The tour is based upon the schools . . . → Read More: Colleges the Change Lives Tour]]> The CTCL (Colleges that Change Lives) people have announced their 2009 tour dates. If they are coming near you, I urge you to take the time to visit them. We attended one of their sessions several years ago in Nashville and found it well worth our time.

The tour is based upon the schools featured in the book Colleges That Change Lives, 40 Schools you should know about even if you’re not a straight-A student, by Lauren Pope. This is one of my favorite college-prep books; check out my review and you will begin to understand why.

The 2009 tour includes 26 cities, so be sure to check the list for the one nearest you!

We have heard so much about the S-word (socialization) and homeschooling. People who send their children to public schools always bring it up, seeming to imply that homeschooled children sit at home in the dark all . . . → Read More: The Harm of Kids Raising Kids]]>

We have heard so much about the S-word (socialization) and homeschooling. People who send their children to public schools always bring it up, seeming to imply that homeschooled children sit at home in the dark all day like so many mushrooms. I recently read a very interesting article in the February 2008 issue of Psychology Today, however, that presents some strongly worded criticisms in the reverse direction.

In the article Skinny Sweepstakes By Hara Estroff Marano the author describes some of the social problems that kids face, starting in middle school. For example, psychotherapist Steven Levenkron observes that these days “…the adults essentially outsource parenting.” RAND scholar “Richard Hersh calls it the culture of neglect: kids grow up overly dependent on their peers-‘in essence, kids raising kids’ – without developing a strong sense of self.” He goes on to explain how kids need to be mentored by caring and demanding adults. On the other hand, he also realizes that adults should not see kids as helpless and shelter them from a wide range of experiences. It is sometimes a delicate balance, but one that homeschooling parents have a great deal of experience with.

The author of the article examines how schools and colleges are set up to contribute to eating disorders, anxiety and depression, through artificially restricting students to same-age peer groups. Although the thrust of the article centers on eating disorders, the message comes through loud and clear that as schools become more and more homogeneous in age, and often in culture and class, kids are getting a very skewed idea of what the world is all about.

Think about how schools have changed. My grandmother taught in a one-roomed school in the 1920’s, where children of all ages interacted with one another. Over time, the schools have gotten larger and larger and the age range at a given institution has gotten narrower and narrower. Even the local university now boasts that it has classes for seniors, conveniently located at the town library so no seniors actually enter campus.

What options do you have when sending your child off to college? This article indicates that the greater the diversity in age per grade level, the better off your young person will be. One option to consider is a community college. Community colleges often have students enrolled from a larger diversity of backgrounds, both age and cultural. The average student age is higher than at your typical university, which means the students definitely bring a wider range of life experiences into the classroom.

So, next time your ten-year-old spends half an hour talking to the librarian and you are ready to go, be glad that he or she gets to spend time in the real world interacting with people other than only peers.

On Sandra’s June 22nd post, A Homeschool Mixer Introduction, she . . . → Read More: Homeschool Mixer Questions]]> Through blogging I have “met” many interesting homeschoolers from across the country and around the world. Sandra is one such blogger and her On Living By Learning blog is one of my daily reads. I love her byline, “Learn, Grow, Explore, Change the World.”

On Sandra’s June 22nd post, A Homeschool Mixer Introduction, she plays along with Alesandra’s Homeschool Blog Awards homeschool mixer, answering 19 homeschooling questions. These are questions that all homeschoolers have been asked more than once in their homeschooling journey. My children are all grown, so I will be answering these from a slightly different perspective, looking back on twelve years of homeschooling. And since my answers will likely be on the long side, I will answer a few each day until we’re done. So stay tuned, keep watch, you know the drill!

1. Why do you homeschool?

   We began homeschooling in reaction to the education being offered at our local public school. Each of our children needed to homeschool for a different reason: Kat because of the psychological stressors occurring in her fifth-grade classroom and the lowering expectations of the girls in regards to academics, David because he needed more challenge than his second-grade classroom had to offer, especially in the science area, and Charles because his kindergarten class had too much violence occurring and we were concerned that he would gain the label of ADHD when he advanced to the more demanding level of attention that his upcoming first grade level would require.

   Those were the reasons we began homeschooling. They were not the reasons we continued homeschooling after the first year. Somewhere during that first year we began to realize how much the public school had taken over our lifestyle. Homeschooling afforded us the freedom to study what we wanted, when we wanted, where we wanted, and how we wanted. We were in control of our daily schedule and that was a wonderful feeling of freedom!

2. What technique or curriculum do you use?

   The first few months we did school-at-home with an organized schedule and lesson plans. After a few months, I was experiencing serious burn-out, so we took a break over the Christmas holidays and I spent more time learning about homeschooling methods. While I was doing that, my children just kept on learning! My children were actively unschooling at the same time I was learning about unschooling. So for the last 11.5 years of our homeschooling journey, we were unschoolers. (I will always consider myself to be an unschooler, even though I am no longer legally homeschooling anyone.) We did use some curriculum, especially in the high school years, but always to meet a need or interest that one of our children had, such a college preparation or learning a language.

3. Do your kids work above or below grade level (or both!)?

   We did not worry about grade levels, so I never really kept track. In some subjects I am sure they were above, in other subjects, below. It didn’t really matter to us.

4. What is your educational level?

   I graduated from Finger Lakes Community College with an Associates of Science degree in Secretarial Science.

5. Do you feel that your education level has an effect on your teaching (both limits and abilities?)
   No, not really. There are some very intelligent people homeschooling that never had the opportunity to go beyond high school for more education. That does not mean that their education ceased at high school. And a secretarial science degree really doesn’t bring much to the table as far as homeschooling your children. I think what helps more than your level of education is a willingness to know your limits, to know where you need to seek outside assistance, such as co-ops or online classes or community college classes. The most important thing, though, is the mindset that you are never too old to learn anything. Homeschooling will be a lot easier if you believe in that and model that mindset.

Watch tomorrow for the answers to these questions:

6. What does your daily schedule look like?
7. Are your kids always polite and ready to learn?
8. Do the kids (or you!) get frustrated?
9. How has this affected your parenting?
10. How much free time do they have?
11. What do they do during their free time?
12. What hobbies do they have?

Background: We have homeschooled our children for many years. Our eldest is now in college. But my dw continually stresses out about curriculum . . . → Read More: High School Unschooling and Transcripts]]> Another response to a question I received about unschooling. If you have your own question, click on the “Email Me Today” link on the right sidebar and send me your question.

Background: We have homeschooled our children for many years. Our eldest is now in college. But my dw continually stresses out about curriculum and “being behind,” and this stress is loaded upon the remaining child as she is pressured to complete particular work.

Questions: Is it possible to transition to an unschooled paradigm with only a 15-year-old left in the house? How? What difficulties can one expect? How does one set up transcripts for college?

Thanks,
Unschooling Wannabe Dad

Dear Unschooling Wannabe Dad,

The quick and easy answer is, “Of course it is possible to transition to unschooling!”

Does your youngest child wish to unschool? Does she already unschool in some fashion and just does not realize it? If she has some input into what her studies are and how/when she does them, then she may already be unschooling to some degree.

Unschooling Difficulties

One key to unschooling success is to have everyone in the household at least willing to give it a good try. If your wife is already stressing and worrying, then I suspect she will have a great deal of difficulty adjusting to the notion of unschool. You might need to do some “selling” of unschooling to your wife: meet some local unschooling families, learn about unschooled students who successfully made it into college, joining some unschooling email lists or support groups, and read some good unschooling books.

How is your eldest doing at college? Is your wife worrying because the eldest is having difficulties adjusting to college? Or is she just worrying because that is her natural tendency? If she has specific concerns, such as writing abilities or particular math levels, it may be necessary to compromise and continue with an academic schedule (plan) for those areas and then allow your daughter to unschool in all other areas of her life.

Other than getting your wife on board, the only real difficulty I can think of is if your youngest is uncertain about unschooling or believes that unschooling might not work. Sometimes students are so used to having their academic work laid out for them, without their having any input into what they study, that the idea of unschooling seems scary or even wrong in some way. They worry that they won’t cover the necessary material to get them into college. Or they flounder for a while, not certain what to do nor when, simply because they are so used to following someone else’s schedule.

Deschooling

Your daughter might find it necessary to deschool for a while, just to gain the time and perspective to see what she wants to do for herself. Deschooling is like a vacation from prescribed learning, allowing the student to regain touch with her own desires, her own reasons for learning. Sometimes deschooling is necessary for students who have always followed a strict regimen of learning where they had no input into what they learn (whether school-at-home or in public school). The rule of thumb with deschooling is one month for each year that child has been in public school. Since you have already been homeschooling for a number of years, your daughter might not need that long.

Transcripts for Unschoolers

As for transcripts, there are many ways they can be done, depending upon the homeschool regulations in your particular state. Many homeschools are considered private schools; if that is the case in your state, you create your child’s transcript, translating their activities and interest into “schooly” subjects. In Alabama (the state I have the most familiarity with), homeschoolers join church schools and the church school provides the transcript and/or diploma, based upon the information provided by the homeschooling family.

There are also some “unschooling schools” that provide transcripts and diplomas for unschoolers, which might be a way of reassuring your wife that the necessary material will be covered for college. One such school is West River Academy.

Unschooling High School

Unschoolers can and do graduate from high school and go on to college just fine. We graduated two unschoolers, and while our eldest decided not to attend college, she easily could have, given her grades and SAT scores. Our middle child is currently enrolled at Tallahassee Community College, majoring in computer science, and made the Dean’s List last semester. Both unschooled their high school years, each in their own particular way. I chronicled some of their unschooled high schooling a few years ago, which you can read at Unschooling High School.

Unschooling Wannabe Dad, please let us know what your family decides to do and why!

Readers, do you have any suggestions for this Unschooling Wannabe Dad? Please post your comments!

Our monetary situation and financial goals have been subjects in our household recently. Better employment opportunities for my husband was one of the reasons for our move to Tallahassee, with the goal of seriously augmenting savings and retirement funds. Our eldest child has been . . . → Read More: What a Deal!]]> Could you use a $100 bonus? I know we could!

Our monetary situation and financial goals have been subjects in our household recently. Better employment opportunities for my husband was one of the reasons for our move to Tallahassee, with the goal of seriously augmenting savings and retirement funds. Our eldest child has been trying to sell her house for many months and we all know how painful the housing market is right now. Our middle child is a full-time college student (living at home) who, whenever gas prices go above $3.00 per gallon, has been required by mom and dad to use the city bus system rather than the family van to get to class. (Gas prices here in Tallahassee jumped from $2.89/gal. last Friday to $3.17/gal. yesterday!) And our youngest child is job hunting and discovering just how difficult it is to get that first job.

I am always looking for ways to save money or earn more money. I cut costs where I can and can hold my own amongst the best of penny pinchers. The last three months I have been on a “turn off that electricity consuming device when not in use” campaign and lowered our monthly electric bill by close to $100. So when I saw an opportunity to make an extra $100 while at the same time accomplishing one of our long-term goals, augmenting savings, how could I pass it by?

My Money Blog gives the details of Suze Orman’s SaveYourself promotion. Open a TD Ameritrade account by March 31, 2008 and set up an automatic deposit of at least $50 per month for 12 consecutive months. At the end of that 12 months you will receive a $100 bonus, as long as you have not withdrawn any money from the account in that time.

Since one of our goals is to save more money, I set up a TD Ameritrade account yesterday. I choose the money market fund option rather than a trading fund and have until the end of March to fund it. I can wait until the next payday (which only comes around once a month here) and then set up the automatic deposits. My thought is that I won’t be tempted to dip into a savings account that is not connected with our regular checking account at our regular bank. Out of sight, out of mind, right? And at the end of the first year we will have at least $700 tucked away, $600 of our own and $100 bonus (plus whatever interest accrues between now and then). Cool!

1. I . . . → Read More: Seven Interesting Things About Me]]> I was tagged by Sandra to list seven interesting things about me. Since I was tagged here at my LeapingFromTheBox blog, I will try to keep the seven items related in some way to learning/education. And maybe I will go the more personal route on my Musings, Mischief and Mayhem blog later.

1. I started out at college studying to be a history teacher, but quickly decided that teaching was not for me. Isn’t it ironic that I become a homeschooling parent?

2. I don’t really enjoy website building, html coding. I find the whole technical aspect of it extremely stressful. Yet I enjoy writing about our experiences, reviewing resources and sharing that information on the web. And I love tinkering with the layouts, finding what is visually pleasing, as you can tell from the fact that the theme of this blog just changed again!

3. I love the hunt of finding new resources, which has been both a blessing and a curse in our homeschooling journey. A blessing because I often stumble onto things that either my own family can use or that turns out to be useful for a fellow homeschooler. A curse because I can easily go overboard, overwhelming everyone with the options I find and stressing the budget with the choices I purchase.

4. I began the LeapingFromTheBox.com website because I was continually answering emails about homeschooling. I thought if I put my knowledge and information online, then people wouldn’t send me emails. Of course, they still send me emails, but at least now I can usually just redirect them to the appropriate pages on my site for answers.

5. Homeschooling math has always been a challenge for me. It is a subject that I always feel is just slightly out of my grasp, like grabbing a fistful of Jello. Just when you feel you have a handle on it, it goes squishing away again. I would like to know more about it, it fascinates me, yet I am not sure I really have the brain for it. It may be one of those subjects that I will always regret not understanding more.

6. I never even tried homeschooling science. Over the years I provided a lot of resources, we gardened, grew plants indoors, had pets, watched NOVA and read a lot of science books, but I never tried to teach science. I let my middle child make any scientific explanations that were needed, as his level of science comprehension exceeded mine at about age three. I know science information by rote, from what I learned in school, but I will never understand it at any level.

7. I will consider myself an unschooler even when I no longer have children being homeschooled. Once an unschooler, always an unschooler.

I am supposed to tag seven people, but I guess I will just let you tag yourself. If you blog this meme after reading it here, please leave me a comment with a link!

So far, he has volunteered eight of his required ten . . . → Read More: Volunteering]]> For David’s Speech class, he has to volunteer at a non-profit organization and then do a speech about his experience. Being the out-going people-person that he is (do you hear the sarcasm?), he chose to volunteer at the Friends Of Gypsy Feral Cat Rescue.

So far, he has volunteered eight of his required ten hours over the past three Sundays. He thought his work would consist of helping to socialize the cats, but instead he has been doing a lot of cleaning and grounds keeping as they prepared for an Open House held yesterday. And only in spare moments has he been able to really interact with any of the cats. Even so, he has enjoyed working there and it sounds like he intends to continue his volunteering even after his class commitment is fulfilled. Good for him!

I only had one caveat for David when he told me about the group and I looked over their website. I did not want him telling me about any cats that might need homes! There’s a couple of really cute cats (is there any other kind?) on their website that are up for adoption, but we do not need more animals right now. Two pets in our apartment are just the right number.

This is Penny. A lot of people wonder what breed she is and we tell them she’s a white shepherd mixed with who knows what! She’s a good dog, even if she is afraid of her own shadow.

And this is Copper. She’s a little over a year old and has adjusted very well to being an indoors cat.

So you can see, we really do not need any more animals in our apartment. So I won’t be volunteering with David!