Are you a "newbie" and trying to figure out just where to start with this whole homeschooling thing? Well, we've all been there, and most of us survived, too!!! (as far as sanity staying intact, that's another story....)

I could give you lots of advice (some good, some maybe not so much), but I'm going to let others do that for me... here are some links to check out, as well as some "bugs in your ear"...

The Canadian Homeschooler's Board-- a forum dedicated to homeschooling moms in Canada. Topics aren't strictly homeschooling-related, but run the gamut of what we experience as homeschooling moms (and a couple of dads are there, too)... curriculum, learning styles, discipline issues, special needs, homemaking, pregnancy, fertility issues, you name it. If we go through it as a mom who teaches her kids at home, it's probably represented there.

Donna Young's Homeschool Printables and Resources-- Donna is a homeschool mom from Tennessee. She has this incredible website with great ideas, schedules, and loads of printables.

TOS Company Front Porch-- cool ideas, lots of encouragement, you're bound to find something relevant.

Now... go to Yahoo groups, and do a search for homeschool groups. There's one there for homeschoolers in NB, as well as ones that are curriculum-specific (ie: The Mystery of History, or Saxon math). There's also one for used curriculum-- Canadian Book Exchange-- which is great to get a good deal without paying customs/ duties from one of the many MANY used curriculum sites in the States.

Homeschooling can be a little daunting at first, but you know what? It's rewarding, and a great way to get to realllllly know your kids... warts and all!

Enjoy the ride!!!!

A new report was released today by the Frasier Institute on homeschooling in Canada. It focused on academic performance, socialization, and socio-economic factors. It will come as no surprise to those of us who homescool, that we score high in these areas.

Home Schooling: From the Extreme to the Mainstream, 2nd edition might just be what we need to help our image... most homeschoolers don't worry about image that much, anyway, but there's a growing pile of garbage in today's popular culture and media that portrays homeschoolers as backward, naive control freaks. Alice, I Think (tv show), Schooled (a book by Gordon Korman), Mean Girls (movie), and a new independant film being shot in Moncton all show homeschoolers (or former homeschoolers) in this light. Frankly, I'm tired of it, but pop culture will always find something good they have to trash (the fact that homeschoolers are predominantly Christian probably makes us more of a target). And I'm guessing that this is one report by the Frasier Institute that won't make mainstream media headlines, so grab it while you can.

Anyway.... rant over. Check out the report.

LINK TO THE NEWS RELEASE:

http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/commerce.web/newsrelease.aspx?nID=4933

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Welcome to the Homeschool Nations blog for New Brunswick, Canada!

For those of you visiting for the first time, I'm Jennifer, a homeschool mom from (can you guess?) New Brunswick! This will be our 11th year educating our kids at home, and the 11th straight year I'll be late submitting my homeschooling exemption form to District 2 LATE. I think maybe they just expect that now. We have kids who will be in grades 10, 8, 6, 3, and 1, plus this year we have a new little addition-- I'd forgotten how much more challenging it is to homeschool with an infant around. Not impossible, just a bit more tricky to mange my time-- which I fail miserably at on my best days. Please take a moment to check out my links... (they're mainly over on the sidebar, but there are a few scattered throughout my previous posts, so stick around long enough to read through them! or just bookmark me and come back later with a cup of tea)

Some curriculum choices we've made over the years have been downright duds. That's ok-- but I sure cringe at the money I've wasted on it. Here are a few of the things we've used that I would highly recommend (based on my own teaching style) (links are mainly to their respective publishers):

• Easy Grammar/ Daily Grams
• Saxon math
• Apologia high school science
• Rod and Staff preschool workbooks
• Mystery of History
• Donna Ward's Canadian history resources
• Rosetta Stone French
• Building the Basics spelling program
• Key to Algebra
• Explode the Code
• Canada Maps books
• Considering God's Creation

All the above are available through Homeschool and More in Petitcodiac, NB, except maybe the spelling program-- I bought those books at Moyers/ Scholar's Choice in Moncton (on St. George Blvd., near Centennial Park). By the way, this list is by no means comprehensive. We have used MANY books, and have been happy with more than what I've listed... these are just what I could think of off the top of my head. Feel free to e-mail me with YOUR top picks! I'm always looking for advice and recommendations!

~jen

Homeschooling can be a lonely proposition for some. You can feel cut off from non-supportive family and friends, and it can be really overwhelming (even for us veterans sometimes!). A support group can be just the thing to let you know that you are not alone, and that others have tread the path you are on. If you are a New Brunswick homeschooler, and are in need of support, there are groups in the following areas (and probably more, but these are the ones I know of):

• Sussex and area
• Fredericton
• St. Stephen
• Moncton
• Brown's Flat/ Westfield
• Woodstock
• Petticodiac/ Havelock/ Salisbury
• Miramichi 

Please e-mail me (link on the sidebar) for contact information.

There is also an online support group that has been the most amazing source of encouragement and support for me personally-- The Canadian Homeschoolers' Board. The CHB is full of (mostly) ladies who are anywhere from researching possible future homeschooling, to veterans of over 15 years. It's in the form of a discussion forum, with topics ranging from English, to budgeting, to polls, to special needs... no matter what your homeschooling or home-related need or question, there's something there for you.

Now is the time of year that many parents start to reconsider their options when it comes to their children's educations. There is about two weeks left of school here in NB, and it's exam time and report card time. For some, the year was a total disaster-- maybe there were bullies, maybe academic progress wasn't what was expected, or maybe they discovered some teaching content that they were entirely uncomfortable with. For others, the year went too well-- yes, too well. Their kids weren't challenged academically, and they've experienced the frustration of knowing what boredom can do to the best of scholars. Maybe there are even some middle-of-the-road parents, who have just realized that while things have seemed like pretty smooth sailing, they don't even really know their kids anymore, and want to change that before it's too late and they're grown. Well, in the words of the immortal Bob the Tomato.... "Have we got a show for you!!!!"

OK... maybe not a show exactly, but a really cool option you've probably been considering, since you've found yourself here: HOMESCHOOLING.

Homeschooling is a perfectly legal alternative to public schooling, and wayyyy cheaper than private (Christian or otherwise) schools. Its biggest requirement is your time. Even then, most parents find they spend fewer hours actually teaching (or facilitating, as the case may be) than they spent helping with homework. Only this time, they know what to tell their kids to help them, because they have the lesson in front of them, as opposed to merely guessing at what the original assignment must have been.

Homeschooling is flexible. You're afraid you'll be tied to the house? Most homeschoolers are active in many outside activities (which makes you wonder why it's called homeschooling... lol). Have you ever wanted to vacation during the off-season, but the kids would have missed school? Not a problem-- just work your school around it. You make your own schedule, so it's easily altered-- this is useful as well in times of family emergencies. Not to mention that curriculum is portable, should you use it (oh yeah-- and there is such a thing as homeschooling for free-- an excellent idea for the especially creative among us). 

Homeschooling is safe. My kids have yet to experience a lockdown at home. Time in their rooms, maybe, but no lockdowns (hey, but it might be a good idea.... nahhh, just kidding). The only drugs my kids are given are prescribed by their doctors, or Fred Flintstone. Bullying in the playground (ie: our backyard) is taken care of immediately-- and it rarely happens since kids tend to like coming back. The only knife wounds occur in the kitchen-- to me (generally when I'm pregnant... it's become a sort of private joke, along with dropping things).

And that socialization thing? That's a biggie. Believe it or not, homeschoolers tend to be better socialized than their public school counterparts. They have a greater capacity to accept and/or respond to those of varied ages and backgrounds. They are generally just as comfortable with the very young and the very old as they are with kids their own age, and wider age ranges (such as adult friends experience) within their "peer group" is not a problem. There is very little "I won't play with him because he's a grade lower than me" or "They won't talk to me because they're the big kids-- a whole grade or two higher!" It could almost be called a more "normalized", holistic approach to socialization.

There, folks, are some fears relieved. It's by no means comprehensive, but hopefully gave you something to chew on for awhile. Please let me know if this has helped you in any way, or if you have other questions --- after 9 years of homeschooling, and teaching Kindergarten through grade 8, I can probably give you a pretty good answer!

I have this e-book! I actually got it to review, over on my blog, and I was pretty sure I DID (I remember writing about it-- sort of), but if I did, it has up and disappeareded.

It was good. I have an up-and-coming high-schooler so I was very much interested in it, although it did take me awhile to get through it (I didn't want to print it out, and reading off the computer screen for extended periods of time makes my eyes bug). There were LOTS of encouraging articles/ chapters-- one even made me cry-- but it is written from an American viewpoint. Being Canadian, we tend to just live with that...lol.... stands to reason that some chapters aren't all that relevant to us. Overall, though, it was a real interesting read. It also got me thinking about what constitutes a well-rounded, graduation-worthy high school education here in NB, which is leading to a fair bit of research and an upcoming article-sized post. There's a lot of information to wade through and things sure are more complicated than when I was in high school (after being utterly confused by the info on the NB Dept of Education website, I went over to my old high school's site and looked through their current handbook... HA! Confusing over in NS too.) Back off the wabbit-twail: the e-book gave me the nudge to check a few things out. It might for you too.