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I get to hear SWB speak live tonight.


staceyobu
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47 minutes ago, staceyobu said:

I read the WTM when my oldest was 3. And joined this forum shortly thereafter. I figured out today that we have used some item written by SWB every single year since we began homeschooling, and usually multiple items. I cannot wait to see her in person. 

She’s such a good speaker. I know you’ll feel refreshed after hearing her. Enjoy!!

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3 hours ago, staceyobu said:

I read the WTM when my oldest was 3. And joined this forum shortly thereafter. I figured out today that we have used some item written by SWB every single year since we began homeschooling, and usually multiple items. I cannot wait to see her in person. 

Jealous!

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It was great! Over half the moms from my co-op attended as well! I'm still thinking over some of the things she said. One was allowing your high schooler to specialize. My oldest would spend all her time reading and writing and hates being forced to do math. I'm not totally sure how to allow her to specialize when most colleges want that 4x4 of math, science, history, and English. I also liked her emphasis on the classical virtues: prudence, temperance, courage, and justice. It's always so hard to sum up what classical education is! It's not memorization, it's not the stages, it's not a four year history cycle. I liked the idea of using those as summary points for what classical education is. 

SWB.jpg

SWB2.jpg

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On 2/21/2020 at 11:41 AM, staceyobu said:

. My oldest would spend all her time reading and writing and hates being forced to do math. I'm not totally sure how to allow her to specialize when most colleges want that 4x4 of math, science, history, and English. 

4x4 still leaves 2 full classes in a standard 6 credit year, plus free time. 

You can have different levels of rigor and level for different subjects. Neither of my kids did calculus in high school. My goal was for them to be prepared for higher math and to not shut any doors, and it worked for us (someone eying a competitive STEM school might be knocking on different doors, but I still maintain that you can't force the math until they're ready). My oldest will get one of her degrees in economics and computational analysis, and did just fine in the calc series alongside the engineering majors at a STEM school - she didn't start at the math level of some of her peers, but she had the foundation to do the work and that's what she needed. 

My oldest did a fairly difficult science series; my youngest was all about the Holt high school books and then swapping out physics for geology. 

Not every class has to be standard input/output. A lot of assignments in public school exist to check understanding, which you don't have to do nearly as often if you are having daily discussions and such. We did history together all four years, sitting on the couch reading out loud or watching lectures. Lots of discussion. It was great, because if they had questions or misunderstandings, they were generally cleared up right in the moment. I don't think they wrote a single history paper in high school, but had zero problems doing so in college. 

Question every assignment and only do what is worthwhile in your personal context. Ask yourself if it's busywork. Ask yourself if it's meant to check understanding that the student has already demonstrated. Ask yourself if it has to be written. What is the goal of the assignment? Is it a worthy goal? If it is, can it be achieved in a simpler or less time-consuming way? 

If you do a very standard school year with a long summer break and typical holidays, consider shaking that up. My kids didn't like super long days; we did a longer school year with shorter days and more interspersed days off instead. We started the first Monday in August; June usually saw us finishing up a few things (so really short days and more days off), and we took off all of July. We didn't take off a full week for Thanksgiving or two weeks for Christmas, because we preferred being able to take days here and there. We did trim things down and spend more time on stuff like independent reading and fun projects. 

My kids didn't play sports or do a ton of ECs, so that also translated into having more free time for their interests. I think that a solid 4x4 plus a special interest is very doable for most homeschooled students in particular. They aren't sitting in class bored and waiting to move on, and they aren't sitting in class lost while the class moves on. Their assignments can be carefully chosen. I do think it's important to have those foundations in all core subjects, because you never know what direction they'll head. That girl is going to have at least one math-heavy business major, said absolutely no one when my oldest was 14, lol. That girl is going to study accounting, said absolutely no one when my youngest was 14. You just never know. 

I was very amenable to lots of input on what was studied and how, but sometimes my kids had no better ideas for what was a required subject in our home. In that case, tally ho, move forward, keep trucking, it won't kill you. One of mine strongly disliked standard math, but likewise had zero interest in alternative approaches. Oh well. Suffering builds character 😄

 

Edited by katilac
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On 2/21/2020 at 12:41 PM, staceyobu said:

It was great! Over half the moms from my co-op attended as well! I'm still thinking over some of the things she said. One was allowing your high schooler to specialize. My oldest would spend all her time reading and writing and hates being forced to do math. I'm not totally sure how to allow her to specialize when most colleges want that 4x4 of math, science, history, and English. I also liked her emphasis on the classical virtues: prudence, temperance, courage, and justice. It's always so hard to sum up what classical education is! It's not memorization, it's not the stages, it's not a four year history cycle. I liked the idea of using those as summary points for what classical education is. 

Just to note... most colleges want to see that specialization too though. They want to see that your student checked off everything, but that they went more in depth with some things and that they have sustained interests. So, for that 4x4, maybe your oldest will just do the minimum "good" for math and science but will do a much more rigorous set of history and English and will do an elective or two that highlights her writing or reading or something else. And then when she goes to apply for colleges, that will be her "story" - that her love of ___ really shines through.

SWB is such a good speaker. I have to admit that I don't adore TWTM overall, but the couple of times I've heard her speak, I do adore so much of what she says and emphasizes about the reality of homeschooling and shepherding kids.

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On 2/21/2020 at 11:41 AM, staceyobu said:

One was allowing your high schooler to specialize.

Without planning it ahead of time, my eldest's transcript certainly showed what she loved. She had something like 8 credits of foreign language credits & that didn't count the high school level Spanish & Latin she took in middle school or the extra time she spent (effectively doubling up time wise) on her foreign languages some semesters through personal tutoring. I did allow her to only do 3 yrs of science (2 school years + one semester DE) and to skip History senior year because she had four credits already by the end of junior year.

My next kid will have a lot of art/fine arts credits because that's the sort of kid she is. She'll have 4 yrs of science & math, probably, but they won't be 'rigorous' courses. I'm hoping to get her through Algebra 2 & then have her take DE College Algebra or run her through a semester of Stats. But, it might just be Alg 2... Specialization for the right kid doesn't mean putting aside the other subjects, but it might mean some creativity or compromise. 

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