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The Persistent State of Almost

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

I almost have next year figured out! Almost.

I almost have our method of homeschooling such that it works for our family and more precisely for the boys. Almost.

Unlike a classroom teacher we are not limited to choices or plans made for the year ahead. We are not necessarily limited by a budget process for our materials. Instead we are fortunate to have the ability to make decisions and changes specifically to our students needs. We are able to abandon, even the most thoughtful purchase, when it isn’t working for our student. We are afforded an opportunity to make changes as needed when needed. The caveat to that is that we can be overwhelmed with choices and thrust into a constant state of flux.

Realistically this doesn’t happen to everyone. And it doesn’t happen all the time. But it can happen even to the best of decision makers.

One of the many things that I have learned in these first few years of homeschooling is that *I* must battle against slipping into chaos. That I have to be aware of the reason behind the changes we’re making to make certain that they are need or warranted. That I must work to prevent myself from making changes simply for the sake of changing. I spend a lot of time evaluating what we are using and how it is working for my boys. What I don’t do is spend a lot of time thinking about what might be better. I found that if I’m focused on what MIGHT be better then I’m more likely think that the grass is greener. Pretty new curriculum can be so very tempting!

Here are some of the thing I do for myself:

1. Borrow if I can. A quick flip through will often tell me if it will work.

2. I’m sure to check out the free (sample) pages.

3. I want to be open to new ideas but I don’t forget to appreciate what I have chosen when it IS working.

4. Watch for things that I want a few years down the road. I’m working now on collecting a few resources that I know I’m going to use in a year or two. One is Hakim’s History books.

5. Sometimes you have to spend the money to know and sometimes that purchase won’t work. Build a little bit into your budget for those purchases.

So what do YOU do to keep yourself from a constant state of flux?

Random Resources because I’m busy watching the TV!

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Seriously I’m very distracted by the Olympics. In fact you could say that I have started several post tonight. But after I’d get my thoughts going along someone would fall in the halfpipe and I’d lose my thought train would derail!

So here for your clicking please are a few of the resources that we use. And I mean really *use* at our house.

Classics for Kids makes it very easy to add to your houses musical education.

Growing with Grammar makes grammar almost painless here. We’re in our third year of using this program and this was one of my first choices for next year’s curriculum.

Iknowthat.com Math Blox is our favorite drill practice. My son Jr. likes that he can try to best his highest scores. I like that he’s practicing his multiplication math facts.

Professor Noggin Games What is more fun than making your Mom and Dad play the “hard” level? We have several of these games and enjoy playing them as a family. Easily adapted to play in the car as well (simply choose your number versus roll the dice).

Enjoy!

Secular Thursday

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

I had planned on writing up a nice little post for Secular Thursday about a few of the things we use for curriculum. Instead my boys came down with a nasty cold that has required me to Mama first and blogger much, much lower down the list.  So instead I offer you a few things I would have liked to have known that first year of trying to find local support

1. On local level (as in real life homeschool support groups) sometimes using the word “academic” rather than “secular” will save you from feeling completely alone. Secular is an often misunderstood word.

2.  Inclusive doesn’t always mean accepting of all peoples, faiths, philosophies etc. Sometimes it just means that the group will welcome Catholics or other sects of Christianity.

3. Unschooling and Homeschooling don’t always mean the same thing. Unschooling doesn’t always mean the same thing from person to person.

4. When people are talking about how great those Homeschooling Conferences are – - they probably aren’t talking about one that is inclusive or secular because there aren’t that many.

5. There is a “homeschool dance” that we participate in when first meeting a new member of the homeschool community. You’ll be asked questions while people try to casually figure out which words to place upon you: Agnostic, Secular, Evolutionist, Christian, LDS, Catholic, Creationist, Athiest, Unschooler, Relaxed, School-at-Home etc. And sometimes but not always the answers will determine whether your emails get answered or if you are invited back to a group.