What happened to my homeschooling?

[Dealea86]

My experience is currently limited to the homeschool families I know at church (all four of us...), and that probably makes a big difference. Our church is very conservative, but not evangelical. For lack of a better way of describing it, we tend to be more logical than emotional Christians. And it shows in our homeschool families.

 

Of the four families at church (mine included), only one has religious reasons as the primary reason for homeschooling. The other three families would, I'm pretty sure, rank academics as pretty close to equal religious reasons. And even the family who homeschools for religious reasons was using Sonlight the last time I checked - not the most Bible-centered curriculum out there (though it is Christian).

 

I do know there are plenty of religious homeschoolers in our area - we do live in the South, after all. There's a big Baptist church about ten minutes from my house that has a huge homeschool ministry, and the convention I went to a few years ago had a bunch of religious content. But those I know personally are very concerned with academics. :)

[meena]

I am a conservative Christian, but I homeschool for academic reasons and I have high standards. In my area we have both Christian and inclusive groups and all of the homeschoolers that I personally know have high academic standards. The homeschoolers in my area are very, very diverse and I'm not seeing what you are describing. I think the conferences are not providing the type of seminars that many homeschooling families really want.

 

That last sentence describes my experience with conferences. When I taught in a public school, I attended the National Middle School Association conference. It was wonderful--a few motivational seminars but by and large the sessions were teachers presenting lesson plans/units/ideas that could be practically applied. I came back from that conference with a multitude of ideas of how to improve my teaching methods to better serve my students and school.

 

I've been to one homeschool conference and it was primarily motivational. It was a weekend away for me, and my ticket was free so I didn't feel too bad. But it further cemented in my mind that I would like something meatier.

 

I have not attended my state convention but I have looked through the session schedule for a few years hoping it would be more focused on academics. Very disappointing. Very little of it seemed like practical application, unless it was directly tied to buying a specific curriculum. For example, I don't want to buy XYZ math curriculum. I like what I currently use, so I would love to hear ideas about how to better teach math skills (techniques, games, drills, literature tie-ins, etc).

 

I really wish someone would hold a conference that is entirely focused on the *school* portion of homeschooling, minus the salesmanship.

[KnitWit]

 

I really wish someone would hold a conference that is entirely focused on the *school* portion of homeschooling, minus the salesmanship.

 

:iagree:

[Maverick_Mom]

I used to live in New York and found that the homeschoolers near me (and there weren't a lot of them) fell into one of two camps:

1. Sanctimonious, holier-than-thou religious homeschoolers

2. Militant unschoolers

 

I'm a Christian but am not homeschooling for religious reasons; I didn't feel that it was necessary to start every support group meeting by singing hymns. I'm also conservative politically but couldn't stand receiving e-mails from the support group leader exhorting everyone to "fight back against 'The Libs.'" I was also bugged by the assumption that because we were Christians, we would automatically jump on the same political bandwagon. I joined the group for support in my homeschooling, not to be part of a crusade.

 

And while I have nothing against unschooling and am impressed by many of the accounts I've read about it, I don't think 'curriculum' is a dirty word. The homeschooling e-mail list I was on wasn't even an unschooling group per se -- it just happened to have some very vocal unschoolers on it who couldn't bear to see any mention of curriculum and considered it their solemn duty to disparage anything other than unschooling.

 

With support like that, who needs isolation? ;)

 

SWB wrote a blog post not long ago about how homeschooling conventions are increasingly about anything but homeschooling. I haven't read through the other responses, so I don't know if anyone else has linked to it:

http://www.susanwisebauer.com/blog/publicity/one-more-update-about-future-plans/

 

(I see that someone's linked to a FB post. This one is from her blog -- not sure if the content is the same or not.)

Edited June 9, 2012 by Maverick_Mom

[ondreeuh]

The WTM forum is quite a nice haven for people who are homeschooling for the academics. There are other homeschooling forums where the popular curricula choices are chosen for ease of use more than academics (S.O.S., Time for Learning, and A.C.E., for example).

 

Do a Facebook search for local homeschooling groups, and check Yahoogroups and Meetup. I think that may be your best bet for finding like-minded people. Also look for secular/inclusive groups because those don't have the same assumption that you are homeschooling to shelter your children.

 

I am moving to a new area, and I was initially very disappointed that I saw several references to ACE and Abeka. Then I found out one of the leaders has a VERY alternative lifestyle (one that ultra-conservative Christians wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole) so I think it might be OK.

[cottonmama]

The WTM forum is quite a nice haven for people who are homeschooling for the academics.

 

:iagree:

 

We are a far more broad community than just people who are following SWB's recommendations to the letter (or at all)... but I think the above is a perfect description of the focus of this board. I love it here. :D

[Amy in NH]

It's not like that at all around here...

[curriculumhoarder]

We are (nominally) in CO and belong to a huge all-inclusive group who would be glad to have your 2yo come to park days or have you set up toddler playdates, etc. It's a great group and we have everyone in it - pagan, atheist, baptist, catholic, jewish, lds, agnostic, unschoolers, part-time b&m, boxed curriculum, online curriculum, classical, online, online ps, eclectic, etc.

 

We have people homeschooling for all sorts of reasons, from special needs to giftedness, from religion to bad school experiences.

 

However, we don't have a convention that many of our group go to - the largest is CHEC (yep, that infamous one) and there's a smaller, more inclusive but still religious one up north. I have never been to a convention for hsing.

 

My other home is Shanghai, where I also belong to an inclusive group who adds another reason for hsing - being unable to afford the international schools and not wanting the pressure of the local schools (or having children who are likely too old to be successful).

 

What I don't see IRL is any single focus, be that academics, religion, or something else. I like that. It adds to the diversity.

[RanchGirl]

I am a conservative Christian, but I homeschool for academic reasons and I have high standards. In my area we have both Christian and inclusive groups and all of the homeschoolers that I personally know have high academic standards. The homeschoolers in my area are very, very diverse and I'm not seeing what you are describing. I think the conferences are not providing the type of seminars that many homeschooling families really want.

 

:iagree: it is what you make it. I don't care for our state homeschooling conferences, so I just find the info and materials I need online. I do have to travel a bit to find other homeschoolers interested in pursuing academic excellence, but it doesn't hinder our every day experience.

[kalanamak]

 

We are a far more broad community than just people who are following SWB's recommendations to the letter (or at all)... but I think the above is a perfect description of the focus of this board. I love it here. :D

 

:iagree:and I know this is an old thread, but I just wanted to note that it seems the "big" conferences are less academic (I admit to only looking at a small sample). Compare the WHO conference in Puyallup (which is not explicitly a Christian organization, even) to the conference in Portland, Oregon on 23 June, I think. (And now WHO has lost even the thought of me going because one speaker is someone selling their investment business for

"for homeschoolers". Even has a homeschooler name for the business, although a quick google shows it has a standard name most of the time, and is a mainstream private business taking fees for advice, and just slapping some homeschool paint on the car for the conference. The website is classic hustler: I make lots of money on the market, and don't need yours, but you have to pay me because I've learned people don't value things they get for free. :angry:. But I digress.)

 

The small, no world-famous speakers conference seems much more how-to and academic, and has no "homeschooling saved my marriage" lectures. So, I'm wondering if the big conferences are about big money rather than homeschooling.

Edited June 9, 2012 by kalanamak

[Beth in OH]

The small, no world-famous speakers conference seems much more how-to and academic, and has no "homeschooling saved my marriage" lectures.

 

When I began homeschooling in the 90's, I could tell I was then part of a "new generation" of homeschoolers who were choosing this type of education for non-religious reasons. The leaders of existing organizations had been pioneers in homeschooling and were striving to retain the strong ideological underpinnings that had motivated them to risk breaking the law in order to homeschool their kids. Those organizations did not meet my needs.

 

The OP is part of yet a newer generation of homeschoolers--those who have the chance to freely choose this form of education as a supported and viable alternative to the ps and private school options. Technology that didn't even exist when homeschooling organizations were established now opens the door to vastly different types of families.

 

My suggestion is to be a leader--create what you don't see in the marketplace. The quote above is the way to do it--create a small, academic seminar (maybe even one day, one speaker), and go from there. You may find that it grows into the next generation of huge homeschooling conventions :D.