Not Another Homeschool Blog

I have heard homeschooling described as a lazy mom's education. She can sleep late. She doesn't have to deal with carpool. She just tosses a stack of books in the kids general direction. HA! I have 3 calendars (for 2 kids) taped to the side of a bookshelf. One calendar each is for work done at home.  The third calendar is for their electives day. As I sit here gazing at it, and think back... wayyyy to the 1980's when I finished high school, I know we didn't do half this stuff. I think we had 6 classes a day from what I remember. I also remember that I didn't have time for many electives. I took art for 4 years and a couple of law classes. Back when foreign language was a choice, I did not take any, as I wasn't willing to sacrifice art to learn Spanish. Now my daughter is working on two foreign languages this year, PLUS is in a play, has drama club, art, and chorus. This is on top of her usual academics. This is because her time is well utilize...

Follow up from previous conversation on thinking like a homeschoolers. FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE MY BUSINESS WEBSITE WalletPop Contributor Brighthub Contributor

If there are any problems in our homeschool, they are caused by me. I have to face the fact that I am a bit scattered and inconsistent in my own habits, so how can I expect better from the kids. Seeing as this is my last two years with my near-grown kiddies, I have to do better if I expect them to go into adulthood with good living habits. So, I have set myself an hourly schedule, starting with me getting up an hour before the kids to exercise and for quiet time.  This is followed by making breakfast, no matter how simple, and getting in some daily exercise. Starting this morning, I already lost an hour so I didn't exercise or get quiet time.  Even so I feel very refreshed from having a nice breakfast and getting showered and prettied up early.  Now I have a full hour to dedicate to blogging before I have to start writing articles (to earn the Benjamins). My other scheduled items for the day are two 3-hour blocks for working and time to make dinner and...

When homeschoolers are older like mine, the role of the homeschooling mom drastically changes. Some of my roles are: Debate partner: Because EVERYTHING I say turns into a long drawn out conversation. Guidance Counselor: As we prepare for college entry. Academic coach: As I help them navigate the requirements of different teachers to make it to the finish line of a good grade. Taxi Driver: As they have to be everywhere, and at the same time Nervous passenger: As they begin to drive me places. Maid: As they are far too busy to clean up after themselves. Life coach: As I try to impart to them years of knowledge and experience. There is so much more, but these are the things on my mind this evening. FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE MY BUSINESS WEBSITE WalletPop Contributor Brighthub Contributor

I spent the summer watching my niece and almost-son prepare to go to college.  The last of the two, my niece leaves in the morning.  As I have a child starting college in the fall, and another the next year, I am very interested in the process of gearing up to go to college.  It just looks plain expensive.   Being the consummate planner, I have purchased two trunks and have began to put things aside for my son.  This way, I can purchase items he will need on clearance, and pay less than what I am watching others pay.  I am excited about the prospect of having an excuse to budget shop for the next two year.   The subject of textbooks is  a bit scary to me though.  First, the amount of time you have to shop for college books is severely limited. You don't get your textbook list until a week or two before school at most.  Second, there are no clearance sales to help you stockpile textbooks. My friend did have so...

It's show and tell time.  Here are my favorite books for homeschooling.  You could actually have these books and need little else (through grade 6). FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE MY BUSINESS WEBSITE WalletPop Contributor Brighthub Contributor

We may have a problem with the online classes.  Already.  As homeschoolers my kids have spent 1 hour a day 4 or 5 days per week on most classes.  They have spent 90 minutes a day without fail on math and foreign language.  So that is no more than 4 to 7.5 hours per class weekly.  This is true whether they are studying someone at home, or in a local class. The online classes they are taking through the county is recommending 12-20 hours a week per online class.  (I am pretty sure that's what they said during the orientation chat) That's just crazy.  Weekly, this would be almost 2 1/2 hours a day to 4 hours a day per class.  Multiply that by 5 classes (which my kids are not taking) and that could take 12 1/2 to 20 hours a day.  So much for having a life or sleeping. I think they are seriously over stating the time it takes to study the material and pass the tests. I am hoping that this is a loose recommendation, and not a requirement. ...