A better way to help children learn and grow at HOME! Nope, no curriculum involved!
I got into a discussion this morning with some homeschooling mothers on another social media platform.
Being homeschoolers, I figured they would have an open mind about education and the ways learning can occur.
Well, not in this group of mamas, apparently.
Someone asked 'What subjects do you teach your first graders?'
A fairly innocent question. There came a slew of responses with different types and brands of curriculum and subjects that their 6-7 year-olds had to study. None of the lists of subjects in the replies were shorter than 8 subjects!
Those poor kids!
Maybe I have a different perspective. I WAS homeschooled myself, from the 6th grade on. I don't think bringing school home is the same thing as homeschooling at all.
I personally am of the opinion that children learn best when they are INTERESTED in the subject and are learning it because THEY want to, not because YOU make them. If you tell them they HAVE to learn about the Revolution, and they HAVE to read these chapters about it and then they HAVE to draw a picture about it and take quizzes... well, can you see why the average child would balk and end up not paying attention, perhaps groaning when it's 'schoolwork time'?
Blech! Now I don't want to learn about the Revolution either!
There is another way.
When you push a youngster to learn something before they are ready, they learn to hate it! (Believe me, I know!) No better way to kill a child's love for reading than to force reading time, tell the child what to read, how much to read, quiz the child on the book, and finally, tell them to write a book report.
I am a total book worm, and let me tell you, if someone told me to do all that, I would HATE it!
Personally, I believe kids that young, 6-7 years old, maybe even older, do not need to sit down for hours a day being forced to learn things they couldn't care less about! It is actually detrimental. Kids that age should be playing outside, catching bugs, making crafts, helping mommy cook, reading stories, (or being read to!), from books THEY choose, and things of that nature.
I said as much to the mamas in that group. I was immediately patronized and told that that may be well and good in a state with no homeschool regulations, but where THEY live, the compulsory attendance age is 6 years old, and those subjects are REQUIRED. There are a certain number of 'instruction hours' REQUIRED.
Well, gee. I was homeschooled. My oldest homeschooled kid is 14. I had NO CLUE there were laws to follow!!!
Dripping sarcasm here...
Here's the thing. You CAN teach math in other ways than from a text book. You CAN teach reading in other ways than purchasing a language arts curriculum. Any of these subjects CAN be learned just by living life normally!!
Shocking, I know!
Cooking = science, math AND home economics!
Writing a letter to Grandma = writing, spelling, grammar, and if you throw a picture in there as well, art!
Going to the park = Physical education!
Making a paper volcano erupt because HE ASKED if he could make one!
I'm barely scratching the surface here... But you get the point, right?!
Why tie the kids to the kitchen table with workbooks and paperwork to do when they could be learning the same things better, (because they WANT to!), and more enjoyably in another way!?
Yes, we have to give 180 days of instruction per year, at least 4 hours a day, and there IS a list of subjects to be taught.
BUT who's to say what those hours of instruction have to look like, what those days consist of, and how we help the children learn those subjects?! With a little imagination and following the CHILD's interests, you will find all those topics and more have been covered and you didn't even realize it!
Now, I do not hold any stock in standardized tests. In fact, the ONLY thing they are good for, in my opinion, is bringing them up in cases like this, as proof to the average person that this way of teaching children is, in fact, more than adequate.
My 8, 10, and 14 year-olds all test well above grade level on all their subjects. They ace social studies without ever having cracked open a social studies textbook. Crazy, right?!
Nope, no learning going on here!
Now, I was not rude to these mamas. I told them pretty much what I am telling you all, but perhaps a shorter version...
I don't expect them all to agree with me, or you all, for that matter, but I am hoping that by putting this out there, some people may open up their minds a little and consider trying things another way.
Thanks for reading!
Feel free to let me know in the comments how you feel about this! What do YOU think about required schoolwork, unschooling, early-age learning, or your favorite flavor of ice cream? (I have many, but Oreo is in the top 5 for sure!)
Have a wonderful day, Steemians!
I agree with your thinking about homeschooling. Thanks for sharing this!
Thanks!! Glad to see likeminded people out there. In some circles, this way of thinking is considered somewhat crazy... haha!
Thanks for the massive upvote too! (Pretty sure you are responsible for making the post value jump like that.)
Much appreciated!
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I think it boils down to your attitude toward government as far as "asking permission" and "following rules" and "being afraid of getting in trouble."
If the state says "thou shalt homeschool in such and such a way that we dictate, and submit your records to us for oversight," one group of people is going to carefully adhere to that as gospel, and the other group of people are going to think "well, that's more like guidelines, and I'll just be a little creative in how I report it." I read a similar "legalities" discussion on Babycenter once, and some moms were reporting that some states are far more regulated and strict than others. I think they were saying NY was really bad (don't quote me on that) and one mom was describing how she basically does all the same things that you do, but has to fudge her recordkeeping and basically hope the state doesn't take a random interest. They were also advising newbies "don't ever EVER ask the state for advice or they'll start digging in your business." Then other moms were chiming in and saying their states basically let them do anything they want. It was rather eye opening.
That is so true. I am definitely in the 'creative reporting' camp, but I am blessed in that I live in Georgia, which has laws that are super easy to comply with. I know there are many states that make you jump through hoops and this makes it difficult when you want to take a free-spirited approach.
In Ohio, where I grew up, the laws were a little more challenging. My mom would have to submit a list of 'intended curriculum', but you know, you don't HAVE to use what is on that list. We had to take a standardized test every year, but we found a company who lets you do this at home. (Family Learning Organization.) Here we only have to do it once every three years, and we also do it at home.
One of the standard 'rules' in homeschooling is to only give the state the information that you are absolutely required to. I agree with whoever said to NOT ask the state for help getting started, bad idea. It puts you on their radar, and since you are asking them for advice, you obviously not sure of yourself yet, so you leave yourself vulnerable to them overstepping their boundaries because you dont know any better...
It's amazing the difference in the laws from state to state. I think it would be cool to live in one of those that has no regulation at all. :)
Sorry for the belated comment! I'm trying to catch up on some Steemit reading; I fell behind while I wasn't feeling well. I home schooled all three of my children; they are in their 20s and 30s now. I used a variety of books and methods over the years, and usually combined some traditional schooling methods with less-traditional. Because my children were always with me, they participated in everything that I did: shopping, cooking, gardening, etc. We took lots of field trips, both group outings and some on our own. I read out loud to them until they were in their teens, because we all enjoyed it. Each of them went on to some form of higher education or training, and each of them enjoys his/her profession. From the perspective of a former (and successful) home schooling mother, I would say there isn't one right way to go about it. Even within your own family, different children will learn by different ways. I feel sorry for teachers who have 30 children in the classroom; how can they possibly figure out what works best for each child? But we can do that!
That is SO true! There are as many 'right' ways to homeschool as there are children. ♥ Some kids thrive of structure and enjoy doing workbooks and learning from textbooks and whatnot.
I agree, those poor schoolteachers... I wouldnt want to be in their shoes really, because how frustrating would that be, to watch some kids struggle because they do not learn the same way as their fellow students and fall more and more behind? Not because they are less intelligent, but because they have a different learning style.
So sorry to hear you have been feeling under the weather! I was wondering where you were at. Havent seen anything from you lately...
I hope you are feeling much better now~!
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Thank you! I believe I am on the mend!
Yayyyyyy! So glad to hear that! :D
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I agree with so much about this post! I especially like this:
And loved the photos of your kids enjoying as they're learning. :-)
Thanks!! ♥
Alas, I found this post about an hour after the upvote cutoff!
I was homeschooled, and due to the attention sponges my younger siblings were, my education was largely self-directed from 5th grade on. I had textbooks, we tried a satellite school one year, and we did stuff as a family all year round.
I skipped 12th grade, instead jumping straight onto the local community college, where I did well enough to make the Dean's List. I had to re-take Calc I after a D, but I still contend it was due to a poor teacher. Most of the class bailed by the withdrawal date for that semester, too, which did not happen the second time through where I got a solid B.
At any rate, the self-directed study did help with college classes, which required probably an average of two hours of independent work per credit hour of classroom time.
Haha that's okay. :)
Yes, it is interesting all the ways homeschooling can work. Ive not heard of any two families with the exact same methods, which is as it should be.
I was also homeschooled, from the 6th grade on, and my mom tried boxed curriculum at first, (blech), and ended up doing a mix of textbooks that she chose and self -led stuff. I enrolled in our local college part time when I was 16 and did fantastic there, (straight A's, yay me!), until my mom had me drop out because there was a pervy guy trying to hit on me, and rather than help me deal with it, she just removed me from the situation entirely.
I don't have any issues with structured learning per se, my issue was with people taking their little 6 year olds and forcing them to sit for hours on end doing different paperwork rather than being active and learning the way 6 year olds love to learn, by playing. I feel that is too young for this, and it surprises me that within the homeschool community, this is still done on a very regular basis. You'd think they would be more open-minded...
Oh well. I think a lot of things going on these days that are considered 'normal' are wrong...
Thanks for your comment! :D
We knew one family in MN that followed a very strict schedule that basically brought the school's rigidity into the home. Blech indeed! My books were chosen from various sources. Saxon Math, BJU English, etc.
Amazing post. We home-school our children and I could not agree with you more. It is so crazy how people have this preconceived notion of what school has to be. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the kind comment! :D
Very true, people need to break free from those ideas and open their minds to the possibility that there are other and better ways out there.
Yup, That's how we did it:
"Cooking = science, math AND home economics!
Writing a letter to Grandma = writing, spelling, grammar, and if you throw a picture in there as well, art!
Going to the park = Physical education!"
Plus:
Cooking: Life Skills, reading
Walks in the woods: science, geology, biology, etc.
Raising animals: biology, life skills
And the list goes on. We never used a curriculum either. I homeschooled my son til he was 16.
He says the drawback was he didn't know much about the stuff on TV (we've not had one since '83) and sometimes found it hard to talk with same age peers because he listened to college level courses in philosophy, physics, and other subjects. He also loved reading encyclopedias...
There's so much learning in just living life and learning about what interests you as you grow. It was an education for me too, because I got to learn about things I was interested in when I was interested in them, not when forced to learn in school.
That's how I found out we live on the edge of Africa here in New England...
Yes, it is amazing what we can learn right along side them!
My kids are like that also, they don't really know the trending fashions and TV references. That's okay though. They have plenty of other, more interesting things to discuss with their peers. :D
Speaking of peers, one of my favorite things about homeschooling is that they are not taught that they can only be friends with people of the same age and gender as themselves. It amazes parents of public school kids when they see my 14 year old man-boy playing nicely with the 5 year old that wandered up to him, or my 10 year old daughter walking up to a group of teenage boys to see if they want to play tag.
Something else that helps tremendously with homeschooling is the availablility of the internet everywhere, all kinds of knowledge is readily available. The kids ask, what kind of bug is this? Google it. What language do they speak in Lithuania? Google it. How to you build a Tesla Coil? Google it! The info is out there for free. So much easier than the old days of heading to the library and praying they have a book on the topic in question.
:)
That is what's so different from when we homeschooled. His screen time was very limited, max 2 hrs a day on ANY screen. None if we could do it. Encyclopedias were the go to source.
But I must admit, the encyclopedias went to the attic a few years ago (he's 27 now) and google is the source for reference now.
But my son could also engage in conversation with any one of any age. People found him fascinating to talk to when he was little.
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