Getting the hang of homeschooling

I guess because I never considered homeschooling, it never occurred to me that there would be rules/guidelines to follow, or that each state had different requirements. I think many parents are unaware of this, especially those considering homeschooling or those new to it.

Homeschooling in Florida, for example, isn't the same as homeschooling in Wisconsin. In case you didn't know, some states are very strict. They want you to write a letter of intent, meet with a school board rep every so often, etc. Some of these states also require that the parent (teacher) have at least a high school degree. Other states, are very lenient. You can pretty much do what you want, teach when you want and teach what you want. I think when it comes to your child's education, having somewhat strict rules to follow isn't that bad a thing. After all, don't you want your child to have the best possible education? When states require a lot from homeschoolers, it really is for the benefit of the child.

Finding state homeschool resources, especially online, is really simple. You can simply do a search containing your state and the word homeschool or homeschooling, i.e. homeschooling in Texas.

There is so much information online, it's just a matter of having the time to read it. GOOD LUCK!

Don't forget about typing

Even though my younger child isn't old enough to use a real computer, she has a few kiddie laptops which she loves playing with. Not only are they great with helping her learn to use a mouse and learn where the letters are on a keyboard, but they also promote hand-eye coordination.

This made me wonder about how a child who is learning to type can get keyboarding help online. This can be especially tricky for homeschooling families that use textbooks to learn. What better way to learn to type and use a keyboard than to do so with online typing games.

Nowadays, many kids become so bored with textbook learning that using a computer is a great alternative. Plus, with just about everything being online, it helps them get acquainted with using a computer and navigating the Internet, which of course, will help them years down the line when they start going to college and entering the 'real world.' On the flip side of that, it goes without saying that, as parents, we have to be very careful with how much access we give our children to the Internet, so we have to be sure to set certain boundaries and take advantage of those parental controls.

If you are using textbooks to homeschool and want your kids to learn to type, finding fun typing games online is a great way to help prevent boredom. Many online sites provide fun keyboard games that are free of charge and can bring a welcome change that your children will surely enjoy.

Me homeschool?

I never considered homeschooling. Never even heard much about it, except in high school, many many years ago, when a friend of mine left school one year to be homeschooled. I never even really bothered to ask her what that meant or how she liked it. I know I was happy to have her back at school the next year. That friend is now a doctor. She was always on top of everything, very diligent with her schoolwork and always getting A's.

Now that I'm a mother of 2 and work at a company that works with homeschooling families providing online curriculums, it's been something that I've started wondering about. Even though my children will not be in a school for a few years, it's never too early to start thinking about their education.

As a customer support rep, I hear about so many parents taking their children out of school to homeschool them. I hear a number of reasons: learning disabilities, special needs, and mostly just less than great school systems. Is this really what it's like out there? Are schools really that bad?

Like any mom, I love spending time with my kids and lately I've been thinking how homeschooling can allow me to spend even more time with them and be able to teach them without having to worry about some of the things that go along with going to regular school. Things like them not advancing at the right pace, being lost and overlooked with so many other children in a classroom/school.

On the flip side of all of this, I think about things like them socializing with other children and participating in sports and other extracurricular activities. This is so very important. But I have learned from other homeschooling families that there are many many homeschooling groups and co-ops just about everywhere that would take care of this aspect. Something I would have never know had I not started working here.

Like any other topic, we usually form an idea, usually a stereotype of what it is based on other people's opinions and little things we hear here and there. And lo and behold, when we learn more about it we say, " hmmm, that actually sounds interesting." That's what seems to be happening to me.

DVRs for Educators

I am a member of a number of local groups that discuss homeschooling. One of the members mentioned recording educational programming to a DVR for use later in the classroom and I thought I would pass the idea along here.

We have been recording shows to our DVR for quite sometime. The National Geographic Channel, the Discovery Channel, the Science Channel, the History Channel, DIY, HGTV, and many others are all wonderful resources. In addition, we have purchased a number of series sets from the Discovery Store.

Cable in the Classroom offers a lot of help with scheduling and additional information that would be useful for educators.

Using a mix of different media with my children has been very beneficial. They need to hear information from a variety of sources and the visual images available through these films and programs are much more realistic than we could offer through textbooks.

What to write...

Once my daughter learned to read, I guess I thought that writing would come naturally. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. She has a strong imagination and does write well when she is willing to take her time and accept a little guidance. However, that is not very often.

I have struggled with ways to encourage her to write and have really worked to understand the reasons behind her frustrations. Maybe some of my observations will help you if you face similar issues.

First, she doesn't enjoy writing, because she is limited by the amount of words she can spell. I know that in the public school system here, they encourage children to just write the words as they sound if they don't know the proper spelling. However, I can't seem to bring myself to encourage my child to misspell words. I am always available to help and we have about ten dictionaries of varying depth at her disposal. I know it will just take time for her to learn more words. My conclusion is that we need to work on her spelling abilities.

Second, she lacks experience with grammar. We have covered all of the rules, but they are just words right now. I feel like I am in a crazy loop. She needs to know the rules for writing, but until she starts writing more, it is hard to understand their application.

Third, she needs to be able to express herself creatively and enjoy what she writes. Her latest project was creating a comic book with her and her sister as the main characters. We are also encouraging her to use email to communicate to friends, write letters, and make lists for us when we need to remember things. We scrapbook together and I encourage her documenting events as well. Our most success came when she wrote a book about her grandmother and herself (www.bebeandme.org). We are hoping to get to write a sequel soon.

I would like to find other options for her and am looking into enrolling her in an online program like time4writing. It is a significant commitment, but I think she could really benefit from a change of pace and an introduction to a new teacher on this subject. I love the interaction it promises and feel that she may be ready for a challenge like that later this school year.

I wish I had some definite answers, but thought I would simply share my ponderings on the subject. Obviously, I love to write and reading is a mini-obsession. I strongly desire for my children to find a passion for language like their parents have. I will let you know how things progress.

MathTriumph

I just have to share my child's excitement right now. She has struggled with carrying in addition problems all year and complicated subtraction problems have been quite a challenge for her as well. She has become so discouraged that the idea of working on math is a disappointment. Unfortunately, this is one subject that I cannot avoid and we have used a multitude of techniques to try to help her grasp these basic mathematical concepts.

Today, I walked into our homeschool room to shouts of delight from Sophie. She was working on her money unit in Time4Learning and finally got it! She went into great detail about the lesson and what was shown that made sense. We had used money to help her with math problems, and being such a little spendthrift, that was really making sense. However, the basic math applications were still causing her difficulty. The fact that a ten minute lesson helped her comprehend the process of carrying is amazing to me.

I have also been challenged to creatively come up with ways for her to drill simple math problems, such as basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Yesterday, I started printing off worksheets with five problems on each row. We timed her on how fast she could correctly complete each row and she had a blast. She was actually asking to do more and finished another 50 problems with Keith after he got home from work. This was much more successful than flashcards. Totally Tut Math Operations Game was another fun tool we used to help her memorize the basics.

I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. My child is happy and learning the basic skills she requires. It's a good day!

Spelling City and Hangman

One of my biggest challenges with Sophie has been in the subject of Spelling. She is so good at reading complex words, but the simplest words will stump her when it comes to spelling. After watching the National Spelling Bee, Sophie asked if we could work on this problem a little more.

We started with some basic quizzes which left her in tears because she was struggling to get the right answers. I quickly saw that this was a situation where I needed to move away from my traditional learning experiences and come up with another option for her.

After thinking about the situation a while, I decided that using a spelling list might be the best way to keep up with her overall progress. There is a great online game site that allows you to use your own lists in their word games. You can just go to their homepage, at SpellingCity.com, and enter the words you want to study. They offer a lot of options from traditional testing to 10 interactive games.

I also found a great little book called Scratch and Solve Hangman, by Mike Ward. It is great for word recognition and construction. She loves it and has been playing it a lot over the last few days. It is also something that she can play on her own and she has NO idea that it is teaching her anything!

We are giving Sophie words to spell at random when we stop at a red light or are in line at the store. She seems to really enjoy it and one of my main goals with homeschooling is to keep education a fun experience that the girls will always appreciate and crave. So far so good!