Taking stock of your homeschool

[Greta]

I was listening to one of SWB's audio lectures - I think it was Homeschooling the Real Child - and she said when you're feeling discouraged or frustrated, to look at where you were a year ago and you'll see that you actually are progressing, even if slowly.

 

Well, it actually made me realize that we had NOT progressed in math or grammar (hence my panicked post about those a few days ago - and thanks again to everyone who helped me), but that's good because it was the kick in the butt that I needed.

 

It also made me realize, however, what we have accomplished this year, namely that my daughter has started to enjoy reading and writing so much more than she ever has before. And that realization totally ruined my big plans for next year! :lol:

 

I was planning to use Calvert next year, because I love, love, love the idea that someone else has done all the planning for me, and that everything's so nicely laid out and so thoroughly covered. I find comfort in the thought of putting her in the hands of the professionals, so to speak, while still homeschooling. And I felt like we would really benefit from the outside accountability of their Advisory Teaching Service. It seemed like a "best of both worlds" kind of thing.

 

The problem is this. We've used a very literature-based curriculum this year (a CM-style "living book" curriculum called Ages of Grace) and suddenly my reading-reluctant daughter loves reading, wants to go to a "Great Books" type college, and wants to become an author. Now, would you switch her to a textbook-based program at this point in time? Or would you be afraid that would squash her newly found love of the written word?

 

The author of Ages of Grace has had some challenges in her personal life, so the fate of the next level of the curriculum is uncertain at this point. I can't count on it being ready in time for us to use it this fall. But there are other literature-based and great books type programs out there, so I'm sure we'll find something we like.

 

But my rambling point is, I guess, a sincere thank you to SWB for helping me step outside of the day-to-day perspective that I was caught in, and take a look at the bigger picture. I don't know how I had "missed" the fact that my daughter had changed and grown so much this year. :001_huh: I don't know how I failed to see such an amazing turnaround in her relationship with books. :confused: How could I be so dense???

 

Has anyone else had any "ah-ha" moments that changed your perspective of your homeschooling?

 

(Oh, and btw, I'm still going to use textbooks for science, because we love the Prentice Hall Science Explorers! :D )

[erinjo]

Well I don't know the answers for your specific child, and I'm not overly familiar with Calvert, but I am a huge fan of living books and of basing a literature and reading program off really good literature.

 

I have used graded readers a bit in our homeschool, especially for my younger son who has struggled with reading, but we do as many read-alouds as I can handle and I encourage my boys to read good stuff. I would have a very hard time switching to a textbook-based curriculum for reading and literature at this point.

 

I think it's awesome that your daughter has come to such a great relationship with words. I'm a word nerd myself. :) I am sure you'll be able to find something that will work perfectly to cultivate that love! :)

[Greta]

Well I don't know the answers for your specific child, and I'm not overly familiar with Calvert, but I am a huge fan of living books and of basing a literature and reading program off really good literature.

 

I have used graded readers a bit in our homeschool, especially for my younger son who has struggled with reading, but we do as many read-alouds as I can handle and I encourage my boys to read good stuff. I would have a very hard time switching to a textbook-based curriculum for reading and literature at this point.

 

I think it's awesome that your daughter has come to such a great relationship with words. I'm a word nerd myself. :) I am sure you'll be able to find something that will work perfectly to cultivate that love! :)

 

 

Thank you for the encouragement! :001_smile: I'm not sure what we will use, but there is so much to chose from that I'm not at all worried. I guess I do need to decide, though, if we simply want to read and discuss great books, or if it's time for some more formal literary analysis. I certainly don't want to push the literary analysis too soon, but maybe a gentle introduction? What do you think?

[amyrjoy]

Thanks for your post. It IS so helpful to pause and give yourself some time to see what you're doing RIGHT with your kids and homeschooling. It is hard to do this though, in the midst of our day! I wish my Ah-Ha moments lasted. LOL. I'll be thinking of things and how wonderful and then, something happens to turn off that mindset for awhile. How frustrating that is! So, that's where I'm at, and then see your post. It makes me stop. Ponder all that I'm doing here with my children. And smile.

[Greta]

Thanks for your post. It IS so helpful to pause and give yourself some time to see what you're doing RIGHT with your kids and homeschooling. It is hard to do this though, in the midst of our day! I wish my Ah-Ha moments lasted. LOL. I'll be thinking of things and how wonderful and then, something happens to turn off that mindset for awhile. How frustrating that is! So, that's where I'm at, and then see your post. It makes me stop. Ponder all that I'm doing here with my children. And smile.

 

It is so hard to stop and ponder when you're caught up in the day-to-day, isn't it?? Well, it is for me, because I think I've managed to do so exactly twice this whole year (and probably did not do so at all for several years prior!). The most recent one was the one I related in the OP. The other one was that we applied to several schools for next year (charter and private) because I was thinking that she might be better served in a classroom now, that I'm not giving her the education that she deserves. But through that process, through really contemplating what that would be like to send her off to school, I saw benefits to homeschooling that I wasn't seeing before, namely the emotional and social ones. I don't know if she would be better off academically in one of those schools, but I do know that in so many other ways, ways that may be harder to articulate and certainly harder to objectively measure, but ways that are just as important, she's better off here with me. And furthermore, she wants to be here with me. I'd better hold on to that for as long as I can!!! :001_smile:

 

I'm so glad that you could pause and smile! I hope that I can find ways to do that more often.