Annie Mae Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 Hello, I'm a home schooling mum of three teens aged 14, 15 and 17. We have been home schooling for a couple of years now with limited success. Home schooling in Ireland is not common and I recently heard that there are 100 home schooling families here in the Republic of Ireland but I cannot verify those figures. I have only met one other home schooling family here. I recently came across the book 'The Well Trained Mind' and this is the type of education I wish I had been given. I would love to start my teens on a classical education with the few years we have left but honestly, after reading the book I am totally overwhelmed and wouldn't know where to start. We have been following the public school curriculum and I don't feel my children are learning much. We will be changing our approach this year and would appreciate any advice at all. I would like to teach the children critical thinking and reasoning but I have never been taught it myself not to mention the rhetoric stage. Two of my children also struggle with writing activities and I'm determined to help them out with that this year. 'The Well Trained Mind' has really opened my eyes and I believe I need to go back to school with my children. I just don't know where to begin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Mae Posted August 17, 2013 Author Share Posted August 17, 2013 What are your children's ambitions post-secondary school? Are you aiming for university, and if so what hoops do you have to jump through. You might find some of that information on British homeschool boards/loops. You might start with an Ancients year for all of them...reading aloud some of the works from the WTM list and using a literature guide to help you discuss them. A college western civ or world history book (I think WTM recommends one by Spielvogel) and event-focused or person-focused research reports can help round out the history side. How are your kids with grammar and vocabulary and spelling? If these are solid and it's mainly the writing that needs work, you might want a resource or writing handbook that reflects UK style more so that US? I think WTM recommends Writing Strands; some people have used SWB's own Writing With Skill (designed for middle schoolers who've been doing WTM all along) for high schoolers. I've had recommended to me "Rhetoric Made Plan" by Winkler and McCuen. Maths, each kid is probably on his/her own pathway at various stages. Do you all want the same science together, or do you need to keep following the standard public school patterns? What "elective" courses reflect your kids' gifts or passions? What foreign language have you been working on? Hi, Thanks for your response. Yes we are aiming for university as it's hard to get a good job in Ireland without a college degree. My eldest son (19) graduated from home school last year and is studying IT with the Open University. It is not compulsory to have a high school diploma here and honestly the graduates the coming out of the public schools aren't best prepared for third level education. the OU accepts people aged 18 and over and on interview, so there are ways around getting a public school diploma. The three that I am home schooling are each so different. My 17 year old had struggled through school right from the beginning. He hates maths but has a passion for history. His spelling is good and we are working on building vocabulary, but he does need help with composition and writing skills. He is not academic and is a weak student in most subjects but he is a hard worker. My daughter (15) is an all rounder and loves creative writing. She always has a note book in her hand writing little things she thinks of to put into the book she is writing. She is very bright and I worry I'm not providing a rich enough education for her. She speaks Spanish quite fluently, we all do because we lived in Spain for a number of years and she is teaching herself Russian because she wants to read 'War and Peace' in the original language (I'd be happy to get through it in English!) My youngest (14) is bright, likes maths and science, hates writing anything and is usually less enthusiastic about school than his siblings. We are thinking of the Ambleside online curriculum for this year as the book lists appeal to us but we all definitely need to brush up on grammar as it's not well taught in the schools here and we will need to start on logic and reasoning because we haven't done any of that. I say we because I'm keen to learn along with my children. As for post secondary ambitions, my 17 yr old son would love to study history but he won't be ready for third level study any time soon. The other two are still unsure as to the direction they will take. I'll take a look at the resources you have listed, thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 History is one area I would be careful with as you look at all the homeschooling information coming from the US. In most US programs there is a strong emphasis on our own history from the 18th century to the present. Since you have kids who enjoy history I would be sure to look at any university requirements they may face in that area and find books that cover enough non-US history to suit your needs. We have slightly different spelling and grammatical rules. We also use slightly different vocabulary and phrases when working with math. None of this is insurmountable, just different enough to look confusing at first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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