Intro myself
Ruth MacAlister
Hello, everyone!
New to homeschooling, my family and I are slowly adjusting. My husband
and I have two daughters, ages 8 & 10. We made the decision to
homeschool because of concerns about social issues in the schools, and
also because we just didn't feel the girls were getting what they need.
They are both very bright, and often complained about the boredom they
experienced in the classroom. Since bringing them home, we have found
that they have really lost their natural curiosity. It seems public
school has drummed it right out of them! We began with a canned
curriculum but within two days knew it would never work for us--too much
structure and very boring. Next, I tried just pulling stuff together on
my own, but the girls still weren't very interested. We are currently
trying to 'deschool' them, but I am finding all of this very
stressful--much more so than they! My husband is very confident about
unschooling, and I am intrigued, but wary. I definitely need to be
deschooled, first! I have never been a system-bucker, so this is very
scary, uncharted territory for me. However, I can't h*lp but want more
for my girls. Can anyone tell me what to expect from my girls? How
long will it take them to come around to really wanting to learn,
again? How long will it take me to quit worrying about assessments and
grade-level tasks, etc.? I would love to hear survival stories from
parents who have been where I am. TIA.
Ruth
New to homeschooling, my family and I are slowly adjusting. My husband
and I have two daughters, ages 8 & 10. We made the decision to
homeschool because of concerns about social issues in the schools, and
also because we just didn't feel the girls were getting what they need.
They are both very bright, and often complained about the boredom they
experienced in the classroom. Since bringing them home, we have found
that they have really lost their natural curiosity. It seems public
school has drummed it right out of them! We began with a canned
curriculum but within two days knew it would never work for us--too much
structure and very boring. Next, I tried just pulling stuff together on
my own, but the girls still weren't very interested. We are currently
trying to 'deschool' them, but I am finding all of this very
stressful--much more so than they! My husband is very confident about
unschooling, and I am intrigued, but wary. I definitely need to be
deschooled, first! I have never been a system-bucker, so this is very
scary, uncharted territory for me. However, I can't h*lp but want more
for my girls. Can anyone tell me what to expect from my girls? How
long will it take them to come around to really wanting to learn,
again? How long will it take me to quit worrying about assessments and
grade-level tasks, etc.? I would love to hear survival stories from
parents who have been where I am. TIA.
Ruth
Susan (mother to 5 in Fla)
Ruth
I've heard it takes 1 month for each year in school to de-school. It'll
depend on the child. Mine never went to school so I can't give you any
first hand experience. In fact my dd talks of wanting to go to school.
When I ask her why she talks of playing on the playground all day. That's
the only thing she's seen of ps.
As for de-schooling yourself you need to read a book The Underground History
of American Education by John Taylor Gatto. I knew I didn't like ps but
this book has fueled my stand. My mother had been an elementary teacher so
I started young seeing the system. I had worked in ps first at a police
academy then at the county office then at a middle school. Before dd was
born I told dh she'd never go to ps. It took the whole time from then till
K to convince him I could do it. Now he wouldn't have it anyother way.
No it's not perfect & some days I'd love to get them out of my hair but I
need only a few minutes out of their sight & I'm ok.
I've heard it takes 1 month for each year in school to de-school. It'll
depend on the child. Mine never went to school so I can't give you any
first hand experience. In fact my dd talks of wanting to go to school.
When I ask her why she talks of playing on the playground all day. That's
the only thing she's seen of ps.
As for de-schooling yourself you need to read a book The Underground History
of American Education by John Taylor Gatto. I knew I didn't like ps but
this book has fueled my stand. My mother had been an elementary teacher so
I started young seeing the system. I had worked in ps first at a police
academy then at the county office then at a middle school. Before dd was
born I told dh she'd never go to ps. It took the whole time from then till
K to convince him I could do it. Now he wouldn't have it anyother way.
No it's not perfect & some days I'd love to get them out of my hair but I
need only a few minutes out of their sight & I'm ok.
D Klement
Ruth MacAlister wrote:
Although my kids were younger ( 6 and 7 ) we went through the same basic
situation.
First thing I'd like to recommend is that you let them take at least 6
months off from any type of formal learning.
" But how will they learn anything" you're thinking, yes?
Wait a couple of weeks and then start bringing any books home from the
library you think might even slightly interest them. I Stuck with good
literature and good non-fiction (books about Rome that were for around
grades 6-9 and the Eye Witness books on anything, those types of
book).Leave them around the house where they will see them. Pick them up
and let them see you taking an interest in these books.
Have a family reading time everyday where you read books aloud to them
for 20 min. After a few weeks you might try to engage them in taking a
turn reading aloud from it so you can rest your voice.
Rent interesting, stimulating movies ....my now 10 yob loved the black
and white Julius Caesar (Shakespeare) because it was simple enough for
him to follow and fuelled his interest in ancient Rome. He just
yesterday insisted on watching the most current filming of Les
Miserables movie off our satellite dish. He watched it all the way
through. We got into a great philosophical and moral discussion on why
Jabert (sp? the cop who pursues Jean Val Jean throughout out the entire
movie), jumped into the river at the end of the movie, letting Val Jean
escape.
Learning will happen in spite of your not teaching them. Your job is to
provide the opportunities for learning, debate and discussion, and also
to teach them how to find the information about what ever it is that is
interesting to them at the time ( how to search on the net, how to use
encyclopaedias properly, how to use a dictionary and thesaurus etc.,
etc..).
I like to make sure that the TV viewing is monitored and doesn't become
an obsession around our house. It is a monster that my son deals with
daily. It draws him like flies to honey. He is allowed to watch the
educational channels but must have permission to watch other things
...otherwise he'll sit there literally all day in a zombie like trance.
Right now our house is obsessed with the Olympics and Saturday my 9 yod
decided to start colouring all the flags of the countries' she she
watched competing (her brother and high schooled sister decided to join
her). There was her Art and Geography and history lesson for the day (
history because there is no USSR flag anymore and she couldn't find some
of the countries in her atlas with the flags listed in it. She had to
watch the TV to figure what the flag was supposed to look like and I had
to explain the disassembly of the former Soviet Union).
My 9 yod is now knitting for the first time, she is already looking at
patterns in a children's' knitting book. This learning opportunity will
teach her to follow written directions, plan out a project and estimate
materials as well as teach her some mathematical skills that are
required to achieve the end result (knitters and crocheters will
understand what I mean, mk1's and yo's and decreases etc.)
Don't be too frightened of the process and have faith in your children.
It may take a year or more to see significant results (that's how long
it took me and I am ever so glad I waited, and had faith in my kids
abilities to learn on their own).
Children are never taught in school either they are just given
information and are given the opportunity to learn the material, but
it's in a noisy, crowded environment without the benefit of individual
attention. It's up to the child to learn from the instructions, ideas
and the materials provided by a teacher. Nobody can force a child to
learn anything, they have to be willing/wanting to learn it.
Debbie/Buzz
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Klement Family "Education is what survives when
Darryl, Debbie, what has been learned has been
Kathleen, Nathan & forgotten"
Samantha B.F. Skinner in "New Scientist".
e-mail- klement@...
Canadian homeschool page: http:\\www.flora.org/homeschool-ca/
Ont. Federation of Teaching Parents: http:\\www.flora.org/oftp/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>I hear ya girlfriend !
>
> Hello, everyone!
>
> New to homeschooling, my family and I are slowly adjusting. My husband
> and I have two daughters, ages 8 & 10. We made the decision to
> homeschool because of concerns about social issues in the schools, and
> also because we just didn't feel the girls were getting what they need.
> They are both very bright, and often complained about the boredom they
> experienced in the classroom. Since bringing them home, we have found
> that they have really lost their natural curiosity. It seems public
> school has drummed it right out of them! We began with a canned
> curriculum but within two days knew it would never work for us--too much
> structure and very boring. Next, I tried just pulling stuff together on
> my own, but the girls still weren't very interested. We are currently
> trying to 'deschool' them, but I am finding all of this very
> stressful--much more so than they! My husband is very confident about
> unschooling, and I am intrigued, but wary. I definitely need to be
> deschooled, first! I have never been a system-bucker, so this is very
> scary, uncharted territory for me. However, I can't h*lp but want more
> for my girls. Can anyone tell me what to expect from my girls? How
> long will it take them to come around to really wanting to learn,
> again? How long will it take me to quit worrying about assessments and
> grade-level tasks, etc.? I would love to hear survival stories from
> parents who have been where I am. TIA.
>
> Ruth
Although my kids were younger ( 6 and 7 ) we went through the same basic
situation.
First thing I'd like to recommend is that you let them take at least 6
months off from any type of formal learning.
" But how will they learn anything" you're thinking, yes?
Wait a couple of weeks and then start bringing any books home from the
library you think might even slightly interest them. I Stuck with good
literature and good non-fiction (books about Rome that were for around
grades 6-9 and the Eye Witness books on anything, those types of
book).Leave them around the house where they will see them. Pick them up
and let them see you taking an interest in these books.
Have a family reading time everyday where you read books aloud to them
for 20 min. After a few weeks you might try to engage them in taking a
turn reading aloud from it so you can rest your voice.
Rent interesting, stimulating movies ....my now 10 yob loved the black
and white Julius Caesar (Shakespeare) because it was simple enough for
him to follow and fuelled his interest in ancient Rome. He just
yesterday insisted on watching the most current filming of Les
Miserables movie off our satellite dish. He watched it all the way
through. We got into a great philosophical and moral discussion on why
Jabert (sp? the cop who pursues Jean Val Jean throughout out the entire
movie), jumped into the river at the end of the movie, letting Val Jean
escape.
Learning will happen in spite of your not teaching them. Your job is to
provide the opportunities for learning, debate and discussion, and also
to teach them how to find the information about what ever it is that is
interesting to them at the time ( how to search on the net, how to use
encyclopaedias properly, how to use a dictionary and thesaurus etc.,
etc..).
I like to make sure that the TV viewing is monitored and doesn't become
an obsession around our house. It is a monster that my son deals with
daily. It draws him like flies to honey. He is allowed to watch the
educational channels but must have permission to watch other things
...otherwise he'll sit there literally all day in a zombie like trance.
Right now our house is obsessed with the Olympics and Saturday my 9 yod
decided to start colouring all the flags of the countries' she she
watched competing (her brother and high schooled sister decided to join
her). There was her Art and Geography and history lesson for the day (
history because there is no USSR flag anymore and she couldn't find some
of the countries in her atlas with the flags listed in it. She had to
watch the TV to figure what the flag was supposed to look like and I had
to explain the disassembly of the former Soviet Union).
My 9 yod is now knitting for the first time, she is already looking at
patterns in a children's' knitting book. This learning opportunity will
teach her to follow written directions, plan out a project and estimate
materials as well as teach her some mathematical skills that are
required to achieve the end result (knitters and crocheters will
understand what I mean, mk1's and yo's and decreases etc.)
Don't be too frightened of the process and have faith in your children.
It may take a year or more to see significant results (that's how long
it took me and I am ever so glad I waited, and had faith in my kids
abilities to learn on their own).
Children are never taught in school either they are just given
information and are given the opportunity to learn the material, but
it's in a noisy, crowded environment without the benefit of individual
attention. It's up to the child to learn from the instructions, ideas
and the materials provided by a teacher. Nobody can force a child to
learn anything, they have to be willing/wanting to learn it.
Debbie/Buzz
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Klement Family "Education is what survives when
Darryl, Debbie, what has been learned has been
Kathleen, Nathan & forgotten"
Samantha B.F. Skinner in "New Scientist".
e-mail- klement@...
Canadian homeschool page: http:\\www.flora.org/homeschool-ca/
Ont. Federation of Teaching Parents: http:\\www.flora.org/oftp/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LisaKK
Hi Ruth and Welcome!
It seems public
academic in nauter. :(
We are currently
yourself that nothing you do for the next 6 months is going to ruin their
lives or leave the uneducated from the remainder of their lives, maybe you
can relax?. Place your trust in your husband. He surely doesn't want the
kids to grow up not learning, so let him has his way for 6 months. (course
you might not want to tell him this outloud.. he might have a heart attack.
<G>)
<<I have never been a system-bucker, so this is very
scary, uncharted territory for me. >>
Is this the same thing as saying you were always a good girl and did what
everyone asked?
<< Can anyone tell me what to expect from my girls? How
long will it take them to come around to really wanting to learn,
again? How long will it take me to quit worrying about assessments and
grade-level tasks, etc.? I would love to hear survival stories from
parents who have been where I am. >>
Well, no, no one can tell you this about your girls.. so much of it depends
on how hurt they were by the system, how they react to stress, how old they
are.... so very many factors.
I think you should put your worry on hold, layaway maybe. Then in 6 months
you can pay the balance and get it out again.
Let's explore what grade level means.... what do you think 5th grade math
is?
LisaKK
It seems public
> school has drummed it right out of them!Yep, Public school teaches lots and lots of lessons, very few of them
academic in nauter. :(
We are currently
> trying to 'deschool' them, but I am finding all of this veryBeing wary is where your stress is coming from. If you could just tell
> stressful--much more so than they! My husband is very confident about
> unschooling, and I am intrigued, but wary. I definitely need to be
> deschooled, first!
yourself that nothing you do for the next 6 months is going to ruin their
lives or leave the uneducated from the remainder of their lives, maybe you
can relax?. Place your trust in your husband. He surely doesn't want the
kids to grow up not learning, so let him has his way for 6 months. (course
you might not want to tell him this outloud.. he might have a heart attack.
<G>)
<<I have never been a system-bucker, so this is very
scary, uncharted territory for me. >>
Is this the same thing as saying you were always a good girl and did what
everyone asked?
<< Can anyone tell me what to expect from my girls? How
long will it take them to come around to really wanting to learn,
again? How long will it take me to quit worrying about assessments and
grade-level tasks, etc.? I would love to hear survival stories from
parents who have been where I am. >>
Well, no, no one can tell you this about your girls.. so much of it depends
on how hurt they were by the system, how they react to stress, how old they
are.... so very many factors.
I think you should put your worry on hold, layaway maybe. Then in 6 months
you can pay the balance and get it out again.
Let's explore what grade level means.... what do you think 5th grade math
is?
LisaKK