I didn't used to think of myself as a nonconformist. Growing up, I followed the rules, almost to a fault. While I had a bit of a stubborn/rebellious streak where homework was concerned, I graduated high school with high enough grades to get into the college of my choice. It was only when my own children had begun school that my antipathy for homework, mixed with a dislike of being forced to do things in a way that I disagree with, reared its head.
My nonconformity did not begin with home school, though. It became evident with the birth of my fourth child. Just the existence of a fourth child in a family is not typical. The fact that she was born at home, on purpose, is evidence that conformity is not my ambition in life. I have since had three more children born at home.
Having been brave in breaking with birth norms, breaking out of the public school system was not as scary as it might have been, but bravery is not about not feeling fear, it is moving forward in spite of it. Giving birth in an uncommon location caused me very little fear. One sometimes feels self conscious about doing something unusual, but fear was not a large emotion where my home births are concerned. If anything, I felt a great deal of relief.
Taking my children out of the public schools and taking upon myself the responsibility of teaching them everything they need to know to be happy, self sufficient, giving members of society is no small undertaking. Fortunately, I only need to teach them one day at a time, one hour or one minute or one second at a time. As with all aspects of parenting, it is a good thing that we need only deal with one second at a time (1, 2, 3...breathe).
Green, 4 year old size footprints painted on the living room carpet-1 one thousand, 2 one thousand, 3...breathe.
Styrofoam bits all over- 1 one thousand, 2...
Holding my 20 month old through the night while he throws up every 15 minutes for over 5 hours- 18,001, 18,002, 18,003...
It's not about refusing to conform for the sake of not conforming. It is about using the brains, talents, and inspiration God gives you to make intelligent, inspired choices, even when those choices don't conform with what most people choose to do.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Do-It-Yourself School
I became disenchanted with regular school a number of years ago. However, it wasn't until my oldest child was in 5th grade that I decided to take my children's education into my own hands and do it myself. That was 4 years ago. I really just got tired of conforming to the public school system (conforming just isn't my thing).
Recently, I've been thinking I should post the curricula I'm using as a way to organize my own thoughts and, perhaps, help someone else make a decision about some aspect of their child's education.
I have been using this curriculum my children starting in Kindergarten, finishing by about 7th grade. I say "about" because I slow down or speed up based on my child's readiness. My oldest daughter, who is starting 7th grade this school year, is finishing up book 6B. By the end of this series they are ready for Pre-Algebra.
Life of Fred
I haven't used this yet. I was looking for a math curriculum to follow Singapore Math. I feel it is important to be consistent for the Algebra 1/Geometry/Algebra 2 math instruction, since sometimes geometry is integrated throughout algebra and sometimes it is not. After a great deal of study, I narrowed it down and let my daughter choose. She decided on Life of Fred. We will see how it goes.
I buy books 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 when each child starts kindergarten and go through the books in that order, finishing about 3rd grade. I buy the "1/2" books if a child needs extra help before going on to the next book.
Spelling City and Spelling Workout
After completing Explode the Code, I have been using the Spelling Workout workbooks for the activities and the Spelling City site for spelling tests. Over the last year or so, I have relied more on Spelling City for activities as well as tests using their premium account. This allows me to create assignments for the children and it keeps track of everything for me (a big time saver).
We have been through all 4 books now and are back to the first book this year. I really like this series. I bought the books on cd and we listen to history while driving to our weekly Tae Kwon Do class. I created notebooks for the children using my preferred activities from the Activity book (I made copies and had them spiral bound for each child). I don't use the tests and we will be using a timeline with everything on it already.
I bought FLL 1&2 when they came together in one hardbound book. I like it a lot and continue to use it. I ended up creating a supplemental poetry booklet, illustrated by my children, to give easier access to the poems we memorize. I like the poetry memorization and the memorization of grammar definitions and lists. Initially, I was not thrilled with the memorization of word lists (like the prepositions and helping verbs), but I have found it very useful as we progress in our grammar studies. Even the older children will chime in when we chant the helping verbs. FLL 3 & 4 are more time consuming for me, as the instructor, than I would like, so I have looked into other options. I also found the leap from FLL 2 to FLL 3 is not gradual enough. If I were only teaching 1 or 2 children, I might have stuck with this series, but I have 7 children and just can't spend as much teaching time as FLL 3 & 4 require. (I like that there is no prep time, though)
Climbing to Good English
I used Good English to bridge the gap between FLL 2 & 3 and also used it for my older students who were beyond FLL 4. This relatively inexpensive and fairly comprehensive curriculum was less time consuming to teach, but after using book 2, two years in a row with different children, it burned me out and became tedious for me as the teacher. I think that having 3 of my children complain about it all through the first year of using it didn't help. So the search continued to find a good grammar curriculum for our family...
KISS Grammar
I found a reference to this on a forum I visited while looking for a used Junior Analytical Grammar book for my 7th grader. It intrigued me, first, because it is free. As I investigated it more, though, it excited me due to its unique approach to grammar, as well as the fact that it has materials for various levels enabling me to teach my 3rd, 5th, and 7th grader grammar all at the same time (yes, as a mother of 7, time is a huge factor for me). So, no JAG for dd for now and we will see how things go. As I mentioned above, I will still use FLL 1&2 for my first grader, but, if I'm still using KISS in two years, ds will join his older siblings.
The Sentence Family
This is a delightful way to teach basic grammar concepts. I use it as a supplement and will go through it with the kids again this year.
This is the first writing curriculum I used. I plan to continue to incorporate some of the concepts, but I will be moving away from the workbooks this year using Science and History for topics on which to have the children write. I liked the ease of using the workbooks with everything ready with no teacher prep time, but, once again, when I had multiple children all at different levels, I just didn't have the one on one teacher time to keep up and one ore more children tended to fall behind due to my lack of time (I'll probably write a whole separate post about my time issue, if I have the time). I liked that the little excerpts from literature created a desire in my children to read the whole books from which the excerpts were derived. I didn't like that each level takes a whole 36 weeks to complete. Things always come up, whether illness, field trips or life in general that sometimes interrupt a school day and prevent us from accomplishing all that we set out to do. I prefer a curriculum designed for 34 weeks, or less, giving us more flexibility in our school, yet still enabling the feeling of having completed a curriculum in our school year.
Recently, I've been thinking I should post the curricula I'm using as a way to organize my own thoughts and, perhaps, help someone else make a decision about some aspect of their child's education.
Math:
Singapore Primary Mathematics US edition, Books 1A through 6BI have been using this curriculum my children starting in Kindergarten, finishing by about 7th grade. I say "about" because I slow down or speed up based on my child's readiness. My oldest daughter, who is starting 7th grade this school year, is finishing up book 6B. By the end of this series they are ready for Pre-Algebra.
Life of Fred
I haven't used this yet. I was looking for a math curriculum to follow Singapore Math. I feel it is important to be consistent for the Algebra 1/Geometry/Algebra 2 math instruction, since sometimes geometry is integrated throughout algebra and sometimes it is not. After a great deal of study, I narrowed it down and let my daughter choose. She decided on Life of Fred. We will see how it goes.
Spelling:
Explode the CodeI buy books 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 when each child starts kindergarten and go through the books in that order, finishing about 3rd grade. I buy the "1/2" books if a child needs extra help before going on to the next book.
Spelling City and Spelling Workout
After completing Explode the Code, I have been using the Spelling Workout workbooks for the activities and the Spelling City site for spelling tests. Over the last year or so, I have relied more on Spelling City for activities as well as tests using their premium account. This allows me to create assignments for the children and it keeps track of everything for me (a big time saver).
History:
Story of the WorldWe have been through all 4 books now and are back to the first book this year. I really like this series. I bought the books on cd and we listen to history while driving to our weekly Tae Kwon Do class. I created notebooks for the children using my preferred activities from the Activity book (I made copies and had them spiral bound for each child). I don't use the tests and we will be using a timeline with everything on it already.
Grammar:
First Language LessonsI bought FLL 1&2 when they came together in one hardbound book. I like it a lot and continue to use it. I ended up creating a supplemental poetry booklet, illustrated by my children, to give easier access to the poems we memorize. I like the poetry memorization and the memorization of grammar definitions and lists. Initially, I was not thrilled with the memorization of word lists (like the prepositions and helping verbs), but I have found it very useful as we progress in our grammar studies. Even the older children will chime in when we chant the helping verbs. FLL 3 & 4 are more time consuming for me, as the instructor, than I would like, so I have looked into other options. I also found the leap from FLL 2 to FLL 3 is not gradual enough. If I were only teaching 1 or 2 children, I might have stuck with this series, but I have 7 children and just can't spend as much teaching time as FLL 3 & 4 require. (I like that there is no prep time, though)
Climbing to Good English
I used Good English to bridge the gap between FLL 2 & 3 and also used it for my older students who were beyond FLL 4. This relatively inexpensive and fairly comprehensive curriculum was less time consuming to teach, but after using book 2, two years in a row with different children, it burned me out and became tedious for me as the teacher. I think that having 3 of my children complain about it all through the first year of using it didn't help. So the search continued to find a good grammar curriculum for our family...
KISS Grammar
I found a reference to this on a forum I visited while looking for a used Junior Analytical Grammar book for my 7th grader. It intrigued me, first, because it is free. As I investigated it more, though, it excited me due to its unique approach to grammar, as well as the fact that it has materials for various levels enabling me to teach my 3rd, 5th, and 7th grader grammar all at the same time (yes, as a mother of 7, time is a huge factor for me). So, no JAG for dd for now and we will see how things go. As I mentioned above, I will still use FLL 1&2 for my first grader, but, if I'm still using KISS in two years, ds will join his older siblings.
The Sentence Family
This is a delightful way to teach basic grammar concepts. I use it as a supplement and will go through it with the kids again this year.
Writing:
Writing With EaseThis is the first writing curriculum I used. I plan to continue to incorporate some of the concepts, but I will be moving away from the workbooks this year using Science and History for topics on which to have the children write. I liked the ease of using the workbooks with everything ready with no teacher prep time, but, once again, when I had multiple children all at different levels, I just didn't have the one on one teacher time to keep up and one ore more children tended to fall behind due to my lack of time (I'll probably write a whole separate post about my time issue, if I have the time). I liked that the little excerpts from literature created a desire in my children to read the whole books from which the excerpts were derived. I didn't like that each level takes a whole 36 weeks to complete. Things always come up, whether illness, field trips or life in general that sometimes interrupt a school day and prevent us from accomplishing all that we set out to do. I prefer a curriculum designed for 34 weeks, or less, giving us more flexibility in our school, yet still enabling the feeling of having completed a curriculum in our school year.
Conclusion:
I have not included all subjects in this post, but it is late. I will see about posting more. It helps me organize my brain to put my thoughts in writing. I hope this is of some use to someone.
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