Nay Nay, what curriculum have you been using? Have you been homeschooling since your oldest first became school age? Are you doing this for religious reasons? If so, what kinds of things might you do differently than a public school?
Nay Nay, what curriculum have you been using? Have you been homeschooling since your oldest first became school age? Are you doing this for religious reasons? If so, what kinds of things might you do differently than a public school?
Bummer, I kind of wanted to talk about homeschooling a bit. Well, I'll talk anyway if anyone wants to listen. I found that one of the great benefits of homeschooling is that my daughter could move at her own pace. Right now, things are really easy for her, so we have moved along quickly. She is at the top of her class, but we are doing extra work at home to keep her challenged. The other nice thing is being able to teach the children how to behave without dealing with the fallout from all of the other children. One little girl stole something from my daughter everyday for the first one and a half weeks she was in school! The poor thing comes from a really messed up family, and while I certainly don't blame the child for what is going on at home, it really has made it interesting trying to explain to my child how to deal with it. Then a little boy in her class got in her backpack last week and took something. The teacher had to threaten to write notes home to both sets of parents before he admitted that the item in question was not his. Sigh. These kids are only in first grade. Still, it has been an overall good experience for her so far, but it has only been 3 1/2 weeks so far!
We've been homeschooling for about 2 years now.
At first, we just took one daughter out, and the older 2 stayed in public school.
A year later, we took another daughter out, and the oldest remained in public highschool to finish her last year.
By the grace of God, as long as public schools are being run by an anti-God government (and all of them are), our youngest three will never see the inside of a public school house.
We use Christian Liberty Press as a base, and supplement it with other things.
Most of the time, it works out well for us, and even better for them. There are times when it gets a little maddening having 5 kids at home all day, but we deal with it, and go on.
"SOLA SCRIPTURA… GRATIA… FIDE… CHRISTUS… DEO GLORIA" Scripture alone, being our final authority, teaches us that salvation is by grace His grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone.
CA, I bet you would really enjoy A Mom Just Like You by Vickie and Jayme Farris. They are the wife and daughter of Mike Farris, president of the HSLDA. They have homeschooled 10 children and have been doing it for 20 years! It's really encouraging and I've gotten a lot of practical information from it.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14:1
Hi Guys:
My kid is now in the 8th grade. I home schooled him in first grade and dad and mom were public school teachers for him in 2nd at a small country school he attended. We tried public school from 3rd to 5th and the poor kid was bored silly making the deans list every year with little effort.
We finally woke up and have home schooled him from the 6th up until now. We use the A Bekka system, a Christian home schooling program from Pensacola Christian College in Florida. This is a great system that gets the kid up there quick. And uses the Bible as a basis in many areas. We would recommend A Bekka to anyone, especially for the middle schoolers and up.
No more do I have to worry about the influence of the god-less secular humanists on him, nor do I worry that he could be shot by some trench-coated devil worshipper. Three hours, three times a week, of one on one tutoring of a child will produce more than the public school system can in 8 hours a day. Trust me.
Peace on earth and good will to all men is not just for Christmas. Peace, Jep
[Three hours, three times a week, of one on one tutoring of a child will produce more than the public school system can in 8 hours a day]
That is so true! My first grader has been in public school since mid-late October and she is at the top of her class, without having to do much of anything. We are still homeschooling her in the evenings to make up for what she isn't learning in school. The main reason we put her in public school was that she was lonely. We live in the STICKS and she wasn't meeting anyone anywhere near her age. Now she gets to play with a group in P.E., I get to come in to teach music and she participates in group music activities, art activities, etc. You get the picture. We do science, extra math, and reading/writing after school.
Hi Universe:
Yes, we worried for a long time that Ryan (our only kid) might become a recluse or fail to develop social skills. But he has done admirably.
In fact, he seems to be the popular kid in our neighborhood (Dad is not prejudiced, of course
I wouldn’t trade homeschooling for anything out there. I think we got the attention of the entire US education establishment when the latest winner of the national spelling bee was a home schooled kid. In fact, 30 out of the top 100 were home schooled. I love it!
BTW...Thank you all for praying for Ryan through his surgery last week. It was a tumor in his throat that we feared would happen. But when we sent it to the pathologists, it came back as totally benign. Thank you, Father....and thank you all who stood with us having faith this would be the scenario. We are home free in this battle! Trust Him people, He will never leave or forsake you. I can testify to this, as unworthy as I am.
Peace on earth and good will to all men is not just for Christmas. Peace, Jep
homeschooling isn't any fun. If you're homeschooled then you dont have any REAL friends AND you can't be in marching band... band is life
it's hard to fall when you're on your knees
Hi frog4ever. Would you believe that our school district has NO music program?!? It's a horrible situation. I teach lessons to K-12 students at my home and go into the elementary school and teach music to my daughters 1st grade class as well as the Kindegarten. This may be the only home school around with a string/band/choral program! Of course, I only have 10-12 students, depending on which sport they are currently playing.
ack! that is TERRIBLE! I couldn't live without band.. it's like... a part of me! Everywhere around here has band at school and marching band or something... I'm thinking about switching instruments.. like maybe the french horn or bassoon or something...
it's hard to fall when you're on your knees
Keep up the clarinet, you'll be sorry later if you don't. But it's cool to learn new ones, too. I play cello, all of the recorder family, piano and guitar. I also play some other instruments, but not very well. Try the saxophone, since you already have the clarinet down.
universe
It's good to see you here again universe!
Brandan
Ditch the Garbage! - Too many people are proud of their humility - I, on the other hand, am not humble - and am proud of it!
"Luther's New Testament was so much multiplied and spread by printers that even tailors and shoemakers, yea, even women and ignorant persons who had accepted this new Lutheran gospel, and could read a little German, studied it with the greatest avidity as the fountain of all truth. Some committed it to memory, and carried it about in their bosom. In a few months such people deemed themselves so learned that they were not ashamed to dispute about faith and the gospel not only with Catholic laymen, but even with priests and monks and doctors of divinity." - A complaint by German humanist Johann Cochlaeus.
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Alternative. . .
I know many on here have a bias both toward homeschooling and house churches. I am sorry to offend it, but. . .
I think homeschooling and house churches may be good for girls as they should learn from the beginning to stay at home first with family and then with husband and children and not leave their homes unless they are widowed.
However in my opinion, boys should, unless they are to be in farming or home businesses, be in Christian schools if they are available, have Christian extracurricular activities, and not be restricted to the family house church.
The reason I give for this is that while girls need not learn independence and should not have many friends outside of immediate family, boys need to learn both if they are to succeed in either ministry, business, or life in general.
I'm female, possibly too independent for my own good. This is my opinion, however, though I'm open to changing it.
Believe in Jesus, Whom God has sent.
:-)
In Christ alone, by faith alone
(Some of my favorite sayings :-) )
Here's a link to a good American/Canadian history activity, and it's interactive:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ra...rr&r=AOL&t=aff
It's about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. Enjoy!
"In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity." - St. Augustine of Hippo
frog4ever said:Yes, everybody well remembers how cool the band kids were.AND you can't be in marching band... band is life
(They got picked on at my school)
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14:1
Hi Susan! I'm not sure I understand the premise behind keeping girls dependent and not letting them have many friends, etc. Is this part of Calvanism?
Universe
Susan,
I wonder whether it's really a good idea to limit girls' experiences in the way you seem to be describing? I agree that girls need to know how to run a home and rear children; I would go so far as to say that they need to know how time-consuming it is to do it well. Girls should be as thoroughly equipped as possible to make wise decisions about their futures. Public schooling definitely does a poor job of preparing female students to make good choices about career and family. Parents must fill the gap for them. (I know that I was ill-prepared for child-rearing, and I had no idea how difficult juggling family and career would be. Ultimately, I chose to quit trying to "prove" myself, and stayed at home. I home schooled my younger son for three years, and my older son will return to public school next year after four years at home.)
It makes little sense to me to keep girls comparatively isolated, for two reasons. First of all, those who choose marriage will have to choose a mate! Girls, as well as boys, need plenty of supervised social contact in order to learn how to assess character in others. Second, some of them will choose careers instead, and they need to know how to deal with other people effectively. Wives and mothers also need those same skills; we are, after all, the family "social directors!"
Isolating girls sets them up to be bullied and manipulated. It isn't a wise thing to do!
Grace and Peace to you,
cm
"In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity." - St. Augustine of Hippo
we're using Son-Light curriculum with our 5 year old (www.sonlight.com). we like it because it is heavy into history and literature and it doesn't tell a revisionist history (i.e., it's honest unlike other curricula). this is my wife's first year homeschooling but we plan to do it as long as possible.
Good for you! There are so many reasons that parents who can should home school their children during their formative years. You will avoid all kinds of potential educational problems, especially in reading and writing! If I could do it over, I'd have home schooled both my sons from kindergarten until middle school.
You also can have (if you protect your schedule from potential invaders) a much more peaceful and structured family life as home schoolers!
Best of luck to you,
cm
"In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity." - St. Augustine of Hippo
It has been a long time since I posted here, but I wanted to add to this thread as our situation has changed quite a bit. I went back to college last year and tacked a teaching certification onto my useless psych and music degrees. (Can't do much with them!) I was able to do most of the classwork online so that I could stay home with the family. I began teaching kindergarten 12 weeks ago and now both of my older children are in the school that I am teaching in. I am saddened and stunned to see how little time people in general are spending with their precious children. I have what would be considered a good group of children in my class when compared to many in larger cities, but they have not been included at home. I see children who do not know what to do when I speak with them. I cannot engage them in conversation because all they know is an adult telling them what to do and then expecting them to be quiet. I have one student who does not know the names of the colors. What on earth was going on? I only have 13 students, so I am able to spend some one-on-one time with each child, but it cannot begin to make up for what has already been lost.
I guess I just wanted to say that, now that I have been on the other side, I support home-schooling even more, when it is done responsibly. Even if you are not highly educated yourself, the time that you spend with each child reading and learning will make up for what you are lacking otherwise.
I still work with my children at home, but the time that they had alone with me is what has made them mature and responsible students at school. If we had not had that, I wonder what might be the situation now.
In case you are wondering, I am working now since my spouse lost a significant portion of income and has not been able to replace it yet.
Universe
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