I’ll be the first to admit the full-tilt classical curriculum from the correspondence school was an absolute flop. The curriculum was too rigid, too structured and too dependent on textbooks. There were daily reports, daily attendances, unit tests, everything I’d forgotten I hated about “school.” Being, like most homeschoolers, somewhat rebellious at heart, I quickly began to despise reporting to an overseeing organization and having to adhere to their schedule as we progressed through the year.
Our detour into “school at home” nearly derailed us entirely as homeschoolers. By the time all was said and done, I was ready and willing to send my kids to school, any school, just so long as I no longer had to be responsible for their education. Disillusioned and weary, I was completely confused about homeschool in general, and my own methods of homeschooling in particular.
Continue reading Eclectic Heretic Homeschooler by Lisa Donnelly, from the March-April, 2003 issue of Home Education Magazine. Always great reading – Subscribe today and don’t miss another issue!
Tags: curricula, curriculum, Eclectic Heretic Homeschooler, Home Education Magazine, homeschool curricula, homeschool curriculum, homeschooling, homeschooling families, Lisa Donnelly, reasons to homeschool, unschooling
Take a bunch of kids, a pile of broken machines, and a dozen screwdrivers. Mix them together in an empty space. Adults take a step back (a few deep breaths won’t hurt, either). At first, the group might be a bit hesitant, unsure how to proceed, the room a bit quiet. There may be some questions: “Is it alright? Can I do this? What about this? Are you sure?” But once the kids are assured that they can use any and all tools on any and all machines, then the place will start to buzz.
Soon inhibitions will go shirking into the corners. Kids will work together – alone, in big or small groups. They’ll compare, ask each other questions, make suggestions. The room will be a blur of discovering, uncovering, removing, replacing, tinkering, showing, poking, trying. And possibly smashing.
Continue reading Nurturing Destructive Tendencies by Nancy Walters, from the March-April, 2009 issue of Home Education Magazine. Subscribe today and enjoy great articles and columns in every issue!
Tags: encouraging creativity, Home Education Magazine, homeschool curricula, homeschool curriculum, homeschool resources, homeschooling, homeschooling families, Nancy Walters, tinkering, unit studies, unschooling
Of all possible homeschooling resources – after, of course, such pipe-dream unobtainables as unlimited time and money – next-best is a library card. Kids vary certainly, but there’s no doubt, as Neil Postman said, that a magnificent education can be obtained solely through reading; and even for the reading-resistant, the library has a lot to offer.
And, should your young library-goers need support, encouragement, or just some great books about libraries, there are many resources out there. Among the most enchanting is Sarah Stewart’s rhyming picture book The Library (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1995) for readers ages 4-8, the story of young Elizabeth Brown, confirmed bookworm, who didn’t like to play with dolls and didn’t like to skate – all she liked to do was read. Finally Elizabeth accumulates so many books that there’s simply no more room – “…Volumes climbed the parlor walls/And blocked the big front door/She had to face the awful fact/She could not have one more.” (It’s a problem with which many of us can sympathize.) Elizabeth’s solution is perfect: she shares the wealth, donates her books to the town, and turns her house into a library.
Rebecca Rupp’s Loving the Library explores the wonderful world of libraries, from kids’ misconceptions about them to convincing kids that books are better than television. Great ideas and many helpful resources for book-loving families!
Subscribe to Home Education Magazine and enjoy Rebecca Rupp’s delightful Good Stuff resources column in every issue!
Tags: Becky Rupp, curricula, curriculum, Good Stuff, Home Education Magazine, homeschool curricula, homeschool curriculum, homeschool resources, homeschooling, homeschooling resources, libraries, library, reading, reasons to homeschool, Rebecca Rupp, unschooling
John Taylor Gatto was the 1991 New York State Teacher of the Year when he ended his 30-year teaching career with a flourish, with an essay he wrote for The Wall Street Journal, titled “I Quit, I Think.” In the wake of that opinion piece and a show later that year at Carnegie Hall titled “An Evening with John Taylor Gatto,” he found himself much in demand as a public speaker, and he observed:
“As I traveled, I discovered a universal hunger, often unvoiced, to be free of managed debate. A desire to be given untainted information. Nobody seemed to have maps of where this thing had come from or why it acted as it did, but the ability to smell a rat was alive and well all over America.”
From coast to coast, and then circling the globe, John has traveled and lectured about education, children, learning, schooling, and where we’re headed as a society, as a planet. This editorial shares some of his accomplishments and a few good quotes from his speaking and writing, such as these:
“One thing you do know is how unlikely it will be for any teacher to understand the personality of your particular child or anything significant about your family, culture, religion, plans, hopes, dreams.”
“You wouldn’t build a home without some idea what it would look like when finished, but you are compelled to let a corps of perfect strangers tinker with your child’s mind and personality without the foggiest idea what they want to do with it.”
John Taylor Gatto is just one of the interesting supporters of homeschooling you’ll meet in the pages of Home Education Magazine! Subscribe today – and meet more of our friends and associates in every issue!
Tags: A Different Kind of Teacher, A Schoolteacher’s Journey, compulsory schooling, David Albert, Dumbing Us Down, Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, homeschooling, John Taylor Gatto, Ken Kesey, New Society Publishers, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, public school critic, success of public education, The Exhausted School, The Underground History Of American Education, Weapons of Mass Instruction
Helen Hegener, co-founder of Home Education Magazine, is the interviewed guest this week on the unique podcast and family resource, VickyandJen.com, which is about a concept which is dear to homeschoolers: “making life simple so you can enjoy what really matters!”
A show index highlights sections of the 40 minute podcast, such as Homeschool 101, Common Questions from Parents, Diplomas and Testing, Homeschool Benefits, Curriculum, Socializing Your Kids and more. Throughout the interview Helen shares comments and insights from homeschooling the Hegeners’ five now-grown children, and Vicky and Jen share their own insights on children and learning and family life. A collection of helpful resources is included, along with “The 10 Most Important Things You Need to Know About Homeschooling.”
Tags: curriculum, diplomas, family life, Helen Hegener, home education, Home Education Magazine, home schooling, homeschool, homeschool FAQ, homeschool interview, homeschool podcast, homeschoolers, homeschooling, homeschooling families, podcasts about homeschooling, reasons to homeschool, socializing, testing, unschooling, Vicky and Jen, vickyandjen.com
It is not quite 9 AM, but I can tell already that it is One of Those Days. You all know exactly what I mean – a day when the kids bicker, you feel out of sorts, and no amount of Calgon is going to take you away. It is too early to tell what brought it on this time. One of Those Days comes on for all sorts of reasons. Maybe your aunt calls to tell you her hairdresser’s-sister-the-teacher told her and she is telling you that homeschooling is detrimental to a child’s social development. Or you smell something funny and look under your son’s bed, discovering a long forgotten science project that the dog is now eating.
Continue reading One of Those Days by Deb Baker, from the May-June 2000 issue of Home Education Magazine. Like what you’re reading here? Subscribe today and support the magazine that’s supported homeschooling families since 1984!
Tags: Home Education Magazine, homeschooling, homeschooling families, reasons to homeschool, unschooling
