Demystifying Homeschooling -- Some Tips

I've always enjoyed learning things--maybe because my Mom and Dad were both teachers and librarians had something to do with it, eh?  Nevertheless, I started as an English grammar and composition teacher at a parochial school on Guam (Bishop Baumgartner Junior High School in Sinajana, if you really must know)... and the following year, became a basic science and biology teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Tumon.

Like I said, I loved teaching. Because I loved learning (still do!).  But the way teachers are paid nowadays and the way that teaching and education in general has become a political football and the way that parents expect the public school teachers (and the parochial school instructors as well) to be nothing but glorified babysitters  have made it such that teaching has lost a lot of its aura.  Also... because of that, the quality of education has gotten so bad that, many of us as parents, have chosen to say "heck with it" and have resorted to teaching our kids ourselves.

 My wife and I have been blessed in that my sole income from my jobs allowed us to have her stay home for the 13 years it took to get both of my kids through all 12 years of school requirements. My wife and I had both been public school teachers--so the *process* wasn't too daunting--however, it was tough for us to get rid of the schoolmarmish ways and some of the more rigid thinking that had been indoctrinated into us as teachers and as students ourselves. We both participated with teaching our two--and also shared with teaching a support and co-op group of other homeschooling families.

 So... the questions are: How does one make the leap? What resources are out there?  How on earth can you manage this?  Is it "legal". (Hey, at least in the U.S., we're still somewhat of a *free* country--but it *is* good to have a little backup from the HSLDA--Home School Legal Defense Association.)

 For textbooks?  Hmmmm.  Well--in early America--some homes had only one book present. (You can probably guess which book that was, eh?). That book served as a reader and as a way for children to develop morals as well as their thinking processes while also learning how to read.  Nowadays, we have all sorts of references easily available. As soon as a kid shows interest in anything written, it's a good time to sit on the couch with them and start reading to them--and pointing to the words and sounding them out.  Soon, the kid will have that portion of the book memorized and will want more reading.  By reading to the kid early in life, you are instilling a love and thirst for knowledge that will forever help that kid in anything else the kid decides to do in life.

When my wife and I were public school teachers, we were required one summer to take a "workshop" called "Reading in the Content Area"--basically it was teaching us how to use our biology textbooks, or math textbooks, or history textbooks, or home economics textbooks or social studies textbooks to train the kids how to "read". 

Well.. although for a public school, that idea is a tad warped... for homeschooling or "unschooling", the idea is great.  You can use ANY PRINTED MEDIA (and the Internet, for that matter) as a tool to teach reading. And writing. And critical thinking. 

So... if your young-un is interested in fishes--let's say the kid took a family vacation (aka "fieldtrip") to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and took a liking to Sharks... you can stock up on some Shark books and magazine and newspaper articles and turn the kid's interest in sharks into a project.  By measuring shark dimensions, you're teaching math. By learning about the inner workings of the critter and the critter's environment, you are teaching biology. By drawing pictures or taking pictures of the sharks, you are teaching art.  Throughout all of this project work, the learning of reading, writing, and critical thinking comes into play.  (And if you happen to have some shark steaks from the local supermarket, you can even teach "home economics"/"cooking"--and even write down the recipe and cooking instructions!) 

This is the gist of homeschooling/unschooling.  By letting the kid work on his interests (but also bringing in all the other parts of learning into the whole process), the kid learns that LIFE is not a separate bunch of topics that are dictated by bells ringing every 50 minutes or so and running down the hall to beat the next bell.

I'll bring some more ideas to this Squidoo Lens as I think of more goodies for you.  My wife and I are now watching our two adult children make it in the world.  My daughter is an Operations Manager at a Flight Training School at a local airport (she doesn't live with us any more)... and now she's learning how to fly planes while also attending college. My son is now in the U.S. Air Force after having work tutoring and mentoring troubled youth as well as learning how to be a dad to his new baby daughter and a husband to his new wife.

Because we were really close to our two kids through our homeschooling--our kids are still close to us--and talk to us frequently--and also enjoy being with us.  And the best part? We enjoy being around them as well.

I hope this has encouraged some of you to give homeschooling/unschooling a try.  I'll put some links to resources for you below this tome.

Thanks for reading this... and I hope it has helped!