All Things Hold Together

Our library recently got a set of new Bill Nye the Science Guy DVDs, so I grabbed a couple this week that corresponded to subjects that I included in my curriculum this year.

Not only are the shows fun to watch, helping the kids remember important science concepts, but if you explore the DVD’s files with your computer, there is a PDF included with lesson plans, additional experiments, and a multiple choice quiz.

I thought that was pretty cool.

The content is designed for grades 5-8.

This week I have been recording Ken Burns’ “The War” on PBS. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a 15 hour documentary on WWII.

The boys are not old enough for it yet, but it is never too early to put away materials for their high school years.

The website also has a page for educators, with lesson plans for grades 9-12.

If you missed the first four episodes, your local PBS station will probably re-air them sometime this weekend.

I finally sent off my home study enrollment to the state today. What a hassle! I am so glad that’s over.

This year, I am handling my organization a little - okay, a lot - differently in order to avoid some of the headache. (I hope)

Now that I have been immersed in what I hate about homeschooling this whole week, I thought I would take a moment to reflect on what I love about it, and why I do it.

Kate at I Think Therefore I Blog asks readers why they homeschool. Not that I need to be asked to rattle on at length about it.

(Read full post)

We started homeschooling a little over three years ago about two weeks before The D was to go into third grade and Big E into second.

I had been home with all three kids all summer and it was great.

Then the letter arrived in the mail for me to set up an appointment to come in with the kids and meet their new teachers. And the stomach aches and sleepless night began (for me, not them).

I hated the thought of the kids going back to school. They both hated getting up in the morning. They were both always complaining that they were bored at school. The D always complained that he hated sitting all day and they never had recess. Big E was stressing himself out trying to meet his unattainable, self-imposed goal of being perfect in school. He would literally cry once he got into the van at the end of the day, just as a release.

And then there was dealing with a new teacher.

Most teachers are too permissive. And I have a son who like to test limits. If the limits are not there, he pushes further. And further. And further.

Well, I like to follow up with a punishment at home for misbehavior at school. Losing TV privileges and sitting in your room while your friends are playing outside goes a lot further than a “friendly reminder.”

Unfortunately, I encountered teachers who thought I was too strict and decided that it was okay to withhold information from me.

Funny how they wanted my help when he had pushed the limits further than they were comfortable with.

At any rate, I hated the thought of dealing with school. Ugh!

After the third night of no sleep, I desperately cried out in prayer for a solution - and a good night sleep.

I did fall asleep. And I woke up with the idea of homeschooling.

I knew nothing about homeschooling. I knew no one who did it. I never thought about doing it. I didn’t know how to do it.

I brought the subject up to the kids to feel out their reaction. They loved the idea (and ran around telling their friends that they were going to homeschool, even though nothing had been decided yet).

I brought the subject up to Bob and he loved the idea. He even sent me some articles he had read about it.

I really believed that it was an answer to my prayers, so I went for it. I spent the next two days reading all the information I could online about Vermont’s laws and writing my curriculum and filling out paperwork for the state (and thanking God that I had high-speed internet).

I went to the school and met with the principal, who was very supportive, and told her our plans.

We were homeschoolers!

So, my and the children’s dissatisfaction with the school was the reason that we started homeschooling, but I have so many reasons that I continue to homeschool.

And it’s a good thing. Disliking the alternative is hardly a motivating reason to keep and enjoy doing something.

I homeschool because I care about my kids. I have a vested interest in what kind of people they grow up to be.

Funny, just today someone was arguing with me that society has a “compelling interest in making sure a homeschooler isn’t creating a moron,” as a justification for regulation. The fact of the matter is that no one cares more about how my children fare in this world than I do.

I know their learning styles and interests. I can help them become passionate about learning. And they have.

Moreover, I don’t have to worry about school shootings, bullying, racism, liberal indoctrination (come on, I live in Burlington, VT), teachers who are sexual predators, to name a few. (And, yes, those are all local stories.)

I also don’t have to worry about my guys following every dumb trend that someone at school says is cool.

At home, my boys are free to grow up to be who they want to and not who our media-saturated, pop culture tells them to be.

I started homeschooling because I was not happy with public school. I keep homeschooling because my children deserve the freedom to learn and grow in a loving and caring environment.

Besides, who wants to get a real job?

It’s Tuesday, so you know what that means.

The 91st Carnival of Homeschooling is up at The Voice of Experience.

I hope that you all get a chance at some point to sit down, sip a hot cuppa something you like and enjoy a relaxing read.

I have been feeling like something wasn’t quite right with my homeschooling methods for this year. Basically, it is set up too much like school-at-home.

I have a rigid schedule set up with 180 school days, broken into 6-week sessions, with a 1-week break in between.

I have books for every subject, with tests and worksheets that I can later use for our portfolios next year, hoping to avoid the yearly stress that process causes me.

The problem is that the learning seems so forced, so hollow. I have no doubt that soon, the kids will grow tired of it and hate it.

I ordered a standardized test for The D to solve the problem I was having with the Language Arts section of his portfolio. (Short version: he doesn’t have any written work for that subject.)

I took one look at the test and could not believe how easy the material was. The kids know more than enough to score well on the test, just from our everyday interactions.

That revelation might have come as no surprise to some of you, but I am still trying to figure this whole homeschooling thing out.

The trick is, every time I think I have something figured out, the kids change, I change, or something changes.

Now I feel like I am back at square one.

My plan now is to keep on with the books we are using, since they are still interested in them, but in the meantime, figure out how to break my bond to traditional schooling methods, namely textbooks.

The other thing I have struggled with is integrating our faith with our homeschooling. Up to this point, that is not something I have done and I feel like it is really important. We have faced a lot of challenges as a family, and continue to, with The D’s depression, and I think that the only way we will find peace is to place the Lord at the center of our home (and homeschool).

Then I stumbled across the book, You CAN Teach Your Child Successfully, by Ruth Beechick. I ordered it last night. I hope that this book will help put me on the right track toward figuring out how to accomplish these two goals.

If any of you have any experience with Beechick, I would love to hear your thoughts.

(Note: Any links I use to products from CBD are associated with my affiliate account. I don’t want anyone to think that I am trying to pull a fast one.)

This has been a busy week. I have not had much time for blogging with the start of school, and the fact that I am still trying to finish preparing my enrollment for the state, including the portfolios from last year and curriculum outline for this year.

I am also trying to get through a couple of books, so I have been reading at night, instead of blogging. (Which is not a bad thing.)

Anyway, I am still here. I hope to get some posts up soon.

Oh yeah, and here is the link to A Magical Carnival of Homeschooling.

So, we officially started school today. I am trying to keep to a schedule of what work needs to be done when this year. I actually started doing a post about homeschool planning, too, which included what we were doing this year, but I haven’t finished it.

Come to think of it, I have about a half-dozen or more posts that I want to get around to doing. I also want to reorganize my blogrolls and make a couple of changes to my sidebar.

At any rate, I wanted to start today because I broke the curriculum down into six 6-week sessions, with a one week break in between, and I wanted a break to fall on Thanksgiving week. Yes, I am obsessive. I know that already.

I decided at the last minute to bump The D into Saxon 6/5 because I know he can handle it (even without having had Saxon 5/4). I can fill in anything that he is weak in, but I looked over the book and I am confident that he will do just fine.

I had to order the book last week, so he wasn’t able to start it today, but it came in the mail this evening, so he will have it for tomorrow.

I love starting a new school year. Each new year represents the chance to apply the lessons learned the year before and make the homeschooling experience that much better.

Ask me how I am doing come January.

If only I could bottle some of this optimism up to take then.

Finally, I am home (and have internet access) and can do another Frugal Fridays post. In the spirit of Back to School, my tip is about homeschool supplies.

I buy all of my supplies when they are featured as the loss leaders - e.g. the 1-cent boxes of pencils, the 15-cent boxes of crayons.

What I mean is, I do not just go to the store and buy what is on sale that day, plus the rest of my supplies. I wait until each item is on sale.

This takes weeks and planning, and really only makes sense if you live near or will be near the store, but it saves a lot of money, if you can do it.

The only office supply store near me is Staples. This year, so far, I bought boxes of Crayola crayons for 15-cents each, 8-count boxes of pencils for 1-cent each, pencil sharpeners for 5-cents each, pencil cases for 5-cents each, bottles of Elmer’s glue for 9-cents each, a three-hole punch for 50-cents, and pocket folders for 1-cent each.

This week, I will stock up on loose-leaf paper (15-cents) and a few other items.

Last year, I wondered how much the gas was adding to the cost, but this year, I realized that we drive right by Staples on the way home from church. Now, I am really getting a great bargain!

You can view the current and upcoming Staples circulars online, too.

Be sure to head on over to Biblical Womanhood for links to more Frugal Fridays ideas.

This week, I am trying to wrap up my assessments to send into the state because I plan to start this school year on August 20 (a week from today).

This process frustrates me every year. I do not believe that the state has a right to require this reporting, which makes it even worse. As a result, I am very resentful.

My biggest problem is that The D does not like to write and I do not make him. His fine motor skills are not the best and it is a frustrating process for him. Plus, he does not have the patience to struggle with writing something down when he can just tell it to me orally.

You have to understand, this kid has been through a lot this past year and, often, it is a struggle just to get through the day. For him and for the rest of us. He has been depressed, angry, and at times, even has wished he was dead. (For real, not as an attention getter.)

I am not going to waste our time fighting to get this kid to write down something that I know he knows just to satisfy some bureaucrats in Montpelier. Not a chance.

I could probably have him classified as “special needs,” but then my reporting requirements to the state get even more invasive.

I decided today to look into having a licensed teacher evaluate him, instead of doing a portfolio of his work. I found one who would be a great fit for us, but she charges $65 per child.

There is just no way we can come up with that. We just had to have our car fixed and we have a couple other big expenses coming up that are non-negotiable.

The only subject area that I am lacking portfolio samples for him is language arts, since it is the only one that requires the kind of writing that he does not like to do.

I guess we will just continue to work together, a little bit each day, to finish the last couple of pages I need for his portfolio. We did some work today and it went okay.

This is just so frustrating for me. I had a migraine and even started crying at one point today because I am so sick of this.

There is no need for the state to put homeschooling parents under such stress.

Sometimes I wish I could fight this, but I know that I cannot afford to take time away from my family right now, especially with everything The D is going through.

The time will come, though, when I can fight this, and I will.

That time is not now, though, so I just need to get through it. And I will; I just needed to vent.

I have also planned ahead, so that I will not be in this same boat next year. I realized today that if I just remain diligent in making him do a little bit each day, within the limits of what he can tolerate, and make sure that all of the little bits put together demonstrate everything that he has learned, I will have more than enough for the portfolio next year.

I found links to some interesting free educational stuff at the NEA website.

We all know how much they love homeschooling, so I am sure they will be happy to know that their links are benefiting HS families.

The Federal Reserve comics look interesting. I just ordered some.