Thanks to STEEMIT we made the plunge into HOMESCHOOLING this year!

in homeschool •  7 years ago 

If you have been following any member of the Xtrodinary Family you know that we do things a little unorthodox. We stay up late and sleep in longer than most, we watch horror films all year round, we have symbolism representing all different types of spirituality in our home and we teach our children acceptance and truth in all of them, we go on 14 day road trips with our 4 kids in our Suburban, we sky dive, ride horses and wear cowboy hats, both @xtrodinarypilot and @xtdnrymompreneur work from home, we do not vaccinate and we have decided to HOMESCHOOL THIS YEAR!!!

@xtrodinarypilot has been trying to talk me into taking the plunge into homeschooling for a few years now. I am slightly intimidated by it, I have to admit. After following several users on steemit like @canadian-coconut and @papa-pepper, I realized we could do it as well. I saw the @little-peppers were quite intelligent and well versed. There is a lot of responsibility that comes with taking your child's education into your own hands. Sending them to school gives you the illusion that it is someone else's responsibility. When in fact, the reality is that no matter if your child is learning at school or at home, all aspects of their future are your responsibility.

What is our reason?
We have a unique way of looking at the world and everything in it and why try to teach our children to always question but not what to see... We want them to think for themselves. I believe that is one of the most important things you can teach your children. My husband and I have watched our oldest son go through school and now our youngest son started first grade this year. We have discussed the public school system and things we like and do not like. I think what it all comes down to is time management, actual teaching methods and tests. Kids these days spend so much time not learning!!! The reality of time spent learning during a school day is something like less than half of the time your child is in school. We are huge advocates of learning by doing and experiences. This is why we take our children to visit the White House, Gettysburg and various National Parks. I believe they retain much more information when learning is an active study, not in a desk. I also do not agree with the amount of testing that takes place in our public school systems. Not only do I think test preparation and testing take up valuable learning time but I do not think tests measure our children's abilities.

What about social development?
This is my #2 question with homeschooling, after getting over the thought of screwing up my kid and making them dumb for life, lol. How do I nurture their social development? It is a lot of responsibility to know I have to get out of the house, find strangers who are as crazy as I am and homeschool as well and make the effort to meet them and do something I am not very good at.... small talk. Ugh! My husband is the BEST at small talk, I am not so much. I know that getting out there and meeting other families that homeschool will be good for me and we probably have more in common than not but that anxiety of being judged is still there. Besides play dates there are TONS of programs around our city for homeschoolers and even more free do it yourself type field trips. Co-ops are a good way to meet other families also. For now, we are going to take it slow and meet with some friends we have met for a play date this coming Friday. We also start fall baseball in a few weeks. I think what is important is to not force anything and just continue to meet people and try new things. Eventually, I believe we will find our group.

How did we choose a curriculum?
This was so overwhelming!!! I can tell you that I am not 100% convinced I have it all figured out. I started with the basic subjects; math, reading, writing, science and social studies. I also joined homeschool groups on Facebook and saved any post that had any kind of information on curriculums. Then, I looked up every thing!! I researched Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills to find out what a first grader is learning this year. Texas Home School Coalition Association is a great resource to stay informed and they have a ton of events posted.
There are all inclusive curriculums that have every book, test and teaching material you need for each subject like Time 4 Learning. You can also pick and choose from different cirriculums and kind of put together something that works for you and your child such as Math Mammoth and All About Reading. In the end we decided to put together our own library of material. I thought committing to a full curriculum would be risky in the event we do not like the way it teaches and then we would be stuck with that for every subject. So, we went to a book store and bought grade level learning material, work books and reading books. We are also doing some online learning such as ABC Mouse and joining a few homeschool classes available in our city.
I have made a list of what should be learned this year and various resources to help me teach it. I am also looking into placement testing at the end of the year to find out the progress that is made.

Staying on task seems so hard!
I can admit that our family's schedule is different than most. We do enjoy staying up late watching movies or playing our VR! That tends to have us waking up later than most. So, I wrote a schedule and posted it. I do not think we will stick to this schedule every single day but I do think it's good to remember that schedules are an important lesson to learn as well. The beauty about homeschooling is that we can choose our own schedule so I am not going to stress out about it so much. I think that we have gotten more done in the first two days at home than he would have in school for a week. On our schedule I have added a time slot for "making lunch" because I think it is very important to have our kids help with making our meals and teach them about good food habits.

We have just started this journey and I am not quite sure how it is going to go but I know that both Devdan and I are excited!!

It takes a Village
@xtdnrymompreneur

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social development?

That is my favorite "argument" against homeschooling. Like hanging out with 20 - 30 people your same exact age somehow prepares you to interact in the real world! LOL!

Seriously lol. There is nothing natural about it in terms of socialization. Don't get me wrong, I did have some fun times in school meeting new people and getting into trouble with friends, but it is not the best nor only way to develop socially.

Yeah, after taking some time to think about it and speaking to other parents who home school, I relaized it is not that difficult to see it!!! Devdan didn't like being in school anyways.

I'm still a bit young to be having kids, but I think about what I am going to do when I have kids all the time when it comes to education. From my own personal experience, the traditional American school system (particularly the public school system) really damaged me in so many ways. Not only did it not prepare me in any way for adulthood, but it robbed me of countless hours that I can never get back where I could have been developing skills and learning more about myself. It also made me incredibly resentful towards people in general due to the negative experiences I had with classmates and teachers and has led to psychological issues.

Sorry. I don't want to play victim or try to gain anyone's sympathies - we all of course have our own struggles; but, I just want people to understand that it is your duty as a parent to keep your children out of harmful environments when possible, and I can't think of an environment as harmful as a traditional school. At a critical point in a child's development, it fosters a blind adherence to authority, kills creativity and thoughtfulness, nurtures dependence on others, and takes the fun out of learning. Contrary to popular belief, I think it also often leads to "de"-socialization due to the lack of freedom of association involved in interaction with teachers and classmates, often leading to hostile social situations (such as bullying).

I am now 23 years old with a Masters Degree in Accounting and I haven't the slightest clue what it is that I want from life, but I know it wont be found doing the financial reporting for a Fortune 500 company. I feel as though I didn't get a chance as a kid to properly explore things and find out what it is that I truly love and now there isn't much I can do (at least for now).

To those reading this, take my post and the OP as inspiration to either homeschool your children or find a school (like a Waldorf school) that strays from the traditional authoritarian school structure.

Thanks for sharing OP!

I completely agree with everything you said!!!! I believe the public school system is wrong in so many ways and I know I can do better for my kids!
I hope you find your passion in life, you sound like a very lovely human! 💗
Thank you so much for your comment!!!

The best advice I can give any new home schooler is be fluid in your approach not all children learn the same way, so what works for one child might not work for another child. I use time4learning for my son's core work but we use other sites and other resources for all his electives including Steemit. My son has been assigned a post a day Mon-Fri with few exceptions for English he is focusing on game reviews, and has earned about $200 in all on steemit so far.

Username?

Thats so awesome! Ryan made our oldest son, @despool, an account and he posted a few times but he hasnt made much. We encourage him to post but if he doesnt want to we dont make him.. He isnt homeschooled but of he was that would be a great assignment for him.
I am keeping an open mind and trying to see what is out there and available.

My son is in his senior year this year, I figured anything he can earn this year he can use in his future. Apparently game reviewers do fairly well, most of his post are making a few cents here and there but he has had a few do really well and one just over a week ago do over $100.

Yes!!! Homeschooling is awesome!!

We rock!!

YES WE DO!!!!!

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Thanks for sharing. I don't have kids yet, but homeschooling is something my partner and I talked about if we are blessed one day. It's good to see others have taken a leap and finding something that works.

It's

Congratulations on beginning your homeschooling journey!
You will probably never look back.
All the best!

Thank you so much!!!! We are all excited

We had a home schooling club in our city in Oregon consisting of twenty or so kids from a few different home schooling families. I was born 1985 and we sometimes would go skating as a group of home schooling families or we would do something special once a month or every so often. I enjoy those kinds of communities.

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huge congrats on your decision. Me and all my siblings were / are home schooled. Wait until you hear about unschooling.

A lot of kids don't fit into the "normal" school routine. Not all kids are the same. My kids hated school. But with homeschooling, we found they learned more and at a faster rate. They were actually ahead of what have been regular classes. Socialization is not a problem. Sports teams, community activities, Scouting, Cadets (my son was in air cadets) and church sponsored groups are all available. They learn valuable life skills that they won't get in school. I have a son who is a project manager for a software company. He had a new employee, 23 years old, moving out on his own, asking how he could rent an apartment, open a bank account and other general questions. He did not learn these in school but unfortunately, not from his parents either. All my sons had life skill down pat by the time they were 12; cook, clean, buy food at the market, and had bank accounts. They all could read before school age. You are diffinitely on the right track. Don't second judge your decision. Just jump in with both feet and get wet. The water is fine.

Thanks so much for the encouragement!!!! It is terrible that these days as a parent the things that I feel are right for my family are usually against mainstreem. Makes me so sad for most of our children. I am happy to know that we are not crazy in our decisions and not alone in them!

You are not alone by any means. Main stream schooling sucks!

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I was home schooled in Oregon. Born 1985. I had that frog book. I studied at home until I was 15 and then I went to high school and then college. My older sister started public school when she was 5, my brother, 10, and my younger sister, 12. When I was 15, I begged my parents to let me go to public school. I miss home school.

My son is loving that book! I hope that when my kids look nack on their experience they think we made the right decision for them!

I love the schedule it seems to be laid out pretty nice. I know I would love to wake up at 9am everyday. Best wishes on your endeavors

Thank you very much!! I have plans to get up and run before the kids get up.. When the baby hasn't kept me up all night. Lol. I will keep everyone updated on the progress 😊