29 August, 2006

HS meme

The Homeschooling Meme

Updates added to better reflect our experience in a fuller, more honest way :-)

My friend Mother Auma has tagged me for this meme, which was started by Bookworm.

1) ONE HOMESCHOOLING BOOK YOU HAVE ENJOYED

Like Mother Auma, Charlotte Mason's series on education. Each of my volumes is just marked with sticky tabs and bookmarks, and some of them I've finally allowed myself to write in the margins...in pencil, of course!

Why: CM touches on so many other educational philosophies that I end up doing more research to dig deeper.

2) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULDN'T BE WITHOUT

~ Search engines on the internet!


3) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT

I'm going to revise this answer, read further to see why! Math programs. We bought too many for various reasons. One being the "sway" of convincing sales pitches and reviews in catalogues. Most of the time, we got the programs for about half price...which helped the budget, but did not help our boys stay current on math.

(first answer was ~ Spelling Power...As with any other resource, though, we were able to sell it for not too much of a loss.)


4) ONE RESOURCE YOU ENJOYED LAST YEAR

Home school co-op for our kids' high school math and science, and *unique* class offerings for them and our younger boys...fun science and math classes, but also mosaics, cooking for boys and Battles and Weapons of Warfare class. Oh! And my spanish classes, as well :-)

5) ONE RESOURCE YOU WILL BE USING NEXT YEAR

We are getting back into picture study and Plutarch, after a couple of semesters away from these resources.


6) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY

~ A digital SLR camera

7) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH EXISTED

~ A decluttering machine, that would organize and put away our treasures, and toss the rest, without the help of my hands and use of my time.

8) ONE HOMESCHOOLING CATALOGUE YOU ENJOY READING

I don't enjoy them anymore. Haven't for a couple of years. I've been at this so long, I guess, that I just don't like to be tempted by the stuff (that's actually not easy to do these days, thank the Lord) or use up my time reading hundreds of descriptions of products, or seeing the newest, latest, greatest, expensive program that I "just gotta have" to make sure my kids get a good education and don't have gaps.

Pish Posh! Being tempted to purchase too many things, and switching too many times among math or language programs can cause more gaps than one would encounter had one not switched about like a feather or a leaf on the wind.

sidebar: We have four homeschoolers, from a sixth grader to a senior. This was our situation, and we are still reaping some negative fruit in the math department with a couple of our boys...and I've heard others say similar things about their flip-flopping. Part of our switching was to try to fit the kids' learning styles. That cost us money, but mostly, it cost us and our students' precious TIME.

That is one reason I like Charlotte Mason's writings. It's all there in six volumes, including her comparisons of other methods, philosophies, and teachers' attempts at teaching children. I enjoy how she points out some good things, then goes on to explain what she believes are the weaknesses in other educational philosophies.

I am a fan of age-old wisdom from the ancient paths. I like searching for meatier and perhaps more obscure resources than many of the ones our 'society' offers us, and digesting those works for a long spell. I appreciate the simple, practical solutions to some learning difficulties, that bells and whistles programs just don't match!

I enjoy being able to do my own search, for old book treasures in used shops, essays or online resources. I enjoy trying to make use of the sometimes simple-but-deep and rich methods that CM recommended, in which one can get more of a concentrated quality and richness in less time than many of the products out there in MARKETING land.

I don't think I'm cynical, I just don't have the time for the extra distraction. If a friend recommends something new, I will look into it, though. We all have different seasons through which we will journey.

I used to collect the Elijah Company catalog to hand out to new homeschoolers, because it was such a good "Get Started" resource.

9) ONE HOMESCHOOLING WEBSITE YOU USE REGULARLY

~ Ambleside Online

10) TAG FIVE OTHER HOMESCHOOLERS

~ Tootlestime
~ and anyone else who has time :-). Let me know by posting in comments or to your blog.
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5 comments:

Carol G said...

Interesting answers and well thought out. I wish I could grasp Charlotte Mason's books better. I feel like when I read them they are just out of my grasp. I'm having a hard time getting into AO as well. I think it is because of all the fairy tales and such of year one. I will keep trying CMs books anyway. I like what I read, but there is so much I can't seem to get a good hold on it! LOL.
Carol

30 August, 2006 22:25
Carol G said...

Thanks for your reply to this. My outgoing email is not working right now, so I had to reply here. I think you gave some good advice. I've heard good things about Levison's books. I will try to get a copy. Which is your favorite?

Carol

31 August, 2006 00:03
Katie said...

Thanks for completing the meme! I think you made some good points about catalogs, learning styles, and switching mid-stream.

31 August, 2006 06:56
Carol G said...

I did this meme too. You can find it at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ThreeLittleLadies/195044/.

Did you go with your husband when he went to NM for the Chile trip?

Talk to ya later.
Carol

09 September, 2006 13:11
Javamom said...

Not this year. The families got to go to NM together last year...before the traditional chile men trip. No, that is special time reserved for these old friends and accountability partners.

We also take other camping trips with most of these families every couple of years.

09 September, 2006 19:15

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