Ahhh Homeschooling

Let the learning begin. Well, ...continue, I should say. Of course since The Kid was just a wittle baby I've been stimulating her brain in any way I can. Recently I started using some free online curriculums through the last spring and summer (although we didn't do much but play over the summer). It's kept her on her toes and ready for schooling at a moments notice. We haven't been working on a daily bases and I think that helps. But now that she is 4 and ready to be doing a scheduled curriculum, I've taken a stab at writing one my self. I had some help from some friends in a Pagan homeschooling group with ideas, and also the world wide web is a necessity. But before I started I needed to make sure I was really ready for all of this. I am, as some may know, not the most organized person. So I looked over a random school supply list and searched the web for must haves for kindergarten. I had most of the things a kindergartner would need like crayons, pencils, construction paper, glue, etc. My biggest help so far though has been her calender. I went and got her a planner for her schooling. In times past I have tried to set up a months worth of schooling. That was hard to stay on top of since a day in the life of a homeschooler can be very unpredictable. ...especially with a scatter brain teacher like my self. I also tried an actual curriculum but that was too similar to the monthly set up. Finally I read a suggestion on a homeschool page I follow that did rotating days. For example; on Blue days we do philosophy, Spanish, religion (Faith) and P.A. (physical activity which we do every day). On Red days it's history, science, geography and more P.A., Yellow days are reading, writing, math and P.A. Then there are the PBS days which she plays the PBS Kids Play online curriculum that is designed just for her. And then the 5th day is a field trip day. We go to the library, a museum, walk in nature, tour a place of business, etc.

Today is the first day. Right now she is watching Rapunzel (not like she needs a refresher) and through the movie I've asked her some moral type questions, like is Mother Gothel a bad person? Why? Is she bad for taking care of Rapunzel all those years as a baby and little girl? Things that will make her think and question what is. Philosophy is going to be one of my favorite subjects, I can tell already. Today's P.A. is a work out with mom. The kid really gets going on the routine and is a great cheerleader for me to stay motivated. Later we'll learn more about our religion and one of the "holidays" (Sabbats) coming near. Then it's onto a word/picture puzzle for Spanish. I received this puzzle through Discovery Toys when I started my business with them and am excited to be using it in my homeschool routine. It will be great for not only teaching words and sounds and reading, but the word side of the puzzle pieces have the word in English, Spanish and French. As does many of the Discovery Toys.

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Day 2; So we covered most of what I had aimed for yesterday. While on a late errand we had a discussion in the car about the next couple of Sabbats coming up like Mabon and Samhain and why we celebrate them. We also talked about how the original traditions have turned into the ones of today. She was actually quite interested which was pleasantly surprising.

What we didn't cover, we did today. And what we don't get to today, we'll worry about tomorrow. I have to remember that she is learning, we are having fun and we still like each other. The moment I start to stress about getting behind will be the start of a disaster. Because I've tried to keep to my rigid schedules before and have failed miserably. I put to much on my plate and expect my self to follow the plan to a T. Which we all know is mostly impossible when you are a mom......homeschooling.....with a home business. 

As I get further into the year and figure out what works and what doesn't, I'll keep you updated. My biggest challenge is going to be keeping her this interested in "the lessons". Especially not having any one to stay motivated with.  At least not yet. That will be the next issue is finding a homeschooling group we will fit into. I fear that might be a harder task then I like to think about since we live in a smaller town and we don't exactly have a "main stream" faith. If I wish it, so mote it be? :) 

Oh, The Bumpy Road

When I last wrote about homeschooling it was more about how I had decided to take this road. Well the road got bumpy. Like a winding dirt road full of pot holes after a hard winter. It's turned into a very daunting task. 

I'll share some of the things I've found out while researching this life decision. First and foremost you need to be aware of what you plan to teach and how you plan to do it. Most people turn to homeschooling because of religious reasons. The fact that public schools don't incorporate religion into schooling bothers a lot of people and they remedy that by taking charge of what their kids learn. Others are bothered that there is even a hint of religion being taught like the words "one nation under God" in the pledge of elegance. [That is a whole other post] My decision had the same religious weight seeing that most schools don't willingly teach about Pagan beliefs and even more are less knowledgeably tolerant. So I knew what we wanted to teach The Kid. Of course the normal reading, writing and arithmetic. I also wanted her to be aware of my religion and learn for her self as many other religions as we can research. Just like teaching her math and science and proper grammar will help her future decisions of money, jobs and every day living, so will teaching her to be just as knowledgeable about the worlds beliefs to help aid her decisions on a spiritual path of her own. And a bonus from that is that she will just as much respect all others as she respects her self.


So now that I knew what I wanted her to learn, I had to figure out how to teach it to her. ..... Have you met my kid??? I'm not quite sure if she's got one of those hyper active disorders yet. I would not be surprised. The doctor just keeps telling me, "She's a kid." Like that's excuse for her to act like a wild animal half the time. .... Okay, so maybe it is. THAT'S besides the point. What matters is I need to try and figure out how to keep her interested and wanting to do school work. It's sort of a hit and miss thing with her. Some days she's all over it and excited and wanting to do more. Other days, most days she's .. well, a typical kid and just wants to play and do anything but sit still. And in researching homeschooling methods I realized it's possible that not one single curriculum will do the trick. Many parents have mentioned using multiple methods of teaching to accommodate the learning style of their kids. One of them being unschooling. If you've never heard of it (and even if you have) you may think how is that good for any one. Let me give you the quick one, two here. Unschooling is the method of teaching the kids what they choose, when they choose and some times in the form that they choose. Seems like a great idea. Let the kids do what ever they want. Well, that's just about what I thought too. Until I started reading more peoples testimonies about this "unschooling". The idea is to give the learning control to the one that is learning. What better to get their interest than to let them work on what interests them? In theory the kid learns more in depth and with a better understanding if he/she chooses to learn it. 'They' say that children will strive to finish what interests them and this gives them the opportunity to stay interested till they feel they have achieved what they were seeking or have finished the task. It sounds very logical. To be honest, a lot of what I've read is that when some do this unschooling they incorporate a scheduled time or a certain task, but give the kids freedom to do it in their own way.  In other words they have combined two different styles of teaching to fit with their kids needs. Which sounds wonderful and I've realized that's a similar path we will probably take. Because of the variety and the amount of schooling methods and curriculums it seems very common to combine maybe even a few of these styles. But there's two issues I have with this path of teaching. One being I could not just let my kid decide what, when, how and where she's going to learn because she would learn about bubbles, NOW, with The Dog, outside. ... All. The. Time. But the thought of trying to get her to sit and do school work on a regular basses I know will wear her thin and me. The other problem I have is that it does sound like a great idea and even a better idea if I can combine a couple styles like I've read about, ....but have you seen the price of curriculums?? Essentially I'm sending her to the best private school money can buy ... But to buy a curriculum (that I know I could write on my own just by having a year or two under my belt doing this) is not something I want to spend that sort of money on only to use it partly or for a vague guide. 


Well, here's what I've decided to do. Thankfully she will only be 4 this August and I think I have found a FREE =) curriculum of sorts that can let us sort of wonder through what we think is interesting. Use it how you will, but how I have anticipated using this 36 week Smorgasbord found on Homeschooling-Ideas.com is to find topics that I know she will be interested in and will be fun to learn. I think most of these topics can be adapted for her young age as they would for any age I would imagine. Through the summer we're going to try out some different settings and times for learning to see what works best. Since summer is so busy for us we will have to fit in "learning time" when we can. Lately we have been doing an hour of it before bed which seems to work good. I needed something to calm her down and keep her that way before bed because every thing else always turns into a big production with her and she gets hyper and riled over just about any thing. I would like to get more in the habit of schooling earlier in the day. I guess that will have to be something we discover in this trial period. Because come fall when camping and folfing and the days of summer are at an end, we are starting right from the top of the 36 week Smorgasbord with smiles and bells on. We'll see how many smiles are left and where the bells are at the end of the year.

My Road To Homeschooling

I went to school in the public Southern California school system. In first grade I was held back for not knowing my ABC's. Totally understandable, except for the fact that I went to school for two whole years before they stopped and said something to my parents. When asked of the teacher why it was not brought up earlier to avoid the set back, the teachers response was that I was just so quiet and well behaved. In other words because I was not overly active and disruptive nor was I sharp and quick to raise my hand I was simply overlooked. I was an average kid. That was apparently the start of my downfall. 

I need to clarify something before I go on. If you've read my 'Intro.' post you know that I am fully aware of who is to blame when I talk about my life's dreams going astray. There are many occurrences that has lead me to the [some times bad] decisions in my life. But the only one to blame is myself for not pushing harder through some of these struggles I endured.  

About the time my husband and I started looking to buy a house is when I first starting really thinking about my daughters schooling. At the time she was a little over a year old. Of course every one has big dreams for their children and hope for the best of every thing for them including an education. I was no different, but as far as where she would go to school and what type of educational experiences she would have was not something I had put a lot of thought into. Because the decision to buy a house in Northern Idaho was a big one (both my husband and I are from California and long to live there again one day.) I had to do lots of research to familiarize my self with the area and things that had never concerned me before. One of them being the school districts and boundaries and the schools ratings. I was surprisingly shocked at some of the reviews. The elementary school had considerably good ratings, but the middle school and high school was horrible. It was something like less than half graduated and half of that ended up going on to college. This is when I started to consider homeschooling. 

I was a victim of the public school system and I remember it well. I'll give you a little background on me. I'm not the life of the party. I'm not the most reserved person either and at times you may catch me cussing like a sailor. But I tend to be on the shy side and I usually over analyze things before I get my self into any thing too crazy. So I just sort of drifted through school. I clung to the coolest kids that would accept me for my weird awkward self. It was usually the grungy skater/surfer/sit in the back of the class type of crowd. They seemed to be the least judgmental in my opinion, which was great for a kid who was pretty unsure of herself. So as before, I was overlooked. I excelled in the classes that peeked my interest like art and sports. And the rest I just sat quietly and returned my barely passing work. 

So as I looked back at my school years and wondered if my kid would be active enough in some way to be noticed for her to take full advantage of the public school system I realized ... I needed to take it into my own hands and make sure she does not get overlooked.