Home School Discussion and Poll

[Kitkat]

Would love to hear any of your experiences, curriculums, questions, problems, answers, insights, and resources you have used to home school or otherwise. Why or why you don't homeschool, were you home schooled? Experiences, stories?

Also, for anyone considering home schooling, here is my ideal curriculum as a home school mom (former educator in Utah, USA).

There are also lots of local home school support groups on Facebook where people are meeting up, creation co-op activities, field trips, etc., but if you don't like Facebook as much as we don't we have moms registering for private local groups on our forum as well, to discuss, share, meetup, etc.

My Curriculum:
https://teachwith.love/t/001-my-daily-h ... -how-to/44

My Open to all Home School Forum:
https://teachwith.love/

[gclayjr]

Kitkat,

I help my daughter-in-law home school 2 of my granddaughters ages 7 and 9. I help with math and history. Pennsylvania lets you develop your own, curriculum. You just have to report it and log progress against it. You also need to hire an evaluator to come in at the end of the year and check your progress.

Some of the things that I doi.

2) I built a math matching game we call the m&m game (I guess you can figure out the reward) from a deck of blank magicians playing cards where I wrote in formulas such as 5 + 4 or 10 - 1, then I lay them out on a grid face down and the kids turn them over and try and match up 2 cards with formulas of equal value.

3) For History, periodically I take them to sites such as Gettysburg, or the Battleship New Jersey, or do projects like making a working model of Canal Locks, or a working telegraph. Afterwards, the older girl writes up a paper on it, then creates a working web page with her write up, documented photographs, and edited video (her dad edits the video), and we send a copy to her grandfather in Utah so he can enjoy the progress of his grand children.

I don't know if that is helpful, but it is some of what I do.

Regards,

George Clay

[JohnnyL]

I like a lot of your ideas!

I look at what the children learn (especially in JH and HS), and roll my eyes.

What did I learn in JH and HS?
Math was pretty helpful (algebra, geometry, some trigonometry).
English was really good and helpful (the actual learning things, not as much the reading questions, etc.). We read some blah books and missed out on some great ones.
History? Can't remember much of anything, especially anything important. We memorized it to memorize it.
Science, physics, etc.? Not much. Chemistry was ok, but not helpful.
Anything else? Can't remember.

Unfortunately, children need to go to college for what they want to do (degrees required, won't change for their jobs).

[Yahtzee]

Oh how I love seeing other schedules! Thanks for posting that! I used to have one. Then the baby turned into a toddler and it's all flown out the window.
We are also a my tech high family, but I'm struggling with my oldest who is junior high age. I'm about ready to throw in the towel until I remember how I was in junior high-it's just a rough age. I think he'll be okay, but I worry a lot, he just isn't motivated to do anything.
My elementary age kids do just fine, though one struggles a lot with math. I'm grateful we keep get home so she doesn't feel stupid. She gets to take her time and eventually she does learn it. We use Singapore Math and Math Mammoth.
I ready enjoy homeschooling. My husband works nights so my kids would never see him, that's our #1 reason. Sometimes I wonder if they'd be better off in school-more prepared for college. But most of the time I think they're better off away from schools.
My husband wasn't on board at first. Then he read the Communist Manifesto and realized how much schools indoctrinate against the family on purpose and he was on board.
But we still talk about putting the unmotivated preteen in a charter.

[gclayjr]

JohnnyL,

History? Can't remember much of anything, especially anything important. We memorized it to memorize it.

I agree, I love history, but what makes it wonderful, is how things fit together, not the dates. I developed my course with the point of learning how did Thea (the little girl's name), get to be Thea in Cochranville Pa, in 2016 (or 2017). I started with Marco Polo, opening up the trade route to Chine, then the fall of Constantinople, closing that road, then I sidetracked with the printing press and protestant revolution, then Columbus looking for a new route to China(or India), then the settling of America, Particularly the settling of Pennsylvania, the American Revolution then the expansion of America, and the Founding of the LDS Church (You can do this with Home Schooling), then the westward expansion into various places including Utah. We then went on into the Civil War, the Trans Continental Railroad, and various events leading up to WW2. Today we will cover the dropping of the Atom bombs ending WW2. within a couple of weeks we will move into an area she has been asking about all along, ... things that happened in MY lifetime. I hope in the near future to get into things that happened in her very short lifetime. Then we will have to revisit this whole historical path again focusing on a broader implication upon humanity.

But memorizing dates does destroy the wonder of history!

Regards,

George Clay

[BTH&T]

We home-schooled 2 of our 4, one went to a trade high school, one choose the local HS.

I am seeing that unless your children want to be a doctor, lawyer, accountant or other degree required field, college is over rated.

We got our 2 youngest through HS using "The American School" it was very affordable and has specialty programs. Also accredited.
http://www.americanschoolofcorr.com/

Being involved in a home school program was so great for us and our children.
One is Manager of a mid/small mfg company, 2 own and run there own companies and my daughter is a stay at home mom that is going back to work when her youngest goes to school.

I am so much for each child given the education that fits their needs and that is not always in the public realm.

[Silver]

JohnnyL,

History? Can't remember much of anything, especially anything important. We memorized it to memorize it.

I agree, I love history, but what makes it wonderful, is how things fit together, not the dates. I developed my course with the point of learning how did Thea (the little girl's name), get to be Thea in Cochranville Pa, in 2016 (or 2017). I started with Marco Polo, opening up the trade route to Chine, then the fall of Constantinople, closing that road, then I sidetracked with the printing press and protestant revolution, then Columbus looking for a new route to China(or India), then the settling of America, Particularly the settling of Pennsylvania, the American Revolution then the expansion of America, and the Founding of the LDS Church (You can do this with Home Schooling), then the westward expansion into various places including Utah. We then went on into the Civil War, the Trans Continental Railroad, and various events leading up to WW2. Today we will cover the dropping of the Atom bombs ending WW2. within a couple of weeks we will move into an area she has been asking about all along, ... things that happened in MY lifetime. I hope in the near future to get into things that happened in her very short lifetime. Then we will have to revisit this whole historical path again focusing on a broader implication upon humanity.

But memorizing dates does destroy the wonder of history!

Regards,

George Clay

Hey George,
That's all well and good, but shouldn't you be teaching now instead of chatting with us reprobates on LDSFF?

Actually, just wanted to say that you are an awesome grandpa. I hope I grow up to be like you someday.

[e-eye2.0]

I have 3 sisters who have home schooled. My only suggestion is that unless you are a dedicated motivated parent that can follow through with it - don''t do it. My oldest sister who had 7 kids home schooled all her kids until they hit high school - great success. Kids were well behaved, had better manors, not any less smart, great social skills.

2 of my sisters were just terrible at it. The kids wouldn't do their work the parents didn't care they would go from home schooling back to public schooling back to home schooling. Kids suffered and were always behind - it was also very hard for my sisters. I don't think they should have done it but after seeing my oldest sister do well with it I think they felt obligated to do it.

[gclayjr]

e-eye2.0,

I have 3 sisters who have home schooled. My only suggestion is that unless you are a dedicated motivated parent that can follow through with it - don''t do it. My oldest sister who had 7 kids home schooled all her kids until they hit high school - great success. Kids were well behaved, had better manors, not any less smart, great social skills.

2 of my sisters were just terrible at it. The kids wouldn't do their work the parents didn't care they would go from home schooling back to public schooling back to home schooling. Kids suffered and were always behind - it was also very hard for my sisters. I don't think they should have done it but after seeing my oldest sister do well with it I think they felt obligated to do it...

Very good point. I would take it 1 step further. My daughter-in-law is dedicated, but while passionately believing that she must separate her young children from the evils found in public school, she has found that although she works hard at homeschooling her children, in some ways she is overwhelmed.

I had discussions with her in regards to the fact that probably some of the evils she fears are not likely to be found in a rural Pa country school, however, that was not enough to allay her fears, and she decided to soldier on anyway. Luckily, I had a good enough relationship with her that as she found it overwhelming, she did feel comfortable enough to approach me and ask if I could take some of the load off from her and teach 2 subjects. I think this is working out OK for their particular situation.

However, all situations are different, and homeschooling is not for those who are not both committed to it and have the personality and skills to do it. If not, it can be worse than Public school...And it is our future that we are doing this for, so we should think it through very carefully... and pray for guidance.

Regards,

George Clay

[JK4Woods]

I was home schooled in Europe during my teens.
It was horrific... My parents had no clue how to do it. They had me take University of Nebraska High School correspondence courses and when I didn't understand something, it went on by lost in the confusion, because my parents weren't teachers and didn't know the subjects themselves.

I had no library, or even an encyclopedia available for my use. Certainly no internet.
(This was back in the early 70's).

I did attend a "american" school for a year that used the same correspondence courses from the U of Nebraska. The classroom "teachers" were long term travelers (mostly British and Canadian) who stayed for a semester or two earning money to continue their world travels.

Academically I was hugely handicapped. I missed out on a good grounding in math, biology and chemistry.
I came back to the states at 17-1/2 years old and was advised that I wait until I turned 18 and take the GED High School Equivalency Diploma exams. Which I did. So I got a GED which allowed me to join the Army and use the GI Bill when I got out to go to college.

I ended up with a Liberal Arts degree because I didn't have any idea how to do math for engineering.
Home schooling really curtailed my academic options for the rest of my life.

Mind you, living in Europe for five years was a great social experience and I feel waaay more well-rounded than american kids.

I have another close family member who sent her first two kids thru public school all the way from Kindergarten to HS Graduation.

Her last two kids she home schooled (having become a born-again Christian in the meantime) because of the "wickedness and worldliness" of the public school system.

Interestingly enough, her first two kids turned out strong and completely capable of thriving in regular society; while still holding true to Christian principles.

Her two home schooled kids are societal derelics. With hardly any social skills or coping mechanisms. One is so angry at his parents, that he ran away from home and hasn't spoken to his mom or dad in 25 years. The other has been working at the local pizza parlor for the last 15 years after getting out of jail (several times), and divorced from a brief marriage at age 19.

So to me, Home Schooling is a farce, and Public Schools only two notches better. Weigh in the social aspects and getting along with various other types of people, and public schools waay out perform home schooling...

[Silver]

Here's my personal home schooling anecdote:

We live across the street from a family that home schools. The father is a coach in a local public school so the teaching task seems to fall to the mother. The children are friendly and greet my wife and I first when they see us. The little darlings must be learning Spanish at home because they always says "Hola!" to my wife, who is Japanese. We haven't got the heart to tell them that not every foreigner speaks Spanish.

[Rose Garden]

I was home schooled in Europe during my teens.
It was horrific... My parents had no clue how to do it. They had me take University of Nebraska High School correspondence courses and when I didn't understand something, it went on by lost in the confusion, because my parents weren't teachers and didn't know the subjects themselves.

I had no library, or even an encyclopedia available for my use. Certainly no internet.
(This was back in the early 70's).

I did attend a "american" school for a year that used the same correspondence courses from the U of Nebraska. The classroom "teachers" were long term travelers (mostly British and Canadian) who stayed for a semester or two earning money to continue their world travels.

Academically I was hugely handicapped. I missed out on a good grounding in math, biology and chemistry.
I came back to the states at 17-1/2 years old and was advised that I wait until I turned 18 and take the GED High School Equivalency Diploma exams. Which I did. So I got a GED which allowed me to join the Army and use the GI Bill when I got out to go to college.

I ended up with a Liberal Arts degree because I didn't have any idea how to do math for engineering.
Home schooling really curtailed my academic options for the rest of my life.

Mind you, living in Europe for five years was a great social experience and I feel waaay more well-rounded than american kids.

I have another close family member who sent her first two kids thru public school all the way from Kindergarten to HS Graduation.

Her last two kids she home schooled (having become a born-again Christian in the meantime) because of the "wickedness and worldliness" of the public school system.

Interestingly enough, her first two kids turned out strong and completely capable of thriving in regular society; while still holding true to Christian principles.

Her two home schooled kids are societal derelics. With hardly any social skills or coping mechanisms. One is so angry at his parents, that he ran away from home and hasn't spoken to his mom or dad in 25 years. The other has been working at the local pizza parlor for the last 15 years after getting out of jail (several times), and divorced from a brief marriage at age 19.

So to me, Home Schooling is a farce, and Public Schools only two notches better. Weigh in the social aspects and getting along with various other types of people, and public schools waay out perform home schooling...

I know two different homeschool families where the kids are very sociable and very comfortable to talk with, more so than most children. I know public school families where the kids are very uncomfortable to talk with. I don't believe it's the schooling that makes the difference but the parents. If the parents are sociable then the kids tend to be too, however they are schooled.

[Rose Garden]

I was homeschooled off and on as a kid. It was terrible. My mom just pointed me toward the closet full of learning toys and left me to my own devices. My main memories during those years were of getting in trouble over picking fights with my little brother, who was also homeschooling, because I was so dang bored.

I also homeschooled my kids for a few years. I tried to support them in what they wanted to learn instead of requiring them to follow my schedule. They were so fired up about learning that we ended up most days with them sitting at my feet on the kitchen floor while I did dishes so I could answer their questions. The biggest problem we faced was with me finding enough time to keep up with their demand. I considered it a great success myself but my husband put them in school because my oldest daughter was behind her age group in reading.

[Dave62]

I homeschooled both of my children through high school. I was challenging but rewarding. Both of my children are now adults and are creating their own successful careers. They both graduated from university. I don't have any problems with people choosing to school their children either way. I just don't like parents abdicating their responsibilities to educate their children. If going to school works, fine. If homeschooling works, fine. I'm an English and Japanese high school teacher in a very pleasant small private school in the country and so I would send my own children to school here. But as for the overcrowded and largely dysfunctional state schools in the city, forget it! There is a growing cultural divide between rural and urban Australia and I suspect it is the same for other countries.

[JohnnyL]

JohnnyL,

History? Can't remember much of anything, especially anything important. We memorized it to memorize it.

I agree, I love history, but what makes it wonderful, is how things fit together, not the dates. I developed my course with the point of learning how did Thea (the little girl's name), get to be Thea in Cochranville Pa, in 2016 (or 2017). I started with Marco Polo, opening up the trade route to Chine, then the fall of Constantinople, closing that road, then I sidetracked with the printing press and protestant revolution, then Columbus looking for a new route to China(or India), then the settling of America, Particularly the settling of Pennsylvania, the American Revolution then the expansion of America, and the Founding of the LDS Church (You can do this with Home Schooling), then the westward expansion into various places including Utah. We then went on into the Civil War, the Trans Continental Railroad, and various events leading up to WW2. Today we will cover the dropping of the Atom bombs ending WW2. within a couple of weeks we will move into an area she has been asking about all along, ... things that happened in MY lifetime. I hope in the near future to get into things that happened in her very short lifetime. Then we will have to revisit this whole historical path again focusing on a broader implication upon humanity.

But memorizing dates does destroy the wonder of history!

Regards,

George Clay

Dates are great--when they're part of the big picture, or part of the story of a small picture.

Memorizing the majority of things was/is worthless. The history was "this happened, this happened,this happened, this happened". There was no "why" to it all, very few connections between events, very little insight into decisions. Every event was just as important as any/ every other event. There was no study of politics, persuasion, crowd control, newspapers and media, lies, Gadianton robbers, money as a driving force, etc., and their influence.

We did study the start of Mormonism in 11th grade in public school, because my teacher chuckled his way through it and pronounced Moroni like a Spanish name--when I corrected him, he was quick enough to put 2 and 2 together, and stopped chuckling. If I think hard about it, I can probably remember two other things?

[Juliet]

Robinson Curriculum

[Rose Garden]

I homeschooled both of my children through high school. I was challenging but rewarding. Both of my children are now adults and are creating their own successful careers. They both graduated from university. I don't have any problems with people choosing to school their children either way. I just don't like parents abdicating their responsibilities to educate their children. If going to school works, fine. If homeschooling works, fine. I'm an English and Japanese high school teacher in a very pleasant small private school in the country and so I would send my own children to school here. But as for the overcrowded and largely dysfunctional state schools in the city, forget it! There is a growing cultural divide between rural and urban Australia and I suspect it is the same for other countries.

I believe this is key. One of the main problems with public schooling is that everyone (teachers, principles, parents) start to think that it's the school's responsibility to teach the kids. The responsibility is first and foremost the parents', and the teachers, principles, and whoever else is involved are working for them. If we would keep that perspective, the public schools would be a great deal better than they are.

[BTH&T]

I believe this is key. One of the main problems with public schooling is that everyone (teachers, principles, parents) start to think that it's the school's responsibility to teach the kids. The responsibility is first and foremost the parents', and the teachers, principles, and whoever else is involved are working for them. If we would keep that perspective, the public schools would be a great deal better than they are.

IMO it is also one of the greatest problems within the gospel, Parent's that expect others to teach and train the child in the ways of the Lord!

[Yahtzee]

I believe this is key. One of the main problems with public schooling is that everyone (teachers, principles, parents) start to think that it's the school's responsibility to teach the kids. The responsibility is first and foremost the parents', and the teachers, principles, and whoever else is involved are working for them. If we would keep that perspective, the public schools would be a great deal better than they are.

IMO it is also one of the greatest problems within the gospel, Parent's that expect others to teach and train the child in the ways of the Lord!

My husband always says if I'm not teaching our kids the gospel in addition to math and language arts, I may as well put them back in public school.
I noticed this a lot when I was in primary. It was heavily emphasized to all teachers that primary was a supplement to the parents teaching, not a replacement. I don't think most of the parents realized that.
I would love if school worked the same way-a supplement.

[FTC]

I want to like homeschool, but I hate it. The ex-wife took my kids out of real school, and put them into her hodge-podge joke of a homeschool. Basically, she plops the kids in front of the computer, they listen to some cartoony "teacher" describe the lessons, then my kids do some multiple choice tests. While they're doing this, the ex-wife is elsehwere trying to sucker people into buying her weight loss supplements. My kids never leave her house, because in her screwed up mind, she is somehow going to loose the kids if they are out of sight of her. That's homeschooling for my kids.
So, I took the ex-wife to court and showed the judge what is going on. The judge recognized that my kids were excelling in the regular public schools, but he didn't want to bounce them around schools. Instead, he made an order that my kids have to take an end of year comprehensive test, to compare with how they did in regular schools. If my kids are falling behind, they must go back to a real public school. Currently, I have my fingers crossed and hope that my kids fail their test. Lovely.
I've really come to hate homeschooling.

[ebenezerarise]

Endless discussion, this topic.

We started homeschooling our children in 1994 -- ask Brigham said, "voluntarily, because we had to".

We were ostracized, ridiculed, criticized and hassled for doing it.

This was when we had just two kids.

Other children came. 7 total.

We homeschooled them all until we felt we couldn't do the job right -- up until about highschool.

Then we put them in public school.

BIG, huge mistake. Would NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER recommend that to anyone.

It is a lot of work and not for everyone. But public schools are hopeless, worthless, shameless and endless in their corruption and incompetence.

[AI2.0]

My kids were in public school K to 6th, then they attended Kimber Academy, which some of the homeschool people may know--the curriculum is used by many homeschoolers and it is a school that is more of a supplement for homeschooling. It's LDS based education and if they follow through and graduate, they get a very good education. My girls went on to excel in college, my oldest is a lawyer, my middle is attending graduate school and my youngest is attending a science/math based charter high school and will receive a second high school diploma and her associate degree at the same time and she's an honor student. But best of all, my two oldest served missions and my youngest is planning to, because the curriculum is LDS faith based and really helps them know the gospel and develop testimonies. They always could run rings around the other kids in Sunday school class because they knew the Book of Mormon and Bible so well. That's something that doesn't always happen with public school and seminary education. If parents want more, they have to supplement more religious education in the home.

Having taught at the school (and also worked in a public school tutoring) I worked with many students who'd been homeschooled, some clearly had a stronger, better education than what they'd have received in public school, but some of them were way behind their public school counterparts. It's just not something that you can make a blanket statement about . It really depends on the child and the parent/teacher. Some parents are lazy and some really aren't educated enough themselves and they don't put enough effort into learning themselves to help their children. Some children don't put the effort in or they really need a more structured environment and they need the social interaction. So, while I think homeschooling is a great idea and the success stories can be marvelous, I don't think it's right for everyone.

[Dave62]

I think that this discussion shows that there as many effective, and ineffective, approaches to schooling as there are families. Please be prayerful and careful with your precious children. If something isn't working have enough courage and humility to change. Remember; it is more important to DO right than to BE right. Don't be afraid of the world and its evil teachings; expose these to your children (at age appropriate times) but do this on your own terms. Your dear children will surprise you at how strong and resilient they are with both the Light of Christ and the Gift of the Holy Spirit. I never shied away from any issue with my children, and I think this built a relationship of trust between us. If only we could see our children for who they really are we would feel inclined to almost kneel before them.

Our Heavenly Parents are very anxious for their safe return.

[Rose Garden]

I think that's very good advice.

[vaquero]

My wife homeschooled our children through 8th grade. They now all home school and our eldest son's wife has homeschooled their oldest son through his just completed junior year. He has taken selected high school classes such as chemistry, and AP/junior college math classes, received a 33 ACT score with a 36 on the English portion.

Our oldest daughter took Latin while at BYU. She does Latin with her children which I think is excellent training for language.

Some or the resources and ideas we've used have been Dorthy Sayers' lost tools of learning,

http://www.gbt.org/text/sayers.html

Memoria Press,

https://www.memoriapress.com

and for high school aged children, Hillsdale College great books list:

https://www.hillsdale.edu/wp-content/up ... s-List.pdf

Our family believes in a more classically based education with a heavy emphasis on literature and reading. The aforementioned high school aged grandson has read books by David McCullough, David Hackett Fischer, Robertson's biography of Stonewall Jackson, and other similar books for history.

Higher education today is an absolute mess. High school and grade school are not quite as bad but are certainly in a rapid descent. Home school is the only option today.