Slojo's Homeschool
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Posts posted by Slojo's Homeschool
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I am very new to this board (I think I have fewer than ten posts -- who can "get a word in edgewise" as fast as these boards fly:001_smile:?). But I thought this article on how sites like Khan Academy are changing and challenging the way education in schools is done was interesting. Article here: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/ff_khan/all/1
A lot of the challenges to the status quo in education seem to have parallels to many of the advantages of homeschooling: one on one tutoring, going as fast or slow as the learner needs, real-time feedback on performance, etcetera.
Anyway, I thought it was an interesting article in general. I'm not particularly rah-rah or against Khan Academy (it's a tool), but I do think that mainstream education will have to change because there are so many possibilities for engagement in learning (largely, but not solely led by technology). Whether it will go kicking and screaming or seize an opportunity, we'll see.
- Alicia
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Okay, took it again for pride - but didn't do much better 27,700. Oh, well, one can only hope my low vocabulary level won't hamper me in life. :lol:
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I received a very low score of 23,800 - not much better than a high school sophomore. Not sure what to think about that. Oh, well, despite my poor showing I still managed to obtain two advanced degrees and be published in a few academic journals before tamping back my career. Maybe I'm too much of a specialist - I know a lot of technical words specific to my field and not much else.
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To answer the original question - I would say no, diversity is not the reason for decreasing sense of community. I do not think that it is a matter of values --though I do believe that different histories, resources and perspectives may play a role in how we go about seeking out community. But I do not think that one group values "community" over another or the fundamental components of community. So I would be hesitant to put words like "values" into the mix.
As one of the minority of African Americans in my neighborhood, I can attest that my values are pretty darn similar to my neighbors. Sometimes my personal stories around what community is and where I've found it highlight a different cast of characters than some of my neighbors, but we're all striving for community just the same -- AND running up against the same obstacles. But sharing those stories hasn't been a hindrance to building community. It has enriched the community we do have.
Every culture on the planet generally and every subcultural group in the US specifically seeks community of some kind. I think the individualistic, consumerist culture that we all combat is much more the culprit to any decline of community then diversity. I think sometimes diversity may "feel" like the culprit because increasing diversity in a variety of neighborhoods is coinciding with increased individual isolation of society as a whole. It's almost as if just as things were starting to get more "diverse," we also got more individually insular.
I bet you if we could have just skipped all that legal segregation nonsense and the weird laws about drinking fountains and such that were a part of our nation's history, we would not be tempted to frame the lack of community many of us currently see with "increasing diversity." Just my opinion.
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Thanks for posting this.
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This is a good question. I'm just starting out and I think I will spend about what the OP is going to spend. I think some of it is start-up costs (getting globes, some math manipulatives, etc). But I also wonder if by curriculum you are only referring to books and guides. I think of curriculum as everything used to engage them in learning, which includes outside classes or activities, hands-on materials, and field trips (which sometimes have entry fees and, at the very least, uses gas -- not that I'm keeping really close track of that).
To me that brings the cost of homeschooling up into a low $1000 figure. How do others count homeschooling costs?
- Alicia
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I'm new here. I am planning the following with my 5 year old (and oldest).
- Core: Building from the core curriculum around Waseca Biomes curriculum (a geog/culture based curriculum). We'll start with their core and then read books, do science and arts from each region.
- Reading: AAS adapted for reading instruction with Waseca Biomes readers as supplements
- Math: MEP 1
- Science: BFSU + Young Scientist Club science kits as supplement
- Nature walks with occasional nature "challenges"
- Art: Artistic Pursuits
- Other: Karate class, swim classes
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I think kids like what is familiar. Certainly, even if there are aspects of school that they don't like, if they've never been out of school, it's hard to imagine liking homeschooling. "Like" encompasses a huge terrain, and can be shorthand for "I'm really glad that I get to see my friend Betsy, and I like Ms. So and So and really beginning to get the hang of math; but I also feel really self-conscious and nervous that Sam doesn't like me back and I can't stand the science teacher..." I know that I personally "like" a lot of things that aren't ideal, but it's my life and I know nothing else.
- Alicia
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We are slowly working to build a dinosaur out of chicken bones -- though a lot depends on your child's temperament and "patience" level, and the amount of time and space you have for ongoing projects. It is an "involved" project.
The book is called Make Your Own Dinosaur Out of Chicken Bones
http://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Dinosaur-Chicken-Bones/dp/0060952261.
It's an adult level book that outlines how to make an Apatosaurus model (there's also a T-Rex version) out of chicken bones. So you'd have to digest the instructions and then figure out how you'd want to do it with your daughter. It takes a lot of time and prep - I had to take apart and clean the bones of three rotessorie chickens before starting (that was a few hours). So, I would consider this a major project of the semester! (We are doing one "major" project each season).
If it matters to you, my guess is that the author is secular and assumes an old earth/evolution science perspective (which is personally fine by me). Though I would say that it would only be you reading it (it's interesting but not really what I'd crack open for a young child), and even that's just background information in the first chapter or two that has nothing to do with actually building the model itself.
If you want something simpler and "quicker," you can get dino bone excavation kits from the Discovery Store or a Learning Express toy store if you have one in your area for $9 - $15.
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Hmm... I know I'm late to the game, but my child was actually bullied off and on for months by a neighborhood kid (once, when he was with one of our sitters, he was told he'd be punched if he ever tried to play on the community playground; my two year old was called an "*expletive* piece of dirt" simply for being related to my eldest; other neighborhood kids were told not be be friends with my child), and it took a lot of intervention to have it stop.
Oh, and my child's only five (and the other kid, and at one point, a group of three kids, were between five and six - they start 'em early these days). Adult presence didn't seem to deter this kid - he'd blurt out threats, and actually once - early on - at a community party in our club house, kicked my kid and laughed. I had gone to the bathroom and I left my kid in the playroom for a few minutes (this was early on before I had any knowledge of his behavior patterns). Let' s say we added an extra subject to our curriculum - lots of talks about bullies.
Talking to the parents wasn't helpful as the child would say these things in front of his own mother and she'd blurt out some looney tunes excuse about how her son was just discharging some aggression. And even gave me some "motherly" advice about how we can't protect our children forever. I actually wished there was a principal or school staff to help intervene because dealing directly with looney tunes parents who do not see the damage their child is causing is not for the faint of heart.
So do we get to cross it off our list, and skip going to school since we've already been there, done that?
Been bullied? Check! Want to come up with another (non)reason to go to school?
- Slojo
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Hugs mama! *[i'm a black mom of biracial children (though both boys). I am hairstyle challenged, and wear my own hair in beautiful, natural locs that require -- though I'd not say less -- a different investment than other styles. It's a style I wear because it requires less "outsourcing" to do well while also keeping the hair healthy (a common concern for black women is how to actually keep the hair healthy, while also maintaining a nice style -- some of which take hours to create. Sometimes unkempt hair can signal problems with the health of the hair, and that, may also be an underlying context to some of the comments you have received.)
I don't know what the tone of the specific comment was, and I'm really sorry if the tone was hurtful. I would - as it sounds like you are -- figure out what to take of the advice that is helpful to your daughter, and ignore the tone if at all possible.
In my experience, black women have a lot of "strong opinions" about hair because our hair choices have been historically so fraught with social meaning in ways that women from other cultures cannot imagine. (I mean there are still two active court cases in which black women were fired because of how their hair was styled - in cornrows in one case, in "very neat" - if I do say so myself - locs, in another. The misunderstandings around these choices literally had economic impacts for these women when probably both of these women were just trying to go for a style that was easy to maintain and as "wash and go" as it gets for black women). And while these may be more extreme cases, they resonate with many black women because so many of us have had our hair negatively judged when we have tried to style it very meticulously. Hair that is perceived as unkempt on top of that can have quite negative consequences. Really.
If you haven't run into it already, a very good book on the history of black hair is Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America by Ayana Byrd. It might provide more context.
One way to reframe what's going on is to understand where those comments are coming from (not to excuse rudeness, but I do think keeping the context in perspective can be very helpful to you, and ultimately, to your daughter). Most black women have a tacit understanding and knowledge of what can be the very hard realities of navigating beauty, acceptability, perceived approachability, etcetera as it relates to black hair.
I do hope you find some supportive allies in working with your daughter's hair and that you have a very positive experience in that journey, particularly as your daughter enters adolescence. The likelihood that she will want to have a lot of knowledge of what she can do with her hair and access to competent hairstylists is high.
Best of luck.
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Thank you for posting this. I have been intrigued by the Syllabary approach, but really couldn't wrap my head around how to really implement it in a day to day format.
Thanks for this!
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I'm new - though I've been lurking for 6 months just gathering ideas. My son will be 4.75 in the fall (and would have missed the cutoff for K by 5 days if we would have sent him), so we are doing an Early K/K program this year and seeing how it goes. I also have a 2.5 year old who will come along for the ride when appropriate.
My plans are:
Reading: The Reading Lesson + some Montessori-inspired LA activities (and early readers, of course!)
Math: MEP Reception and math games
Science: Interest-based explorations in science using Read and Find Out and DK books as the spine + activity ideas from various blogs (first up: Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures - as a family we are going to try to construct a dinosaur model from chicken bones - wish us luck) + Nature studies (using Sharing Nature with Children)
Culture/Handwork- Earthschooling curriculum; fairy tales and short stories from around the world
Music: Listen to CDs from one musical genre a month; exploration with instruments at home; live performances (when we can - we live by a university with a great Musical Society that hosts family days)
Art: Experimenting with wet-on-wet watercolor (and whatever else strikes us) + art classes at a local children's art studio
Religious Studies: Godly Play + reading from the Message and Letter of the Week/Bible Verse activities from Impress Your Kids
What do you think?
- Slojo
The NSTA just released their new k12 science standards-free pdf download
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Thanks for this.