ultimate goals in homeschooling?

[lgliser]

I'm not sure exactly how to word what I'm asking, but I'll try here.  I will probably be a little all over the place.

 

My kids are just 9 so I still feel like we're in the early stages of homeschooling.  But as we begin 4th grade, I'm realizing we're almost to the logic stage and we're actually going somewhere.  We're almost done with just basics like adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, nouns, verbs.... 

 

Right or wrong (probably wrong), I can't help but compare what we're doing to what our friends in public and private school are doing.  My public school friends can't believe we do things like diagram sentences.  I'm pretty sure they don't do formal grammar at all.  And a high school teacher friend of mine say he gets kids in his class and it's clear they just don't know grammar.  I'm not sure how much history either.  Surely some, but definitely not things like memorizing lists of pharaohs.  My public school friends say their main focus is writing and math.

 

When I asked one of my private school friends what their main focus seemed to be, she went year by year.  1st and 2nd, reading and math.  4th grade was social studies - particularly our state.  

 

Sometimes I just wonder what to get hung up on, ya know?  If we are studying the ancients and we obviously talk about pharaohs, but the kids don't memorize their names, do I freak out?  Or if they did memorize them in 1st grade, but now can't tell me their names in 4th grade, do I stress?  (For the record, I think the answer to this is no).

 

Argh, I really am having a hard time getting this out, but what are we working toward?  This feels like such a dumb question... obviously I'm just educating them!?  I don't know what their future passions, let alone jobs will be, so I can't gear their education toward anything in particular.  Obviously.  They're 9.

 

Again I guess, what do I need to be most hung up on them truly "getting?"  The things necessary to pass ACTs and SATs?  (I don't even remember exactly what's on those tests... math, reading... what else)?

 

To be a little clearer, I'm not doubting my decision to homeschool at all.  I just want to make sure we are doing things right!  Hopefully I have made a little sense.

 

[Arcadia]

For us, it is to minimise the cruising and the underperforming if my kids had stayed in their assigned public school.

 

However compared to what is available in bilingual/trilingual private schools, there are some which my kids would have been rather happy attending but school fees for two kids would be half of hubby's annual gross income.

 

Every family have their own goals of education for their kids. For hubby and me, our hope education wise is for our kids to be at least bilingual (English and heritage), hopefully multilingual, with a good foundation in math and science, the basics of philosophy, law and politics, be able to communicate well both verbal and written as well as be able to advocate for themselves when necessary.

 

Character wise like ethics, compassion, humility would fall more under the realm of parenting than homeschooling for us.

[Peaceful Isle]

My teen daughter told me something yesterday . She thanked me for helping her persue her dreams and she also told me I was her biggest encourager.. .. Wow.

 

I guess, my goal in homeschooling is not a certain subject, curriculum, or GPA. It is to help them become awesome, and who they want to be.

Each child is so different and wonderful. By homeschooling, I hope to let them fly and become individuals that love life.

 

I was raised so differently than I am raising my kids.

Edited August 13, 2016 by Peacefulisle

[Lori D.]

Love hearing the "ultimate" goals or "mission statements" of others here. :)

 

We started homeschooling when DSs were grades 1 and 2. Before the start of every new school year, I would sit down and think through what 1-2 specific character/life goals and 2-3 academic goals had "risen to the surface" as being the top things we needed to work on for that year. BUT... from the VERY beginning, and throughout our 12 years of homeschooling, our over-arching (ultimate) goals were:

 

1. heart and soul

a. nurture/encourage who they are so they could take flight in their chosen endeavors

b. nurture/encourage their spiritual growth

 

2. reading

a. teach them to read, and hopefully help them develop a love of reading, so they could teach themselves anything all of their lives

b. expose them constantly to good literature, beautiful writing, and the world of wonderful words and ideas to feed the heart and soul

 

3. thinking

nurture critical thinking skills/logic, so they would be able to be wise in thinking through life decisions and consequences -- to inform the heart and soul

 

 

While it can be helpful to have specific academic goals -- like reaching a certain level of math, or achieving a certain score on the SAT/ACT -- the further into homeschooling we went, and esp. in hitting high school and seeing so many other homeschool high school students and graduates, the more I realized that a lot of academic types of goals really depended on the individual student's unique timetable, and that if an injury or illness or accident, or learning disabilities, or attitude/choices, crop up along the way, the timetable for the academics can be adjusted to come later on -- even *years* later on when the child is an adult! The goal of working towards how to "live well" seemed so much more important as we got into the teen years… If I were to change anything, it might be to have focused a bit more on that big picture goal, rather than getting so worried about clearing specific academic hurdles at each grade level...

Edited August 13, 2016 by Lori D.

[8filltheheart]

My main goal in homeschooling is to develop a critical thinker who can explore the subjects he/she wants at his/her individual level of ability and who can think independently outside of what is being directly studied. Sounds simple and concise, but it iis the distinction between what my kids do at home and what goes on in regular classrooms.

 

Traditional schools map out education as a sequence of linear progressions. Our homeschool is a map filled with trails and meandering paths. Those trails and off-beaten paths are at the heart of why our homeschool is successful. It is those trails that spark their interests, bring learning into context, explore varying POV, and make their educations a woven tapestry vs a list of checked off boxes. Those paths and trails are also owned by my kids bc they are the ones forging the path. By the time they graduate from high school, they know how to learn and how to think for themselves. That is my main objective.

Edited August 13, 2016 by 8FillTheHeart

[Angie in VA]

My teen daughter told me something yesterday . She thanked me for helping her persue her dreams and she also told me I was her biggest encourager.. .. Wow.

 

I guess, my goal in homeschooling is not a certain subject, curriculum, or GPA. It is to help them become awesome, and who they want to be.

Each child is so different and wonderful. By homeschooling, I hope to let them fly and become individuals that love life.

 

I was raised so differently than I am raising my kids.

 

 

Beautifully said.  :iagree:  Same goals here. 

[PeterPan]

Well I can tell you that the things my dd is passionate about at 17 are the things she was passionate about in 1st grade.  It's just they were things I wouldn't have expected to stay passions.  It may be that you're seeing them and don't realize what you're seeing or how it plays out.  Or maybe not. Maybe your dc's special interests will evolve over time and chain from one thing to the next.  It's just fun to me to watch ds now, at age 7, and realize some of these quirky things he does might actually be what will stick over time!

 

As I read your story of how things are going, what struck me is what a good job you're doing at finding things that they can succeed in.  Like I think the "I'm so glad I focused on x" or "I'm so glad I nailed x" is really dependent on the dc.  With my dd, some of the things you listed were DEFINITELY on that list!  And with ds, I look at that list and go ha, not the most important, lol.  For him, other things are more important, as mind-boggling as it seems.  So I think it's good that you're doing WELL things they're ready to do well.

 

With my dd, I always had academic, personal, and spiritual goals for the year.  Academic goals are obvious.  Personal goals might be like increasing independence for chores or better response to hard things or initiating help or asking for help.  Spiritual goals were more about that internal growth (asking questions, understanding, etc.).  I really think that some over-arching goals will guide you more than a list of academic specifics.  You're on track to nail the academics.  With what you're doing, just continuing that pace, that consistency and direction, you'll naturally get to where you need to be.  So I would think in terms of overall goals.

 

Some people (not me, but some people) decide a certain score on a test, scholarship offers, that kind of thing is a goal.  If it is for your family, you'll need to know.  Some people have goals of DE for their kids.  If that's uber-important to you, then yes in the next couple years you're going to be doing the math and working backward.  Some kids are ready for that, some aren't.  For the rest though, I try to think in terms of *regret*.  If I didn't do x or accomplish x or nail x, would I regret it?  That helps me filter some of the hard stuff.

[Soror]

I school the kids in front of me at the moment, what are their passions and interests now. (Obviously making sure not to shut any big doors in the future- my kids may not enjoy this or that subject but they will do it anyway because a certain level of education is required and expected of an educated person- how we get there is entirely up to us.) But I didn't start out with academics as the priority. Mostly I just wanted to spend time with my kids and give them the space to be who they want to be and time to explore life and what interests them. The fact that I can tailor their education to my own beliefs and their individuality is of course important as well but secondary to the rest. 

[Lucy the Valiant]

Independence (in many iterations) and joy.

[Carrie12345]

I think, when I started out, my goal was mostly Academic Achievement.  And my definition of that was probably just "more and better than public school."

 

Today, we're schooling a mix of traditional, Classical, and off-the-wall academics, but my actual GOAL in homeschooling is much more focused on self-awareness, family values, and community involvement.  I could put them back in school to cover the brain things, but not the heart things.  I've almost completely eschewed the competitive element of academics.  (Emphasis on almost.)

[Hunter]

You do it right when you do what is right for YOU.

 

HOMEschooling is first and foremost about the HOME, not school. The academics that you squeeze into your home should reflect your home and beliefs.

 

If you try and do what others are doing, you won't have time to do your own stuff. If you try not to shut a single door, you are likely to shut every door. Arctic parent don't need to teach their children to climb palm trees and harvest coconuts. Equator parents don't need to teach their children to hunt seals.

 

Homeschooling now takes as much bravery as it did in the 80's. Now homeschooling parents are having to break from the expectations of other homeschoolers even more than onlookers. The first homeschoolers were radicals. They did narrow and radical things. And they shocked the world by showing that ALTERNATIVES worked. Now most people are homeSCHOOLING. It takes 1980's style bravery or stupidity to HOMEschool.

[lanalouwho]

I'm just starting out, so specific goals for this year are really just to learn what works for us and what doesn't. Ultimately, though, I want my kids to grow up to be well-read, well-spoken, and passionate adults. I want them to be able to pursue their interests, think outside-of-the-box, and find joy in each and every day. I want them to have the kind of confidence that I wish I had. I want them to start adult life with a basic understanding of where they want to go. I want them to learn to handle finances before they leave my home. I want them to stand up for themselves (and others). Basically, I want to prepare them to be good, happy, and successful, whatever that may mean to them.

 

Sent from my HTCD200LVW using Tapatalk

[HomeAgain]

I don't have a real goal.  Is that bad?  I guess my goal is to try to make sure my kids are lifelong learners.  That's it.  I want them to have the tools available to do whatever they need, and be self-propelling with their own futures.  I guide more often than I lead, especially as they get older.

[lllll]

nm

Edited August 22, 2016 by Cathi

[importswim]

For me I would like for my children to be able to carry on interesting and intellectually stimulating conversations and be able to express themselves well in both the written and spoken word. Have a knowledge of the world, the countries in it and how those relate to each other both historically and culturally. Have a well rounded education and dabble in all subjects with the proviso that they could always jump off further down rabbit holes that interest them.

 

Ideally, though, I would be very happy if they just learned how to learn and that with a bit of work they can figure things out for themselves. That learning is a lifelong endeavor and that no job is beneath them.

[MinivanMom]

My main goals as a homeschooler have been:

-To lay a solid foundation in the basics (reading & writing, math, critical thinking/logic).

-To expose my kids to lots of interesting and beautiful things in the arts, history, science, literature, etc (regardless of whether they remember all the details).

-To not kill their love of learning & maybe even foster some strong intrinsic motivation.

 

Those are my overarching goals. Beyond that, I try to meet each child where they are at. I won't be their primary teacher forever, because at some point they'll go off to college or maybe even high school (oldest daughter is considering it right now). But my goal has never been "to be a homeschooler" or to homeschool to a particular point in time. My goal has been to lay that strong foundation and to meet each child's individual needs, whatever those may be.

[Momto6inIN]

When we first started discussing whether to take our kids out of public school or not, we wrestled with this issue. We came up with the following list of questions that to us would identify whether or not we had succeeded. My perspective of homeschooling has definitely changed since then, and my philosophy too a little bit, but the questions are still valid and a positive answer to each of them is still our goal. :)

 

Are they motivated to work and learn independently?

Are they organized enough to do so?

Do they know how to problem solve?

Do they recognize their own unique gifts and talents as well as their own weaknesses?

Have they thought about how God wants them to be used?

Are they academically prepared for a career or college or whatever God’s next step for them might be?

Do they know how to take good care of themselves?

Do they have enough life skills to live on their own?

Do they know how to analyze and critically evaluate information?

Do they know how to do research and where to find out what they don’t know?

Are they comfortable with learning new technology?

Do they have a firmly established Biblical wordview?

Do they know how to communicate effectively both verbally and with the written word?

Do they know how to reason logically?

Do they appreciate the beauty and the intricacies of God’s creation?

Do they know how to learn lessons from the past experiences of others?

Do we share a strong parent-child-sibling-family bond?

Do they know how to relate to many different types of people from many different backgrounds?

Are they able to work with others as part of a team?

 

[TABmom]

My ultimate goal is that they have a solid enough foundation that they are not limited when they become adults and can fulfill their dreams (goals, ambitions... I'm not sure of exactly the right word) I don't want them to be overwhelmed in the "weeder" classes in college, etc. I also want to instill a love of learning. (Something I am failing at spectacularly at the moment) I want them to be critical thinkers and be sure of themselves- not seeking the approval of peer groups.

[daijobu]

My ultimate goal is that they have a solid enough foundation that they are not limited when they become adults and can fulfill their dreams (goals, ambitions... I'm not sure of exactly the right word) I don't want them to be overwhelmed in the "weeder" classes in college, etc. I also want to instill a love of learning. (Something I am failing at spectacularly at the moment) I want them to be critical thinkers and be sure of themselves- not seeking the approval of peer groups.

 

This is me exactly.  Thank you for writing this.  

[Guest]

Honestly, now that I have a few years under my belt, and a good idea of what they are CAPABLE of, academically, all I really am aiming for now is doing my square best to have them go out into the world feeling grounded (in themselves, in their family) and being good men. They're whip-smart. If I just DON'T mess that up, I can concentrate on the more important stuff, which homeschooling helps facilitate for now.

 

As for strictly-academically-speaking, per the OP, I fell hook, line and sinker for CM when my oldest was a baby. We get away from it regularly because my kids are STEM kids, full stop, but in moments of doubt, I think "can they do this thing like CM wrote they ought to be able to do right now?" and if the answer is yes, I stop worrying. If it's a no, I just throw my energies there.

[LMD]

My ultimate goal in homeschooling is to raise brave thinkers.

I want to put beautiful and true ideas before them, I want to give them time to be comfortable in their own skin.

 

It is almost nothing to do with objective goals, careers or scores here. I want them to be able to walk through the world knowing who they are and what humans are capable of.

 

Lofty and vague perhaps, and we still do the math/grammar/memory work, but if nothing else, they'll know that they are capable of thinking their way through any problems.

[fralala]

I can't top the replies already here, but I always think it's good when something forces me to ask "why" when it comes to what I'm teaching my children, the projects I do with them, and so forth, because one of the major reasons I homeschool is because I hate busy work and wasted time...I have to be accountable if I become the one wasting their time instead of letting them run around outside and play and read and paint and daydream and all the other things they'd otherwise choose to do.

 

So I think the question is one we should all be asking regularly, even if we are firm in our conviction to homeschool: yes, but why THIS curriculum, why THIS assignment, why THIS activity? And is there a different way I could be covering it, if it is not helping my children discover the joy of learning and discovering new things, and later remembering them and making connections to other topics? When I compare what we're doing at home to our (academically very, very solid) local public school, it is not WHAT we're learning that I think about, but how we're learning, and the relationships my kids are building...not just with me and each other, but with language, books, poetry, history, and so forth, and I'd better stop before this gets way too cheesy, because we certainly aren't perfect, here, and it's easy to forget when the kids are all still sleeping!

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

My teen daughter told me something yesterday . She thanked me for helping her persue her dreams and she also told me I was her biggest encourager.. .. Wow.

 

I guess, my goal in homeschooling is not a certain subject, curriculum, or GPA. It is to help them become awesome, and who they want to be.

Each child is so different and wonderful. By homeschooling, I hope to let them fly and become individuals that love life.

 

I was raised so differently than I am raising my kids.

 

I tend to agree with this.  We don't know what the future holds, either in terms of the job market or our own children's potentials.  The best we can do is give them the tools they need to strike when the iron is hot, whatever that might mean for an individual's life.  I tend to think of it as a broad education, with character traits that allow for self-education and hard work.  Character development is at least as important as academic knowledge IMO, and is done better at home than in PS.  

 

OP, my oldest is also entering fourth grade, and I also have a bit of a "teetering on the brink" feeling.  :-)

[SarahW]

I'm not sure exactly how to word what I'm asking, but I'll try here.  I will probably be a little all over the place.

 

My kids are just 9 so I still feel like we're in the early stages of homeschooling.  But as we begin 4th grade, I'm realizing we're almost to the logic stage and we're actually going somewhere.  We're almost done with just basics like adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, nouns, verbs.... 

 

Right or wrong (probably wrong), I can't help but compare what we're doing to what our friends in public and private school are doing.  My public school friends can't believe we do things like diagram sentences.  I'm pretty sure they don't do formal grammar at all.  And a high school teacher friend of mine say he gets kids in his class and it's clear they just don't know grammar.  I'm not sure how much history either.  Surely some, but definitely not things like memorizing lists of pharaohs.  My public school friends say their main focus is writing and math.

 

When I asked one of my private school friends what their main focus seemed to be, she went year by year.  1st and 2nd, reading and math.  4th grade was social studies - particularly our state.  

 

Sometimes I just wonder what to get hung up on, ya know?  If we are studying the ancients and we obviously talk about pharaohs, but the kids don't memorize their names, do I freak out?  Or if they did memorize them in 1st grade, but now can't tell me their names in 4th grade, do I stress?  (For the record, I think the answer to this is no).

 

Argh, I really am having a hard time getting this out, but what are we working toward?  This feels like such a dumb question... obviously I'm just educating them!?  I don't know what their future passions, let alone jobs will be, so I can't gear their education toward anything in particular.  Obviously.  They're 9.

 

Again I guess, what do I need to be most hung up on them truly "getting?"  The things necessary to pass ACTs and SATs?  (I don't even remember exactly what's on those tests... math, reading... what else)?

 

To be a little clearer, I'm not doubting my decision to homeschool at all.  I just want to make sure we are doing things right!  Hopefully I have made a little sense.

 

 

My response is a bit less philosophical than many of the previous posts. Not that the philosophical answer is wrong per se, just that in my mindset the personal goals are "just life" and the spiritual goals have their own trajectory (which sometimes overlays on my academic goals, and yes, underpin my larger academic goals, but are ultimately separate). 

 

My oldest is about to start (has started?) 4th, and yes, this is where I feel like things are starting to "get real." I'm an over-planner who never follows through, so I give myself permission to occasionally type out a complete curriculum plan for my poor kid from here to 12th. I look through WTM, LCC, and my favorite curriculum company catalogs and see what resonates in their high school plan, and then I work backward and look at how they build to that point, and consider how I can best lead my kid to that point. Every time I make this insane Word document the names of the curriculum change, but a certain Big Picture Idea has emerged. [it also helps me get serious about the current year's goals - 4th-12th inclusive is only eight years, and half of them lumber under basic high school expected sequences - it really isn't that much time to goof around with a bit of this and a bit of that like in early elementary, if I want to deviate to something different I need to think seriously about how my choices this year will lead to them. Being able to read Vergil in Latin isn't something that is just going to pop into existence, for example.]

 

Basically, I want to focus on building a high level of confidence in skills, and then a good understanding of the structure behind expressions of knowledge. I suppose this is why the philosophy behind LCC resonates so strongly with me. I'm trying to think about how to unpack that more to explain. Hmm. For example, I once attended an Anglican spiritual retreat where one of the assignments was to write your own Collect on a theme. I'm the first to roll my eyes at the "write your own prayer" exercise, but the director handed out a cheat sheet explaining the basic structure of a Collect and went through it with us first. I had vaguely noticed that Collects had the same general rhythm and style, but never considered that they all share the same structure. Once I knew the structure I could play with the details and write my own prayer, which was much better than something I could've just made up within the "what my brain is awake enough to think about this morning" parameters. I have the same thought about education - I don't want my kids to just be receivers of information or compilers of derivative knowledge, but to be understanders and users of the forms of knowledge themselves.

 

Of course, no one can have ALL the skills and ALL the understanding. So you've got to narrow down to the basic fundamental skills. Math, and Reading, and...what else? What you put in the "what else" is individual. My oldest is STEM oriented, so I put more focus on that. We also focus on language studies (dead and alive!). History and art and etc. get the short end of the stick here. I'm okay with that. I'm not worrying at all about history and art content knowledge right now, but only goal right now is that he understands that these areas have skills and structures as much as science and math. Later, when he has more skills and understanding, we'll study the content.

 

That's my philosophy. YMMV.

[Earthmerlin]

For me, I want to help develop a well-rounded individual who's an independent & critical yet flexible thinker. Someone who knows herself & is confident with her strengths. A spiritually-rich person. Someone with a keen sense of instinct who's also got plenty of common sense & a host of life skills. A resourceful person. A respectful, polite & kind individual who's tolerant of differences. Someone who pursues her passions & finds fulfillment. Someone who feels loved & who's got a plethora of beautiful childhood memories. Someone who gives back. A person with perseverance & patience. An optimist. A goal-setter who's got a healthy sense of humor. A person who develops wisdom as she moves through life.

 

Those are the general principles that guide my parenting. As an educator, I try to translate these ideas into real-world lessons & learning experiences. I don't home-school full time--I after-school. That means I have less time with her & therefore cherish the moments we spend together. We read A LOT. We talk A LOT. We dissect books, arguments, experiences. We marvel at things in nature & listen to our inner-workings. I model my enthusiasm for learning & aim to answer her inquiries. I follow her interest in science & math. I challenge stereotypes & we consider alternate points of view. We've started international travel. We speak Spanish & French & she goes to a Saturday French heritage school, which exposes her to a different educational approach with international faculty & student body. I give her age-appropriate responsibilities & ask for her input with age-appropriate decisions. We've embarked on our financial literacy journey so she matures in her understanding of finances. We encourage her creativity & daydreams. We play lots of family board games & have 'family nights'--keeping trans-generational traditions alive. I take her to cultural events & we make use of local amenities (museums, nature centers, etc.). Together we navigate the social terrain & the growing complexities of friendships & relationships. I want to expose her to as much as possible so she's well-rounded but can also pursue passions & make grounded & informed decisions. I try to fill in gaps the public school leaves, extend other topics they gloss over, & accelerate her academic strengths. I read about child development & peruse sites & forums so I can further my parenting skills & stay fresh in her stewardship.

 

I have a 'vague' sense of who she will be as an adult (as a result of our parenting & educating) so I allow that ideal image to guide me while making plenty of room for her developing personality. My parenting, albeit imperfect, is intentional. I figure if I've got a vision I'm better equipped as a parent & educator & less likely to squander this beautiful opportunity to help another soul flourish.

Edited August 14, 2016 by Earthmerlin

[Critterfixer]

Graduation.

That's a pretty short answer for a number of educational, physical and life-skills requirements that will go into my high-school planning notebook. 

[Garga]

I have no idea why I'm homeschooling! Sort of.

 

I mean, I'm happy that we do and it seems to work well for us...but now that you've asked, I don't think I know the answer to that.

 

We started homeschooling because my bright, but ADHD little boy was ready for kindergarten, but the district changed the cut off date for when he could start. So...there we were, ready for him to go to K and then said, "Nope, he was born 12 days too late, so he'll have to have another year of preschool." He'd already had 3 years of preschool! (We started early because he had ADHD and I neeeeded a break from him for a couple of hours a day.)

 

I knew that he would totally disrupt the preschool if he went back for a 4th year (bored!), so I homeschooled K. I figured, "Well, perhaps I can homeschool through 3rd grade and then they can test him and see he's at the right level and won't worry about his birthdate anymore."

 

Also, I was *that kid* in school. The last one picked for anything. The one that kids would glance at and immediately turn away from out of fear that I'd actually talk to them and they'd catch my cooties or whatever. I wasn't really bullied, but was utterly shunned. And when I look back I can see why. I was weird! I just was. My family marches to the beat of a different drummer, which is charming in adults, but complete social suicide in school.

 

I have kept homeschooling because the boys are learning and we enjoy our time together, and frankly, my oldest has inheritend dh and my "nerdy" side. I can be not-nerdy mostly, but it comes out every now and then and I see it in him. And right now his friends are ok with it. They don't always get him and sometimes he feels left out, but it's not like he deals with being marginalized all day long at school. For the vast majority of his time, he's surrounded by a supportive family and his friends are usually nice to him. (Sometimes in groups he's the odd duck out which I know hurts him, but it's not the majority of his time, like it was for me as a kid.)

 

My youngest son isn't as "nerdy" as the rest of us, but he's very (very, very) introverted. There are lots of co-op events or church events that he just doesn't want to do. He has friends and likes them all very much, but his natural inclination is to stay home.

 

Staying home for school helps my guys to shine and feel safe and venture out into the world from a position of confidence, rather than having their energy and confidence sucked away by being in school all day.

 

So, I homeschool them to protect them somewhat. Not in an over-protective way, but in a way that helps them with their specific needs, so they can shine when they leave home. I had my self-worth crushed and so I know what that's like. I wish I'd been given the space to be me when I was young, instead of being expected to fit a mold that I just couldn't figure out how to fit into. It took me 2 decades to embrace who I actually am. I'm hoping my sons never go through the misery of having who they are mocked and ridiculued, so they can feel comfortable in their skin right away, unlike me. It's my gift to them. And along the way, I do my very best to make sure they can hit the ground running academically when they graduate high school.

Edited August 14, 2016 by Garga

[happypamama]

I have a million reasons why I homeschool and goals for homeschooling.  Depending on the day, different reasons/goals are more important.  Some days my bigger picture is wanting a tailored education for my 2Eish kid or my shyer kid that takes their strengths and weaknesses into account, and my goal is that I want them to like learning and to find ways to learn that work for them.  Some days I homeschool because I feel the public schools in my area aren't very strong, and I think I can do at least as good a job, and my goal is the ability to do what's right for them post-high school, whether that's college, trade school, job, whatever.  Sometimes my reason for homeschooling is more family time and so my children can be each other's best friends and not be too peer-dependent, and my goal is to have them be lifelong best friends.  Some days, I'm glad I homeschool because I know my children won't be victims of a school shooting, and my main goal is to keep them alive.  Some days, my reason for homeschooling is so they can use the toilet and get drinks when they need to (I will not lie -- dealing with heavy periods in public school was a HUGE hassle, and I don't want that for my DD), and my goal is for them to recognize their bodies' needs and to listen to them.  Some days, I want to homeschool so I can provide the religious foundation that I want for my children, and my goal is a strong faith.  Some days, I homeschool because I have zero desire to deal with public school arbitrary rules and bureaucracy, and my goal is to have them have a low tolerance for stuff like that and to fight against it.

 

I don't have a mission statement or a specific goal.  It depends on the day and the situation, and the child, and the year.  I like homeschooling, although I don't necessarily like every aspect, and it's not always easy (mainly because of time and there's only one me and a lot of them), but overall, I love it and am glad we do.

[Guest]

DS is turning 10 soon and my goals have become a little less esoteric and theoretical this year.

 

I'd like to not kill him before the year is up.

[calihil]

Most importantly, I want my kids to know, love, and serve the Lord. After that, it's all gravy. I'd like for them to be well read, deep thinkers, to be able to defend their faith, to have compassion and empathy for their fellow man. Getting into a good college is probably last on my list.

[Mrs Twain]

Most of us would like our kids to develop strong character, good relationships, and faith, but I won't talk about that now.

 

I think you are looking for how to make specific academic goals, so I will talk about that.

 

First off, what has helped me most is using the free, downloadable, grade-by-grade sequence from the Core Knowledge Foundation. It has detailed lists of knowledge and skills to be obtained for each grade. Of course, you don't have to follow it directly, but it can give you a good idea at what you are aiming for in fourth grade, for example. You can get it here:

http://www.coreknowledge.org/download-the-sequence

 

I am planning to homeschool my kids K-8, and my goals include trying to give them a certain knowledge base (primarily thinking of history and science in this category) and making them competent in certain skills (reading, writing, math, test taking).

 

Here are my list of subjects and some notes:

Math

Choose a good curriculum and stay with it. If it is deficient, supplement it rather than changing to a different program. For example, if you need more drill at math facts, add in flashcards or speed test worksheets.

 

Writing

Includes grammar, penmanship, spelling, writing organization and style. This is where The Core Knowledge Foundation has helped me quite a bit because it lists what kind of writing to work up to in each grade. I have mainly used IEW writing, but I also supplement with other programs and writing activities to meet my goals for each year.

 

Reading

Includes how to read, reading comprehension, vocabulary, literature analysis, and a list of books that are considered assumed background knowledge. For an example of the latter, our culture expects us to be familiar with Tom Sawyer if this story or character were mentioned in a conversation, so you would want your child to read that book at some point. The Core Knowledge list provides a list of books by grade that are "assumed background knowledge." You could use that to help you make your own reading list.

 

Science

My goal from K-5 is to provide a wide-ranging introduction to science. I want to give the child an interest in science and familiarity with many basic facts, but I don't require tests and memorization at this point. In 6-8th grades, I use BJU online science courses which do require textbook learning, memorization, and testing. This will hopefully prepare my kids for high school level science.

 

History

My goal for K-8 is for my kids to have a basic general world history timeline in their heads and a basic understanding of important events in world history. My kids memorize the CC history timeline and history sentences. I have also read them a world history overview book every year during the first half of the school year. I hope in this way that they will have a general overview of world history so that when they get to high school, the general events will be familiar and they can add in detailed knowledge to the scaffolding they have in their brains. I don't require memorization of lists of Pharaohs, for example.

I also read my children an American history overview every year during the second half of the school year. I want them to be very familiar with the history of their own country.

I have also had my kids do various history lapbooks to try to get more in depth knowledge of certain historical events.

 

Other subjects

Some (such as speech, geography, and test practice) I do with my kids every year. For others I add in a unit or short course every so often.

 

Speech

Logic

Test Practice

Geography (content knowledge, map skills, map drawing)

Health

Art, Art appreciation

Music, Music appreciation

Civics/Government

Basic Economics

State knowledge and history

Typing

Computer skills/Programming

Foreign Language (I use Duolingo (free online) until my kids take a formal language course in 7th grade)

Library skills

(The rest are mainly middle school skills:)

Research skills/Note taking

Study skills

Tests

Independent project outside of my homeschool

Online class/Outside Class

Edited August 17, 2016 by Mrs Twain

[3 ladybugs]

I decided I wanted to homeschool my future children before I even met my husband. Our first "date" (one of those outings you don't think it is a date till after) we discussed this and he was in agreement. We both feel that for the most part, the education in schools is VERY lacking and that neither of us liked having to repeat subjects due to no national or even state wide, standard for what should be taught when. We were both burned by this in public school. 

 

When we had our triplets (born first, then died before our other children were born), there was a white board in our daughter's room that wasn't being used by hospital staff. I took it as an opportunity to write up all the dreams and goals we had for our daughter. One of the things we put on there was we wanted our daughter to understand the physics behind the rides at Disney, before she went on them. Our daughter never got the chance to even leave the hospital, but our sons have yet to go to Disney and they don't know the physics yet.

 

When our oldest living son was born, I had and idea of how I wanted teach him. That soon got thrown out. My son is one of those people that you read about that has an obsession with something that drives them, what I imagine will be the rest of his life. When my son was 9 months old my husband was painting the living room and needed help. In a moment of desperation, I put him in a bouncy seat in front of the TV which had NASCAR on. I then helped my DH with whatever he needed, and we heard him squealing with delight at the sound of the engines! At 18 months old, we would take him on walks and he would ask what every car was. He quickly began to tell us what each was, even ones he had only seen once or twice before. He continues this even to today. His favorite programs on TV are having to do with cars. He watches cars on his iPad whenever we let him use it. I ask him to draw art, and I have to remind him that we are studying art from a time when there were no cars. We tried in the past to get him away from this interest. He seemed obsessed with it. However we now embrace it. 

 

Once I went to the park with a friend of mine and she was talking about teaching her children Russian and German. These are the 2 languages she speaks in the home with her children as she is Russian and her DH is German. For some reason her conversation prompted me to look at German more closely, and I quickly realized that is the language most of our friends have spoken if they spoke another language. I also quickly realized that my son learning German would be good for him if he wants to go into automotive engineering. 

 

So my goals for my older son for homeschooling are: To make him as prepared as he can to study automotive engineering. It is clear this is where he wants to go, and I for one don't want to stop him. However I want to make sure he has a very strong foundational education so that is not seen as different should his journey take him to european schools. Currently his German school will give him the certifications and testing required to go to german schools for study, however his homeschooling prevents Germany from recognizing this. Something that is pushing me to make sure he has college classes (and hopefully some sort of diploma or ideally a 2 year degree) before he is 18. This son turns 8 next month.

 

My younger son is a bit of an enigma to me. He seems to like trains right now, but not at the same level his brother LOVES cars. He also likes cars too. I think as a parent I need to see where his passion lays and do everything in my power to make it so he achieves those goals. He will learn German along with his brother, but if it looks like he should learn something else I wouldn't be opposed to that. This son is only 3.

[BlsdMama]

I'm not sure exactly how to word what I'm asking, but I'll try here.  I will probably be a little all over the place.

 

My kids are just 9 so I still feel like we're in the early stages of homeschooling.  But as we begin 4th grade, I'm realizing we're almost to the logic stage and we're actually going somewhere.  We're almost done with just basics like adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, nouns, verbs.... 

 

Right or wrong (probably wrong), I can't help but compare what we're doing to what our friends in public and private school are doing.  My public school friends can't believe we do things like diagram sentences.  I'm pretty sure they don't do formal grammar at all.  And a high school teacher friend of mine say he gets kids in his class and it's clear they just don't know grammar.  I'm not sure how much history either.  Surely some, but definitely not things like memorizing lists of pharaohs.  My public school friends say their main focus is writing and math.

 

When I asked one of my private school friends what their main focus seemed to be, she went year by year.  1st and 2nd, reading and math.  4th grade was social studies - particularly our state.  

 

Sometimes I just wonder what to get hung up on, ya know?  If we are studying the ancients and we obviously talk about pharaohs, but the kids don't memorize their names, do I freak out?  Or if they did memorize them in 1st grade, but now can't tell me their names in 4th grade, do I stress?  (For the record, I think the answer to this is no).

 

Argh, I really am having a hard time getting this out, but what are we working toward?  This feels like such a dumb question... obviously I'm just educating them!?  I don't know what their future passions, let alone jobs will be, so I can't gear their education toward anything in particular.  Obviously.  They're 9.

 

Again I guess, what do I need to be most hung up on them truly "getting?"  The things necessary to pass ACTs and SATs?  (I don't even remember exactly what's on those tests... math, reading... what else)?

 

To be a little clearer, I'm not doubting my decision to homeschool at all.  I just want to make sure we are doing things right!  Hopefully I have made a little sense.

 

ETA: My *ultimate* goal is for their spiritual well-being.  That's #1 with no close second.

 

But it seems to me that you are asking *academic* things - what is my *ultimate* academic goal.  So I'll answer that as best I can.

 

So - this is how I see it.  The BIG picture is equipping them with what they need.  Sixteen years into this and getting ready to graduate our second child, my "big picture" is coming into much sharper focus.

 

I know memorization for the sake of memorization gets a bad rap - but frankly?  Kids ENJOY memorization (once the thing is accomplished) and it makes life easier, better.  Not only that, but they are  at that prime time to memorize.  Studies have also been done that have shown that memorization and recitation are just plain good for the brain.

 

So it SEEMS like pointless memorization but it isn't.  We had our oldest do a LOT of "pointless" memorization.  Then I went through a little bit where I thought the same thing you're wondering now, which really boils down to, "Who the heck cares if they know a dozen pharoahs?  Who cares if they can tell an article from a verb from a noun?"

 

It was an awful stage because it made a lot of what I was doing seem like hard work with no payout.

 

I'm past it.  We're working on more memorizing and recitation this year.  Oldest DD is now a senior in college and she swears by her ability to memorize and see the value in rote memorization.  She also knows HOW to memorize, kwim?  Very handy for so many classes for vocabulary of biology, terminology, foreign languages, etc.  She also did Latin.  She then followed it up with Latin I and II in college and four semesters of Russian - she found Latin to be very valuable in studying foreign languages.

 

She is amazed at how much she remembers from elementary years - who someone is or why he is pertinent.  Remember, we stopped doing memorization by about 7th grade-ish and then by high school we were just doing massive amounts of reading.  Those "pegs" were information hangers - everything she read and absorbed AFTER the memorization was better categorized, filed, and kept in that brain of hers after.

 

My little phase of, "This has very limited value" was quite short lived - her late high school years.  By the time she was a year into college I was seeing the value of her early education and now that she's getting close to graduation, I've revamped my elementary kiddos to ramp up memorization again. ;)  Oh, and we are back at doing Rod & Staff Grammar again with all that heavy diagramming. :)

Edited August 15, 2016 by BlsdMama

[BlsdMama]

(And putting cursive back into our elementary as well as memorizing all of our states & capitals and our multiplication tables too.)

[lllll]

nm

Edited November 5, 2016 by cathey

[lgliser]

Thanks, EVERYONE for the replies!

 

For those who answered in an academic sense - yes, that's more what I was trying to ask about.

 

For those who answered more along the lines of character, spirituality, etc.... I'm glad you did because it was a much needed reminder to me to keep my priorities straight!

 

DH and I have read through all of the replies together and are talking a lot about our goals for our family. :)

[Arcadia]

This article "Sir Ken Robinson: How to Create a Culture For Valuable Learning" came across my news feed and might be helpful

 

"Robinson doesn’t deny that education has an economic purpose, and that it’s important for young people to become economically independent and self-sufficient. But to do that, he argues, they shouldn’t all learn the same thing. Instead, they should be learning to be adaptable, to be innovative, to flow with change, to collaborate and other globalized skills that will apply to whatever area of work they are passionate about pursuing. An education can help expose students to different life paths and support them in finding their passions, while giving them the transferable skills to attack any problem."

 

"“We spend so much time containing and constraining our teachers and students who have so much talent,†Robinson said. And while some parts of the conformist and compliance-based system are unavoidable, other parts are perpetuated by well-meaning educators simply because that’s the way things have always been done. Robinson is calling on all educators to look at the available resources differently, more creatively, and to use them to create learning environments that allow individual students to thrive and flourish."

[Lori D.]

Thanks, EVERYONE for the replies!

For those who answered in an academic sense - yes, that's more what I was trying to ask about.

 

For setting academic goals, I did find it helpful to look at general guidelines -- always having to bear in mind that one DS had mild LDs, which put him on a very unique different timetable.

 

Mrs. Twain above mentioned the Core Knowledge series guidelines which are great. Love her summaries of overall goals for each subject.

 

I used the World Book Encyclopedia Typical Course of Study by grade level for ideas of academic topics to cover in LA, Math, Science, and Social Studies. Especially in the grade 1-5 lists there is a lot of overlap, which means flexibility of when you cover a lot of topics, so I would usually print my student's grade, but also the grade below and the grade above to see if we were in the general range of covering academic topics.

 

You might also look at Rebecca Rupp's Home Learning Year By Year. Dearly hope she'll update this book with a new edition, BUT, it is still full of great specific info on what to cover and when, and a general idea of level of thinking by grade level.

 

Here's something I put together for a friend who recently started homeschooling her pre-school/kinder boys -- language arts topics: general goals, what to cover, and roughly when those goals match up with developmental stages.

 

Overview of Language Arts / English Skills by grade

 

grades K-1

- Reading -- phonics, learn to read program; progresses to simple readers - student reads aloud to parent

- Read Alouds -- parent reads aloud/audio books, from quality books above student's reading level

- Handwriting -- penmanship/copywork; learning to print letters of the alphabet, and numbers

- Phonics -- in support of Reading

 

grades 1-2

- Reading -- student reads quality books at grade level, some as "popcorn style" -- you read a page, I read a page"

- Read Alouds -- parent reads aloud/audio books, from quality books above student's reading level

- optional: Solo Read -- 10-20 min., "book basket" choices to aid fluency and/or support other subjects

- optional: Free Read -- books, magazines, etc. of personal interest to student; student free to read or not

- Handwriting -- Penmanship)/ Copywork -- manuscript / printing instruction and practice

- Spelling -- basic word families and sight words, phonics patterns

- Phonics -- in support of Reading and Spelling

- optional: Writing/Composition (formal instruction) -- what is a sentence; oral narration, optional creative writing

- optional: Grammar -- capitalization, punctuation, beginning parts of speech, what is a sentence

 

grades 3-4

- Reading -- build reading confidence, practice for fluency and stamina, begin to read for content subjects

- optional: Read Alouds

- optional: Solo Read -- 20-30 min.

- optional: Free Read

- Handwriting -- cursive instruction and practice

- Writing/Composition -- sentences; narration, beginning free writing/journal writing, short book reports, etc.

- Grammar -- parts of speech, grammar mechanics, beginning grammar usage

- Spelling -- vowel patterns, prefixes, suffixes, word endings, contractions

- optional: Vocabulary -- exposure to new words, synonyms/antonyms

- miscellaneous -- parts of a book (index, table of contents, glossary, etc.), alphabetizing

 

grades 5-6

- Reading

- optional: Read Alouds

- optional: Solo Read -- 30-60 min.

- optional: Free Read

- Typing -- if Handwriting practice is no longer needed, learn "touch typing" to facilitate writing future papers

- Writing -- sentences; narration, beginning free writing/journal writing, short book reports, optional creative writing

- Grammar -- beginning diagramming, types of sentences, GUM (Grammar Usage & Mechanics)

- Spelling -- vowel patterns, root words/related words, syllabication rules

- optional: Vocabulary

- miscellaneous -- dictionary skills, alphabetizing, parts of a book (index, table of contents, glossary, etc.), looking up information in an atlas, thesaurus, 

 

grades 7-8

- Literature -- beginning to read some classics with beginning, gentle literary terms and analysis

- optional: Read Alouds

- optional: Solo Read -- 45-75 min.

- optional: Free Read

- Writing -- paragraphs; introduce short persuasive & expository essays, compare/contrast, optional creative writing

- Grammar -- word usage, proof-editing, more complex sentence structures

- optional: Spelling -- if still needed; can combine Spelling & Vocabulary or switch to just Vocabulary

- optional: Vocabulary -- roots study

 

grades 9-12 = English credit

- Literature -- read, discuss, analyze, write about classics — novels,  novellas short stories, poetry, essays, plays

- Read Aloud -- do some Literature together; enjoy family "reader's theater" of classic plays, share enjoyable or

  important books or books to encourage/challenge personal faith, or  books just for fun

- Writing -- multi-paragraph / multi-page essays, reader response papers, research papers with citations, business writing, Power Point presentations, etc.

- optional: Vocabulary -- from the Literature; or Greek/Latin roots-based program; or ACT/SAT test prep

- optional: Public Speaking -- research, write, prepare, give different types of presentations in front of a group

- optional: Spelling -- if still needed; can combine Spelling & Vocabulary, or base Spelling on Vocabulary

- optional: Grammar -- possible light review, if needed, in support of strengthening writing and proof-editing writing

Edited August 17, 2016 by Lori D.

[lgliser]

I just looked at the Core Knowledge page and I think I'm failing if I go by that.  

 

I feel like I don't need to be too concerned with doing history differently than they suggest, as I am just on a different track sequentially.  But it does look like they do some American history every year, and I do not.  

 

They suggest certain poems, and I notice some overlap with the poems we have come across in FLL.  But not all of them.

 

They expect quite a bit more writing than we have done.  I felt really good having followed WWE 1-3 (this year we're going with a different program), but like we have not done expository writing or creative writing.  We've just done narratives/summaries.  So we are behind there.  They've never gathered information from an encyclopedia, online, or a book and written a report in their own words.  

 

For science, we do not know the things they suggest that we know at this age.

 

We've covered prefixes and suffixes, but I don't think they have a firm grasp on the meanings of the ones they say they should know.

 

I think I have a pretty well rounded selection of curriculum that we are using (see my signature).  I want to be confident that it will cover all the things we need to cover!  My hope is that even if it does things in a different order, that it at least WILL cover the things that we are missing right now??  When I look at the Core page, should I use it as a guideline and not something that I need to go crazy about making sure we cover every little thing?

[Mrs Twain]

I don't follow the Core Knowledge guidelines exactly by any stretch, but I use them as a guide.

 

For example, I look at the writing year by year through eighth grade to see what I am aiming for. I want my kids to be able to write solid multiparagraph reports and essays in 7th and 8th grades. Therefore I choose programs that will help my kids get to that point. We don't necessarily need to do all the writing assignments in the same order as listed in the Core guidelines.

 

I don't worry about all of the poems, but I do make a note of the books because most of those are ones I want my kids to read. Again, you don't have to read the books in the same order or in the same years as they list. You could read some over the summer or whenever. Just use their lists as a guideline.

 

I do my history very differently from the Core, so I don't follow their method at all.

 

So don't get flustered if you haven't done everything they say to do for a certain grade, but look at the overall goals and use those to help you make a long-range plan.

 

Also use their lists to help you not to forget certain things. For example, I had my kids learn how to write a friendly letter. That wasn't in my grammar or writing programs, but it was something that was listed in the Core guidelines and something I wanted my kids to learn how to do.

[Lori D.]

I just looked at the Core Knowledge page and I think I'm failing if I go by that.  

 

I feel like I don't need to be too concerned with doing history differently than they suggest, as I am just on a different track sequentially.  But it does look like they do some American history every year, and I do not.  

 

They suggest certain poems, and I notice some overlap with the poems we have come across in FLL.  But not all of them.

 

They expect quite a bit more writing than we have done.  I felt really good having followed WWE 1-3 (this year we're going with a different program), but like we have not done expository writing or creative writing.  We've just done narratives/summaries.  So we are behind there.  They've never gathered information from an encyclopedia, online, or a book and written a report in their own words.  

 

For science, we do not know the things they suggest that we know at this age.

 

We've covered prefixes and suffixes, but I don't think they have a firm grasp on the meanings of the ones they say they should know.

 

I think I have a pretty well rounded selection of curriculum that we are using (see my signature).  I want to be confident that it will cover all the things we need to cover!  My hope is that even if it does things in a different order, that it at least WILL cover the things that we are missing right now??  When I look at the Core page, should I use it as a guideline and not something that I need to go crazy about making sure we cover every little thing?

 

Remember that Core Knowledge (CK) (and World Book (WB) Encyclopedia) is very aligned with public school goals, which have shifted towards HEAVY amounts of writing in younger grades -- which is totally NOT appropriate, IMO. It's part of the whole public education push of "Oh no! We're falling behind in world academic standings! That must mean we should test more frequently and in younger grades, and push for rigor by shoving older student skills and output into ever-lower grades!"

 

That has resulted in needing to already be reading in Kindergarten, writing multi-paragraph essays in 4th grade, and doing Algebra 1 in 6th grade. That is SOOOOO unhelpful, unrealistic and so DAMAGING!!!

 

Encouragement: you've picked quality curricula. That is going to do a great job FOR you of covering what you need in each subject area. The ONLY reason I would look at the CB or WB or other lists is for *ideas* for extras, or to just make sure you didn't end up with a strange little gap in a major area because the scope and sequence of the different curricula somehow left a gap.

 

You do have a well-rounded course of study -- go forward with confidence! I absolutely would NOT worry about trying to match yourself up with those academic lists of CK and WB -- hold them lightly and use them as very very loose idea lists for things you think would be fun or interesting to include for Literature, poetry, or history/science topics. And if, in looking over those lists, you see an obvious gap in your studies (like, "we need to cover cursive at some point!", or "gee, we haven't really gotten to how maps, graphs and charts work -- we should get something for that"), then sure, find a resource to cover it. But absolutely NO don't feel you HAVE to cover EVERY little thing on the lists from CK or WB -- or anybody else's list.

 

There WILL be gaps -- absolutely everyone has "gaps", because no one can learn it all -- all languages, all history of all nations/peoples of the world, read all literature, understand all science fields… etc. And everyone has a DIFFERENT idea of what are the "must-read" classics or "must-cover" history topics. You just "pick your battles" and decide where YOUR priorities are. From my first post above, my academic goals were ultimately pretty basic: reading and thinking. :) And I would add: solid understanding of math foundations for real-life daily usage (ex: 4 functions, fractions / decimals / percents, problem-solving skills), and the ability to express oneself coherently and decently through the writing and speaking that will be required in college, but  esp. in a career and in real life. Anything else is frosting on top.

 

Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited August 17, 2016 by Lori D.

[My3girls]

Good question and I have enjoyed reading everyone's responses. 

 

We started homeschooling because my middle daughter was falling "behind" and becoming very frustrated and depressed.  She began having behavioral issues as a result.  I tried my best to work with "the system" but was getting no where.  My husband tried and got no where faster. lol  We decided to pull her, and we pulled the other two as well.  If one of them ended up president and another working at McDonald's, I didn't want them to ever think it was because we educated them differently.  Our primary goal in homeschooling is to teach them how to learn.  We found very quickly even with my "gifted" child that their learning at ps consisted of being told something and then regurgitating it on a test.  There was no critical thought.

 

Academically, our goals are strength in math concepts(not just memorization), ability to read critically, ability to express themselves in writing, to understand how the world around them works and have an appreciation for it, and to know where we, humanity, come from (the good, bad, and the ugly).  As long as we are moving toward these goals, I call it good.  I am so tempted to compare us to our public school friends on a regular basis but try really hard not to.  Their goals are different from ours. 

 

An example:  My youngest daughter's best friend goes to pubic school and comes over most afternoons after school.  I typically ask her how her day was and about what she learned.  Her answer's always vary, and we talk for a minute or two then they go play.  Last week she said that she had learned the standard algorithm.  I mentally freaked out because that is not something that we have done.  I didn't even know what it was.  I calmly told her that sounded pretty neat and asked if the could show me.  It was double digit multiplication.  My daughter had learned it last year.  We just called it multiplication, though. lol  I find much of the standards in public school sound all really fancy and technical, but the reality doesn't live up to the hype. 

[8filltheheart]

I just looked at the Core Knowledge page and I think I'm failing if I go by that.

 

I feel like I don't need to be too concerned with doing history differently than they suggest, as I am just on a different track sequentially. But it does look like they do some American history every year, and I do not.

 

They suggest certain poems, and I notice some overlap with the poems we have come across in FLL. But not all of them.

 

They expect quite a bit more writing than we have done. I felt really good having followed WWE 1-3 (this year we're going with a different program), but like we have not done expository writing or creative writing. We've just done narratives/summaries. So we are behind there. They've never gathered information from an encyclopedia, online, or a book and written a report in their own words.

 

For science, we do not know the things they suggest that we know at this age.

 

We've covered prefixes and suffixes, but I don't think they have a firm grasp on the meanings of the ones they say they should know.

 

I think I have a pretty well rounded selection of curriculum that we are using (see my signature). I want to be confident that it will cover all the things we need to cover! My hope is that even if it does things in a different order, that it at least WILL cover the things that we are missing right now?? When I look at the Core page, should I use it as a guideline and not something that I need to go crazy about making sure we cover every little thing?

I'm with Lori. They are more like ps snapshots.

 

I honestly don't worry about what any school is teaching. I teach what I believe is core (by my definition and my values).....foundational skills (reading, writing (according to my standards), and math) and how to think. Subjects' content is explored by yr, by child, by choice.

 

None of my kids' educations resembles another's. (And none resemble a ps education at all.) They all possess different abilities and different interests. Yet, all 5 of my 12th grader/adults have been well-educated and well-prepared for college and career. (And have been amg the top students in their college classes, so the untraditional methodology has not hampered their success.)

 

Look toward the end game. What do you want when they are 17-18? Writing a complex analysis in an articulate rhetorical argument does not require attempting that in elementary school. It requires understanding how words work together to form logical sentences and paragraphs in elementary school. They build on those skills step by step. If you expect complex analysis before solidifying the basic skills, their writing has a foundation of sand. Go for the bedrock.

 

Work with the child you have before you. Make sure they are progressing based on their abilities. Don't succumb to apathy or lethargy. Keep their education in motion. Know your educational objectives and know what you want to achieve. If you have that, then you can move forward with confidence. (And fwiw, my educational objectives and kids' achievements are not easily quantified by any book, system, or values other than our own. But, I 100% own my responsibility for my kids' futures, so it is not an apathetic position. It is embracing our goals 100%.)

Edited August 18, 2016 by 8FillTheHeart

[Mrs Twain]

I agree that you can ignore what the public and private schools are doing if you can guarantee that you or your husband or (if you were not able) someone else will homeschool your kids all the way through 12th grade.

 

If you can not guarantee that your children will be homeschooled every year, then I think it is wise to consider what the other schools are teaching in the unfortunate case that your children may end up going there unexpectedly.

 

What if something happened to me?  My husband said he would try to enroll the kids in a good private school if possible, or perhaps the local public school if that were the best option.  Therefore I try to keep my kids at the level or beyond the public schools so that they would be at least average or hopefully advanced students if they had to attend one of them. 

 

We are planning to send our kids full time to public school in 9th grade, and that means they will need to fit into the public school by then.  Many people do this.  If that is the case with you, your kids will be better off if you are at least keeping an eye on what the public schools are doing and preparing your kids for those expectations. 

[8filltheheart]

My kids are advanced beyond high school level equivalencies by 9th grade. They would be bored to tears, but they could function in a classroom if they had no other options. Thankfully, we have been blessed enough that we have never had to consider alternative choices.

 

Where they would not fit in is in primary or lower elementary grade bc my approach toward education is vastly different than traditional schools.

 

Fwiw, I would not change my approach simply bc I feared something might happen. Even if I were planning to send them to school, I am still not positive my elementary approach would change. I think my outcomes are superior and eventually they would catch on to ps methods.

 

But I am confident about my academic goals and pedagogy.

[lllll]

nm

Edited August 22, 2016 by Cathi

[Mrs Twain]

It is not that hard. As long as you keep up with math and have your children reading and writing, you can keep them ahead public school or at least even. You don't have to change your whole curriculum.

 

The people who get in trouble are ones who say they don't care what anyone in the schools are doing because "we are going our own way," usually the "better late than early" way. But then homeschooling doesn't go so well for whatever reason and their kids end up in school. Their kids are held back because they are so far behind. I have seen this happen multiple times to people I know. Don't be one of those!

[serendipitous journey]

My children keep torpedoing my goals.  ;)

 

Academically, I am working with bright children without LDs -- though the older has an emotional makeup that requires management at a level similar to a medium-impact LD -- and have always had a general goal of keeping them a year or so ahead of public school standards.   When we slip, I aggressively remediate. 

 

I am glad we have a focus on: penmanship; mathematics; Latin; great composition (we use WWE, Classical Writing); grammar (some Michael Clay Thompson and Memoria Press' program); spelling (we use AAS, if I had more children I'd need a simpler program); Shakespeare (based on the AO rotations, they begin children's versions in 1st grade and originals in 4th/5th); geography; terrific read-alouds; IEW's poetry memorization; getting them to love reading. 

 

The science and history often are read-and-discuss because with our math, Latin, composition/grammar, and now adding Greek the boys are working very hard already. We read SOTW and I pull in mapwork where feasible; the older one is working through the Oxford University Press World in Ancient Times series and doing Runkle geography.  I'm working to beef up our memory work in the science & history.  I'm using Jay Wiles new elementary science for the younger (tempted to go "back" to Apologia -- I disagree with much and am appalled by a good deal of the Fulbright books, but have a soft spot for a curriculum that teaches Bernoulli's principle lucidly to elementary children) and working to place the older in one of the Novare physics programs.  I may end up having my older child use History Odyssey's middle school program to beef up his history output and give him something more independent. 

 

We use "living books" and the "best" I can find, and we try to have living books for all of our subjects.  Esp. math which can get forgotten, when it comes to living books!  Think "G is for Googol" or "Sir Cumference" or "Lives of the Mathematicians".  

 

I'm learning piano this year to help teach my children -- or just teach them myself, if necessary esp. for the older -- we haven't done much with music, and we haven't done the art I'd like in the past year and a half.  Keeping up with Harmony Fine Arts artworks and music was a wonderful year, it can be very simple but is backburnered at the moment at our house.  We're building up a body-weight based fitness regimen and working on our nature study as we can. 

 

Years ago I read on this forum that many, many people wish they'd focused on the "three Rs" (including great read-alouds) in the earlyish years and many, many were annoyed that they'd fussed so much over history and science in those same years.  So that's one balance to keep in mind.  If they can read well, write well, and they are facile with numbers that will take them a long way. 

 

ETA: the Ambleside Bible reading schedule has been such a gift, and led to wonderful conversations.  Plus, the KJV is great reading practice!

Edited August 20, 2016 by serendipitous journey

[Momto4inSoCal]

It's funny but I wrote almost the exact same post a year or so ago. I was following the well trained mind loosely at the time. After that post I sat down and plotted what our goals were and how I planned on accomplishing them. Then I started researching classical education and I've recently decided to dump our plans. I have no idea what we are going to do but I am much more informed lol. I know we are going to do latin, math and read a lot of books. Don't ask me about anything else. Next year (really this year but I'm in denial about summer being over) I still plan on doing a cultural study because it give me an excuse to make good food and visit new and exiting places (locally ie china town, korea town, little ethiopia there are some perks to living close to a big city). 

Edited August 20, 2016 by Momto4inSoCal