Three More Families

Gordon and Gerry Going – (Ryan and Raymond)


Ryan, who is now nine years old and in third grade, begged Gerry to teach him to read when he was three and a half. She tried to put him off, but eventually gave in and went through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with him. By the time he was four and a half, he was reading fluently, so Gordon and Gerry knew that putting him into kindergarten would have been a waste of time. In addition, the Goings home school because they feel it is their responsibility to train up their children in the Lord, not send them to “public indoctrination into all manner of worldliness.”  They feel that public schools in California now fail to provide an adequate education and that to properly train their children requires that they be involved and informed as to the content and quality of their education. The Goings feel the best way to do this and ensure a Christ-centered worldview in their children’s education, is to home school.

At first, Gerry tried to keep Ryan busy with just reading, but it was not enough, so she enrolled him in the public charter school, CAVA, which administers the K12 curriculum. Here he was able to work at various levels, based on his personal strengths and weaknesses and move along at his own pace. Gerry and Ryan loved the program and the curriculum.

Meanwhile, the Goings moved to Arleta, which meant that Raymond, who has Down’s Syndrome and was attending a wonderful special education preschool, Horace Mann, in Burbank, would no longer be able to attend there. The local schools in Arleta were/are 98% Spanish-speaking, and with Raymond’s language delay, Gordon and Gerry did not feel this would help him in his English language development. So, with Ryan already in CAVA, it seemed a natural choice to enroll Raymond as well, where he would receive all the therapies and services he needed.

The Goings were happy with these choices until fall of 2009, when CAVA changed its policies and required Raymond to progress at a normal pace through the curriculum, and no longer allowed Gerry to jump around in the curriculum, skipping the skills for which Raymond wasn’t ready and focusing on the things with which he was succeeding. So, although it was difficult to leave the security of CAVA with its accountability, accreditation, and structure -- not to mention the curriculum and provision of services for Raymond -- Gerry removed both Ryan and Raymond from CAVA and filed her own PSA.

Since then, Ryan has been doing Switched-on-Schoolhouse (SOS). This has been a good transition from K12 for Ryan. He was especially excited that they talked about God in his schoolwork. Overall, though, Gerry has found that it isn’t challenging enough for Ryan and she doesn’t feel there is enough writing in the curriculum. Because of this, Gerry has been supplementing SOS with leftover K12 materials and Spelling City (www.spellingcity.com), and will be trying something a little different next fall.


With Raymond, Gerry has been using Alpha Omega’s LIFEPAC Kindergarten, Alpha-Phonics, and Alpha Omega’s Color Phonics. She likes the systematic approach that LIFEPAC provides. In addition Gerry is focusing on a lot of repetition and life skills for learning, like cooking, and tries not to push academics too seriously with him. If he learns to count to four by serving pancakes, that’s how she teaches counting.  She desires that Raymond learn to read and speak more clearly, so Gerry continues speech therapy and other language readiness acquisition skills with Raymond.  Raymond’s former speech therapist kindly offered the sound production curriculum See It! Say It! so he could continue it at home. Gerry also teaches Raymond sign language so he can be understood and because he has difficulty with processing auditory language.

With both of her boys on very different spectrums and possessing very different gifts and abilities, Gerry is trying to find a balance of styles and systems that works for her and her family. In fall of 2010 she is going to try a more Charlotte Mason approach for Ryan, focusing on a lot of reading and creative writing, and taking the freedom to go off on tangents and pursue specific interests. She still plans on using the leftover K12 math.

The Going boys like routine, though sticking to a routine is a bit challenging. Generally, Ryan gets up and starts his school work on his own. After breakfast, Gerry does school work with Raymond while Ryan continues his independent studies. After lunch, they finish up, usually by 1:30 p.m. Then they may read together, do any special projects, work in the yard, or do special activities. This summer, Gerry plans to do a couple of hours of school work every morning.


Summary:
Name of program: K12 (CAVA)
Pace: State Standard Driven, Spiral Curriculum with individual mastery components
Impetus: Textbook with some Literature and Thematic components
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Cultural Literacy and State Standards
Worldview: Secular
Environment: Traditional and Computer, Tutoring in high school years
http://k12.com/
http://www.k12.com/cava/


Name of program: LIFEPAC
Pace: Mastery Based
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standards or Textbooks
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Traditional (Worktexts)
http://www.aophomeschooling.com/lifepac/overview.php

Name of program: Switched-on Schoolhouse
Pace: State Standard Driven
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standards or Textbooks
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Computer
http://www.aophomeschooling.com/switched-on-schoolhouse/overview.php

Name of program: Alpha-Phonics
Pace: Mastery Based
Impetus: None
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: None
Worldview: None
Environment: Traditional
http://www.howtotutor.com/

Name of program: Color Phonics
Pace: Mastery Based
Impetus: None
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: None
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Computer (CD-ROM)
http://www.colorphonics.com/

Shawn and Shannon Sherlock – Lane, Louis, Larry, and Lorraine

The Sherlocks decided to home school because they wanted to train their children all day, every day, allowing them to lay a Christian foundation in all areas of their children’s lives. When they considered Deuteronomy 6:7, “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up,” they felt that the best way for them to do that was through home schooling. In addition, they like being able to meet each child’s academic needs, whether that means going more slowly and repeating concepts or moving ahead. And at the base of it all, Shannon cannot imagine being away from them all day; she treasures the special relationships they have due to the time they spend together.

Each year Shannon files her own PSA. She is currently schooling her oldest three: Lane, nine years old and in fourth grade; Louis, seven years old and in second grade; and Larry, five years old and in kindergarten. Lorraine is three years old. Shannon does not do formal academics over the summer, but keeps the kids reading during that time.


When Shannon started schooling Lane, she used Alpha-Phonics, A Beka science, and Horizons math. She also used copy work from the Bible for penmanship, and AWANA. By the time Larry started kindergarten this year, she realized that instead of including science, she would rather just focus on reading, penmanship, math, and Bible. Also in the past she used the tactic of having the older kids rotate through entertaining the younger children while she spent one on one time with the older ones.

Last school year, Shannon tried LIFEPACS with Lane. She gives it a rating of “okay,” but it wasn’t what they were looking for. This past year she switched to My Father’s World, and used Horizons math with it. She really likes the incremental style of Horizons. In addition she uses First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind by Jessie Wise, which is a literature based grammar instruction book. She also uses English for the Thoughtful Child by Mary F. Hyde and Cyndy Shearer.

For each school day, the Sherlocks follow a strict schedule. They start school at 8:30 a.m. and do work until 10:00 a.m. They take a break from 10:00 to 10:30, and then finish up their school work before lunch, saving math for last. After lunch, they do things like practice piano and reading time. Then they do chores.

Next year Shannon plans on switching to Christian-worldview textbooks which contain the instruction and the questions. She has found that she can’t spend the time that My Father’s World requires, and needs to find something her kids can do independently, leaving her to just check their answers.

Summary:

Name of program: LIFEPAC
Pace: Mastery Based
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standards or Textbooks
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Traditional (Worktexts)
http://www.aophomeschooling.com/lifepac/overview.php

Name of program: Alpha-Phonics
Pace: Mastery Based
Impetus: None
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: None

Worldview: None
Environment: Traditional
http://www.howtotutor.com/

Name of Program: My Father’s World
Pace: State Standard/Spiral Based
Impetus: Unit Studies & Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American & Charlotte Mason
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook, Classical, Biblical Principle
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Traditional
http://www.mfwbooks.com/

Name of Program: Horizons Math
Pace: State Standard
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Traditional (workbook curriculum)
http://www.aophomeschooling.com/horizons/overview.php

Name of Program: First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind
Pace: None
Impetus: None
Application: Charlotte Mason, but may be used with others
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Classical Education
Worldview: None
Environment: Traditional
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/first-language-lessons-for-the-well-trained-mind-levels-1-2-paperback.html

Name of Program: English for the Thoughtful Child
Pace: None
Impetus: None
Application: Charlotte Mason, but may be used with others
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Classical Education
Worldview: None
Environment: Traditional
http://www.cathyduffyreviews.com/grammar-composition/english-for-thoughtful-child.htm

Greg and Gina Graven – Genevieve and George

Before Greg and Gina had children, they went to a church where it seemed that everyone around them was homeschooling. They saw how cool it was, and became convinced that in the short time we have to develop our relationships, disciple, and impact our children, home schooling is an invaluable opportunity. After having children and considering the options, they knew that for monetary reasons, private school was not an option, and they weren’t thrilled about the public school option as it would force their children into facing issues with which they were not yet equipped to deal. Also, both of these options meant losing that daily time together for building relationships within their home


For the past four years, Gina has been filing her own PSA and home schooling Genevieve (age 8, 3rd grade) using My Father’s World. With this she has used Spelling by Sound and Structure by Rod and Staff Books, Singapore Math, Primary Language Lessons by Emma Serl, Language Lessons for the Very Young, Volume 2 by Sandi Queen, AVKO’s Sequential Spelling, Spelling Power by Beverly L. Adams-Gordon, and The Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Series by Barbara Getty and Inga Dubay. Gina has found that Sequential Spelling works best for Genevieve, as well as Singapore Math and The Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Series.

Gina is planning on making a shift for next year as she considers adding George, currently four years old, to the mix, which will demand more of her time and reduce the amount of time she can work one on one with Genevieve. Though she likes what she has been using, she is thinking about shifting to the Robinson Curriculum in order to simplify, concentrate on “reading, writing, and arithmetic,” and focusing on teach Genevieve how to learn and become more of an independent learner.

In addition, Gina really wants to teach history chronologically and with a biblical worldview, which is why she is considering using The Mystery of History along with the Robinson Curriculum since history is not chronological in that curriculum. Since Genevieve really loves to read Gina feels this would be a good option since she will need to spend more one on one time with George beginning in the fall. She is planning to use My Father’s World (kindergarten/first grade) to teach George to read and do hands-on math. Gina loves My Father’s World, but as Genevieve enters third grade Gina feels the need to move away from so many individual subjects and trying to fit it all in: "Genevieve and I both have trouble focusing on so many different things at once.”

Currently they try to follow a routine for school, starting the school day at 9:00 a.m. They start with Bible, which generally consists of AWANA and Sunday school papers. After that they do math and language arts. Language arts consists of handwriting, spelling, and copy work, which is usually a memory verse or poem. Genevieve was doing a typing program and Rosetta Stone’s Spanish, but that has faded as Gina has focused more on the basic academic subjects. In the afternoon they do science and history (currently focused on geography), piano practice, art, and reading. For P.E. they enroll Genevieve in sports classes and take bike rides and walks.

Summary:


Name of Program: My Father’s World
Pace: State Standard/Spiral Based
Impetus: Unit Studies & Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American & Charlotte Mason
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook, Classical, Biblical Principle
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Traditional
http://www.mfwbooks.com/

Name of program: Robinson Curriculum
Pace: Accelerated structure and emphasis (6 days a week, 5 hours per day, year-round), but allows for individual movement through the curriculum, Spiral Based (students cover subjects and themes over and over, and pick up more each time based on maturity and previous knowledge), Delayed Academics in science, Mastery/Spiral Based in math (Saxon)
Impetus: Textbook for Math (Saxon); Literature Based
Application: Unschooling (self-taught, parent is a resource, parent provides the items from which a child can choose)
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Thomas Jefferson and Classical
Worldview: Founder -- Protestant, Actual Curriculum – None
Environment: Traditional with some Computer components
http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com/

Name of Program: The Mystery of History
Pace: None
Impetus: Unit Study
Application: Charlotte Mason, but can be used with others
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Classical
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Traditional
http://www.themysteryofhistory.com/

Name of Program: Spelling by Sound and Structure
Pace: Mastery Based
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standards or Textbooks
Worldview: None, though publisher is protestant
Environment: Traditional
http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/list/Rod_and_Staff_Spelling/

Name of Program: Singapore Math
Pace: State Standard/Spiral Based
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook
Worldview: None
Environment: Traditional
http://www.singaporemath.com/Mathematics_s/1.htm

Name of Program: Primary Language Lessons

Pace: None
Impetus: None
Application: Charlotte Mason, but can be used with others
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Classical
Worldview: None
Environment: Traditional
http://www.amazon.com/Primary-Language-Lessons-Emma-Serl/dp/0965273512

Name of Program: Language Lessons for the Very Young
Pace: None
Impetus: None
Application: Charlotte Mason, but can be used with others
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Classical
Worldview: None
Environment: Traditional
http://www.queenhomeschool.com/productpages/Language%20Lessons/Language%20Lessons.html

Name of Program: Sequential Spelling
Pace: Mastery Based
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standards or Textbooks
Worldview: None
Environment: Traditional
http://www.avko.org/sequentialspelling.html

Name of Program: Spelling Power
Pace: Mastery Based
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standards or Textbooks
Worldview: None
Environment: Traditional/Computer
http://www.castlemoyle.com/shopping/spelling/spellingpower.htm

Name of Program: The Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Series
Pace: Mastery Based
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: None
Worldview: None
Environment: Traditional
http://www.handwritingsuccess.com/italic-handwriting-series.php

Even More Family Surveys

I am continuing to interview each member of our group in order to provide a snapshot into what other families are doing in their home school journey. I am working through the group based on the number of years of homeschooling. I hope you find these inspiring and helpful.


John and Julia Jacobson – (Jacob, Jerry, Jim)

It all started when John thought it would be a good idea to try home schooling, and Julia agreed to give it a try. After trying it, Julia was sure that home schooling was not the right choice for them, but John had different ideas. Seven years later, they’re still at it!

Julia has tried several different curriculums, hoping to find something that works for her, as well as all three boys. This has been a struggle as they all have such different personalities and gifts. Currently, Jacob is twelve and in sixth grade, Jerry is ten and in fourth grade, and Jim is eight and in second grade.

Julia started with Alpha Omega’s Horizons. She liked it, but Jerry struggled, so she switched to A Beka, hoping that might be a better option. It wasn’t. She then switched to Bob Jones University Distance Learning Hard Drive. This still wasn’t the answer she was looking for – it was expensive and didn’t solve the struggles she was seeking to address.

This year Julia is trying the Robinson Curriculum. She likes its philosophy of teaching children to like to learn and to pursue their own interests. She likes that it is pressure-free for her, but she is concerned about the writing aspect, as she doesn’t feel confident in her ability to guide her boys in learning good writing skills.

Each day at the Jacobson household is a little different, since John is home on Mondays and Fridays. The kids still do their schoolwork in the morning, but with their dad home, they may head off for a hike or some other family activity. Generally though, they follow a routine: breakfast, math, break, reading, writing, and then lunch. In the afternoons Jim does Explode the Code for phonics, and then they do other types of things like history, science, chores, practice piano, and practice AWANA verses.

Julia belongs to an umbrella school called Grace Christian Academy.  She has been with this school for the last five years.  She goes to the school quarterly for grades, and at the end of the year, in May, the boys get tested. Jim is the exception, since the school doesn't start testing until third grade.  This school helps her stay organized and accountable. Julia schools almost year round, as she has found that the kids forget things if she doesn’t. She generally takes one month off – July.

Summary:

Name of Program: Horizons by Alpha Omega (workbook curriculum)
Pace: State Standard
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Traditional
http://www.aophomeschooling.com/horizons/overview.php

Name of Program: Bob Jones University Distance Learning Hard Drive
Pace: State Standard
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Computer/Traditional
http://www.bjupress.com/distance-learning/by-hard-drive/

Name of Program: A Beka
Pace: State Standard
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Traditional
http://www.abeka.org/

Name of Program: Explode the Code
Pace: State Standard
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook
Worldview: None
Environment: Traditional
http://www.christianbook.com/explode-the-code

Name of program: Robinson Curriculum
Pace: Accelerated structure and emphasis (6 days a week, 5 hours per day, year-round), but allows for individual movement through the curriculum, Spiral Based (students cover subjects and themes over and over, and pick up more each time based on maturity and previous knowledge), Delayed Academics in science, Mastery/Spiral Based in math (Saxon)
Impetus: Textbook for Math (Saxon); Literature Based
Application: Unschooling (self-taught, parent is a resource, parent provides the items from which a child can choose)
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Thomas Jefferson and Classical
Worldview: Founder -- Protestant, Actual Curriculum – None
Environment: Traditional with some Computer components
http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com/

Rich and Romona Rodriguez – (Vanessa, Veronica, Vivian)

The Rodriguezes have been home schooling for six years. They chose to home school for many reasons: instruction from a Christian worldview, less peer pressure, more one-on-one time, individual academic attention, and working at one’s own pace, to name a few. Currently, Vanessa is eleven years old and in fifth grade, Veronica is nine years old and in fourth grade, and Vivian is eight years old and in second grade.


When Vanessa started kindergarten, Ramona borrowed the Sonlight curriculum from someone. It didn’t work out for her, as it seemed like too much – whether it was because Ramona was new to home schooling, or if she was expecting too much, or if she just didn’t understand how to make it work for her – she’s not sure.

The next year, Ramona switched to My Father’s World. She wanted something that involved more interaction and discussion and where she could school multiple ages together in science and history. Though she likes this curriculum, she is thinking about switching next year to Golden Valley Charter School (GVCS). She may continue using My Father’s World as a guide for making curriculum choices through GVCS. However she finds that the girls get tired of listening to Mom’s voice and are not developing into independent learners. With Golden Valley she thinks that it will provide a level of accountability that she needs to stay on task, she won’t second-guess herself so much, and she will have accessibility to paid classes like art.

Ramona has used Singapore Math throughout all the years and really likes it. She likes that the kids learn why the math works the way it does and that the lessons build on each other. Other aspects that she likes are that it includes mental math and does not give too many problems per lesson. The best part about it is that her kids like it.

Ramona has used a variety of English programs, but so far she prefers Bob Jones English. Its lessons alternate between grammar and writing, and Ramona feels it gives her children a well-rounded experience with English.

Ramona registers each year with Fairhaven so that she doesn’t have to worry about the paperwork. She once participated in their campus days, but she missed connecting with the CBC home school group

The Rodriguezes follow a daily routine, which ideally happens about two to three times per week. After breakfast, they start with Bible (Ramona aims for that to happen about 9:00a.m.) and/or history. Following that, they do language arts, which may include memory verses, copying and dictation, writing a letter, spelling, and other writing activities. They also do math during this time. During lunch Ramona may read to the girls. After lunch they may do history, art, or science, and finish any undone work from the morning.

Ramona schools for as long as it takes to finish what’s necessary in the curriculum, so if they are behind at the end of the traditional school year, she just continues into the summer.

When asked for some words of wisdom to share, Ramona stated that she has learned that kids change, every kid is different, and that she constantly needs to adapt to both of those facts.

Summary:


Name of Program: Sonlight
Pace: Spiral Based
Impetus: Literature Based & Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American & Charlotte Mason
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Classical Education/Cultural Literacy
Worldview: Protestant/None
Environment: Traditional
http://www.sonlight.com/

Name of Program: My Father’s World
Pace: State Standard/Spiral Based
Impetus: Unit Studies & Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American & Charlotte Mason
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook, Classical, Biblical Principle
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Traditional
http://www.mfwbooks.com/

Name of Program: Singapore Math
Pace: State Standard/Spiral Based
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook
Worldview: None
Environment: Traditional
http://www.singaporemath.com/Mathematics_s/1.htm

Name of Program: Golden Valley Charter School
Pace: State Standard/Spiral Based
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook
Worldview: Secular
Environment: Traditional/Computer
http://www.goldenvcs.org/GVCS%20Home%20Page.htm



Tim and Tina Townsend – (Elizabeth, Eric, Emma, Evelyn, Ethan)

I apologize for the length of this. You give me an open forum to pontificate about one of my favorite subjects and I will fill it. :)

I decided to home school my kids when I was a teacher. I hated, as a teacher, not being able to reach the individual needs of my students. I saw the really bright and academically gifted kids “wasting their time” in my class and needing and able to do so much more than I was able to give them by teaching to the middle. I also hated watching the kids who were struggling to keep up with a pace that wasn’t appropriate for them and with concepts that were beyond them. I struggled with a constant sense of failure – knowing that really their parents were the only ones who could help them, but knowing that their parents would not, because most of the parents believed it was my job to teach their children everything and parent them as well. In addition to this experience, Tim and I were both academic – we loved and were successful in school, yet we both felt that we had come up short in what we were capable of doing due to being in classes that continually taught to the middle. We wanted more and better for our kids. Our kids are Elizabeth, nine years old and in fourth grade; Eric, eight years old and in second grade; Emma, seven years old and in second grade; Evelyn, six years old and in first grade; and Ethan, six years old and in kindergarten.


So, why do the Townsends home school? Tim and I want our kids to have the best educations possible based on their individual needs and gifts. We know that no teacher, no matter how dedicated, can do that in a classroom, especially because we know that the best way to educate a child is to know that child intimately and be able to shepherd his heart as well as his mind – because education is rarely about facts, it is about teaching a child what to do with facts and concepts. And so, when Elizabeth turned three, I started researching home school curriculums and methods.

Thus began two years of driving Tim nuts. I spent hours reading and researching and writing and talking and trying to figure out the “answer” to home schooling. I developed spreadsheets and lists analyzing every curriculum I could find and comparing it to the goals I had developed for each of my children in “the basic five”: intellectual, social, spiritual, emotional, and physical. The thing that stood out the most for me was that most home school resources focused on reading, writing, and arithmetic. It was difficult to find anything that addressed children who had different “intelligences,” especially in the arts and in the physical.

Finally, decision day came and I was still torn. Tim made the decision very simply. He looked at my list of options and asked, “Which one requires the least prep for you?” I told him that the K12 Curriculum was the most “teacher ready.” He decided that K12 was the one for us because he saw how many hours I would spend on creating and tweaking other curriculums.

So, for the first four years, all of our kids did K12 through California Virtual Academies (CAVA). I loved the curriculum. It was full – including the arts and P.E. Much of the curriculum was arranged so it coordinated like a unit study. It was free. It focused on cultural literacy, which was very important to me. I wanted my kids to have complete classic exposure, but be culturally literate – able to relate, function, and succeed in the current American culture through shared experiences and a common pool of knowledge. It allowed movement at a child’s own pace.

God’s providence in this was wonderful to watch. It turned out that Eric had a speech disorder called Oral/Verbal Apraxia. He needed lots of speech therapy and other services, which we would not have been able to afford on our own. Because CAVA is a public charter school, Eric was able to receive services for free that would have cost us about $550 per week. Whether Apraxia is the cause of his learning disabilities or if the learning disabilities caused the Apraxia, no one knows, but either way, we were happy to have a lot of support for Eric’s many symptoms caused by the way God made his brain. CAVA was extremely supportive in letting Eric move at his own pace through the K12 curriculum as well as providing speech therapy, occupational therapy, vision therapy, and many assessments to analyze Eric’s strengths and weaknesses in an effort to help him.

The second way that CAVA was a blessing was that in the spring of 2009, we welcomed Emma and Ethan to our family. Because we adopted them through L.A. County DCFS, we would not have been allowed to adopt them if we had not been home schooling through a public charter school. DCFS is not open to home schooling, and actually required us to send Emma and Ethan to the local public school while they were foster children. I know that their social worker would not have allowed the placement if we had been involved in a different home schooling situation.

But the blessing of CAVA subsided as the school grew from hundreds of students, when we first joined, to many thousands by fall of 2009. The focus turned to meeting state standards and getting kids to score well on standardized tests. Students were no longer encouraged to move at their own pace, but rather were required to work at grade level, even if they were not capable of it. So, in October 2009, I pulled all five kids out of CAVA and filed my own PSA.

Since then, I have been slowly constructing a curriculum that meets my standards – one that teaches cultural and classical literacy; allows students to move at their own pace in accordance with developmental milestones, not according to state standards; encourages development in all intelligences, not just academic; encourages multiple age involvement and cross subject integration; allows me to take time to address heart issues and disciple my children; and develops independent learners who can pursue their own interests yet discipline themselves to work at things that they do not initially find interesting. I don’t know that I’ve perfectly arrived at this yet, but I am definitely on my way there. I hope to have my current “answer to home schooling” complete and up and running on all cylinders by September 2010.

(And now I do: http://www.k12writing.com/Pages/scheduling.html. This website explains where I landed in all of this and I am very happy with what we are doing!)

Each day of school is slightly different based on what other activities are slated. On Mondays all five kids go with my mom and she teaches them science and art. She is a former elementary school teacher and LOVES science. She is using Apologia’s elementary science series. This year my kids are doing Botany and Astronomy. In each of the following years she will do two more of the books in the series, so each child will go through each book two times before he/she is in 6th grade. For art, my mom has been using some online resources as well as leftover K12 materials. I have been looking for an art curriculum that is similar to K12’s – and I think I have found it in Artistic Pursuits. I wanted something that teaches art history, art appreciation, and technique. (We have also added Draw Squad to this.)

On Tuesdays my kids have ballet classes in the middle of the day, and gymnastics in the late afternoon. I am a big advocate of whole body training in childhood, so all of the kids participate in these activities. This leaves a short amount of time for academics, so we do history on Tuesday mornings. In history I believe that a literature based curriculum is most effective, so I am reading historical narratives aloud and supplementing with individual reading in historical fiction. We are currently doing American History using This Country of Ours by H.E. Marshall, which covers early explorers through The Great War. I have purchased the entire Childhood of Famous Americans (biographical fiction) series as well as The American Adventure (historical fiction) series. I have coordinated the dates and events into a spreadsheet so that each resource is read in chronological order, including such things as the reading of historical documents, listening to recorded events, and viewing artworks of the period. My plan is to continue this in the following years using Christine Miller’s edited works of H.E. Guerber’s historical narratives, published by Nothing New Press (www.nothingnewpress.com). Also on Tuesdays I introduce the kids to sayings and idioms that are common in American culture. I used the What Your --- Grader Needs to Know series as a starting point. I am currently developing a board game using all of the sayings from that series, plus others I have accumulated, and I hope to have it ready to go by the fall. (This is ready and available on my website.)


Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays are more structured home school days. I get up about 7:30 a.m. and get ready for the day. The kids are up by 8:00 a.m. and we start school around 9:00 a.m. Each child has a list for the week detailing what work he or she is to do each day and the order in which he or she is to do it. They are expected to do all of their work without any help from me, except I do teach math (Saxon) to Ethan, Emma, Evelyn, and Eric. Each child has a laptop to work on. They each must do one lesson of Rosetta Stone (Spanish), the assigned lists at Spelling City (I have all of the spelling lists entered by grade level and they must pass each list at 100% before going on to the next, starting with kindergarten), Write for Power (an essay writing program that also incorporates grammar instruction), AWANA, piano practice, reading a book to Ethan, and 30-45 minutes of quiet reading (depending on their age and reading level). They all do copy work (poems). I also incorporate handwriting instruction in that. The three older ones also do 15 minutes of keyboarding. Every Friday they must turn in a book report – requirements for the report are based on their abilities. Also on Fridays they are required to tell me a story (my oldest is now writing one story per week). All the kids do math four times per week, as one day is spent at my mom's house doing science and art.

There is a lot more detail to what I have told you, especially as each of these items is a building block to the next skill/level I will be teaching them. If you are particularly interested in why I am chose an activity, you can access my kindergarten through twelfth grade spreadsheet which details out each item in its building sequence at my website.

If the kids are diligent, they finish their work before lunch. If they are not, they must continue to work on their schoolwork until it is done, even if it takes them until after dinner. Because they work independently, it is not a punishment to me if they take all day to finish their work. Ethan is always done by lunch time, and the other four generally finish up the last couple of things after lunch.

I do not school year round; in fact I do a short school year on top of that. Because I do not think that academics (especially at this age) are the ultimate goal in life, I place near equal value on experiences such as cultural events, outdoor activities, household activities, relationship building, character building, and discipleship. These things happen mostly outside of academics, so I aim to show that balance in our lifestyle.


Summary:

Name of program: K12 (CAVA)
Pace: State Standard Driven, Spiral Curriculum with individual mastery components
Impetus: Textbook with some Literature and Thematic components
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Cultural Literacy and State Standards
Worldview: Secular
Environment: Traditional and Computer, Tutoring in high school years
http://k12.com/
http://www.k12.com/cava/

Name of Book: Apologia Elementary Science Series by Jeannie Fulbright
Pace: Mastery Based
Impetus: Subject Driven
Application: Charlotte Mason
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Classical Education
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Traditional
http://www.apologia.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1

Name of program: Artistic Pursuits (art curriculum)
Pace: Mastery Based / State Standard Driven
Impetus: Thematic
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Cultural Literacy and Classical
Worldview: Secular
Environment: Traditional
http://artisticpursuits.com/index.html

Name of program: Saxon (math curriculum)
Pace: Mastery Based
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standards
Worldview: Secular
Environment: Traditional
http://saxonhomeschool.hmhco.com/en/saxonhomeschool.htm

Name of program: Rosetta Stone (foreign language curriculum)
Pace: Mastery Based
Impetus: Subject Driven
Application: Can be used with any
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: None
Worldview: Secular
Environment: Computer
http://www.rosettastone.com/learn-spanish

More Surveys of Home School Families

The Millers – Kade and Katharine (Melissa, Michael, Michelle)

In Deuteronomy 6:7 it says, “You shall teach them [the statutes and judgments] diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” It is from this verse that the Millers derive their conviction that they should home school their children. They home school because they believe that teaching their children involves addressing the heart issues, not just academics, and they do not believe that places and people outside of the home will address these heart issues in the way God has commanded them.

The follow-through of this conviction has been a challenge for Katharine, as she was not born in the United States, nor does she speak English as her first language. Kade is the bilingual son of Brazilian missionaries, and Katharine arrived in the USA as a new wife and mother, speaking only Portuguese. As her oldest (Melissa, now age 11 and in 6th grade) reached kindergarten age, Katharine herself was acclimating to American culture and learning English. So, for kindergarten, Melissa attended a Christian school. In first grade, Katharine began home schooling Melissa using Saxon math and the Rod and Staff curriculum for language arts. The following year, she, along with a friend, used My Father’s World for Melissa’s schooling, while Michael (now 9 years old and in 4th grade) attended kindergarten at a Christian school.

The next year, with Melissa entering 3rd grade and Michael entering 1st grade, Katharine switched to A Beka. This was especially helpful for her as the program included teaching DVDs. Because Katharine did not feel confident enough to teach her children in English, she was thankful that the children could still learn what they needed to, with the added benefit that she was able to learn along with them.

Now, all of the Miller kids use A Beka, but with Michelle (2nd grade), Katharine now feels confident enough to do much of the schooling without the aid of the DVDs. Though Michael still needs a lot of guidance and encouragement, Melissa works independently. Katharine is able to spend most of her time as a “consultant,” helping when needed, administering tests, and encouraging the kids to stay on task. Melissa is registered with A Beka, but for Michael and Michelle, the Nichols file their own PSA.

The Millers follow a schedule for their school days. School starts about 9:00am with Bible. Following that, the children do math, reading, and language. They receive a 15 minute break while Katharine fixes lunch. After they eat lunch, they do spelling, history and science. History and science are daily subjects, but the Millers have gotten behind on them, so Katharine will use this summer to catch up in those two areas. Other than that, Katharine follows a traditional school year schedule.

On a good day, five days a week, when everyone is on task and has a good attitude, Michelle is done by about 1:00pm, Melissa is done about 1:00-1:30pm, and Michael is done about 2:30-3:00pm. However, being that sin abounds in all people, it is not unheard of for certain children to still be working on their schoolwork at 6:00pm.

Overall, Katharine is happy with the A Beka curriculum. It has been a blessing to her, especially because of her family’s specific needs. She highly recommends it for any other mom who speaks English as a second language. Katharine says that the downside of this curriculum is that it is a lot of seat-work, which is harder for some children.

Summary:

Name of Program: A Beka
Pace: State Standard
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Traditional/DVD
http://www.abeka.org/


The Davis Family – Don and Daniella (David, Daniel, and Darla)

When Daniella came to the USA from Mexico with her husband, she heard about this thing called, “home schooling.” She had never encountered the idea, and she thought how fun and exciting it would be to be the teacher of her own children! So, when she and Don were talking about school for David, their oldest, she thought it would be a great idea, especially because they lived in L.A. Unified School district, which they did not feel would be a good learning environment, and they did not have the money to send their children to private school. It wasn’t until their later years of parenting that they considered the benefits of home schooling in regards to protecting their children from bad influences and shepherding their children’s hearts.

When David (now 16 years old and in 11th grade) was ready for kindergarten Daniella felt it would be too hard to deal with home schooling as well as her toddler and new baby, so she sent David to a public school. Looking back she realizes that she could have easily home schooled him, but then she did not have the current 11 years of home school experience under her belt to know that . However, when David entered 1st grade, Daniella enrolled him in Options for Youth, a public charter school. Daniella was especially concerned that she would not be able to teach reading to David and her other children, as English is her second language. At Options for Youth, she chose from their various curricula and was generally satisfied with the choices. However, when David got to 4th grade she realized that she didn’t like the secular views being taught in history. So, when David entered 5th grade, she switched to A Beka and started filing her own PSA.

Through all the elementary grades Daniella has used A Beka with each of her children, reusing the curriculum in order to maximize her resources. In order to do this, she had each child use a separate sheet of paper and not write in the books so as not to use the consumables. Daniella uses A Beka math, language arts, history/geography, and science/health. They skip the art, as the Davises are very involved in music.

All the Davis kids have taken piano and other music lessons throughout all of their elementary school years. They practice every day and,starting at age ten, all the children have taught piano lessons. Also, the Davises have attended Lake Avenue Church’s Saturday Conservatory (http://www.saturdayconservatory.com/), where they have learned to play instruments such as guitar, drums, clarinet, and violin.

When David reached 9th grade, the Davises enrolled him in CAVA (California Virtual Academies, which administers the K12 curriculum). Daniella liked CAVA, but she and Don felt that David needed more one on one feedback from experienced teachers to excel in his academics. So, this school year David is enrolled in 11th grade at a high school in another city. Because Don teaches P.E. for that school district, this option is open to the Davises even though they do not live in that public school district.

Similarly, the Davises made the decision to send Daniel, now in 8th grade, to a local private, Christian school. Due to Daniel’s personality and character development, they felt it was in his best interests to be in a classroom with many other children. At home, Daniel was struggling with motivation and diligence. Daniel has found that the material in school is easier, but now he has homework and projects to manage.

Darla, age 11 and in 6th grade, continues to be home schooled using the A Beka curriculum. Her schedule changes based on each day’s events, but generally school starts at 7:30am and wraps up around 3:00-4:00pm. In the evenings Don does spelling with Darla, and Darla may have homework or need to study for a test. In other years school has started later, around 9:00am, but Daniella has found that starting earlier makes the day go more smoothly.

Over the years Daniella has learned and grown both personally and as a home schooling mom. Primarily, she has learned that nothing – no curriculum or schedule – works all the time.

If she had to do it over again, she would do many things differently. When David entered CAVA and the public high school, she found out that A Beka is behind in math in comparison to the California state standards, so he will be unable to enroll in the upper level math classes due to time restraints. In addition, David received no credit for all of his years of music because his teachers were non-credentialed. So, in order to meet the high school graduation requirements, David now has to take the required fine arts classes and P.E. classes that should have been done in 9th and 10th grade. If she had known this, she would have enrolled him in junior college classes so that he would have had these requirements met or made sure he did those classes through CAVA. Another option would have been to enroll him in classes at a private school that allows a home schooled child to take individual classes, at reduced rates.

Summary:

Name of Program: A Beka
Pace: State Standard
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Traditional/DVD
http://www.abeka.org/


Name of Program: Options for Youth
Pace: State Standard
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook
Worldview: Secular
Environment: Traditional
http://www.ofy.org/


Name of program: K12 (CAVA)
Pace: State Standard Driven, Spiral Curriculum with individual mastery components
Impetus: Textbook with some Literature and Thematic components
Application: John Dewey
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Cultural Literacy and State Standards
Worldview: Secular
Environment: Traditional and Computer, Tutoring in high school years
http://k12.com/ , http://www.k12.com/cava/


The Woods – Will and Wilma (Willow, Wallace, Winifred, and Walker)

Wilma began her home schooling journey 12 years ago, through circumstance. When she and Will married, they simultaneously adopted Willow (now 16 and in 11th grade). Willow was really struggling in school and the school district’s efforts were not working. Wilma thought that home schooling would be the best option to help Willow, and Will heartily agreed. The Woods registered through Fairhaven (http://www.fairhavenca.com/aboutus.jsp) who keeps their records for them. Within six months, Wilma was sold on home schooling due to the incredible progress that Willow had made.

With that beginning Wilma and Will have continued home schooling, enjoying the freedom to meet each child’s individual needs – spiritually, emotionally, and academically. Wilma has found it fascinating to see each of her children learn in different ways, be inspired by different subjects and projects, and follow their passions. Mostly, it is a joy for her to see each of her children learning to love the Lord and growing in their desires to serve the Lord through their unique talents and interests.

Home schooling at the Wood’s house has evolved over the years. Wilma has learned that the way she home schools does not have to look like the way anyone else home schools and after years of struggling with “doing it wrong,” she knows that what she wants for her family is a natural, family-oriented home school, not a situation that mimics what happens in the public school. As much as she likes the idea of a curriculum that works for all of her children, maintains a schedule, and allows her to meet all of her household duties, she realizes that no such thing exists.

At the beginning, Wilma had never considered home schooling, so she jumped into it using a hand-me-down A Beka program. It was not a good fit for Willow. Wilma also used it a bit with Wallace, at first liking it, but then finding it wasn’t quite right for them. Wilma found that the DVD curriculum promoted a “sit and watch” attitude and the children were not motivated to participate, even with Wilma sitting next to them and trying to prompt them.

Since then she has been very eclectic in her approach as each child is so vastly different in his or her learning styles and interests. She used Rod and Staff for Willow’s math in the early years (Willow uses a different algebra book now) and Wallace uses it to prove he has mastered certain math concepts. Winifred (age 7) uses My Father’s World. Wallace enjoys reading books about history, so many of his writing assignments launch from that point. Will is working more with Willow, giving her reading and writing assignments. Willow is very interested in the pro-life movement, so many of her writing and research assignments center around this issue. Willow is also working part time, which has allowed her to do some real-life learning in saving, budgeting and general money management. The Woods use many resources from the local library as well as articles off of the Internet to spark interest and supplement research. Wilma and Will enjoy challenging their children to read sources that do not present a Christian worldview so that they can talk about the beliefs and philosophies of the world.

A typical home school day at the Wood household starts at about 7:00am with eating breakfast while listening to a daily Bible reading and praying together. Dialogue is encouraged, so it is not unusual for this to take an hour. After Bible time, they do about 45 minutes of P.E., alternating cardio (jumping jacks) with strength training. Wilma has found that this really helps minimize the wiggles as they head into the academic portion of their day. They then all spend about 20 minutes on AWANA. Walker (age 3) then goes to play in his room, while Willow and Wallace (age 9 and in 4th grade) work on math and do their English and history work. Meanwhile, Wilma does the My Father’s World subjects with Winifred. School continues until 12:30pm when they eat lunch. At 2:30pm Walker naps and the rest of the family does science experiments or art together and finishes any remaining school work. At this time Wilma is also available for more one-on-one time if any kids need help in a particular area. When finished with their school, the children must do their daily and weekly chores, do a room-to-room pick- up and then, weather permitting, they get to play outdoors.

On Mondays, Will is off work, so their schedule is a bit different. School starts at 8:00am, and in addition to the regular subjects, Will often takes one of the kids out for one-on-one time with dad, or the whole family does a project together. Will is also teaching Latin to Willow and Wallace this year, as well as Shakespeare, so the Woods are enjoying watching the dramatic antics of Will, Willow, and Wallace. Another addition this year is working on their new house and garden, as well as preparing meals together to take to various families at Calvary. Wilma has found this to be a fun blessing to actively teach the kids how to give out of their abundance and to find joy in serving others.

Wilma has tried schooling year round as well as following a traditional school year. She has found that schooling year round promotes burn-out, for everyone involved, so she limits formal schooling to a traditional school-year schedule. This is flexible, however, as evidenced this past year, where moving threw a wrench in the routine and they started school in October.

Summary:

Name of Program: My Father’s World
Pace: State Standard/Spiral Based
Impetus: Unit Studies & Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American & Charlotte Mason
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook, Classical, Biblical Principle
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Traditional
http://www.mfwbooks.com/


Name of Program: Rod and Staff
Pace: State Standard/Spiral Based
Impetus: Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven
Application: John Dewey/Traditional/American
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standard/Textbook/Biblical Principle
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Traditional
http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/

A Survey of Home Schol Families (January 2010)

It seems that whenever we get together our conversations center around trying to find out what it is that the other families are doing when they home school. “Do you like it?” we ask hopefully, secretly hoping that this might just be the magic answer to our homeschooling woes. You know, that mystical curriculum that exists “out there” – the one which teaches our kids perfectly, at their own pace, but also meeting and exceeding all the state standards – the one which produces godly, obedient children whose days are filled with structure, creativity, and peace – the one which allows us to have our Martha Stewart-like homes combined with an idyllic Laura Ingles Wilder existence, where the smells of homemade bread are only overtaken by the angelic sibling voices speaking kindly to each other and in perfect obedience to their parents – “Yes, Ma. Yes, Pa. Shall I go get the eggs from our organically fed chickens?” You know, THAT curriculum. Where is that?


So, to save you all time, I will be spending the remainder of the year finding out from each of the families in our group what they are doing in pursuit of home schooling Nirvana. I’m pretty sure that the perfect curriculum isn’t out there, so in case I don’t find it, I at least hope that you find this helpful, even if it is nothing more than an encouragement to know that your home schooling days are normal.

(Names have been changed to protect privacy)

The Schultz Family – Salvador and Sabrina (Samuel, Susan, Solomon)

Sabrina was the first in the Schultz family to get the home schooling bug. At the time neither she nor her husband were Christian. She began gathering materials and equipment to home school, but Salvador was not interested. When Samuel reached second grade, she gave up and threw all of her materials away. Within two months, Salvador decided it was time to home school! That Christmas, Samuel came home for vacation from school and never returned.

Sabrina started Samuel with Alpha Omega’s LIFEPACs and then did Switched-On Schoolhouse (SOS) through 5th grade. She found them a little boring, but adequate, and in the meantime discovered the Charlotte Mason method. As Samuel worked on SOS, Sabrina used Alpha-Phonics with Susan, did math, and spent a lot of time reading aloud to her.

The Schultzes home school for two main reasons: 1) Sabrina loves being with her kids and would be sad to have them gone all day, and 2) They want their children to be raised in an “organic,” God-centered environment as opposed to an institution which focuses on the mass production of children. For ten years the Schultzes have tried to meet this vision of what they want for their children.

Right now, Sabrina’s home school days are a bit different. Samuel is now in college and Susan is a very independent, motivated eighth grader. Solomon is four, is doing Co-op Preschool, and not much else except playing in the dirt. This constant change in the needs of her family is the focus of home schooling for Sabrina – assessing and meeting each child where he or she is at – whether that is delaying academics for a child who isn’t ready, or allowing a child to follow his/her interests and work ahead. Nowadays, her homeschooling is eclectic – a Charlotte Mason, Unschooling, and Waldorf “salad.” She finds that one philosophy or methodology does not meet her family’s needs. For science, history, and literature guides, Sabrina picks Christian worldview texts. She files her own PSA and schools year-round, especially if they have done a lot of traveling.

The Schultzes do not follow a schedule, but rather have a daily routine, which happens about 50-70% of the time, leaving lots of room for spur-of-the-moment exploration:

1. Devotions
2. Latin
3. Catechism (Training Hearts, Teaching Minds)
4. Individual subjects (math, spelling, grammar)
5. Lunch
6. Arts, music, crafts, science and other weekly subjects

For math she used Saxon in the younger years and Teaching Textbooks in the older years. She loves Teaching Textbooks, because the child is completely independent. For spelling and grammar she used Natural Speller and Simply Grammar. She likes both of these because they are open ended and can be used on her terms. Sabrina uses Ambleside Online as the framework for her home schooling. Each week, Suan turns in a one page essay (narration) on each of her subjects.

Sabrina’s words of advice to everyone are that you must have a vision for what you are doing. And, at the same time, you must let go of the iconic vision of perfection which plagues so many home schooling moms. Give grace to yourself and allow for growth and change; if you expect perfection from yourself and your kids you will guarantee failure, guilt, and doubt.

“God has shown me that He is just as sovereign over my children's education as He is over the course of the entire universe. I don't have to be the perfect home school mom with a perfect method and the perfect curricula. God can work all things for my children's good and His glory, even less-than-perfect homeschooling. He will in His time provide my children with all they need to fulfill the plan He has for them. I'm responsible for doing my best to train them up to know and love the Lord, to instill an appreciation for God's creation and to impart a level of knowledge and skill that will equip them to serve God in a manner that brings Him glory. God will ultimately fill in any gaps I might leave just as He continues to fill the gaps in my own education.” – Sabrina Schultz

Summary:

Name of Program: Ambleside
Pace: Delayed Academics
Impetus: Delight Directed, Literature-based
Application: Charlotte Mason
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Classical Education
Worldview: None
Environment: Traditional
http://www.amblesideonline.org/

The Brown Family — Bob and Barbara (Betty, Becky, Ben)

For eight years the Browns have remained very focused in their home schooling decision. Their mission statement is based on Colossians 1:28-29: “We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching Betty, Becky, and Ben with all wisdom, so that we may present each child complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.” In order to disciple their children in this way, they feel called to be with their children all day long.

What this has looked like in the Brown household has changed throughout the years. When they first started, Barbara used a subject based structure (grammar, spelling, vocabulary, math, science, history), purchasing curriculum in each subject area. She used a combination of curriculum choices, both Christian and secular. The first four years, she partnered with Fairhaven to do all of their record keeping. The next two years, she registered with Golden Valley Charter, and since she was required to pick from their lists and produce more work samples, the work shifted to “workbook intensive,” using such items as E-Z Grammar and Wordly Wise. Other items she used during the first six years and would recommend were The Mystery of History, McGuffey Readers, Saxon Math, and Apologia Science: Astronomy and Considering God’s Creation. Barbara still includes The Mystery of History and Apologia Science in her new curriculum, which the children read through on their own. Barbara also highly recommends the Usborne Encyclopedias. Barbara now files her own PSA.

During this time, Barbara liked the Charlotte Mason ideas and used narration and copy work, though she had a lot of trouble erasing the “traditional school” structure from her schooling. As she added more children and as home schooling went on, she became increasingly dissatisfied with her schooling situation, wishing she had more time to do the other things she felt were more important and feeling stressed out trying to do it all.

This current school year, things have changed. The Browns are now using The Robinson Curriculum, and so far, Barbara loves it. The theory behind the curriculum is that you first teach a child to be a strong reader, writer, mathematician, and self-teacher. Specific subjects, like science, are introduced later. A school day in this curriculum consists of two hours or one lesson of math (K-3rd: math facts to 12, 4th and up: Saxon Math), whichever comes first; one hour or one page of writing (ages 10 and under do copy work), whichever comes first; a half hour of vocabulary work consisting of crosswords and word searches (which correlate with the reading;); and one and a half hours of reading. The Robinson book list is arranged by reading difficulty, and is based on classics and living books. Children start at their reading level and progress by reading one or more books per week. This is a literature based curriculum.

The Browns use a schedule to keep them on track for schooling. Each child has a “planner” sheet that outlines his/her schedule and assignments for the day, including character questions for reflection:

 6:45am – Children up and make their beds
 7:00am – Children read their Bibles
 7:20am – Breakfast, then brush teeth
 8:00-10:00am – Math
 10:00-11:00am – Writing
 11:00-11:30am – Vocabulary
 11:30-1:00 – Reading
 1:00 – Lunch
 After lunch – Instrument practice, chores (she assigns a zone per child per week), P.E. (jump rope, plyometrics, outside activities)

This schedule happens about three days a week. On Mondays Bob is home, Thursdays are often campus days, and other things come up that take up time the rest of the week. Barbara does an abbreviated schedule when needed, and occasionally does school on Saturdays. She schools year-round, doing about two days a week during the summer.

Overall, Barbara has learned that no one curriculum has it all. As her family grows and changes, she continues to adapt to their individual needs and trusts that God will bless their efforts. In a couple of years, Betty will head off to Burroughs High School, shifting the Brown family into a new era of their discipling journey.

Summary:

Name of program: Robinson Curriculum
Pace: Accelerated structure and emphasis (6 days a week, 5 hours per day, year-round), but allows for individual movement through the curriculum, Spiral Based (students cover subjects and themes over and over, and pick up more each time based on maturity and previous knowledge), Delayed Academics in science, Mastery/Spiral Based in math (Saxon)
Impetus: Textbook for Math (Saxon); Literature Based
Application: Unschooling (self-taught, parent is a resource, parent provides the items from which a child can choose)
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Thomas Jefferson and Classical
Worldview: Founder -- Protestant, Actual Curriculum – None
Environment: Traditional with some Computer components
http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com/

The Garcia Family — Gary and Geraldine (Gina, Ginger, Gabriel, Glenda)

The Garcias have been home schooling for six years. They have many reasons for home schooling, but the most prominent is that they want to be the primary influence in their children’s lives. Other reasons are that they want to spend more time with their children, work on character issues, and present all school subjects with God as the center. Each year the Garcias file their own home school paperwork.

For the past five years, Geraldine has chosen a subject-based structure, purchasing various curricula. She has used Alpha-Phonics to teach reading and Apologia for science. She has used and still uses Horizons Math published by Alpha Omega. Even within the subject-based structure, the Garcias have always and continue to read lots of supplemental books and focus on life-learning.

This year is a transition year for the Garcias. As more children have been added to home schooling (Gina – 5th grade, Ginger – 2nd grade) Geraldine has found it too hard to do all of the subjects with each individual child. She has switched to a unit study approach, and is currently using a unit study based on the Sermon on the Mount. Each Booklet in the unit study amplifies a section of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount through practical instruction in linguistics, history, science, law, and medicine. This is a kindergarten through twelfth grade curriculum.

Geraldine keeps everyone on track with a schedule. The day begins with devotions, breakfast, and chores. Then they do schoolwork, which includes math and Wisdom Booklets. They then have recess. After recess they rotate through stations, taking turns with one on one time with Mommy, individual bookwork (such as language and writing), and entertaining younger siblings, Gabriel and Glenda. After lunch Gabriel and Glenda have rest/nap time while Gina and Ginger finish up their schoolwork. This is also when Geraldine takes time to read aloud to them and do art projects. This schedule happens about four days a week, with variations for campus day on Thursday, and Co-op Preschool with Gabriel on Friday. On Saturdays they focus on home arts – Gina and Ginger help Geraldine around the house while Gabriel helps Gary in home projects.

The Garcias do formal schooling during the traditional school year only. However, they constantly plan enriching and bonding activities for their children. When it comes to deciding when a child is ready for school and concepts within school. Geraldine takes her cues from her children, pushing them when they’re ready and waiting patiently when they’re not.

Summary:

Name of program: ATI Curriculum
Pace: Spiral Based
Impetus: Unit Study
Application: Traditional/John Dewey
Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Variation on Biblical Principle Approach
Worldview: Protestant
Environment: Traditional
http://ati.iblp.org/ati/about/curriculum/wisdombooklets/


Intrigued? I am! It was fascinating talking to each of these ladies. I can’t wait to hear everyone’s stories. Three more to come next month.

Philosophies and Methodologies of Home Schooling (December 2009)

“I home school,” you offer as an explanation for some situation. That statement immediately causes one of three reactions. One, the lady stares blankly at you, because she has no paradigm for such a thing and the blank stare is a portrayal of the content of her definition for said thing. Two, she mumbles some nicety and backs away slowly, because she has met home schoolers before and boy-oh-boy were they weird. Three, she says something positive or encouraging and/or intelligent, showing that she has personal experience with home schooling.

Even amongst ourselves, we may or may not have a good understanding of what other home school families are doing, and why. My hope in sharing the following information with you is that it helps you evaluate your philosophy (or helps you to develop one) in order to make sure your goals and objectives for your children are met. More importantly, I hope this information helps us to understand and support each other in the various methods in which we have chosen to home school.

Most families do not adhere to one philosophy or methodology, but rather, gravitate toward one or more, picking and choosing among the options according to what works for them, otherwise known as The Eclectic Method. In addition, within each philosophy there are variations of application. This can add to the confusion, and contribute to the failure of that methodology. In addition, a particular method or philosophy may be referred to by various names, adding to the chaos.

(Please note that some of the following information was stolen liberally from all over the internet, sometimes rephrasing things and sometimes copying word-for-word, and some is based on what is already in my head… a dangerous place, I must say.)

The Pace (when and at what speed things are taught)

• Delayed Academics: Children are not ready for formal instruction until they reach ages eight to twelve, due to physical, emotional, and spiritual maturity. “The first years are for the development of ‘head, heart, hand and health’ and the reading of good literature and exposure to life.” http://www.excellenceineducation.com/better_late_than_early.php
• Accelerated Education: Starts schooling early and advocates schooling year-round. Advocates of this system see it as a way to capitalize on a child’s ability to learn at a young age. A child finishes high school level work in his/her early teens and begins college level work during the “high school” years. http://www.home-school.com/Articles/AcceleratedChild.html
• State Standard Driven: This describes any curriculum or method that seeks to adhere to the state standards set for the public school systems.
• Mastery Based: This term can apply to any of the methodologies. It means that a child must master one objective before moving to the next objective. The term may also refer to the idea that a child is exposed to every aspect of a subject at once. For example, the child may spend an entire year immersed in botany, learning everything from the Latin names for classes of plants to grafting and planting. This is in contrast to…
• Spiral Based, which theorizes that a child needs to grasp only pieces of an idea at age-appropriate levels because he will get it more of it “the next time it comes around.” This is the way the American school system is organized.

The Impetus (compelling force that causes motion in a direction)

• Delight Directed/Interest Directed: The scope and sequence is decided based on the child’s interests and may be completely unstructured or very structured. So, if the child is interested in American Girl Dolls, the parent would make all the lessons revolve around that (making clothes, history of each one and perhaps the history of dolls and dolls of various cultures, how the dolls are made, proportional anatomy, writing reports on each one, etc.). This impetus is often used with Unschooling and/or Thematic/Unit Study. http://www.homeschooloasis.com/art_delight_directed_marilyn.htm , http://www.design-your-homeschool.com/Delightdirected.html
• Unit Studies/Thematic: Learning is based around a theme or time period: This is similar to “delight directed,” except that the theme is decided upon by the parent or a curriculum. Studies revolve around a topic such as “ horses,” or a time period.
• Literature Based: Learning is done by reading good literature, “good” being determined by the choser. Literature is chosen by the parent, the student, or an outside source/list.
• Textbook/Traditional/Subject Driven: This is the one that will feel the most familiar, as this is what is done in the American schools. Learning is divided into subjects and into grade levels.
• Project Based: Learning is done in the context of the creation of some artwork or the participation in some project. This is different than the more familiar order of giving information first and then doing a project that correlates. Rather this starts with the project, such as building a tree house, and the learning is extrapolated from that.

Applications (how the pace and impetus is administrated)

• Unschooling/Relaxed/Environmental Method: The child directs his/her learning. The parent does not teach unless the child asks for instruction in a particular area. On one end of this spectrum, the parent provides no stimulus. The middle ground is that the parent provides a rich atmosphere which sparks interest. The other end of the spectrum is that the parent provides a curriculum but the child moves through it as he/she chooses. Another way this term is used is “anything that is not traditional/textbook.” http://www.unschooling.com/library/faq/index.shtml , http://www.homeeducator.com/FamilyTimes/articles/11-4article8.htm , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Holt_(educator)
• Charlotte Mason/Habitual Method: This is a combination of delight directed and literature based, but is much more specific in its methodology. Charlotte Mason developed this methodology, which prominently includes “living books” and note booking/narration. http://simplycharlottemason.com/basics/what-is-the-charlotte-mason-method/
• Whole-Heart Learning: Encourages the use of real “living” books rather than text books. The family that wants to focus their lifestyle on whole-heart learning will set goals for the family as a whole and for each individual child. This lifestyle, known as “whole-heart learning” has a firm belief that the heart is the key to all learning. This methodology is “a biblical, discipleship-based, commonsense, relational approach to educating your children at home.” http://www.wholeheart.org/wharticle.php?articleid=8
• Waldorf: Developed by Rudolf Steiner, this method emphasizes arts and crafts, music and movement. Students learn to read and write by making their own books. http://www.waldorfanswers.org/Waldorf.htm
• Montessori: Maria Montessori advocates observing your child, removing obstacles to learning and providing children with real, scaled-to-size tools to use. Its method of education is characterized by emphasizing self-directed activity on the part of the child, and clinical observation on the part of the teacher (often called a director, directress, guide) — to stress the importance of adapting the child’s learning environment to his or her development level, and the role of physical activity in the child’s absorbing abstract concepts and learning practical skills. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_method
• Enki: Besides drawing from the best of Waldorf, Enki also draws from Montessori, the United Nations International School, Theme Studies, and even the discovery learning of John Holt. “Enki is a unique and innovative approach to alternative education, which works with a Developmental Immersion / Mastery approach to curriculum. Immersion and mastery are the two core aspects of the learning method; content is chosen according to the child's developmental needs and interests. Throughout the program, all academics are introduced through the arts. Children are first immersed in the living quality of what they study. Through storytelling, visual arts, movement, music, manipulatives, activities, and projects, this alternative education soaks in the qualities and living textures of what they are studying. Then, on this rich base of connection to life, they bring what they have absorbed to mastery through intellectual exploration, discussion, exercises, practice, and concrete application.” http://www.enkieducation.org/ , http://www.unis.org/academic_programs/curriculum/index.aspx
• John Dewey/Traditional/American: The teacher, textbook, or other source provides the information and instruction. The child must then interact with that information in a way that personalizes it in order to make the knowledge “his own.” Learning follows these steps: 1. Instruction 2. Guided Practice 3. Independent Practice.

Necessary Pool of Knowledge (what the child ought to learn)

• Classical Education: Often history and literature rich, this emphasis relies heavily on developing writing and communication skills; features high quality books including “The Classics”; includes a great deal of discussion and reflection. This term is also used to describe a dedication to an in-depth education in Latin, mathematics, the arts and sciences, elocution, and a deep understanding of world history and its effects. Another way this term is used is to delineate between the more social-based agenda being promoted in most modern public schools, and an emphasis on reading, writing, and arithmetic. http://www.foundationsacademy.org/about.htm , http://www.welltrainedmind.com/classical-education/
• Cultural Literacy: This refers to the concept that citizens in a democracy should possess a common body of knowledge that allows them to communicate effectively, govern themselves, and share in their society's rewards. E. D. Hirsch Jr., a literary scholar, popularized the term in the best-selling book Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know in 1987. He argued that to participate fully in society, a person needs more than basic literacy, that is, the ability to read and write. Hirsch opposed the long-accepted view of educator John Dewey (founder of the modern public school system), who argued for a child-centered pedagogy that stressed experiential learning. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-02-24-hirsch-edit_x.htm
• Biblical Principle Approach/Principle Approach: The Principle Approach is a philosophy and method of education based upon Biblical reasoning and a Biblical, Christian worldview which requires considering and pondering the purpose of everything in God’s universe. The seven principles are: God's Principle of Individuality, The Christian Principle of Self-Government, America's Heritage of Christian Character, "Conscience Is the Most Sacred of All Property" (James Madison), The Christian Form of Our Government, How the Seed of Local Self-Government Is Planted, and The Christian Principle of American Political Union. http://www.face.net/203345.ihtml , http://www.homehearts.com/principle.html
• Thomas Jefferson: This is similar to “Classical” but has a more political/social agenda. Jefferson hypothesized that literacy and self-government work hand in hand and was a key component to self-preservation. Often called Leadership Education, a “Thomas Jefferson Education,” teaches students how to think and prepares them to be leaders in their homes and communities, entrepreneurs in business, and statesmen in government. It has a delayed academics approach as a part of its scope and sequence. http://www.tjed.org/what-is-tjed
• State Standards or Textbooks: Whatever the curriculum provider writes is what the child learns. Most prepared texts adhere to some state standard or accepted American pedagogy.

Worldview

• Secular: Views of the origin and nature of mankind and the universe are based on humanistic and other philosophies.
• Protestant: Views of the origin and nature of mankind and the universe are based on biblical principles and teaching.
• None: Views are not put forth in the curriculum but derived from discussion with parents or implication in the literature.

Environment

• Traditional: Paper, pencils, books
• Computer: CDROM, Internet, Distance Learning, DVD
• Tutoring/Apprenticeship: Child attends classes, participates in an apprenticeship, and/or receives instruction from tutors who specialize in a subject or area of expertise.

If it seems like some of these overlap, it’s because they do. It’s very difficult to extract each component in total purity, and because many of these methods build on and borrow from each other, it’s important to have a general understanding of each one so that you can see how your philosophy fits into the matrix.

Use this information to evaluate your current situation or one you are considering. Here are some examples so you can see how to apply this knowledge in evaluating various home school books and curricula:

• Name of program: K12
• Pace: State Standard Driven, Spiral Curriculum with individual mastery components
• Impetus: Textbook with some Literature and Thematic components
• Application: John Dewey
• Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Cultural Literacy and State Standards
• Worldview: Secular
• Environment: Traditional and Computer, Tutoring in high school years
• http://k12.com/

• Name of program: Robinson Curriculum
• Pace: Accelerated structure and emphasis (6 days a week, 5 hours per day, year-round), but allows for individual movement through the curriculum, Spiral Based (students cover subjects and themes over and over, and pick up more each time based on maturity and previous knowledge), Delayed Academics in science, Mastery/Spiral Based in math (Saxon)
• Impetus: Textbook for Math (Saxon); Literature Based
• Application: Unschooling (self-taught, parent is a resource, parent provides the items from which a child can choose)
• Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Thomas Jefferson and Classical
• Worldview: Founder -- Protestant, Actual Curriculum – None
• Environment: Traditional with some Computer components
• http://www.robinsoncurriculum.com/

• Name of program: Switched-On Schoolhouse
• Pace: State Standard Driven, Spiral Curriculum with individual mastery components
• Impetus: Subject Driven
• Application: John Dewey
• Necessary Pool of Knowledge: State Standards
• Worldview: Protestant
• Environment: Computer with some Traditional components
• http://www.aophomeschooling.com/switched-on-schoolhouse/overview.php

• Name of Book: Apologia Elementary Science Series by Jeannie Fulbright
• Pace: Mastery Based
• Impetus: Subject Driven
• Application: Charlotte Mason
• Necessary Pool of Knowledge: Classical Education
• Worldview: Protestant
• Environment: Traditional
• http://www.jeanniefulbright.com/science.html

Why Do You Home School? (November 2009)

I cannot count the number of times I have been asked this question by people who do not home school. Interestingly, I am rarely asked this question by fellow homeschoolers. Rather, the question is always, “What are you using?” It’s the dreaded curriculum question. But to the new homeschooler, the first question of “why” must be answered before one can answer the question of “what.”  
 
So, since I have nothing else to do, I decided that it might be at the least entertaining to fill a portion of our newsletter addressing these issues. I am no expert, but I figure eight years of research and living it, plus eleven years in the mainstream educational world might qualify me for at least a few articles surveying the basics.
 
When you are considering curriculum choices you must first evaluate your choice to home school. Why are you home schooling? What do you hope to achieve by home schooling? How long do you plan on home schooling?
 
Top Ten Reasons People Home School, (according to a totally non-scientific survey):
 
1. Our local public schools are not appropriate (due to social, intellectual, spiritual, safety, or other issues – what they do or don’t do).

2. We cannot afford private school.

3. We want to provide our children with a Christian worldview education.

4. We disagree with the education schemata of the American school system (developmentally inappropriate, type or speed of exposure to skills and information)

5. We cannot imagine our kids being away from us for the majority of the day.

6. We think we can provide our children with a higher level of education that meets the individual learning styles and needs of our children.
 
7. Our lifestyle (perhaps lots of travel, living in another country) necessitates it.

8. We believe it is a Biblical mandate.

9. Our child has a specific passion that we want him/her to be able to pursue (acting, music, surfing, etc.)

10. Because our other friends or acquaintances are doing it.

No matter what your reasons, there is a curriculum out there to meet your needs. I think the biggest component of a curriculum failing is that it does not answer your need -- the reason you home school to begin with. For example, if you home school in order to provide your children with a Christian worldview in academics, a secular curriculum will not meet that desire, without supplementation.

Add to that each person’s personality, the personality of your family as a whole, learning styles, special needs, gifts and talents, organizational skills, etc. and you have quite a mess of factors to consider. How do you make sense of it all? What are the best choices that meet all these needs?

I challenge you to write down the reasons that you home school and extrapolate your goals from them. Then evaluate whether or not you are meeting these goals. If so, hurray! Have some chocolate to celebrate. If not, start evaluating where the changes need to take place. Is it you? Is it your curriculum? Did you get lost somewhere along the way? How can you get back on track?