This is probably a good time to say something about what occupies most of our day- learning. We are home schoolers or home educators, whatever you want to call it, it means our children do not attend a government school. They "do school" at home, and in the grocery, and at the library, and in the car, and in the yard... Basically we do school all the time!
A homeschooling mom was not something I ever envisioned for myself. When the Big Guy first mentioned to me he wanted us to homeschool I knew nothing about it. I knew that I didn't like government schools and that I wanted something better for my children, but to me that meant a private school, maybe even starting a Christian school at our church. But I never thought I would be educating my children myself... at home... all alone...
Now is a good time for you to know a very important thing about Geoff and me, we LOVE to research stuff. Any and all things that come our way are run through a process of computer searches. Sicknesses, Bible figures, log hardness, grammar rules, cleaning products, EVERYTHING must be searched and home schooling was no different. So I launched into this new adventure with a trip to the library and a few purchases at amazon. Thus began my life as a home educator.
I started my grand adventure when our daughter was still small, long before we were to begin school. The first place I searched was the law. Every state has a different law concerning the education of it's residents and the education of it's home schoolers. Some states require parents to teach specific subjects and then be tested every year. Some states even demand that state officials have access to the houses of home schoolers to check on progress, cleanliness, and overall well being. Still other states require as little as the parent only needing to sign up with a private school. As Tennesseans we found our self on the easier side. We needed to find a church related or private school to sign with and then obey the rules of that school.
Home School Legal Defense Association is the best place to find laws for anyone in the US.
Next I looked at curriculum.
WOW! What to choose... what to choose???? There was and is so much out there that I was very quickly overwhelmed. And what about a teaching style? I had no idea there were any. Do I go with unit studies or use the classical method; do I use workbooks or go with literature based studies; or do I take the big leap and unschool... there was so much information that I began to feel I would never sort it out.
It was during this time that I found a local support group. I quickly signed up and was mailed a newsletter. In there were monthly field trips and meetings for Girl Scouts, Girl's Room and 4-H. They even met every Tuesday at a local park. So I packed up my younguns and we went to the park.
There they were, mini vans, as far as the eye could see (well not that far but a lot!).
It's been more than 6 years but I still remember that first day. I talked to almost everyone. I asked millions of questions and got tons of answers. When I returned home I researched all their advice and found two curricula that looked good for us.
Sonlight and Weaver.
In the end I decided to go with the Weaver.
My daughter liked it but it wasn't quite what I wanted. There seemed to be too much jumping around through history. I wanted to go exactly chronologically. No jumping (yes, I am type A, this world needs us!). There was also a lot of work and reading for me, about 4-6 hrs a week in prep. With three small children this was just to much so the next year I sold the Weaver and was able to buy Lifepacs.
This was a better fit for my oldest daughter. She loved the workbooks. Her learning style was/is very much visual. There was much less prep time for me and everything was organized for her.
Then came child #4 and with him the realization that we could not continue on this path. The Lifepacs cost $70 per subject or $350 for all 5 subjects per child per year. One child was fine but 4 were going to break the budget! I had to switch to unit studies and learn to like the extra prep.
I've tried several Unit Studies and while they were all very good, they just seemed to be a poor fit for us. So this past fall I decided on a new track. Instead of getting the very basic program and making due, money is always tight, I would buy a complete package.
The first place I went was to Tapestry of Grace (TOG). I have long admired their great attention to detail while still making their lessons fun. But at $300 for curriculum and another $100+ in books I never gave them a 2nd look. This time I sat down and really did some study.
TOG comes in 4 "Year" groups. Each Year includes lessons for grade K-12 with the exception of math and phonics (most unit study curriculum packages exclude math and phonics). So after completion of 4 Years of study you just go back and start over again with the material you already have only on a more advanced level. All of this is included. Meaning that over the long run we will be saving money.
TOG is currently undergoing a switch from printed material to CDs so I am still waiting to get my stuff. In the interim we are reading through The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer (a great book for anyone to learn history) and Christian Kids Explore Biology by Stephanie L. Redmond. Our math for the last few years has been Math U See. The younger two are learning phonis with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and the Rod and Staff books. I am very excited about TOG and will post more as soon as it arrives.
I have given links above to amazon.com but most of my stuff is purchased used through ebay or at new Rainbow Resource.
No comments:
Post a Comment