Home Education: Our reasons and approach
I have been getting a lot of questions recently about the whys and the hows of home schooling and how it works for our family. For the record, I don’t believe that home education is the right choice for every child or every parent. There are several reasons why I feel compelled to educate my own children but the primary one I will focus on in this post is purely academic.
Background:
Both Cam and I were homeschooled for some portion of our education (Betsy: 5th-8th grade, Cam: 8th grade). We found this experience to have both positive and negative affects on our lives. We are both oldest children with siblings much younger and a lot of our home education experience was self-directed. I struggled to self-direct in subjects that didn’t come easily for me (math) and focused on the subjects I was already good at (art, reading, language and babysitting). Entering High School brought this imbalance to light, particularly in math. I lacked both ability and confidence. Cam appreciated the flexibility homeschooling offered him. Going at his own pace (more advanced than his peers in many subjects) worked well for him. Early in our relationship, long before Sean was a twinkle in our eyes, we discussed homeschooling as an option- particularly through the Middle School years.
When Sean began reading at age four I started to wonder if I would send him to school for kindergarten. Around this time I borrowed a copy of the book, A Well Trained Mind ?????? ????? ???? Bon Cop, Bad Cop dvd ?????? ????? ????
The Interpreter movie download (thank you Cambria).
The Classical Education approach appealed to me and after reading the book I was inspired and encouraged to give it a try. I gathered all the materials we needed and began teaching kindergarten/1st grade with the boys in the fall of 2004. I took Sean through 1st grade material and Caleb through kindergarten objectives. That first year was equal parts wonderful and difficult. At that time I was still working part-time (mostly from home) and about half way through the year I had back surgery. The boys were mostly cooperative and had the attention span you would expect most four and five year old boys would have. By the end of the year they were both reading, writing all letters and lots of words, working out basic addition/subtraction and actually had learned quite a bit of Ancient history.
Over the summer I started to have doubts about whether or not I had it in me to continue. Sean played baseball that summer with several boys that attended a local public elementary school. I heard a lot of great things about the school and honestly the thought of having time to myself for the first time in years sounded so appealing. In the fall of 2005 I enrolled Caleb in kindergarten and Sean in the 1st grade. They made friends, did well academically (too well- they were often bored), they learned how to sit at a desk for long periods of time and stand in lines. I drove to and from school every single day, I made their lunch everyday and volunteered in their classes. My heart broke a little every day I sent them off. I figured it would just take some time to get used to this new way of life for our family.
Things at school for Sean started to get difficult (inappropriate staff, challenging kids, recess issues) and I began to feel really torn. Sean had his part to play in this but he was only six! Not wanting to do anything rash (like rip them out of school) we did everything we could to address Sean’s behavior (attitude, respect toward those in authority even when they were not being fair, patience and tolerance for other students). When we found out that Sean would be getting a wonderful teacher the next year we decided to give it another try. Second grade was much better for him. Meanwhile, Caleb was bored out of his mind in first grade. His teacher refused to address his need for more challenging material (reading in particular) and I could see his discouragement turning into complacency. His teacher told him they would not promote him to a more challenging reading group because “the other children need to catch up to where you are at”. For me, that was the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back”. I left school that day and called Cam crying because I felt convicted that this was not where the boys were supposed to be. I was scared to take on the responsibility again but knew that it was the right thing for our boys and ultimately for our family. The boys had been asking me to bring them home and when I finally agreed they were thrilled. We started 2nd and 3rd grades in the fall of 2007.
One of the biggest differences I noticed right off the bat was that it was so much easier to keep them on task! At seven and eight years old, they had so much more capacity to sit calmly and listen quietly. In addition, they were overjoyed at completing written work/sitting at the table in 3 hours or less each day! They were eager to learn and excited to be challenged. We had a great year together! We were a bit unplugged socially that year other than sports but in retrospect I think this was okay. I was trying to figure out what this looked like for our family and had we joined a co-op or became super involved in the Homeschool Association, I think we wouldn’t have found what worked for us as well. I would have been too concerned about how and what everyone else was doing. I did attend a couple HSA meetings and found myself feeling a bit like that old Sesame Street song,”One of These Things is Not Like the Others”. First of all, I was a lot younger than most of the other moms there and/or I wasn’t of the opinion that my children needed to be sheltered from the evil world (don’t even get me started on the denim jumpers and applique vests). All that to say, I am sure that they are all well meaning parents that love their children and want nothing but the best for them but this wasn’t a place where I/we belonged.
This past year (third and fouth grades), a family we had known of and happened to move in a lot of the same circles with became a huge part of our life and school experience. The Wallaces, who have two boys (very close to the ages of our boys) and a sweet little girl, invited us to participate in a book club with a whole group of boys. In addition to amazing book club meetings twice each month (that included language, geography, history, science and cooking) we got together several times throughout the year for history lessons and play dates. I can’t even express how much of a blessing this was for the boys and I! Kim is such a great mom and teacher! She was a huge encouragement to me and the friendship we developed is one of the greatest I have known. You can’t help but love Kim! The boys quickly bonded and had a great time together. Unfortunately, in June they up and moved to CALIFORNIA!! The move is temporary (we all hope) but to say we miss them would be a huge understatement! Last year was also our first year to join a Parent Partnership Program (through the Meridian School District). Participating in MP3
has worked well for us. We maintain our homeschool status and with minimal paperwork on my part, receive a nice stipend to work with each year.
Currently: ?????? ????? ????
As of right now, we are half way into our third week of school. Fourth and Fifth grade seems so much more daunting to me but I am more convinced than ever that home schooling is the best choice for our family. The boys and I have a very clear understanding that we take this thing one year at a time. I refuse to have a battle of the wills with them over school work. The boys are expected to take ownership, have self-discipline and cooperate. We have a very full schedule and really enjoy all of the curriculum we use. Thanks to the MP3 stipend we are able to have the boys in Art classes, guitar lessons and at Jogo for PE.
Our Curriculum:
- Math– Singapore
- Language– First Language Lessons Level 4
- History– Story of the World, Volume 3
- Foreign Language– Prima Latina (Latin), Rosetta Stone Spanish
- Science– Real Science for Kids Biology, Level 1 and Biology Connects to Language
I would highly recommend shopping and ordering from Launching Success. They are a wonderful, local store that I have always found to be helpful in giving recommendations and stocking great resources. I have also appreciated how wiling they are to track items down for me, order them and have them ready for me to pick up when I need them.
Our Schedule:
