When did you start home educating your children?
Hmmm..I'm not so sure I like this word 'educating', because I didn't educate my kids to walk, or talk. I did; however, applaud when they took their first steps, and said their first words. That's called 'encouragement', not 'educating', and that's no different than now. When lightbulbs go off, I step in to show my kiddo's the various resources that are available to pursue their interest/curiosity. If you're looking for a calendar date of when I started, then count back to when my now 18 year old was about 9 years old, and I had been his stepmum for a short while. He couldn't read, write, or speak, and only had experiences of 'bullying' from his school days. Not to mention my previous life of 'No Kid's' seemed suddenly thrown in to 'Having a Kid' ... with a lot of 'Get Up! (by 6:30 AM) , Get Dressed! (by 6:45 AM), Eat Your Breakfast! (by 7:30am), Brush Teeth (by 7:45) 'Go! Go! Go!' (so you're at school to sit in the 'drop off' line by 8:00). Every single day other than when your kid was sick...and then you needed to provide a written excuse to prove your kid was sick. (?)
What a bunch of malarky to put children (and parents) through, and for what?
Families miss out on the most important things with that sort of lifestyle. I mean, seriously.....there is ZERO family value time when you're rushing to get out the door, there is zero time to stop and observe the world around you. So, you miss out on the morning hours together, then you miss out on the largest chunk of the day together, then you're all so tired and distracted when you finally get home in the late afternoon...oh wait! no no no.....of course, you then do afterschool clubs/activities...THEN get home and eat supper, do homework, then television for most families, then early bedtime so children can get up and do it all over again the next day.....BLECH. Why am I the one being interviewed here?
Why did you start home educating your children?
2001, when my son was 9-ish. The school he went to said 'yes, he's a genius, but he can't read/write/speak, so we don't know what to do with him other than let the school bullies beat him up'...
Anyone could spend 2-seconds with my stepson and quickly recognise that he's a genius.
No ordinary genius....but a WOW genius.
After enduring the typical scene of 'get up and go-go-go in early morning so your kid can sit in a classroom all day with zero stimulation because he's genius and schools are 'standard'....only so that he can get beat up by the school bully on the school bus and at after-school care'........, and also after convincing my husband that 'homeschooling' is legal. My stepson quickly dropped out of school and has thrived in every way since then (despite the pathetic comments from friends/family/strangers suggesting he needed school).
All of our younger children have never gone to school.(despite the pathetic comments from friends/family/strangers)
I should mention that in 1998, before I had children, I introduced 'homeschooling' to my sister who was a stepmum to two boys. It was an accident of sorts how I learned about it really. I was living in Atlanta, Georgia, and was searching the internet trying to find some old friends back in Austin, Texas. One of them was named Jeff Gorvetzian, and in my searches, I stumbled upon an interview with Jeff's biological father who is John Taylor Gotto. Well, out of curiosity, I looked up other interviews, which led me to reading about the whole concept of 'homeschooling'. Which, I might add, made absolute PERFECT sense to me, because I had dated a highschool dropout for several years (who also just so happen to be one of Jeff G's best friends, which is how I knew Jeff)......and this fella I dated was a super-uber-genius who didn't need some piece of paper to prove his smarts. I always found it fascinating that not only did this boyfriend not go to highschool, but his upper-middle-class parents Supported his decision.
There are so many 'ways' to Home Educate,what do you sign up to?
Nothing. I sign up to nothing. Other than what my daily intuition leads me to (which is often different than my children's intuition, so we make it up as we go). I am influenced by what I think is the 'best' of many home educating styles, though none map to a curriculum. Text Books and Curriculums are NOT ALLOWED in our home.
I'm somewhere in between child-led and autonomous learning with a twist of Charlotte-Mason garnished with Waldorf.
I heavily see the issues with a fundamental 'child led' approach, and this stuff called 'radical unschooling' .....and for sure the issues of all 'waldorf'.
If my children led me wholeheartedly, you'd only find us gawking daily at things on the toy and candy aisles of stores.
I don't understand 'radical unschooling'; which reminds me much of my own upbringing....that allowed me the freedom to do ANYTHING I wanted. All I can say is that I craved 'Parental Guidance', that I feel comfortable giving my own children, but I'm certainly not a 'Bully Parent'.
And though I see the beauty of the 'natural approach' to life that the Waldorf folk offer (Nature Tables are Cool!) I think most of what they sign up to is total-crap. My children have always thought that dolls without eyes/mouths/noses are creepy, so Waldorf would not do here.
I haven't quite pin pointed anything creepy or wrong with Charlotte Mason, but also haven't had time to dig deeper. I guess I like her 'practical' ideas of what's important to learn, but I certainly don't sign up to anything rigid.
I approach Home Educating lifestyle with how I like to learn, which is 'Project Based'. An inspiration will hit me, I do some initial research, then if the wheels of creativity continue to turn, I embark upon creative projects. My children do the same, the only difference is that I know a lot more about the 'outside world' and its many resources, so I introduce my children to what I know. However, I would like to add here that my children do come up with their own projects around their interests. I put up a few 'family activities' we can all enjoy together (which I don't force my children to participate in), but, for the most part, my children come up with their own projects.
What are your 'challenges' with Home Educating?
Well, other than the fact that I work a Full Time job, leaving me limited time to go out and about with the children.....I would say the biggest challenge is that I have multiple ages close together and for as much as they love and hug each other......they spend just as much time squabbling and driving me crazy.
For anyone who does not, or who does home educate, you can understand what I'm saying here.
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There are points in the day where all children go at it at the same time.....and I wonder ''Ohhhh.....send them away NOW!''But the moments are short lived, and we get on with it......
The other big challenge is for older children......and by older, I mean starting age 8-ish until 16.
(sometimes I refer to 'older' as age 11....which is a different conversation)
Older children want a place to go and explore their individuality and independence, but there aren't any places for 'home ed'. Would be utopic if there were a permanent large building local councils 'gave' Home Educators, that could be used for multi-purpose home educating events.
Until then, we all scramble for play dates, and attending home-ed outings for the 'group discount' (sigh)
Regardless, you won't hear me saying that 'School' is the right solution.
What are some bare essentials you couldn't live without for 'Home Education' ?
Marker pens, water colour paints, paper, double-stick tape (amongst other things).....in bulk.
Stock your home with a few basic necessities; such as, Chalkboard, compass, timer, magnifying glass, world map,.......ah-heck, I'll list what I have in stock later. You won't find many differences between what you already have in your home to what's on my 'Home Ed' list. If you're looking for me to endorse anything here, I'll amplify my enthusiasm for the Natural History Microscope. It's small, portable, cheap.....and powerful!
If you're starting off with toddler age, then alls I can say is you don't need anything but lots of time for walks in nature. Let your weeuns collect their toys from nature, though a few things well worth investing in NOW so they are useful later......Lego, Playmobil, GeoMags, Wooden Blocks, Dressing Up.....books! and lots and lots of board games and card games. Play lots and lots of games together.
Your blog is rather 'unforgiving' of anything outside of Home Education. Is there anything else you're unforgiving about?
- Local Shops......stop driving to super stores and please start supporting your local shops (no excuses)
- No Television......get rid of broadcast television altogether. I gave it up in 1994 and love the life it's led me to. (kill your TV!)
- Grandparents.....it's all about Grandparents. Move to where they are. Let your children grow up with grandparents, and let parents grow up with grandchildren. If grandparents don't exist, then redefine what works for your family dynamics, but put the elders first, even if they drive you batty.
- Charity.....give back to your community.
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