Comments on: Homeschool as it was meant to be

By: Principled Discovery » On blogging, dirty laundry and respect

Principled Discovery » On blogging, dirty laundry and respect — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:11:17 +0000

[...] don’t share a lot about my family on this blog, although I have been known to go into lengthy tangents about pencils as well as share a few very personal struggles. And I do have a more personal blog where I share [...]

By: You Know You’re a Homeschooler When…

You Know You’re a Homeschooler When… — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 03:38:19 +0000

[...] At the end of school last year my husband collected garbage bags full of notebooks, copy paper, and pencils. I thought those supplies would last us for years, but the way Sunshine has taken to drawing we may run out of paper in three and a half weeks. The pencils have a way of disappearing, too, just ask Dana. [...]

By: Principled Discovery » Warning: Homeschooling families must prepare for college

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 06:09:57 +0000

[...] so it is a press release. What can I expect? But it reminds me how much marketers play on our insecurities to try to sell us their products. Nothing against tutors, or business, or even [...]

By: Principled Discovery » Homeschool stereotypes vs. public school realities

Principled Discovery » Homeschool stereotypes vs. public school realities — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:41:09 +0000

[...] want to know how our first day of school went, I wrote about it on my other blog. If you enjoyed my pencil story, you will be able to [...]

By: Crimson Wife

Crimson Wife — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:22:15 +0000

Where can I sign up for “homeschooling as it was meant to be”? Forget a prepackaged curriculum- what I was is an unlimited budget; children who are *ALWAYS* cheerful, cooperative, kind to each other, and eager to focus on academics; never any aggravating interruptions like a car or home repair that needs to get taken care of ASAP; no stupid bureaucrats or judges interfering with my right to homeschool; and so on.

By: Sunniemom

Sunniemom — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:30:48 +0000

But I wonder, who were the experts 200 years ago?…

…You don’t have to invest in a relationship, and you don’t have to humble yourself to a friend, acquaintance or someone in authority over you to ask for help…

I think it is a recent cultural phenomena- we are the “Oprah” generation. Fifteen minutes and a few sound bites make anyone an expert.

Reading self-help books can allow us to pick and choose. We can hear what we want to hear. But a wise friend or experienced elder can call us on the carpet when we get delusional.

As for packaged curriculum- I like resources that don’t require alot of planning, but what bugs me is how much of it is remedial. How many times do we have to cover nouns? Once should be enough, but every grammar textbook at every grade level is the exact same material with different sample sentences and slightly more complicated assignments. It’s still a noun, even if it’s in a really long sentence.

Homeschooling the way it oughta’ be? Test your kids out of every chapter in every textbook until they hit a concept they haven’t mastered. You’ll be halfway done with school in the first week.

By: Life On The Planet

Life On The Planet — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:15:43 +0000

Our librarian’s daughter just started homeschooling. She (our librarian) said that her daughter was commenting on how useless her packaged curriculum was because of how much her daughter already knew. I told her that’s why we stopped using a packaged curriculum. One size fits all just didn’t fit. Sometimes it’s just more effective to do it the old fashioned way! Of course, then you get back into that iffy parental involvement thing.

By: PeregrinJoe

PeregrinJoe — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:09:27 +0000

I find that parental involvement changes with the child’s age and the subject. For instance, my 14 year old likes going into his room for a few hours, listening to music and cranking out the work, while my 12 year old likes heavy interaction with my wife and I, especially on his math. The science experiments are a whole family affair, and of course so are the field trips. I think we make the same mistake public schools do when we try a “one size fits all” type of thing.

By: Dana Hanley

Dana Hanley — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:39:14 +0000

Not a problem. I was given that particular book when it was going like wildfire through the church it was in. The only thing I got from it at the time was sign language, however. I suppose a sort of strong-willed, independent, no-one-can-tell-me-what-to-do sort of attitude keeps you out of some sorts of trouble, although it gets you into heaps of other troubles.

But I think you strike at the heart of why these sorts of things take off. You don’t have to invest in a relationship, and you don’t have to humble yourself to a friend, acquaintance or someone in authority over you to ask for help. Some of their things sound great, but without knowing them personally, who really knows if they have the character to back up what they are saying?

By: Renae

Renae — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:13:42 +0000

So we buy a book, follow it and recommend it to friends to find out years later that the author was excommunicated from his own church and that the principles we gleaned from it were connected with failure to thrive infants?

I had the same experience with that book. And honestly, I’m trying to sort the wheat from the chaff right now.

It’s easier to read a book than to be invested in relationships. The tendency to mind our own business can be taken too far.

We need others. I am blessed with a few very close friends, but we are all in the same stages of raising our children. We don’t have a lot of wisdom to offer each other. At least, we can encourage one another though.

Sorry for the tangent. You touched on a recently exposed nerve. Maybe I should write on my own blog, instead of your comment form.