Decision Made!

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this all on my own

This is a photo of our church.

"Jesus Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood is one of A and my favorite songs.  We sing it a lot actually.  Last night, as I was saying my prayers, the lyrics came to me and I put this very big, weighty decision in the hands of God.  Would we be able to give the girls everything they need if we homeschooled?  Would they have friends?  Would they be social?  Would they have great memories of this time of their life?  Would we be able to provide everything they need?

While I am not homeschooling for religious reasons, my faith is one of the strongest feelings I know.  I have always said that the best gift I could give my girls is faith in something bigger than themselves.  There have been many, many times when my faith is what got me through.  There have been many, many times where I have said, "Jesus, please take the wheel!"

My final thoughts as I drifted off to sleep last night were: Jesus, take the wheel.  Cause I can't make this decision on my own.*

 I woke up this morning with the words for the withdrawal letter front and center and I had to type the letters before I even ate breakfast.  

My parents came over to visit Wednesday afternoon and when they saw what the girls and I have been doing, my father said that they are behind me 100%.  Having their blessing means a lot to me.

I spoke with my boss last night and she said that she admires me and respects me for wanting to do this with my girls, not just say, "Oh, the school will take care of it!"  She is accommodating and flexible and will work with me on scheduling :)

We are going to homeschool this year.  As Jessica said, it doesn't have to be forever.  We can re-evaluate in the spring.  But if we don't do it, we will never know.  We need to try it now, when the girls are still young.

I AM SO HAPPY TO HAVE MADE A DECISION!!!!!
WHAT A RELIEF!!!!!!!!!

* Everyone who advised against it, your concerns and comments were heard and thought about.  But in the end, after much investigating, we feel that we can provide the girls well academically, socially, emotionally, physically and creatively.  There is no lack of social activities; in fact we could be social every day of the week if we so chose.  We have our concerns and reservations, but we feel that the benefits outweigh the negatives.  Jason's mind was made up two years ago, when we started thinking and researching this; I was strongly leaning in this direction, but apprehensive about going against tradition.

I thought...

I thought I had made the decision to homeschool.  I had weighed all the pros and cons, deliberated, researched, weighed pros & cons again....My parents came over for a visit yesterday and after seeing what the girls and I are doing with our Unit Study on Colonial Williamsburg, my parents gave us their seal of approval.  They said they are behind us 100%!  The girls decided my dad should be the Superintendent, Jason the Principal and my mom the Vice Principal!

But then this morning I woke up, thinking about my informal high school reunion tomorrow night.  I had always thought a reunion of everyone who had been in high school at the same time would be better than just a reunion of a certain class, since I had friends that were older and younger.  I was never sure how to pull it off....but with the wonders of facebook, my friend KOJ and I are planning for just that for tomorrow night.  It's completely informal, at a bar & grille in the town where we grew up.  We are excited to see everyone, to reminisce and catch up....in thinking about this, I started thinking about my girls...will they have this with homeschool?  Will they have a group of friends that will reconnect on some social networking forum of the future?  Will they meet up 20 years from now?  Will they have the memories to share?

And now I am back to being undecided again :(

UGH!

Homeschooling Neighbors :)

Our neighborhood is very active.  A lot of people walk and run and bicycle.  There is a guy that lives around the corner named Lou who walks past our house several times a day with his dog.  Sometimes his wife walks with him, other times his daughter accompanies him on these walks.  Sometimes he walks alone with his dog.

If we are outside when he walks by, we always end up in a conversation.  We know that he is a Yankees fan and that he likes the Giants.  We know where he works and what he does.  We know where his wife works and what she does. We know where he and his wife grew up and how they met.  But we had no idea at all whatsoever where his kids went to school.  We never asked.

Tonight the girls were outside serving tennis balls back and forth across the lawn.  Jason was making sure the power washer was in good working order for a project next weekend.  And I was watching the action when Lou walked by with his dog.  He came over to chat and somehow the subject of schooling came up and...

His kids are homeschooled.  They are much older than our girls.  A sophomore and a senior in high school.  They had gone to public school, then Catholic school...and they still weren't happy, so they homeschooled!!  Right now they both do "high school online" Lou said.  But prior to high school, he and his wife used to buy the books and teach them at home (they both had schedules that were fairly flexible to where one or the other of them could be home every day).  They each had certain subjects that they worked with the kids on.  Our town allows the kids to be part of sports and extracurricular activities.  And they are able to be part of extracurricular activities in neighboring towns!

I would NEVER have thought that our school system would be that flexible.  I would never have known that Lou's kids were homeschooled.

I love finding more and more people who made this choice :)

How cool is that!

I could easily spend hours, the whole day even on the internet reading blogs, researching things, emailing, tweeting, facebooking...and I have!  But we have things to do, people to see, places to go....  So I made a lesson plan of sorts for our Unit Study on Colonial Life and I make sure to get my housework done BEFORE I get on the internet.  And then I really try to discipline myself to check emails, facebook, latest blog posts and then do a little research on curriculum and our vacation plans (those are the current two things that I research).

Today, while I was doing my research, I discovered that our local community college offers very inexpensive classes for kids ages 8-11 such as keyboarding, storytelling, magic, nature and art classes; there is an even wider variety including web page design, genealogy, photography and how to write your own video game for 11-14 year olds!

How cool is that!

A Little Practical Math

I can totally see where unschooling would be amazing, although I do think that I am too controlling and would need to know that we are covering adequate spelling, grammar, math, comprehension, writing, etc.  That being said, I think there are teachable moments in everyday life and we are determined, as a family, to take advantage of them.  Sure, we can do this whether or not the girls are in school, but if they are in school, sitting at a desk 6+ hours a day, coming home to do 1-2 hours of homework, an hour or so of an extracurricular....we are all fried and we just...don't :(

We have a driveway made of pavers.  But, we have been neglectful and we really need to spray some Round-up and fill the joints with sand.  This is a project possibly for next weekend.  Jason was prepping for it and we decided it was a project to get the girls involved in.

The girls measured the driveway

Jason showed them how to draw a diagram and plug their measurements in

A figured out the area :)

Jason talked to the girls about estimating and getting a little extra so you don't run out :)

Then they all went on-line to find out what size bags or containers the sand comes in and to figure out how much we need :)

Stay tuned for next weekend when we start powerwashing and filling in the joints with sand :)

Luckily our neighbors have a pool and have told us to feel free to take breaks & cool down :)

Unit Study: Colonial Williamsburg, Day 3

We have been getting a taste of what homeschooling may be like through exploring the history of Colonial Williamsburg.  We continue to read If You Lived in Williamsburg in COLONIAL DAYS by Barbara Brenner and take notes.  We are anxiously awaiting for some of the craft and projects to be transferred to our library.

Today the girls decided they wanted to eat in P's bedroom at the little table:

A finally got the chance to bake.  She had been looking forward to baking last Friday, but then her ear started to hurt.  Thankfully our doctor got her in immediately.  She had both Swimmer's ear and a middle ear infection.  We had to pick up her Rx and by the time we got home...we didn't feel like cooking, never mind baking.  So we dialed up our favorite Chinese restaurant that night!

But we were able to make it up to A a few days later...

A made Can-Can brown bread (which we made in loaf pans because all of the cans were outside in the recycling and I was kind of skeeved by using them; next time we will save some cans and wash them out just for this delicious bread that A made ALL BY HERSELF!)

The Brown Bread went really well with the Waldorf Salad that P helped me make, a nice, light, refreshing summer meal :)

"Reading Strands" vs. "Drawn into the Heart of Reading"

As I was researching curriculum, I was putting some things on an Amazon Wish List.  My mom surprised us by buying the USBorne Science Encyclopedia and the US Borne Encyclopedia of World History, as well as "Writing Strands 3" and "Evaluating Writing".

I was considering "Drawn into the Heart of Reading" for part of our reading curriculum, since it comes so highly recommended.  But I am having a tough time finding it.  Apparently it is out of print!  I am wondering if anyone has used "Reading Strands" and how that compares.  I noticed when A was in school last year, her interest and enthusiasm for reading was greater when they were reading novels rather than just excerpts from a reader, so I was interested in a program where we can pick our own books and have the support of curriculum to guide our discussions.  I am planning to supplement with several different comprehension workbooks containing short stories and questions, as well as reproducibles to aid comprehension of the novels we read.

Has anyone used both "Reading Strands" and "Drawn into the Heart of Reading"?  How do they compare?

Valedictorian Speech for the Coxsackie-Athens 2010 Graduation

Here I Stand
Erica Goldson

There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master: "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen?" The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."

This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.

Some of you may be thinking, “Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.

I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition – a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared.

John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, “We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness – curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that.” Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.

H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States. (Gatto)

To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of “critical thinking.” Is there really such a thing as “uncritically thinking?” To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?

This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.

And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.

We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.

The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.
For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, “You have to learn this for the test” is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.

For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.

For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.

So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians. 

I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a “see you later” when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!

My Awesome Mom

I have been considering homeschooling for two years now.  Jason has been all for it from the beginning, having known several people that were homeschooled and having been impressed with them.

My parents not so much.

My parents took my brother and I out of public school and put us in Catholic school because they had been unhappy with the education we were receiving.  When we went to public school for high school (they would have sent us to Catholic high school, but I REALLY wanted to go to public school and be able to express myself through my clothing, etc.) we were behind academically.  We had never even heard the term algebra, never been exposed to foreign language, etc.  And my parents regretted their decision to take us out of public school.  They didn't want Jason and I to make the same mistake.

Over this summer, since we have been really thoroughly exploring homeschooling, meeting people who are making it work and keeping this blog, my parents are warming up to the idea.  I was recently telling my mom about the experiences of a friend of mine in public school (a different district, but same issues) and she told me that she really did think that we should try homeschooling.  A few days later, when I told her that I found out that we could be part of a homeschool farm co-op in our area, my mom became animated over the opportunity and said the more she hears about it they more she thinks it is a good idea.

Tonight, when I got home from work, there was a package on the dining room table from Barnes & Noble.  But I didn't open it right away.  Instead, I had some ice cream with the girls, folded some laundry while chatting with Jason and wrote a blog post about our chat.  Ironically, then I decided to open the box:

Some homeschooling books :)

My mom will be having another second surgery tomorrow due to complications from her first surgery.  Prayers are appreciated :)

Living for Me

I have always worried a lot about what other people think of me or what I am doing.  I have always tried very hard to make other people happy.  Sometimes-oftentimes-trying to do what I thought they wanted and putting my own needs and desires aside.

Since the beginning of our relationship, Jason has encouraged me not to worry so much about what everyone else thought, but to do what I wanted.  He has even told me not to worry so much about making him happy and told me that he would be happy knowing that I am making myself happy.  Did I mention how much I love this man?

Jason has always told me that it was so much healthier to listen to your own body, your own needs and desires and wants and opinions and not to worry about everyone else.  Don't get me wrong, Jason worries very much about our family; he is very generous and an excellent dad and husband.  But there are people whose feelings I worried about, whose approval I craved and this brought problems into our relationship.    Problems where he would say, "Listen to yourself.  Listen to what this person is doing.  Is this someone who's acceptance you really need?"

As my girls get older, I realize that I don't want them to be like that.  I want them to be true to themselves.  I don't want them to let other people dictate what they think or feel or how they do things.  I want them to learn to listen to themselves and do what is right for them and accept that it may not be right for someone else.

I have come to realize that I need to set the example for the girls.  I can't let people treat me in ways that make me feel bad.  I can't let other people's strong opinions or strong personalities dictate how I do things.  I need to listen to myself.

I have been working on this for the last few months.  It has not been easy.  There are relationships that disintegrated because of it. 

There are times when I get anxious and I realize it is because people whose opinions I do value and trust are maybe not entirely on board.  But Jason gently reminds me that I only need my own approval and that I am someone who makes educated decisions and that I should value my own opinion.  

In the last week, I have shared this blog with my entire family.  I have received positive reactions from surprising places (educators in my family who understand the trends of the educational system and don't believe in this current trend and agree that I can't wait for it to change--the girls may well be in college by then!) and I have received negative reactions.  But Jason gently reminds me that the only reaction that matters is that of he, the girls and I.  We are the ones that will take this venture.  We are the ones that need to be vested in it.  We are the ones that have to make this decision and live with the consequences.

Unit Study: Colonial Williamsburg, Day Two

Today was Day Two of our very informal, loose unit study on Colonial Williamsburg.

The girls wanted to pretend that this was my library storytime program, so they brought their "children" and they were "moms".  I read two simple books, but both had excellent glossaries and we learned that colonial means a person living in a place that is under the rule of a distant country.  We also learned that when iron is heated and the shape is changed, the iron has been forged.



We learned that a magazine refers to a building used
store guns and ammunition.  Which lead to questioning why periodicals are called magazines and a loooong, unfruitful internet search.  A likes Ask.com and came up with a lot of interesting search questions.  P tried Google.  I tried wikis and encyclopedia and we could not find anything on the history of why magazines are called magazines, but we did learn that the first magazine was published in the 1700s and the first successful American magazine was the Saturday Evening Post.

After that, we did most of the activities in A Colonial Williamsburg Activities Book by Jean Bethell and Susan Axtell, which were simple but fun and gave us a preview of what we will see when we go to Colonial Williamsburg.

Then we finally got around to making beds and straightening the house.  Of course, I checked all of my online haunts and saw that Jessica's girls were finishing baking camp, which inspired A to pull out the cookbooks and make a list of some ingredients we needed.

The plan was to run to the store for some ingredients, but then A's ear started bothering her.  She was actually crying it hurt so bad.  Fortunately, we have an awesome doctor who saw her immediately: she has swimmer's ear and a middle ear infection.  So we got all of our ingredients at the store when we picked up her Rx, but it was too late to bake so we got some Chinese take-out and called it a day!

Overwhelmed

I was up until 2am last night, poring over curriculum for IF we homeschool.  I was cross referencing Cathy Duffy's Reviews.  A has never had any Phonics (well, with the exception of the summer that I taught her Phonics and she responded so well to it) and I would really like to do some Phonics with her, but they don't really make Phonics books for fifth graders and A isn't in need of intervention, she reads above grade level.  But I do think that Phonics could help her with Spelling, so I started looking at various Spelling programs.  And there really are so many.  How do you know if you are picking the right one?

I thought I had chosen a Math curriculum.  JUMP Math is a Canadian program that is designed to meet Canadian Curriculum Requirements but uses a scaffolding (building on skills for mastery) approach as opposed to a spiraling (touching on things over and over) approach.  I figured IF we do this for only a year and the girls go back to school...how different could Canadian standards be?  Then I discovered Math U See, which seems like a phenomenal program with manipulatives and a DVD to help me to be prepared to teach each concept.  I watched a Demo video and the creator was very engaging.  This program offers books through Calculus!  And while it does prepare for word problems, it clearly states that it doesn't expect the child to do problems BEFORE they are ready...so after a year, would they be able to return to the classroom and succeed having used this program?

I know we could use Singapore, but the girls have been using Everyday Math in school and we all hate it and Singapore sounds a lot like Everyday Math.  Which would be great for returning to school...not so great for getting a real feel for getting away from school.

At 2am, I was so overwhelmed and crazed that I started looking at realtor.com and thinking maybe if we moved....  But I was reminded that the town where I grew up, which is rumored to have a great school system, has similar test scores to the town where we live now AND the houses that I would be able to afford, I wouldn't want to live in.  So then I started looking at the next town over, which is huge.  The test scores are the same as here (meaning what?  Ours are not so bad?  I have no idea!) but it's an ENORMOUS school system, both the next town over and the town where I grew up have over 1000 students in each graduating class; they can't have all of their students attend a prom at the same time!  Another town nearby which also has over 1000 students per graduating class, is very affluent and the drugs are rumored to be...vast and extensive and high end and designer.  

In the middle of my searching, note taking, reviewing frenzy, P comes out to me with a lipgloss in a test tube and asks if I know what it is.  (She was supposed to be in bed).  I had no idea what she was asking me, but I clearly remembered the day I bought the lipgloss at Justice after the girls came to work with me.  P explained that A had taken the lipgloss to school and another child had asked why she had that and threw it on the floor and stomped on it.  A must have been crushed, because we had gone to Justice specifically to buy that lipgloss.  When A told the teacher, she just rolled her eyes and said, "Girls will be girls."  Which, yes, in the grand scheme of things, a broken lipgloss is not a big deal.  But when another child throws it on the ground and stomps on it.... I even ask myself if that really is THAT bad... But if I am hearing about it several weeks after the end of the school year, then I believe it affected my girls.  I know there are people who would say that kids need these experiences...why?  Adults don't grab each other's make-up and throw it on the ground and stomp on it!  Sure, there are other things that happen and maybe dealing with THIS will help prepare them for THAT...but I believe that raising them to be strong and confident will help them to deal with THAT.  And confidence, unfortunately, is something that I believe more and more that they will not get in the classroom.

So, here I am, once again poring over curriculum sites.

Starting our Unit Study: Colonial Life

The girls had a sleepover last night, which meant that they went to bed VERY, VERY late (P claims that they never slept!) and woke up VERY, VERY late (which gave me time to get a lot of housework and laundry done!).  We had a nice big batch of blueberries and made some awesome blueberry pancakes, before our sleepover guests had to go home.

Since I had already accomplished most of the housework and laundry and the girls had all shared in cleaning up the basement, we declared the rest of the day A Book and Movie Day!  Or, as P said, "It's like being sick but you feel good!"

We started our unit study on Colonial Williamsburg (I got that fancy term from the Cathy Duffy book, before that I just called it books I got from the library on Colonial Williamsburg! lol!).  P wanted to read "If You Lived in Williamsburg in COLONIAL DAYS" by Barbara Brenner, while I wrote down some vocabulary words and took some notes in a notebook we have earmarked for Colonial Williamsburg.

After that, they wanted to draw pictures about what we had read

After that, inspired by the Cathy Duffy book, I found this great unit study on Colonial life!  I was thrilled to find that our library system had most of the books, and that I can get them through inter library loan!!  (So glad that the state budget allowed for $5 million to be put back toward libraries so we can still have ILL!)

After cleaning up, we spent some time perusing the websites for the places we will go on vacation this year.

Then, we all took some time to read books of our own choosing!

A is reading Letters from Wolfie by Patti Sherlock, about a boy that goes off to Vietnam.

P chose a slew of picture books at JFK Library yesterday (going to libraries other than our town library is something we all enjoy!).

And, in addition to perusing homeschooling books, I must admit I enjoy a good novel, I just started

  The Island  by Elin Hilderbrand.  All of her books are set in and around Nantucket, so they make for great summer reading!

This is just a trial run of what homeschooling may be like.  It's very loose and we aren't doing anything very in-depth, but all in all, above all, I REALLY enjoyed the time the girls and I spent together today! And they REALLY seemed to enjoy having my attention and sharing this time together.  

Review: 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy

*****

This book was much better than I had thought!  Actually, I would have to say that this may just be MY FAVORITE homeschooling book.

This book asks the reader questions about why the want to homeschool and what their priorities are, how much they can spend, it raises many of the pertinent questions about homeschooling and asks the reader to consider all of them.  Then, this book asks questions and helps the reader identify their learning/teaching style.  And finally, this books explains the learning styles of children.  It goes beyond visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning; but I would have liked to see some more questions geared toward identifying your child's learning style.  I have however, found the following websites helpful in determining this:

http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz?gclid=CLrzwa772qICFY9M5QodrTMswQ

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=2061

http://parenting.quiz.kaboose.com/25-what-s-your-child-s-learning-style

http://www.learning-styles-online.com/inventory/questions.asp?cookieset=y

http://www.ldpride.net/learning-style-test.html


After identifying both the parent's learning and teaching style and the child(ren)'s learning style, this book provides easy- to- read graphs of various curriculum available to homeschoolers and rates them according to all learning styles, educational philosophies (Charlotte Mason, etc.), amount of prep involved, amount of drilling, etc.  The graphs also show what levels each program encompasses and rates curriculum all the way through high school.

THEN this book takes it one step further and provides sample pages from some of the curriculum.

This book is an absolutely amazing resource for anyone seriously considering homeschooling.

I CAN NOT recommend it enough!

Review: Linda Dobson Homeschooling Books

*****

Jason and I have both read The First Year of Homeschooling Your Child: Your Complete Guide to Getting Off to the Right Start, The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling Ideas, Homeschooling Success Stories, What the Rest of Us Can Learn from Homeschooling and Homeschooling: The Middle Years.


We read parts and skimmed others.  I am a librarian, so we got most of these books out of the library and for the most part, I thought that I may want to take them out again when and if we decide to homeschool.  But for now, they were sort of dated and showed a bit of the odd side of people who make this choice.  I didn't see our family in these books.  I didn't see these families as mainstream, but as eccentric and odd and all of the stereotypes of homeschooling.  That being said, there was some very good advice, especially in the First Year of Homeschooling and What the Rest of Us Can Learn.  Linda Dobson seems to understand that there will be moments of self-doubt and that those feelings are natural.

I really liked the format of these books.  They were written in such a way that you can easily skim them for what you are looking for.  There are darkened patches of stories or anecdotes or ideas or advice from different homeschooling families all over the country.  The main text is Linda's experience and research. She does qualify everything and quote studies and seem very knowledgeable on education and learning, as well as the lifestyle changes of homeschooling.

IF we decide to homeschool, I plan to look for some used copies of these books so that I can make notes and refer to them when needed.

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old...

We have been busy, busy, busy around here.  We went up to the lake for the Fourth of July.  We love it up there!  It's hard to believe my parents have had the house for 5 years!  The girls have really blossomed there and every year they get a little more daring.  This year, they were both jumping off the end of the dock and this year A didn't hesitate to go water-tubing alone :)

At the end of last summer, the girls made some friends up there and through facebook we have all kept in touch and gotten closer over the winter.  The moms are wonderful ladies that I am happy to call friends.  We had talked about planning a big Fourth of July extravaganza, but with my mom's surgery, we ended up being unsure of whether or not we were even going to be there, but C & T & N were very gracious and put on a wonderful party.  We had met Tracey last July fourth as she comes from England every year to celebrate Fourth of July at the lake; we are all facebook friends with her as well and it was wonderful to see her too--and to drink the wonderful Sheridan's that she brought!

Yesterday, the girls and I met with some more homeschooling families.  The girls were nervous and hesitant to go because they "wouldn't know anyone".  I didn't know anyone either and was a little nervous myself, so we talked about it beforehand.  On the way there, I thought that it was a great experience for them to learn to meet new people with me and to observe me in these situations.  We got there and within minutes, we knew we had made new friends.  Everyone was warm and accepting and friendly.  The girls were whisked off by the other kids to make beaded jewelry and do their nails and put make-up on (three of their favorite things, so they felt RIGHT AT HOME! LOL!).  The moms were friendly and talkative about a lot of things, but they asked why we were considering homeschooling, if we had looked at curriculum, etc.  We talked about the variety of school options and state testing.  And once again, one of the moms was a former teacher who is opposed to the extreme emphasis on state testing.

It was so wonderful to meet with these families that are supportive and helpful; they let me borrow several different curriculum sources to review.  It was great to be with people who share my beliefs and examples of how well this choice can work.  They were informative and they invited us to join a co-op that several of them are members of, where the girls can learn Latin and Spanish and drama and how to play the flute; they invited us to join a non-competitive fun soccer league and a mixed age Girl Scout troop.  Plus, be part of their weekly playgroup and the opportunity to attend field trips....I don't think socialization would be a problem.

I want this for my girls.  I want them to learn in an environment that is not competitive, but is created for learning to understand.  I want to expose them to different things, different ideas, different experiences.  I want them to be able to explore and really take the time to understand the things that interests them.  A right now spends hours reading about WW II and books with titles like: Why Snot is Green.  If she wants to know that, why knows where that could lead?  I want her to take that journey.

I see the benefits of school: different teachers, different personalities, different viewpoints (but they could have similar experiences in a co-op).  The kids, even the teasing and the cliques (again, socialization won't be an issue, there are many great resources).  Teachers may specialize in a given topic, where I do not have the specialized knowledge (but again, there would be opportunities in the co-op, or we can take advantage of tutors and later, classes at the community college).  Of course there is that fear, that stigma, of them being WIERD.  But, we have met several dozen homeschool kids in the last two weeks and none of them were wierd; had I not known that they were homeschooled, I would never be able to guess that they were, they were all social and friendly and fun.

When I was in high school, I had a teacher who changed my life.  Ms. Diane Edwards Leahy.  She told us that we could choose to do the minimum and get by, in school and in life.  Or we would investigate the world around us and learn about things and in so doing, we would be able to form our own opinions, affect change and make a difference.  She was of the belief that as long as you could qualify a statement, it was valid.  That kind of thinking changed my life.  It made me believe in myself and think for myself.  Discovering for yourself, in my opinion, is the best knowledge.  That is the kind of education I want for my girls.

Additionally, in college, I had classes where the majority of the grade was based on a cumulative exam.  I fretted over those classes and stressed and crammed and memorized...and I couldn't tell you a darn thing about what I learned.  Then, there were classes were our grade was based on an essay, where I got to explore things and relate and understand them; those are the classes that I remember.  I remember how the immune system works and what the role of the T cells are because I was never tested on it.  I never even wrote a paper on it, my paper for that class was on how female body adjusts to pregnancy (which is fascinating, even though I am squeamish; but the lungs and organs adjust to the growing fetus).  But because I wasn't stressed and nervous that I would forget it, I was relaxed and open to learning it, I remember it 20 years later.  And I was not a bio major.  I could given dozens of examples of this in my major, but I think it is more credible in a subject that I wasn't even that interested in, but took to satisfy core requirements.

On Friday we are meeting with yet another group of homeschoolers and their parents. Knowing that there are so many people making this choice, learning from all of them is strengthening us to believe that we can do this and that it would work and be great for the girls.

Yesterday

Dan

I can't write about yesterday without writing about my friend, Dan.

Dan's mom was my first grade teacher.  I didn't meet Dan until high school.  He was younger than me, but we were in the same mixed group of skater-punk-DeadHead-anti-Top 40- it's- cool- to- think- different- and- be- open- minded crowd(everything in my high school was about music, what music you listened to defined you; well, in my mind anyway).  Dan was funny.  And sweet.  And charismatic.  He was friends with Brian.  And Brian dated my best friend Missy and decided that he liked me and broke up with Missy, but that was awkward.  And then she went out with Rich and it was all okay.  lol.  High School.  Was Dan in on our hallway Ramones singalongs?  I think so.  I definitely remember Dan coming to my Speedwriting class (which I abhorred, but figured would help me take notes in college) and waiting at the door, where I could see him but the nasty teacher (who I just saw at Costco a few weeks ago!) could not, until I came out.  We would wander the halls, looking for friends, getting them out of class.  We had hall passes.  Dan was with me the day I almost got cut caught cutting class to go to the bagel place.  It was the only time I had ever left school grounds in my entire high school career and three days before graduation, and Brian talked the shop teacher out of turning me in.  Brian and Dan did extra detention for me so it wouldn't go on my record (they both already had a history of detention.lol).  And parties.  Lots and lots of parties.  We grew up in what was a farm town (the farms have been replaced with McMansions); we partied in fields, bonfires and kegs, people entering a lit circle from the darkened edges.  We partied in houses, too, of course.  And behind barns.  This one kid built a stage behind the barn and ran power cords out of the barn and we would party in a pasture, with a band on the stage.  That's all gone now.  But it was a great way to grow up, to sow wild oats.

Somewhere along the way from college to real life, I lost track of Brian and Dan and even Melissa and Danielle and Jeff and a lot of those people.  But we all reconnected on facebook.  Some of us have met at the local bar in the town that we grew up in.  But not Dan.  Dan was diagnosed with MS in his twenties.  Some people with MS are lucky to find meds that work for them, but Dan was not so lucky.  He was in pain a lot of the time.  But he didn't complain.  There was something that worked better than other things, but after a while, insurance refused to pay for it and it was downhill.  Dan's sister, Deanna kept us all in the loop.  It wasn't a surprise to wake up yesterday morning and to find out that Dan was no longer with us.  It wasn't a surprise, and we knew it meant his suffering was over, but we still wish none of this had ever happened to him.  The hilariously funny, skinny kid who built an awesome halfpipe in his backyard and skated like the devil!

Yesterday morning, we all took turns posting things on Dan's wall, stories and memories. It was awesome to recall them, to remember Dan stories along with everyone.  I like to think that Dan was right there, no longer in pain, remembering along with us.

My neighbor homeschools and we have known each other for years, but our paths and schedules just never seem to cross.  She had come in to the library on Monday and we had made plans to meet at a park yesterday afternoon.  Just before I left, a friend of mine from third grade posted a grainy, bootleg video of The Jerry Garcia Band playing "My Sisters and Brothers".  Sunglasses on my head and purse in hand, I watched the video on facebook, crying silently and thinking how lucky I was to have grown up with these awesome people.  How lucky I was to count them as friends.  And I thought how it's only really people that knew you back then, that will ever really know what you were like back then.  You may never share that Dead Head punk rock side of yourself with the people you meet as a mom, when you want to seem competent and polished and reserved.  Or would you?

My Neighbor

This is what I knew about her: she lived around the corner and a few blocks down.  Her girls took gymnastics with my girls several years ago.  She was EXTREMELY patient with her girls.  Her daughter was reading when she was small.  She homeschooled.  And she had gone to Princeton.

I was impressed and to be honest, maybe just a little intimidated. But she has always been so very nice to us and I adore her girls, who were part of the American Girl Club that I ran at the library.

I had emailed her about homeschooling a few months ago, and she was very pleasant.  We made loose plans to get together over the summer.  Then when she came in on Monday and I told her what I had been up to, we made plans for Wednesday.

I had a great time talking to her at the park!  All of the girls got along wonderfully.  She was a wealth of information about homeschooling, but we talked about other things as well in a warm, candid, open way that I very much enjoyed.  She is smart, but easy to talk to and a lot of fun, she laughs easily and is very down to earth and open.  I felt comfortable with her: no judgement, no competition.  I felt like I could tell her things that other people might think I was crazy for saying.  We shared things about ourselves, who we were "before kids".  Talking to her, I almost felt like I was back in touch with the "Before Kids" part of myself!

As the girls and I drove home, with them in the backseat begging to be homeschooled so they can play with her girls more often, I thought how if she had gone to my high school, she may have been part of our mixed group of skater-punk-DeadHead-anti-Top 40- it's- cool- to- think- different- and- be- open- minded crowd.

I like people who do what is right for them without worrying about what everyone else is doing.

It felt right to spend the day with her yesterday and to make a new friend.

Everything is falling into place...

In addition to how awesome all of the moms were yesterday at the homeschool park meetup...I have been so excited about my conversation with my truly awesome boss yesterday.  I am seriously blessed to work for this woman!

I told her that I was considering homeschooling my kids next year, but that I wanted to keep my job.  (I work 12 hours a week as a reference librarian).  My boss immediately offered me every other Saturday.  It was already in the plans for me to run  (organize, teach, guide ?) two Storytime sessions per week.  We also discussed me filling in holes in the schedule here and there.  She said the girls can come with me and we can either find jobs for them around the library or they can do their lessons or read or research things.  What a fabulous opportunity for them!!!!

She also offered her assistance if there was something she could help me with.  And she said that she would be very interested in having any homeschool groups meet at our library :)

I am such a lucky, blessed girl!!!!!

Everything is falling into place....

A Postive First Step

Today was a MOST WONDERFUL day!

Since A was in first grade, we were less than pleased with public school.  We looked into Catholic school, but around here it seems that the Catholic schools are behind the public schools academically and my fear was that the girls would be unprepared for high school and college.  Also, in our area, they are CONSTANTLY closing Catholic schools and I have friends who have dealt with the dreaded "hearing your school is closing in, oh, say August!?!!"  We briefly considered private school but at $26,000 to $28,000 per pupil, it is out of our financial reach.  We considered moving.  We looked at houses, we looked at school systems.  There are some wonderful sites like greatschools.com and Schoolreportcard.com and YahooNeighborhoods that have parent reviews of school systems.  Many, many school systems also have on-line forums and in researching neighborhoods and schools we found that basically, what we objected to was rampant.  We could not get away from it.

The summer between second and third grade, I worked with A and she excelled several reading levels.  She excelled MORE in those 2 months than in the following TEN months of school. We don't necessarily want our kids to be on a fast track to Harvard, but we feel that there is something to be said for learning at your own pace, having time to master topics and NOT just preparing ALL YEAR long for a standardized test.

We have one neighbor that homeschools and the girls have played with her girls and enjoy them very much.

But today we started on our journey of really deciding if homeschooling is something we want to try come September.  We drove an hour from our home, to the town where we used to live and to park where we used to meet friends all the time.

We were all a little nervous when we walked up.  But the moms could not have been more friendly.  Without even asking, they all told me their stories, why they had made this choice.  They asked why we were considering it. They asked if we had questions.  They told us about all kinds of opportunities from field trips to classes to eCube to online classes to college classes to informal gathering and more formal conferences.  We talked about curriculum.  We talked about scheduling.  We talking about educational styles.

The girls took a little while to come out of their shell, but luckily one family had brought their King Charles Cavalier pup and the girls started petting it and talking to the other kids and before I knew it they were wandering down nature trails and skipping stones into the water and giggling their heads off.

On the way home, I asked what they thought.  A said that she wants to be homeschooled.  P just complained that she was tired.

On the way home, I thought, Could this really be my life?  Going places and doing things with my kids, sharing adventures with them all the time?

When I got to work, I approached my boss and she was open and receptive, agreeable to a flexible schedule SHOULD we decide to do this.

Then, not fifteen minutes later, who should walk in but my homeschooling neighbor and one of her girls.  I told her where we had been today and how we were feeling.  She was delighted and we started talking more in depth.  I've always enjoyed her company, but we had never really discussed homeschooling.  I recently emailed her to tell her that we were considering it and we said we would get together, but we just haven't made the time.  Now we will.

A QUICK UPDATE: My Letter to the Superintendent

I received a response from the Superintendent today regarding my email.  He was apologetic, seemed sincere and promised to look into the things I described.  He promised me complete anonymity.