So, some of you know I was married a little over a month ago. I am now the ridiculously proud stepfather to three girls, aged 14, 10 and 7. My wife and I are talking about switching from public schools to homeschooling, but there is so much information out there, we are kind of twisted on where to start. We'd love some feedback from you all.
Thank you in advance. :5020:
Yes, getting your girls home is a great idea. Yes, there are many choices of what to do.
One thing to do is consider how you learn and teach and to consider how they learn. That will help narrow down what absolutely will not work.
For example, some people out there think that rearranging the backyard into a colonist settlement is fun, fun fun, and the most exciting way to learn about Jamestown. I am
not that person.
Here are some popular trends that I have noticed
- self-paced learning-School of Tomorrow, Alpha Omega Life Pacs, Alph Omega Switched on Schoolhouse (basically lifepacs on the computer)--student is given a workbook to complete (paces or pacs depending on what curriculum you are referring to). They complete the workbook taking a test after each pace and also after each unit. Think of school days when you had to take the weekly quiz, the mid-quarter test, mid-terms, etc.
- unit studies--more than I can list, but here are some off hand: KONOS, My Father's World, Prairie Primer, Further up Further In,--you read a book, for example Little House on the Prairie, and from there you branch out to learn many different topics thus covering multiple subjects/courses
- textbook for the homeschool-Bob Jones Press, A Beka--School publishers that noticed they can market their curriculum to the home educator. Lots of textbooks and workbooks
- Virtual public school at home-- many of these are done via a program called K12Inc. I gave this a try and have a strong opinion on it. HSLDA can explain why they don't cover people that opt for this sorta schooling.
- the above mentioned should not be confused with distance-learning, online classes, etc.--Many big publishers will offer an online option. The student is assigned a teacher that looks over their work, grades it, the student watches lectures, logs on to the classroom, etc.
- literature based learning--Charlotte Mason, Sonlight, Thomas Jefferson Education--read good books and great literature and glean from it. Copy the greats to learn.
- unschooling, child-led learning, relaxed schooling-- depending on who you talk to this can simply be a "throw it out there and hope something sticks" approach, the child knows what is best him/her, or an anti-rigorous approach
- Eclectic-think alacarte take some of this and some of that and make it fit your style
- one room schoolhouse- literally changing a room in your house into a schoolroom and teaching just like the public schools (many people think that this is what home school. silly people)
Hope that doesn't add more confusion.
Have been educating my children at home for some time now, so let me know if you need more information.
