annegables
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Posts posted by annegables
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When you outsource, there is much less for you, the mom, to worry about.
Well, I am going to have to disagree about outsourcing. I have found that outsourcing has led to much more stress and busyness in our homeschool, and has been the opposite of minimalism. Outsourcing means assessment, and assessment means being *prepared* on a certain day to be *judged* on your *performance.* Those three words -- prepared, judged, and performance -- are key. I have always done a few outside courses to help motivate my kids to study for test, but in general when you are being judged on your performance, you are no longer learning for the sake of learning. You are typically not also in LOVE with your life and your studies. You feel judged, and feel pressure to perform for the person judging you.
Now you would think that without tests and required output to drive a kid forward that not much would really be learned. But I have found the opposite. Having relaxed homemade courses without assessments and grades has meant that my kids could learn what they wanted to learn, at their own speed, to the depth that interested them, and then move on to the next thing. I can give them As for excellent learning without them having to *prepare* for a test. Preparation takes time and often results in lower-level learning on the blooms taxonomy chart. You have to memorize rather than working on interpretation, evaluation, and synthesis. Homemade classes for us have been *way* less stressful than outsources classes and have resulted in equally effective learning. Very definitely minimalism for us.
maybe you just need to focus on your relationship (which is a lot bigger deal in high school).
I did want to acknowledge this. Clearly, if this is your situation, it negates what I said above. 🙂
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@lewelma said this in the "what does a minimalist homeschool look like" thread, and I dont know how to get a quote from one thread to another thread. I would love to discuss this, if it has not been discussed to death. I recently listened to "Assessments that Bless" by Andrew Kern on the Circe website and I am reading Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto. Both say what lewelma said.
I fully agree with this and I find assessment soul-sucking. BUT... I do so well with being assessed. I am really good at figuring out what the hoops are and working my tail off to meet some arbitrary target to get the A. It is how I found my significance in high school and college. I am desperately trying to have this not be my children's experience, of finding personal meaning and value from assessments. I teach to mastery, so I am not giving out grades (and I dont have high schoolers). And yet I have to keep reminding myself that what lewelma said is true for me. It is like I have to remind myself to not drink from the toilet water when there is fresh, pure water right next to it.
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I have now recommended this author 3 times here in 24 hours, so I apologize if I sound like a broken record. We adore anything by Brandon Mull (although I didnt like Candy Shop Wars as much as his other stuff). 5 Kingdoms is brilliant.
* Chronicles of Prydain
If your younger liked the Don Quixote book, would he like the Great Illustrated CLassics versions of other books? My one kid loves these! Our library has a bunch
* Michael Vey
* Mysterious Benedict Society
Fog Diver (2 book series)
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I am a screen minimalist with my kids, but Steve Spangler's DIY Sci show on Amazon Prime (free for Prime) is fabulous. He is great about high interest science. He does great demonstrations and explains the science behind it. We also love How the Universe Works and How the Earth Was Made.
Have you seen these books? They are high interest, give a firm grasp of geography, and are great to pick up and browse through. I and my kids adore them.
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I dont know if this would fit, but The Fog Diver and its sequel are great middle-grade dystopian fantasy. Not depressing, has lots of social commentary, fun reads, not babyish (I enjoyed them). I really liked that book and the characters. My son and I had such rich conversations about it.
I loved Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It is another really quick read (100 pages), but there is genetic engineering and lots of social commentary. And I felt an odd sense of accomplishment when I finished it.
SOmeone upthread recommended Hillbilly Elegy. If you go that route and want more suggestions, Janesville and Evicted are really good, but they are about socioeconomics in America.
12 hours ago, lewelma said:So ds said that I'm mis-understanding what he likes. It is not social-commentary, haha. Need to start a new thread! Rather he likes deep complex plots that are about human interaction. He just doesn't want them depressing. But then he said that he likes grim-dark fantasy!?!?!? Haha. Our discussion was actually quite nuanced, and he is definitely a deep thinker who know what he wants.
Sounds like he will do audiobooks from the Pride and Prejudice era, because he loves those kinds. Sound like he wants to do Northanger Abbey and Oliver Twist. (he definitely likes humor/satire)
For novels he wants to go after The Martian Chronicles, Beggars of Spain, and a grim-dark fantasy series we just found.
Thanks guys for helping me. As I read out the suggestions and looked them up, it helped him to identify what he actually wants!
Oh, I just saw this. Probably disregard my list, because it isnt grim-dark fantasy.
Has he read Terry Prachett and the Discworld books?
Brandon Mull's 5 Kingdoms or Fablehaven? I recommended these on your other thread:)
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15 hours ago, lewelma said:
So screens are not the only problem, the reading definitely is. It is the slide in reading that has caused him to revert to screens. I have suggested that he read easy books but then listen to harder books. He did that with Pride and Prejudice and LOVED it. But I have not been able to get him to listen to another one this whole year. He says he feels it is cheating. He believes that if he can't read the books he shouldn't listen to them. Suggestions for how to attack that reasoning? I have tried a few things but would love to hear your thoughts.
I get into book slumps. I know I am in one when I gravitate towards the computer more than books. This year was pretty intense with reading some challenging (content and reading level) and by Oct, I had burned out from reading classics for a bit. So I fell back on the old standby that gets me out of a reading slump - cozy mysteries. It is such a win for my brain. They are written at an 8th grade level roughly, can be finished in a few hours, and require nothing of me. I can sort of shut off my brain and just enjoy a fun story as the written word washes over me and declutters my brain.
Sometimes I need to do this for a few months before re-engaging with harder books.
Are there some "fun" middle grade fantasy books he hasnt read, like Brandon Mull's stuff? 5 Kingdoms and Fablehaven are great, and they helped get me out of a reading slump. My son loved these and I loved these.
I also love to read funny poetry, like Jack Prelutsky. Short, funny, gets me laughing. He was the children's poet laureate.
Another thing that helped me was listening to the CLose Reads podcast by Circe. They do literature analysis and it is super interesting. For instance, they did Murder Must Advertise, by Dorothy Sayers, and it was about 8 episodes of them just geeking out on the book, several chapters at a time. They have done a bunch of the classics. So it isnt "cheating" according to your son, it is more like listening in on a group of well-educated book-lovers. They are coming at it from a Christian worldview, fyi.
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On 12/12/2019 at 11:41 AM, lewelma said:
Thanks so much to each of you for writing all that out! I'm not quite sure what I am looking for, perhaps just to explore how each of us does things differently so that I can increase the tools in my toolbox.
I am NOT Parent-In-Charge. Nope, can't do it and don't believe in it. However, I am in charge, with small caps. I work through subtle influence to create internal desire and motivation to do what needs to be done. I don't think that my younger boy would have ever slogged through hours upon hours upon hours to remediate his dysgraphia effectively if had not *wanted* to do it, and he wanted to do it because over the years I have planted ideas in his mind that have grown. I do NOT convince or argue or cajole . I do not lead from top down. I lead through influence as Lao Tsu described :
"A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves."
So what I find so interesting about Gil's approach and each of yours is the dynamic that your kids are *expected* to do what they are asked, but that you don't implement the 'obedience' or reward/punishment cycle. Or at least you don't appear to. My kids do NOT respond to reward/punishment, like they don't respond to it AT ALL. It builds resistance and resentment, and even at times retaliation. My older was an explosive child when he was young, and I was lucky to have found and read the best parenting book I have ever seen: "The Explosive Child" by Greene. His approach gave me insight, and I ran with it and changed it to make it my own. He works *with* kids to solve problems-- to come up with solutions that are acceptable to BOTH the parent and the child. This book started me down the path of working *with* my kids, rather than directing from on high. And as I described above, I have changed his approach to create internal drive and motivation in both my boys to do even what they don't like doing.
So when my younger boy says 'no,' I don't convince, but I do remind him of his goals and ask him what his plan is. I'm not manipulative; I am honestly asking how he plans to deal with what I perceive as a problem. But if he doesn't perceive of it as a problem, I work over many months to plant little seeds of ideas. This is how I changed my younger son from eating too many sweets, to having an internal desire to eat more healthily. I believe these month-long efforts of mine create long-term solutions because he owns them.
So I guess I'm wondering about how you guys create internal motivation with top down parenting. And I'm curious when you use different approaches with the same kid. I have run into a couple of situations with my younger (one in particular) that have been much harder to manage with my approach. So I'm kicking around a more top down approach, but I am hesitant to implement it because it goes against our long-standing and very-effective peer dynamic.
Ruth in NZ
I am not certain if I am a top-down parent. My kids (like myself) tend not to question reasonable authority. What this looks like in practice is that I have a list of our subjects to cover each day written on a white board. Each item is something I think is worthwhile for them to do, is within their ZPD, and has been catered to their interest/ability (i.e. which specific math curriculum or phonics, etc). When they finish each item, they check it off of the white board. This white board is treated as some sort of god by them: if the white board says it isnt yet done, it must be done. They do not argue with the all-powerful whiteboard. I dont think it occurs to them to question the power of the white board.
My kids also do not question the fact that we school more days than anyone I know. We do math, phonics (for those who need it), reading, science, and history year-round (with lighter math in the summer).
I issue no rewards or punishments for finishing their work. I do give leniency on particularly busy days (we are far enough ahead that it doesnt matter). I remove privileges for things like excessive whining.
I hope this doesnt sound like my children are angels:). My eldest is only in middle school, so I have not hit some of the more...exciting stages yet. One of my kids is rather challenging and quite intense, but thus far he has not questioned the omnipotent white board.
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I have never done LoF, but I have used Khan. I think it gets a bad rap, and I am not sure why. Our oldest did Khan 3-5th grade math to find out if he had any holes in his math knowledge before going into pre-algebra. He is doing AoPS as his main math curriculum, but I have him do Khan (thus far pre-algebra, algebra, alg 2, and geometry) prior to AoPS, and I have found it to be pretty good. The videos are really well done, straight forward, and teach to conceptual understanding.
I think Khan is great for what you are looking for. It is great for filling in holes because you can quickly work through the stuff you already know and slow way down for stuff you dont. There are videos for absolutely everything. You can see your progress online.
If you have never done Khan math, understand that when it gives you a percentage, it is not a percentage of how many you got correct, but your percent toward mastery of the particular topic (like counting within 10).
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9 hours ago, Sallie Mae said:
Well, I'm being brave here. I learned from this forum for years before I created an account for myself. You all have been my long-term homeschool community even if you didn't know it. I homeschooled my first child from K-12 starting in 2001. "Back in the day," says the old timer homeschool mom, "The internet wasn't what it is today. You couldn't learn about all kinds of curriculum from the comfort of your home." Sound like a story of how our grandparent's got to school in the old days, but it is true. If you wanted to know about homeschool curriculums, you had to order a catalog and then actually get your hands on the curriculum. There were only homeschool conventions in several states in my area at the time. All of them were several states away. There was a large homeschool warehouse about an hour away that carried as many curriculum choices that were available at that time. I did go to a convention before starting K, but I really learned from visiting that warehouse, asking questions of the wonderful staff, and sitting down on the floor, turning pages for hours. I loved learning what was out there even if it wasn't a good fit for me, maybe it might work for someone else.I live in a state that requires specific subjects be taught, so being an unschooled was never really an option, but there were choices within what was required to be taught. I began a love of learning about various education philosophies and curriculum was available.
I am now happily and gratefully homeschooling my long awaited second child. I know so much more about what is available today vs. when I started in 2001. The way my second child learns is very different than how my first child did. I am doing pretty much everything differently than how I did the first time, and it is great. I couldn't have done anything any differently the first time around, due to what was available, how I was them, etc. but I can now. I have a different approach and focus. It keeps my days wonderfully full and my brain busy thinking about the next thing to do. though it takes a lot more energy than how I did it years ago, it is a good tired. My brains is always full of
I have been involved with a particular co-op every year since 2003 till now. I have seen many changes in homeschooling, how moms relate to each other, what new homeschoolers are looking for, etc. One of the things that makes me sad is how very few of the homeschool moms at the co-op ever talk about homeschooling or curriculum. You wouldn't even know what we all had in common if you heard everyone talking. I would love to open up conversations on that, but there doesn't seem to be any interest in talking about those things. Not wanting to seem like an old timer who talks about "the good ole days" or how things use to be done, I go with the flow. If I connect with a mom one-on-one, I will ask what curriculum they use. If they seem interested in talking about homeschooling things, it makes me happy.
Yes things have changed, but even with the changes, I love homeschooling.
Sorry to have gone on and on.
The bolded is me, as well. I love a good curriculum nerd-out. I love just hearing about what other people do, even if it isnt something I would ever do. I just want to learn of all the different options out there.
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On 12/10/2019 at 5:27 AM, Quercus said:
😄 perfectly named
The most recent thing was I was saying that if I don't accomplish something in the morning, or at least start it before lunch, I won't get it done. I meant anything, not just school work, though certainly school work that I am involved in. Afternoons and evenings have their own momentum here for Mom. A woman whose kids are all 7 and younger cut me off to point out that "the beauty in homeschool is getting to set our own timelines! I don't understand why everyone replicates what they experienced in school growing up. Just send your kids to [local school] if you want to be on the school's schedule!" Everyone agreed and my time to participate was over, I guess.
First of all, I start school with my younger kids way earlier than public school opens. And my older kids trickle in as they are ready. But that is not the point. I feel like it was something she heard on a podcast and just couldn't contain herself with in her excitement to say it. I have experience to share about setting and reaching goals with multiple kids, and I was interested in hearing different things people do in the evenings that free up some time there, My older kids are really changing so our family dynamics and schedules are changing with them. We're all learning until it's over.
But people snap out these soundbites that sound good in the abstract, and no one actually shares anything.
Perhaps this only tangentially relates to the first post. But I think that curriculum providers are responding to what people want. Maybe it goes both ways and people are responding to what is available. In any case I see people wanting curriculum or groups that don't require or lend themselves to collaboration, either between the parent and the child or within the community.
This might be only tangentially related, but I am loving the discussion! And I completely agree with all of this. Emily Dickenson once said that if she didnt finish half of her work by 10am, she ran the risk of not finishing the other half. I have found this to be completely true in my life, and particularly my homeschooling.
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3 hours ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:
Yes! This is how I feel about the crappy little "science" kits they sell everywhere that random relatives always seem to want to buy for gifts. They never work, and they're just junk.
YES!!! We are sciency, so everyone assumes we love those kits. I hate them.
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Honestly, the curriculum, if it can be called that, that I get rid of quickly, is the stuff that well-meaning family members buy me that has titles like "Common Core Reading Comprehension Practice". It is usually uninspiring 1-page reading comprehension worksheets with lots of extra work, printed on what seems like newspaper pulp. It might have some nuggets of awesomeness hidden amongst drivel, but I am not willing to find out. And I have nothing against Common Core in theory, but those types of workbooks are just terrible, IMNSHO.
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4 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:
8Fill's answer is spot on! I'll try to add a bit more info. I'm sorry I don't have time to edit this and be really thoughtful about what I say right now, but it's a crazy week and I didn't want to ignore your ping...
I'll add a bit about one aspect that I think you want covered from the other thread, and that is how the entrance of charter schools has changed homeschooling.... Some time ago (more than twenty years ago), a number of accreditation programs came into existence. Because homeschooling in many states leads to an unaccredited diploma, parents often sent their kids to get a GED at the end of their studies. A number of universities at the time required it for admission. A GED, however, had a somewhat negative stigma attached to it. Parents could choose to dual-enroll in a cc (which often had rolling open admissions) or they could create huge admissions packets with work samples, long book lists, etc. to try to prove that their student had been adequately and rigorously prepared for university studies. I believe that the NCAA also had various rules about playing that figured into the drive to create a third option for accredited diplomas.
Some private schools created an accreditation wing for homeschooled families. They either directly enrolled into the "umbrella school" or they paid a chunk of money to have their curricula approved for by the school and thus the school would issue an accredited diploma. Some examples of umbrella schools that were well known were: Clonlara, Keystone, North Atlantic Regional High School, etc. Pennsylvania Homeschoolers could fall into this category, though they later evolved.
I think as homeschooling grew and as more families had the internet in their homes, the market exploded. We saw a split into wholly online schools (many of which were accredited) and into a pay-to-play market. As far as online schools go, many of these early programs were things like K12. They were private products from a company being sold to school districts. School districts could receive from their respective states the same per capita amount per students, but the overhead costs were much lower than in brick and mortar schools. In other words, shrinking school districts (like in rural parts of states) could bring in additional money to keep their districts afloat when they otherwise would have been consolidated with other districts. These districts were invented to grow their programs rapidly to bring in additional revenue without a lot of thought as to how rapid expansion would affect the quality of education being provided. Many, many states have online state-accredited schools based out of tiny school districts with the majority of their students spread not only throughout the state, but also centered out of large metro areas. As the online market matured, we've seen huge gaps in quality between programs. While many programs are affiliated with Florida Virtual School or Odysseyware (ie it's the same people producing content and materials through a proliferation of schools), the actual results from schools varies wildly. Part of this, I believe, is that students entering into online schools tend to be those who weren't thriving in their brick and mortar environment---they have learning differences or poor foundations for learning. Part of this, though, is that schools are administered differently with differing amounts of support. Because many of these charter schools aren't generating students who are performing on level, we've seen some tension between school and state and families as to how they should be monitored and funded. We also see a lot of tension between brick and mortar schools and online only schools as families flee brick and mortar in some areas and move to online programs. I think this is why we are starting to see new hybrid programs where some school districts are offering partial enrollment. My school district has a new program where I can bring my kids in for gym, art, and a couple of hours of tutoring support a week.
Many of these same online schools (K12, etc.) also offer products directly to parents for purchase. You can choose to purchase materials, or you can do a single (or multiple) class enrollment outside of having to formally enroll in a school. Pennsylvania Homeschoolers was one of the first programs to offer pay-to-play curricula and test prep for families. PA originally marketed itself as primarily AP test prep. (AP and CLEP tests being a way to earn college credit, further bolster unaccredited homeschool high school diplomas, etc.)As the homeschool market grew, more homeschool providers---many of whom were originally paper curricula based--have started to offer online classes for family as a way to provide services to families who are willing to pay to offload some of the work burden and to ensure rigorous studies for their students. WTMA and other online academies are filling this demand.
Some online schools allow families to pick and choose materials (particularly for elementary students) if they meet certain criteria. They provide a funding allowance, and families can pick from lists or ask to have something approved. A number of homeschool companies now market materials for certain grades to try to meet this market niche. The online schools often provide a generous allowance--much more than many homeschool families can themselves budget--and a dynamic has evolved. Families that would once homeschool privately have joined these online/charter schools in order to purchase materials that they would normally buy themselves. Curricula providers provide a lot of components to their products because they can earn a higher margin of profit by selling kits. Online schools continue to expand enrollment and be able to fund this generous budget, which draws in more previously private families. Thus, curricula providers continue to market themselves to this niche rather than to the homeschool families who previously had a scribbled list of things to check out from the library, a few math textbooks, etc.
This was a wonderful explanation.
I will add that a writing goal I have for my kids is that they can produce well-thought out written work, with organized sentences and paragraphs, about a topic they are knowledgeable in, like you have here.
The bolded explains so much.
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To get rid of:
Is the output requirement just an insipid test to see if the kids did "work" for a certain period of time? As in, are there busywork (according to me/my kids) writing assignments, worksheets, etc?
DO I have to significantly alter it to make it work for us?
Is there something else that does the job as effectively and is easier to implement?
Does it require lots of time on the computer? (I hate computer-heavy curriculum, for most things).
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44 minutes ago, Plum said:
I have worked at breaking the educational mold. It is a little scary to think outside the box. Recently, I've been asking myself more and more questions. Why the 5 paragraph essay? Why force writing paragraphs so early? Why take tests? Why study subjects in a certain order? How do I know they are learning? Is reading with discussions enough? Can I go deep in one topic and work around that? How do I envision their education as they get older? What's important to me? To them? How will this all fit in with the future workforce? How does skills vs content work with a dyslexic?
These have been my recent questions, as well! Except the dyslexic part. I am so thankful for the people on this board who have walked this journey, launched children who I deem "successful", and have no major regrets.
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24 minutes ago, Momto6inIN said:
Good for you! 😊 That is not my experience with most people I know, so it's interesting to hear a different perspective.
Oh, dear, I dont think I was very clear. I forgot to include in my post that you quoted that I was agreeing with you as to what I saw. Your observations are my observations. With homeschooling, people are just blindly trusting all the homeschooling classes springing up out here and all the fancy curriculum. I am much more cautious about what I trust now.
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3 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:
This mystifies me too. But I guess most people (me included until I started to look into hs'ing) don't really look into or question why they put their kids into ps either. They're 5, so they go to school. End of story. So maybe it's not really surprising that if those same people turn to hs'ing for some reason that they do kind of the same thing and just choose what people they know are using.
It took a MAJOR shift in thinking for me to get into the mentality that I can make my kids' education whatever I want it to be. I am still working on that shift (as anybody who has ready my recent science threads can attest lol)
I put my kids in public school because I had a great public education and because I believed in the goals of public school. I wanted my kids to be a positive influence there. I wanted us to be involved members of a community that needs involved parents. I know many parents like this.
I remember feeling a sense of bewilderment and disillusionment as I realized the local school was failing my kid. I tried working with the system because I philosophically believed in it. I did not agree with removing good kids from a system that so desperately needs them. And I was forced to acknowledge that this system failed my kids. This realization brought me to my knees and upended an entire way of thinking for me. I felt betrayed. I also realized that this whole time I thought that they wanted me and my kids, and our stable family and high test scores (in a not-good school). But they didnt. We were a burden for them. And I was not a demanding parent!
Now I am like, "fool me once..."
I have done a 180deg change and now I homeschool for philosophical reasons, as opposed to just fleeing conventional schools.
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6 hours ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said:
Sounds great! We do a dedicated Shakespeare month in February... this is a good reminder that I need to start planning!
What a great idea!!
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6 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:
I've only been doing this since 2012, but to me the biggest difference I see is the motivation behind why people choose to hs in the first place. When I first started it was mostly people who either had deep religious convictions or people who had deep educational convictions or both. People who chose to hs were *invested* in the decision because it was still seen as a very "out there" thing to do. Now it a more mainstream choice and so I see lots more people choosing to hs because they are vaguely dissatisfied with the ps in some way, whereas before these people would have kept heir kids in ps and just complained about it 😉 They choose to hs because it is seen as a viable choice, but they aren't necessarily invested in the idea.
At parks, I strike up conversations with other moms, and when they find out I homeschool, many express deep dissatisfaction with our current education system and say they are thinking about homeschooling. And it isnt like I am being forceful in my opinions or anything; I am a "do what works for your family" type of person. There are a whole lot of people where I live who are trying to figure out how to change the educational landscape for their kids.
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2 hours ago, lewelma said:
This. My boys and I have loved homeschooling because we learned without assessment. No quizzes, tests, or grades of any kind until 11th and 12th grade. I have come to believe that heavy assessment often destroys engagement and internal motivation - and puts you into the 'rigorous busy work' that the other thread has been discussing.
This is so reassuring to hear. I live in a place where I can go to a park, throw a rock, and hit a homeschooler. And there is so much trying to do assessment the way it is done in schools. It is hard to buck this system. Which is an odd thing to say because homeschoolers already buck the system. If a person learns without being assessed (via test, or something "official"), is it legitimate? (To play off the "If a tree falls in the forest" question). While the tree/forest question seems absurd, when it comes to learning and assessment, the shoe is on the other foot.
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I call this "my vagina eyes." I live with all males and I swear, they dont see the mess, dirt, pee, etc. My vagina eyes are like my sixth sense or superpower. With my vagina eyes, I can see floor pee, dirty clothes, dishes, you name it. My vagina eyes are also capable of finding things in cabinets where they have always been. It's a gift and a burden to have this superpower.
But seriously, keep on keeping on. I make them clean the whole house every evening. My prayer is that by the time they are launched, they will be able to see and take care of the mess by themselves.
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40 minutes ago, Quill said:
I think that often as well...numerous books I have given five-star, glowing reviews never get a “like”. I burn down the house on a bad book and people love it! 🤔
I wonder if it is because a well written one-star review is difficult to do. Like when people give Flannery O'Connor's short stories a one-star review because they are depressing stories filled with awful people. Or people who dont like Lord of the Rings because it is too long and has super boring descriptions. Those are all just personal opinions (which I understand is part of a review), but they usually are not meaningful to me.
I want to read a one-star review like Quill's. Thoughtful, well-organized, and has genuine issues with the book beyond "I didnt find it entertaining or enjoyable." I didnt find Flannery O'Connor's short stories entertaining or enjoyable, but that book is one of the most significant books I have read in a long time. I found it thought-provoking, soul-cleansing, and it forced painful self-reflection. It opened me up to other literature that does not feel good, but is good and right to read.
And it sounds like Girl, Wash Your Face is the opposite of that. It sounds like a book that does nothing good for the soul of the reader. And if I want that, I will read a cozy mystery, not self-promoting, meme-touting, humble-bragging verbal diarrhea from a person with little real life experience to be taken seriously.
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Hits:
Math: AoPS geometry and online BA. BA has been a long and painful road, but it has done wonders for my DS's critical thinking skills. MM for my 2nd grader. Singapore's challenging word problems.
GSWL
ELA: WWS 1 has been one where we are seeing the fruits of his labors and it is so rewarding. For my 4th grader, I did a home-brewed writing curriculum and he writing is improving so much. Daily Paragraph Editing by Evan Moor. All things Killgallon. WWE 2 interspersed with my own assignments. ETC 5. My 2nd grader reading aloud to me from A-Z mysteries. His reading has improved a lot. Vocabulary Cartoons.
Science: Great Courses Plus. Homebrewed everything else.
SS: Combining history with our read-alouds and focusing on Arthurian legends and Arabian Nights. We have already listened to all the SOTW at least 4 times through, so we are good there. Dan Carlin podcasts.
Meh:
Argument Builder. We have done Art of Argument and Fallacy Detective. Argument Builder is good, but it is a decent amount of writing for what he wanted to do, so we are going slowly. But He is learning a ton, and just like with WWS1, we just need to stick with it to see the fruits.
Misses:
Exclusively doing WWE2. We needed to combine days and then do our own writing assignments on the other days. I like the curriculum; I just had to tweak it to fit.
Singapore Math (except Challenging Word Problems). We needed a curriculum that was challenging but that it was easy to skip over the stuff he already knew well. Singapore had too many different parts for me to do that effectively.
WWE3. Not a fault of the program at all. My one kid was just a much stronger writer than I thought he was. And he needs to completely own his writing. He will write a lot, as long as he comes up with what he wants to write about. He will not write anything that he does not want to.
HWOT cursive. Gah, I dislike how it looks. We switched to Pentime and their cursive still looks like HWOT. I am not making that mistake in my youngest.
Vocab from Classic Roots. I love this. My eldest did not. And retained nothing. He switched to vocab cartoons and is much happier and uses the words in daily life.
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I try very hard to break out of this very modern idea that the natural and supernatural exist completely separately from each other. The Bible Project has some great videos about this.
Here are some things I say to my kids.
1. Do I believe that God holds the universe in the palm of his hand, or do I believe that it is all totally random? What a weird false dichotomy! I believe that God uses gravity (and the electro-magnetic force and the weak and strong forces) to "hang the heavens" so to speak.
2. DO I believe that babies are a miracle or an event driven by nature with predictable outcomes? Um, why can I not agree with both?
In the same way, I believe that God used evolution to provide for the glorious biodiversity that I believe reflects God's love and creativity. I in no way believe that evolution diminishes God or his power. I try really hard to point out either/or fallacies when I see them and to train my kids to see them. I dont want to be forced into a box that is completely unnecessary.
I will also say (and some of these books point out) that often Christians conflate biological evolution (gradual changes in a population over many generations) with Social Darwinism (which says - correct me if I am wrong-that because of biological evolution, certain philosophies are therefore morally justified). Christians and the general public also tend to conflate evolution with abiogenesis, which refers to the origin of life.
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It sounds like they took some pointers from my college alma mater. They are constantly sending money letters that seem to follow us every time we move.
Also S/O Gil's Post - Opportunities
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
We do educational traveling (not fancy), camping, and every museum in our large city.
Once their core subjects are done, the rest of the day is interest-led learning. Loads of it. They have so much available time to pursue their worthwhile interests. I believe that is one of the greatest gifts I am giving them as children. Time. And the opportunity to spend that time in a loving, life-giving, soul-nurturing environment.