I have been pushing my daughter rather hard in language Arts and in social studies this week. 

The reason we are pushing hard in language arts is not because she is behind, or because she is not doing well.  I just want her to finish sixth grade langauge arts in the  next couple of months because I know that she needs to do some additional work on antonyms and synomyms.  I already have some antonym games  and some additional synonym practice exercises lined up.  I want her to review these two things because I need her to take some standardized tests over the summer, and I am going to get her to systematically review some of the high points of grammar between the time she finishes sixth grade language arts and the time she takes the tests. 

I’m pretty sure that she will do well on these language arts subjects.  She learns these things pretty fast, and usually retains them, so the practice is just extra.

The social studies, well, that is a different story.  You see, I let social studies go in an order that is different than that prescribed by most standards based curriculum.  We took the opportunity to study things that came up, rather than sticking to the order that our curriculum said to study things in.  Now, while we are not really behind, because we have covered a lot of information, and I’m comfortable with what my daughter knows, we have not covered the things I think she might see on a standardized test designed for sixth graders.

So, long story short, we have to go backwards.  My sixth grader has to go back to fourth grade social studies and cover the Revolutionary War, and back to fifth grade social studies and cover the Civil War.  The chapters are so long, and part of the reason that I allowed us to do other social studies besides those listed in the scope and sequence for 4th and 5th grade is because I looked at the long chapters and was overwhelmed.

I really feel bad, because I got overwhelmed by the amount of material presented, I didn’t make my daughter learn that information in a timely manner.  Now we have to play catch up. 

It won’t be all that bad, and I don’t have set dates for the standardized tests yet, so we have some flexibility.  My curriculum doesn’t have a seperate 8th grade social studies, hmm, maybe I can catch us up over the course 7th grade and 8th grade.  I wonder, can I put off standardized testing that long?  That is certainly worth thinking about.  I guess I also need to remember that one of the reasons I homeschool is because of the flexibility.  Maybe we won’t be having standardized tests this coming summer after all!

Well, the new year is under way. I am looking at the things we did last semester. I’m pretty sure we didn’t do enough. How can that be? We work almost every day at school.

Ok, so sometimes our school days are not long enough. But when I look back at the stuff we have done, I have a box full of stuff. Maybe I am expecting too much. I know that the homeschool curriculum we utilize is adequate. The reality is, our homeschool curriculum presents more material than my daughter would be exposed to in public school.

And the weird thing is, I feel the need to make my daughter do all of the material presented. Am I out to prove that she is smart enough to cover all of the material in one year, even though it is more than she would learn in public school?

I don’t know. Her homeschool portfolio is quite adequately filled with both curriculum material and extra-curricular material.

What I do know is that I want the best possible education I can present to her. I don’t ever want her to look back and say, wow, I wish I had had this thing or that thing in homeschool.

Here is the thing I have to decide. Do I continue to push her to do more and more work? Do I back off and let her coast at the same level her public school peers would be at? How do decide what is enough material for each grade? If I can just find the happy middle ground, excellent education without overwhelming her, then I will be happy.

So, this week, this is my quandary, how hard to I push? My daughter is not a self starter, so I must push some, but how much is enough?

I’d love to hear any comments!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I hope all of you are having a great holiday week! I know that not everyone celebrates in the same way, but this time of year is so full of holidays and warm family times. I hope that you are taking advantage of this time.

I also know that school is taking a back seat right now, at least at my house. In the next week we are breaking in my daughter’s new computer that she got for Christmas, it came loaded with a lot of games and things we transferred from the desk top to her new lap top.

One of the things I am going to get her to do in the next week, between Christmas and New Year’s Day is work on some typing games. Part of this is to keep her brain from totally turning into mush, and part of this is to familiarize her with her keyboard. Because come the beginning of January we are jumping back to school in full swing and she will be using her computer for school as well as fun.

I’m thinking about getting her to fun a couple of other education type games as well, maybe some vocabulary games, or maybe put her on a search to find out information about something that interests her, like horses, or dogs. She will practice research skills, and learn a lot of things about her new computer in the process.

I hope that you all have a great and joyous time, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!!

?

Did you know that homeschooling was a growing trend? I live in an area that has decent schools, relatively speaking, and still I meet a lot of parents who are new to homeschooling or who are considering homeschooling.

I believe that “the establishment” is not reporting correct numbers of homeschooling children. Part of the reason for this is the fact that there is no national rule under which homeschoolers are defined. Each state determines the definition of homeschooling. In fact, some states do not even have a legal designation of homeschooling, even though it is legal to homeschool your children in all fifty states. Some states require that children educated at home be educated under an “umbrella school” and because those home educated children are in a “school” they are not considered homeschooled.

Other states require that homeschooled children be part of a charter school, and so like umbrella schools, or cover schools, these children are not counted as homeschoolers, but under a type of school. See how that could mess up the overall picture of homeschool statistics?

Don’t get me wrong, I do not want a national rule, or any oversight at all by the government, be it local, state, or federal. I currently live in a state that has minimal oversight or control of how I homeschool my child. Next year, (probably, hopefully, keeping my fingers crossed!) I will be moving to a different state. That state has umbrella schools and private tutors as the only two ways to homeschool my child.

I will still be able to homeschool, fortunately, I will just have to learn how to do the administrative, legal stuff with the state differently. And you want to know the beauty of homeschooling? Her homeschool curriculum will remain the same, so she will not have that stress to add to the stress of the move.

All of this is just wild talk at this point because we are currently on Christmas break and will be until after the first of the year. Reason 975 why we homeschool…we are in control of my daughter’s schedule, and our family time.

I hope you are having some down time during this holiday season with your children. Do some fun things, uphold some traditions, and make some great memories!! Children grow up so fast, enjoy them! Happy Holidays!!