What we believe… don’t take it personally

When people get together in real life and online, they naturally share different aspects of their lives – where they work, their hobbies, their religious beliefs, political leanings, and where their kids go to school. It is also natural that not everyone is of the same mind in these areas.

Problems arise when we take these differences personally. We make choices based on many different factors, including but not limited to how and where we were raised, attended school and church, cultural and ethnic influences, and the life experiences that have shaped us into who we are today. That is to say, it ain’t always about us.

We are fortunate to be able to freely express our opinions. There are a variety of ways that we can communicate with others and share our deeply held beliefs.  What we can do to make our communications more productive is to focus on the issues at hand, and on the results we hope to achieve. We should remember that our convictions come from many sources, woven together from knowledge, hopes, and influences, to form the bedrock of our thinking. If mutual respect and understanding is our goal, then our methods should reflect that.

The confidence and enthusiasm with which we share our convictions need not be perceived as incrimination if we salt our speech liberally with civility and reason, nor should we engage in harsh criticism of someone of a different mindset. If we truly believe that our view is best, recognize that we won’t change anyone’s mind with insults, barbs, and vilification. If we are going to be presenting our beliefs as based in fact, we should know on what our ‘facts’ are based- in other words, if they are truly authentic, supportable, and verifiable. It also doesn’t hurt to view to the person to whom we are speaking as a fellow human being, and allow our speech to be balanced with compassion and courtesy.

Communication is essentially the giving and receiving of ideas. It is up to us to make these exchanges pleasurable and profitable.

 

Homeschooling in the news as more families choose to school at home

Number of homeschoolers growing nationwide

As the dissatisfaction with the U.S. education system among parents grows, so does the appeal of homeschooling. Since 1999, the number of children who are being homeschooled has increased by 75%. Although currently only 4% of all school children nationwide are educated at home, the number of primary school kids whose parents choose to forgo traditional education is growing seven times faster than the number of kids enrolling in K-12 every year

.More Arkansas parents choosing to homeschool children

The number of homeschooled students increased by 3,000 this year compared to last.

Why urban, educated parents are turning to DIY education

There are an estimated 300,000 homeschooled children in America’s cities, many of them children of secular, highly educated professionals who always figured they’d send their kids to school—until they came to think, Hey, maybe we could do better.

D.C. parents choosing to home-school their children

Faced with the choice of the neighborhood school, a private or parochial school or a move to the suburbs, some of these parents are choosing to educate their children themselves…

Until about 10 years ago, home schooling was still largely a rural and suburban phenomenon, said Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute. In the past decade, urban dwellers have turned to it as an educational option.

Parents choose to home-school kids due to gifted program cuts, No Child Left Behind

… in light of budget constraints and federal guidelines for schools, some parents who had never before considered home-schooling their children are now choosing that option.

Home-schooling demographics change, expand

Secular organizations across the country report their numbers are growing. Though government records indicate religion is still the driving force in home schooling, members of these organizations say the face of home schooling is changing, not because of faith, but because of what parents see as shortcomings in public and private schools.

NC home school numbers continue to grow

83,609. That’s the estimated number of home school students according to North Carolina’s Office of Non-Public Education. The number represents almost 6 percent of all students enrolled in K-12 education…
Several factors help to explain the dramatic growth. First, overall population growth obviously creates a larger pool of students. Second, a favorable home school law allows parents and families the flexibility to be successful. And third, home schooling works. Academic performance by home school students consistently rivals that of the best students in traditional public and private schools.

All the Available State Homeschooling Data, 2011

If you take the longer view, though, for the 15 states for which we have consistent data for every year from 2000 to 2009, twelve of them show increases over the decade, and four of them (FL, GA, NC, and VA) show profound, amazing growth. Only three states (CO, PA, and WA) show declines over the same 10 year period, declines that don’t come anywhere close to matching the gains in the other states. Bottom line is that to the degree that this data is reliable, it does basically corroborate the NCES data that shows continued growth in homeschooling.

These are only a few of the articles I found by Googling a few combinations of search terms, and limiting my search to articles published within the last year. The obvious point is that home education is losing, myth by myth, stereotype by stereotype, the hackneyed reputation of being mostly for isolationists, religious fanatics, or wheat-germ-crunching hippies. More parents are facing a lack of quality school options in their area, and with the availability of information and resources, they are seriously considering  homeschooling as a possibility. As they do more research, their preconceived notions are altered. As they meet other homeschoolers in their communities and online, they see the evidence of normal, happy, families and well-adjusted, bright children.

No group and no government can properly prescribe precisely what should constitute the body of knowledge with which true education is concerned. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

 

Family summer fun: 10 ways to learn and connect

Summer break is a time of year when homeschooling parents wonder how to keep kids busy, motivated, and productive- yet still allow for plenty of fun and relaxation. Even those who keep to a year round schedule often ease up for a more restful pace during the summer. There are also concerns that the skills children have learned will dull from lack of use if they don’t do something to stay sharp, but how does one accomplish that without ‘doing school’?

There are some very simple things a family can do to connect with each other, and keep young minds from turning to mush- turn off the television, go for walks, head to the zoo or a local museum, plant a garden, arrange to meet friends at the park for some low-frills picnics, and read out loud together under a shade tree.

For something a little different, here are a few ideas for projects, big and small, short and long, to make this a summer to remember:

• Write a letter to your future self. Your students compose a letter addressed to their future selves about what they want to have accomplished by the end of the next school year. Seal it, write a “Do Not Open Until” date on the letter, and place it where it will be seen regularly. It will act as a reminder of their goals for the coming year, and when they open it, they can evaluate how well they met their objectives.
• Create a scrapbook or graphic novel. Girls seem to enjoy scrapbooking, but boys? Not so much. While the girls are making a scrapbook with pictures and captions that memorialize the previous year, a comic book or graphic novel format might be just the ticket to inspire the guys to do the same in their own unique guy-like way.
• Host a “Getting to Know You” neighborhood potluck. This is more of a major undertaking, but the rewards are worth it. Get permission from the city, plan the site (blocked off street, local park, large yard) and a menu, sign up some volunteers for various dishes, make and deliver invitations, advertise your event at the local grocery store, and have a few games and activities ready that will help make some connections in your community.
• Celebrate the end of the school year with an awards ceremony, but with personal, unique twist. Parents and kids can award prizes to each other about particular areas of improvement,  appreciated character traits, specific acts of thoughtfulness or kindness, or humorous quirks and habits.
• Plan a family auction. During the summer, award tickets to the kids for each book they finish, doing ‘extra credit’ projects, being proactive and helpful around the house, or any other behavior or accomplishment you’d like to recognize. Include friends and relatives as well if possible. Have some fun and interesting items ready for the auction, and launch the next school year with an entertaining night of bidding on prizes with the tickets they’ve earned and saved over the summer.
• Write and perform a play or musical. This could be a reenactment of a family adventure or milestone, (especially a humorous one), the retelling of a story, a spoof of a tv show, movie, or book, or script it from a historical event.
• Create your own version of a well-loved game. Make a Monopoly board of your community, or a Clue game based on your house or a local business or building.
• Enjoy an International Dinner once a week/month. Have the kids plan a dinner around the foods and flavors of another country.
• Make an obstacle course in your backyard for lots of healthy play this summer. Use a stopwatch to time them and keep a chart of how much they improve their speed and dexterity over the summer.
• Keep a climate/weather chart. Summer can be a time of extreme weather for some parts of the country. Make a chart to keep track of weather predictions, and see how they compare with the actual weather. It helps if you have some simple weather measurement tools of your own.

Once you get started with these ideas, you will probably think of your own ways to learn and connect with your family this summer. But regardless of the season, never miss the opportunity to nurture your family relationship and make learning a pleasurable experience.

 

Time control, self-control

The oft quoted “He who fails to plan is planning to fail” is credited to Winston Churchill, and the man obviously knew what he was talking about. So regardless of your lifestyle and the schooling method you choose, even if it’s unschooling, a certain amount of planning is essential. In order for any goal to be reached, one must define the goal, and head toward it.

There’s good and bad in the fact that there are so many organizational tools at our disposal. It seems as if we are a nation obsessed with making our spaces bright and orderly. There are bins of every size, shape, and color, along with a variety of ways to label them. Books, magazines, and tv shows on how to organize your time and space abound. Calendars and planners to meet every conceivable need can be purchased, or downloaded and printed.

Why do we sometimes feel that we aren’t accomplishing as much as we’d like? Why do our hopes and dreams still seem to be beyond our grasp?

• We don’t prioritize properly.
• We aren’t honest with ourselves.

At the core of any system is the need to order our priorities. The problem is that too many of us don’t know how to do that. We constantly look beyond our God-given responsibilities to activities that seem more rewarding and enjoyable. If we do this, however, we are sacrificing far too much on the altar of self-gratification, pride, and sometimes downright laziness.

For far too long the idea of ‘duty’ has had an unpleasant connotation- that of doing something by rote, without joy or pleasure, and only because it is required. This is a mistake. Our duties to our God, our marriage, our children, our loved ones, our employer, and our church need not be undertaken with an apathetic attitude.  The first step to a fulfilled life is to find one’s rightful place in God’s plan and embrace it. Our priorities will, whether we realize it or not, reflect who we love, and what we value.

Because our hearts are inherently deceitful, being honest with oneself is quite the undertaking. We must candidly evaluate our strengths and weaknesses, and acknowledge where our abilities meet our limitations. Much time and effort is wasted trying to be someone we are not, while our own unique talents remain untapped for their potential. Your standards can’t be anyone else’s, because no one else was given exactly the same aptitude and capacity as you, nor are you meant to be a carbon copy of another person.

Unfortunately, we are able to find many excuses as to why we can’t “find the time” to take care of ourselves, our family, or to educate our children. Time may be marching on, unrelenting, but time is not beyond our control.

Blaming time for our stress is really just a handy way of avoiding discipline. It’s also self-sabotaging and will always lead to more busyness and more stress.~ Tell Your Time: How to Manage Your Schedule So You Can Live Free by Andrews, Amy Lynn (Kindle Locations 205-206).

I’ve read and used many resources to help me find that one Special Something that would cause my life to fall into place, as if by magic. It isn’t ever going to happen that way, especially not if I have to spend an inordinate amount of time and money on books and systems and shelves and bins, and then even more time trying to maintain a system that looks great but requires time and energy that needs to be spent on actually doing the things I’d planned to do!

Condensed into a tidy little e-book is a great resource to get your priorities in order for you. It’s Tell Your Time: How to Manage Your Schedule So You Can Live Free  by Amy Lynn Andrews. You won’t spend hours reading it, or trying to figure out complicated charts, and you won’t have the urge to go to the Dollar Store and buy 40 plastic shoeboxes. Controlling your time is a huge part of learning self-control, and ordering your time to your necessary ends will eventually and quite naturally result in an ordering of the other stuff of life.

But don’t stop there- add this book to your homeschool curriculum list. Do your children need to learn how to order their priorities, plan their time, move toward fulfilling their dreams? Give them the tools they need to be independent, self-motivated learners. Teach them (while you are teaching yourself) how to create a productive but flexible routine that encourages them to make right choices about the best uses of their time and talents. It won’t be the first time you’ve learned something right along with your children, and it won’t be the last. In a very real sense, time control and self-control will be a gift that keeps on giving, long after they’ve graduated from your homeschool.

 

Qualified to critique homeschooling?

Occasionally I run across a blog by a public school teacher or professional academic that is skeptical or critical of homeschooling. They feel comfortable expressing their opinion because they believe that their status as a professional educator qualifies them to assess home education as a viable option.

There are a couple of problems that we run into any time we try to assess a large group  or system:

• even with federal standards, one cannot measure every school in America by one classroom, one teacher, one school, or even an entire district
• home education is an educational option for individual families, not a national system with federal standards, nor can the homeschool environment be compared with the dynamics of a traditional classroom

So let’s talk about how the traditional classroom differs from the average homeschool.

Public/traditional schools have their own particular methods appropriate to the task of educating anywhere from 15 to 30 students per class, and therefore must teach to a group. They begin the school year as complete strangers, and by the end of the year they may know them fairly well, but certainly not on the same personal level as family. Teachers are to maintain an appropriate distance, which not only keeps them out of legal trouble, but is essential for teaching to the group.

A homeschool parent teaches their own child or children. In most homes this results in a very low student/teacher ratio. A parent need not keep their distance and attempt to transmit information in an impartial manner. They can create an educational environment that is loving, relaxed, comforting, nurturing, and specific to the child.

A significant amount of time in school is spent standing in lines, taking attendance and counting heads, taking kids to the bathroom or to get a drink, distributing or turning in papers, maintaining discipline, safety and fire drills, and other administrative and organizational duties. Teachers must keep the lines of communication open with 20-30 sets of parents, the principal, administrators, and school board. They must submit lesson plans that meet federal and local standards, and are focused on test results that help the school qualify for funding. There is a constant struggle within every dedicated teacher to adhere to the demands of their job while also providing instruction and a stimulating learning environment for a classroom of students with a variety of needs.

A homeschool family simply does not have to contend with any of these issues. Kids eat, drink, and go to the bathroom all day long- without once raising their hand to ask permission. A higher percentage of learning time is spent focused and engaged in the process because very little time is required for the kinds of administrative issues that are an inextricable part of the classroom.

For teachers, the confinement of the classroom is essential. But this can place a near-sighted student or struggling learner at the back of the class. A child who wishes to focus can end up distracted next to a disruptive influence. A teacher is limited in their ability to provide for the individual needs of students.

The average home, or even small apartment, can provide a variety of creative ways to meet the needs of the child- whether they enjoy learning in isolated quiet, in the sunshine or under a shade tree, comfy on the couch with mom or dad, or at the kitchen table while mom makes dinner.

The state chooses the curriculum that schools will use, but each school has some liberty as to they implement it. A class may take one or two field trips per year. School happens during fixed hours of the day according to a mandated yearly schedule.

The homeschool parent has complete freedom to choose textbooks and workbooks, instructional videos, educational websites and online courses, tutors, and any resources available from their local bookstore, library, or any online source. The entire day is at their disposal, the entire year is theirs to plan, and the opportunities for field trips to museums, historic landmarks, zoos, arboretums, concerts, and plays are unlimited.

However, the public school teacher has a built-in support system and accountability. They have been formally trained for their vocation. Where does that leave the homeschool parent?

In the position to either take up the challenge to provide your children with a quality education, or acknowledge that homeschooling is not right for your family. Directing a child’s education requires strength of character and some serious effort. The parent must learn and grow and adjust to the ever-changing demands of their ever-changing child. They must assess their own strengths and weaknesses as well as their child’s, and find ways to fill in gaps and meet specific needs. They are accountable only to themselves, and as such, bear the full weight of responsibility for educating their child.

But don’t forget, dear parent, that the deck is stacked in your favor. You are already deeply invested in the health and well-being of your child. You will, by nature, go the extra mile to help them explore their abilities and interests, and address their specific needs. And you do not have to bear the burden alone- there are local support groups in every state, as well as online help and encouragement in the form of message boards, magazines, Facebook groups, and blogs.

So- are professional educators qualified to critique homeschooling? Unless they themselves have chosen to homeschool their children, and therefore know firsthand what it entails, then the answer is “No”. I do not believe they have the ability to offer an informed opinion. They tend to measure education by what is essential to the public school classroom for which they are trained. There is simply no viable comparison between a traditional education and a home education. They are distinctively different in every conceivable way. The specialization and certification that a public school teacher must possess is simply not applicable or useful to a homeschool environment.

It is comparing apples and oranges? Try apples and elephants.