Two Kid Schoolhouse
It's 7:30 am... Nov. 15, 2007
and all over my neighborhood 8 year olds are struggling to get ready for the bus which comes at 8. 6 and 7 year olds too. Even 5 year olds! Babies, getting on the bus at 8 am. That bus won't bring them home till 4 pm. Even the littlest ones stay at school all day long.
From 8 am till 4 pm - almost an adult work day - these children will not have a moment alone. They won't have any privacy. They might have a little time to do just what they want to do. Or maybe not.
When they get home at 4 some of them will go into their houses and work some more. They won't have time to play.
It's 7:30 am. I just walked by my 8 year old daughter's room. She is awake, snuggled up reading Mary Poppins Comes Back. She started it yesterday and she'll finish it today. In a little while she'll get up and we'll read together during breakfast. She'll do her "tablework" and I'll read to her and her brother (who is still asleep, fueling that big growth spurt he's going through right now). We'll read together, do a science experiment or two, work on booklets the kids are making for our reading group next week. She'll have lots of time for reading books of her own choice and doing crafts.
If the little girl down the street didn't have so much homework, maybe she and my daughter could play for an hour between school and dinner. But she will, and they won't. |
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NEA comment on kids' names Nov. 6, 2007
Education, Interrupted? Nov. 6, 2007
Last week we had an experience at home that had me thinking about homechooling vs. conventional schooling again.
Our laundry room got flooded. It wasn't as bad as it sounds. A washing machine hose wiggled out of place and a rinse cycle went all over the floor instead of down the drain. It has happened before; we thought we had the problem resolved but... guess not!
So it was sometime between math and doing our discussion questions on the week's chapters of Little House on the Prairie when we discovered the flood. It was an extremely inconvenient time - we were on a tight schedule to finish our tablework, eat lunch, and get to a homeschool program at a local library. But the laundry room is also a storeroom, and it was packed, and it had to be emptied...
My kids really sprang into action. We carried stuff out to the back yard. Wet lawn chairs were set up to dry. Cardboard boxes of powdered detergent were taken into the kitchen and the dry contents dumped into bowls and labeled. The mop, and then the shop-vac, were put to use. Then the kids went into the dungeon (a 4-ft tall crawlspace that we use for storage) to check the damage in there. They got towels and helped clean that up too.
By the time we were done there was just time to jump in the car and eat lunch on the way to the library. During the weather program my mind wandered. What an interruption to my kids' "school" day! I pondered a bit. If they'd been at school, they wouldn't have had their day cut short. I'd have taken care of it by myself. They would have done all the things they were supposed to do. They wouldn't have had McDonald's for lunch on the road. They'd have had a normal day and wouldn't even have to know about the flood.
But wait a minute! I'd have had to do all that work alone. It would have taken forever! They wouldn't have had the experience of jumping into some hard work that needed to be done in a hurry. They would have missed out on some real life. I was proud of them for working so hard, for responding so well to the situation. They felt a sense of accomplishment for providing so much help. I don't know for sure, but maybe more than they'd have felt coming home with a gold-starred math worksheet.
Used to be that it was normal for kids to be home with their families, experiencing real life and doing real work. Now it seems like an interruption to the more important work of going to school.
I'm glad my kids were home that day. And I'm glad for that minor, non-life-threatening emergency that showed us all that when they need to, they can step up and get some work done. |
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How many hours of education a day? Sep. 25, 2007
In my new state we have to keep track of school days (180) or hours (900 for elementary students). Some people I've met take this very seriously and diligently track hours for each of their children. Imagine trying to log hours for 4 children, individually! One woman told me she does this; she hates it and finds it frustrating, but says she can't think of a better way to fulfill the requirements of the law. Some homeschooling moms just print a grid of 180 squares and write in the date every day till it's filled up. (The lady with 4 kids shuddered when I told her that.)
Most people probably fall somewhere in between. I came to the conclusion that if we do math, I count the day. I know that if math gets done, at least 5 hours of learning is going to take place in my house that day, or I'll make it up some other day. Because, of course, learning goes on all the time. We can't really stop it, if the kids have interesting stuff around to read and do and look at.
But even that's not an accurate method. Today we are all feeling a little under the weather, so we made a blanket nest on the family room floor and I've been reading. We did our Bible and Catechism reading, and then read By Wagon and Flatboat, a historical novel set just after the American Revolution. Both of my kids could read this book on their own, but it makes a good read-aloud too, and there are lots of opportunities to stop and talk about slaves, and flatboats, and hospitality out on the frontier. ("People just let strangers stay in their house?") And the ever-popular topic: who were the bad guys, the Indians or the settlers?
By about 1:30 we'd gotten in the 5 hours that could call it a day, at least. Because even when I stopped reading for a few minutes - to make soup, or call to complain about an incorrect phone bill, or get some more tea - the kids were doing something. E draws constantly, even while I'm reading. J reaches for his new airplane book, Paper Pilot, reads it and works on a model from it. In fact, he was reading it even before he got out of bed this morning; he brought it to me and read some interesting facts about one of the planes. (He'd be mad that I've already forgotten the plane and the facts; he, on the other hand, will never forget them. ) E has been reading one of the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books; not great literature, but a kids' classic anyway. Oh, I guess she finished it because now I see she's reading The Hundred Dresses which will surely start some more conversation.
In a couple of weeks we'll attend a reenactment of one of the Revolutionary War battles fought nearby. I'll count that day too, you bet. Even if we don't do any math. |
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Celebrating the first day of school Sep. 9, 2007
I came across a discussion of the first day of school on a moms' board I check out now and then. Someone asked for ideas for celebrating the first day of school with their kids. I was surprised (I probably shouldn't have been) how excited some of the moms were about getting their kids out of the way and on to the school bus. I suspect they were not quite as delighted to say goodbye to their kiddies as they made out to be - I know how people can get carried away with the joking - but some of the comments were pretty shocking to me.
I do enjoy some time away from my kids. But I can't imagine being so excited about having them away from me all day, 5 days a week, institutionalized. OK, I realize that people who send their kids to school don't think of them as institutionalized. But the comments about having parties to celebrate getting the kids out of the house (and out of their daily lives) really hit me the wrong way. Wonder how the kids would feel if they heard that?
Then I started to wonder how they'd feel if, say, their husbands were so gleeful when they left on a solo shopping trip. Or if their older children talked about how excited they were to move out of the house to get away from their mother.
Think it would still be funny? |
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Learning to multi-task Sep. 6, 2007
"Tablework" just doesn't go over well here. Math worksheets, cursive practice, spelling words - ugh! Who wants to do that when there are great books to be read, experiments to perform (can we skip the lab sheets today puh-leeeeeze?) and life to enjoy?
But there are things we have to do. Though I am an unschooler at heart, I know there are things my kids can't or won't learn without just sitting down and working. I try not to exasperate them too much. I try to explain the value of learning these things. Usually they get it, even if they don't want to admit it.
But today, a small breakthrough. J has learned enough cursive that he can use it to copy out his spelling words. (He has "issues" with phonics and spelling and so we don't do traditional spelling tests. For now it's just copywork.) So I wrote out his word in manuscript and in cursive. It took a while because I had to do my best cursive, which is not great. (I still remember missing an A+ on a spelling test because of my inferior "r." I never did master that letter.)
He was thrilled to discover that if he wrote out the words in cursive, he would not have to do a cursive worksheet today. Either way, it's practice, isn't it? I told him he just saved himself about 15 minutes of schooltime. Which, he was quick to tell me, he already cancelled out by dawdling over his math. OK, another breakthrough! Could it be that he is finally grasping the concept of time and the passage thereof? |
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Gomez Addams, Homeschool Advocate Aug. 25, 2007
In the library the other day, I was looking for something in the dvd section to give me some intellectual stimulation while folding laundry. I was delighted to see that one of my favorite '60's series, "The Addams Family,'" was out on dvd. I loved this show and watched the reruns over and over when I was a kid!
The first episode on the disc was titled "The Addams Family Goes to School." The truant officer visits the Addamses because Wednesday (6) and Pugsley (8) need to be in school. Of course he is amazed by what he sees in the Addams household - including one of Wednesday's dolls - she's been decapitated. "Grandmama told us about the French Revolution and she's Marie Antoniette!" Hm. Obviously these kids are a little different...
Finally he presents his case to Gomez, who wants nothing to do with school. "But everybody sends their kids to school!" the truant officer cries. "Ridiculous!" says Gomez. "Why have kids if you're just going to get rid of them?" He points out that the children have a fine tutor in their grandmama. He shows the truant officer Wednesday's animal husbandry project: breeding spiders. Undaunted, Mr Hilliard explains that he's talking about academics: reading... "What is there for a 6 year old to read?" "But Mr. Gomez, someday she'll be 26!" "See ya then!"
Some more gags, then during a nice family scene where everyone, including Uncle Fester and Grandmama, pursues their interests in the parlor - while Lurch plays Chopin on the harpsichord - we find that Morticia wants the kids to go to school. So off they go.
The nice lady in the office assures Gomez and Morticia that the children will be very happy at school; Gomez replies: "If we wanted them to be happy, we'd have kept them at home!"
There is a conflict with the school curriculum, it gets resolved (sitcom conflicts always get resolved, remember) and it ends with everyone happy about the school arrangement; the children will continue to attend. A '60's tv show couldn't go too counterculture, could it?
I guess the idea of keeping the kids out of school was supposed to be just another weird thing about the weird Addams Family. Who knew Gomez was ahead of his time? |
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Why not New Jersey? Aug. 18, 2007
In an earlier post about PA's homeschooling laws, I recommended that anyone planning to move to eastern PA, and homeschool, should consider New Jersey instead. NJ's homeschool laws are very easy, I'm told. I think they have to... do nothing. Or something similar. Anyway, that was a facetious comment, but even before we moved people were telling us to live in NJ. On the map NJ looks close to us, but... practically speaking, it would be really inconvenient.
We are now about 2 miles from the seminary, so it's been pretty easy to live with only one car. And while not much goes on at the seminary in summer, during the school year there will be opportunities for fellowship and learning that would be difficult to access if we lived far away. I can take classes, and am already enrolled in a Bible study workshop in October! We'd also like to be able to have casual get-togethers with other students. So... we live in PA.
My homeschool group is full of informed and fearless women who are helping me find my way through the laws! Some of them dream of moving to New Jersey... but for now they are here and I'm grateful for them! |
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Stories like this make me wonder... Aug. 17, 2007
how the government can justify regulating homeschoolers. They can't even manage their own schools:
Good students at a very bad Los Angeles high school are complaining that dozens of classes were changed to entirely different subjects four weeks into the eight-week term. Santee’s Computer Science class became Cooking. Twelve Advanced Placement classes were turned into non-AP electives: AP History was switched to Cinema, AP English to Writing Seminar.
The new classes didn’t fit college-prep requirements. Some students were left short of credits for graduation.
Read the whole post by Joanne Jacobs. |
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Bumping up against the law, already Aug. 16, 2007
Before we moved to Pennsylvania, I looked at some information on the homeschool laws. I didn't like what I saw, but I figured it was doable - people do homeschool here - and that I'd look at it in detail when the time came. Well, the time has come and gone, and I'm wishing I'd done more research before we moved. Not that it would have changed our plans, but I'd have been more prepared.
First off, I'll say that I used to be annoyed by Oregon's homeschool law. That consisted of notifying the school district - one time - and having the kids undergo standardized tests in grades 3, 5, and 2 others I can never remember.
That's it. Now I guess I knew that there were people in other states who drooled over Oregon's easy law. But I found even that annoying and burdensome.
Oh, how good I had it!
To homeschool in PA I need to - wait, I mean before I can officially start my school year in PA, I need to:
- Submit a signed notarized affidavit stating that I will teach my children in accordance with state requirements, that I have given them proper medical and dental services "required for a child of their age or grade," that they have had all their immunizations, that I have a high school diploma, and that I am not a convicted criminal. I have to do this every year!
- Submit a list of educational objectives for the year. (Appropriately vague suggestions can be found online.)
- Submit a report from my children's doctor and dentist verifying that they did receive the medical services required for a child of their age and grade. This means height and weight checks, vaccines, vision and hearing test, and a tb test. If I have a religious, moral, or ethical objection to doctor and dentist services, and/or immunizations, I can claim an exemption from these services. However! If I simply object to giving the school district this information, I may or may not be able to claim an exemption. Some have tried and failed; some have succeeded. It depends on the school district. (So much for state law.) Oh and someone told me that no one really does the tb check anymore... so why is it on the form?? I should note that the information from the doctor does not contain the results of any tests, just that the tests were performed.
OK, there's more.
- At the end of the school year, I have to submit a portfolio of work to be reviewed by a homeschool evaluator, who will determine if I am providing an appropriate education for my children. I have to document 180 days or 900 hours of "schooltime." (However I don't have to document what that consisted of so presumably my reading good books aloud to the kids, or them painting out on the back deck would "count.") The women in my homeschool group assure me that this is not as horrid as it sounds.
- I have to have the kids undergo standardized tests in grades 3, 5, and two others I can't remember.
So there you go. If you are contemplating a move to eastern Pennsylvania, and are a homeschooler... consider New Jersey. |
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Musings of a slacker homeschool Mom
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