Linda
Linda is a multi-tasking (translation: crazy) mom of three, homeschooling since 1992, world traveler, dreamer, writer (baker, chef and bottlewasher).
Hi there loyal readers and excited fans! Who am I and what the heck am I doing on this venue? Excellent questions!....
It is one of those times when I am doubting myself again. First about homeschooling, second about unschooling, third about being a good mom (single mom at that). Funny how it all ties in together....
Questions of Exposure (You Asked)
Question 1: If you unschool, what guarantees that your children will be exposed to the subjects that might get them excited?
Question 2: What if the perspective that is presented is not complete, accurate, or even truthful?
Question 3: What about topics that are rarely, if ever, covered in public schools? How do people ever discover those topics?
As a child, having friends is a primary concern. Not necessarily how many friends, but access to friends. Is the calendar booked with play and social opportunities? If yes, life is great. If not, life is a miserable, torturous event to be survived with much moaning and groaning....
Yesterday was an interesting day for me. I decided to take a day alone with my almost 20 year old daughter, Monique. You may not think this is such a big deal, but as a single mom of three, between work, household matters, and minor things like eating and sleep – having time alone with my kids individually (that is not ‘mission’ related such as classes, appointments, etc) is rare....
Don’t be different.
Don’t rock the boat.
Don’t make waves.
Don’t ask questions.
Don’t draw attention to yourself....
Often in homeschooling groups a frequent conversation is about reading. When does your child read? How much does he read? What age did she start reading? What grade level reading is she doing? What if they don’t want to read? What if he reads too much? What subject matter and breadth of subjects are read? Strangely enough, I have discovered that many of my friends are addressing the same issues with their public schooled kids....
Managing finances and homeschooling is always a challenge, as any homeschooling parent can testify. Just attend one homeschooling conference and see the tons of cool resources one can buy. You will hear a cash register ring in your head (and the vacuum sound being applied to your wallet). As homeschoolers, we battle different financial struggles than do public schooled families....
So... we are unschoolers by most definitions. We don’t use curriculum and we generally don’t have an education “plan”. In theory, I am completely in agreement with this philosophy. In practice, I have occasional panic attacks that I may be playing with dynamite, risking the future of my children. And I have two children who have already “finished” homeschooling and are doing fine; so what is all that about?...
My neighbor, Keri, is a sixth grade teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools. Often we sit and chat about how she teaches in her classroom and how we teach as a homeschooling family. Keri is a cool teacher. She is beautiful, nice, creative, and enthusiastic about being a teacher. I would love to have my daughter in her class. She is the best of what being a teacher is all about....
Recently on one of the homeschooling lists, a mom who is just beginning to homeschool with two children (6 and 4 years old), posted a frantic message that said she did not think she could manage homeschooling because she did not measure up to the great jobs everyone else seemed to be doing with their kids....
The other day on a particular homeschooling list one of the members posted some 'facts' about the Muslim culture as a "wow, isn't this cool?!" kind of post....
Knowing Why-For the Right Reasons
Do you ever have one of those “aha!” moments - just when you really need it? Well, that is what happened to me the other day. After several weeks of having “discussions” with a close family member as to the reasons for home schooling versus public or private school, I had almost convinced myself that perhaps I was cheating my youngest daughter out of some special experiences....
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