Well….Today is one of those homeschooling days when I start to wonder why my children aren’t in school.  There is something about homeschooling–or any other seemingly countercultural position–that makes me want to present to the world a faultless exterior.  I want our homeschooling experience to be wonderful; I want my children to be happy and involved in learning complex subjects constantly; I want them to be perfectly behaved, but still playful and “edgy”.  I want our house to be absolutely spotless, but still reflect that we are learning here and not consumed with housekeeping.  I want it all.

I forget (or maybe I just want to forget) that we are all human here.  That they are still children and act in childish ways on occasion.  That I get tired and want to do what I want to do instead of what is best for them and our family.  That we can do this successfully–in our own time and with a good outcome.

It never seems to matter on days like this how successful we are.  Last week, I heard my children introduced (by someone I have a huge amount of respect for) as “some of the brightest and most talented children” he had ever met.  Not good enough today.  Not good enough that they have standardized test scores that set them apart from the average child (schooled or not).  Not good enough that they are recognized as artistically talented by professionals in the fields that they are involved in.  Not good enough that people like them and want to be around them.

Maybe writng this was the best thing I could have done for myself today.  Maybe I’ve just reminded myself  that they ARE good enough–and more.

Posted: May 6th, 2008 under emotions, learning.
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The end of the school year always makes me review the things that I think are important enough to teach to my children.  Having a child who is about to complete Saxon’s Algebra 1 is what initially brought geometry to my mind.   With my oldest, I got a seperate geometry book, and she slogged through it–even though, for me, geometry was my favorite high school math.   I didn’t do it with my next child; we stayed the Saxon course, hoping that they were right and that there was enough geometry in their books to make up for the lack of a dedicated course.   Now I have another one at that point.   I have tried both of the options, and now need to make my mind up about which way to go this time.

The reason that I originally included geometry as a seperate field of study, other than the fact that I really did enjoy the subject in school, was because I find geometry a lovely exercise in logic.   Proofs, to my way of thinking, can teach a child HOW to think clearly.   A child can certainly think logically naturally, or can learn it in a different subject.   I just think that geometry provides a very direct course in logical thinking.

At this point, I am almost certain that I will teach another child geometry.   I let myself be convinced that a small and general overview would be enough.   I no longer think that.  I am still trying to decide what textbook to use, and I will try to start reviews before the summer starts.

This is another lesson for me:  follow my own thinking and reasoning, and not that of people who are trying to sell me textbooks.

Posted: April 7th, 2008 under learning.
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It’s been a busy week, but then again, most of my weeks are busy.  There was more homeschooling in the news–Governor Jindal has proposed a tax break for homeschooling parents which would allow deductions for certain expenses from state income taxes (here’s a link to the governor’s site)–as well as providing similiar tax breaks for private school parents.   I’m not really in favor of this (disclaimer:  I speak only for myself.  I haven’t even talked to my husband about this)–I would much prefer to keep putting money into the educational system and be allowed to take advantage of some of the benefits (like gifted and talented programs or the arts academies).   That doesn’t seem to be on the table, though.   Besides, aren’t there a lot of people who put money into our educational system who don’t have children at all?   Or whose children have grown up and gone?   Should everyone without children in the public school system be allowed to opt out of it?   Or, instead, should we all support and try to improve the state of public education in Louisiana?  I see a lot of problems with this legislation, not the least of which is a sort of “what have you done for me lately” mentality.

But back on the home front, things are moving forward toward the end of the year.   Child #2’s graduation is still being planned (and like everything else, it’s moving a lot more slowly than I originally anticipated).   But school work is going well.   And the two middle children auditioned for a movie to be made here in Lafayette (yesterday), and now we’re waiting to  see if either of them get a call-back.   It looked as though the audition went well for #2, but we won’t know until (or unless) we get a call-back.

Children #3 and #4 are moving along with their studies, even though it’s been slow going for a little while.  I think we’re on track to be moving on by the end of the year.  That means that it’s almost time to start looking at books for next year.  I always wait until the very last minute–but as my oldest says, “if you wait until the last minute, it only takes a minute.”   I do have some idea what classes we’ll be doing, so I’m not completely in the dark.   I’ll be looking for a new geometry book and a new chemistry book.   Saxon Math (generally my math of choice) doesn’t have a seperate geometry course, but I do think that geometry is necessary to math.   Saxon says that they cover it sufficiently well in their Algebra I and II books, but I just don’t agree.

Finding science books has always been hard for me.   Although I like sciences, it’s not my field of expertise, so I have to really rely on the books to cover everything that the kids will need.  I try to choose as carefully as I can.   A lot of the texts available to homeschoolers are Christian oriented, so there is either no evolutionary material or an overt anti-evolutionary bias.  I’m not going to get into that fight here, but whether a family agrees with evolution as a theory or not,  almost every college science course starts with that as a basis.   I think that it is counter productive to put a child into that environment without any preparation.

Child #4’s books will be much easier to choose.   Early elementary texts are simpler and therefore (I find) more parent friendly.   Science, math, social studies and finding the best reading materials are somehow easier when the child is not yet in high school.  Actually, a lot of stuff is easier when the children aren’t yet in high school….

Posted: March 18th, 2008 under learning, legal.
Comments: 1

For those who are interested, here’s a link to a homeschooling blog with really up-to-date news on the California case (including a statement from the California Department of Education):

http://melissawiley.com/blog/

Posted: March 13th, 2008 under learning, legal.
Comments: none

At the beginning of every school year, I think about what I am going to teach.  I mentally (and physically) write down the subjects that “go along” with the year we are starting, those that follow the ones the children are finishing up, new subject areas that they are interested in and new courses that I may have learned about.  I think about the state’s core curriculum; I think about freshman classes at the university level and I think about standardized tests coming up.

Sometimes the most important subjects are the ones that you don’t even think about. 

Over the past couple of weeks, after being sick for so long, the children and I saw a number of theatrical productions.  Some were locally produced; some were touring professional companies.  One was extremely interesting to my children.  The production itself was good.  The cast performed well and the staging was good.  The only real problem was with the show itself. 

The show (its name or the venue are not important) concerned itself in large measure with the relationship between two of the characters and the domestic abuse that defined their relationship.  The abuse was treated as a matter of comedy and many of the comic lines in the show were based in this aspect of the relationship.   My children, and a young friend, were appalled at this.  They were appalled first at the way that the abuse seemed perfectly acceptable to the female in the play (although some of the characters did object to it) and the way that the writer(s) made it so central to the comedy of the show.

But even more, they were appalled at the way that the audience reacted.  All around them the adults were laughing, in some cases uproarously.  But none of the children did.  None of them felt that the way that they felt about the show must be wrong because it was obvious that at least most of the adults didn’t share their feelings.  They felt, morally and ethically, that the depiction of domestic abuse in the show was incorrect.  And they were willing to stand by their convictions.

I think that they had earned an important lesson–one that I had never really thought to teach.

Posted: March 4th, 2008 under learning.
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Well, it’s been a long couple of weeks.  The children at home all had some flu imitation–we know that it wasn’t the flu because our doctor actually ran a flu test and the tests were negative for influenza.  In the long run, it really didn’t matter what they had, since all that mattered was that everyone was sick.

 And I know it sounds a little bizarre, but it provided a fair amount of opportunity for health and public health lessons.  We talked about incubation periods (as the children tried to assess blame on one another for being sick), herd immunity (and whether or not the flu vaccine would have helped, until we discovered that no one had the real flu), how viruses work, how diseases spread (and how to keep the parents in the family who weren’t sick from getting it)–in short, although the children didn’t do the school work that they would have done in the absence of being sick, they learned a lot.

The kind of learning that we did while everyone was sick is not something that can’t or doesn’t happen when “schooled” children are sick.  But homeschooling makes parents and children a little more aware of the chance to get something out of every event.  My kids were a little more involved in the subject matter at this point, and may have absorbed the information almost despite themselves, but they were given the opportunity to learn.  Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t calculus or chemistry, but it was very important and something that every member of my family will benefit by.

We’re finally back to the point where we have begun “formal” schooling again.  Child #2 is working on the new theatre project and currently off helping to build the set for the new play.  Child #3 is working on learning the anime/manga style of drawing and getting ready, I think, to start working on producing story lines for the characters.  Child #4 spent yesterday afternoon on a field trip learning about organic gardening–since organic food is very near and dear to this mother’s heart–and came home with a lettuce plant to tend and grow.

Homeschooling lesson for me this week?  A reminder that there are few things in life that don’t come with an opportunity to learn–it’s just a matter of taking the time to see what’s there.  We had to put our academics aside for a little while, but not our education, and in the long run, it’s the education that is really important.

Posted: March 1st, 2008 under learning, opportunities.
Comments: 1

Last week provides a good example of why I love homeschooling.  Child #2 left Friday morning to spend the weekend in New York City with friends.  Just because.  Two Broadway shows, the Museum of Natural History, Rockefeller Center, Liberty Island, the Statue of Liberty….a fair amount of educational opportunity there.   And add all of the educational resources of New York itself–like what happens when the cab driver doesn’t like his tip or what wind chill really feels like. 

The freedom that comes with homeschooling, for both parent and child, is something that my family and I have come to treasure.   That freedom includes the freedom to use the programs that work for my children–each child individually.   I have used a different phonics program with each of my children, because I was able to evaluate each child’s particular strengths (and weaknesses) to help me to choose what would work for that child.  I was able to look at each one as an individual person–not as a member of a group of 20 ( or 20+) children, who all had to move together.

 I am also able to move at speeds that vary by subject and by child.  We have never had to wait for the rest of the class to catch up–nor has the rest of the class had to wait for my child.  Once we have mastered a subject, we have mastered it.  We move on.   If something in what we are learning attracts my child, we can spend more time on that–we can add lessons at will.

We also change subjects at the drop of a hat.  With the presidential elections coming this year, politics and the American system of government have become big topics at our house.  When one of the states is having a primary, we can take breaks and watch coverage–and then go back to science (or whatever the current “school” subject is).  We can discuss why the candidates say the things they say when it is happening, instead of two hours later, when everyone has lost interest.

But most of all, my children have had the freedom to begin to take responsibility for their learning.   I oversee the process, and make sure that they are applying themselves, but they know that what they put in is what they take out.  Because they share in choosing (to some extent–I know what needs to be taken over the long haul, and we always work towards that) what they are learning, it is easier for them to invest themselves in learning. 

And they all do, even when they are waiting for a bus at Battery Park.

Posted: February 19th, 2008 under learning, opportunities.
Comments: 1