Myths, Half-Truths and Propaganda Part 2

Last week I posted my list of Top 10 Homeschooling Myths, Half-Truths and Propaganda.  I was being a little silly and sarcastic, but my point is that you need to be aware of these things so that you can be discerning and not base your support for homeschooling on weak arguments or false expectations.   Here are the last five of my Top 10 list, and then I will have some thoughts about why all this is important.

Continuing from last Tuesday...

6. We don’t need no socialization!

Myth. 

If there is one question that homeschoolers get constantly it is, “What about socialization?”  So we have built up lots of arguments against this, almost to the point of refuting that it is even a legitimate issue at all.  Let’s face it, we have all seen homeschoolers who are the “stereotype” of a strange, awkward, unsocialized kid.  Most people I know don’t want to be “those homeschoolers”.  By that I mean, we don’t want to be so removed from the world that we can’t even communicate with it anymore.  And it can be difficult at times trying to find the right activities for your kids to get involved with, trying to balance protection and unrealistic sheltering, and making sure your kids are exposed to non-christian, non-homeschooled kids so they can learn to interact with people who are not like them!  If we ignore that this can be a challenge because we don’t want to acknowledge the repetitive socialization question, then we might be closing our eyes to a legitimate concern.

7.  “Train up a child” is a promise!

Half-Truth. 

Hold on, how can I say that the Bible is half-truth?!  “Train up a child in the way he should go and in the end he will not depart from it.” (Prov. 22:6)  The problem is not with the Bible, it is with the interpretation.  Here is a helpful alliterative phrase to help you with wisdom from the book of Proverbs:  “Proverbs are Principles not Promises.”  This means that it is a true principle that training up a child in the way they should go is a very good indicator that they will continue to follow in those ways.  The reverse principle is also true, if you don’t look to the ways you train a child, you can’t expect for them to follow in those ways.  But Proverbs are not promises or guarantees.  Look to any mature Christian parent and see how many have raised  all their children with exactly the same training and yet one follows the Lord and another doesn’t.  You see, we think that because we homeschool our kids we are then guaranteed that they will turn out great.  This is not what the passage means.  Salvation is of the Lord and if we don’t realize that, we will be trusting in our efforts and not in the power of Christ.

8.       Homeschooling protects my child from evil in the world.            

Myth.

The evil is not in the world, it is in US. We are the problem. Our hearts don't seek God, they are in rebellion against him. If we believe that all we need to do is to keep the external evil away from our children - we will be missing the most insidious evil: OUR attempts to be our own Savior through our own righteousness. I have a great book club going on right now on this subject, if you want to study this more!

9.  Government schools are the enemy.

Propaganda.

It is true that government schools are based on a naturalistic, secular worldview, that many times there is a subtle agenda towards teaching certain subjects according to the prevailing politically correct cause and that prayer and religious expression have all been eliminated from the classroom.  But let’s not be confused.  The enemy is Satan.  There are many public school teachers who  are Christians and who are battling that enemy in their classrooms.  There are Christians in our churches who maintain a high level of involvement as a witness in the midst of this highly secular environment, because they believe they have a calling to that mission field.  Public schools have good resources to offer to homeschoolers in terms of enrichment programs, testing services and sports programs to name just a few.  Many times the assistance offered by the public schools can help a new homeschooling family to transition into homeschooling on their own, or help them with academic resources and experts for free.  This leads me to #10…

10.  Homeschooling is the only biblical way to educate.

Half-Truth.

I think the case can be made (and has been strongly made) by homeschool speakers and advocates that parents are responsible for the education of their children.  I do not believe that we can then extend that to mean that every subject that a child is taught needs to be taught by the parent.  Most homeschoolers will admit that they take advantage of all kinds of resources – tutors, co-ops, computer learning, grandparents, other homeschooling parents to help them to teach their own children.  All of this occurs under the supervision of the parent, even if they aren’t the ones doing the teaching.  Additionally, if we were to say that children should only be educated by their parents then we would have to discount all kinds of biblical examples of children being educated by Rabbi’s in the synagogue.  This is likely the way that Jesus was educated, as all Jewish boys were educated this way.  Finally, if we are so dogmatic about this, what would I do if I were to have a debilitating stroke, my husband were to lose his job and we had no ability to educate our own kids?  We would send them to public, charter or private schools because this is what God has provided for us in that situation.  We would also trust that God would help us to continue to supervise their education, to disciple them in their faith and to help them to discern between truth and error.

Conclusion

Most of the first 5 in my list have been silly and harmless, but these last 5 are a little more touchy.  All 10 of them can have serious implications.  One big implication that comes from over-stating benefits is that it can lead to false expectations and assumptions about what things will be like.  Another implication is that we cannot notice our own blind-spots and weaknesses.  Finally, we can become prideful and exclusionist towards other believers who have not made the same educational choices that we have.  For all these things there is a remedy - Repent and Believe!  Your acceptance in Christ is not based on your performance, but on Christ who was the Way, the Truth and the Life.  Look to him and be amazed that he has given us access to the Father apart from our works, but on the basis of His Work - His life, death and resurrection.

How Do You Make Learning Fun? {The Answers!}

Last week I asked all my blog, Facebook and email friends to help me with ideas for making learning fun.  I had several people share their ideas with me and so I wanted to make them available to you!  I have grouped them in categories based on school subject or type of learning activity:

• General Ideas,
• Math,
• Memorization,
• Reading, 
• Educational Games, Apps or Websites

General Ideas

• Always be a little goofy and surprise the kids. If they never know what you will do, they stay interested. I would stand on a chair, talk in silly voices now and then, sometimes not talk at all and just use hand motions.  (HC)  This especially works for me when we have long read-alouds! (JG)
• Try and make it as "real-life" as possible. Act out the stories or songs, when we study coins, I set up a "shop" full of their toys and they "buy" them, I have recently turned out basement into the desert for our science unit, we have acted out segments of history. The physical nature of all this also seems to help kids retain the learning a bit more too.  (HC)

Heather's Science Biome Activity!

•  Working with a partner. Sometimes it is just more fun to work with a partner on a task. Whether it be something creative or even something "dry" such as measuring items around the house.  (HC)  Sometimes I am their partner - we "figure it out together" especially if it is working through a tough math problem or brainstorming ideas for pre-writing.  There is always less stress if Mom joins the ranks of learner with the kids!  (JG) 
• Occasionally, when least expected, we "work" for treats. Usually I did this after a day when the class was just being blah and didn't seem to have their brains turned on. (HC)
•  Have a guest teacher or co-teacher. Even letting a kids teach can often add a new dimension of fun to the classroom. (HC)  We had Grandpa in for a lesson one day, since he is a former NASA project manager!  (JG)
• Change the learning environment - whether a field trip, just going outside, or just redecorating / moving furniture.  This can often inspire new ideas.  (HC)
• Videos - I judiciously use video, since boys especially are captivated by images.  I don't let them watch the movie version of a book until they have read the book (or had it read to them.)  I don't substitute the video learning for the book, but after we have learned some about a concept, I will then reinforce what they've learned with a video (Discovery channel, BBC Earth, Bill Nye the Science Guy, History videos from www.havefunwithhistory.com).  Sometimes the videos enhance their interest and cause them to go back to the books to learn more! (JG)
• Family Vacation- We always make sure we hit an educational stop on our family vacation.  We love national parks and national monuments - the boys are accomplished Junior Rangers at quite a few destinations. (JG)
• Kinesthetic Learners - Letting them bounce on an exercise ball while doing their work or reading or memorizing really helps.  Chewing gum is also a good thing to help those kids who hae to move, to focus (LH).

Math

• Facts practice:  Turn it into a game of around the world, or something of the sort.  A game where the more facts you know, the more moves or chances you get.  When we were introducing simple addition within 10, I put plates on the floor 0-10 and had my kids hop on them like frogs.  (i.e. - I told them to stand on 2 and asked how many till 10, they would hop 9 plates - we then said 2 + 8 = 10).  (HC) I have been teaching multiplication by making rows of little cars on the floor.  Ex:  3 rows of 4 cars each is 12.  I also have my son add up the scores to board games and card games (especially UNO) to teach math.  (PB)
• Fractions:  Food!  Cookies, pizza, pie, amount of M&Ms etc.  Begin with the whole... what if we each get half, etc.  You can also use cardboard boxes (or carpet squares) as houses and divide up the "house: into frations according to "rooms".  (HC)
• Measurement:  I have the kids measure things around the house  You can also do a scavenger hunt.  "Find the item in this room that weighs 2 pounds or is 3 inches long".  Cooking is great for measurement as well (cook something yummy they will want to eat).  If they are older, you can have them build something - build a birdouse that is 5 inches high and 6 inches long etc.  Obviously they will need help cutting etc.  But what a great example of what an actual builder does.  You can even introduce blueprints, CAD etc off this.  You can have them predict which is longer, weigs more etc.  or how many inches or pounds it is.  Closest prediction gets a prize.  (HC)
• Word Problems:  I think if they can be acted out (at least some of them) it helps kids nderstand that word problems are real life math - not just something in a book that they hve to do.  Many times kinesthetic learners (like me) get lost in all the words.  The chance to act or draw out the problem not only makes it more fun but also makes it understandable for them. (HC)

Memorizing

• Use music!  You can set almost anything to a familiar tune.  (We sing the presidents to the tune of Yankee Doodle.)  Lots of resources are available that set different facts to songs, from math facts to geography facts to bible verses.  (Check out my post on Seeds Family Worship for more on verse memorization.) (JG)
• Rewards!  When we have pancakes, waffles, crepes or French toast for breakfast, I let our kids put whipped cream on top (out of the spray can).  If theycan recite a Bible verse (any verse, including the reference)  they can have a "dollop" directly in their mouths.  They LOVE it, and the small amount of sugar content is worth hearing them BEG to recite verses many mornings, sometimes several verses at a time! (SE)
• Motions!  We like to make up motions to anything we are tryng to memorize.  (SP)

Reading

• I motivate my boys to read by reading aloud to them to stir their interest in a new author or series or subject.  I wrote more on this here.  (JG)
• Mine are too young to read on their own.  I have seen people do sticker charts for each book and then get a reward after so many books read.  Theme units can be fun too.  Find books on a topic the kids may be interested in (country, aimal, sport, time period etc) and study it - nothing intense.  You can add any related art, music, dress, games, food or other projects (paper mache etc. ) to it to help make it fun.  Sometimes even "sharing" reading.  You read a page to them, they read a page to you under a tree, tent or in a hammock can be fun. (HC)
• I have recently decided that it's completely okay for some of their reading time to be books tat are WAY too easy for them.  Sometimes letting them just revisit the easy stuff below their level gives them a boost of confidence and not everything has to be a challenge every time.  So, my idea here is just to simply back off and let them take a few steps back every once in a while!  (Can you imagine?)  (SE)

Educational Games, Apps or Websites

• Jeopardy - Our kids LOVE to watch Jeopardy on TV.  Seriously.  I have to create this game myself but I like to write out questions to review content we have learned during the year, or during a particular unit.  We did a World War II jeopardy game and I was really surprised at how much they remembered.  We also did one as an end of the year wrap-up and celebration.  It was fun to see everything we had covered!  (JG)
• Math - www.fun4thebrain.com
• Spelling- ipad app called "Spelling Test".  We load each girls spelling list into the app.  It speaks the word to them and they have to spell it corretly.  It keeps track for me too. (SP)
• Geography - iPad app called "Stack the States", www.yourchildlearns.com has interactive maps and interactive stories. 
• Reading - www.starfall.com
• Vocabulary - www.dynamo.dictionary.com - You can input your word list and play games.
• General - www.purposegames.com
• Board Games -  The Scrambled States of America, Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, Cash Flow, Set (card game), GeoPuzzles... 

What other ideas do you have to add to our list?  Add your ideas to the comments section!  I'm hoping this will be great inspiration for adding creativity to the upcoming school year!

**Thanks to Heather (HC), Sarah (SP), Sue (SE), Patty (PB), and Lara (LH) for sending ideas for this post. 

Watch Out for Myths, Half-Truths and Propaganda!

Today's post is inspired by the 10 in 10 link up from iHomechool Network and hosted at Many Little Blessings. The topic is: Top 10 Pieces of Advice for a New Homeschooler.

Homeschoolers LOVE to talk about the benefits of homeschooling.  Really, there are a lot of benefits!  After my first 5 years of homeschooling, however, I have found that some of these benefits can be a bit... um... overstated?  In fact, because I like to be somewhat sarcastic occasionally, I am going to give you my...

Top 10 Homeschooling Myths, Half-Truths and Propaganda. 

Well, I will give you 5 today and 5 next week.  This week are the silly ones, next week I'll try the more serious ones.

Just to make sure I don't offend anyone TOO much, I give you these definitions (cherry picked from the internet to fit my purpose):

Myth-  idealized conception: a set of often idealized or glamorized ideas and stories surrounding a particular phenomenon, concept, or famous person

Half-Truth- A deceptive statement, especially one that is only partly true, incomplete, or misrepresents reality.

Propaganda- a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position.

*To be sure, I don't think anyone told me these things in an attempt to deceive - we homeschoolers  just sometimes get a little over-zealous in our attempts to convey our enthusiasm about homeschooling!* 

Here we go!

1.        We can do school in our PJ’s!

Half-Truth. 

This is a bonus when you have toddlers, are sick or on snowy days, but let’s face it-  It would just be lazy and weird if we did this every day.  I need to get dressed so I don’t feel like a slug, if you know what I mean.

2.        Homeschool takes less time than public school!

Propaganda. 

We can complete our basic school subjects before lunch, but there are some days we don’t even BEGIN our subjects until after lunch.  There have been years when we finished our school year WAY earlier than our public school neighbors, and the year that we did school half way through the summer because of family circumstances that stopped school  altogether in the winter.  Then there is the fact that homeschooling isn’t just doing school at home, it becomes a lifestyle.  Sometimes we watch educational videos for family movie night, take vacations that are primarily educational and let’s face it, if Mom and Dad are doing the teaching, you NEVER leave school.  So, although it is technically true that we are outside playing way before the public school neighbors get home, there is plenty of school going on at lots of other times as well.

3.       They will probably be ahead of the public school kids no matter what you do!

Half-Truth. 

I hear this one a lot when I am discouraged and wonder if we are doing all the things that we should be doing, or if I feel we are getting behind.  A fellow homeschooler may encourage me with, “They are probably still ahead of the public school kids.”  This is partly true.  In general, studies say that homeschoolers are ahead of their public school counterparts in standardized test scores and other indicators. (See this info graphic.)  However, just because the average homeschooler is generally ahead, doesn’t mean that if I neglect certain aspects of my child’s education that they will still be ahead, or even at the place they should be.  There are plenty of times when my kids are ahead of “the curve”, but plenty of times when they are behind “the curve” either from my own neglect of a subject area or simply because my kid's ability is not as strong in that area.  I need to be diligent to give my kids the skills they need and I also need to not have to compare them to public school kids as a measure of my effectiveness.

4.       We don’t know what grade they are in!

Myth. 

OK, so the child has a 12^th grade reading level a 6^th grade math level, a 2^nd grade spelling level, knows Latin verb conjugations but has atrocious handwriting.  Homeschooling allows for kids to work at their own pace, which is fantastic.  But really, I think we all know what “grade level” our kids are in.  It is really just another way to state age, really.  The fourth year of school = fourth grade.  If I am saying, “But my child started school when they were 2 years old”, maybe I just need to ask myself if my child’s performance is a matter of pride or self-righteousness and then, is that the message I want my kids to receive and send to others when someone asks them, “What grade are you in?” 

5.       Even going to the grocery store can be a field trip!

Myth.

People told me when I started homeschooling that everyday chores could be counted as school – I was so excited!  It is true that our learning should consist of practical learning as well as the academic subjects and that is a benefit of homeschooling.  But after dragging three boys on countless grocery store trips over the years… grocery shopping is not educational it is just survival!

Do you have any homeschooling myths, half-truths or propaganda that you would like to dispel for us?  I would love to hear them in the comments!

Come back  next Tuesday for the rest of my Top 10 Homeschooling Myths, Half-Truths and Propaganda.  And don't forget to check out the other lists at Many Little Blessings today!

Top 10 Questions People (Really) Asked Me

I have to admit that I didn’t think this post would be all that interesting.  Most of the time when I mention that I homeschool, people smile and nod, but rarely do they ask the hard questions that I know are really going through their brain.  If they are interested in homeschooling themselves, they may ask questions, but these are interest driven questions, not ones that may threaten me.  Oh, sure homeschoolers all learn the “answers” to the typical hard questions, but I frankly get tired of the standard answers.  The typical responses tend to treat these questions like they are coming from a hostile “outsider” not a caring, inquisitive person who might be my friend or my relative, who is supportive of me, but just doesn’t “get” why I would do this, and might be afraid to ask because they don’t want to offend me.  So I wasn’t planning on answering the typical questions.  Then I posted to Facebook a request for questions that people would like to ask me.  (Facebook tends to give people the freedom to ask questions they might not otherwise ask, but would really like to know.)  In fact, this post has already generated more feedback than all my other 25 blog posts so far  - even before it was written!  The questions I received were great and really caused me to think not only about my response, but how I would specifically respond to the person who asked them.  These are not nameless, faceless questions, they come from friends who I love and respect, so I will do my best to answer them with love and respect.  I haven’t changed the questions at all, I just copied them over from my Facebook page.   (This is MUCH longer than a typical blog post, so feel free to scroll to the questions that most interest you!)

Here goes:

1.      Why are you choosing to homeschool your kids?

There is a long list of reasons why we homeschool:  flexible school schedules, time, alternative curriculum methods, customized education, one-on-one instruction, worldview development, social environment, family bonding, spiritual instruction, and because we love it! 

2.     What's wrong with the public school system?

That is a loaded question!  Let me answer that with what I think is RIGHT with the public school system.  They have some of the most dedicated teachers I know, who do a very difficult job with very little credit and even less pay.  They work hard to get better at what they do and give as much attention to each individual student as they can.  I greatly respect them.  I would not want to do what they do.  My father-in-law, grandmother-in-law, pastor’s wife, college roommate, cousin and one of my mentors are all (or have been) public school teachers.  Our choice to homeschool definitely should not be seen as a slight to these people who have spent a lot of hard work to be good at what they do.  At the same time, all these people also would admit that not all the teachers are equally dedicated, and more importantly – the system that they work under frequently hinders them from doing the work that they would like to do.  That’s as far as I will go with that one!

3.     How will you "do" high school?

Well, I haven’t committed to high school yet…  I like to think that we take things one year at a time.  Although, that is not entirely true.  We assess what we are doing every year, but we do like to think long term about where we are going and how we will prepare them for future grades, whether we are doing the schooling at home or not.  If we do homeschool through high school, there are some really incredible resources to make sure that our kids get college prep experience in all sorts of subjects, regardless of my capability to teach all of those subjects.  High school, as I understand it, begins to become more of a preparation for life than even a “normal” high school can be, because I can seek out subject experts to tutor the kids in math or chemistry or writing, I can provide internships in areas of interest and skill (because they have time for that) and we can also enroll in community college courses so that it is possible to use high school time to get a leg up on college core requirements.  The possibilities for creating experiences that really support the boys’ strengths and interests is pretty exciting (but I won’t think about it too much yet….)

4.     What about socialization and dealing with the "real world" as opposed to an artificial, insular, over protective environment?

Any homeschooler will tell you that socialization is their biggest question.  There are some social experiences that are helpful, some that are harmful and some that are neutral.  If we are talking about helpful social experiences such as making friends, playing sports, meeting people who are different than you, these are all things that homeschoolers get in abundance and with people from all different age groups (babies to senior citizens)!  If we are talking about harmful social experiences, homeschoolers can be protected from the over-abundance of these experiences, or they can experience them within a safe environment and with the guidance of parents who can help to frame these things in ways that turn them into learning and growing experiences.  (Public school parents can do this too, but more things can slip through the cracks, especially as the kids get older.  At least that is how it worked when I was in public school.)  Some social experiences are neutral… I’m pretty sure my kids understand how to stand in line, how to eat their lunch quickly if they need to, how to raise their hand to ask a question.  (I’m not being snarky about these things… they are honestly things people have mentioned to me as important social aspects that my kids might be missing!)  My kids have non-homeschooling friends from church, neighborhood and sports.  They hear words they shouldn’t hear.  They have been exposed to different lifestyles and even to outright evil that I wish I could have protected them from more.  How and when we expose our kids to the “world” is a matter of wisdom and prayer.  I agree that homeschool should definitely be a place of preparation for mission in the world, and not just separation from it.

5.     How do you decide on curriculum?

I research homeschool websites and curriculum providers, I ask friends what has worked for them, I read books on educational methods and learning styles, I try things and assess how they work, I ask more questions, do more research, wash rinse repeat.  I really enjoy it actually!

6.     How do you stay one step ahead to keep them occupied?

This is what seems really hard to imagine from the outside looking in.  It can be tough, but the kids and I start to get into a routine of what is expected during certain times of the day.  For the youngest, I provide plenty of coloring books, puzzles, picture books, Legos and short learning activities.  When they were toddlers, they had “school boxes” that had different activities they could only do during school time and that kept them busy.

7.     What is the most difficult and/or frustrating aspect of homeschooling your sons?

ME!  It is hard to realize that you are your kids’ primary role model and yet to realize how often you fail at that every day.  Parenting itself is one of God’s best tools for sanctifying us (making us more like Him), and the more hours a day you are at it, the more you feel it!  I cannot make my children good, smart, successful, moral, or even Christian – but I really want to!  So I am the most frustrating thing… when I am trusting in myself.  I daily have to cling to the cross and realize the depth of my need, OUR need – but that is a fight of faith, for sure!   

8.      What can a spouse (in the supporting role) of a homeschooling parent do that is the most help?

 I think the most helpful thing a spouse in the supporting role can do is to be the champion of the family vision.  I don’t think that homeschooling would work if my husband wasn’t fully on board with the reasons, benefits and value of what we are doing.  He carries the vision when I am discouraged, and at the same time, he also helps me to evaluate (non-emotionally) if it is time to make a change.  Especially in a family of boys, if Dad is not all in, you will soon have a bunch of “momma’s boys” and I don’t mean that in a good way.  The more Dad is involved with not only discipline but with direction, vision, and especially spiritual leadership, the more successful homeschooling will be.  Wait.  The more successful FAMILY LIFE will be… regardless of school choice.

9.     Where do you see deficiencies that could be worked on to make things run more smoothly?

Time management.  Anyone with help for that one, I’m right here waiting.  I mean, I’m not just waiting, I’m using my time wisely while I wait.  Kind of.

10.When everything is all boiled down, what is the number one, most important reason you homeschool?

I asked this question to my family to see what they would all say.  Much to my dismay, the kids all came up with an answer that revealed what I have (obviously) spent entirely too much time talking about.  It was actually really helpful for me to see what things get conveyed to the kids when we talk around the dinner table about why we do the things that we do.  This is true in all kinds of areas… ask your kids why they think you go to church, or why you vote for the candidate you vote for… you might be surprised to see what things they hear you emphasizing, even if it is not what you think you are emphasizing.  (This could be a whole other blog post.)

The REAL answer, and the one that I will make sure my kids understand over and above all other reasons is…

Homeschooling gives us the greatest quantity of time with which to teach our sons about the great God who reveals himself through creation and through history and most of all through his Son, who lived and died in our place, while we were still hostile towards him, to reconcile us to God and give us unspeakable joy in His presence for eternity.  Should God be pleased to open their eyes and grant them new birth through faith, we will be thrilled to be able to walk alongside them and disciple them as we follow Christ together, for His glory and for the magnifying of His name.

Thanks for all your questions… and for making it to the end of this blog post!
I love getting your comments, and you have earned a little talking time of your own after reading this whole post, so have at it!!

This post is part of the Top Ten Tuesday link up at Many Little Blessings.

Failing to Plan, Planning to Fail, Part 2

(See Part 1 here)

I have to admit I don't like the title of these posts so much anymore.  They sound pretty legalistic!  I want to remind you that failing to plan is not the same as failing in the task that God has given you to do in homeschooling.  If you have never planned your homeschooling year, or if every plan you ever made seemed to fall apart, your faithfulness to the task and most importantly, your acceptance before God is NOT dependant on how well your plan did or didn't turn out.  It is easy to make faithfulness to a PLAN the same as faithfulness to GOD, which is NOT the gospel!  Here is what the difference between planning and gospel-centered planning sounds like in my head...

"We are floundering so much right now, we always seem to be constantly behind, I wonder if my kids could even pass a standardized test if they had to take it this year!  I hate having to hear what all those other moms are doing at our homeschooling support group, they all seem like they accomplish so much more than me.  If I was just more disciplined!  I made that great plan at the beginning of the year, but I can't seem to stick to it.  Why am I so undisciplined and unfaithful?  How can God use someone like me to teach my kids?"

OR...

"Wow, I feel so behind right now, I don't think we've done science in 6 weeks!  I don't know what happened to that plan I made at the beginning of the year.  Even though I am tempted to compare myself to all the other moms who seem to be doing more than me, I know that my acceptance with God doesn't depend on how well I stick to my homeschooling schedule.  Since I am confident in his acceptance of me, I can admit where I need help - maybe even ask one of those moms to look at my plan and help me identify where I can get back on track or if I am doing too much.  I am weak and unfaithful at times, but Christ was never weak and unfaithful with me - and he desires to be my strength when I am weak!  Thank you Lord for keeping me from a pity party by turning my eyes to you!"

See the difference?  Planning is a tool, but it is not our salvation or our righteousness or our guarantee of happiness or success.  When we fail to plan or our plan fails, we still have an advocate before the Father and a strong helper in the Holy Spirit.  And let's not forget that we can't plan for everything...

Come now, you who say, 'We will enter (and win) the spelling bee, create beautiful dioramas, be fluent in Latin and graduate high school at sixteen'- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'
James 4:13-15 (H.S.V. - Homeschoolers Version)

I don't know where I got that version of the bible, probably a homeshool convention or something.  Maybe it is a little over the top.  But as ridiulous as it is, are your plans yours or are they God's?  What if God chooses to change school year plan (or even your life trajectory) by serious illness or loss?  Remember that all your plans are subject to the Lord's will and should be God-centered, not Man-centered, Child-centered, Family-centered, or any other centered!

Finally, one more verse... this time I will use my good old ESV...

Commit your work to the LORD and your plans will be established.  Proverbs 16:3

Happy Planning Season!

This post is part of my Homeschooling 101 series, (now moved to Thursdays). 

Don't miss an update get posts by Email

Failing to Plan, Planning to Fail

(This post is part of my Homeschooling 101 series, posted every Tuesday.)

How much do you plan out your school year? Depending on your personality, your available time and your organizational tools, you may plan a little or a lot. One of the benefits of homeschooling that I think homeschoolers really like to tout is how much freedom and flexibility there is. It is one of the things I love most as well. I don’t have to get the kids to the bus stop by a certain time, we can plan family vacations when it is convenient for us, when we are sick – we don’t miss assignments and we can take “sunny days” instead of “snow days” (because I prefer to take off on the warm days, and snowy days are good for doing school.) . While all this is a great benefit, it can often lead to a sense of discouragement and always feeling like I am running behind schedule when I have taken too much advantage of all that freedom and flexibility! This is where good planning comes in – so that I know what my goals are for the year and what I need to do to stay on schedule or to adjust for different circumstances that come along.

Planning for me starts with the big picture and the zooms in to more specific goals as they get closer. Here is a step by step run-down of how I think about planning:

1. Research - Investigate curriculum, evaluate what isn’t working, choose books, and purchase what I will be using for the year. You can see what I’ve used in the past here, and I will have a post in the future for what we will be trying out this coming year.

2. Calendar - Once I have the curriculum, I get out the calendar and block out vacation times, and major breaks or holidays that I know we will be taking. Then I try to decide which 36 weeks I will be doing school. I try pretty hard to schedule our school by either quarters or trimesters so that I have some in-between goals to meet for the year. At the end of each quarter or trimester I have a chance to evaluate what is working and what is not and how our plan needs to be adjusted.

3. Syllabus After I have my calendar penciled in, I begin to plan out syllabi for each subject. You might remember having a syllabus in upper high school or college. It is basically a list of what I intended to cover each week. I set broad goals based on my quarter schedules – for example, I need to be roughly halfway through math by week 18. For some subjects that don’t break out quite so easily (like our history book that had 41 chapters), I try to decide which chapters I may want to spend more time on and which I don’t need to spend as much time on. This is a little more complicated syllabus and I end up changing it often during the year, but at least I start with a general idea. The syllabus planning is probably the most unusual part of my method, and definitely the part that takes the most time, but I have really benefited from adding this to my habits this year. I will explain more about my syllabus planning in a future post.

4. Weekly Detail – I don’t plan each individual week until the Sunday night before. That way I can make adjustments and course corrections on a week by week basis and not feel like I’m getting too off track. Since most of the major planning is done in the syllabus planning stage, I just get out my syllabus and see what is up for the upcoming week. I pencil in assignments for each child in my planner, taking into account any appointments, activities or changes to our weekly schedule. I should mention that I generally plan our week to be about a 4 day week. We do school for 5 days, but the fifth day isn’t too packed with assignments, as we usually have at least one day a week that gets interrupted either intentionally or unintentionally from the “best laid plans”.

Planning Tools

You don’t need a fancy planner to plan your school day. Actually, the simpler it is, the easier it is to change. Here are a couple that I am familiar with, if you are familiar with others that you like, please comment on where they can be found and why you found them helpful.

Donna Young Printables – These are free printable planners. I used these planners my first two years. I made copies and hand wrote all my plans on them each week. Super simple and most importantly, they are FREE!

The Well-Planned Day Homeschool Planner (July 2012 - June 2013) By Home Educating Family Publishing

This planner worked very well for me. I liked it because it was so pretty and well-designed. I did have to customize it for my own use. I didn’t like having the subjects printed in the order that they had them, so each week I would cover over their subjects with a label and write in the subjects in the order that I wanted them (which was the order that we usually cover them). This was the only thing I didn’t like about it, and it was pretty easy to change. There were plenty of pages that I didn’t need, like report cards, Christmas shopping planning pages and a few others, but I really liked having my weekly menus on the same page as my school plan.


This year I am going to try a new planner that I found from Debra Bell, published by Apologia. What interests me about this planner is that it seems a little more customizable, fixing the problem I had with my last planner. I especially like this part of the product description, “Weekly plans provide room to write in your Bible plan, battle plan, prayers, hospitality/outreach efforts, memorable moments, achievements, and evidences of grace.” I have yet to purchase and use this one, so this isn’t an official endorsement, I will let you know what I think later in the school year!

The Ultimate Homeschool Planner By Apologia Educational Ministries

The bottom line:  Failing to plan is planning to fail

The way I plan might be too regimented for some and not regimented enough for others. I have found that the amount of planning I do has increased each year, and has really benefited me in the long run. I have also started to plan smarter by not having to do everything that sounds like a good idea and by leaving lots of flex room for the unexpected. How about you?

Your turn… how do you go about planning your year? What is your best planning tip? Do you have any other planning tools that you like to use? I would love to hear your comments…

The First Year... What NOT to Do

(This post is the beginning of a series for new homeschoolers, called (simply) "Homeschool 101".)

I don't know about other people, but when people ask me about homeschooling, I always think of what my first year was like and what I would want to tell myself if I could do it over again.  So, this is my top 5 list of things NOT to do in your first year of homeschooling. (Followed by the more excellent way.)

1.  Go Prayerless - You can do this in your own strength!  You've got great curriculum!  You've got a neat-o planner and new school supplies!  You (might) even have a teaching certificate! Most of all you have enthusiasm and lots of coffee!  Let's go, go, go, go!!!

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

2.  Schedule Everything - Ring your school bell at 8:00 and begin on time.  Plan subjects to start and end on time.  Workbook pages should take about 15 minutes, right?  Plan "recess" for exactly halfway through the morning and don't take a break until then.  When that doesn't work...

2.5   Let Chaos Reign- Wait a minute, we are homeschooling.  We can school in our PJ's!  Let's have a leisurely breakfast, start when we are good and ready and do subjects when we feel like it.  Today we will start with math, tomorrow we will do whatever the kids don't complain about because starting with math was really a trial.  Keep the kids guessing, that will make it exciting, right?

After making BOTH these mistakes I found a good middle ground was to establish some rhythms that ruled our day.  We had definite starts and definite stops, the in-between time was flexible but ordered so the kids always know what to expect and weren't always asking, "What do we do next?" 

3.  Get out those workbooks! - Find some workbooks for each subject you want to teach and set the kids at little desk and get working!  It's what we did in school, right?  And we LOVED it!  As soon as you finish this page, you can be done!  This is why homeschoolers can finish so much faster than public schoolers - get the workbook page done and no waiting on the slow kids.

Unless your kids are the slow kids.  And who isn't, when it comes to workbooks?  OK, you might have SOME workbooks, especially to practice handwriting or math facts - but there is so much more interesting ways to teach things.  Start with reading aloud- snuggling on the couch or while the kids play legos on the floor.  Take some nature walks, do some projects and then read aloud some more.  Got older kids?  Don't stop reading aloud!

4.  Turn discipline upside down - When the kid is struggling with their workbook page, or with reading or not wanting to do math - assume that it is rebellion and needs to be disciplined.  They need to learn how to stay on task, right?  The reason they are taking too much time with this particular activity couldn't be that they don't understand it, can't process it or need it explained differently, or maybe that they need glasses?  On the other side of that, when there is a real discipline problem, like sassing mom or throwing a temper tantrum - just ignore it because you feel guilty about disciplining the kid wrongly for something that was really a learning problem and not rebellion.

Wow, this is really a hard one.  It is hard sometimes to discern what is rebellion and what is a struggle with learning.  Pray for discernment that you will be able to tell the difference between childish responses to frustration with learning and true heart issues of rebellion.  Oh, and pray for that for the kids too.

5.  Go the way of culture - Not WORLDLY culture, silly.  You are homeschooling to get away from worldly culture!  Go the way of homeschooling culture!  Look at what other homeschoolers are doing and make it part of what you should do.  If they are baking bread, you should make bread.  If they are involved with this group and that activity you should be involved with it too.  If they go to a new church full of homeschoolers, you should change churches too.  And don't forget the rules!  (There are plenty of rules, I won't list them here - but you can probably go to a your local homeschool conference and find out what they are for yourself.)

Please don't do this.  Homeschooling is a way of life, it's true.  Your family will develop it's own way of doing things and it will probably look pretty different than the world.  But that doesn't mean that it has to look like how everyone else does homeschooling.  Decide what works for your family and don't be drawn in to a list of rules and regulations and activities and structures. 

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery....  For you were called to freedom, brothers.  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another....  Galatians 5: 1, 13

How about you?  If you have been homeschooling for more than one year, what would you tell yourself if you could do that first year over again?  What would you tell a friend who will soon be starting their first year?  I would love to hear your thoughts...