Curriculum? We don't need no stinking curriculum! Or so I thought when we started this journey. After all, there is the library. There are wonderful online resources. All of this is free.
But then my seventh-grader, who is not homeschooled, brought home these wonderful geology worksheets. Insecurity set in. How do I know the homeschooled youngster is studying what he should be learning?
Of course, the answer to that is simple. Research the core subjects. There are plenty of places to do that. Many regional educational districts align with the national standards, and many list their requirements. Some of these lists are more accessible than others.
If you know for example that 6th graders are supposed to study exponents, these days that's pretty easy to teach without a math textbook. It just requires a bit of preparation.
Some parents feel that there is no need to adhere to the national standards. They believe in trusting their children's innate desire to learn. Place them in the right environment and they will strive to learn all they can, just like they went from crawling to walking.
My problem is that while I'm trying to figure out our position on these topics, the clock is ticking. A child is waiting.
So if curriculum is under consideration, I found a handy tool:
http://homeedexpert.com
It's a questionnaire that asks about the child's learning style and level, the parent's teaching style, the environment, the subjects and the types of materials that you want, and then it makes recommendations. What really impressed me was that they asked about religious preferences and whether we wish to teach evolution. It's the first time I've inquired about homeschooling materials where our desire to teach a secular curriculum was taken into account.
Here's another tool I liked very much: A student planner by Christian Light Publications:
http://clp.org/product/student_planner_1786
We aren't a Christian family so the Biblical references aren't helpful, but the layout of the sample pages is very good. We are spending a LOT of time each morning trying to plan out our day. I'm hoping that we get it down to planning a whole week in advance eventually, but for now we spend a great deal of time on our schedule and calendar each morning.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Week Five, Organizational Tools and Settling In
It gets a little easier each day. We are learning how to use our tools. He is making friends in the homeschooling community.
For now, we use Khan Academy for math. It's free, easy to use and thorough:
http://www.khanacademy.org/
We are also starting to use Life of Fred Mathmatics.
http://lifeoffredmath.com/
If these don't work well enough, we can try Math U See:
http://www.mathusee.com/about-us/homeschool/
Or we can use the several free math pages that can be found with a quick web search. At this time, now our strategy for math is to start over from the beginning, quickly going over the entire math curriculum on Khan until he gets to places where he struggles, and then spend more time in those areas until he is proficient.
For science and health, I am planning a unit study on physiology and the human body, which will start in April. Until April, he occasionally watches documentaries about science topics, reads his physiology books and is encouraged to look up science-y question that pops into his head.
Currently he is working on a unit study for Japan for history and geography. I'm planning to do a unit study based on the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder, with the objective of covering American life from that time period. I'd like to use unit studies, special projects, and lap books to cover topics in science, geography, social studies and history.
For grammar, language arts, and spelling we are reading and talking about these concepts as they come up. We've also been using last year's bridge book. Now that math seems more under control, I'll begin to focus more on this.
We have a CD-rom software program for Spanish language, and another one for keyboarding skills. He takes classes out in the community in art, tap dancing, jazz dancing, ballet, and musical theater, and his dad works with him on guitar.
It seems that we are organically moving in the right direction. As a subject or a task becomes more comfortable it is assimilated into the routine. I am no longer losing sleep over whether we covered a certain subject on a given day. We will cover everything in time.
We have until July to decide whether he will be enrolled in one of the local district home-study charter schools, or whether we will continue with this eclectic, a la carte method of schooling. The a la carte method is good because it can be customized for the interests and needs of the child and household budget restrictions. Charter schools are paid for by the district but there is little or no flexibility. If we want to stay with the a la carte method, we will eventually need to enroll him in an accredited umbrella school that will provides curriculum flexibility. Some homeschoolers generate their own credits, but this is not a good idea if there is any possibility that the child may return to public school, because currently our district does not accept credits generated by the homeschooling parent, no matter how well-documented the work is.
Today I found several websites that provide free templates for getting organized:
http://www.calendarsquick.com
http://www.vertex42.com/
www.mommytracked.com
getbuttonedup.com
chartjungle.com
http://donnayoung.org/index.htm
http://www.keepandshare.com
For now, we use Khan Academy for math. It's free, easy to use and thorough:
http://www.khanacademy.org/
We are also starting to use Life of Fred Mathmatics.
http://lifeoffredmath.com/
If these don't work well enough, we can try Math U See:
http://www.mathusee.com/about-us/homeschool/
Or we can use the several free math pages that can be found with a quick web search. At this time, now our strategy for math is to start over from the beginning, quickly going over the entire math curriculum on Khan until he gets to places where he struggles, and then spend more time in those areas until he is proficient.
For science and health, I am planning a unit study on physiology and the human body, which will start in April. Until April, he occasionally watches documentaries about science topics, reads his physiology books and is encouraged to look up science-y question that pops into his head.
Currently he is working on a unit study for Japan for history and geography. I'm planning to do a unit study based on the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder, with the objective of covering American life from that time period. I'd like to use unit studies, special projects, and lap books to cover topics in science, geography, social studies and history.
For grammar, language arts, and spelling we are reading and talking about these concepts as they come up. We've also been using last year's bridge book. Now that math seems more under control, I'll begin to focus more on this.
We have a CD-rom software program for Spanish language, and another one for keyboarding skills. He takes classes out in the community in art, tap dancing, jazz dancing, ballet, and musical theater, and his dad works with him on guitar.
It seems that we are organically moving in the right direction. As a subject or a task becomes more comfortable it is assimilated into the routine. I am no longer losing sleep over whether we covered a certain subject on a given day. We will cover everything in time.
We have until July to decide whether he will be enrolled in one of the local district home-study charter schools, or whether we will continue with this eclectic, a la carte method of schooling. The a la carte method is good because it can be customized for the interests and needs of the child and household budget restrictions. Charter schools are paid for by the district but there is little or no flexibility. If we want to stay with the a la carte method, we will eventually need to enroll him in an accredited umbrella school that will provides curriculum flexibility. Some homeschoolers generate their own credits, but this is not a good idea if there is any possibility that the child may return to public school, because currently our district does not accept credits generated by the homeschooling parent, no matter how well-documented the work is.
Today I found several websites that provide free templates for getting organized:
http://www.calendarsquick.com
http://www.vertex42.com/
www.mommytracked.com
getbuttonedup.com
chartjungle.com
http://donnayoung.org/index.htm
http://www.keepandshare.com
Monday, March 5, 2012
What deschooling looks like for us.
Some of the experts to say that when you first pull your child out of school and begin homeschooling, your child needs to take off a month for every year they've been in school. They call this "deschooling" which is the period of time where the child recovers from public school habits.
In our case that simply isn't practical. The child can't take six months off from education. If he did, he certainly wouldn't spend that time playing video games and watching cartoons.
We are taking a relaxed approach for now, while we work toward developing goals, a rhythm, and a routine. He has to do challenging math problems every day. He has to read a bit, learn something about current events or geography, and he has to write in his journal. We are using educational materials that we already have on hand, supplemented with things we find in the library and online. But we are certainly not taking six months off.
Still I am seeing the "deschooling " process. For example, he is learning that if he doesn't understand something, it doesn't work to patiently wait for the teacher and the rest of the classroom to move on to the next topic. We don't move on until he "gets it." Maybe it was okay if he didn't follow everything that was happening in the public school classroom. It's not okay at home.
I benefit too. I am much happier, because I feel like I am doing something important. And the more I teach him, the more I learn. It's not about me, but I can't deny that it's an enjoyable experience.
In our case that simply isn't practical. The child can't take six months off from education. If he did, he certainly wouldn't spend that time playing video games and watching cartoons.
We are taking a relaxed approach for now, while we work toward developing goals, a rhythm, and a routine. He has to do challenging math problems every day. He has to read a bit, learn something about current events or geography, and he has to write in his journal. We are using educational materials that we already have on hand, supplemented with things we find in the library and online. But we are certainly not taking six months off.
Still I am seeing the "deschooling " process. For example, he is learning that if he doesn't understand something, it doesn't work to patiently wait for the teacher and the rest of the classroom to move on to the next topic. We don't move on until he "gets it." Maybe it was okay if he didn't follow everything that was happening in the public school classroom. It's not okay at home.
I benefit too. I am much happier, because I feel like I am doing something important. And the more I teach him, the more I learn. It's not about me, but I can't deny that it's an enjoyable experience.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)