Posted in Homeschooling

Camille has been doing so well on place value notation!  Since she is four and only on the Primer level, I don't expect mastery on this skill, but she's really surprising me with her understanding of place value.  After the holiday, we'll move on to hundred's place - yippee!!

Posted in Homeschooling

Camille got a new, big girl school desk this weekend from her Nana and Papa.  Today, she was more than happy to "do school" in it.  Her room is a bit cramped with the desk, but for now, the location spot will do.  Here are some pictures of her bedroom.



Having a preschooler is so much fun.  I wish I had shared the preschool years with my older two!

Posted in Homeschooling

My dear friend, who is an administrator in the SC public school system, sent me this article and asked my opinion of it:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/parenting/bal-md.pa.unschooling03sep03,0,7747410.story
Here is my response to her:

Hey Charity,

I am familiar with the unschooling philosophy, and I think this article was both accurate and fair.  I know of families who unschool, but I don't know anyone personally who does it.  I seriously doubt the claim that 10% of homeschoolers unschool.

However, I can see tremendous benefits to it - if done correctly.  I can see how these children are more likely to be lifelong learners.  Most children nowadays only do what's required of them, and then "school's out".  Unschooled kids will most likely explore curiosities and research their interests throughout life.  Many kids nowadays dislike school and view it as a punishment of sorts - something to dread.  Unschooled kids will probably love learning and find it exciting throughout life.

Personally, I'm too left-brained to unschool.  An unschooling parent must be creative and find teaching moments at all times.  They must be excited about learning and find creative ways to incorporate education to even the most mundane life activities.  I am NOT creative.  I actually take pleasure in planning and scheduling!  *LOL*  Plus, when I'm doing something else, I'd have a hard time switching gears mid-stream to take full advantage of a teaching moment.  I'm one of those super-focused people. 

I can't imagine how unschoolers manage high school and required credits for kids who want to go to college. They probably don't follow any list of required courses for a university "path".  Those kids probably score high enough on college entrance exams and have such impressive portfolios that college entrance is not a problem at all for them.  As long as a child LOVES learning, they will learn much more than any child in a standard classroom using a set curriculum.  I'll butcher Shakespeare by saying "all the world's a classroom".  If guided properly, there's no limit to the education potential. 

Talk to you soon,
Karen

What is your opinion of the article?

Posted in Homeschooling

We're going with the flow this week. 

Rachel's taking hours longer than necessary to complete her work (and complaining of stomach pains).  She has an appointment with a GI doctor tomorrow morning.  I scratched all electives this week and decided to add them later as she picks up speed.


Sarah is finishing in 3 hours each day.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.  I may add Spanish to her schedule in a week or two since she really likes it and wants to learn it. 


Camille is just excited to be "doing school" each day!  I'd like to buy her a small student's desk.  Any ideas on where to find one cheap.

Posted in Homeschooling

Be very careful when you ask your home educated child this question.  Sarah's response was not what I expected and I'm wishing I hadn't asked her now.

For a few weeks, I've been toying with some new ideas for her 7th grade history.  As far as I was concerned, it was down to three finalists:  AmblesideOnline, This Far By Faith, and TruthQuest's Ancient Egypt/Ancient Greece.  One of my greatest challenges with lit-based currics is the limited resources available at my local library.  Plus, we can only check books out 3 weeks at a time.  For that reason, I was leaning toward TruthQuest so I could work from a booklist and use books that are available instead of a set list of books.

Anyhow... yesterday, I asked Sarah how she felt about the narration versus the traditional question/answer format for history.  She said she preferred he q/a format.  No surprise there since narration requires more thought and she's a bit lazy sometimes.  Sarah then mentioned she liked when we did Beautiful Feet in the past and wanted to do History of the Horse next year for history.  We have used and enjoyed BF in the past and I had discussed doing this horse study because she has a real interest in horses and wants to work with horses in the future.  While the study sounds very interesting, and even beneficial, it's not what I intended for 7th grade history!  It's a full year study and (thanks to Sarah's eager research) all the readers are available in our library system.  So, now it will be quite difficult to tell her no.  I have no good reason, other than the fact that it's not what I consider real "history" for middle school.  Obviously, I still have quite a way to go with child-led philosophies.

We're taking our spring break the first week of May, so I'll make my decision after that.  If you've ever used this study guide or know anyone who has, please let me know.  Oh, and advice from other veteran homeschoolers about going with a child's interest instead of tradition is very welcomed too.