What to do when your first grader is NOT an early reader? What to do when readiness is slow to arrive? What do you do when well-meaning friends and family fuss because it looks like this child is going to be behind? You take a deep breath and evaluate. Learning style of teacher and pupil. It is a constant question–what curriculum do I use? I used Seton for a very long time. It was not the first curriculum I tried back in the day more than twenty years ago when I first embarked on home schooling. I tried Kolbe (classical) … Continue reading
Tag Archives: child directed learning
Here is a really useful web page of advice for the beginning home school person: At home with the Gabois Family. I dislike music on a blog page because it slows down the loading speed and clashes with the music so often on in our home. Turning off the speakers on the computer solved that problem. She uses the same sort of mix of educational materials I use and a few that I plan to go look up since I suspect I will love those too. The great books approach is always sound, solid and worthy. There are books missing … Continue reading
Here are some do’s and don’ts for the new Home School Family on the topic of scheduling. DON’T be tied to the public school schedule in any way not required by law. As long as you cover the material needed you can do it according to a schedule set by YOUR family! DO decide as a family how you want to divvy up the days off from school. For example: you can take off special religious days even if the public schools ignore them. DO be creative in your decisions on how to schedule. For example: You can plan for … Continue reading
It was inevitable that my vocation would include home education but I did not begin there. It all began back in college. You see, I graduated and my first job was at a small private school. My task was to teach arts and crafts and to plan field trips. I loved the work and decided to go back to school and add a teaching degree to my BA. THAT was a major turning point for me. I enjoyed the classes. I was NOT impressed with my fellow students. This was my first time to doubt the quality of education given … Continue reading
Home School should be understood to be parent and child directed without interference from any outside authority. What Is Home School? The above article does a good job laying out the issues of the new ways the government run schools have been finding to make inroads in the direction of controlling the definition. Why? Because they seek to redefine home school enough to force it under the control of the government educational system, the same system most of us have fled because it is too broken to fix, too expensive and totally insensitive to the actual needs of our children! … Continue reading
If you feel that you should home school, and you want to home school, and you are willing to put in the time to home school, then you are a good candidate for home schooling your own children. For some of us, the call to home school is part of our personal vocations. I found it to be a particularly wonderful aspect of my own vocation. HOME SCHOOL IS WORK BUT NOT ROCKET SCIENCE! It is not rocket science! You teach your children to hold a fork and spoon correctly; you potty train them; you teach them to speak correctly; … Continue reading
I am a traditional home school mom with leanings toward unschooling and a highly independent streak. My reasons for home schooling are based on academic, educational philosophy, and religious foundations. I highly value the autonomy that is the hallmark of home schooling and when that autonomy is sacrificed then what you have is no longer home school. I chose home school to get AWAY from a teacher trained for government schools telling me when and what to teach my kids. I wanted autonomy and primacy in educational decisions. Day before yesterday, I read an article about the permutations of home … Continue reading
I recall the library in Wapakoneta Ohio as a kid, it was wonderful with lots of books and a librarian who would help you find something if you simply couldn’t find it. I remember the smell, the quiet peace, the card catalogs I loved so much, the wonder of books. The pleasures of a library can get deep into your mind and stay with you for life. My collection started with books given to me as a child, or books chosen from bookstores or book order forms sent home from school. The books multiplied and my mom humored me and … Continue reading
The other day I decided it was time to let the tittle tiger in our family touch my autoharp. Being that this instrument is a well made one that cost money I probably should not have spent on myself I have been loath to let a 21 month old touch it. Never-the-less it was time and I knew just what method to use! There was at one time a bulletin board for autoharp and on it a woman demonstrated how she introduced the autoharp to small children, granted a bit older than 21 months, but still small: she let them … Continue reading
Teaching the One Room School The above is the best article on home education I have read in a very long time. Well reasoned and well written this article describes with accuracy what we, as home educators, seek to accomplish. … Continue reading