This year, my blog will be raw. I will not hold back and pretend everything is ok in the world. Those reading might get upset by things I type, but I'm doing it anyway.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
So you want to know why I homeschool...
I've been asked more this year than last, if I'd ever allow my children to return to school (public or private) and I haven't been able to respond it to in a manner that made me feel proud .. I gave it some time, so I thought I'd post it here for everyone to read.
Short answer - The system doesn't work for us.
Long answer - In the short time we have been homeschooling, we have stopped along the side of the road to investigate something that interested us. Before homeschooling, life was rushed. We'd rush to eat breakfast and get to school on time, rushed during the day if we had dance or errands, rushed to make it home to make dinner (unless it was a dance night, then we ate fast or in the car), rushed to do homework, rushed to get showers and go to bed. There was no time to enjoy learning from life. Now, we have no need to rush anywhere (unless we are running late) and we are learning so much from life. Learning can be fun and silly at the same time. I haven't bought any curriculum for homeschooling. Everything we learn, is from life, the library, education apps and free printable worksheets. Homeschooling has allowed us to pick subjects we want to learn, and work on them for days, even weeks, instead of crunching a weeks worth of work into 2 days. We spent a week and 4 days learning about Pandas and Barrow, Alaska.
There are no restrictions at home. Piper is allowed to read a book above her "grade level", Austin can count on his fingers while doing math, Gabryela can get up and go tinkle without asking and Caitlyn can doodle all over her papers. They are also allowed to spend 2 hours learning History and 30 minutes learning new words, or 45 minutes doing math. No. Restrictions. I'm not one to follow the rules, and this lifestyle is perfect for me and my free spirited children. I tried making a "lets-stick-to-the-rules" planner, but we always throw it out. How can you learn what you want, if you have a timed schedule?
I want my kids to learn to be think-for-yourselfers! Homeschooled children figure things out by reading the book kinda learning ... if they are dependent on the teacher to figure things out for them, then how can they learn on their own, freely - by doing it themselves. I don't teach every subject to each kid, every day. We have different days for each subject, and some days, that subject gets pushed to the next week. I offer assistance and guidance, but only after they've helped themselves by reading and attempting the work.
Things are not complicated. I can move children between grades, take days off for gorgeous weather, decide to speed up or slow down a child in a particular subject, take Spring Break whenever we want, go on a field trip all without permission forms or having meetings. As long as we get our work done, we are good to go.
I want my children to have free time in their lives. All work and no play create anxious and/or depressed kids. I would gets more emails than I liked from Austin's math teacher, complaining that his work (which was being sent home as homework anyway) was never finished in class, therefore forcing her to send it home with him and take his recess away ... but wait, then she'd complain about him losing focus and lack of attention ... but you took his recess away because his work, that was being sent home in the first place, wasn't finished?! I could never keep up with her crazy explanations of why my son was a trouble maker, but this is exactly why children need free time in their lives, daily. Play is the source of happiness.
My children love being homeschooled. This isn't the foundation of why I homeschool, but if they didn't like it, I wouldn't have anything to write about. As of right now, all four of them have no desire to ever return to private or public school. They really enjoy how laid back, and less stressed homeschooling is - I enjoy how much healthier they look.
Last, but I'm sure not least, we can do things during the weekday and off-season. We can schedule appointments during the the day without needing a doctors excuse, go to the Zoo during the day, have adventures at local parks, meet up with other homeschool children of all ages, etc etc this list is never ending!
So - there you go. Some of the reasons why I homeschool and will never send my children back to public/private school. I know homeschooling isn't for everyone and it doesn't work for every child but it does work for us.
Short answer - The system doesn't work for us.
Long answer - In the short time we have been homeschooling, we have stopped along the side of the road to investigate something that interested us. Before homeschooling, life was rushed. We'd rush to eat breakfast and get to school on time, rushed during the day if we had dance or errands, rushed to make it home to make dinner (unless it was a dance night, then we ate fast or in the car), rushed to do homework, rushed to get showers and go to bed. There was no time to enjoy learning from life. Now, we have no need to rush anywhere (unless we are running late) and we are learning so much from life. Learning can be fun and silly at the same time. I haven't bought any curriculum for homeschooling. Everything we learn, is from life, the library, education apps and free printable worksheets. Homeschooling has allowed us to pick subjects we want to learn, and work on them for days, even weeks, instead of crunching a weeks worth of work into 2 days. We spent a week and 4 days learning about Pandas and Barrow, Alaska.
There are no restrictions at home. Piper is allowed to read a book above her "grade level", Austin can count on his fingers while doing math, Gabryela can get up and go tinkle without asking and Caitlyn can doodle all over her papers. They are also allowed to spend 2 hours learning History and 30 minutes learning new words, or 45 minutes doing math. No. Restrictions. I'm not one to follow the rules, and this lifestyle is perfect for me and my free spirited children. I tried making a "lets-stick-to-the-rules" planner, but we always throw it out. How can you learn what you want, if you have a timed schedule?
I want my kids to learn to be think-for-yourselfers! Homeschooled children figure things out by reading the book kinda learning ... if they are dependent on the teacher to figure things out for them, then how can they learn on their own, freely - by doing it themselves. I don't teach every subject to each kid, every day. We have different days for each subject, and some days, that subject gets pushed to the next week. I offer assistance and guidance, but only after they've helped themselves by reading and attempting the work.
Things are not complicated. I can move children between grades, take days off for gorgeous weather, decide to speed up or slow down a child in a particular subject, take Spring Break whenever we want, go on a field trip all without permission forms or having meetings. As long as we get our work done, we are good to go.
I want my children to have free time in their lives. All work and no play create anxious and/or depressed kids. I would gets more emails than I liked from Austin's math teacher, complaining that his work (which was being sent home as homework anyway) was never finished in class, therefore forcing her to send it home with him and take his recess away ... but wait, then she'd complain about him losing focus and lack of attention ... but you took his recess away because his work, that was being sent home in the first place, wasn't finished?! I could never keep up with her crazy explanations of why my son was a trouble maker, but this is exactly why children need free time in their lives, daily. Play is the source of happiness.
My children love being homeschooled. This isn't the foundation of why I homeschool, but if they didn't like it, I wouldn't have anything to write about. As of right now, all four of them have no desire to ever return to private or public school. They really enjoy how laid back, and less stressed homeschooling is - I enjoy how much healthier they look.
Last, but I'm sure not least, we can do things during the weekday and off-season. We can schedule appointments during the the day without needing a doctors excuse, go to the Zoo during the day, have adventures at local parks, meet up with other homeschool children of all ages, etc etc this list is never ending!
So - there you go. Some of the reasons why I homeschool and will never send my children back to public/private school. I know homeschooling isn't for everyone and it doesn't work for every child but it does work for us.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Lots and lots of yarn in my future ...
Hello. What are you doing this weekend? I am up to my elbows in orders! I am so very thankful that I am able to create crochet items for people to love and cherish for ages! I have been thinking about writing up a couple patterns to sell on Ravelry but I will probably wait until after Christmas.
What kind of crafts do you enjoy doing? Do you create anything special for Family & Friends during the Holidays? I'd love to hear what everyone is doing :)
What kind of crafts do you enjoy doing? Do you create anything special for Family & Friends during the Holidays? I'd love to hear what everyone is doing :)
Scarysville
We went uptown to our annual Scarysville this morning! It was cold and windy but my girls had a lot of fun! Piper dressed as Raggedy Anne and Gabryela dressed as a Cheetah Princess! I'm sure with the other upcoming festivities, we'll be eating candy for breakfast, lunch and dinner :)
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