By Mary Hood, Ph.D.
This is the first
of a two-part series. This article will focus on the years up to age 12 or 13,
and the September issue will deal with making it through the teenage years on a
tight budget.
The first thing you have to do is get over your fear of
operating without a set curriculum. The Bible has many promises that tell us
that “all things are possible with God.” Stand on those promises, trust your
mom’s intuition, trust your kids’ desire to learn, and trust God! You can do
this! Stop saying you can’t, because that will be a hindrance as you try to
help your children develop a healthy level of confidence in their own
abilities.
Second, you have to lose the assumptions you are carrying
around from public school. Yes, you will “miss something” once in a while. That’s
okay! No, your children will not have horrible consequences if they aren’t
exactly on “grade level.” Focus on developing lifelong learners with skills to
continue learning as they become adults. Try to forget all those assumptions
you are carrying around from your own public school days, set some worthwhile
goals, and get busy having some relaxed, joyful learning experiences!
Next, without believing you have to do things just like the
schools do, identify the basic subjects that you want your children to learn.
Then plan some free or very inexpensive ways to help children reach the goals
you have set for them. Following are some examples/suggestions:
1. Reading.
This one is simple. Use the public library! Don’t say it is too far away or that
your children are too little. When I was in elementary school I walked (alone) more
than 2 miles to get to the nearest library to get my weekly fix of “Cowboy Sam”
books. Do you live in a rural area? Find out if a bookmobile visits your area
regularly, or go once a month and load up! Just read, read, read . . . and make
sure most of the books are real books you can hold in your hand, whose pages
you can turn, and which your children will learn to love!
E-Books may have their place, but I don’t see them fostering
the love of books the way that a printed-on-paper one can. When your children
are small, read to them. Learn about good authors, and above all, don’t kill off
their love of reading. When something isn’t working, back off before damage is
done.
2. Are your
children not reading yet?1 Remember
that not everyone learns at the same speed or in the same manner. Do phonics
work? Get some cheap workbooks from the grocery store, or make up your own
phonics games. He isn’t “getting” it with phonics? Maybe your child isn’t ready,
or maybe, like my oldest daughter (who graduated with an English degree and is
a freelance writer/counseling master’s student), he or she will never be able
to learn with phonics. Relax. Be flexible. Keep reading to them until they are
able to do it themselves, and then . . . keep reading to them!
3. Writing?
Language arts? Abraham Lincoln didn’t use a grammar
book and managed to write the Gettysburg Address. Reading will lead to writing.
Just have them write about their experiences, edit a little at a time with
common sense, and watch the literacy build!
Is spelling an issue? Don’t worry about it too much when
they are this age. If you want to do a little something, you can make your own
lists out of words they misspell, or have them do spelling bees in the car.
4. Math!
Before the age of 12, the key is to build their understanding and the basic
skills. Just consider what those math topics are: an understanding of numbers
(setting the table for 4 people . . . oh, wait, the grandparents are coming
tonight, that makes 6) and time, measurement, and money (buy a real digital
watch, measure in the garden and the kitchen, use an allowance to teach money
management). Practice adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, working with fractions,
and using decimals in daily life situations. Always strive for understanding.2
Use Cheerios and M&Ms to group and focus on
understanding that 3 x 4 means three groups of four . . . and 4 x 3 means four
groups of three—and you’ve just taught the commutative property of
multiplication! Use some grocery store workbooks to supplement your instruction,
along with lots of real-life experiences.
Fractions can be taught with pizza and apples and a few
little workbooks once they get the idea. Dividing can be understood first, then
learned and practiced a little with the long-division algorithm, and once they
really understand it, let them use a calculator. That’s what adults do!
Forget the pre-algebra for now. We’ll talk about that next
month.
5. Science and
social studies can be taught through relaxed unit
studies. If you need ideas, look at curriculum materials and make a list of
topics. Pick one in each area, and focus on those two things for a month. For
example, in science, you can study natural things, such as insects, snakes,
birds, the weather, rocks and minerals, or dinosaurs. Follow your children’s curiosity
to learn about things.
Get some good non-fiction books from the library, and set up
a learning center with an aquarium, terrarium, binoculars, and a bird feeder. Consider
diving into topics like earthquakes or tornadoes or something like levers and
pulleys or mechanical things for the upper elementary years. Use a combination
of books, real-life experiences, and educational videos.
Do the same for social studies. Pick a topic, such as a
particular country or U.S. history or the Great Depression, or the World Wars
or whatever, and go in search of interesting materials. It will be so much more
fun than using dry textbooks!
6. Don’t forget the
fine arts. Set up a learning center for art, as
discussed in one of my recent articles for TOS. Get books about artists, and include
music and theatre in your children’s lives. Radio programs are free! If you
have a little money, get a baritone ukulele, which is a stepping-stone to a
guitar . . . or better yet, get a small keyboard.
7. Do some physical
activities each day. Hike, bike, play tennis, and climb
trees together. Yes, you!
8. Focus, above
all, on developing their character and the values and
habits you are helping them appreciate and acquire. Start the day with Bible
stories, end with prayer, and spend some time on your knees planning for the
next day. One day at a time! You don’t need a lot of expensive curriculum
materials to homeschool in the early years.
Look for inexpensive experiences in the community to enjoy
too, such as community theatre, church activities, and sports leagues. Above
all, relax and enjoy it!
Endnotes:
1. Listen to my CD titled Reading and Writing the Natural
Way, if you can.
Mary Hood, Ph.D., and her husband, Roy, homeschooled their
five children since the
early 1980s. All have successfully made the transition to adulthood.
Mary has a Ph.D. in
education and is the director of ARCHERS for the Lord, Inc.
(The Association of Relaxed
Christian Home Educators). She is the author of The Relaxed
Home School, The
Joyful Home Schooler, and other books, and is available for speaking
engagements.
Copyright 2012, used with permission. All rights reserved by author. Originally appeared in the August 2012
issue of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, the
family education magazine. Read
the magazine free at www.TOSMagazine.com
or read it on the go and download the free apps at www.TOSApps.com
to read the magazine on your mobile devices.
No comments:
Post a Comment