Homeschool Chat Part III

[DawnM]

Well, I do think that in many, many areas of the country, teachers are greatly underpayed.

I am not quite getting the connection between arguing pay of teachers and arguing that parents can teach their own children though. You lost me there.

Dawn

I'm in a debate with a teacher at the moment in my current class for my Master's degree. Mind you, I WAS a public school teacher, so it's not like I'm NOT a "trained professional". She's been grousing about the pay. I told her that hour-for-hour, teachers actually do pretty well and if teachers earned that salary 52 weeks instead of 36, it wouldn't be so shabby. She also talked about underperformers getting paid the same as those who go above and beyond. I told her welcome to the real world, it's like that EVERYWHERE. She said that teachers are undervalued by society. I told her that when "ordinary" (although I believe we are "extraordinary" thankyouverymuch ) parents can teach their children and those children show up at Harvard, Yale, MIT, etc, it's a hard argument to make that only "trained professionals" can educate children. I also pointed out the parable from Matthew which is featured in our textbook for the class about the men who went to work at different times of day for the farmer who paid them all the same amount, so the ones who worked longer were whining. I told her that teachers don't go into the field without knowing beforehand that the pay stinks, so it's either a calling where there is intrinsic reward or get out and find you a different job.

I'm just SO tired of people who think parents can't educate their children. We are their FIRST teachers!

 

[Disney+Family=Fun]

Well, I do think that in many, many areas of the country, teachers are greatly underpayed.

I am not quite getting the connection between arguing pay of teachers and arguing that parents can teach their own children though. You lost me there.

Dawn

I agree with you. I taught in public schools for ten years. I promise you that "hour for hour" I did not get paid well. I always stayed way after school hours, always took work home and was always there throughout the summer. Many teachers put in a lot more than the "school day." Not to mention what many have to deal with during the day. For dealing with the behaviors alone they should be getting double.

I am thankful for the opportunity to homeschool. Many are not blessed with this option.

I wish the teachers were getting higher salaries and the professional sports players were getting teacher salaries.

 

[graygables]

Well, I do think that in many, many areas of the country, teachers are greatly underpayed.

I am not quite getting the connection between arguing pay of teachers and arguing that parents can teach their own children though. You lost me there.

Dawn

The connection for that argument wasn't pay, but that only "professionals" can do the job, therefore, should be seen as superior.

I used to be a teacher in Oklahoma, among the worst in the US for pay at the time. I taught summer school to make up for the pay and still was able to purchase a nice home, decent car, and support 2 children as a single mother with no help from their bio-f. I did the math at the time and if my school year salary were computed out for a full year's work, it would have been more than adequate, not to mention the pension plan and other benefits.

 

[DawnM]

Dawn,

Well, in this area I disagree with you.....can teachers scrape by on an assembly liners' pay? Sure they can, but I don't think they should have to. I can assure you that DH and I both have MAs (in fact, I have two) and he makes far more than I ever did, even though I have an additional 10 years of work under my belt.

I believe teachers are professionals and the reason they don't get paid as such is because we have been lead to believe that they are not truly professionals, should treat their jobs as a calling, and just take whatever is offered to them and be happy. If I believed teachers were not professionals I would not have gone to the trouble of getting a degree and two MAs in the field.

I do agree that parents can teach their own kids, but I don't see that as part of this particular argument.

Dawn

The connection for that argument wasn't pay, but that only "professionals" can do the job, therefore, should be seen as superior.

I used to be a teacher in Oklahoma, among the worst in the US for pay at the time. I taught summer school to make up for the pay and still was able to purchase a nice home, decent car, and support 2 children as a single mother with no help from their bio-f. I did the math at the time and if my school year salary were computed out for a full year's work, it would have been more than adequate, not to mention the pension plan and other benefits.

 

[itsheresomewhere]

Can someone point me in the right direction, please? I know this exists as I saw it once but can't find it. My SIL has just started homeschooling my ASD DN who is 7. They were surprised with a gift cruise going in sept. I could swear that someone had made a curriculum for the disney cruise line. Thank you in advance.

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

Can someone point me in the right direction, please? I know this exists as I saw it once but can't find it. My SIL has just started homeschooling my ASD DN who is 7. They were surprised with a gift cruise going in sept. I could swear that someone had made a curriculum for the disney cruise line. Thank you in advance.

I have never seen a curriculum for the cruise but I think the cruise itself is more than enough "curriculum." Fun things that we have done before or after a cruise (or just when we need a Disney fix)...We have look at layouts of the cruise ship and talked about parts of the ship. We have used the Google Earth 3D free software to zoom in and out to see where the ship travels. We have learned about weather in the Bahamas. We have read about some history of the Bahamas. Our library has some cool "The Science of Disney Imagineering" Videos. One was on Fluid. They talk about the ship in that video.

On the cruise they have science labs they can do as well as other eduational opportunities. However, I think the whole experience is filled with learning. Even reading the navigator and the chart with the schedule is educational

I would just take advantage of all the learning that just magically happens on the cruise.

 

[disneymom3]

Does anyone know of a curriculum which is more hands on? Something with mini projects or something? I'm not even sure what I'm looking for which is making it very hard to find iykwim .

I'm excited and nervous, but mostly excited.

If you are Christian My Father's World has an amazing (IMO) Kindergarten curriculum. Lots of hands on experiential kinds of things with a bit of worksheets thrown in. Might be a bit below her if she is already reading though but it is tons of fun.

 

[itsheresomewhere]

I have never seen a curriculum for the cruise but I think the cruise itself is more than enough "curriculum." Fun things that we have done before or after a cruise (or just when we need a Disney fix)...We have look at layouts of the cruise ship and talked about parts of the ship. We have used the Google Earth 3D free software to zoom in and out to see where the ship travels. We have learned about weather in the Bahamas. We have read about some history of the Bahamas. Our library has some cool "The Science of Disney Imagineering" Videos. One was on Fluid. They talk about the ship in that video.

On the cruise they have science labs they can do as well as other eduational opportunities. However, I think the whole experience is filled with learning. Even reading the navigator and the chart with the schedule is educational

I would just take advantage of all the learning that just magically happens on the cruise.

I wish he could do the stuff on the cruise. He is non verbal so they are having to create a nice curriculum. Right now, I am making a sand castle sheet for her and she is trying to come up with other stuff. Thanks

 

[Denine]

We ordered our tickets for Williamsburg Homeschool Days!!!

Wanted to let you all know that there is a show on the History channel tonight (Tuesday) at 8 PM EST about Thomas Jefferson.
I am going to tape it and then watch it to see if it is appropriate for DD since we are doing American History this year.

 

[jshuff1]

i agree

 

[adverbe]

Homeschool Days in September for us!!!

We have homeschooled for 17 years. Our oldest is a Junior at Rochester Institute of Technology, our second is a Freshman at SUNY Jefferson, our third is a junior at home (and working to become an Eagle Scout) , our fourth is in first grade, and our fifth is four and probably starting Kindergarten.

My husband says I should write a book about the 'disorganized homeschool'; I prefer the 'relaxed homeschool'. I am a huge fan of using very little curriculum, especially in the elementary grades, with the possible exception of math. Children can learn a lot through games, observations, playing with friends, visiting museums, listening to adults, and just exploring their world. We have gone to the beach most years in Sept. since our eldest was 2. My children know more about beach ecology, erosion, birds, dunes, waves, etc. than most children we know, and we have never studied it formally. We learned about mountains by climbing them, and sometimes by skiing down them. We learned about geography by driving to Florida from NY.

My best advice is to relax and think outside the box. Everything you do is educational if you take advantage of the teachable moment. "Mommy, why does...?"

 

[McDuck]

Good for you getting prepared ahead of the game! Just know that with homeschooling gaining in popularity the curriculum publishing market changes rapidly, with 2nd editions coming out just a couple of years behind the first. So don't make any curriculum purchases yet!

Definitely waiting on purchases! I did buy three preschool workbooks from Sam's, but am working on figuring out my own method for using those, planning on starting when DD is 2 1/2 or thereabouts. I think I'm safe with that minor purchase since they are focused on colors, letters, numbers, and other "readiness" skills.

The Well-Trained Mind is my favorite homeschool book and I recommend it every chance I get. I tried using Slow & Steady Get Me Ready a couple of times, but it just didn't work for me. If you read, play, and just get on the floor and interact with your baby you'll pretty much have all of the Slow & Steady stuff covered.

McDuck: Just read, read and read to your child. Point out everything in her world; colors, sounds, textures, whatever you can think of. That is all you really need to do right now.

Thanks, that is pretty much what I am doing with her at this stage.

Story of the World is a great narrative history for the elementary grades. I think that just reading the stories is enough, but there are also activity guides to go along with each book. Again, something else I tried but has not really worked for us. I do love the First Language Lessons and Writing with Ease programs by the same authors, and I love the Susan Wise Bauer's plan for homeschooling. If you haven't yet, go to the Peace Hill Press and look up the mp3 downloads they have there of Susan and Jessie's lectures. They are both great speakers and very much worth the listen.

Best of luck to you!

Thanks so much for the advice. I just saw a history book on Timberdoodle's site today for preschool age that shows a street and people in different ages of time. I had been considering Mudpies to Magnets for science activities.

I just finished THE WELL-TRAINED MIND this morning and while I don't know that a pure classical approach is right for us, I do like many aspects of it, so I can see us adapting it somehow. (My undergraduate program was classical/interdisciplinary--Louisiana Scholars' College; it's actually listed in the book, too, so that made my day! LOL) I'll definitely be buying this book to refer back to!

I've spent the last week or so requesting catalogs from the various publishers. Got my first one from Sonlight yesterday. DH and I decided last night to start a savings account next year so we've got it built up by the time we need to look into buying curricula.

 

[cruiserkaren]

We are now a homeschooling family! At first I was researching it as a "plan B" but the more I read the more I thought "why not?"

I picked up The Well Trained Mind and it just made perfect sense to me. So we are using that as our guide. My dd's will be 7 and 3 next month. I know I will need to work on being more relaxed. I can already tell that is going to be a difficult thing for me.

Looking forward to getting to know all of you!

 

[momo3hods]

Well we are on week 2 day 2 of year 2 So far, I am loving what we are using this year... I will have to start planning some field trips soon since the weather is great right now.
I am still loving the flexibility of homeschooling and watching them all learn something new everyday! I have definitely let go of my ps mentality this year and am more organized too -

Hope you are all enjoying success too!

 

[goofy's gal]

Jumping in to say "hi" to everyone! We are 2 weeks into our school year, being my 7th year homeschooling. My kiddos (11yrs-6th grd, 9yrs-4th grd) have never been to public or private school. It's so amazing how this is almost a "lifestyle". Everything we do & see is an opportunity for a learning moment. I LOVE my job.

Here is what we are using & participating in this year.
Curriculum:
A Reason for Handwriting
Bob Jones Bible
Horizons Math - my husband teaches this!
A Reason for Spelling
Bob Jones English & Grammar
Apologia Zoology 1 - Flying Creatures
Mystery of History - volume 1
Bob Jones Reading
Wordly Wise

Co-op enrichment Fall classes:
Physics
Dissection
Shurley English
Exploring Creation
Hands on Math

For P.E., the kids play AYSO soccer in the Fall, & Upwards basketball in the winter/spring.

It's a crazy life......... but we LOVE it!!

 

[DawnM]

What are you using?

Dawn

Well we are on week 2 day 2 of year 2 So far, I am loving what we are using this year... I will have to start planning some field trips soon since the weather is great right now.
I am still loving the flexibility of homeschooling and watching them all learn something new everyday! I have definitely let go of my ps mentality this year and am more organized too -

Hope you are all enjoying success too!

 

[momo3hods]

Dawn,

I use Saxon Math, Learning Language Arts Through Literature, and Lifepac for the core - Seton for the rest. My 5th grader is enrolled through Seton.

Heather

 

[desparatelydisney]

I know I can vent hear without getting flamed.....

IF I SEE ONE MORE POST ON MY FACEBOOK PAGE FROM A CRYING MOM SENDING HER KIDS OFF TO THEIR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, LAMENTING THE LOST TIME WITH THEM, AND COMPLAINING ABOUT THE IDIOSYNCRICITIES OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM I WILL SCREAM!!!!!!

Okay, vent over....if they hate sending their kids to school SOOO bad why can't they understand why I choose to homeschool?!

 

[wvdislover]

So true! At the same time, though, it pains me to see parents who are GLAD to be sending their kids back to school, as though they can't stand to have them home. If you're not going to enjoy your kids, why have them?

 

[desparatelydisney]

So true! At the same time, though, it pains me to see parents who are GLAD to be sending their kids back to school, as though they can't stand to have them home. If you're not going to enjoy your kids, why have them?

Agreed! I had one of those today too! Thrilled to have the house to herself because her 4 kids were finally in school. Don't get me wrong, tomorrow is my kid-free day (my mom has kept them one day a week since my oldest was 3 months old) and I desperately need the downtime this week....but I don't need 180 days of downtime per year.