My husband and I decided to homeschool our son the summer before he (the boy, not the husband) was to enter first grade. It was kind of a last minute decision, kind of not, but definitely one we made with some real fears. I don't know why because I have no doubt it was in God's plan. I asked Him for a sign and He sent it.
Planning to homeschool our son, who has had some learning challenges, was not just a decision about the education of the "the boy", it was a decision that would forever change our way of life. Six years later, I cannot imagine any other way of life.
When you decide to homeschool, you begin to panic. How do we do it? What do we use? Who gives us the books? Who grades his papers? My sister was homeschooling her daughter and honestly, I thought my sister was nuts! Well, she who laughs first.... (that is another story for another time)
Homeschool friends and friends of friends told me not to rush into anything. I listened carefully as I was told, "if you are coming out of a school system, you need to de-school for a while". That sure sounded good because I was working outside the home and it was nearly a full time job.
But, OCD (some may say "anal") that I am, I needed a schedule and an agenda. I have learned that I am not alone in this area of homeschooling. ~~you know you are a homeschool mom when your homepage is Excel~~~ I LOVE schedules and lists and agendas. I spent hours on the internet and hours on the phone with friends and read every book I could get my hands on to tell me how, what, and when to teach my son. I shipped my family off for a weekend, barricaded myself in, and put together THE PLAN. I had the best schedule and lesson plan you could ever find. Smithsonian worthy!
I was warned about burning out. We started school and had the most fun, learned a lot, were disciplined in staying with our schedule. There should have been a documentary about our homeschool! But.....we did burn out. Took us almost 3 weeks!
So, then I started looking for something more relaxed. I searched the internet. I cannot afford those lovely, all-you-can-read boxes of curricula. Wish I could, but I can't and they never fit all my needs, anyway. After many, many hours on the internet, I was introduced to Charlotte Mason, then found Ambleside Online.
I was hooked. This site is so full of information that is useful to parents (homeschoolers or not) and educators, doesn't matter if you use the curriculum or not. But, this was put together by some incredibly smart folks who have a love of learning and love of their children and who have been inspired by Miss Mason. The curriculum is literature based with emphasis on narration and dictation and noticing what goes on in the world around you. The people who put it together have put a lot of time and thought into having everything available for you to homeschool your children.....FREE!
Not only is the AO site full of valuable information, but there are yahoo groups that AO users have set up and users have put together all kinds of lists, schedules, bookmarks, records, etc that a schedulite like me loves! There is nothing that has not been covered somewhere on the AO site or the yahoo groups.
Due to a very stressful year on a job which became very unhomeschool-friendly, I was not able to spend as much time working with my son as I wanted to and needed to, we resorted to workbooks last year. Providence has brought us to yet another adventure: a new job that is very homeschool-friendly. Because life is much better at our house now, God has brought us back to Ambleside and I am so excited, and grateful.
If you have any second thoughts about the curriculum you are using (even if you are happy with it), if you just would like a suggested reading list for your family, if you are school teacher and would like some suggestions I urge you to check out the website. It is free, but lengthy, so have plenty of time.
Thank you to those wonderful folks who put the AO site together and all those yahoo groups with the world of information filed away for making my life easier...and helping me save some money. BUT, you took all the fun out of me having to make endless schedules and agendas!
This year, follow us as we explore God's creations, learn about the ancient world from its very beginnings. Our schedule will be a little different from the actual AO schedule because we missed some years and I want to tie them together (and of course so I will have an excuse to make a schedule!).
Please post suggestions for our homeschool adventure, when you see us experiencing something you have already experienced. Share your thoughts and ideas on what we can do to enhance our learning experiences...simply and frugally.
Gotta go....got to get crackin' on that new schedule! :-)
Planning to homeschool our son, who has had some learning challenges, was not just a decision about the education of the "the boy", it was a decision that would forever change our way of life. Six years later, I cannot imagine any other way of life.
When you decide to homeschool, you begin to panic. How do we do it? What do we use? Who gives us the books? Who grades his papers? My sister was homeschooling her daughter and honestly, I thought my sister was nuts! Well, she who laughs first.... (that is another story for another time)
Homeschool friends and friends of friends told me not to rush into anything. I listened carefully as I was told, "if you are coming out of a school system, you need to de-school for a while". That sure sounded good because I was working outside the home and it was nearly a full time job.
But, OCD (some may say "anal") that I am, I needed a schedule and an agenda. I have learned that I am not alone in this area of homeschooling. ~~you know you are a homeschool mom when your homepage is Excel~~~ I LOVE schedules and lists and agendas. I spent hours on the internet and hours on the phone with friends and read every book I could get my hands on to tell me how, what, and when to teach my son. I shipped my family off for a weekend, barricaded myself in, and put together THE PLAN. I had the best schedule and lesson plan you could ever find. Smithsonian worthy!
I was warned about burning out. We started school and had the most fun, learned a lot, were disciplined in staying with our schedule. There should have been a documentary about our homeschool! But.....we did burn out. Took us almost 3 weeks!
So, then I started looking for something more relaxed. I searched the internet. I cannot afford those lovely, all-you-can-read boxes of curricula. Wish I could, but I can't and they never fit all my needs, anyway. After many, many hours on the internet, I was introduced to Charlotte Mason, then found Ambleside Online.
I was hooked. This site is so full of information that is useful to parents (homeschoolers or not) and educators, doesn't matter if you use the curriculum or not. But, this was put together by some incredibly smart folks who have a love of learning and love of their children and who have been inspired by Miss Mason. The curriculum is literature based with emphasis on narration and dictation and noticing what goes on in the world around you. The people who put it together have put a lot of time and thought into having everything available for you to homeschool your children.....FREE!
Not only is the AO site full of valuable information, but there are yahoo groups that AO users have set up and users have put together all kinds of lists, schedules, bookmarks, records, etc that a schedulite like me loves! There is nothing that has not been covered somewhere on the AO site or the yahoo groups.
Due to a very stressful year on a job which became very unhomeschool-friendly, I was not able to spend as much time working with my son as I wanted to and needed to, we resorted to workbooks last year. Providence has brought us to yet another adventure: a new job that is very homeschool-friendly. Because life is much better at our house now, God has brought us back to Ambleside and I am so excited, and grateful.
If you have any second thoughts about the curriculum you are using (even if you are happy with it), if you just would like a suggested reading list for your family, if you are school teacher and would like some suggestions I urge you to check out the website. It is free, but lengthy, so have plenty of time.
Thank you to those wonderful folks who put the AO site together and all those yahoo groups with the world of information filed away for making my life easier...and helping me save some money. BUT, you took all the fun out of me having to make endless schedules and agendas!
This year, follow us as we explore God's creations, learn about the ancient world from its very beginnings. Our schedule will be a little different from the actual AO schedule because we missed some years and I want to tie them together (and of course so I will have an excuse to make a schedule!).
Please post suggestions for our homeschool adventure, when you see us experiencing something you have already experienced. Share your thoughts and ideas on what we can do to enhance our learning experiences...simply and frugally.
Gotta go....got to get crackin' on that new schedule! :-)
