Homeschooling Discussion & Experiences #1

[~ Mylitta ~]

Sometimes I sit on my computer and giggle at the similarities I find between myself, Jellyfish and Heaven. On many occasions I've joked that Heaven and I are the same person. Now I'm finding so little similarities with Jellyfish too! My Mum is really positive about us homeschooling as well. She is a teachers aid in a school and she considered homeschooling my younger brothers (who both have ASDs). Finances was the deciding factor for her though because she needed to go back to work. There are so many times that I do something, or am about to do something with my kids, and then I see photos on Jellyfish or Heaven doing the exact same thing. I love it, lol.

[Heaven]

haha Mylitta, I know!! We seem to be all on the same wavelength and always doing similar things!! Good to know I can talk to people who get me!!

My Mum is supportive too, I think, lol. She hasn't said anything negative, only good things, but I still don't think she really understands what it means or how we'll be doing it. That's ok though! I'm planning to have family involved a lot.

We are having so much fun with lots of different things at the moment! Although, now the girls are sick so just waiting for them to get better because I have so many ideas!

[Jellyfish]

It's great company to have! I love seeing what you guys are up too.

Same stuff happening here. Excited to get my nature display cabinet up and running, DP has today off (working Sunday though boo) so should be able to touch it up enough to get it ready... just need to figure out where to put it.

We've redone our whole house now and instead of having just a playroom we have set up pockets of interest all over that I can change up. It's working really well! Almost too well since they have all but abandoned their toy room in favour of all the other areas lol.

[Jellyfish]

I have a bit of a question for you all. What would need to change in schools for you to consider it as an option? Or is there nothing that could change your stance?

[Heaven]

I have a bit of a question for you all. What would need to change in schools for you to consider it as an option? Or is there nothing that could change your stance?

I don't think anything could change my mind now actually. At first I was thinking of homeschooling because of the negatives of school. But now it's more that I'm doing it because I think home is the best option, no matter how good a school was it would never be the same as home. Especially in the early years of a child's life. I just think at this time the most important relationship in their lives should be with their parents and that they should be surrounded by people that love them and free from any pressure or stress of keeping up to any 'standard'. I don't know if I'm even making sense. I have a billion reasons but it would take me forever to write them all down, lol. I just think HS is a whole different awesome lifestyle and I wouldn't give it up for any school.

[Arcadia]

I'm not a homeschooler but seriously considered it, and the one thing that stands out for me is the positive influence an excellent educator can have. Dd has this at kinder and she is so creative and engaged I would struggle to match her. The social side I appreciate but it's not essential.

I don't have family near me, so I think having another adult in dds life she knows and trusts and who teaches her things is really beneficial.

Hope you don't mind me jumping in. Homeschool is still an option at any point for us though. The teachers HAVE to be good!!!

[Jellyfish]

I don't think anything could change my mind now actually. At first I was thinking of homeschooling because of the negatives of school. But now it's more that I'm doing it because I think home is the best option, no matter how good a school was it would never be the same as home. Especially in the early years of a child's life. I just think at this time the most important relationship in their lives should be with their parents and that they should be surrounded by people that love them and free from any pressure or stress of keeping up to any 'standard'. I don't know if I'm even making sense. I have a billion reasons but it would take me forever to write them all down, lol. I just think HS is a whole different awesome lifestyle and I wouldn't give it up for any school.

I'm feeling the same lately. It is like the further I dive into homeschooling, the more foreign the whole concept of school becomes to me. I kept trying to picture my ideal school and it was part time, collaborative with parents and students alike, a general meeting of minds to share resources, knowledge, inspirations and passions. And then I realised a group of homeschoolers could and do achieve those things.

[Jellyfish]

I'm not a homeschooler but seriously considered it, and the one thing that stands out for me is the positive influence an excellent educator can have. Dd has this at kinder and she is so creative and engaged I would struggle to match her. The social side I appreciate but it's not essential.

I don't have family near me, so I think having another adult in dds life she knows and trusts and who teaches her things is really beneficial.

Hope you don't mind me jumping in. Homeschool is still an option at any point for us though. The teachers HAVE to be good!!!

I don't mind you jumping in, I want to write to your points here and hope you won't take it negatively, more an explanation of how we will be achieving things of that nature without school. We are all just doing our best and you know your kids and self better than anyone else so as to know what will work for your family, I respect everyone's choice.

Those were definitely concerns for me. I want my kids to have lots of positive and inspiring influences in their life and hope to still ensure that happens. I sometimes think we will have more room for meaningful mentors, there are so many people who love to share their unique passions that you can often find them offering to share for free or just material/resource cost and they can share in their own time, pace and place without any system red tape. It also allows the child to pursue things in more depth if they so desire as there is no pressure of group led needs or time constraints. We are lucky to have family close by who are very involved and a good selection of different knowledge to pass on - my mum was a teacher (works for education qld now) and has already introduced me to lots of great resources that I wouldn't have thought of myself, my dad was a CEO of a large well known company then went on to start his own consultancy firm so has a lot to share in regards to that side of the world, I'm the artist/writer so have a lot of connections to that world, my partner is a butcher and passionate cook so has lots to share there and then there are all sorts of further extended family nearby. DPs parents live on a property and are working towards self sustainability, I'm excited we will be able to stay there and learn things without being restricted to school holidays. Then there are all the homeschooling channels and groups who I'm sure will bring interesting things to the table or connections to interesting things. It is a very giving community. There is definitely truck loads of benefit to having lots of sources of care, love, knowledge, outlooks etc in a person's life.

It is a lot of responsibility and work though to ensure this happens without the support of a school. Achievable still though, I believe.

The social side as it is presented in schools has never been a huge concern for me but collaboration is. But even just seeing my kids play with say Heaven's kids (our eldest girls even played school together once lol) I can see how it will happen at home if we continue to foster good relationships within our community.

It is a really big and tough decision, one not made lightly given the enormity of commitment needed. I'm glad you've found somewhere that fits for you guys so far.

[~ Mylitta ~]

I think the aspect of traditional schooling that worries me the most is actually the "socialisation". I find the concept of grouping children based solely on their year of birth odd.
To me it makes so much more sense to interact with others with similar interests and/or abilities regardless of age. I also think it's much more indicative of life after schooling. When a person finishes school and begins their "working life" they will need to interact with people with a range of ages. Home schooling allows children to interact with a larger selection of people and age groups on a day to day basis. I also really despise the bullying and cliques that seems to inevitably occur at school. I know that it can happen in other environments as well, but it seems much more likely when children are grouped based on age rather than ability and interests. I've had the comment made to me before that "kids need to learn how to deal with bullying", and while I don't exactly disagree, I DO disagree that they need to learn that life skill while they are young, innocent and impressionable children. I want that life lesson to be learnt when they are older and more able to understand WHY people bully and to be better able to cope.

Like Heaven though, I think all the positive aspects of homeschooling is the real reason why we have chosen this path.

[Heaven]

I'm not a homeschooler but seriously considered it, and the one thing that stands out for me is the positive influence an excellent educator can have. Dd has this at kinder and she is so creative and engaged I would struggle to match her. The social side I appreciate but it's not essential.

I don't have family near me, so I think having another adult in dds life she knows and trusts and who teaches her things is really beneficial.

Hope you don't mind me jumping in. Homeschool is still an option at any point for us though. The teachers HAVE to be good!!!

No, jump right in! I know you're on the same wavelength anyway But I always like to hear everyone's point of view. Well, the people who can be respectful anyway.

That's one of the things I'm looking forward to about homeschooling too, getting extended family involved. It's a pity you don't have family close by. It's important to me that my kids are still able to have people to learn from outside of us, other role models, and know that they need to be able to listen to other adults as well. So along with having extended family involved I think extra curricular activities and community involvement will cover that. So excited about it!

And right, the teachers have to be good. So glad your DD has a great one. Just crappy that you can't choose them I guess. When they get to school it's kind of the luck of the draw. I have my fingers crossed it's smooth sailing for you though!

The social side as it is presented in schools has never been a huge concern for me but collaboration is. But even just seeing my kids play with say Heaven's kids (our eldest girls even played school together once lol) I can see how it will happen at home if we continue to foster good relationships within our community.

Yes! Something I want to make sure my kids get too. I think some great learning happens in groups, and I want them to have the opportunity to learn to work with others. I think we can make that happen though! Might have to start a group or something!

I think the aspect of traditional schooling that worries me the most is actually the "socialisation". I find the concept of grouping children based solely on their year of birth odd.
To me it makes so much more sense to interact with others with similar interests and/or abilities regardless of age.

Agree. I find DD1 has a great time with kids just a little bit older than her. She seems to let them take the lead more and learns from them (she's used to bossing her sister around, LOL). She loves kids of any age though and it would be a shame to limit that.

I also don't get the argument that school is like the work force and they have to learn to deal with it. Firstly, I don't think it is. Secondly, I'm not the least bit concerned in preparing my 4 yr old for the work force, LOL. That would never cross my mind. I'm concentrating on growing happy, healthy, confident little people right now. Maybe in another 10 years.

[~ Mylitta ~]

Agree. I find DD1 has a great time with kids just a little bit older than her. She seems to let them take the lead more and learns from them (she's used to bossing her sister around, LOL). She loves kids of any age though and it would be a shame to limit that.

One of the reasons I love the Montessori my kids go to is because kids aren't grouped just with kids their same age. DS is in Cycle 1 now and it includes kids from 3-6 years of age. It means that over 3 years he gets to experience being the youngest, the middle and the eldest in the group. At the moment I think it greatly benefits him to have kids older than him. He's quite a solitary child by nature so watching the more refined social skills of the older kids is great for him.

[Jellyfish]

I was just reading back through this thread, kind of funny seeing indecision turn to excitement!

We were thinking about another year of kindy but decided that won't be happening, we want to use our last year before registration to get involved in the homeschool community and work out our rhythm, ideas and style with learning more seriously without having to worry about any red tape. Trying to practise my teacher speak for recording our outcomes in a rubber stamp worthy manner too lol.

Also I've passworded my blog but anyone interested in our uh stuff lol can PM me for the password, I'll be sharing via FB too.

[Jellyfish]

Another video, the follow up to one I posted before, love these: I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate||Spoken Word - YouTube

Missed this somehow when you first posted it but saw it on my re-read of the thread and had to bump it in case others missed it because it is brilliant!!

[Heaven]

We were thinking about another year of kindy but decided that won't be happening, we want to use our last year before registration to get involved in the homeschool community and work out our rhythm, ideas and style with learning more seriously without having to worry about any red tape. Trying to practise my teacher speak for recording our outcomes in a rubber stamp worthy manner too lol.

I love how we have an extra year! If they were going to school it would be Prep next year. We will probably do a bit more stuff on reading and maths but it's just awesome there's no pressure and I can go at DD1's pace and start whenever she's ready, whether that is earlier or later than normal school.

[~ Mylitta ~]

I think I get an extra year on top of you girls because DS misses the school cut off date by 2 days Although I think home schooling registrations go by age anyway, so as long as he's registered by the time he's 6 I think we are fine. I need to check into the legalities a bit more though.

And yes, I would like your password Jellyfish

[Heaven]

Yeah, in qld it's 6.5 so still have ages! I can't imagine them being 6 already!

[~*familyof3*~]

Hi all. I posted in here some time ago. We have had issues with schooling on and off. We now are having big issues and really want to look into our option of home schooling....BUT ive no idea at all where to start. I would love some help...any help at all.
Do we have to do certain work for their age? As even though ds is 13 in year 8 he is at a year 2/3 level at best. He is meant to be in a special centre at the school for help but we are finding most days he comes home and tells us they watched movies!! Not sure how that helps him catch up pfft.
We have had our choices as parents undermined many times by certain teachers and now feel ds would do better at home, not to mention safety.

[Jellyfish]

Hey familyof3, what state are you in?

For the most part you don't have to follow grade specific curriculum, more just demonstrate a personal progression.