The Official HSB Community Blog - Classical Education ~ Getting Rid of Doubts

~ Home ~ View my profile ~ Archives ~ Email Me ~ My Blog's RSS

Click here to check out the latest contests on the HSB Company Porch!!

Classical Education ~ Getting Rid of Doubts

11:19 AM, Jun. 8, 2009

This week's post is going to be one that I have written about before. I think that it will be one I write about again and again. Why? Because I think this is something that we all deal with repeatedly when we homeschool our children. The subject of this post is getting rid of doubts; throwing away the dubious art of second-guessing. I feel a need to write about it again this week because of an experience I had a few days ago. This experience made me resolve, again, that I need to stop second guessing myself and I just need to follow my instinct (my gut, God's leading, whatever you want to call it.)

I second-guess myself in many areas but the one subject that has made my head spin is grammar. I have changed curriculum so many times in the past five years that just the word 'grammar' makes my insides start to contract. In Classical Education, grammar is an important skill. It is the foundation for logic and rhetoric. In order to think logically and explain yourself in a lucid manner, you need to know how to express yourself grammatically. Now, many non-classical people would disagree with me on this point. That disagreement has been part of the reason why I have jumped many a grammar curriculum ship. I would start a program and then second-guess myself as to whether my kids really need to know the difference between a transitive and an intransitive verb. Is that really important? Does that really matter in the big picture of life? As the years have passed by, I am inclined to think that, yes, it is important. It is important to have those grammatical habits to rely on when you are expressing yourselves. If you are a natural grammarian (as I am) then you can just tell something isn't right by the sound of it. Not everyone is this way inclined, though. It is for these people that a strong foundation in grammar is important.

In our five years of homeschooling we have used (are you ready for this?) First Language Lessons, Rod & Staff, KISS Grammar, First Language Lessons 3, Mother Tongue Book I, the grammar portion of Classical Writing, and, finally, a return to Mother Tongue. Whew! Writing that list out alone exhausted me. What was I thinking? That's just it, I wasn't thinking. I was living on doubt and second-guessing. Rational thought was not part of my repertoire. Even though, rationally, I knew that skipping through curriculum was not wise, I still was not satisfied with what was offered program-wise.

I am tired of all of the second-guessing. I am tired of those age-old thoughts "Is this program too rigid? Is it not rigorous enough? This is too text-book-y. This is so confusing." I am tired of curriculum hopping. So, it is with much courage that I declare today that I am officially throwing away those doubts of whether I am doing the right thing with the grammar program that I have chosen. I am going to throw it all away and we are going to jump into Mother Tongue Book II in the fall. I am not going to question it's material. I am just going to teach it. Even though, I have no idea what a transitive verb is, or a participle, or a gerund, ( do you see now where the second-guessing is coming from?) I am going to take the summer and go through the book on my own and learn all that there is to learn about grammar. I am going to wash those doubts out of my brain!

Julia lives on the Canadian Prairies homeschooling her 3 children (9,8,6) and attempting to give them a Classical Education. You can read more at her blog.

Posted in classical, 1 comments, Link
Leave a Comment

Comments
Doubting Ourselves

5:38 PM, Jun. 9, 2009, posted by Anonymous

I just wanted to send along some encouragement--one homeschooling mom to another. Doubt is part of the deal, I suppose. I will say that having taught public school (K-2nd grades), there's plenty room for doubt there, too. But we hadn't the time for doubt there with all the paperwork and standardized tests so we just went with the state curriculum and let the cards fall where they could.

I also wanted to shard that my hubby finished his PhD in Rhetoric in the last few years and has been teaching college composition for the last several years. It's funny that grammar has often been more important to ME than to HIM. Both of my master's degrees are in education-related fields, so I have to work harder than most to break out of the matrix when making curriculum decisions. He simply teaches how very important it is to "look good on paper so if you can't do it correctly yourself you'll have to hire someone who can." That focus has been very helpful for those who tend to turn off their brains when grammar comes up.

Composition is taking a very different turn with all the texting, blogging, hypertext, and such. I'm amazed at all that I learn from comparing my K-2nd graders and his college kids. And the rules...they CHANGE! I'm overwhelmed with the changes. But hubby continually reminds me that grammar rules didn't come with the creation of the world. They were written and continue to be rewritten by a group of elite, white-collar committees somewhere behind closed doors.

Good luck with your continual grammar decisions. And keep blogging!

Curious about The Old Schoolhouse

Magazine but not quite ready to commit to a subscription without seeing it first? Check it out for FREE! We're so certain you'll love our publication that we'll gladly send a FREE sample to anyone new to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine - we even cover the shipping!

... Click here for more information ...

{ Last Page } { Page 255 of 3254 } { Next Page }

About This Blog

Welcome to the HSB announcement blogboard from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC. We hope you will enjoy the articles posted here by the Porch Team. Please feel free to leave comments!
~ Tia Linschied,
Senior Editor of HSB

The Fall 2009 issue will be
available soon!
Click here to Subscribe!

To see the current cover up close, click here

TOS Homeschool Crew

Promote Your Page Too

Products of the Month

- Get this E-Book FREE!

- Schoolhouse Planner Module ($7.95)
Summer Fun!

- Nov. Molly Digest ($4.95)
Family Photography

Living Heritage UK

Homeschool Resources

Cosidering Homeschooling

FREE E-News!

Our E-Newsletters give you wonderful, informative information about homeschooling, news bits, contests and PRIZES for homeschoolers, articles to encourage you, calls for writers, free unit studies and lesson plans, and just a lot of FUN. Bring the community to your inbox, and no worries, we never sell, trade or give your email or any other information out to anyone. Come join the homeschool party! The Homeschool Minute is our most popular newsletter, full of encouragement and support just for YOU! Subscribe to *FREE* newsletters offered by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.

Visit the Porch Team Writers and Features

Tia Linschied, Senior Editor

Monday - Friday! Homeschool Tip of the Day by Christina

Monday

Learning from the Master Teacher

Craft Corner
by Taneil Linschied

Going the Distance
by Amanda Suryan

Homeschool Nations Highlight
by Tia Linschied

Tuesday

Unit Study Adventures
by In The Hands of a Child

Taming the Chaos
by Dell

Kitchen Moments
by Catherine Love

Wednesday

Home Where They Belong
by the HWTB Team

Languishing in Languages?
by Suzanne Gose

Homeschooling Through High School
by Lori Havens

Thursday

Homeschooling is Life
by Nancy Baetz

Communication Corner
by JoJo Tabares

The Littlest Learners
by Karin Katherine

Homeschool Hilarity!
by Tia Linschied

Friday

Homeschooling Only One
by Donna Conner

Special Words for
Special Needs
by Heather

Notebooking on the Porch
by Lisa Golda

Blogger of the Week
by Tia Linschied

News Alerts

HSB Tech Help

What's Bloggin'

HSB News

TOS News

Contests

General Interest

Updates from Germany

Archived Features

Adoption Options

The Busy Woman

Classical Education

Education Through Imagination

The Experimental Zone

Geography Activities

Jamin's Internet Academy

Knitting

Our New E-book ~
On Sale NOW!

Quick Links

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

HSB Military Blog

Growth of Blogs

Sifry's Alerts - the blog of the owner of Technorati

Homeschooling in the news
provided by HomeSchoolBuzz.com

Do you have the whole set of back issues from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine?

Click here to view all back issues and read the themes - you will want to collect the ones you've missed!!