Homeschool Open House 2007: My Entry
Tiany at Less of Me, More of Him is hosting an awesome open homeschool open house! This is my entry as part of this fun event!
I homeschool in the foot hills of Virginia and I can't believe it, but I am beginning my 6th year at this (okay, 10 if you count since birth). I have a 10 1/2 year old son and a 7 1/4 year old daughter (they tell me those 1/2's and 1/4's are very important!) I have two grown stepsons 21 and 18 who attended public school And the reason we homeschool the younger two has a lot to do with our experiences with the older. Plus, my son recognized all the letters of the alphabet by the time he was 2 and was adding in his head by the time he was three. I didn't want to send him to school and have him be bored and learn to hate learning.
We were fortunate enough to land in a great homeschool group our very first year. We actually signed up and attended activities with three groups, but decided in the end that the Unschooling Group that encompassed a huge area was the group for us. There was a large mix of people who followed a variety of schooling methods. And of the three groups, this was the friendliest. The group has changed over the years as people have left homeschooling and started homeschooling. Different small groups have formed to create co-ops, class studies, drama groups, etc. There is always something that we can be part of.
In six years we have never homeschooled the same from year to year. The last two years we went to year around homeschooling. We are not hot weather people and prefer to 'take time' off during the Christmas holidays and the cooler months. We have never used a set curriculum. One year we tried using mostly computer CDs, but that didn't last for long. We all lost interest in it despite my son being very computer oriented. The great thing was that we were unafraid to try new things and had the flexibility to try new things when something didn't work out.
This year we will be using the following: The Story of the World (we are starting at Part I), Saxon Math 7/6 for Jack, Prentice Hall 2nd grade math for Katrina (which she is already 1/3 of the way through), Story Starters by Karen Andreola, Natural Speller by Kathryn Stout, Simply Grammar by Karen Andreola, and for science we will be doing unit studies, meeting with a local 4-H group 2 x a month and working on projects there, and meeting with a nature homeschool group 2 x a month. We also attend a Rock study club once a month called Rock Raiders.
Our day is sort of flexible. I try to get our schoolwork done in the morning. Afternoons are more for chores, my work that I do from home and errands. We do history first as it starts with me reading and that kind of gets the kids up and awake. Then we will spend time in the science area, then in the grammar area (going back and forth between our three options) and then math. About 45 minutes in each area. If any work doesn't get done during that time, they get to work on it on their own in the afternoon. The other part of our day includes about 1 hour of read aloud time before we go to bed. I read 20 minutes of a book Katrina picks, 20 minutes of a book Jack picks and 20 minutes of a book I pick. And we have devotion time. This is my favorite time of the day.
We mostly sit at the dining room table or out on our new deck to do our school work.
Must Share Tips:
1. Always have fun and enjoy the time you have with your children.
2. Remember, you can learn right along with them.
3. Remember that learning doesn't mean you have to do dry rote exercises, learning should be a living and fun adventure.
4. Don't forget to carve out sometime for yourself everyday.
5. Be sure to teach your children how to find the answers and then encourage them to do so. One thing I learned in college was that is wasn't important that I memorize everything. It was important that I know where to find the information I needed.
6. Encourage your child to follow their interests to the fullest.
Questions or Concerns:
1. I always wonder am I doing enough? Am I teaching them correctly? Are they going to make it in the world? But I suspect that most of those questions plague all parents whether they homeschool or not. I can only do the best I can do and hope and pray for the best.
