If you could do only do one thing for homeschooling, what would it be and why?

[mommyoffive]

This is a spinoff of SKL's post in Afterschooling, which I thought was neat

 

 

If you could only do one thing for homeschooling what would it be and why?

 

 

 

I am really wondering on the why for each person or family.  Especially if you have older kids and can more see the effects of you doing the one thing for them as younger kids.

 

For example music- which led to a scholarship

 

math that led to high tests scores and scholarships 

 

Sports- which led to them living a healthy lifestyle

 

 

 

Or did you pick the one thing based on what is more important to your own family?  

 

 

For example you said spending time in the outdoors because that is something your family deems really important.

 

Or music, because you are a musical family

[Guest]

Reading tons of books- because reading to me is the door to anything and everything.

[Angie in VA]

Reading tons of books- because reading to me is the door to anything and everything.

 

 

:iagree:  This would include read alouds too, btw. 

[DawnM]

Reading tons of books- because reading to me is the door to anything and everything.

Sonlight promised voracious readers and I was so disappointed when my oldest has a reading issue and LDs and couldn't read until he was 9.

 

But we kept at it. I read a lot to them, etc.....

 

And now, two of the three of them are great readers and love to read.

 

I am so glad I stuck it out the years I wasn't quite sure it was "working."

[Jean in Newcastle]

Teach kids directly. 

[DawnM]

One thing? Hmmmm......

 

Honestly, I think my boys got the most out of scouting with their homeschool troop through the years.

 

That may not be what you are wanting as an answer, but we got so much out of it.

 

Learning to cook

Learning survival skills

Learning to recall information

Learning about good Citizenship

Valuing service projects and community service activities

Giving back to others

Valuing money

Conservation issues

 

 

and the list could go on and on.

[busymama7]

I'm having a difficult time choosing between math and reading including reading aloud. Reading is the key to everything of course but math needs to be taught incrementally and consistently. I couldn't leave either of those two things out.

 

I'm really glad we made music a priority as I now have a son who struggled with school and reading but he is an accomplished musician and it is opening lots of doors for him.

Edited September 27, 2016 by busymama7

[December]

I'd send them to public school because I'm not going to only teach them one subject, no matter how life changing it is.

[JFSinIL]

History!  It is fun, we love history here, lots of crafts and field trips for younger fry, and it is barely covered in school (unless a kid takes AP courses in high school).

[Ausmumof3]

Make sure they can read well. If they can read well they can learn so much more themselves.

[SparklyUnicorn]

math

 

For selfish reasons because I want to understand it.  In terms of results, it led to my first kid taking math courses at the CC early, but way more important than that it led to him having a much better foundation than I had. 

 

How I pulled that off...no damn clue.  Although I don't think I can take all the credit.  I'm taking some though...at least a little.  I get an A for positive attitude and effort.  LOL

 

A close runner up is reading out loud to them.  I love doing that. 

[Ravin]

Reasoning skills.

[lllll]

nm

Edited October 4, 2016 by Cathi

[QueenCat]

Experiences

[LMD]

Reading.

We can read books about math, history, science or anything.

 

If they can read well, and have the stamina to read difficult things, then they can at least begin to learn anything.

It also offers rich food for critical thinking, experience and philosophy.

 

#2 would be free/unstructured time - especially outside.

 

 

Dh is much more unschooly than me, he always says that once they can read, do long division and know their times tables then they'll have been better educated by their schooling experience than he was...

[Arcadia]

Whatever we did, we would have done even if kids were in B&M school.

 

For example we took kids to Legoland for a week during term time while they were in public school by filling up the "leave form".

 

We sent kids to gym class to improve their motor skills which were behind in milestones.

 

We paid for music lessons even when they were in public school.

 

We paid for sports lessons even when they were in public school so that they could try bowling, golf, horse riding, archery which is not part of their school PE program.

 

We would have paid for AoPS classss even if they were in public school.

 

We paid for german Saturday class starting from when kids were in public school kindergarten because we want kids to be at least bilingual.

 

Both my kids were reading before K or they would have been sent to Sylvan by my hubby for english remedial :lol:

 

When we were afterschooling, the emphasis was on gymnastics instruction because my kids won't behind enough to qualify for therapy but they were behind enough to need gym classes.

 

So not sure what question is asking for.

 

ETA:

My district allowed parents to sign for 13 days leave from school, but 5 consecutive days. Flying back home for student's grandparent's funerals fall under a different category. So we took off whenever hubby has a fun business trip.

Edited September 28, 2016 by Arcadia

[Lady Marmalade]

History.

 

It encompasses reading and social studies, and if my kids were in PS, that is what I would want them to learn outside of the brick and mortar school, because history is so seldom studied to it's fullest in school. 

[BrittanyM]

Reading (including reading aloud like pp said) for the same reasons LMD said. You can learn anything by reading, even some math. Reading can broaden your horizons so that you have a better understanding of the world in general.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[J-rap]

Reading great literature.  It has history, philosophy, life lessons, politics, humor, and so much more.  Plus, it's fun.

[mamiof5]

Religion. If they know their faith, and learn to love, know, and serve God in this life so they can be with Him in the next then I'm good, mission accomplished.

[kroe1]

Science lab. All subjects can be learned within a good science lab.

[Guest]

Well, whenever we have to do minimal schoolwork, math is the one thing we do almost no matter what. The "why" for me is that I'm not naturally inclined to math, so I don't feel confident that my kids will just naturally "pick up" important math concepts and procedures.

 

In reality, though, I would not dream of doing only one thing for homeschooling.

[elegantlion]

Reading, including reading aloud.

[The Girls' Mom]

One actual mom-taught school thing? Assuming they could read, it would be math.  That is what seems to be hardest to pick up naturally.  Our family culture would take care of the rest, as we are big recreational readers, and we all love to learn about history and science outside of school.  

If they couldn't read, and learning to read had to count as a school thing, then it would be reading because you can't go much further educationally without it. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

I hope that no one takes away from this that you could just do one thing for homeschooling and call it good. I know that isn't the intention of posters on this thread but there have been neglectful homeschoolers who really do seem to operate on this principle.

 

 

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[Nan in Mass]

Math, because everything else we probably would have happened anyway, except academic writing, and it is possible to learn that fairly quickly, when needed. Math, on the other hand, is very sequential and takes time. It took me several years to get a reasonably intelligent adult with good practical oral math skills (enough to lay out a garden, double a recipe, and figure tips) from not knowing that sticking a zero on the end of a number multiplies the number by ten, to the point where she was ready to take algebra. If I had a child who wanted to go into a STEM field after high school and we only did oral/practical math as it arose, I think that child would have to spend a minimum of two years catching up on math, probably more like three or four.

 

Nan

[mommyoffive]

I hope that no one takes away from this that you could just do one thing for homeschooling and call it good. I know that isn't the intention of posters on this thread but there have been neglectful homeschoolers who really do seem to operate on this principle.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yeah so not the way I was intending the question.  

[BlsdMama]

This is a spinoff of SKL's post in Afterschooling, which I thought was neat

 

 

If you could only do one thing for homeschooling what would it be and why?

 

 

 

I am really wondering on the why for each person or family.  Especially if you have older kids and can more see the effects of you doing the one thing for them as younger kids.

 

For example music- which led to a scholarship

 

math that led to high tests scores and scholarships 

 

Sports- which led to them living a healthy lifestyle

 

 

 

Or did you pick the one thing based on what is more important to your own family?  

 

 

For example you said spending time in the outdoors because that is something your family deems really important.

 

Or music, because you are a musical family

 

 

Academically?  Nurture and create readers.

 

Sanity?  Spend a lot of time outside.

 

Socially?  Connect with other homeschool families.  I have figured out this isn't an "ideal," it's a need.

[Angie in VA]

:iagree:  This would include read alouds too, btw. 

 

 

I posted music on that other thread, and I still stand by that, but we budget-and sacrifice-for music lessons, orchestras, competitions, etc. for our kids.

 

I can't teach music lessons or lead an orchestra. Reading I can do. I can provide books, even if they're from the library or on a Kindle. I can read aloud. 

 

Just wanted to clarify. 

Edited September 28, 2016 by Angie in VA

[Crimson Wife]

We spent spring semester 2015 in "crisis" mode because of my little one's health issues. Math was the subject that absolutely needed to get done. My HSed kids are strong readers so I knew everything else could get caught up on easily. Math I had to switch to self-teaching programs (Math Mammoth for my DS and Algebra the Easy Way  for my oldest) but I knew it needed to get done.

[helena]

Traveling and hosting people who are traveling through.

 

They've met, and interacted with so many fascinating people and places. They've had to rely on their homeschool knowledge base to engage and keep up with the grown ups, which I know they really want to do. 

 

This summer we took a few trips, and I think they used every skill taught in the classroom. And then some. :)

 

For example, this summer we were at a country house in England that's an "intentional community". There we met a Roma poet who's an old friend of our hosts.  He was like someone out of another time and place, he was interesting in every way. He spoke to the girls about poetry in his life, he made references to works the kids knew, he smoked a cigarette, cleared his throat, and recited a beautiful poem. In a short time they thought about poetry, politics, human rights, history, and geography. Even if they didn't quite realize it, they connected all these small bits of things learned on paper and screen then finally engaged in real life. When I was a kid, my mom would always say to me "Are you experienced?" Yeah, Jimi Hendrix was talking about dropping acid, I'm sure... Haha! But, that's my burning question in life I think. I'm a pretty cynical person, I think we all are here in my house. Experience, movement, and engaging keeps us slightly less so. It keeps us humbled and appreciative to be part of it all. 

 

For us, having older kids, this is what's most important. They have a solid foundation, I'm a pretty old fashioned style teacher. We have a classroom, we have a planner, we have set class times... But beyond that, I never wanted the kids to wait for young adulthood to jump into the world. 

[73349]

At this stage, supposing he were in school or something? Science. He likes it, we like it, and I know the ps would not do it sufficiently. It would shine a light on weaknesses in other areas, too--reading, reasoning, arithmetic--and provide an opportunity to strengthen them.

 

I see so many people who do not seem to have had the benefit of decent science education (e.g., running a red light in a jeep with no doors, roof, or seatbelts--Any physics at all, sir?!).

[Reefgazer]

Read.  You can learn anything if you can read.