happyhomemaker25 Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 I bought a big stack of homeschooling magazines from the 90s at a booksale one year. They were only $1 for the whole stack and I thought they'd be interesting. I was right! It's so interesting to read about curriculum choices and ideas for how to teach your kids. I know homeschooling was around before then, but I think the early 90's was when it really started to pick up momentum. There are some articles about challenges homeschoolers are facing and a lot of them are school districts and authorities not recognizing homeschooling as a viable education option. Did any of you homeschool in the early 90's? How was it different? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Bump :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelle in MO Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 I didn't homeschool then, but what a fun find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 We started homeschooling in 1992. Wow, it was way different than it is today. It was probably good that we didn't have such a wide variety of materials to choose from- I would have been so overwhelmed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 We started homeschooling in 1982. We were "experts" by the 90s. :D We started hsing before KONOS, before co-ops, before TOG, before MOH (indeed, it was my "generation" of homeschoolers who wrote all of those things, because we didn't want to do everything Just Like School), before Saxon, before BJUP had a complete line of textbooks for elementary, before ABeka was really willing to sell to hsers who were not enrolled in the Academy, before the Internet, before most support groups. And yet we figured it out, and if I may say so, we did a pretty good job. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhomemaker25 Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 We started homeschooling in 1992. Wow, it was way different than it is today. It was probably good that we didn't have such a wide variety of materials to choose from- I would have been so overwhelmed. This was actually my first thought. I love how barebones it all seemed to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhomemaker25 Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 We started homeschooling in 1982. We were "experts" by the 90s. :D We started hsing before KONOS, before co-ops, before TOG, before MOH (indeed, it was my "generation" of homeschoolers who wrote all of those things, because we didn't want to do everything Just Like School), before Saxon, before BJUP had a complete line of textbooks for elementary, before ABeka was really willing to sell to hsers who were not enrolled in the Academy, before the Internet, before most support groups. And yet we figured it out, and if I may say so, we did a pretty good job. :) This is what intrigued me. Even in the early 90s just reading the ideas section really makes me think homeschooling was so much more about spending time together learning how to learn. It's kind of like what I would like my school to be. Now we have a curriculum for every subject. I wonder what I would do without all the "stuff" I have accumulated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 We started homeschooling in 1982. We were "experts" by the 90s. :D We started hsing before KONOS, before co-ops, before TOG, before MOH (indeed, it was my "generation" of homeschoolers who wrote all of those things, because we didn't want to do everything Just Like School), before Saxon, before BJUP had a complete line of textbooks for elementary, before ABeka was really willing to sell to hsers who were not enrolled in the Academy, before the Internet, before most support groups. And yet we figured it out, and if I may say so, we did a pretty good job. :) Oh- can you tell me what kinds of materials were available to you then? When we started, people mostly used A Beka, BJU, and Saxon math. I'm curious what was available a decade earlier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 (edited) nm Edited October 22, 2011 by Penelope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 (edited) We didn't "officially" start homeschooling until 1996, but I started planning for it back in 1991 or 1992. I went to an ABeka motel display about that time--I didn't really know anything else existed! Then a friend gave me a copy of Mary Pride's Big Book of Home Learning and I became a curriculum junkie! By the time we officially started homeschooling, I already had a ton of stuff--and some of it I still have and cannot bear to part with! Things have really, really changed since then. There is so much stuff out there, and homeschooling is so much more accepted now. We live in a rural area and didn't get internet or satellite television until 1998. (Cable is still not available where we live, and we only got DSL instead of dial-up relatively recently.) Those two things--internet and satellite television--revolutionized everything for us. Edited October 22, 2011 by ereks mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 My mother homeschooled back in the 40s (the local schools were bad). She told me she just got books from the library, paper and pencils, and let her mind do the rest. She taught the two to read and do basic math and handwriting, did spelling lists. She told me it was very easy, so I think the lack of choice made it simple for her. When they moved to a better district, she told me they had no trouble starting school. I forgot to ask her more about this, but I believe it was a time-filler, also, as my dad was in Europe coping with the Third Reich, and she knew no one in the area. I believe she just decided to break the law and cope if trouble came. It didn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 I started homeschooling in 1993. It was a whole different animal back then. States hated it and many fought homeschooling parents tooth and nail. Returning your child to PS was not an option, and the "putting them in, pulling them back out" every other semester or every couple of years that goes on these days....no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 My siblings and I were home schooled in the 80s and 90s. Some things were the same, of course, but the ready access (hellllllo, internet!) to such a plethora of materials didn't exist in those years. I remember when my Mom started using Sonlight with my little sister, and it seemed like such a "different" option from those that had existed before. :) Mom went with me to a home school expo a few years ago and even though there's only about 9 years between my sister and my oldest, she was still amazed by how much had changed and how many materials were so readily available. Also, when I was a kid, we had a few homeschooling friends (at least when we lived in Tn and Tx -- not so much in Va, where people always seemed to respond with an, "Is that legal?!"), but activities with other home schoolers were very rare. These days, my kids are surrounded by home schoolers, and no one ever bats an eye when they say they're home schooled... The number of activities, classes, events, field trips, etc specifically for home schoolers seems endless. And even if we only take part in a tiny percentage of what's out there, the fact that it's there is certainly nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothersweets Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 We started homeschooling in 1996. Yes, it was very different. I agree with ereks mom, the internet has revolutionized everything for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetMissMagnolia Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I homeschooled my nephew back then and didn't know half of what I know now--it was sooo hard because I wasn't in with a group and it was challenging to find good books/curriculum...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfatherslily Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I bought a big stack of homeschooling magazines from the 90s at a booksale one year. They were only $1 for the whole stack and I thought they'd be interesting. I was right! It's so interesting to read about curriculum choices and ideas for how to teach your kids. I know homeschooling was around before then, but I think the early 90's was when it really started to pick up momentum. There are some articles about challenges homeschoolers are facing and a lot of them are school districts and authorities not recognizing homeschooling as a viable education option. Did any of you homeschool in the early 90's? How was it different? I used to skim through my mom's homeschooling magazines in the 90's :) Do you have the ones where every issue's cover features a perfect-looking homeschool family all dressed in matching clothes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo2 Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Do you have the ones where every issue's cover features a perfect-looking homeschool family all dressed in matching clothes? :lol: I suppose the kids' hair had been brushed, too? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photo Ninja Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 We started hsing in 1994. A Beka, BJU and Alpha Omega were popular with people who wanted a boxed curriculum. Horizons Math and Saxon math were both around, along with Cuisenaire rods and workbooks. Sing Spell Read and Write was popular (I used it and liked it). Lap books were around, but we did the content ourselves instead of buying prepared kits. Beautiful Feet and Greenleaf Press were popular for history (living books), and Sonlight and Konos were around as well. Five in a Row was around. Mary Pride's Practical Homeschooling magazine was popular, as was Teaching Home magazine (the one with the perfect families on the covers). I think one big difference was that we often designed our own curriculum, and that was common. Now I very rarely hear of anyone doing that. There is a lot more available and people seem shocked that we used to do that. But it wasn't really difficult, and I was able to do just what my dc needed. We kept our own records instead of paying an umbrella school to do it, and we put together group lessons ourselves instead of joining a co-op and paying co-op teachers to do the teaching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 (edited) As a babysitter in the mid 80's , I knew some families who were hsing, but they were all John Holt types. They had Mothering Mag, and Growing Without Schooling on their tables. These were creative, relaxed "AP' families and that is why I was drawn to unschooling in the first place. When I had my first baby and went to LLL meetings several years later, I saw a mag with mothers wearing denim jumpers and girls with matching lacy puffy-sleeved dresses, and boys with matching polo shirts. I was confused. I didn't realize these were hs mags. I thought they were put out by a religious organization, so it took me some time to get up the courage to look at them. I didn't trally relate to these, although it was interesting to think about hsing. Later, I found another LLL group, and they had Mothering Mag and Growing Without Schooling in their library and all was right with my world again. lol Edited October 23, 2011 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfatherslily Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 :lol: I suppose the kids' hair had been brushed, too? :lol: Yes! And parted, too! We all know, of course, that these were imposters. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhomemaker25 Posted October 23, 2011 Author Share Posted October 23, 2011 LOL, yes, I admit, it is The Teaching Home. The families on the cover gave me pause but I still like a lot of the ideas inside. :tongue_smilie: It really is neat to read through the curriculum ads and new legislation section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhomemaker25 Posted October 23, 2011 Author Share Posted October 23, 2011 That Growing Without Schooling title has me very interested. I am in no way an unschooler, but I love to find new ways to incorporate learning into our every day life. I really enjoy reading unschooling materials for that reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I didn't start until 1999 and had never heard of hsing until that year. I was amazed to find how many options were available. Rainbow Resource catalog ended up being my favorite resource for curriculum info, but it took me a year or two after starting to find it and it was only a quarter the size it is now! I loved pouring over the Veritas Press and Sonlight catalogs for info, too.... My sons are six years apart in school and I have continued to be amazed at how different my younger son's schooling looks from what I did with my older son - not just because they are different people, either, but because there are so many different things available to the younger one.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglei Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 (edited) Having read the previous responses, I can say I agree with them! From personal observation, I would add this - that home schooling families as a group *needed* each other. Group activities, though sometimes few, found every home schooling family participating, regardless of the ages of the children - we supported each other in this way. We were not scattered amongst ourselves - activities for various age groups; coops for those who could afford it; groups within the group setting themselves apart to do certain classes and/or activities together; having some children within the same family in public school, some in private school and some home schooled all during the same year and alternating which kids were in which school the next year or even throughout the year. I think we realized how hard-won our home schooling rights had been, and that we could just as easily lose them. While maintaining a strong and determined independence, we were a fiercely dedicated, vigilant bunch - within our own families and within the group. I think this started to change in the latter '90's, and by 2000, home schooling had become much more lax, both within families and within the group. Edited October 23, 2011 by eaglei Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Do you have the ones where every issue's cover features a perfect-looking homeschool family all dressed in matching clothes? This made that "On the cover of the Teaching Home" parody start playing in my head. Anyone remember that? Who was that by? Rob Shearer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralloyd Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 My mom started hsing me in the 80s. She taught me how to read using books. As I got older there were more choices-Abeka, BJU, life packs, Saxon, ect... I wish there had been the choices there are today. For those like my mom who were not unschoolers, it was slim pickings. She was already really stepping outside the box by hsing and wasn't comfortable just doing her own thing. I loved being hsed just wish there had been more choices. I agree with Eaglei that the dynamic of the hs community has really changed. We need to remember those who fought hard for our rights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mothersweets Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 This made that "On the cover of the Teaching Home" parody start playing in my head. Anyone remember that? Who was that by? Rob Shearer? I remember this song, too! "...I bought five copies for my mother..." I saw them perform it at the Phx convention back in...the 90s! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Started homeschooling in 1994. I don't remember how much I used the computer that year but by 1995, I was definitely connecting with homeschoolers on the computer. When my last kid was born in 1996, I can remember feeding her while messaging on the computer or looking things up. There are more choices today- a lot more but in the earlier 90's, there already were a number of choices. There were a number of homeschooling magazines too. Oh, and I am still using a phonics book I bought at a used homeschooling book sale in the mid 90's but now with a first grader in public school who I am tutoring in reading (along with math). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfatherslily Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 This made that "On the cover of the Teaching Home" parody start playing in my head. Anyone remember that? Who was that by? Rob Shearer? I don't know this one! I wonder if it's on youtube. I think it was Teaching Home that I'm thinking of :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 I remember this song, too! "...I bought five copies for my mother..." I saw them perform it at the Phx convention back in...the 90s! Now I can't get that song out of my head. Wonder what the Shearers are up to these days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Anyone remember Play N' Talk? That woman's voice sent me over the edge! Remember Astro Grover? Remember MECC software? Sunburst software? I took an entire college class on all their fun stuff... Our middle daughter had a tough time learning to read and someone loaned us Play N Talk. I recall thinking that I'd rather her be a nonreader than have to listen to that woman's voice every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatieJ Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 (edited) I started homeschooling about 1992 and I met and spent time with one of those families. They really were lovely. And normal. While the adults were all having a meal when the convention was over ( my sister was one of the very early members of her local state homeschooling support group and organized all the vendors at the yearly convention) the younger children (including my neices as I recall) were back in their hotel room watching TV....a big no no without permission in that family. I just laughed and thought I was happy to see a few cracks in the perfection. BTW I do remember being impacted about many things as I heard the Mom speak at that particular convention. "Don't expect what you don't inspect" was her quote and I lived by the rule as I raised my kids. My kids used Mc Guffy readers at some point. Christian Light Publications was a resource for me as well. Early on Bob Jones and Abeka were about all I knew about for highschool age students. I remember sitting at a convention and picking the brains of some of the seasoned homeschoolers and learned about other choices in curriculum. My first son that I was teaching to read was really struggling at the time. Edited October 24, 2011 by KatieinMich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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