Ever desire a more relaxed approach to homeschool?

[Ausmumof3]

On 10/3/2012 at 7:46 PM, angela in ohio said:

 

Two things come into play here. One, you have to remember that just because you have something, you don't have to use it. :001_smile: And two, stay away from all those downloads and online worksheets! Honestly, sometimes the internet is a blessing to homeschoolers and sometimes a curse.

 

Worksheets feel good to us because they have a measured amount of accomplishment and there is a right answer. (They aren't inherently bad; some things are easily learned from a worksheet: math facts, spelling rules, etc.) But they should never drive your decsions or your teaching or rob you of the time to do other more valuable things.

 

There is an economic principle that says that we should not consider the past cost in our future decisions. It's the reason you should switch grocery lanes if the other one gets shorter, even if you've "put your time in" in the one you are in, for example. 😄 I try to remember it in my homeschooling. From this second on, what is the best course? Either way you have spent the money on those resources, but you should only consider how you can make the best use of your time and money from this moment.

 

Some dc like "paperwork" more than others. That's just different personalities, and it is best to honor that than to sacrifice the child to a homeschooling ideal. I''ve seen type-A children driven nearly crazy by anti-written-work parents. 😄 She can still get a grade and feel like she is producing something, but the worksheets are a crutch. It is always harder - and more meaningful - to produce something on one's own than to fill in blanks or circle answers. Ideally, most assignments, if they require written work, should start with a blank piece of notebook or printer paper, *especially* for a 7th grader. This is the age when they really take off in their ability to arrange knowledge and make connections. Worksheets don't usually allow that. If she can't let go because she is worried about getting a grade, give her a rubric, so she knows up front about the grade and can quit worrying about it. If she can't produce anything without the worksheets, well, then you will definitely know you needed to get rid of them! 😄

This is such good advice!

[homemommy83]

I agree about keeping it simple😁

This past year we KonMaried our entire life...household, time commitments, and recently schoolwork and the main reason was that I wanted to focus more on the motherly side of my life and less on solely the curriculum follower😉.  

I then was able to add in a family Bible and literature readaloud period.  I was able to have a readaloud time for my littles and primary groups because I limited what I am tutoring now.  I love reading aloud to my kiddos, but if the house isn't clean I mentally cannot do it...so with allowing myself time to actually clean, hang clothing outside, play with my toddlers, cook dinner...ect...I feel relaxed enough to enjoy reading again😁.  I don't see reading aloud as school as much as bonding even though it really does both..it really is perspective.  

My kids all LOVE the Pentime workbooks so we kept that and we kept doing Rod and Staff Spelling as it was totally independent of me after 2nd grade...but I am not sure if we are going to include it next year solely because I still have to grade it and I plan to do Natural Speller as part of our summer studies and that will lighten my grading load in the fall...we are having a new little lady in May😁...so a gentler fall is a goal here.

For my littles I am mainly thinking basic LA and Math.  We do phonics and handwriting/copywork and then a basic English program.

For my Intermediate children I do add a science, health, or history Rod and Staff textbook each semester for them to work through...this is something that I loved as a kid and so do my kiddos-and they grade their own work😉. They are done by noon every day!  I also require 2 chapters of literature...but my kiddos seem to cuddle up with my history textbooks and Apologia Elementary text as soon as they can read...I do encourage them to do Memoria Press geography 1 and 2 during the summer of 7th and 8th grade as well.

High School will vary based on what my children's goals are...but will look much more busy- just like if they were working😉.  

I think looking at your family and going what do I really believe is the most important...Do that in the morning first-a morning basket helps with this immensely.  Just rotate through the books in the basket😉.

Next ask what are they naturally good at...you could make that a 6 weeks only during the summer course for them.

What do they enjoy doing that can be mostly independent ...it makes a simple addition😉.

Then I would look at LA and Math personally and require at least these every other day if you go year around or daily for both if you don't.   I would add the elements of LA that you need. If you need grammar-focus on that...if writing is weak...add that...but pick a main focus. We chose Rod and Staff as our main program because it teaches grammar, usage, and writing in one.  I always do the writing assignments a few times-the book always has a few options we just do them all..one per day😉 as I believe it gives them more practice that is needed here.

Beyond that pick only one focus as a family...a science, geography, or history and get books and independent study materials for it.

This will allow you to do what you love with your kiddos..reading aloud, projects, cooking, crafts, or just going to the park...enjoy life it is short😁.

Brenda

[Corraleno]

On 9/4/2012 at 5:20 PM, Corraleno said:

DD10 also takes violin lessons and is in a youth orchestra, and DS is about to start fencing lessons.

That's it, really. Mornings = math, Latin, Greek, and Classical literature for DS, and math, Latin, reading/writing, and music for DD. Afternoons are for reading history & science, watching TC courses or documentaries, nature walks or museum visits, playing chess, programming, drawing, etc. DS is really into linguistics (an interest he probably would not have discovered had we taken a more conventional route), so he also reads linguistics books, does computational linguistics exercises, and works on his invented language in his free time.

Wow, what a blast from the past! I got a notification that someone had "liked" a post, and was shocked to see it was from 2012! I see that a few other "old timers" like Lewelma, Quark, and 8FilltheHeart provided updates recently, so I thought I'd add one, too, especially in light of some of the details in the original post.

I laughed out loud at the line about DS starting fencing lessons, because I had no idea back in 2012 just how much that first lesson would change our lives! I would never in a million years have predicted that my uncoordinated, unathletic kid would become so obsessed with the sport that he would end up traveling all over the country and the world for competitions, earning multiple national and international medals, make the US National Team, and be recruited by one of the top varsity teams in the country. Life can be incredibly weird and unpredictable sometimes!

As for classical (and nonclassical) languages, he ended up completing 5 years of Greek, 2 of Latin, 2 of Old Norse, and 1 of Turkish (the latter two being entirely self-taught). He also spent many many hours studying linguistics on his own, which has allowed him to jump into 300 and 400 level linguistics classes as a college freshman. And that invented language he spent so much of his free time on in middle school? Last semester he took a 300-level course on constructed languages and was able to tweak his old invented language and submit it as his project — the prof was so impressed, he asked permission to incorporate it into his teaching materials for future classes. I can't tell you how much of a kick I get out of knowing that my kiddo's self-designed homeschool project has ended up being used in an upper-level linguistics class at a major university.

I did not start out intending to homeschool, but pulling DS out of PS after 3rd grade was the best decision I ever made. He was so burnt out, hated school, and thought he was stupid. Giving him the time and space to pursue his passions has paid dividends in ways I could have only dreamed of when I took a deep breath, crossed my fingers, and clicked "send" on that Notice of Intent. 

[Zoo Keeper]

Just bumping this thread. 

 

Because it is that good. 🙂