Monday, May 22, 2006
Homeschooling Shoes
• May. 22, 2006 -
I've been homeschooling for a quite a few years now. My oldest son is soon to be 16 and we've always homeschooled. I often get asked by people newer to homeschooling than me "What curriculum should I use? What do you use? What if my kids are bored by me? What if I'm a really bad teacher? and on the questions go. Here are a few of my thoughts on this subject. I hope they help someone.
Homeschooling is like cooking. Everybody has the potential to develop their own style and flavors and yet still maintain good nutrition.
Homeschooling is also like wearing shoes. Are you the running type or the walker? Maybe a rock climber or a bowler? What about a dancer or maybe you just wear slippers all the time?
There are so many choices out there...any one of them might be the perfect fit for your family. It does help to ask questions and try on other people's shoes, so to speak, but you'll have to step out in your own shoes when the time comes. Don't be afraid to take those first few steps. Just realize that you will probably make mistakes, you will probably change curriculums and styles numerous times before you find a good fit. That's ok. I've used textbooks, gimmicky programs, workbooks, unit studies and living books. I've found that what works best for me is a little touch of all of those put together into "Sunydazy style". I've looked at the what-your-child-should-know books but I don't live by them...I just allow myself to be gently guided...perhaps inspired by them. That's all.
There are some things that I don't want to spend any time on. I just say no. There are other things that I think are vitally important for me to instill in my children and I haven't seen them listed in the important-things-to-know books. I'm going to teach them anyway. Some things that someone else might feel are important may be left out of our homeschool altogether because our time here on earth is limited and we only have so many hours in a day .
Guess what! God made me a unique individual and I believe that He wants me to share who I am with my children. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?
Let me say this another way. Do you love to write? Do you love horses? What about health and nutrition? Weight lifting? Mountain biking? Cooking? Sewing? Swimming? Baseball? Carpentry? Whatever you love, you can use as a tool , as a path of learning, straight into your child's heart. When a child sees a parent's passion for a subject they sometimes become passionate about the same subject. At minimum, they respect your passion and develop some of their own.
I love birds. And guess what! So do my children. I'll bet they know more about the local birds than the average child. Not because I make them sit down and learn about them, but because I run to the window when I see one. Because I love to take walks and listen to their calls. Because I enjoy reading about them. It's infectious! Just think how much more colorful the world would be if every family took the time to develop who they are and stopped trying so hard to be like everyone else. I also suspect there would be fewer burnouts, fewer casualties.
My advice to new homeschoolers is this: Ask some questions, think about what your deepest reasons for homeshooling are and set some priorities, learn about the different styles of homeschooling (keeping in mind that your favorite style of learning may not be your childs favorite), go to a book fair or convention and look around, go to this website and read, read, read, especially this article called Homeschool ABC.. And then, just pick something and try it. If you don't like it or it flops, well, just learn from your mistakes and try something else. Eventually you'll be good at knowing which things just won't work for your family. As your children grow your families needs will change and you will probably have to keep on adapting. It's a good thing! It means there is life in your family! Like buying new shoes for growing feet and different kinds of shoes for different events: rock climbing takes a different shoe than basketball. As you begin to get comfortable in your new homeschool shoes let your passion be your guide. Maybe it's ok to put away the books and look at birds today. Maybe it's ok to stay up late and watch the stars together. Live and learn together! It's a wonderful adventure.
• May. 23, 2006 - WOW!
Posted by Anonymous
WOW! I am so proud of you for homeschooling your children...you must feel that is quite an accomplishment! :) I just found your blog and it's VERY interesting...if you stop by mine here anytime soon...you'll see my kids in the adventure of planting their very first vegetable garden and hopefully in a few days I'll be able to post them planting their own flowers too!!! LOL Hope that you can find the time to come by my blog site and please post a comment when you do...I like for those who visit my site to let me know they've been there :) (you will need to 1. register (FREE), on the right side of my site before you post...this is just to make your visits more personalized, etc. and then 2. click "Leave Your Comments" back at the regular part of my site on any comments that interests you, and then 3. "Post Reply" once the comments page comes up and type your comment). I'll try to visit your site regularly and hope that you visit mine as well! :) God Bless! :)
• May. 23, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
I forgot to give you my website addy LOL: http://jessicaslilcorner.tz4.com God Bless! :)
• May. 23, 2006 - HELLO
Posted by
Sunydazy, Hello, thanks for leaving me my first official comment on my blog the other day. I found it when I was on my way to bed the other night (Thursday, I think), I was so excited that someone had written that I sat down and wrote you back. I forgot to put the code in at the bottom of the page and it said that I had entered an invalad code. I clicked to go back and the letter was gone- I was not happy. That was actually the second time that I did that, I lost an entry early last week and I couldn't even tell you waht happened to that one. Did I mention that my computer skills are limited? Anyway, I'm back to try again and I hope that this one makes it to you...Anyway, it is nice to meet you. Sounds like we have some things in common- homeschooling, teaching styles, 5 kids, twins, I have been into birdwatching since I was a little girl and we have been married about the same amount of years. My husband and I will celebrate our 17th anniversary on June 3rd. That is the same day that baseball playoffs begin for my three youngest boys and it is the day of my daughters dance recital. So much for a quiet dinner for two- I'll be happy if I get to see all of the ball games and the dance recital (we don't have the baseball schedule yet). Congratulations on the newest additions to your family. Having twins is alot of fun. I'll give you my list of the top three hardest things about having twins. First was definately nursing them. Sounds like you are doing ok with this one- I couldn't imagine homeschooling at the same time. I felt like I did nothing but nurse them for the first six months of their lives (all day and all night). Alex would not eat at the same time as Isaac no matter what I did, if I tried to feed them at the same time he would just scream his little head off. This was especially fun during those middle of the night feedings when there was no one to hold the baby that wasn't eating. It was a little easier during the day but it just seemed like all that I did was feed babies. Another thing that was hard was taking them out. First trying to carry two infant carriers that weighed more and more each week and then they learned to walk. Let me just tell you, they never seem to go in the same direction. Number three is remembering that they are actually two different little people. This is much easier now that they are older even though we still sometimes refer to them as "the babies", which they are quick to let us know that they are NOT babies. When they were little, they were a pair- they did the same things,went the same places, they even got most of the same gifts. They both had things that interested them more then the other but if you give a two year old a car, the other two year old will want the car even if he likes books better. I always bought two cars and two books, it was just easier that way. I don't think we really even realized that we grouped them together as much as we did until this past year when they started to want to do different things. Last fall Alex wanted to play football and Isaac wanted to learn karate. When I started taking them to their seperate practices, It seemed so strange to not have the other one there doing the same thing. I am very glad that they got to be the ones to decide when they wanted to do things apart from each other. We had considered sending them to kindergarten, our three older kids all had the same kindergarten teacher and we really loved her and how she taught the kids. The school system would not allow me to put both of them in the same classroom and at that point, they did not want to be split up. I'm sure that they would have adjusted but I saw no reason to force them to do what they weren't ready for. In the end, I kept them home, I didn't even start teaching them until the next year. They have a September birthday so they were just turning 5. They spent the year hanging out together and looking back, I am glad things turned out the way that they did. Wow, I didn't mean to ramble on so much, I don't get alot of adult conversation time. Hope that you will come back and visit our blog again. I am hoping to figure out how to do more with it this week- yours looks great by the way. Have a great day!!! Kim (I hope that this works...) Edited by sanders7 on May. 23, 2006 at 9:25 AM
• May. 24, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Posted by gottsegnet
ok...I confess I did not even read this but hope to get back later (trying to catch up from all the email). Thank you so much for your comment. I just wanted to let you know that a way cool invitation has been made for the carnival if you would like to use it. Here is the link: http://chromatism.net/current/images/dinnerparty.jpg And you can delete this comment if you want : ) I just thought the invitation was really nice!
• May. 30, 2006 - Thanks Kim!
Posted by sunydazy
Wow! Thanks for the encouraging comments! Sounds like you know right where I am in life! Nursing is my full time job...anything else is just a bonus. I am blessed that 2 of my kiddoes are old enough to really be a big help...that is when they aren't going places with friends or ds going to work with dh etc... I'll be visiting your blog more. Hope you'll stop by here again!
Sunydazy
I've been homeschooling for a quite a few years now. My oldest son is soon to be 16 and we've always homeschooled. I often get asked by people newer to homeschooling than me "What curriculum should I use? What do you use? What if my kids are bored by me? What if I'm a really bad teacher? and on the questions go. Here are a few of my thoughts on this subject. I hope they help someone.
Homeschooling is like cooking. Everybody has the potential to develop their own style and flavors and yet still maintain good nutrition.
Homeschooling is also like wearing shoes. Are you the running type or the walker? Maybe a rock climber or a bowler? What about a dancer or maybe you just wear slippers all the time?
There are so many choices out there...any one of them might be the perfect fit for your family. It does help to ask questions and try on other people's shoes, so to speak, but you'll have to step out in your own shoes when the time comes. Don't be afraid to take those first few steps. Just realize that you will probably make mistakes, you will probably change curriculums and styles numerous times before you find a good fit. That's ok. I've used textbooks, gimmicky programs, workbooks, unit studies and living books. I've found that what works best for me is a little touch of all of those put together into "Sunydazy style". I've looked at the what-your-child-should-know books but I don't live by them...I just allow myself to be gently guided...perhaps inspired by them. That's all.
There are some things that I don't want to spend any time on. I just say no. There are other things that I think are vitally important for me to instill in my children and I haven't seen them listed in the important-things-to-know books. I'm going to teach them anyway. Some things that someone else might feel are important may be left out of our homeschool altogether because our time here on earth is limited and we only have so many hours in a day .
Guess what! God made me a unique individual and I believe that He wants me to share who I am with my children. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?
Let me say this another way. Do you love to write? Do you love horses? What about health and nutrition? Weight lifting? Mountain biking? Cooking? Sewing? Swimming? Baseball? Carpentry? Whatever you love, you can use as a tool , as a path of learning, straight into your child's heart. When a child sees a parent's passion for a subject they sometimes become passionate about the same subject. At minimum, they respect your passion and develop some of their own.
I love birds. And guess what! So do my children. I'll bet they know more about the local birds than the average child. Not because I make them sit down and learn about them, but because I run to the window when I see one. Because I love to take walks and listen to their calls. Because I enjoy reading about them. It's infectious! Just think how much more colorful the world would be if every family took the time to develop who they are and stopped trying so hard to be like everyone else. I also suspect there would be fewer burnouts, fewer casualties.
My advice to new homeschoolers is this: Ask some questions, think about what your deepest reasons for homeshooling are and set some priorities, learn about the different styles of homeschooling (keeping in mind that your favorite style of learning may not be your childs favorite), go to a book fair or convention and look around, go to this website and read, read, read, especially this article called Homeschool ABC.. And then, just pick something and try it. If you don't like it or it flops, well, just learn from your mistakes and try something else. Eventually you'll be good at knowing which things just won't work for your family. As your children grow your families needs will change and you will probably have to keep on adapting. It's a good thing! It means there is life in your family! Like buying new shoes for growing feet and different kinds of shoes for different events: rock climbing takes a different shoe than basketball. As you begin to get comfortable in your new homeschool shoes let your passion be your guide. Maybe it's ok to put away the books and look at birds today. Maybe it's ok to stay up late and watch the stars together. Live and learn together! It's a wonderful adventure.
• May. 23, 2006 - WOW!
Posted by Anonymous
WOW! I am so proud of you for homeschooling your children...you must feel that is quite an accomplishment! :) I just found your blog and it's VERY interesting...if you stop by mine here anytime soon...you'll see my kids in the adventure of planting their very first vegetable garden and hopefully in a few days I'll be able to post them planting their own flowers too!!! LOL Hope that you can find the time to come by my blog site and please post a comment when you do...I like for those who visit my site to let me know they've been there :) (you will need to 1. register (FREE), on the right side of my site before you post...this is just to make your visits more personalized, etc. and then 2. click "Leave Your Comments" back at the regular part of my site on any comments that interests you, and then 3. "Post Reply" once the comments page comes up and type your comment). I'll try to visit your site regularly and hope that you visit mine as well! :) God Bless! :)
• May. 23, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
I forgot to give you my website addy LOL: http://jessicaslilcorner.tz4.com God Bless! :)
• May. 23, 2006 - HELLO
Posted by
Sunydazy, Hello, thanks for leaving me my first official comment on my blog the other day. I found it when I was on my way to bed the other night (Thursday, I think), I was so excited that someone had written that I sat down and wrote you back. I forgot to put the code in at the bottom of the page and it said that I had entered an invalad code. I clicked to go back and the letter was gone- I was not happy. That was actually the second time that I did that, I lost an entry early last week and I couldn't even tell you waht happened to that one. Did I mention that my computer skills are limited? Anyway, I'm back to try again and I hope that this one makes it to you...Anyway, it is nice to meet you. Sounds like we have some things in common- homeschooling, teaching styles, 5 kids, twins, I have been into birdwatching since I was a little girl and we have been married about the same amount of years. My husband and I will celebrate our 17th anniversary on June 3rd. That is the same day that baseball playoffs begin for my three youngest boys and it is the day of my daughters dance recital. So much for a quiet dinner for two- I'll be happy if I get to see all of the ball games and the dance recital (we don't have the baseball schedule yet). Congratulations on the newest additions to your family. Having twins is alot of fun. I'll give you my list of the top three hardest things about having twins. First was definately nursing them. Sounds like you are doing ok with this one- I couldn't imagine homeschooling at the same time. I felt like I did nothing but nurse them for the first six months of their lives (all day and all night). Alex would not eat at the same time as Isaac no matter what I did, if I tried to feed them at the same time he would just scream his little head off. This was especially fun during those middle of the night feedings when there was no one to hold the baby that wasn't eating. It was a little easier during the day but it just seemed like all that I did was feed babies. Another thing that was hard was taking them out. First trying to carry two infant carriers that weighed more and more each week and then they learned to walk. Let me just tell you, they never seem to go in the same direction. Number three is remembering that they are actually two different little people. This is much easier now that they are older even though we still sometimes refer to them as "the babies", which they are quick to let us know that they are NOT babies. When they were little, they were a pair- they did the same things,went the same places, they even got most of the same gifts. They both had things that interested them more then the other but if you give a two year old a car, the other two year old will want the car even if he likes books better. I always bought two cars and two books, it was just easier that way. I don't think we really even realized that we grouped them together as much as we did until this past year when they started to want to do different things. Last fall Alex wanted to play football and Isaac wanted to learn karate. When I started taking them to their seperate practices, It seemed so strange to not have the other one there doing the same thing. I am very glad that they got to be the ones to decide when they wanted to do things apart from each other. We had considered sending them to kindergarten, our three older kids all had the same kindergarten teacher and we really loved her and how she taught the kids. The school system would not allow me to put both of them in the same classroom and at that point, they did not want to be split up. I'm sure that they would have adjusted but I saw no reason to force them to do what they weren't ready for. In the end, I kept them home, I didn't even start teaching them until the next year. They have a September birthday so they were just turning 5. They spent the year hanging out together and looking back, I am glad things turned out the way that they did. Wow, I didn't mean to ramble on so much, I don't get alot of adult conversation time. Hope that you will come back and visit our blog again. I am hoping to figure out how to do more with it this week- yours looks great by the way. Have a great day!!! Kim (I hope that this works...) Edited by sanders7 on May. 23, 2006 at 9:25 AM
• May. 24, 2006 - Untitled Comment
Posted by gottsegnet
ok...I confess I did not even read this but hope to get back later (trying to catch up from all the email). Thank you so much for your comment. I just wanted to let you know that a way cool invitation has been made for the carnival if you would like to use it. Here is the link: http://chromatism.net/current/images/dinnerparty.jpg And you can delete this comment if you want : ) I just thought the invitation was really nice!
• May. 30, 2006 - Thanks Kim!
Posted by sunydazy
Wow! Thanks for the encouraging comments! Sounds like you know right where I am in life! Nursing is my full time job...anything else is just a bonus. I am blessed that 2 of my kiddoes are old enough to really be a big help...that is when they aren't going places with friends or ds going to work with dh etc... I'll be visiting your blog more. Hope you'll stop by here again!
Sunydazy
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