Tuesday, September 20, 2016

VHC #2 how to deal with negative Comments

Tuesday 20th September, 2016

I had never really thought of comments made about homeschooling as negative. Everyone has an opinion and they have a right to that belief. They don't have a right to try and force that belief onto me. I don't have the right to try and force my belief on them either.

Some of the suggested negative comments have included, "is that legal?" "are you qualified to teach?" "what about socialization?". I don't view these as so much negative, as non-educated people making comments. People like to take the path of least resistance, follow the crowd and just accept what they have been told, rather than look into other options. I will always offer an answer in a polite way and the conversation moves on. Sometimes the answer is a quick "yes" or "no", others are longer and more in depth. Sometimes the topic remains the same and sometimes it is changed all together.

I volunteered on a phone service for our national home education association, that people could ring for help and advice and most were asking these same questions. So these questions are not always a negative attack on your lifestyle choice. Some have just never given it a thought  or even heard of it before.

My biggest hurdle for negative comments actually come from within my own head. Especially when I first started out. 

"What if I am screwing my kids up?"
 "Are they going to miss out on something that I can't offer?"
 "Are they going to resent me for this later on in life?"
 "Would they be better off in the education system with trained professionals?"
 "Who am I to be educating my children?"

 Finding other homeschoolers really helped with this. Chatting to others mums on homeschooling forums and reading blogs all help with changing my self talk. And that is what it takes. I had to catch myself out and change the self talk to the positive. 

"I am offering my children a safe environment to discover who they are with out the pressures that are found in schools."
 "They are getting other opportunities that they would not get if they were in the school system."
 "1 on 1 support is better than being in a classroom of 30 kids" 
"I am their mum and I love them, no one is going to love them more than me and have their best interest at heart." 
"I CAN DO THIS."

So whats my advice? Think positive. Be respectful. Don't take the comments to heart (I know easier said than done).  Be prepared to walk away from those that are just in it for a fight or want to push their own agenda's. You get to choose who you hang out with and who you rub shoulders with in person and on social media. I think our attitude is half the battle. "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1.

Bec.
 
 

This response  is my part of the Virtual Homeschool Coop Channel Collaboration. You can find out more at  http://virtualhomeschoolcoop.com/ The goal of the Virtual Homeschool Coop is to build the homeschool community of knowledge with collaborations to give voice to all experiences in homeschooling.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

VHC Introduction Time.


 Well this is us.....


 Bec and Miss E.



We have been homeschooling for 8 weeks, this time. I homeschooled all three of my children from Aug 2008 to Feb 2013, when they all went back (in Miss E's case for the first time) to school. Now the eldest is in her first year at Uni, my one and only boy is about to start his final year at the local High School, unless he finds a job, and then there is Miss E.

Miss E is 11 and in grade 5. She has now experienced what mainstream school is like and obviously nothing like what she saw on the "Full House" so has come home. To be fair she has been asking for the last 12 months, but we kept putting it off as I didn't want to be yo-yoing between homeschool and school. So I wanted to make sure she was certain.

I should look into making a mission statement, at the moment it seems like we are just winging our way through, trying to find what works for us. I do want Miss E to rekindle her love of learning and once that takes place it will be fun to see where it takes us.

Our approach is very and I mean VERY eclectic. I am using CLE for maths. Have just started LATL for english. Before we were using another spelling program and doing a lapbook from Hands of a child. The history book has been lost, so now we are visiting local areas and reading and notebooking. Miss E at the moment wants to become a lawyer, so we are looking at how the law system begun in Australia and how it works. So as the mood grabs us and interests grow we will find the resources we need I'm sure. Actually I'm quite sure that when looking at the others that join in with the VHC I shall see something and go "Hey that could be fun" "That's a great idea"

We live on a farm, but don't do the farming. We just rent the view. We are in New South Wales on the east coast of Australia about 1 hour from the Victorian Boarder. How I long to be back in Victoria where their registration is so much simpler. But being in NSW is ok, at least I get some sort of planning done for the registration process. As you can see its very wet at the moment. We have had higher than average rains of late. That water is normally all crop. But I'm enjoying the water frontage at the moment. We are coming into summer soon enough and it will be hot and dry again.



Last time I homeschooled,  blogging was a way of recording what we had done, and no doubt it will form a part of that again. It was also a way of looking into others homes to see what worked and what didn't. I'm grateful that a friend told me about the VHC, as now I wont have to do so many google searches. I can just go and look at all the link ups and hopefully make new friends along the way that understand the joys and trials of homeschooling.
 


This response  is my part of the Virtual Homeschool Coop Channel Collaboration. You can find out more at  http://virtualhomeschoolcoop.com/ The goal of the Virtual Homeschool Coop is to build the homeschool community of knowledge with collaborations to give voice to all experiences in homeschooling.

VHC Assignment 1 - Structure or Relaxed?

"This response  is my part of the Virtual Homeschool Coop Channel Collaboration. You can find out more at www.virtualhomeschoolcoop.com The goal of the Virtual Homeschool Coop is to build the homeschool community of knowledge with collaborations to give voice to all experiences in homeschooling."

Tuesday 13th September, 2016

 31st January 2013 seems like a life time ago when I laid claim to the nails sealing the homeschooling coffin. I never did get rid of the idea of homeschooling and it has once again been resurrected in our household though only 1 child is home this time.

 Tuesday 19th July 2016 saw me withdrawing Miss E from the local primary school and begin our new journey together. Now I'm breaking my way back into the world of homeschoolers and why not join in the fun of the Virtual Homeschool Coop.

Assignment 1 : How Structured or Relaxed is your homeschool? Rate your amount or lack of structure from “0” being no structure to “10” being high structure and why in 3 categories: curriculum, daily routine, and homeschool space. 

Curriculum = 5  I do have books for maths, english, science and history, but we are just about to change our english curriculum as I wasn't happy with what we were using. I am also thinking of dropping the books for science and history and having a go at doing unit studies or lapbooks for these. We are so eclectic its not funny. But it has to work for your family and we shall jsut keep trying new things until we find our fit.

Daily Routine = 0, could I even give it a negative number? - We have not set start time, no set end time. If fact I work  casually and as such I can get a call at 8 am and be asked into work. Lucky for us my husband works from home from 8:30 to 1 Monday to Friday, so I write a todo list and leave it with Miss E. If she is having problems then she just has to wait until Dad is available to help her, so sometime its schooling in the afternoon. The other day it was schooling after dinner when I had a chance to go through her maths with her. Our routine consists of Maths and English are worked on every day. Everything else happens over the week as the mood takes us.

Homeschool Space = ?  We have a dinning table, that counts right? We have one large room that has hubby's work desk, my work desk, the sewing desk and the dinning room table and lined with book shelves where we have space. I shouldn't forget the couch or the treadmill. It is somewhat organised. We have a space for Miss E books she is currently working on. Its all good.

We have only been back in the game for 8 weeks and it takes a while to find your homeschooling legs. last time it took me nearly 6 months to find a happy groove, if not longer. I'm sure it will happen, there is always tomorrow.............