Pictures!

Brenna turns three! Is that a castle or the Alamo? In any case, Neal will be on hand to help eat it...

Noah is unimpressed...

Oh noes! A Fairy Princess is on the loose! Hide your wishes!

A Beautiful Day At Battelle Darby Creek Park

Pictures by Charlie....

 

 

Once again....

...we're going to be Grandparents! Renee and Brad are expecting in late March.

Misconceptions about Homeschooling

Homeschooling takes so much time!

Many years ago, I went to a home school conference to listen to Dr. Raymond Moore, one of the fathers of modern homeschooling. He said that half an hour was good for the younger ones (5-6), working up to an hour as their attention spans grew. An hour and a half a day of direct instruction and bookwork was enough for any kid under twelve. Of course, older ones may spend more time at it, because hopefully they figure out that there's so much more to learn!

Homeschooling takes very little time!

You have to be available for your children. That involves time. Even if you have a self-directed teen who has taken control of her own schooling, you need to be there for encouragement and discussion. Generally, the younger the child, the more time of direct teaching is involved, really. It also seems that some kids become self-educating for a while in late childhood, then regress to sleepwalking through life sometime in the early teens. This kid needs positive attention, and maybe a gentle poke to get them moving. In any case, they grow out of it. A good outside activity, like refereeing soccer or working at a food pantry can help.

Homeschooling is very easy!

It can be, at times. Occasionally it seems to fall into place like clockwork, and all is smooth.

Don't get comfortable!

Your kids will change, your life will change, the type of education they need will change...it's normal, and so are a few growing pains. Don't let them throw you. Give yourself a chance to acclimate to the new situation. And, if all else fails...ask the kids. They often know exactly what's needed.

Homeschooling is so hard!

It can be. But challenges are what make life the thrill that it is. When it gets to be that way, take a bit of time off. Have school at the reservoir for a few days, or study how to make igloos in your snowy backyard. watch some Bill Nye videos, and learn to make a new kind of fudge. You need a break, and it's okay to take one.

There are some situations which can make home schooling especially difficult. Moving, a chronically ill child, a new baby, other dramatic life changes can make it much harder for a while. That's when educational games, dvds, kits, and even workbooks can be useful. Or just make occasional forays to the library and come back with huge stacks of books. Do a few searches for and visit educational websites. Some are even recommended for bored kids. These are great for when you can't plan lessons, but want something 'educational.'

I have to teach them everything!

No...they will teach themselves more that you will teach them. Remember that reading is like having a conversation with the author. Remember that your kids think and absorb constantly. Remember that your kids want to learn...even if they complain sometimes.

Which they will.

They can teach themselves everything!

Maybe your teen can...if she's self-motivated and has access to the right tools. But even the most gung-ho kid needs a bit of encouragement and..dare I say...advice now and then.

Younger ones often need help with how to direct their energy, and guidance with discovering things that they've never considered. So even unschooling doesn't mean that they don't need you!

Homeschooling is so expensive!

While it is possible to teach a child right up to their admission to Harvard or Cambridge using only pencils, paper and the Internet, it's not very common, probably because most of us don't carry the entire structure of the Tree of Knowledge in our heads. We'd like a little help with the structure of our learning and with 'what to teach when.'



That being said, the books and tools we use don't have to be expensive. For instance, Amazon.whatevercountryyou'rein has used books for sale, quite often at less than half the usual price. I've bought hundreds of these books, and only rarely have I been disappointed.

Many communities have free or inexpensive programs for children that can be counted as part of their education. Clubs like Girl Scouts, Civil Air Patrol, Spiral Scouts, church and synagogue youth groups, library programs, youth sports leagues...they're all possibilities. Some colleges and museums have inexpensive classes for kids. Teens can take classes at local colleges, which can be cheap in the long run, when they get more scholarships and have credits already banked before they start college.

Homeschooling costs nothing!

While doing school with nothing but pencils, papers and a stack of library books can work fairly well in the early grades, it becomes a bit more problematic when you have to keep trying to renew the Chemistry textbook for the fifth time. Most libraries have limits on these things!

It can also be a bit problematic when you are doing history in chronological order and the books you would like to use are out, possibly until seven weeks from last Tuesday.

Children who grow up in an environment rich with books and learning materials tend to be more intelligent and go on to higher education with more ease. So a bit of wise spending is in order. But don't go into curriculum overload. If you do, sell the excess on Amazon and use the money for a museum membership, or buy other stuff that you need at our store.

Homeschooling has to be set up like a school!

Says who? It's your school. You're the teacher, or facilitator, or guide, as you choose. You design your school to reflect your educational goals for your family. For some families, this will mean a structured environment, though many who start this way loosen up as time goes by and the parents see that the children can take charge of at least part of their own educations. For another family, it may mean a loose, child-led approach, with hardly any textbooks at all, though many of these young people tend to structure their own educations as they get older and prepare for college admittance or other adult learning experience.

Homeschooling has to be totally unstructured!

It can be, but, here again, who says? What many call 'unschool' usually involves a lot of time spent with the child, using teachable moments, and educating them as a natural part of life. there may appear to be no structure, but there quite often is a rhythm to the flow of the days. Many parents also do 'semi-unschooling' (myself included), which incorporates a lot of free time for self-teaching, and a small amount of more structured learning most days.

You must have a classroom!

And sit at desks in a row, and raise your hand to talk...like the observation of the auntie who can't think of any other benefits to 'regular school' other than learning to stand in line, it's structure for the sake of structure. Part of the joy of homeschooling is the freedom to make learning part of your entire life, something that can be done outside in the treehouse, or under the table in your pjs.

You must do all classes outside or under the kitchen table!

Dining room tables work better for writing, and couches are really good for snuggling while reading. Get comfortable, and fit the environment to the activity!

They have to be kept in their proper grades!

All six-year-olds aren't ready to learn to read. Some are not quite mature enough, and some have been reading for a few years. It's all okay, they're just different types of kids. A child who loves science may need a high school or college level book at ten, but he may still be in a math book for kids ages 8 to 9. That's fine. The different parts of their brains mature at different rates. Give them a bit of space to grow.

Living Intentionally

Somewhere long ago, I came across the Quaker concept of living intentionally, which (for me) means that we should actually think about what we do and how we live, rather than just blindly accepting our culture's dictates.

Thinking about the way that our families live, of course, can sometimes lead to radical life choices.

Like homeschooling.

Long ago, when my husband and I started considering the education of our then three-year-old daughter and her baby sister and their possible siblings, we decided that the schools that were available to us were less than ideal, and that possibly no schools would really match our hopes for the girls' childhoods. Six hours a day of being locked in a building with few choices to make, and even fewer rights as a person, didn't seem like a great way to raise a citizen of a free country. Two more hours of deskwork at home that cut into family and personal time seemed to be training them for a life devoid of connections outside of a work environment.

The environment in our local schools at the time was very crowded, but not nearly as lockstep as it is today. The US Federal Government hadn't intruded nearly as much in local affairs, test results weren't the cause of major anxiety and unhappiness that they now are, and 'zero tolerance' stupidity (as in, "Hugging a friend who has lost a parent is cause for suspension." or " Seven-year-olds who have temper tantrums should be charged with felonies." stupidity) hadn't reached it's full flower. Recess was still considered normal, and caffeinated pop wasn't sold in the halls, so that children who were forced by the schools to take psychoactive medication could counterbalance their Ritalin with Mountain Dew.

(I wonder how teachers can handle all this! I doubt that much of it was in their childhood visions of what teaching would be like...)

I also hated the thought of giving away the most precious hours in our kids' lives to the school. Many of my friends say that it seems that they see their children mostly at their worst, when they are tired after a long day and yet still must be made to finish the evening's homework. With homeschooling, I get to help them with their 'homework' for a few hours, but their whole schoolday is about as long as schoolkids' evening bookwork.

The more we actually thought about it, the more the educational system that has grown up in America in the last century or so seemed to be a bad choice for our family. That brought about one of our more dramatic choices to live intentionally: our long-term commitment to homeschool our children.

Nebel's Elementary Education

My son Neal is very science-minded. He is always coming in with a new rock, or bug, or question about how the world operates and why we see it the way we do. He’s rather wiggly, and he builds things and takes things apart to see how they work.

He is my fifth child. I tried using the books that I’d used before with the other kids. It didn’t work, and I realized that it had been a bit of a struggle here and there with the older ones who had similar inclinations. The problem was, I realized, that most give short shrift to mathematics and science, while focusing on language arts and social studies. While these subjects are important, the imbalance explains a bit about why some kids are antsy, and why the US has to import many scientists from Asia.

Science is not well-represented in most school or homeschool curriculums. They tend to be language-arts-based, because most teachers lean in that direction. Many elementary school textbooks are full of factual errors, and don’t contain enough real information to satisfy the curiosity of a science-oriented child. For many years, there were few alternatives, outside of designing your own science-based lessons.

Enter Dr. Bernard J. Nebel, scientist, educator, and curriculum developer. He has developed a well-organized resource for teaching and learning middle childhood, Nebel’s Elementary Education: Creating a Tapestry of Learning. This isn’t a book of worksheets and fill-in-the blanks: it’s a compendium of what can be learned by children ages five to twelve or so, with a definite science and math bias.

Nebel’s is really an all-purpose guide, like a scope and sequence list, but with detailed explanations and resources. Subjects are presented in seamless threads, all of which intertwine and build upon previous knowledge, which leads to greater understanding and comprehension.

It is divided into seven themes, each of which can be partly covered each year, according to the child’s ability and interests. For instance, Theme Four is Living, Nonliving and Human-made Things. Obviously that’s a bit much to cover in one year, but a plan is laid out and suggestions for when and how to teach about the world around us are given. Experiments and websites are suggested, but textbooks and such are not. This can be a bit frustrating, but in the end it may be better, since it means that the book will not become dated as quickly. The themes start out with what the child knows and has encountered in his or her world already, and builds on that knowledge with activities and ideas in a way that allows the maturing mind to grasp it all firmly.
There is an excellent section on values and character which stresses the traits which advance civilization, and the need for goals and purpose, with suggested ways to encourage these traits.

History is taught with an easy and clever timeline that will last several years. The chapters on economics and government may seem a bit mature for the younger ones, but older children definitely want to know how the world works. The ‘Baloney Detection Kit’ is an excellent resource for teaching thinking skills.

Unit study homeschoolers may be particularly attracted to this book. It gives a framework, makes quite a few practical suggestions, then leaves a lot of room for library books and internet exploration. It can serve as a guide that reassures you that you’re covering all the bases, and can be used with multiple grade levels, and with children who like to work more slowly or more quickly than most. Unschoolers may also like the framework and activity guides….and your older child may even decide to read the book!

Nebel’s is non-sectarian, but not anti-religious, which makes it useful for anyone. There is a heavy emphasis on connecting what is learned to what the child already understands, creating a structure in the mind that can support more information and be used to consider a variety of ideas. There is also emphasis on developing children’s critical thinking abilities and values.

There is also an online forum for discussion listed in the book, where Dr. Nebel answers user’s questions and assists them in using the curriculum.

All-in-all, this is one of my favorite resources!

Book Notes

♦ Title: Nebel's Elementary Education: Creating a Tapestry of Learning Author: Bernard J. Nebel, Ph. D.

♦ Publisher: Nebel's Press for Learning

♦ ISBN: 1-58820-892-3

♦ Binding: Softcover

♦ Pubication Date: 2001

♦ Price: 29.95 : $18.87USD on Amazon.com : used only on Amazon.ca




Usefulness for Homeschoolers *****

Quality of Materials *****

Recommended Ages: 5 to 12

Pro: Science-based for a different take on children's education; well-written; a good overall guide to elementary education.

Con: I'd love to have a full curriculum based on this!

Cautions: Non-religious, but not anti-religious. Can be used with most any curriculum.

Confessions of a Semi-Unschooler

It's confession time.

I've already confessed to allowing my children to be woefully ignorant of spelling tests, and to not gluing their behinds to their chairs while they fill in the Thousand Multiplication Problems of Doom. I've admitted to letting them build Lego castles when they 'should' be staring balefully at my face while I drone on endlessly (I'm good at that!) I also freely own up to the fact that I have no respect for 'grade levels' of any books, including textbooks....and educational "experts of the month" don't rate much better.

Time for more admissions of guilt:

• We've had lessons in bathroom cleaning....with certificates given to the graduates.
• I let my thirteen-year-old sleep in until ten (or later!) so that I can have some uninterrupted time teaching the two younger ones. Granted, we don't get up until 8:30, and our lessons don't start until 10 or so, but maybe that's a different confession.
• We do Chemistry experiments that involve flame and small explosions. This is not approved by the Great Nannies that be.
• We don't issue grades. Who would we being comparing the kids to, and why?
• When someone runs into something they can't quite understand, we don't drone on and on, call for experts or medication, or label the kid a failure. We put it away for a few weeks or months, then go back. Usually the difficulty will have resolved itself in the child's brain on its own.
• I have let my thirteen-year-old out of 'schoolwork' so that he can fix the computer.
• We've played games all day and called it school
• We've cooked all day and called it school.
  

• Vacations are counted as school...it's living geography, right? And the kids do a lot of reading and puzzles.
• We use Dell puzzle books for math sometimes.
• We've had school while one child was dressed as Laura Ingalls, one was a princess, and one was a policeman. And it was nowhere near Halloween.
• I firmly believe that reading Scientific American or Seed or Ranger Rick magazine is as good or better than reading a science textbook.
• When they were in that stage, I've let a child do fifteen or twenty mazes or eight or ten crosswords at a time. (I also let a little one eat pickle after pickle- along with her usual food- for a few days...until she gave it up on her own. She was fine, but she smelled like garlic for a week!)
• Reading class is often done in bed.

But my biggest confession is that I don't really teach high-school-aged kids much at all. I enable them to teach themselves.

Actually, this transfer of educational power begins when the little one can read. Reading is the ultimate power-grab: it introduces the child to a whole world of knowledge that Mommy and Daddy don't mediate. Of course we help our children choose books, but in the end, the book has power in a child's mind that we can't entirely foresee.

I also keep lessons short and to the point during the preteen years. This gives the children time to develop their own interests and talents, which, in our family, has meant that every one of them who has reached age ten or twelve has several things he or she can do better than my husband or I.

By the time they're in their early teens, the transition to self-education is well along. I give them ideas and make occasional assignments. We discuss their choices of subjects to explore, and I help them keep it all balanced. As they head on to the middle teens, we discuss what they'll need for whatever college or career plans they have and try to match the course of study with their choices, keeping in mind that they need to be educated people first, good ACT testers somewhere down the line.

This has (so far) produced three teens who made the transition to college easily, since they were used to studying and finding information on their own. They also have had the motivation needed to keep gong even when it got tough. The lack of reliance on traditional texts and parroting techniques has also made them less likely to simply accept what they're taught because they've seen how differently two sources can portray the same 'facts', and more likely to question their teachers. The two who are now adults are motivated people who keep expanding their educational horizons because they enjoy it.

Ultimately, that is our greatest educational goal: to teach people how to teach themselves.

That, and teaching them to clean bathrooms!