PenKase
03-01-2010, 01:50 AM
Imagine that!!!
I figured this topic deserved it's own thread.....Hola!!
Backstory: Long story short....maybe. Since the time when our now dd9 (almost 10) was in ps first grade and I was first introduced to The Well Trained Mind, I fell in love with and was completely sold on the idea of homeschooling. I've been home with the children since the very beginning and was already successful in educating them as soon as they showed readiness.
However, long before my accidental yet fateful encounter with TWTM that one fine day, it was actually dh who planted the "we can educate them at home" seed. Before then I was absolutely sure that our children would be public schooled, no questions. At the time I felt quite unqualified to teach them anything related to school. The idea of homeschooling was absolutely unheard of to me and an even more unheard of to the people in our community. It simply wasn't done. Period. I was just as happy to give my children over to the schools system. After all, isn't that what those brick and mortar structures full of experts called teachers were for? I was absolutely convinced they would know much more when it came to their education. I skeptically agreed to teach dd and we began using HeadSprout Phonics' online program (sidebar: it was also dh who suggested Headsprout....he works in education and knew the original owner) . Dd took the lead and I just followed. We were already used to weekly library trips, museum trips, zoo trips, park trips and picnic lunches. We sang our ABC's and 123's, and the like. After a while with our routine I gained more and more confidence and found it completely natural to provide extensions to her learning, as long as she was ready, of course.
Now, back to the fateful WTM day. We had been afterschooling dd at this point but there was always the nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that always told me that homeschooling would be a better fit. I was sure of this as much as I was sure that mothering was and is the most important thing I will ever do in my life. I came to view as homeschooling as a natural extension of our already enriching family life. What people are more qualified to teach their children than their own parents who would have been their primary teachers until they reach school age? The more and more I thought about it, the more and more I convinced and empowered I became(helped along the way by TWTM, of course). I was so passionate (almost the point of obsession) about the idea and I assumed dh would be as well. In the ten years we've been married, we have always done things differently, a little bit unorthodox. We are happier people because of it and we feel our children have benefited as well. We have always shared the same parenting philosophy and agree on almost everything when it comes to our family.
Imagine my surprise and yes, tears of frustration when he absolutely against homeschooling!!!! I was devastated. Here I was in a state of utopia and then to feel defeated and deflated. He was so adamant in his convictions not to homeschool that I just couldn't go against him. After all, he is their parent too and I have to respect his views even though I may not like them. We agreed that the "happy" medium would be to afterschool. I have gone along with it every since.
Fast forward to the present and here we are with dd6, finding ourselves in quite a predicament. For quite some time we'd been fighting with the school district to get dd accelerated from K to 1st but the feeling in the pit of my stomach has been telling me the whole time to stand firm and present dh with the reasons why this kid may just benefit from a home learning environment.is has gotten ever so strong and screaming at me to defend my position on homeschooling once again. On and off during the years, dh and I have entered in some heated debates over homeschooling. What has sparked this sudden turn of events you ask? A cocktail of living in NJ, being pounded with lots snow, added to that a lot of time off from school, and mix with leaving dd with a lot of time to ponder the what if's. This past Friday dd had a complete meltdown (the spends a lot of time thinking about how the world works) and essentially begged us to homeschool her. She says she likes it a lot better when mommy teaches her and doesn't understand why I can't homeschool her because we "sort of do it anyway when we do smartwork (dh's coin term for afterschooling). She likes what she learns at home and once she "learns something she can move on to learning something else." In school, even in first grade, she has to "wait on the whole group (25 kids in the class.....our school has the biggest class sizes in our district) the kids are meaner than in kindergarten, and they still act silly."
Of course, I have to leave the room because my eyes are welling up with tears. Since the beginning of this school year, dd has been feeling tortured in the school setting and I am absolutely convinced that she will continue to flourish at home, given the opportunity. We've been doing well so far.
I'm glad dh was home that day to hear dd first hand tell in her own words how she feels because I think that has convinced him to ponder the idea. Just this morning he told me he is 50/50 sold on the idea. He would like me to come up with a "snapshot" of what our homeschool days would look like. I get that. Needless to say I've been planted in front of the computer not only putting together a schedule but also gathering curriculum choices, articles, posts from these message boards, NJ State Law on Homeschooling, booklists, homeschooling groups/co-ops, teacher "professional" training (to show him that I intend to educate myself further as well), etc. I've been a maniac in the cyberworld for the past couple of days! Someone on the curriculum boards said that dh's need to be sold on facts and not emotion. I think my husband will respond better to just the facts.
Any advice, suggestions, concerns would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I've been riding on a rollercoaster since early September. I'm getting dizzy.
Thanks in advance. I tried to keep this short didnt' happen. Forgive typos and run on sentences. I'm going to bed now. Goodnight.
I figured this topic deserved it's own thread.....Hola!!
Backstory: Long story short....maybe. Since the time when our now dd9 (almost 10) was in ps first grade and I was first introduced to The Well Trained Mind, I fell in love with and was completely sold on the idea of homeschooling. I've been home with the children since the very beginning and was already successful in educating them as soon as they showed readiness.
However, long before my accidental yet fateful encounter with TWTM that one fine day, it was actually dh who planted the "we can educate them at home" seed. Before then I was absolutely sure that our children would be public schooled, no questions. At the time I felt quite unqualified to teach them anything related to school. The idea of homeschooling was absolutely unheard of to me and an even more unheard of to the people in our community. It simply wasn't done. Period. I was just as happy to give my children over to the schools system. After all, isn't that what those brick and mortar structures full of experts called teachers were for? I was absolutely convinced they would know much more when it came to their education. I skeptically agreed to teach dd and we began using HeadSprout Phonics' online program (sidebar: it was also dh who suggested Headsprout....he works in education and knew the original owner) . Dd took the lead and I just followed. We were already used to weekly library trips, museum trips, zoo trips, park trips and picnic lunches. We sang our ABC's and 123's, and the like. After a while with our routine I gained more and more confidence and found it completely natural to provide extensions to her learning, as long as she was ready, of course.
Now, back to the fateful WTM day. We had been afterschooling dd at this point but there was always the nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that always told me that homeschooling would be a better fit. I was sure of this as much as I was sure that mothering was and is the most important thing I will ever do in my life. I came to view as homeschooling as a natural extension of our already enriching family life. What people are more qualified to teach their children than their own parents who would have been their primary teachers until they reach school age? The more and more I thought about it, the more and more I convinced and empowered I became(helped along the way by TWTM, of course). I was so passionate (almost the point of obsession) about the idea and I assumed dh would be as well. In the ten years we've been married, we have always done things differently, a little bit unorthodox. We are happier people because of it and we feel our children have benefited as well. We have always shared the same parenting philosophy and agree on almost everything when it comes to our family.
Imagine my surprise and yes, tears of frustration when he absolutely against homeschooling!!!! I was devastated. Here I was in a state of utopia and then to feel defeated and deflated. He was so adamant in his convictions not to homeschool that I just couldn't go against him. After all, he is their parent too and I have to respect his views even though I may not like them. We agreed that the "happy" medium would be to afterschool. I have gone along with it every since.
Fast forward to the present and here we are with dd6, finding ourselves in quite a predicament. For quite some time we'd been fighting with the school district to get dd accelerated from K to 1st but the feeling in the pit of my stomach has been telling me the whole time to stand firm and present dh with the reasons why this kid may just benefit from a home learning environment.is has gotten ever so strong and screaming at me to defend my position on homeschooling once again. On and off during the years, dh and I have entered in some heated debates over homeschooling. What has sparked this sudden turn of events you ask? A cocktail of living in NJ, being pounded with lots snow, added to that a lot of time off from school, and mix with leaving dd with a lot of time to ponder the what if's. This past Friday dd had a complete meltdown (the spends a lot of time thinking about how the world works) and essentially begged us to homeschool her. She says she likes it a lot better when mommy teaches her and doesn't understand why I can't homeschool her because we "sort of do it anyway when we do smartwork (dh's coin term for afterschooling). She likes what she learns at home and once she "learns something she can move on to learning something else." In school, even in first grade, she has to "wait on the whole group (25 kids in the class.....our school has the biggest class sizes in our district) the kids are meaner than in kindergarten, and they still act silly."
Of course, I have to leave the room because my eyes are welling up with tears. Since the beginning of this school year, dd has been feeling tortured in the school setting and I am absolutely convinced that she will continue to flourish at home, given the opportunity. We've been doing well so far.
I'm glad dh was home that day to hear dd first hand tell in her own words how she feels because I think that has convinced him to ponder the idea. Just this morning he told me he is 50/50 sold on the idea. He would like me to come up with a "snapshot" of what our homeschool days would look like. I get that. Needless to say I've been planted in front of the computer not only putting together a schedule but also gathering curriculum choices, articles, posts from these message boards, NJ State Law on Homeschooling, booklists, homeschooling groups/co-ops, teacher "professional" training (to show him that I intend to educate myself further as well), etc. I've been a maniac in the cyberworld for the past couple of days! Someone on the curriculum boards said that dh's need to be sold on facts and not emotion. I think my husband will respond better to just the facts.
Any advice, suggestions, concerns would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I've been riding on a rollercoaster since early September. I'm getting dizzy.
Thanks in advance. I tried to keep this short didnt' happen. Forgive typos and run on sentences. I'm going to bed now. Goodnight.