Homeschooling Win in California

Homeschooling Coach is glad to introduce Dad’s Corner, which includes articles written by a homeschooling dad. Dad’s Corner this week features Eric.

I wanted to bring people a quick update on the status of homeschooling in California.  There is a great article in Eureka Reporter called Court reconnects with reality in homeschool reversal.  The case had been centered around a mother of eight who was homeschooling.  The appellate court overturned the original court decision requiring teaching certification to homeschool in California.

It is suggested that this reflects the Legislature’s understanding that numerous home schools file private school affidavits in California. This is not an unreasonable interpretation. While it is possible that some private schools with five or fewer students are, in fact, traditional private schools in which the teacher is unrelated to the students, it is much more likely that the private schools referred to by this law are home schools.

The court was out of sync with the legislature and the department of education

The Legislature is aware that homeschooling parents file affidavits as private schools, and has passed laws based on that awareness. The Department of Education has not challenged the practice, and the LAUSD has not asserted that the children of such parents are truant.

A copy of the decision can be found here.

For now the decision is a win for homeschoolers.

8 Ways to Encourage Curiosity

Homeschooling has given me a new lens to look at the world of education through. Many times I have my own plans for what we are going to do, but my children and my husband definitely have shown me that there are may different ways to approach learning. My experience with my own children has revealed to me that I can let my children take the wheel more often than not, and I can encourage them to question.

My children have a strong desire to know more. They ask “why” constantly - more than I would like to hear!  It has made me think about ways to encourage children’s natural curiosity and desire to learn. Here are some strategies that I have found successful:

1. When your child asks a question or a series of questions, answer them the best that you can, and find the answers if you don’t know them. I like to think that since I answer my kids’ questions to the best of my ability, they are encouraged to be that much more inquisitive. If you brush off your child’s questions, s/he will simply stop asking.
2. If you are truly exasperated by the shear number of questions (and I am often), turn the questions back on your child. Find out if your child can make a hypothesis or a deduction based on the information at hand or prior experiences.
3. Ask your child lots of questions when you are out and about or in the middle of a teachable moment. Expect your child to use higher order thinking skills, too. For example, today we went to Plimoth Plantation. I asked my children to deduce what a room was used for based on the clues they found in the room. I also asked them to make observations about the houses and compare them to our home. What does our home have that these homes do not? Why do you think these homes do not have those things?
4. Ask your own genuine questions when your child is with you. For example, I have wondered why certain plants will not grow in particular parts of our yard, and I want to find ones that will grow. Then it is my job to find the answers to those questions. Remember that you are your child’s model. Children imitate adult behavior - even older kids - so give them a great example for what it means to be curious, and show them where you can find the answers to your own questions.
5. Go on adventures! Novel experiences stimulate the mind. Your child will be more likely to have questions if you give your child a wide variety of experiences to draw from. Go hiking. Go to museums. Try gardening. try something new.
6. Here is your chance to live vicariously through your children. Play with them and encourage imaginative play!Your involvement in imaginative play will change the play scenarios and encourage thinking skills.
7. Read to your child. Remember to read a variety of genres - poetry, nonfiction, historical fiction, science fiction, etc. Try reading aloud genres that your child typically does not read on his/her own to broaden his/her horizons. The new ideas presented as you read will open your child up to new ways of thinking. This is also an opportunity to ask more of those questions. Encourage your child to also ask questions while you read.
8. Let your child take the lead. Observe your child in one of those new situations. What is interesting? What is your child drawn to? Now take some time to draw that out of your child. Maybe you can also plan other adventures that incorporate more of your child’s interests.

Enjoy your children’s natural curiosity and let yourself be taken away by it from time to time.

Survey of Homeschoolers

We are performing a survey of homeschooling families in order to fine tune how best to serve this community with our services.  If you could please take 5 minutes and fill out the survey attached in this post it would be immensely appreciated.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=a7FFoPj_2fkXqXh0aKAv3DLA_3d_3d

Home School Gardening Project Tips

As a homeschooler, I find that preparing materials for great work that I want to do is sometimes hard. Some things just take a lot of preparation.  One way you can limit curriculum planning for your home school is by setting up ongoing projects. There is always something to do when you have a project, and you can add a lot of learning that is fun and interactive. Projects often take on a life of their own.

One great project is a garden. Gardening incorporates layers of skills, and it is great for kinesthetic and tactile learners. Obviously it is a science project, but there is so much more that you can do with it. My family has started a garden this summer, and we are having fun with it! The kids are really excited about watering the plants and making observations. We are trying to make more detailed observations about the shape and colors that we see in the garden. Here are some tips to add learning to your gardening experience.

• Do some research together about what plants grow in different kinds of light, and allow your children some choice about what to plant in the garden.
• Lookat the seeds before you plant them. Observe the shape, color, and texture.
• Use your science journals to make observations about the garden. Remember to make careful observations about the plants.
• The scientific drawings should be accurate - down to the colors. Remember to include written observations.
• Measure the plants as they grow and chart it. Make predictions about how much each plant will grow.
• Use new vocabulary when you talk about the garden. Talk about tilling the soil and fertilizing the plants. Name the tools. Find more information about gardening vocabulary at Katina’s Little Gardeners.

Your gardening experience should be a fun family project. Enjoy!

God is Pleased and Home Educates Us

Home schooling means that you are intimately involved in every part of your child’s education. You see your child’s failures, missteps, and victories while you homeschool. All parents are proud of their children when they learn a new skill or solve a problem, but parents who home educate cannot help but feel an enormous sense of pride in their children’s accomplishments. It’s as if you the parent accomplished something when really it is the child who has. However, in a home school the parent has a lot to be proud of because you have also done a lot of work. You have invested much of your time, energy, and love into your child’s education. Your home school is an investment. Your child is your treasure. You invest in your treasure. Watching the fruit of your labor fills you with joy.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17

God was pleased with His son, Jesus, because he submitted to His authority. Jesus followed God’s plan for him. If you as a mere human can feel so overwhelmingly proud of your child’s accomplishments, can you imagine how God felt about His son, His good and perfect son, Jesus? He had to tell the whole world that He was pleased with His son. That just reminds me of how important it is to see that Jesus is my example to follow. God is well pleased with His son; I should emulate Jesus’ life and be more Christ-like by submitting to God’s authority. I want to please God in a way that will make Him want to announce it to the whole world!

Here God’s teaching style applies to the home school. In this passage, God spoke to the people, which happens so rarely in the Bible, so we know that He has something important to say. God also gained everyone’s attention for His announcement. Here He used two means of getting people’s attention: His voice and visuals (the image of a dove and lighting). God’s example shows me how to do the same in my home school. First, visuals are key, so meaningful images that highlight important concepts make an impact . Also using your voice in unexpected ways calls attention.

God is pleased with His son and announces that to the world, but gets everyone’s attention when He makes His point. I am certainly pleased with my children, but God is well pleased with His son. I want Him to be well pleased with me. Like my God I will make sure I have everyone’s attention when I make an important point.

Home Education: Not My Idol

As a home educator, I think that my priorities are in order. My curriculum is good. My home school is progressive; I try new things. I home educate because I am good at teaching.

They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ Exodus 32:8

I have noticed that I am walking the fine line of making my role as a mother and home educator into my “golden calf”, an idol. I build my identity, in part at least, around these roles. Being at home and educating my own children puts me in a vulnerable place because all day that is what I am focused on.

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. Exodus 20:4

I see the idolatry pattern throughout my history and still feel the effects of that sin. I was a classroom teacher. For most of my life I knew that I was going to teach. I identified myself as a teacher and built my life around that role. i spent long hours preparing my classroom, grading papers, preparing lessons, and the list goes on. I poured my heart and soul into work. My home life suffered as a result. I was not exercising or eating right. I was getting home late. I had no time to be with friends. I fell into a depression. I was not a Christian yet. This is the sin that actually brought me to Christ, so I can see how it is my achilles heel. So what do I do about that?

Developing deep, meaningful friendships has helped me. My friends help me to focus on someone else. I am reminded that it is not all about me. It helps to be with just adults and talk about current events and beyond. My friends also help me to stop taking myself so seriously. Life is fun and interesting. Also God created a beautiful place for us all to enjoy. Getting out into the beautiful world helps me to see the possibilities and gets my creativity going. Most importantly I spend time with God. I fail at this a lot, but when I am on track with it, my quiet time centers me on Christ. It puts me in my place as God’s servant. It reminds my that I do not need an idol. I have a living God who loves me and wants to have a personal relationship with me.

 ’Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19:4

I have to remember that my identity comes from God, and I am home educating my children for Him to bring Him glory and serve His kingdom. He may call me to serve in another way in the future, but for now, He wants me right where I am - homeschooling. This is a calling, not a choice for me.

Pressure to Plan Perfectly

It happens to me every week. I feel the pressure to plan and execute the best lessons that I possibly can for my children. They are so very young, but I really want the work that I give to them to be high-quality, fun, interesting, and useful. I even want to make insightful connections. I can’t imagine having a lesson that is less than what I know that I can do for them. I want everything that we do to be a success. Talk about pressure!

This pressure really is only from me, though. No one else expects perfection from me except me. This perfectionism has been a life-long problem for me. I can’t seem to shake the feeling that I am not measuring up. Maybe that’s because I really can’t be perfect. As I tell my children, only Jesus is perfect.

What do I do about that? My children know that I want the best for them and that I love them; they show me more grace than anyone I know can. Then I remind myself daily that the goal is not perfection. Even though I am technically the teacher, we are all learning here. They are learning the information and skills that I am teaching them, and I am learning how to be a patient, loving, encouraging teacher. I am trying to let go of failed lessons because, in the end, I have not really failed. I have succeeded in understanding my children a little better and understanding what I am capable of doing. I have also succeeded in understanding that I cannot homeschool alone. I have built a network of support. I am the primary educator in my home, but I also need support from my husband. My friends support me by teaching me and my children. I am taking advantage of the resources that are available to me at the library and on the internet. Ultimately, I must remember that I cannot homeschool without my God who knows me and my children intimately and has a plan that supersedes any plans that I have made on any given day. His plans are perfect.