Do you remember how you started on these boards?

[Garga]

9 hours ago, KidsHappen said:

I remember that thread!

Oooo! That’s awesome! Bill was giving lots of advice from a “man’s perspective”.  It was a great first thread to post on. 🙂 I remember getting super invested in how that dinner was going to go and hoping she’d marry the guy.

And now I can’t remember if anything came of it. Did he enjoy the dinner? Was he actually interested in her romantically, or just being nice? 

[Garga]

5 hours ago, Laurel-in-CA said:

Time flies! Now I'm writing about "back to work" in my 60s, pandemic unemployment, and the discoveries of linkedin. LOL

I’m 48 and have applied for a job. I looked up the hiring manager on LinkedIn...and looked her up again...and again...and again. 

About 6 or 7 different times.  For no real reason. Just because I’m super excited about the job and was randomly looking.

Then! I got an email that showed that someone from the company where she works had looked me up.

And now I’m super worried that she got 6 different emails showing I looked her up. I feel like a big dork right now. 

I have never used LinkedIn before now and didn’t know they send a big fat announcement when you look up someone.  GRRRR. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Amy Gen said:

I found some of my posts going back to 2008, but that was when we got the “new” board format. I know I joined originally in 2000 when I first started homeschooling. 

Yeah I don’t think it goes back any farther than that for any of us who were on here before 2008. I have really no idea what thread I first posted in ever. I read so many before I dipped my toe in to comment. Here I am, 20,000 posts later...probably a lot of times I should read and not post. 

[kbutton]

11 hours ago, cabercro said:

More than anything it's helped me internalize the idea that there's ALWAYS an alternative out there to the way we think things 'have to' be done. 

QFT. I so agree.

[theelfqueen]

I joined when I first took Middle Chid out of high school and this was the only active board of academic high school homeschoolers I could find. 

[Porridge]

I’m curious - in what ways has the tenor of the boards had changed over the years?

I joined in 2012 when I couldn’t wrap my head around the thought of sending the kids to school where they would be apart from each other most of the day, and unable to spend a big chunk of their early years together as siblings.  I have appreciated  the wisdom and advice and handholding. Homeschooling would have been (and would be)  a qualitatively different experience without the boards.

 

[Guest]

7 hours ago, WTM said:

I’m curious - in what ways has the tenor of the boards had changed over the years?

I joined in 2012 when I couldn’t wrap my head around the thought of sending the kids to school where they would be apart from each other most of the day, and unable to spend a big chunk of their early years together as siblings.  I have appreciated  the wisdom and advice and handholding. Homeschooling would have been (and would be)  a qualitatively different experience without the boards.

 

When I was here originally, many posters were very conservative, large family homeschoolers. A lot of the posts had to do with topics specific to Christianity. Many of the posts about culture were argued from a scriptural/faith standpoint. The “CC” label was used quite a lot, to alert readers that the poster was askin a question from a Christian perspective. 

There were also a lot more anti-vax people (I was one, too for a while) or others doing non-mainstream things like girls wear dresses only, or eschewing birth control. 

I also think this group is much more humble now. It seemed long ago like there were a lot of “perfect parents,” who thought they would never have an issue with their kids because they were following god’s will. Or maybe that was just me! 

[Soror]

I heard of this forum from the Mothering forum. Mothering had a homeschool section but it was very unschool focused and not very big. I lurked here a bit and finally joined a bit before my oldest turned 6 when I realized that I was moving to a different phase of life and did not agree with the unschool approach. Next month is my 11 yr board-anniversary.

[mlktwins]

i joined in January 2009 when my boys were 4.5 years old.  I met with a twin mom, from our multiples group, who was a homeschooler.  We sat in a Panera for several hours talking and she told me to read The Well Trained Mind.  Here I am many years later with 2 almost 11th graders.

[Not_a_Number]

1 hour ago, Quill said:

When I was here originally, many posters were very conservative, large family homeschoolers. A lot of the posts had to do with topics specific to Christianity. Many of the posts about culture were argued from a scriptural/faith standpoint. The “CC” label was used quite a lot, to alert readers that the poster was askin a question from a Christian perspective. 

There were also a lot more anti-vax people (I was one, too for a while) or others doing non-mainstream things like girls wear dresses only, or eschewing birth control. 

I also think this group is much more humble now. It seemed long ago like there were a lot of “perfect parents,” who thought they would never have an issue with their kids because they were following god’s will. Or maybe that was just me! 

And yet it seems like despite the change of tenor, people have stayed thoughtful and interesting? 

[Garga]

1 hour ago, Not_a_Number said:

And yet it seems like despite the change of tenor, people have stayed thoughtful and interesting? 

I hope so, but I do wonder.

There were a lot (lot, lot) more threads about creationism and young earth vs old earth.

There were a lot of threads about modesty and what that means, and within those threads, head coverings often came up as there were (are?) a good number of boardies who would cover their hair.

There weren’t political threads. The political groups are all relatively new. 

I’ve wondered where all the very conservative people have gone. Maybe they felt that they were no longer welcome here. Maybe the voices that believed differently from them were too abrasive and chased them all away. 

If that’s the case, then that makes me feel sad. And I think it might be the case. 

 

Also, we’ve all gotten older. I feel like a big majority of the people here now have kids who are older or have kids that aren’t even homeschooling anymore. In the past, it seemed like there were mostly people teaching below HS on here. Every other month it seemed, someone was asking, “How do I homeschool with a toddler in the house?!” and there was advice given. 

There were endless threads about “What do you think about Saxon math/Wordly Wise/etc, etc?” I don’t feel like I ever see threads where people dive into what they like about a specific program anymore. 

Or maybe, since my kids aren’t homeschooling anymore, I just don’t notice those threads? Not sure. I used to live for reading the “what do you think about x curric” threads and I used to cut and paste many posts or links to threads for future reference when I was planning each school year. It was invaluable.

 

Edited April 25, 2021 by Garga

[Not_a_Number]

1 minute ago, Garga said:

I’ve wondered where all the very conservative people have gone. Maybe they felt that they were no longer welcome here. Maybe the voices that believed differently from them were too abrasive and chased them all away. 

I do think that the very conservative people have left, but I don't know if it was because other people were abrasive. In my experience, they could give as good (or better) than they got. I think they just resented being in the minority in a place they weren't used to it. 

 

2 minutes ago, Garga said:

Also, we’ve all gotten older. I feel like a big majority of the people here now have kids who are older or have kids that aren’t even homeschooling anymore. In the past, it seemed like there were mostly people teaching below HS on here. Every other month it seemed, someone was asking, “How do I homeschool with a toddler in the house?!” and there was advice given. 

This style of forum is pretty unfashionable, so I think the core of actual homeschoolers is smaller than it used to be. However, I do think it's still a relatively large group... I'm going to post a poll about that, actually. I've been wondering! 

 

[LauraClark]

What a fun topic this is. I've only been here since 2016 when my oldest was 4. I lurk a lot and have gleaned a tremendous amount from the veterans here. I'm hopeful that someday I'll be able to help the newbies as you all have helped me.

[Not_a_Number]

4 minutes ago, Seasider too said:

@Not_a_Numberthe conservative Christians that @Gargamentions left before you came along. I know you’ve experienced some exits, but the board overall tone had already changed before the last couple of years. I’m sad, too, that there was an exodus, but more sad that people (on both ends, fundamental and atheist) had trouble conducting graceful discourse. 

Ah, OK. I'm also sad when people can't simply talk to each other in a respectful way. I value respectful discourse above lots of other things... 

[sheryl]

A fellow homeschooling family - the wife, if my memory is correct, mentioned she visited the wtm/chat.  DH worked with her husband years ago and she mentioned this site during one of our visits.  

Her kids were 1-3 years older than my dd and I was just beginning to homeschool.   That was "around" 2005/2006.  I "think" I became a registered user on wtm chat around 2007.

Even though that is a long time, there are a few people who have been on longer than me.  And, of course, plenty or newbies.  

[Susan in TN]

I joined the Old Boards in 2001 and remember the fun of being "First!".  I can't remember how I found the boards originally - probably on a general search on homeschooling methods when my oldest was 5.  We hadn't planned to homeschool, but we realized ds might not thrive well in a classroom and we haven't looked back.  That was 20 years ago.

I am immensely grateful for SWB.

[GailV]

Another who started using the boards in 2001, but I think I was afraid to post for ages because everyone else seemed to actually know what they were doing in regards to both homeschool and how to use a message board.

I don't recall how I found the board.  I was also a fan of Mothering.com at the time, and had read TWTM about then, too.

[Hannah]

On 4/23/2021 at 6:20 PM, Susan Wise Bauer said:

Aww, you guys, I'm so enjoying reading this thread. Thank you.

These boards were as much of a help to me as we were to you. Now that my kids are 29, 27, 24, and 20, I'm happily retired from boots-on-the-ground home schooling (hey, we get to be FINISHED at some point, people), so I have a whole different perspective now.

Nothing stays the same, as the sages point out. And change always brings some decay. But there's also ALWAYS  good in the newest phase as well...whether it's the newest phase of the boards, or the newest phase of your life as a family.

swb

Thank you Susan for making these boards possible! They have enriched my life in so many ways, not just for our children's homeschooling journey, which is also now finished, but also through the wonderful discussions and different points of view  I've been able to read over the years. 

[2_girls_mommy]

On 4/22/2021 at 7:34 PM, Joker2 said:

I found this board after reading the book when I started homeschooling my dc. They were in 1st and 3rd grade - now they’re both in college. 😳

Me too, but only one in college so far.  I homeschooled for prek and K without a real direction, still researching, and I came to the book WTM after realizing many people said WTM suggested Rod and Staff English and I was already using R&S math that I had discovered at convention.  So I read WTM, and realized I really identified with how it taught everything and how it gave me a framework without being boxed into some currculum's boring daily checklist.  It taught me how to teach and gave me a framework of what to teach each subject.  So we started first grade and preK that year on WTM's rotations, and have gone through them fully three times, with my oldest being in her freshman year of college and my youngest starting this year on our fourth time through the history/science rotations with SOTW1 for her and Great Courses Mythology for my current high schooler. 

I must have joined the boards around then, when we started 1st grade which would have been in 2006. 

[2_girls_mommy]

On 4/25/2021 at 6:17 AM, Quill said:

When I was here originally, many posters were very conservative, large family homeschoolers. A lot of the posts had to do with topics specific to Christianity. Many of the posts about culture were argued from a scriptural/faith standpoint. The “CC” label was used quite a lot, to alert readers that the poster was askin a question from a Christian perspective. 

There were also a lot more anti-vax people (I was one, too for a while) or others doing non-mainstream things like girls wear dresses only, or eschewing birth control. 

I also think this group is much more humble now. It seemed long ago like there were a lot of “perfect parents,” who thought they would never have an issue with their kids because they were following god’s will. Or maybe that was just me! 

I think homeschooling in general was still that way back then, not just this board.  I started attending homeschooling conventions in 2006 or so, and I am what I consider a conservative and a Christian, but I was not a Conservative Christian, if that makes sense, I am from a mainline denomination.  The board is much less conservative than I am these days, lol, but I am glad that I am not standing out at homeschool events anymore because my kids can wear shorts or watch Disney or can go trick or treating.  It used to be hard for us to find a place where we fit in because our denomination isn't full of homeschoolers, and it was just something that I personally felt pulled towards. 

[Kalmia]

I came across The Well-Trained Mind, first edition, when my friend was considering homeschooling her children. I bought it for her and we took turns reading it. She ended up sending her kids to school. I sent mine for three years, but it was very clear that with his high-functioning ASD, he was somehow going to be ahead of the others academically but constantly punished and shamed for his inability to intuit proper attitudes and behaviors, so I remembered WTM and homeschooling and pulled him from school. Best decision ever. My friend, Captain Uhura began homeschooling as well. According to my profile, I joined the forum in 2011, but I feel like I must have lurked before that. I really appreciated all the in-depth critiques of curriculum and spent loads of money. Story of the World, Writing with Ease, Singapore Math and later Math Mammoth, Michael Clay Thompson, Spell to Write and Read and later Logic of English, One Year Adventure Novel, Killgallon and Image Grammar, K-12 History Odessy, all these favorites and more came to our homeschool as a result of this board. I happily went to the Royal Fireworks Press conference during which I met a number of boardies and SWB IRL, amazing women (and some men). I remember when the forum was much more contentious. I think some of the more contentious individuals left because it was so contentious (?) and formed their own group elsewhere. The board has been much milder since then. I particularly remember being amazed by a post about putting a barrier on a beach so that girls could play on one side and boys on the other for modesty reasons. I definitely learned a lot more about people with completely different worldview than mine and that has served me very well in terms of being a less black-and-white thinker. I do miss the epic intellectual threads that had very serious posters such as Esther Maria in them. It was great to participate in such intellectual discussions. And I miss the vintage books fad that seems to have burned out. I found so many gorgeous, sweet nature books by looking back 100 years! Now that I am done homeschooling, I still read the chat board and am thankful for the richness the people on this forum have brought to my life. 

Edited April 28, 2021 by Kalmia