So I'm putting the cart before the horse here, actually way before the horse, but...........such is life sometimes :)
Before I started this blog and especially since starting this blog I have and still do browse any other blogs. They're fun to read, learn from, etc. In browsing other blogs I've come to realize that in this day and age there are lots of Homeschooling Moms and well, kids too......
This is where the cart comes before the horse.......We don't have kids yet so I'm not real sure why this seems to be on my mind and pop out to me when I read a new blog....baby fever??? maybe, but I'm not real sure that the topic of homeschooling your unconceived, unborn children is a symptom of baby fever BUT hey, you never know.....Anywho, back to my point....
Homeschooling has become the schooling option of choice in many areas and is far more widespread than I thought. Not that I have done any kind of real research on the topic! Most of us are brought up in a society where you send your kids to school, either private or public. Off they go as soon as they are old enough. Now I'm thinking (scary, I know) and wondering why are we all conditoned to send kids to school? Do we consider the other option of homeschooling? Are these homeschooling families seeing, experiencing, benefiting in ways unknown to us????
I know, many of you are saying...uh well, I work full time, my husband works full time, so off the kids go to catch the bus. But, WAIT.......I've read many, many comments about kids being homeschooled by parents who both work full time jobs. Somehow they seem to make it work to fit their schedule and their life. I was a little shocked to see that this could be done but kudos to those parents!!!
I've recently started doing some tutoring lessons (although my sister seems to think I'd be a bad teacher). The subject that we are working on for now is Algebra. So trying to be prepared I used my handy dandy computer (I AM the Queen of Google) to try to re-familiarize myself with High School Algebra......(as I was having flash backs of my High School trig teacher getting onto me for always finding something to do or talk about that was unrelated to trig.....I do believe I was possibly one of his most annoying students...but I DID NOT like trig...I think I reminded him of this daily)
Back to my algebra research----I found some good websites with great information and examples (although I was not near as prepared as I thought I was). THEN I came across one of those, you ask a question to people in cyber world (still not real sure how you do this, but I'm glad other people have figured it out) and wait for some of those people in cyber world to respond either with answers, tips, advice, or opinions.
Well ironically enough the question I happened upon had to do with algebra problems (told you I was the Google Queen) and somewhere in the original question or in a comment posted by the question asker was this statement- "I am homeschooled and am having to teach myself this."
WOW!!!! Yes, I'm pretty sure WOW, was my initial reaction!!!
I do believe this comment is what really got my brain turning on this subject. The blogs I read show families, moms, dads, kids, all blooming and thriving in this homeschooling atmosphere. They share lesson plans, and activites, stories of ups and downs, and how they make this part of their life work. And then there are a select few homeschooling kids who are withering because they are having to teach themselves, because someone has decided to not do what is best for these children.
I know this is a touchy subject and one that should be approached carefully and with lots of thought. I don't want any of you to think that I stand on one side or the other, it's just something I've been thinking about and wanted to put out there.
Now.....I know there are a few of you out there that read this here blog pretty faithfully (Mom!) so give me your thoughts and opinions on this. DON'T BE SHY!!!!!!!!!!!! Leave a comment (please don't make me beg)....
Which would be better for your life? Your family? Have you ever considered home-schooling? Do you know someone who does homeschool?
Let me have it, I want to hear what YOU think!!!!!!
p.s. Invite your friends over to this here blog...let them read...let them comment...let them become faithful followers... :)
p.s.s. you know you want to...JUST DO IT....okay so this isn't an ad for Nike but it fit........it is an ad for Faith, Love and Cattle though...tell your friends about me....let them listen to me ramble...it just might make them smile to know there is some one out there more random and weird than they are....................
Here are my thoughts!!!!! (for what they are worth)
ReplyDeleteHomeschooling is right for my family, it is not right for everyone and the last thing I would do is judge someone for choosing something (public or private school) for their kiddos that they believe is best for them just because I do something differently.
I grew up in public school, super involved in every school activity so I come the same mindset as you.
We homeschool because we feel that we are in the position to be the ones to provide a firm, Godly foundation for our children and not pass that on to someone else.
Homeschooling styles vary from family-to-family. For us, homeschooling is more of a way of life than a segment of our day. It has given our family so much time and freedom to be together and control the pace of our lives. We are able to teach according to each child’s individual strengths and weaknesses and to know our children’s heart which is what is behind everything they say and do. We try to focus on helping our kids realize the world is their classroom—that there is stuff to learn everywhere.
One of my priorities is making sure our house is filled to the brim with good books (hello garage sales and Goodwill) on all kinds of subjects, helping our kids identify their passions and figure out how to explore them on a budget, teaching them life skills at an early age so that they understand the concept of teamwork and that I am not a maid or servant or ATM machine.
As far as the kid teaching himself Algebra, I have heard that often. I will say that homeschooling isn’t about the parent being an expert at each subject and hand feeding or teaching to the test; it’s about FINDING the answers. Most homeschool kids become self learners which will only be an asset as they head to college.
I could go on and on, but I will give you a break now. But, hey, you asked, haha.
So great meeting you at AWIA!
Thank you so much for your insight on this! I would love to pick your brain about this subject more one day. I have so many questions!!!
ReplyDeleteIt was great meeting you at ARWIA as well!! Your session was one of my favorites :)