Hello all! My ten year old has been begging me to homeschool her every year since kindergarten. Her troubles revolve around being a rather sensitive child, and the taunts and casual cruelty of the other children are just too much for her to take. Every year has been progressively difficult for her, and finally fourth grade was just a nightmare for her socially. We said "no more" and took the plunge this spring! My husband and I decided to make some sacrifices and trim down our budget, I left a full-time office position to take a part time job on weekends, and we spent a large chunk of our IRS incentive to purchase a complete cirriculum package and some extras for next year. My daughter and I couldn't be more excited to begin this learning journey together. She sits with me while I'm working on her lesson plans and has been pawing through her new textbooks. It's something that brings us just a great amount of joy right now to talk about. I have to admit that I'm more than a little nervous, though. What if she won't stay focussed and get all of her work done everyday? What if I get sick or tired and start to slack off on my end? What if the local authorities try to give us a hard time about it? I know, contemplating "what-ifs" is rarely productive...but I feel the need to identify potential difficulties so that we can have some possible solutions in place should those situations arise. I'm also a little nervous because I have taken my daughter out of school early this week. Yesterday they were to write letters to the incoming fourth graders, and she wrote "if you come to this class everything will crash and burn." The teacher chose to view those words in the worst possible light and the principal interrogated her alone in his office for a full hour before I was finally contacted. When she got home, she had a paper that I was supposed to sign. She had been forced to write that she had "written a very bad thing and would never write bad things again." In light of the problems that she has faced in school this year, I wasn't one little bit surprised to hear what she had written. I was very surprised that those adults who have been working with her all year did not understand where she was coming from. The words that she was forced to write, intended to censor her free experssion of thoughts and feelings, really disturb me. And frankly it really ticks me off! It's my opinion that the school administration would rather attempt to paint my ten year old as a terrorist than admit that there is anything not perfect about her experience at their institution. They only have three days left, I just didn't have the heart to send her back to those people. It's sad that school had to end on such a sour note, but it just seems to have been the cherry on top of my daughter's rotten fourth grade sunday. Well all we can do now is to prepare for a happier future, and that's why I've come here. I want to learn everything I can about this process called homeschooling and prepare to be the best teachermom that I can be. The more I think about it, the more I think my nervousness is probably pretty justified, but I have no doubt that we can find our way through it all together, with a love and patience that would be impossible to find in public school.
Welcome [/Welcome. You have found a warm and helpful spot cos there are lots of helpful member / Addict here. I found out when I was new. Whatever you are nervous about ( I would refer as fear of the unknown) prayers help. Whatever unpleasant things happen to you and your DD, let your heart forgive. Whatever hurt you and DD experience, let God heal. Whatever doubts you have, come join in to Homeschool Spot. Again, welcome.]
Welcome Welcome. You have found a warm and helpful spot cos there are lots of helpful member / Addict here. I found out when I was new. Whatever you are nervous about ( I would refer as fear of the unknown) prayers help. Whatever unpleasant things happen to you and your DD, let your hearts forgive. Whatever hurt you and DD experience, let God heal. Whatever doubts you have, come join in to Homeschool Spot. Again, welcome.
Thank you for the warm and uplifting welcome, Joon! I really do appreciate the reminder about where to turn for comfort and courage. One question....what does "DD" and DS" stand for?
DD - dear/darling daughter DS - dear/darling son Welcome!! We've been homeschooling for 14 months now. My biggest words of wisdom are to read every homeschool book you can find (library, etc). They may all seem the same but everytime I read a new one, I learn something new. I have become a junkie of sorts. I read all types from unschooling to Charlotte Mason, etc. We're completely eclectic around here and chose what works best for us. The second piece of advice is to remember that you don't HAVE to do everything printed in the teacher's manual/schedule. It's your homeschool. Don't be a slave to the manual but let it work for you. It took me a bit to figure out that my middle daughter didn't have to do every math problem in a lesson if she knew how to do it after half. She just didn't need the review and the extra work was crushing her spirit when it came to math. We made an agreement that if she ever missed lots of problems, she would rework them and then do the other half. We did not have to do this one time this year. Out of 16 tests, her lowest score was a 88 and most were 95 or above......working only half the problems....and she doesn't hate math (although its still not her fav subject). And she didn't miss one math question on her standardized test this year. Yeah Horizons Math!!!! This forum has a wonderful group of ladies. We may not always agree but we always try to do it in a "loving" way and respect that we're all different and have different lives/methods, etc. Jump right in! Rhonda
ahh...ok..DD fits perfectly :love: Thanks for the advice, Rhonda. I'm working through "The Well Trained Mind" at the moment. This one is providing alot of insight into the whole process for me. I'll keep that in mind about not having to do every single thing in the books. I really think we can get through all the core stuff, as well as Spanish, P.E. (yoga) and a half hour to practice piano by the time public school kids are getting home around here. It would take an intense work ethic on both of our parts to pull it off and still do every single problem in every single excersize in every single subject, though. I guess I gotta remember to take it easy and maintain a relaxed and casual attitude about it all.
Welcome to Homeschool Spot and to homeschooling! You will probably find that you spend a considerable smaller amount of time "doing" school than the kids at school. They spend tons and tons of time waiting to "do" what they need to do. They wait while the teacher takes attendance, wait in line to go to lunch/gym/the bathroom/etc, wait while the teacher is talking to/answering questions from/discipling someone else, etc etc.
The Well Trained Mind is an excellent book, they even have forums. That forum is a little busier so I tend to stay here at homeschool spot. Everyone here is so warm and friendly. Welcome
Very good point, Marylyn! It has occured to me also that our time will be better spent because it will be one on one and I'll be able to tell what things need further explanation and not need to dwell on stuff that she already "gets". Jackie, that's great to hear. One thing that has added to my nervousness was the "lone wolf" feeling. Like I somehow felt that our family was all alone in the whole world with this. It's very nice to have found such a supportive online community to connect with others who are on this journey.
We have been the lone wolves as there aren't any hs-ers close to us. I am Katie! My ds' just graduated from high school, Abeka Academy. It is nice to have homeschool spot as everyone is quite supportive with regard to hs issues. Welcome, jump on in and have fun!
That's great to hear, Katie! I keep hearing about how great Abeka is...I'll have to look into that some more.
We used Abeka/Abeka Academy from start to finish, K-12 and LOVED it! My ds did very well and when we asked if they wanted to use it again, they always said, "Yes"!
Awesome, very good to know! I went with a very "safe", secular cirriculum approach using pretty much the same text and workbooks that the local schools here will use. This being our first exploration of a different path, I wanted to keep the highway in sight. I'm very open to learning about the other programs that are out there for future use, though. I think the more "complete" the packages are right out of the box the better, but we're on a very tight budget now and can't get too fancy.
Welcome! Don't worry about what you don't get done in a day, be proud of what you did get done. You will soon realize that a 3 hour home educating day is a lot more productive than a 8 hour ps day. So, take a deep breath and enjoy the great and wonderful things you both will learn together.
Welcome! I'm sure you'll do fine your first year. Having an excited daughter will make it easier. My kids are so happy to be out of public school they are pretty good - but not perfect - about doing the work I ask them to do because they know what the alternative is like. Best wishes.
Welcome! Just remember there is no wrong way to homeschool. If one way doesn't work then change it till you find what works best for you and your DS. You all are embarking on such an exciting new adventure!
Welcome. We have been homeschooling for 6 months now. This site is a wonderful resource, Don't be afraid to ask questions no matter how crazy you think they may be.
Welcome I too brought two children home from public school almost eight years ago. The Well Trained Mind was one of the first books I read, as well. Let me make some other recommendations of great reads: "The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling," Debra Bell; "Dumbing Us Down," John Taylor Gatto (read first); "The Relaxed Homeschool," Dr. Mary Hood. Also, google "deschooling" and read articles associated with this process. I can't stress it enough for kids who have spent any length of time in an institutional style school (be it public or private). Bringing these kids home to school is a different cup of tea If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Blessings, Trishy kriagirl.blogspot.com
