Homeschooling - SUPPORT GROUP

[herfrds]

The funny part is how smart she really is! A fellow home schooler up here told me that she could see how relaxed and confident DD has gotten since I pulled her out.
DD can tell me how much is in a liter and how far a kilometer is.

Smarter then her mother! Right where I want her to be.

 

[silkiecuddles]

I think we will be using several things.... easypeasy is on the short list.  There is a FB page for them. 
Here are some that are on the short list. 
http://discoveryk12.com/dk12/how-it-works/#Platform
https://sites.google.com/site/learninglynxclassroom/home
http://littlehousekindergarten.com/
Unschooling, Charlotte Mason and Robinson are also on the list..... I think we will be ECLECTIC homeshooling LOL.
Has anyone used Story of the world?  Seems popular and I am thinking about getting it. 

Hi everyone! Homeschooling is absolutely amazing! We use Charlotte Mason a lot. Also have used Beautiful Feet, My Father's World. I loved Story of the World! Did that in 2nd grade. Great, easy to understand. Unschooling is also an awesome route. Haven't actually don't that completely, but it is a great way to learn.

 

[jaxsteph]

I've homeschooled almost the entire way through, and my oldest is now 14--a freshman this year; whew! I guess the only thing I would encourage all of you newer homeschoolers to keep in mind is this: Our children our resilient. The goal frequently becomes how to teach them EVERYTHING, when it should simply be how to learn ANYTHING. If they know where to go to get the information, and they learn that learning is enjoyable, then they can fill in the inevitable gaps.

Homeschooling is grueling, exhausting, often depressing, always overwhelming, and filled with pressure and guilt. It shouldn't be. This is the chance to get to know your children, and to let them get to know you. It's easy to lose sight of the goal, and get wrapped up in box-checking.

I'd just encourage you all to put down the expectations and give yourselves some new ones: you will fail at things, you will find that there are things you can't teach, you will miss something vital that you should have taught them, and you will have times when school has to be put on hold so that life can be lived.

You can handle those things with grace, love, and forgiveness for yourself and the people around you, or you can make everyone crazy as you freak out over everything. I've done the latter way too often for anyone's good, and it didn't help me at all. So! Give yourself some grace, accept that you will not be a perfect teacher, and be thankful every day for the time you get to spend with your kids. You have already done the most important thing by being willing to give up your own time and needs to meet those of the people around you. Enjoy the blessings that come from that!

God bless!!

 

[DMRippy]

I've homeschooled almost the entire way through, and my oldest is now 14--a freshman this year; whew! I guess the only thing I would encourage all of you newer homeschoolers to keep in mind is this: Our children our resilient. The goal frequently becomes how to teach them EVERYTHING, when it should simply be how to learn ANYTHING. If they know where to go to get the information, and they learn that learning is enjoyable, then they can fill in the inevitable gaps.

Homeschooling is grueling, exhausting, often depressing, always overwhelming, and filled with pressure and guilt. It shouldn't be. This is the chance to get to know your children, and to let them get to know you. It's easy to lose sight of the goal, and get wrapped up in box-checking.

I'd just encourage you all to put down the expectations and give yourselves some new ones: you will fail at things, you will find that there are things you can't teach, you will miss something vital that you should have taught them, and you will have times when school has to be put on hold so that life can be lived.

You can handle those things with grace, love, and forgiveness for yourself and the people around you, or you can make everyone crazy as you freak out over everything. I've done the latter way too often for anyone's good, and it didn't help me at all. So! Give yourself some grace, accept that you will not be a perfect teacher, and be thankful every day for the time you get to spend with your kids. You have already done the most important thing by being willing to give up your own time and needs to meet those of the people around you. Enjoy the blessings that come from that!

God bless!!

WOW that is great! Stick around to help.... PLEASE!

 

[Arielle]

We are at the public library right now as our home internet connection is down. BOth kids are on Kahn academy for about 30 minutes. My oldest wants to learn chess so he found www.agame.com to play against a computer opponent and teach himself how to play.

Wanting to learn is the biggest girft IMO. My job as mom is to schedule time at the library and get them there and say" 30 minutes of kahn, then you can pick A, B, or C". I have had to nix playing on friv, and limit even the learning games to make sure" facts" are still accumulating in their brains.

I see myself as their guide.

Over the next year I would like to see both my boys do the Gardening merit badge for Boy Scouts. It includes an option to manage a bee hive, and have a little garden. late this summer they have been helping at the local community garden that donates to the food pantry . . . At the Big Moe , one bought honey comb and a jar of honey ( own money) and the other bought honey sticks ( own money). The gardening merit badge seems like a reasonable extention.

Realized my oldest doesn't know how to use the blender. ME BAD. WIll fix that asap. I have been blending a concoction of vegies and fruit into a puree to pour over extra bread ( with eggs) for the puppy. . . . .when I look at the list of ingredients on the dog food label, I cringe. FIgure I want the pup to be eating as good as we do now. This is where I teach my kids about nutrition and food and how to keep our bodies healthy and able to fight off he germs they are exposed to in public school.

My oldest was just teaching ME how to do square roots-- some how I missed that in school! Hope to get some time to do the Kahn Academy myself so I can learn how to do this. Yes, I made and account for myself, pretending to be a third "student" in my class room!! lol

 

[herfrds]

I also got DD on Kahn Academy for her algebra and she has really picked it up. Been busy doing hunters safety; missed that last year. Have the cattle to deal with tomorrow. She sure loves dealing with the cows. Wants to be a mid wife to just deliver babies for both people and cows.

 

[Arielle]

Always a need for midwives. Human or cow. Yeah DD on working on her algebra!!!!!

 

[herfrds]

DD is falling behind on her Time 4 Learning. Every time she gets started on it half way through the computer freezes. New computer is due next week.
So been working on her penmanship and spelling. Told her to be ready to catch up on the rest of her work. Response was a big sigh but she knows it will have to be done.

She went with me to an EMS training course and got to try out doing CPR on the dummie. She also sat through a couple of courses with me before heading for the water park. She now wants to go into the medical field.

 

[chicken pickin]

I just wanted to jump in and introduce myself, I typically don't read or post on the non chicken related threads but on occasion BYC is a great place to find other support, I agree with @DMRippy in post number one stating that chicken people are just the best so I thought this might be a good place to start to learn and maybe get some support.

I have many pages to read through as I just found this thread, I see it is not super active here but that people pop in from time to time. I am hoping to learn from all that has already been posted. I have never home schooled, nor have I really ever thought about doing it. Im still not quite sure its something I can manage and do well so my children can REALLY succeed. I have 3 daughters ages 8, 9, and 13.

The thought of home school has actually been ask of me by my middle daughter sporadically over the past 1.5years roughly, she seems to experience anxiety and school is the place that increases it significantly making each day a little difficult for her, like any mom I have been hoping she could adjust and learn to cope with her anxieties. She's doing well academically and has many friends but her days are a little tough.

The new realization that came to me very recently that home schooling might actually be in my very near future is coming from my oldest daughter that has been experiencing moderate to severe OCD and very recently it is making going to school an extremely fearful thought and see says she cant be there anymore and has asked me repeatedly to be home schooled. Her OCD is related to the fear of other peoples germs, so a school full of hundreds of people is so so very hard for her. Again academically she does fantastic and always has, her disorder just has her hitting a pretty big speed bump.

I have never looked into home schooling and have not a single clue where to start, no idea who I should speak with or how to find a curriculum, Im also not aware of what legal things are involved or requirements that might be involved. Im also not sure if Im making the right choice or if the children will end up lacking somewhere by not learning by teachers and being with peers, so I have a feeling of being a bit lost. Im also not sure my DH will be supportive of my decision to homeschool, at least my oldest DD for now. I do feel my youngest DD will do great in public school and Im not sure how home schooling 1 or 2 children and then sending the 3rd one to school every day will work.

I haven't made my decision yet on where I go from here but I plan to read though this thread and hope I find some answers along the way and maybe find some encouraging thoughts and stories making this journey not sounds so scary or difficult.

Thanks for letting me share where my journey is kind of beginning.

 

[DMRippy]

I just wanted to jump in and introduce myself, I typically don't read or post on the non chicken related threads but on occasion BYC is a great place to find other support, I agree with @DMRippy in post number one stating that chicken people are just the best so I thought this might be a good place to start to learn and maybe get some support.

I have many pages to read through as I just found this thread, I see it is not super active here but that people pop in from time to time. I am hoping to learn from all that has already been posted. I have never home schooled, nor have I really ever thought about doing it. Im still not quite sure its something I can manage and do well so my children can REALLY succeed. I have 3 daughters ages 8, 9, and 13.

The thought of home school has actually been ask of me by my middle daughter sporadically over the past 1.5years roughly, she seems to experience anxiety and school is the place that increases it significantly making each day a little difficult for her, like any mom I have been hoping she could adjust and learn to cope with her anxieties. She's doing well academically and has many friends but her days are a little tough.

The new realization that came to me very recently that home schooling might actually be in my very near future is coming from my oldest daughter that has been experiencing moderate to severe OCD and very recently it is making going to school an extremely fearful thought and see says she cant be there anymore and has asked me repeatedly to be home schooled. Her OCD is related to the fear of other peoples germs, so a school full of hundreds of people is so so very hard for her. Again academically she does fantastic and always has, her disorder just has her hitting a pretty big speed bump.

I have never looked into home schooling and have not a single clue where to start, no idea who I should speak with or how to find a curriculum, Im also not aware of what legal things are involved or requirements that might be involved. Im also not sure if Im making the right choice or if the children will end up lacking somewhere by not learning by teachers and being with peers, so I have a feeling of being a bit lost. Im also not sure my DH will be supportive of my decision to homeschool, at least my oldest DD for now. I do feel my youngest DD will do great in public school and Im not sure how home schooling 1 or 2 children and then sending the 3rd one to school every day will work.

I haven't made my decision yet on where I go from here but I plan to read though this thread and hope I find some answers along the way and maybe find some encouraging thoughts and stories making this journey not sounds so scary or difficult.

Thanks for letting me share where my journey is kind of beginning.

TAKE a DEEP BREATH! We have all been in your shoes. The JOY of home school is, the kids excel! Really! You just have to find what works for you and your kids. There are SO MANY OPTIONS. First - Look up the laws in your state and understand them. That will give you an idea what you can and can't do. Armed with that you can start a search of options. I am doing kind of an more structured Unschooling (oxymoron, I know). I want them to lead me to what they want to do but READING and MATH is our main curricula. Maybe more of a Charlotte Mason Method with some Robinson Curricula thrown in too (they are similar)

Feel free to ask us ANYTHING! After the holidays I will be more help.