and, darn it, we are going to put U's in our words because I grew up reading English and Canadian books and U's belong in words!
That's all.
(Well, I have a lot more I could say about homeschooling, but I'll spare you.)
Thanks for your honest evaluation of your year. I am very skeptical of public schools for my kids, but I will probably need to send both of them into them. I feel like i have practically the extremes for special education and I'm not sure how either of them are going to fare. We'll see! Woo hoo.
I hope you have a lovely summer!
BTW, I think in America, kids are sorely lacking in local and state history. And we never seem to get through all the world history either. I.E. I never studied the korean war in my entire schooling. Oh well!
:)
It's important to have homeschooling friends so you can check out the stuff they've bought to see if it is right for you. It's par for the course to waste some money - it's hard to tell if the curriculum/learning aids you order are going to work for your particular child. The longer you homeschool, though, the easier it is to spot the duds ahead of time.
Lots of things look good, say, but are way too parent-intensive. Other things, as you have noted, are way over-priced. You might want to subscribe to Home Education Magazine (or at least read what it puts online) - it has a variety of perspectives written by a variety of homeschooling moms (including, ahem, myself). There is no one-size-fits-all in homeschooling.
How can children not be exposed to music? Their parents don't have a CD player or radio? Meaning, you don't have to do anything too formal to teach them about music. We love, love, love the Beethoven's Wig series of CD's - very funny, very musical (and I borrow them from our library - so they haven't even cost me anything!).
Pandia Press is really cool. And don't you have any Canadian homeschooling companies you can get history books from? Those of us to the south of you know NOTHING about Canadian history. If you find a good book, let me know. I checked our libraries - nothing there.
Be careful of being judgmental of other homeschooling families. Maybe the moms don't do as much intensive one-on-one as you do because they have more kids, but their children are also learning valuable lessons from having younger, needier siblings around who require care and love and time. What's really important is that the kids are learning and spending time together as a family and basically enjoying life. No one homeschooling mother can cover everything. That's a sure road to burnout. So long as the kids can read, believe me, they learn.
Your son sounds so sweet. School can be so hard on the younger boys - they just aren't ready for that yet.
Charlotte Mason was a good suggestion. Check her out!
I prefer the Queen's "u" also. And the "s" instead of the "z" - it just looks so much smarter.
I'll leave you alone now.
What a fun post to read. I can identify with most of what you wrote - except the Canadian part was like this: "she's speaking English, I know she is..." obviously I lack a quantity of knowledge on all things Canadian.
Which is odd. Our countries touch.
Anyway...
Sooooo glad to hear that the kids are happy and you enjoyed the year. I, too, love the benefits to the sibling relationships. Their experience of each other would have been very different if they had gone to school. People do it al the time, but I'm very thankful to have been able to give them this time together and the opportunity to really know each other.
I always, every year, fall for some new book or program that SOUNDS interesting... and then after weeks of sporadic effort, I realize why I'm unmotivated: I don't like it. So, toss. Gone is the book, gone the guilt. You kinda have to add the cost of "wasters" into the cost of the annual curriculum. Eventually you'll have "hand-me-down books" and that will save money at some point.
This year I was stunned: what? the next level of Rosetta Stone French is HOW MUCH? Try $300. For 1 year of French. But here's the thing: my kid needs a foreign language, it's required, and nobody I know speaks anything foreign. I cannot teach a foreign language when I don't speak it. You have to HEAR it. So. I guess I'd better find $300. Sigh.
Anyway.
Yay for one year down! Success! Summer! Enjoy!
Congrats on a successful year one! Your kids are lucky to have a flexible mom who knows them well enough to do what works. I have been doing some practice stuff with the kids, mixed in with some fun learning activities and realize that I don't think I'd be cut out to homeschool the kids at this point. But if they needed it, if they did not thrive in public school, I believe I could rise to the occasion. Well done you.
I KNEW you could do it. and that you would do it well. I'm so very glad that the boy is happy now. That speaks volumes. Time consuming? Yes. Worth it? YES!
Hooray! Sounds like you've been doing a great job, and just what the boy needed. I have a sensitive boy, and keep the homeschooling option in my back pocket, but I always wonder how anyone could teach it all!
The biggest regret I have about sending my kids back to school is that they are no longer as close as they were when they spent almost all of their time together. As far as art supplies I believe children should work with quality materials, so that is where my money always went, buying through Waldorf suppliers because their stuff lasts forever and is good quality. But you are right, there are a frightening amount of horrible homeschooling resources out there. Kudos to you for navigating the maze and coming out with a positive plan and materials that work for your chidlren! Happiness is always a good thing!
Fascinating post!
For writing my homeschooling group is really excited about the I.E.W. program. It's phenomenal (and, I think, Canadian to boot!).
Hey, I'd appreciate it if you could elaborate on the Canadian history that you think is important! I know that as an American kid, we knew NOTHING about our closest neighbor and it really irks me. I'd like for my kids to at least know a LITTLE about how Canada's history evolved alongside ours and how we influenced each other...
My nephew was home schooled. He is now close to finishing his Phd AND MD. An Educational Administrative type is probably the last person I'd listen to about how to educate my kid. I'm cynical that way.
I'm pretty sure I just don't have the patience to be a good teacher myself, but i certainly have a HUGE respect for anyone who does have "the right stuff".
I do worry about how our son, 6 and mildly autistic, will fare as he goes into full time school next fall. He LOVES his kindergarten though, so perhaps I'm just projecting from my own bad experiences.
American history, as taught in schools isn't even good(accurate) for American kids - "history is written by the victors", etc.
Overall, good on Ya! Have a restful summer, you've earned it.
I worry (for no particular reason) that my son won't do well in regular school. I don't know what my concern is specifically, I just know that I have concern. I've been considering homeschooling so this was really interesting to me. I admit my biggest concern about homeschooling is that it's basically me dedicating my life to my kids' education. I don't know if that's selfish of me to say that but it's true. I'm still considering homeschooling though.
Singapore Math, which I know a lot of people are divided on
Pun intended, right?
Good for you, Beck! I am a former teacher (K and 1st grades), but now a SAHM. I was so worried about sending my daughter to kindergarten, and totally prepared to homeschool her if that's how things went (because I know a thing or two about how school can be--positive and negative). But we have a wonderful neighborhood school and she is doing great. I think the most important thing about homeschooling is the competence of the parent to do it well--and that starts with love and care for the child.
Sounds like you are doing just fine!
I use Singapore Math for my kids and blog about our experience at http://www.pragmaticmom.com/?page_id=1927
I also like Daily Word Problems by Evan-Moore and Life of Fred.
Pragmatic Mom
Type A Parenting for the Modern World
http://PragmaticMom.com
I blog on education, parenting and children's lit.
so glad it worked out, and was the right thing for your family. :)
Very interesting. And I appreciated the links--especially the math link. Thank you!
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