So the boy is going to be heading off to college in less than eight
weeks. Yes, a college actually accepted him and even gave him money.
Who would have thought?
What was I even thinking when we decided to homeschool eleven years
ago? Did I know what I was getting into? I thought I did. I can be an
obsessive researcher and believe in being prepared whenever possible.
Just ask my family about my travel notebooks of maps, hotels
reservations, and itineraries.
In the case of homeschooling, I remember sitting in an introduction
to homeschooling type class given by three women at a local community
college. It wasn't too long before I realized that I knew more than
they did about the rules and requirements for our state. I could have
given a better answer about unschooling than they did. So yeah, I
thought I was knew what I was doing.
Looking back, was I
really prepared for homeschooling? Honestly, I have to say that I had
no idea what I was in for. And I don't mean that in a bad way or that
the information I had was useless. I mean it in the way a childless
couple will ask their friends who have children, how does life change
once the baby comes along and the most succinct response is "you have
no idea."
It's not meant to belittle all the preparation
future parents do to prepare for the addition of children into their
lives. Ultimately, it's a good thing to know about vaccinations,
development timelines, and how to childproof your house. But all that
preparation can't possibly explain what's life going to be like once
baby arrives.
I think homeschooling is a lot like becoming a
parent. You really don't know how much it will change you until you
actually do it. And, of course, as in having children, the experience
will be different for each parent and each child.
There are
the inevitable realizations and adjustments to the reality that is
instead of the one that you hoped for. You know what I'm talking
about-the grand expectations and plans we have for our children that
change as we realize that the children came into this world with their
own gifts and needs.
The same thing happens in homeschooling.
I thought there would be more trips to museums and plays and fewer
baseball games. I thought there would be more curiosity and creative
initiative and fewer baseball games. I thought there would
be more extended family interaction and, yes, fewer baseball games.
Where have we ended up? I've just thrown away four baseball
scorebooks and I'm on my sixth portable chair. But there was more than
just baseball. We have a small fortune in Teaching Company cds and
Ethan has never bought a song for his Ipod. Audio books, yes,
music-much to my husband's bewilderment--no. There was Odyssey of the
Mind and National History Day. Ethan quotes Bismarck, Shakespeare, and
Bartimaeus in everyday conversation. And he's going to play baseball
in college.
Things didn't go exactly as planned but it now it
doesn't seem possible to have happened any other way. The time we had
together because of homeschooling allowed us to share experiences that
wouldn't have been possible otherwise. Homeschooling has been an
unimaginable gift for our family in so many unexpected ways. I can
tell you some of the benefits that it has provided us but it can in no
way convey how much it changed our lives. So if you ask me what it is
like to actually homeschool, all I can say is "you have no idea."
| 10 Education Resources in San Antonio Every Homeschooler in San Antonio Should Know About |
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Some education resources are obvious, some are under utilized by home schoolers, and some just don't make the average homeschooler's radar. Here is a list of ten resources all homeschoolers in San Antonio should know about. |
| 6 Reasons NOT to Homeschool |
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If you care about making everyone else happy and conforming to society's expectations, you should not homeschool. |
| 6 Websites Every Homeschoolers Should Know About |
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I have found some sites to be more reliable than others and always a good place to start a search for lesson plans and contents. So I'm listing them here. |
| 8 1/2 Questions to Ask Yourself before Deciding to Homeschool |
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I've come up with a series of questions that I think anyone who is considering homeschooling should be able to answer. |
| American Literature Courses |
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Listing of available curriculums, classes, and resources for American Literature at the high school level. |
| And What About Socialization? |
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We are often accused of isolating our children and denying them the opportunity to mix with people of different backgrounds. And how many people who live in the wealthier, white, Union Grove community discussed in the column would be quick to join in such accusations? |
| Brief Overview of Homeschooling, A |
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There is no one way to do it. One family may begin with opening ceremonies to signal the start of the daily routine and follow a scheduled curriculum. Another family may opt for child-led learning, where parents provide help as the child expresses interest in a topic. Usually parents provide supervision and help, but most children assume increasing responsibility for choosing and carrying out projects as they mature. |
| Ditch Your Curriculum for these 13 Competitions Instead |
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As a homeschooler, what do you have your kids do for PE? You could design fitness curriculum that includes exercises and an introduction to various sports. Or maybe you include some form of physical fitness as part of your planned unit studies. Or more likely, your kids join a local basketball team or take a class at the YMCA. And in doing so, you don’t worry too much about justifying it as fulfilling a PE requirement—it’s pretty obvious isn’t it? The same opportunities exist for subjects other than PE. |
| Don't Become a Homeschool Dropout by Making This Single Mistake |
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Nearing the end of my active homeschooling career, I've been thinking about what advice I could pass on to new homeschoolers or those who have hit a bump in the road. I had some ideas based on talks I've done for new homeschoolers before but I thought I would look to see what other people have discovered to see if I was missing anything important. |
| Don't Panic Curriculum |
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So you're not panicking--really. You're just a little nervous, that's all. And since you just pulled junior out of school yesterday, you would feel a lot better if you had something to work with while your not panicking. I offer the following resources as suggestions for "not panicking while I'm researching my options." It includes a couple of workbooks, some internet sites, and a few suggestions for the teacher. The grades are only a reference, use what works best for your child and situation. |
| Don't Panic--How to Choose a Curriculum |
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So you've got junior at home now. And then it hits you--what am I supposed to teach him--how am I going to teach him--I don't know how to teach him--WHAT HAVE I DONE!? |
| Dual Credit |
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Overview of program where high school students can earn both high school and college credit while taking classes at a community college. |
| Frequently Asked Questions |
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Frequently asked questions concerning homeschooling in Texas. |
| Home Schools are Private Schools in Texas-For Now |
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Homeschoolers asking for special consideration as homeschoolers shouldn't be surprised when they're treated as something other than private schools in Texas. |
| Homeschoolers Misinforming Homescoolers |
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It’s bad enough that public school officials give out bad information on homeschooling requirements such as requesting to view potential homeschoolers’ curriculum. What’s worst is when a homeschool organization contributes to the misinformation. |
| Homeschooling and Higher Education |
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Most colleges have received applications from homeschooled students and have developed policies for evaluating their records. A number of admissions departments have set specific standards by which they judge homeschooled students, with most preferring to consider student portfolios, a transcript of coursework prepared by parents, and the student's SAT or ACT test scores. |
| Homeschooling Gifted Students: An Introductory Guide for Parents |
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While the focus is on homeschooling gifted children, the points it raises are applicable to all children. In fact, educational research has shown that any child will excel in a "gifted and talented" situation. The schools just can't afford it. |
| Homeschooling Guide |
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A guide to homeschooling from one of the best homeschooling websites on the net. |
| Homeschooling Guide to San Antonio and Texas:
a Free eBook |
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Free ebook on homeschooling resources for people new to San Antonio or homeschooling. |
| Homeschooling isn't as safe as you think |
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To all those who are thinking about following the advice of those in the Southern Baptist Convention to pull your kids from the public school to homeschool, beware, I’m a homeschooler. |
| Homeschooling rules: a growing number of Black families are turning their living rooms into classrooms. |
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"Joyce Burges had a problem. Her 13-year-old son's failing grades were about to get him expelled. The school counselor gave her little choice: Send him to a private school or bus him to the only other public school in her Baker, Louisiana, district, nearly 45 minutes away." |
| Homeschooling Tangents |
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Being a slave to your cirruculum means missing out on learning opportunities that only homeschooling can provide. |
| Homeschooling Teaching Strategies |
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Although little research has been done specifically on homeschooling teaching strategies, homeschoolers can find research-based guidance from general education research literature and experience-based literature prepared by homeschoolers. |
| How my Son Ended up with a 740 SAT Critical Reading Score Instead of Going to a Military Boarding School |
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Sometimes homeschooling doesn't go the way you plan. When it doesn't, accepting the child you have instead of the one you expected can be critical. And things tend to work out in the end. |
| Is it legal? |
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What you need to do to legally homeschool in Texas. |
| I've Decided to Homeschool--Now What? |
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You've made the decision to homeschool, so what's next? The following is some friendly, non-legal advise from me to you based on my experiences and others who also homeschool. |
| Learning how to learn |
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I realize that the quality of higher education has recently been cast in doubt by Spelling and company, but nonetheless, I think my post-secondary education has provided me with some valuable lessons for homeschooling. |
| No Thank You, We Don't Believe in Socialization |
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can't believe I am writing an article about socialization, The word makes my skin crawl. As homeschoolers, we are often accosted by people who assume that since we're homeschooling, our kids won't be "socialized." The word has become such a catch phrase that it has entirely lost any meaning. |
| Odyssey of the Mind and Homeschooling |
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I’ve been involved in the creative problem solving program, Odyssey of the Mind, for the past four years. When I read the following, I was immediately struck by how many of these skills children learn participating in Odyssey of the Mind. |
| Pizza and Homeschooling |
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So what does this have to do with homeschooling? No one ever taught me to make pizza. It wasn’t delivered, take out, or frozen. I didn’t hire a chef to make it or teach me to make it. |
| Proverbs and Homeschooling Corollaries |
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A homeschooler's view of common proverbs. |
| Rural Home Schooling and Place-based Education |
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This Digest identifies ways that place-based education can counter common concerns about homeschooling so that homeschooled students--especially those living in rural areas--receive academic, social, and individual benefits. |
| Science in the Home School |
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If your child is among the 700,000 to 1,150,000 currently being schooled at home in the United States, you may have questions about the science he or she should be learning. |
| Secular Homeschooling Curriculum: High School Science |
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As far as I can tell, these resources do not advocate a specific religious world view. |
| Self-Directed Learning |
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Self-directed learners demonstrate a greater awareness of their responsibility in making learning meaningful and monitoring themselves. They are curious and willing to try new things (Lyman, 1997), view problems as challenges, desire change, and enjoy learning. Taylor also found them to be motivated and persistent, independent, self-disciplined, self-confident and goal-oriented. |
| Summer School |
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This is what is different about homeschooling. My son recently attended a Dafur Awareness meeting. In July. It was hosted by another teen who had only learned about the extent of the crisis in Darfur in the past few weeks–since after the local schools let out. |
| The "H" Word: Home Schooling |
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"As a public educator, I frowned on parents who chose to teach their children at home--until I became one of those parents. " |
| The Lord of the Rings Guide to Homeschooling |
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Since the Lord of the Rings is about a difficult journey undertaken by the least likely characters, I thought it would be a good source of wisdom for homeschoolers. But then as I really started thinking about it, I realized it might not be the best analogy. After all, Frodo destroys the ring but loses a finger in the process and joins the elves fleeing to the havens. That's just depressing. |
| Thinking about homeschooling Algebra? |
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It is not unusual for parents to feel hesitant about homeschooling Algebra for the first time. A seemingly common concern I hear from parents is that they feel unprepared for it. If you’re about to home school Algebra, please don’t feel this way. You may be more prepared for it than you may realize. You CAN home school Algebra, especially the traditional first part of it, often called Algebra 1 at the high school or middle school level. |
| Thursday Nights |
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What do Thursday nights have to do with homeschooling? Everything. |
| Top Ten Reasons to Homeschool |
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Everyone has a top ten list, this is mine. |
| Top Websites on Homeschooling Legality in Texas |
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These websites are provide you with information on the legal aspects of homeschooling. They list relevant education code, legislation, and court cases as well as the basic steps to start homeschooling in Texas. |
| Types of Homeschooling Organizations |
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There are a wide variety of homeschooling organizations that new homeschoolers can turn to. Most organizations will not fall neatly into any one category so the following definitions are generalizations. |
| What do Homeschoolers REALLY do all day? |
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I know, it sounds like the headline for some celebrity gossip magazine. What superstars do in private isn't the same thing that they project to the world and we all want to know.
Well, this is actually a pretty similar situation except what homeschoolers really do isn't the same thing that non-homeschoolers or even new homeschoolers believe is happening or should be happening. |
| What is Curriculum? |
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Curriculum is basically a grouping of subjects of study. We tend to think about curriculum by organization or subject. For example, any public high school curriculum in Texas is required to include math and science. Math and science are just parts of the curriculum. |
| When Children Might be Better Left Behind |
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I had a very good friend who decided to start homeschooling in the middle of her chemotherapy treatment. She had been very active in the PTA and was actually president for the second time when her son began having problems in the fourth grade. She had been considering the idea of homeschooling for a while but the final straw came just before Thanksgiving. |
| Why I Homeschool: Ms. Frizzle |
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Have you ever watched "The Magic School Bus?" It's a show about a teacher, Ms. Frizzle, who teaches her students science by taking them on field trips via the "magic school bus." |
| You Have No Idea |
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What was I even thinking when we decided to homeschool eleven years ago? Did I know what I was getting into? I thought I did. |
