Nov. 25, 2006 - What Do You Call Your Home School?
I never, in all these years, named our homeschool. Oh, I toyed with it a few times, tried to come up with something. Every so often I would ask the kids what they thought. But I never came even close to naming it. Now, after all these years, I think it fits us that our homeschool has no name.
Schooling has gone through several phases for us. The first year we started I knew no one who had ever even tried to homeschool. There were not the multitudes of curriculum available. There were no support groups.
We started with two very sturdy, large-surfaced desks for the two oldest. We belonged to Christian Liberty Academy, did the work they sent us, returned the proper tests for grading, and then the year they sent several texts for grammar and literature, I sent in *most* of the required work, with a note that said although we had read the McGuffy reader, we did not do the accompanying workbook because I felt the kids had been overloaded in the English department that year. I recieved a "tsk tsk tsk..." note, telling me that grades could not given unless the workbook was finished and turned in. Still being rather unsure of myself, we had our first summerschool that year, and sent in the required workbooks. We then had a change in our homeschooling.
I discovered "The Teaching Home" magazine, and read each one cover to cover. I realized that A Beka Books would send a catalog to homeschoolers. I was familiar with their books because we had used some through Christian Liberty Academy. I odered what we wanted from the catalog and we started our first year of schooling with curriculum I had chosen for the kids. School work moved from the desks to the dining room table, and the dining room walls were covered in appropriate educational posters. This was the pattern we followed for many years, though the books sometimes changed to include Bob Jones University texts and Alpha Omega here and there.
As the family grew both older and in size, the kids, one by one left the dining room table and did school work while sprawled across their beds. They wanted quiet, or they wanted to listen to music while they worked, or they just wanted to be alone. School work grew to include such things as Saxon Math.
Then came a couple of years where, after a family tragedy that included quite a bit of trauma for everyone, barely any work at all was done. The kids were so emotionally scarred that they actually could not concentrate. We officially took some time off. We spent some time crying, stressed, fearful, then began to learn to talk, even laugh. Schooling came back slowly, and we had some catching up to do.
Now our home is very tiny, and there is no table to study on. Sprawled out on the beds or curled in a chair is how it gets done. We tried going to the library but couldn't get tables, we tried going to the mall food court and had tables but no privacy. Now we are making do where we are.
With all these changes, what name could have accomodated it all? For us, schooling us was just part of life. For us, life had no specific name. Purpose, yes, but no name. It just fit us.
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Post A Comment!
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Nov. 25, 2006 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by HomeGrownKids |
Hi,
A few years into our homeschooling adventure, we purchased a h-s supply service that was called Home Grown Kids. After reading the Moore's books, this seemed to fit very nicely with our family- although it doesn't totally encapsulate our family either. So, I became Susan of Home Grown Kids...which made my children the Home Grown Kids!
Even though we have since closed down the service, I am still known as HGK and we still call the academic side of our family, HomeGrownKids. However, it is very informal and more fun than anything else.
If we had not purchased the service I probably wouldn't have called us anything o rmaybe something like 'Living 'n' Learning At Home' or 'Learning Without School' as this would sum up our home and lifestyle more than most things.
Cheers,
Susan <>< |
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Nov. 25, 2006 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by AcceptanceWithJoy |
I did name our school in a response to a blog entry here on HSB. We school at Shanan Conservatory.
My daughter didn't want to name our school. She figured if we named it she would never get to go to public school. I assured her that she is not going to school even without a name... so she relented! |
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Nov. 25, 2006 - Our name |
| Posted by mrskitch |
| The state I live in requires that homeschoolers register their school as a non-accredited private school with a name. One of my favorite things to do is ask homeschoolers the name of their school and why they chose it! I get so many great responses and the stories that go with the name always reveal a little about the family and what their purpose is. Our homeschool is called "Life and Love Learning Center". I chose the life and love part for several reasons. Life = doing life as a family, life in Christ and our desire to learn and teach practical life skills. Love = learning in a loving enviroment, learning about God's love for us and sharing that love with others. As far as the "learning center" part I think it sounds less academic (a word that is negative for me because of my own experiences in public school) and more like learning is a natural part of life. So there you go, that's our name and story. Hope you're having a great day, grace and peace to you. |
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Nov. 26, 2006 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by BundleOfBlessings |
I'm glad to hear your family grew together during a traumatic time and you were able to get through it. I see no reason you would HAVE to have a name. What you were saying makes sense. But, you want to hear something amusing? My family (except for my dad) is not very supportive of my homeschooling at all, but once I gave it a name (His Kids Christian School) all of a sudden it's like what I am doing is real and more acceptable. I can't really explain it. Also, find it very neat that we use all the same curriculum for the most part. I've neverr tried Bob Jones, but have the rest. =)
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Nov. 29, 2006 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by weareqf |
Laurie,
We didn't have a name for our school until a few years ago. It is Heritage Academy. I hope that each of my children will homeschool their own children--I am creating what I hope is a heritage for my children. :-)
We only knew one other family when we started homeschooling way back in 1986 and we started out with CLA and had desks as well. Since my little guys were just 4 and 5 at the time I decided pretty quickly that we weren't in any hurry to get the work done (the law states that you must do school at age 7 in our state) and never did send anything in. We then ordered from ABeka and Bob Jones, etc... What a wonderful resource Mary Pride has been!! Over the course of 19 years we have used a hodge-podge of everything and schooled on the couch, at the table, traveling in our RV--and wherever life finds us to be. So we have very similar backgrounds! :-) During our times of loss or super busyness we tend to take time off as well. My motto is that life IS school. Blessings! Kris
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This is the end of a journey. The last two kids of six, the last year of high school.
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