Classically Educating the Public Schooled 9th Grader

Thing 1 has decided that he too would like to be homeschooled. My first reaction (kept hidden from everyone) was panic... How am I going to undo all the crap he learned in public school? Where am I going to start? Can I even teach him the Trivium at this stage?? How the hell I am going to afford this???

So I did what I always do, I read to find the answer. I found out it's never too late to homeschool. I also combed through The Well Trained Mind to see what teaching a highschooler is all about. I decided, through reading, that I will try to cram in a bit of the logic stage and some Latin before we move on to the rhetoric stage. It seems we'd almost have to do it that way.

I spent most of last night ruminating on it and most of today coming up with a book list. I definitely want to stick with Life of Fred for math. The rest I just pulled from the WTM book. I think we'll be getting a lot of his material from the library, but that's ok because he will be able to go himself and locate it instead of me dragging the brood.

I had a very serious talk with him today about what homeschooling will entail. I want to make sure he's not doing it for the wrong reasons. I also told him that once he makes his decision, there's no changing his mind. I don't want him to decide it was easier to skate through public school with mediocre grades than it is to not be graded but constantly supervised and held accountable for his work.

This is another huge failing of public schools. All they can do is give a kid bad grades when they're not putting forth the necessary effort. And so so many parents (myself included) brush it aside because their kid isn't "book smart". I'm not going to get in depth about why this is such a horrible way to think, but I will say that providing constant supervision and accountability, I feel, should eliminate this problem. He won't have a choice but to try.

So I eagerly await his decision. I am hoping I can get some help from the rest of the family. I'd like to get him a Kindle for reading a research. Big Daddy has one, so it's not absolutely necessary. Thing 1 also has a laptop for any internet research. He'd also like to continue studying German, so I'd also like to get Rosetta Stone for him. Thankfully, he has family members that he can converse with in German. I'd also like to acquire a good microscope for all of them. I think this will be doable. I've already resigned myself to the fact that we are probably going to have to use some of our savings to get all this material. I stretched the income tax return pretty far, but the cost of food is really draining us (Thing 1's friend's mom calls Whole Foods "Whole Paycheck", I tend to agree!).

I'm feeling pretty good about Thing 1 staying home now. I was a bit scared at first, but all I had to do was remind myself that, whatever I do, it will be better than public school. Sure, he may not receive all the benefits of a thorough, early Classical education, but it still has to be better than public school.

MATH! & Lapbooks

Well, I've already decided to change our math curriculum. This after I've already acquired a bunch of manipulatives for the Singapore program. I don't think Singapore is horrible, but it's a little fussy. It requires so many different kinds of manipulatives for each lesson - cards, dice, discs, blocks, etc. - that I always feel very ill-prepared and am always halting lessons to either find the right manipulative or to print something.

One of the main reasons I decided to make the switch is because we got the Life of Fred series in the mail. We started on the Apples book and really haven't looked back. So far, it's wonderful - Thing 2 wants to keep going and going. We've been doing 3 chapters per session. I feel like it's right on par with the focus of Classical Education, too, because it relies on reading skills. The more reading I can introduce, the better. In my reading up on Life of Fred, a program called Professor B Power Mathematics was also recommended. I was able to find the text books on Ebay for all three levels, along with the answer keys for super cheap. I went ahead and purchased the workbooks and charts. 

I am now promising myself that I'm not going to buy anything else until we start using the stuff I already purchased. I purchased supplies to start making lapbooks, but I'm not really sure how to start. Again, I'm feeling like maybe I dove into that one without knowing what I was getting myself into.

Hubby still hasn't gotten the cabinet together. The stuff is starting to pile up all over the sunroom. Literally piling up, in stacks. It's kinda funny, but not really.

I found a couple of free lapbook templates for Egypt, but they just seem ridiculously complicated. I have a feeling I am going to spend more time printing and cutting and arranging than Thing 2 is going to spend learning anything from these things.

That being said, I did put some of the card stock to good use yesterday. I did a project for baby Red (Thing 3) out of the Slow and Steady Get Me Ready book. It was year 1, week 20 or 30 something.  It was basically folding a piece in half and gluing/taping on either side to make sort of a pocket, then cutting out fish shapes of different colors so he could slide them in. He played with it for a while before he crumpled up the fishies. I knew he'd enjoy it, because his new thing lately has been to bring the cardboard sleeve for our Shrek movie set to someone, have them dump out all 4 movies and then help him slide them back in.

It's been a day. I've been really tired (even took a 30 minute nap with the baby). Then I realized why I had so much time to knit last night... because we were supposed to take our Explorer to the dealership because it's making this head-splitting squeaking noise. Damn thing doesn't even have 10,000 miles on it :-( And don't even get me started on that stupid SYNC system. I know I officially sound old, but I really would rather just have buttons and dials. Anyway, Big Daddy and I both forgot about it. UGH!

Still have to try to do a little history (we finished everything else in record time this morning) then make a meatloaf (yum!).

But How Will They EVER Be Socialized?!?!?!

We did so well last week. We stayed on task, got all of our lessons and then some done. Even with the math not coming until Thursday, I felt it was a success. Today, neither Thing 2 nor I seemed to really be into it. We got through our morning lessons grudgingly, ate lunch and then the baby took a nap (he will not nap unless I am holding him). I let Thing 2 have a break while the baby as napping and we just haven't gotten back into lessons since, even though the baby has been up for a while.

I think part of the issue is that Thing 2 was at his father's house this weekend. Going to visit his father usually consists of him playing video games, watching crap on TV and eating garbage. I know I probably sound bitter, but it really is the truth. We feed our family a 100% GMO free, organic diet and we also avoid as much MSG, artificial anything and refined sugars as possible. My ex husband (and his parents) basically think we're whacked out hippies (because, you know, we read books and don't just listen to the Almighty Idiot Box telling us there's no difference between organic and conventional, but I digress). You can really see the wonderful effect that good, whole food has after he goes away and eats processed, artificial non-food for a few days.

Since his father was never really terribly involved with his education (they seem to be a "the school will take care of it" type), I didn't involve him at all in my decision to homeschool. Many people might think this is wrong. Maybe it is. It's also wrong for the burden of rearing a child to lie solely on one parent while the other basically hits the reset button every time the child is with them by letting them do things which are normally restricted or not allowed at his home. So there you have it.

Anyway, I would think, if the other parent is involved at least a little, you should probably discuss your decision to homeschool, if not let them in on the decision making process. Here's what I did: I wrote a letter. I addressed it to him AND his parents (they're with Thing 2 as much as if not more than his father). I let them know what curriculum we'd be following (I threw in a William & Mary name drop here and there), what books they could read to learn about the curriculum and homeschool, a list of supplies they could help out with and I let them know they could direct any questions to ME (and hopefully not to my son in offhand negative remarks).

Be prepared for the ever popular "how will he be socialized" question. It really proves my point about social engineering via the Idiot Box that EVERYONE asks this question. Really? THAT is your first question? I'm pulling my child out of public school to give him this fancy schmancy "Classical Education" and your first question is about "socialization"?????

The Well Trained Mind gives a good little snippet:

"Thirty years ago [actually, now more like 40 some], Cornell Professor of Child Development Urie Bronfenbrenner warned that the "socially-isolated, age-graded peer group" created a damaging dependency in which middle-school students relied on their classmates for approval, direction and affection. He warned that if parents, other adults, and older children continued to be absent from the active daily life of younger children, we could expect "alienation, indifference, antagonism, and violence on the part of the younger generation."

I think the point there has been proven very well over the past decade or so.

Also, go talk to a homeschooled kid. The only "awkward" thing I have ever seen about the homeschooled children I have interacted with is that they are confident and well spoken. It's funny how we find these traits strange in children rather than desirable. Apparently, a child is only normal if they are rude to adults or very unsure of themselves?? Seriously, I have a hard time understanding how well spoken children can be considered "awkward"...

We got the Life of Fred Elementary series today. I really didn't want to drop another $150, but these came so so highly recommended all over the place and, like I said before, I am really nervous about math and want all the help we can get. Hopefully I can do a small review on them soon.

Quick Update

I still want to give a more in-depth post of the things I promised last time, but I thought I'd post a few quick things while Thing 3 is sleeping on Big Daddy.

We got the Singapore math material. I was a little surprised when I looked at it. There's something that seems almost... cheap?... about it... I'm not sure how to explain it. There are a lot of pictures. Most of the problems are worked via pictures. It's something that always bothered me with public school math, math is numbers not pictures! At least, in my head. But I am a very logical thinker and it seems that my kids tend to be more creative thinkers so this might be just what he needs. I've honestly been dreading math for this very reason... that I might not be able to explain it in terms he can grasp. We started on 1B and I also bought the extra practice book (which unfortunately also includes materials from 1A). Thing 2 Breezed through a whole bunch of stuff already in the practice book. We also did a lesson from the current text book. So far so good, we shall see.

I've also been reading some forums and blogs. I saw this whole "lapbooking" thing. I'm not going to get into what it is now, you have Google. I ordered some stuff to do this, it looks like something fun for us. It also looks like it might be a real pain in the ass thing to get sucked into buying stuff for and spending time I don't have making. Again, we'll just have to see.

I am starting to get our stuff organized. I bought a cabinet (here) in which to put everything I don't want Thing 3 to get a hold of. The handles are perfect for putting childproof locks on. I also grabbed some plastic storage bins of various smaller sizes for the loose stuff. Maybe I will take pictures after it's all set up.

I got some more of our supplies today:

• 2 Magic School Bus Science kits (Nature and Rainbows), I definitely want to grab more of these as topics arise.
• Some more books, including Slow and Steady Get Me Ready, one that I am really looking forward to for Thing 3
• I also got some math manipulatives: Big buttons (awesome if you have little ones because all the other "counters" are choking hazards), clock, di, and an abacus

That's it for now!

Intro

This is nothing like my other blogs or writings, so I first have to apologize if this is dry, boring, unappealing, scattered, stuttered, unorganized or otherwise not good...

Here's a little bit about me and the offspring (plural):

Thing 1 is 14 and still going to public school by his own choice

Thing 2 is 8 and I pulled him out of public school after Christmas break of his 2nd grade year

Thing 3 is 18 months old and well, a terror (he is also still breastfed, which throws a monkey wrench into things)

I am a recently unemployed 30 year old who pretty much despises public schools and the powers that be telling me how and why and where my child is to be educated. I don't want them to grow up to be part of the herd. I don't want them to be trained to be just another cog in someone else's machine. I want them to be able to think for themselves and find REAL answers, not just what is fed to them by media. I am also not Christian (or anything else (including Atheist - yes, it IS a religion), something that will also come into play I am sure, given that most of the homeschool groups in my area are Christian based).

A while back, my husband bought a book called The Well Trained Mind. He really got into the Trivium thing and wanted to teach our youngest that way. I'd never read anything about it and it all sounded quite difficult to me. My decision to begin homeschooling was made after reading Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto. It really hit home to me and I began reading some other material by John Holt, a proponent of "Unschooling". While his material made sense to me in a way, I struggled with grasping how a child became educated with such a "program" (or lack of). Sure, they'd learn basic life skills from me and they'd probably learn about what interested them, but that seemed to be missing something...

I remember reading some blogs and posting from homeschoolers following the "unschool" method and was particularly disturbed by a mother stating that she basically let her child play video games all the time. Now, in fairness, she though he was learning math and reasoning skills and he had also expressed an interest in "video game design". However, she never mentioned anything about teaching him or giving him materials to learn how to write code or do graphic design or any particular aptitude the child had for either.  How many kids do you think dream about making video games for a living?? If I had a nickel... And that doesn't even begin to cover my feelings about TV and video games in general. We call it The Idiot Box in our house and our children have very strict limits on its use. That thing was invented for one reason - PROGRAMMING. All it spews is propaganda and the only purpose it serves is to either be the circus to go with your bread or to program you to be a good serf.

Life isn't about what YOU want. Particularly what you wanted as a small child or even as a teenager. Life is full of things you don't want to do. I hate doing dishes, DESPISE it, but I have to do dishes if we want clean dishes to eat off of at each meal. Maybe this method works for a parent who is super in-tune or creative and probably doesn't have an 18 month old hurricane crashing through their house every day... But it just wasn't for me. I felt powerless after taking Thing 2 out of school. I felt like I should be doing something but I didn't know what. Maybe all those years of public education left me needing someone to always tell me what to do.

For some reason, about 2 months into Thing 2 being home, I picked up The Well Trained Mind and I was sold. Particularly after reading this quote from the book:

"Rigorous study develops virtue in the student: the ability to act in accordance to what one knows to be right. Virtuous men (or women) can force themselves to do what they know is right, even when it runs against their inclinations."

My children would gladly sit around and play video games all day. I don't want my kids to be taught from video games or television. I want to EDUCATE them. Sure, they can grow up knowing what they need to get by, or they can grow up with the tools, knowledge and confidence to think on their own, for themselves.

So probably about $1000 later, here we are teaching the Trivium. I decided to start with mostly 1st grade material and play catch up (except math and spelling). I pretty much followed all of the suggestions in the book and purchased most of the Well Trained Mind curriculum books (the History series is AWESOME!). In addition, we are using the following:

1. Spelling: Spelling Workout from Modern Curriculum Press. I stupidly bought book A thinking we'd kind of start fresh, it was WAY too easy for him. We did a few things for refresher and moved on to book B which is still very easy for him (we actually have a decent public school district). I figure we will just move through it quickly.
2.  Math: Singapore math. I got this partially because I thought it was a good option and partially because it was one of the less expensive options. It hasn't arrived yet, so we'll see how it goes.
3. Handwriting: Zaner-Bloser. I got 2M (manuscript aka printing) and 2C (cursive). 2M was too simple so we've moved onto 2C. I also bought a ream of 2nd grade paper.

For everything else, we are using the Peacehill Press  (Well Trained Mind) stuff:

1. History: The Story of The World Volume 1: Ancient Times (Book, activity book and tests and answers, I also got a PDF download of the activity pages (like $8) because I was sick of scanning them and printing and I want to be able to reuse the book for Thing 3.
2. Writing: Writing with Ease Book and Workbook Level 1(for this I also bought the PDF of workbook pages). I've found that the book and the workbook have the exact same text, just the workbook has student pages in the back and only covers 1 year. The workbook also has more passages from books so you don't have to read your own. If you're lazy, like me, and want the workbook pages already made up and everything right there for you to pick up and go, then get the workbooks each year. If you're cool with making your own pages (there's nothing special about the ones in the workbook, it's either short copywork lines and some writing lines, or a question about the passage and writing lines, you can use writing lines paper if you feel like your child needs the lines and they can copy from the book) and using passages from your own books (or library books) buy the complete book once and be done with it.
3. Grammar: First Language Lessons for The Well Trained Mind.

So this is where we are at with the basics. Tomorrow, I will try to cover some of the extras (and science material) then maybe give some in depth reviews. I'll also try to cover our "set up". Hopefully this info will help someone out there!

I also want to add that I probably went overboard buying stuff (income tax return) because I always feel like the more I buy, the better prepared I am, which of course is not true at all, but alas... I will try to give some cost saving tips (things that might be easier of you don't have really little ones or if, damn you, your kids are better behaved than mine and you can get to the library more).