Jun. 26, 2008 - Once a Homeschool Kid, Now a Homeschool Mom
A few posts ago, a commenter suggested that I write a post to compare what it was like being a homeschool student to what it is like now being a homeschool mother - what I do the same, what I do differently, etc. I had never thought of doing that before, but I thought it would be fun, so here goes! (Thank you for the idea, momtosix - who I dont think is ridiculous at all! You should check out her blog: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/momofsix/)
Anyway, I thought first in looking back to my years as a homeschool child, of all the wonderful memories I have of our times together as a family. My parents began to homeschool me when I was beginning 3rd grade, in 1988, along with my next oldest brother who was in 8th grade. We had so much fun that year! Probably my fondest memory is of our read-aloud times on the couch. Each day after lunch, we would all sit on the couch together and my mother would read to us. We read a lot of missionary biographies, Walk Across America, Christy, and many others. As long ago as that was, I still remember vividly many of the books we read together. We also would read my brother’s 8th grade Abeka literature book together, and they are really fabulous, even for a 3rd grader to listen to!
The following year we moved to another state, and my oldest brother joined our homeschool, as a junior in high school. That next year was probably one of the major highlights of my homeschool experience. We did a year long unit study on the countries and cultures of the world. We tried to get together with people we had made acquaintance with from other countries in some cases, and in other cases we wrote to missionaries in other countries, who all kindly responded to our questions. Some of them even sent us items from the country, like postcards or currency! We tried to learn some words and phrases in each language, a bit about the geography and the culture, how to cook some ethnic food, the currency, etc. It was so much fun! I remember tracing country maps out of the encyclopedia and drawing replicas of the country’s flag. At the end of the year we have the ultimate culmination of this study: we hosted “International Night” at our house! We invited everyone we knew from another country, including
But I think that the main thing that made my homeschool experience such a positive one was my mother’s good attitude and my relationship with her. She kept things upbeat and was usually cheerful, and we always had such a good time together! That time together is so precious. Just think of all the wonderful memories with her I would have missed out on if I had spent most of my growing-up years in school!
Another thing that greatly enhanced the journey was being a part of a homeschool support group. We often enjoyed activities together with other homeschoolers, and those are also fond memories. For example, every Thanksgiving we would meet at the forest preserve and each family would bring a Ziploc baggie of meat and vegetables to add to a big pot of stew, which we would cook in the pavilion in a big iron kettle over an open fire, and enjoy old-fashioned fellowship together.
As a high schooler, I was able to participate each Friday in co-op classes with our support group, such as government, world views, and leadership classes, which included public speaking and debates – something that is sometimes difficult to accomplish as a homeschooler, especially since I was the only one left at home by then! Our teacher (a homeschool mom with much experience in politics) was fabulous, and the classes were always a highlight of each week.
Now, is there anything I would do differently with my children?
Well, back in 1988, there were not a lot of curriculum choices for homeschoolers, as opposed to today when there are SO many that it is completely overwhelming!! Anyway, we used mostly Rod and Staff in the early grades, and then switched to mainly Abeka for the higher grades. I am a “textbook” kind of person, so I did well with that and always enjoyed school, so that was not a problem.
However, I think I might have retained more if the studies were more "integrated", or enhanced. Notice how much I remembered from our countries unit study? THAT was great! However, we did all that ON TOP OF our "usual" requirements!
Anyway, back to the textbook thing - for example, I liked our history textbook and always found it interesting, but since our approach was “read it, answer the questions, and put it away” – well, I don’t know how much I actually retained! Something simple like a history timeline adds a lot to the study of history, Im convinced, as well as adding historical novels to your studies, and also an occasional hands-on project, especially in the younger grades.
Another area I feel somewhat deficient in is science, and I think that is also a textbook problem. Again, I liked the textbook, with full color pictures, etc…. but we did not supplement it with any experiments or anything hands-on, so I don’t think I really was committing anything to long-term memory, or really even getting a full grasp on the concept. I think most textbooks take a “mile-wide, inch-deep” approach to most subjects, which doesn’t make it overly interesting for the students. I prefer to take three months to really explore a topic, including personal observation, recording data in a notebook, taking pictures, making sketches, adding in “living” books – to the point of not even always needing a textbook at all, for the younger grades! J Studying this way, at 3-4 topics per year, a student will still study all areas of science at least twice during his school years, but the difference is that he will likely retain most of what he has studied!
So, I will not keep rambling about each school subject, because I truly don’t believe that academics are the main issue for homeschoolers to consider. And in my case, besides the “textbook academics” that were require of me, homeschooling gave me the opportunity along the way to pursue other interests that I likely would not have had time for had I been in school all day, such as beginning to study Japanese when I was 11 years old, starting a business of breeding and selling tropical fish at 10 years old, and taking other bunny trails as I had the interest.
But most importantly, I believe that my parents did a wonderful job of using the resources they had to equip us with a godly foundation for life. Scripture reading and memory was a vital aspect of our homeschool, and they led us by example as we walked through life together. For that I will be forever grateful.
Comments
Jul. 20, 2008 - Hi
Posted by momofsix
That was very insightful and encouraging. I was encouraged to see that your experience is the same as mine, meaning the textbook approach doesn't work well for everyone. My girls don't remember anything they study in that traditional way (and I think some moms can enhance it if they have fewer children to teach...my problem with six different levels and so many subjects to teach) even if they get a hundred percent in testings. I have also found that integrating subjects to multilevels works best for retaining. I am beginning to learn to help my older students to start studies on their own and creating their own lapbooks to share with the younger ones, subjects that interest them (human body for Sarah, horses for Hannah, and building for Sam). I think this post is very helpful for me because even though I am seeing them progress much faster and happily this way, it is scary to deviate from the security of the textbooks (again, for some that might work, but it hasn't for our mixed ages and levels). Thanks for sharing this. I feel encouraged.
