What did SWB say she would do differently?

[Chrysalis Academy]

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Edited January 23, 2015 by Susan Wise Bauer
Quoted deleted post

[HS Mom in NC]

I think it's another example of all or nothing thinking or boycott mentality from a homeschooler.  It's an epidemic these days.  Just because someone would do some things differently (Who the heck wouldn't?) doesn't mean everything they did, wrote or said should be abandoned. Or if one single thing someone or some business or the associate of someone or some business did doesn't align with all of my religious or political convictions, then the boycott is on.  How has American come to this? I'm seeing or hearing it again and again in all sorts of ways.

 

Newer homeschoolers are agonizing over buying supplemental materials because they failed to accurately predict the future about which grammar program would be a perfect fit for their 3 very different kids. They're convinced it's a reflection on themselves as a mother or human being. Maybe their kids are being ruined because each struggles with a particular concept or two covered in the curriculum.  Homeschool dads are fussing over mom spending an extra $100 on curriculum this year to supplement or replace a dud and questioning if they can keep affording homeschooling but dad puts hundreds of dollars into his boat every year. (True story.)

The house isn't clean and orderly all the time with kids aged 1,3,5 and 7, so mom researches yet another household organization product not realizing that nothing can work 100% of the time. 80% at most is more realistic when there aren't toddlers but she'll keep doing something completely new, it won't work 100% and she'll start over from scratch again.  Then there are moms who join the Math curriculum of the month club believing if they finally get The Right One their non-mathy kid will start loving math. Some assume their mathy kid is mathy because of the curriculum and then that particular math curriculum becomes part of their doctrinal statement which begins with "God is a God of order....." This applies to phonics and grammar curriculum too.

 

Seriously, what's feeding all of this?  Homeschooling started with no curriculum choices available and no legal or social support for homeschooling and yet those people managed to do it.  How is our society changing that people with endless choices, legal protection and increasing social acceptance are struggling so much?  How do we correct this?

 

[LMD]

To me, wtm wasn't a heavy weight at all, quite the opposite - it was liberating. I remember thinking that this is what education should be like and I can do it. I remember being furious with my comparatively woeful education. Rather than being afraid and overwhelmed about home educating my kids, I felt inspired. We haven't followed it to the letter and it hasn't all been smooth sailing, but I still find it inspiring.

 

5 years later I rode those same emotions with my best friend as she read through my copy of wtm.

 

 

Thanks for providing these resources!

[Teannika]

To me, wtm wasn't a heavy weight at all, quite the opposite - it was liberating. I remember thinking that this is what education should be like and I can do it. I remember being furious with my comparatively woeful education. Rather than being afraid and overwhelmed about home educating my kids, I felt inspired. We haven't followed it to the letter and it hasn't all been smooth sailing, but I still find it inspiring.

 

5 years later I rode those same emotions with my best friend as she read through my copy of wtm.

 

 

Thanks for providing these resources!

Same here, that's how it was for me when I read it.

[Pronghorn]

I was one of those people who thought WTM was too intense, even after reading the whole thing. For my particular child, it was too much. But that did not stop me from using the parts of the book that do work with my child.

[SamanthaCarter]

I was talking about WTM at our homeschool group and was immediately cautioned by several moms that it is too intense, not for type A's and that Susan Wise-Bauer said she would do things differently herself now (presumably because it was too difficult or demanding). Do you know if this is true and if so where I can find this so I can see what she did say about lessons learned.

 

Thanks! I did try and search the forums but came up empty.

 

I find it interesting that moms would say this and wonder if they've even read it. I was intimidated until I finally read WTM (after encouragement from my mom), and then I found it extremely reassuring. I'll admit I formed my own impression of "too intense" before I ever read it and was pleasantly surprised. :)

 

We haven't come across many in our area at all who've heard of SWB or WTM. Made me kind of sad but now I'm wondering if that's a good thing. LOL. 

[idnib]

I'm not sure I would have homeschooled if I didn't have WTM as a map to get started. I'm not very imaginative, I guess.  :laugh:

 

I have a few times changed it to match our family's needs, but when I've strayed too far I've always ended up regretting it and going back. It just works for us. 

 

I did find it intense in the beginning because I was not confident enough in my abilities to change it at all. After 2-3 years I started making small adjustments that made it much less intense. The impetus for that was watching SWB's video on doing dictation with her son. It made me realize I was being too rigid and making DS do something he could not at the time. Once I provided more scaffolding that what the script told me to say, we were back on track. It seems silly now that I didn't realize that.

 

Recently we had DS evaluated for an issue and as part of the process the evaluator went over the (mostly) PHP materials + Singapore/Beast. I will always remember when this rather stern woman used the word "superb" to describe the homeschooling we have been doing. I felt so grateful at that moment for the books, the materials, the lectures, the boards, all of it.

 

:hurray:

 

 

[Carol in Cal.]

Well magical or good business. Either way.

Quite an exceptionally meanminded comment.  Disappointing.

[Deee]

I love the WTM and these forums BECAUSE they are academic and just a little intense! When I stubbled across them I really needed some resources that supported pushing my bright but unethusiatic child. I am surrounded by unschoolers and parents who are keen but not always well informed. I needed the rigour too. The WTM and these forums have filled a void for me and I very grateful for all of you who contribute.

[IsabelC]

Quite an exceptionally meanminded comment.  Disappointing.

 

I agree; since we are all effectively chatting in Susan Wise Bauer's online loungeroom, it might be seemly to keep disrespectful opinions about her and her work to ourselves. And anyway, there is such a thing as a win-win situation (good business and a service to the homeschooling community can be happily combined).

[In2why]

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Edited January 27, 2015 by Susan Wise Bauer
Stay on target...

[Cynful]

I only wish I had found both the book and the forum sooner.  :)  However, I do, now, have my four year old to start from scratch on with it.   :hurray:

[BlsdMama]

I was talking about WTM at our homeschool group and was immediately cautioned by several moms that it is too intense, not for type A's and that Susan Wise-Bauer said she would do things differently herself now (presumably because it was too difficult or demanding). Do you know if this is true and if so where I can find this so I can see what she did say about lessons learned.

 

Thanks! I did try and search the forums but came up empty.

 

As in all things, your mileage may vary.  Have you read the book yourself?  When I read it I knew I had found something that fit me, fit our family.  Ana was five in 2001.  We schooled her clear through and my book (third copy) is falling apart.   Do we follow it completely?  No.  But I sure am glad the resource has been available to us and it has been invaluable - just as the forums have been!  Thank you SWB.

[Openhearted]

Our decision to homeschool was not intentional. I had not planned on doing this. Everyone around here went to public school. I knew no one that homeschooled. When the twins were 4, we had planned on sending them to a private preschool, like we had our oldest daughter, but it didn't work out due to finances and family health problems. Then I started to research preschool programs we could do at home, and finally found TWTM and this amazing forum.

I was astounded. This book empowered me. It gave me the ability and wisdom of others and power to believe that I could do this. I thought I couldn't teach my children how to read. I didn't believe I had the ability to do this. But thanks to TWTM, and the story of Jesse teaching one of her children (Bob, I think) to read at naptime, I felt I could too.

My regret: that I didn't not know this sooner. My 19 year old son would have loved to have been homeschooled, and I believe he would have thrived. He is a very hands-on learner, and did not like sitting in a classroom. He encourages me on hard days and does not seem bitter that he was not homeschool, but tells me that I will homeschool his children one day. Thanks to Susan Wise Bauer and Jesse Wise, I feel like I can.:)