By Marisa Pullan Two words: homeschool philosophies. More specifically, YOUR homeschool philosophies. People that are new to homeschooling often want to jump in and just GO! There is nothing wrong with that, and if the passion is there, more power to you! At the same time, so many people focus on finding the right curriculum and picking the right lessons because, admittedly, taking your child's education into your own hands is daunting, and you really don't want to screw them up! Before you think about the lessons and finding what is going to work, think about the WHY and the WHAT of your homeschool considerations, especially if you are coming from the public school system. Use this time as a de-schooling break to help you really get your feet under you as you start down this new path. With that said, let's explore the idea...so why do you want to homeschool? WHY do you want to homeschool? Is it the standardized testing in schools? Is it testing period? Is it religious beliefs? Is it the lack of choice in education? Why do you think homeschooling is best for your child? Does your child have special needs? Do you feel that the school can't meet your child's needs? Do you simply want more for your child? How do you want more? Why does homeschooling seem like a viable alternative? Is it something you are passionate to do or is it something that is more reactive to a given situation (i.e. bullying at school, large class size, not enough individual attention)? WHAT does homeschooling mean for you and your kids? What does education really mean to you? What does it mean for an individual to be educated in your eyes? Is it being well-read? Being well-rounded? What does education mean to your child? What are the goals that you each have? Why is your view of education defined in such a way? From your perspective, what is the relationship you want to have with your child? What kind of relationship does your child want to have with you? What are you willing to do and what are you willing not to do? Do you want to do all of the projects or are you unwilling to do the projects? Is your child okay not doing the projects or does your child want the experience? Each set of answers that you provide to yourself can help you decide on where to move forward and how to select lessons that best fit the goals and your kids' personalities. There is a lot of soul-searching on behalf of homeschooling parents and children as we all move further along on the journey. The other thing we need to remember is, as parents, our philosophies and approaches will change from year to year as our children grow older. What was important at five years old is not necessarily the same when that child is fifteen years old. Hopefully, with today's topic, you'll get started on thinking about what you're doing and why you're doing it. Once you have that figured out (or at least partially figured out because almost none of us ever have it completely figured out!), it will help you get on your way as you embark on the latest chapter of your life. Until next time, friends, happy homeschooling!
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By Marisa Pullan How do I know what to choose? What if my kid hates it? What if I'm not the crafty kind of person? What if I hate the mess that comes with projects? These are all questions that come up when you are trying to figure out what to choose and how to decide what your child will be doing year in and year out. Honestly, there is no "right" or "wrong" answer to choosing curriculum, but here are some tips to help you figure out your own path. Remember Your Strengths! Think about YOUR strengths as a parent and don't be afraid to outsource if and when you can. As adults, we know where our strengths lie and we need to remember to play to our strengths. Don't put the pressure on yourself to do everything and be everything for your children. If you are confident when it comes to math, you may prefer a program or textbook that doesn't require a teacher edition to complete the course. If you're not so good at science, you may live and breathe by the teacher edition happily learning alongside your child. At the same time, if you feel you are lacking in delivering the material, do some searching for tutors or local homeschool-friendly classes. Chances are that there are people in your community that would love to teach history to your child because they love it as much as you wish you did! Don't Marry Your Curriculum. Seriously. Don't devote yourself to a single curriculum because you can set yourself up for fights and struggles with your kids that aren't worth the time and effort. Just because YOU love a specific text or program, if you have to fight with your kids every single time the book is opened, consider the source of the issue. Sometimes, the struggle is a discipline problem, sometimes it's a teacher problem, sometimes it's a curriculum problem. If your child says "I hate math" and makes you cringe, listen to what they're saying. If they hate it due to, oh, I dunno, repetition as an example, it is probably the curriculum, in which case, look for something that fits them better. If they dread the time spent on it because they feel you're going to be difficult to work with, then you need to be honest with yourself and consider the possibility that it could be a teacher problem. If it's neither of these issues, then think about discipline and consistency, and re-evaluate the approach you're taking with your children. I Prefer to Keep My House Clean Here is a #momtruth if I ever heard one. We ALL would prefer to keep our houses clean, although some have it as a higher priority than others, and that's okay. There are homeschool moms that refuse to do artsy/crafty projects because they dread the glitter and glue everywhere. There are homeschool moms that under any condition, are absolutely unwilling to do science projects at home because of the mess factor. Not doing those things does NOT make you any less of a homeschool parent. If you want your children to have the experience, and you don't want to deal with the after effects, then by all means, outsource! Repeat after me: Outsourcing is okay! Reach out to your community, check out local art schools, and you will be surprised at what you might find to help you out along the way. As an example, many retired teachers love to help a homeschool parent because teaching is what they love. You're homeschooling or thinking about homeschooling because you want more for your child than what conventional education can offer. Keep that in mind as you plot your course, and be willing to make adjustments to your curriculum choices or your approach along the way. You can do it; I know you can! Happy homeschooling! By Marisa Pullan A lot of new homeschoolers ask, "What does homeschooling look like?" Then they get told, "Anything you want!" Realistically, that is a really tough concept to wrap your head around as a brand-new homeschooler, especially when you may still be coming to terms with the idea that you have taken your child's education into your hands. With that in mind, let's try to see if we can help you understand the elusive "Anything you want" mentality! So you have decided to homeschool - now what? If you are new to the homeschool arena and your kids have been in public school, most times, you will receive the advice to "de-school" which is homeschool-inese for "give the kids a break." As your children are no longer in public school, one of the hardest things for a parent to do is to understand and accept that homeschool does not equate to public school at home. The break is as much for the kids as it is for the parents! What the heck is public school at home? I'm glad you asked! So seriously, public school at home is the idea of recreating and implementing a strict schedule similar to that of a public school student. You'll find that you often don't need to do that as a homeschool parent because your elementary school student will often finish their work in 3 hours or less each day. Because you need less time to cover material, you don't need to have the rigid schedule. Flexibility becomes your friend, plus there is a major bonus - that few hours per day is hitting ALL of the core subjects AND possibly some fun stuff, too! Is 3 hours enough time for my child? In short, yes, it is enough time for your child, unless there are significant learning disabilities. Even with that, the time spent doing school work is still much less than the average public schooler. A large portion of your child's time is spent being told to get in line or wait quietly between learning periods. As such, there is a lot of time that is unfortunately wasted. The time wasted is not the teacher's fault, but more the by-product of having to wrangle 15-20 kids at a time. If my child is not in school, how will he or she make friends? This is a question a lot of new homeschoolers face because they simply don't know the ins and outs of where other homeschool kids hang out together. A better question might be, "How do I find other homeschoolers in my area so I can make sure my kids make friends?" Your best bet is to use social media to find homeschoolers local to you. There are often groups found on Facebook, Meetup, Google+, BigTent, Yahoo Groups, and others. Plug into these groups to find your very own homeschool community! De-schooling, Scheduling, Friends - Check. What about curriculum? That's the next biggest question homeschoolers have - what curriculum to choose and how to decide what is going to work best? The short answer is that everything is trial and error. We will explore this more in our next blog article because this deserves an article all by itself. Stay tuned for the next article! Until then, friends, happy homeschooling! By Marisa Pullan The Hutto Homeschool Co-op was founded in the Fall of 2014 with a few parents that had an idea and a goal to bring a co-op to this side of Williamson County. From the very beginning, we agreed that the Co-op had to be secular in nature because there simply wasn't much available at the time. Even less here in Hutto.
Over time, we have definitely grown. It has been a wonderful journey so far as we watch the kids' friendships become the kind of friendships you remember as a kid. They have their best friends, get excited to see their friends at the start of each day, and share classes that they are all interested in. As we have become larger, it seemed about the right time to have a website! We had been asked before if we had one and we didn't up until now. We do have a Facebook group that you can request to join once you have become a part of the Co-op, but we never really had much of a public face. We want to say a special THANK YOU to Hutto Discovery United Methodist Church for allowing us to convene at their Discovery Center every year for the past few years. We look forward to being there for a long time to come! So...all of that to say "Hey, we finally have a website!" Rock on, Hutto Homeschool Co-op. Rock on. |
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January 2021
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