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I have gotten some great advice over the years and have been blessed with
many homeschool mentors. People that I can send an SOS to and they always seem
to have an answer -- one that works for me from someone who has been there done
that. They have made it through and with their encouragement and prayers -- I
make it through another day.
Karen is one of those great people that is always there to help. Awhile back
she shared some great information that I thought I would pass onto all of you.
Since I cannot put it into words as eloquently as she has -- here are her words.
May it bless you as it has me and may you to find someone to help you through
the tough days. Thanks Karen for everything!!
From
Karen:
Here's what I recommend to others
for des-chooling. I wish I had had someone suggest this to me when we
started homeschooling instead of jumping into a full program.
For the first few months don't choose a curriculum or jump into a full program.
Get to know your child. Let your child get to know you. The two of
you are going to have to learn to relate to each other in different roles.
If you child has spent one or more years in traditional school and you are
bringing them home to school often its because there are some issues. (I
know not always but it tends to be more typical.) The longer your child
was in school and the more issues there are the longer it will take both of you
to de-stress.
So how can you start homeschooling without transferring all the stress from the
classroom into your own home. Here are some easy tips to get started.
All of the tips can be modified to fit the skill level of your particular child.
1. Go to the library together. Choose a book of fiction and a
book of non-fiction for your child that you will read to them regardless of
their age. Yes you can read aloud to your high schooler. Let your
child choose a fiction and non-fiction book that they will read to you or read
to themselves. Even if they are not reading yet let them choose something
they can enjoy even if they are reading the pictures. Then mom go to adult
section and check out a book on homeschooling and one other book just for mom to
enjoy. (Early first step is make me time for mom.) When you have
finished your books go back to the library and repeat step one over and over
until you are ready for more formal academics. What this step accomplishes
is one you get in the habit of using living books both fiction and non-fiction
for learning. You get in the habit of reading to your child. You get
an idea of what interests your child. You have a chance to learn more
about homeschooling. (And you establish the habit of setting aside time to
fill mom back up.) If your library is slim on homeschooling books check with a
local support group or buy something at the book store.
2. Find a local support group. Some areas have only one and some
areas have several to choose from. If there is more than one then you
might want to investigate a couple to find the one that best fits you.
They are a wealth of information because they usually know exactly how to fulfill
the homeschool laws in your area. They know where good bargains can be
found. Many have used book sales or lending libraries. Most offer
support to mom and social opportunities for your child. Advantages the
information is local, mom gets encouraged, and a child who is used to spending
daily time with peers doesn't feel so completely cut off from the rest of the
world as they transition. Many who start homeschooling may never have met
an other homeschooler so they maybe feeling isolated or somewhat freak like.
CAUTION: You do not need to participate in every field trip and every
activity. Many new homeschool moms tend to error on the side of too much.
They don't want their child to feel deprived of a social life so they sign up
for everything they hear about. The problem is if they child is stressed
out all this running to and fro won't solve the problem. Also you won't
have the chance to get to know one another which is the main thing you need to
do this first year.
3. Check out your local retailer either of school supplies or even Wal-mart
and pick up some math workbooks. You might even want to start below where
you think your child is. Work on memorizing math facts either with written
drill, flashcards, or computer programs. Depending on the age this might
be addition or multiplication. Watch for areas that seem to be difficult
for your child. Advantage you have a chance to see if your child has some
gaps in their learning. You get an idea on whether or not they seem to
need hands on, verbal, or sight clues to add them in their learning. Once
you have an idea of their style then you can explore math programs that seem
better suited to that type of learning. Request some placement tests and
go from there. Again if you belong to a local support group you might be
able to test out a couple of programs for a week or two before ordering for
yourself.
4. Start copy work, dictation, narration, and/or creative writing.
You can choose to start with any one or a combination of them depending on your
child's skill level. Copy work is finding interesting pages or Bible
verses and having your child either copy straight from the source or for you to
recopy on lined paper and then having them write below your writing.
Dictation is similar except they are writing from your oral presentation of the
passage. Narration is for your child to either dictate to you or to write
for themselves about the books that you have been reading from the library both
together and on their own. And creative writing is just that writing for
the enjoyment of it. You might also encourage your child to keep a
journal or a scrapbook of their first year at home. You doing the writing
if necessary. The Writers Inc. series is a great set of reference books at
all skill levels and a great first reference book. Advantage it gets your
child to think about what they are reading. It improves handwriting.
It gets them starting in the writing process.
5. Mom can take this time to collect catalogs, surf the net, join
e-groups, meet local homeschool moms, go to curriculum fairs, and learn to add
this very big lifestyle change into her already busy life. Mom can also
begin to form a school mission statement. To start to lay out the big
picture points of why they are homeschooling and the big goals they hope to
accomplish. Then they can compare curriculum they are considering against
these goals. For example to train your children to be godly men and women.
To have them able to gather information from a variety of sources. To be
able to be bold in their faith. To have them be self supporting adults.
Whatever your goals it helps to get them on paper. You can always go back
to them from time to time and refine them or change them. You can break
down the big goals into smaller more short term goals. But it helps to
have a destination on mind when you begin any journey.
6. And depending on your faith choose to read the Bible and prayer
together daily. For many families this is the most important thing they
will do that first year but since I tried to make up the list to fit any new
homeschooler regardless of religion I tuck in at the end.
The nice thing about this plan is that even in a very restrictive state you are
covering your bases without drowning yourself. You can cover science and
history in you non-fiction reading. You can cover literature in your
fiction reading. They are writing with their copy work, etc. You are
covering math. If you have joined a local support group you may very well
also be getting in field trips and some PE time as well.
I wrote all this out because honestly I wish someone had told me this our first
year. We jumped in with both feet into a full program where I had to send
the stuff back in. I was so afraid of messing up. It wasn't a good
fit. My son was so stressed and having so many problems that it just made
that first year harder then it needed to be. I back way down the 2nd year
and things were much better. It is always much easier to add to than to
take away from. I didn't realize that knowing my child after school and
knowing my child as the teacher for school where two completely different things
especially if you have been used to the traditional school role dynamic.
Even as homeschooling becomes a way of life they are still differences in how I
relate to my children during school time and how I relate to them during chore
time or down time.
Also if you are starting this adventure with more than one child you need to get
to know each child as an individual. While many curriculum will work with
many kids most need some tweaking for your family and for each child within the
family. Trust me 5 kids, 5 personalities, 5 sets of strengths and
weakness, 5 learning styles.
Some new homeschool rules
1. You don't need it all. Its better to buy one of something and try
it out. If a book is whole series try the first one before you buy a set.
2. If it doesn't work be willing to cut your loses and try something else.
It isn't the money you'll save by using it anyway if it doesn't work and is
making everyone miserable.
3. You can't do it all. There will be days when you have the house
spotless. There will be days when all the laundry is all caught up.
There will be days when a wonderful dinner is ready on time. There will be
days when everything you wanted to accomplish for school is done. But
rarely will you have day when all of these things happen together. A
schedule even one based on time chunks or list of priorities is very helpful but
even a schedule is not a miracle worker.
4. You can't teach it all. There is no way your child can know
everything about everything they will ever need to know. It is better to
teach them the skills they need to know for finding out what they need to know.
Consider the content you teach as laying foundations and wetting appetites.
Then teach then how to research. How to use the library. How to use
the internet. How to make outlines. How to take notes. How to
write a paper. If you give your child a love of learning, the tools for
seeking out information, and the skills to use the information wisely they will
be prepared for what ever they need to know later in life.
5. You will have days when you question your sanity for ever starting this
adventure called homeschooling. You will have days when you feel pressured
or stressed. You will have days when your child will be driving you crazy.
Its at those times when you can go back and think about why you started this in
the first place. You can remember the big picture. You can step back
and get some perspective. You can remember that even if they were in
school all day you would still have days that left you feeling weary and
stressed and that you might actually have them more often.
6. Its a marathon not a sprint. Some changes come slowly and we feel
like we just are getting any where but step back and you might be surprised.
If your child came home 2 years behind they might "catch up" or they
may always be 2 years "behind". But what's important is that
they are where they need to be and you can meet their needs where they are and
give them the best personal attention.
Anyway hope this helps.
Karen
I just wanted to add one more comment to what Karen put so
well -- this works for us because of the method we chose for educating our
children. Some of you may chose other methods than living books and dictation.
For those, you will need to weed out some of the above. There is a lot of great
advice for you to enjoy. You will just have to come up with ideas on how to
implement de-schooling based upon the method of educating your child that you
use.
Welcome to the Wonderful World
of HOMESCHOOLING!!! | 
