I think I really need to talk! Anyone want to chat w/ a crazy lady?

[Janice in NJ]

Is there anyone out there who uses the Teaching Company courses as their spine who would be willing to chat?

 

I need someone to talk to.

I want to break out.

I've always used these courses as supplements.

I would like to use them as a spine.... at least one course... just to try it.... rather than trying to tuck it around the edges of a busy school-day.

 

I really, really could use some wise, sage, btdt advice.

Is there anyone who fits the bill who would be available to chat via phone tonight? I really have NO ONE to talk to about this - and it's been bugging me for too long.

 

I actually have a recurring dream that there is something tucked under the sheet-rock to the right of my bed under the molding up by the ceiling. For the past two months, I wake up usually at least once a night reminded that it is there and that it is INCREDIBLY important that I remember that I put it there, because it is of the UTMOST importance that I take the time in the near future to tear open the wall and retrieve it. :confused: In my sleepy state I can ALMOST recall WHY it is important, but I have a VERY pressing and immediate sense that if I NEGLECT to attend to it, that the knowledge of its presence will be lost to me - at great cost. I'm ALWAYS impressed that I will lose something that was very valuable.

 

And though the dream is recurring, it's fading in clarity. I can almost recall details when I wake up - details that were clear weeks ago and are now empty sacks. I peer into them knowing that they should possess details, but I can see nothing.

 

Before you dismiss me as a nutcase... please hear me out. :D

I think this really has to do with the fact that I suspect that I know what I want to teach my kids and how I want to teach it. And I wonder if I could be a really good teacher.... if I just had the guts to ignore all of the programs that I have and just teach. What I KNOW to teach. Slowly. Patiently. With great wonder and passion. But slowly. WITHOUT SUCH PRESSURE to get through so much. I really feel too much pressure to get through curriculum. Loads and loads of lessons.

 

We have had an incredibly productive four weeks of school. Oh my. VERY productive..... but I'm feeling un-nerved by something.

 

And about the nutcase dream-business.... I don't dream. Hardly at all. This middle-of-the-night THING behind the sheetrock is REALLY starting to bug me.... especially because it's becoming fuzzier and fuzzier in my recollection. I'm really starting to feel that something valuable is being lost. It's really emotionally bugging me!

 

Is some wise sage available to chat this evening? I just signed up for a new free long-distance plan. If you don't mind a call from a crazy lady who is normally a VERY calm, collected, down-to-earth gal.

 

I really feel WEIRD!!!! And I don't have anyone to talk to about this. NO ONE that I know of in person will say anything to me other than, "Just do what you want. They won't remember any of it anyway. *I* never learned any of that, and look at me, I'm fine." I'm done having those conversations. They don't help. I'm tired of being told that education is hopeless. :001_smile: Folks mean well - but the words strike hollow in my soul.

 

I need more than that tonight. And this time, I can't seem to boot-strap my way out of this one on my own.

 

THANKS!

Janice

[Caraway]

I haven't used the TC courses (although I always drool over the catalog) and my kids are younger, so maybe I'm not that much help.

 

However...

 

The things I remember are the things that were taught to me with PASSION. When someone is passionate about a topic it comes through, it makes it impressionable and memorable.

 

I would rather learn (or have my kids learn) three things deeply, taught and learned with passion, than twenty things checked off a list.

[Michelle in MO]

Before you dismiss me as a nutcase... please hear me out. :D

I think this really has to do with the fact that I suspect that I know what I want to teach my kids and how I want to teach it. And I wonder if I could be a really good teacher.... if I just had the guts to ignore all of the programs that I have and just teach. What I KNOW to teach. Slowly. Patiently. With great wonder and passion. But slowly. WITHOUT SUCH PRESSURE to get through so much. I really feel too much pressure to get through curriculum. Loads and loads of lessons.

 

We have had an incredibly productive four weeks of school. Oh my. VERY productive..... but I'm feeling un-nerved by something.

 

from posts I've read of yours in the past, plus a very wonderful video clip that someone on these boards shared of you teaching your kids, I know that you are an excellent teacher!

 

For other reasons (which seem somewhat muddled right now) our three girls are enrolled in a private school this year. Rigorous and traditional, but not classical. I'm finding myself longing for homeschooling, longing for the kids to be able to learn once again to mastery rather than to push through a bunch of information. I see them cramming for tests and wonder if they'll remember much later about what they've studied. There are definite good things happening, to be sure, so I need to keep those things in mind. However, they're just learning to the tests and essays required, I'm afraid, rather than really absorbing anything.

 

So, I encourage you---break out and pick the subject from the courses that you and your kiddos want to study. Delve into it; supplement with really good books on the topic, have them write about it; spend hours discussing it. You will be teaching them so much. Learn about Byzantium, or string theory, or chaos theory, or Shakespeare, or the Vikings. Your kids will remember so much more from your passion than they will from having to cram for tests.

 

And then come back here and post about your successes, because I know they'll be there! Blessings to you!

 

 

Please---break out and let us know how it all works out!

[Kfamily]

and probably many others. I would happily chat with you if I thought I could even begin to offer enough intelligent feedback to truly help you through this. I do relate to your feelings about people thinking education is hopeless. My poor dh is probably sooo tired of hearing my ever constant laments about people and education and the incredible importance of it. He listens so lovingly! (most of the time:D)

 

I know this is not much help but I just wanted to let you know how much you inspire me to reach for more as a teacher so that I can give more to my children in return.

[LisaNY]

Before you dismiss me as a nutcase... please hear me out. :D

I think this really has to do with the fact that I suspect that I know what I want to teach my kids and how I want to teach it. And I wonder if I could be a really good teacher.... if I just had the guts to ignore all of the programs that I have and just teach. What I KNOW to teach. Slowly. Patiently. With great wonder and passion. But slowly. WITHOUT SUCH PRESSURE to get through so much. I really feel too much pressure to get through curriculum. Loads and loads of lessons.

 

Janice

 

Janice, I had many of the same feelings last year. While my dd and I learned a lot with TOG, I was feeling burned out, and kind of "dry" in the creative sense. In my 13 years of hs'ing, I've gone back and forth between planned curricula, and doing my own thing.

 

After listening to SWB speak on self-education at the LI convention last spring, I became inspired once again to branch out on my own. A curriculum can provide needed guidance, but once that guidance ceases to be helpful and becomes more of a burden and constraint, it can be very freeing to ditch the curriculum and blaze your own trails. :001_smile:

 

Can you find any of the Teaching Co. lectures at your library? If so, why not take a week-long break and try it?

[8filltheheart]

Well, I actually did just that this summer. When we moved from TN to VA our ds was short 1/2 of a history credit by VA graduation standards. So, I did a one semester Foundations in Western Civilization course this semester. It was summer, I was extremely burned out b/c of this child, this was the approach of last resort. But you know what......I think he actually learned more than in many of my intensively prepared courses.

 

What did he do.......he a 30 min video every day. In the booklet that comes with the course, at the end of every day's lecture outline is an essay question. I made him write an answer to one every day. (Not always essay length......like I said, it was summer and we don't do school in the summer.....some days they were paragraphs, some days 3 paragraph essays, some days 5) He also read the associated chapters in a book (I can't think of the title off the top of my head.)

 

Anyway, he loved Professor Noble and learned a lot. Was it ideal? No. Do I think it credit worthy? Based on the standards of the private school he went to last yr......it vastly surpassed it. (And trust me, the TC dvds are a bargain in comparison!!)

[Sharon in MD]

If you want to talk I'd be happy to. I might be able to help. We are breaking out this year with a TTC based history program. I've built my own thing several times in the past and those are the happiest memories of courses I have.

 

Please pm me and I'll call. My long distance is all free so it won't cost me a dime.

 

My ds is away most of the day today, so today would be good for me. I'll be out and about today for part of the day so I'll check the board as often as I can.

 

Blessings and I don't think you're nuts!

:grouphug:

[Moira in MA]

Janice

 

I have no real experience -- yet. We're doing Geology with Professor Renton this year.

 

I bought his text (which has notebook activities and activities) to go with the lectures and also a roadside geology of Massachusetts to give us ideas for field trup, plus maps.

 

Before the year started, I had everyone read A Briefer History of Time so that we just might understand the first 2 lectures which are more about cosmology than geology. We certainly understood the lectures but Dr Hawking lost me at string theory.

 

I'm nervous about going out on my own, textbooks are so much simpler to justify but, as another poster said, an eager lecturer makes a world of difference. Before high school came around, I always used living books for everything except mathematics. With college on the horizon, I lost my nerve.

 

Let us know about your decision.

[Nan in Mass]

I long ago gave up trying to get through curriculum (except math GRIN). I like TWTM because it showed me how to homeschool without doing that. TWEM is the ultimate in this, for me, and the year that we did natural history. I, too, know what I want my children to learn, and can't teach it to them if we're trying to complete textbooks. Not that we don't do textbooks - we do for some things. I just use them creatively, mostly, and usually much slower than they are meant to be used. I wrote out goals, figured out how to fulfil them, and then figured how to list things on a transcript. I think I've probably been doing close to what you are trying to do all the way along, by accident and necessity, and more recently I've been more able to see the advantages of it. It is rather freeing to have received a miserable education myself - I can see how easy it is to survive without knowing all those things other people seem to know GRIN and feel more free to just teach what I think is important and useful.

-Nan

[Cedarmom]

Did youhear from anyonethat uses Teaching Company as a spine? I too am flirting with the idea. As my son and I were wathcing it, in an already busy day, I thought why aren't we just doing it? The math and science ones would be so interesting for myson. He loves them. This year we are doing Omnibus, but maybe next year. I really want next year to be packed less with stuff. It is his senior year, and I want to give him time to explore what he wants. This year I am trying to find a balance too. Is it truly that I've planned too much or does he just day dream too much?

[LisaNY]

Janice

 

I have no real experience -- yet. We're doing Geology with Professor Renton this year.

 

I bought his text (which has notebook activities and activities) to go with the lectures and also a roadside geology of Massachusetts to give us ideas for field trup, plus maps.

 

Before the year started, I had everyone read A Briefer History of Time so that we just might understand the first 2 lectures which are more about cosmology than geology. We certainly understood the lectures but Dr Hawking lost me at string theory.

 

I'm nervous about going out on my own, textbooks are so much simpler to justify but, as another poster said, an eager lecturer makes a world of difference. Before high school came around, I always used living books for everything except mathematics. With college on the horizon, I lost my nerve.

 

Let us know about your decision.

 

Moira, can I ask where you got Professor Renton's text? Do you think it would be too much for an 8th gr. student? (We have the DVD's)

 

Thanks! :001_smile:

[Moira in MA]

Moira, can I ask where you got Professor Renton's text? Do you think it would be too much for an 8th gr. student? (We have the DVD's)

 

Thanks! :001_smile:

 

I had to go to the publisher, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company http://www.kendallhunt.com. I couldn't find it new. It is a bit spendy > $100 but that is very much in line with new text book prices. ISBN is 978-0-7575-3409-6. Amazon says it is out of print but the publisher still has stocks.

 

I don't think it would be a problem for an 8th grader. The pictures and diagrams are very clear. My only complaint it that is a rather floppy paperback so I can't comfortably read it on my lap, I have to use a lap desk.

 

HTH

[outtamyshell]

Janice, Do you have a blog? I love your writing style.

 

I'm sorry I wasn't up to help last night, but I say... don't give up! Education is not hopeless!

 

I too want to throw out the curriculum, but I'm scared. DD wants to just read all day. How do I put that on a transcript?

 

Please continue to share your thoughts with us. I'm looking forward to finding out what's behind the sheetrock.

 

Michelle

[LisaNY]

I had to go to the publisher, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company http://www.kendallhunt.com. I couldn't find it new. It is a bit spendy > $100 but that is very much in line with new text book prices. ISBN is 978-0-7575-3409-6. Amazon says it is out of print but the publisher still has stocks.

 

I don't think it would be a problem for an 8th grader. The pictures and diagrams are very clear. My only complaint it that is a rather floppy paperback so I can't comfortably read it on my lap, I have to use a lap desk.

 

HTH

 

Wow! That *is* expensive! And for a paperback???? Yikes!

 

I think I might go with a NYS Earth Science text, as my dd may be taking the Earth Science regents next year.

 

Thanks for the info., Moira! :001_smile:

[gardenschooler]

Break out of the mold, Janice. A custom-designed course by you for your children will not miss the mark, I'm fairly certain.

 

I'd be happy to talk to you, but I'd probably spend more time analyzing your dream than helping you come to some conclusion about your kids' educational path and how to get there. :) I'm lost at sea in that department, myself, right now. I'm starting to think the answer was right in front of me the whole time (WTM).

 

I'm all about the passion and interest and love of learning, but...where did it go? When is the last time I even saw it? How did it escape, when I wasn't looking? I think I threw it out the window years ago. Does it have to be gone, all gone, now? What about real understanding? Don't our kids need a teeny bit of a *spark* to really understand, comprehend, and care about learning? Wouldn't the whole thing be more effective, then?

 

Anxiously awaiting your update on what's behind the wall and how you're going to get it out and use it. Maybe it's you - your brain, your head, up there, locked away by the walls (the structure) of the programs you try to make fit.

 

Or maybe I should stick to talking to the crazy lady I normally converse with (myself). :grouphug:

[Ame E.]

I used Renaissance, Reformation, and Rise of Nations a few years ago to give my kids historical background. I liked his presentation.. We supplemented.. but why couldn't you use teaching company tapes as a spine? For us then, the depth of thought was too much for my kids... but it was absolutely great for providing you/them with historical background quickly and efficiently and getting them/you really interested in the subject.. a great spring board for further discussions.

 

Ame

[Lori D.]

You're a fabulous teacher (yes, I got to see your YouTube grammar uploads!) and you'll do great! I haven't used Teaching Co. materials yet, so I have no specifics to help you with your situation, but I think those would make a great spine, along with whatever material YOU want to add, and then discuss!

 

Just wanted to encourage you to go for it, because I'm stepping out this year in creating our own Lit. course for our 10th grader -- and we're *loving* it!

 

Our 10th grader has gotten very interested in worldview stuff since attending Worldview Academy this past summer, and since we're studying 20th century history this year (and I wanted to connect our lit. to it -- BUT, didn't want to do all that *depressing* lit.) we created our own. We read, discuss, and use lit. guides to help launch discussion and come up with a writing assignmente for each book. Below is what we're using, and so far it's working out great! In addition, we're finding overlap in ideas and themes from our history reading, plus the additional "Great Books" reading/lit. guides we're in the midst of (esp. Beowulf and Macbeth).

 

Everything connects and reflects, now that we're in high school -- love it! So -- go for it, Janice! It'll be great! : ) Warmly, Lori D.

 

 

"Worldviews in Sci-Fi and Horror Literature"

 

scientific worldview

(pride and its hubris-istic consequences from choosing to play god

OR, scientific knowledge "sets you above" morality)

 

1. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Progeny Press lit. guide)

2. Frankenstein (Progeny Press lit. guide)

3. What Kind of Monster Are You? (Jeff Baldwin worldview book, using examples from the above 2 books)

4. The Invisible Man (Wells)

 

 

"utopian" societies

(choosing ignorance and a "soothing lifestyle" over truth and responsibility)

 

5. Farenheit 451 (Progeny Press guide)

6. The Giver (Garlic Press lit. guide)

7. Brave New World

 

 

communism

(failure to speak out and be morally/socially responsible against evil)

 

8. Animal Farm

 

 

existentialism

(ultimate insignificance of man and meaninglessness of life)

 

9. short stories from "Cosmi-Comics"

 

 

nihilistic/absurdist evolutionary worldview

(nihilism = existence is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value; absurdism = and therefore, efforts of humanity to find meaning in the universe ultimately fail and are therefore absurd; evolution = natural selection/survival of the fittest/mutation/adaption/ all determined by genetics)

 

10. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

11. Restaurant at the end of the Universe

 

 

state vs. church

(cyclical nature of history due to man's self destructive nature vs. the persevering/sustaining role of the Body of Christ)

 

12. A Cantical for Leibowitz

 

 

the individual: nature of sin and choices

("deal with the devil" -- ultimately responsible for our every choice and act, as sin is within -- not something we can separate out from ourselves)

 

13. Portrait of Dorian Gray (compare with 1st book -- Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde)