OT - question for the homeschoolers

Michi

Member
I know that a lot of you on this board have mentioned before that you homeschool.
This will be my first year officially homeschooling my two oldest kids - ages 6 & 8.
I am SO overwhelmed at all of the chioces for curriculum and different programs out there.
Can you please give me some suggestions? What do you use?
Is it better to get a 'boxed curriculum' (Alpha Omega) or to buy all from one company (Abeka/Sonlight/Konos) or just to make my own piece by piece.
What about the computer or dvd classes ( S.O.S / Abeka academy)

I have a billion catalogs, and I have visited a lot of 'reviews' websites, but I'm still confused!
TIA,
Michi

Also - What's up with ebay? I tried to buy a book off of there, but they pulled it/stopped the auction because they said they can no longer sell Teacher's Manuals! - So much for saving $ on used curriculum!
 
ADS

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
There is no one best option for everyone. There just isn't. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying.

The book The Homeschooling Handbook by Mary Griffith is also excellent. It covers a variety of homeschooling methods (from school-in-a-box to unschooling) and should help you to figure out what you want. Once you know what you're looking for (computer based? literature based? unit studies?), it will be much easier to narrow down your options.

I highly recommend the (free) Sonlight Catalog, simply because they have some great articles on thinking through what you really want from a curriculum, and the (free) Rainbow Resource Catalog, because it contains so many options it's sure to get you thinking.
 

Michi

Member
Thank you, Ulrike,

I haven't read that book, (but I have read several others that cover the different styles of learning.)
I will definitely look for that one, though. Thanks for the reference!
I have also applied for both of those catalogs, but they haven't arrived yet.
I also just got a catalog from a company called Winter Promise - It looks very similar to Sonlight (from what I've heard.)
Unfortunately I decided to homeschool after our local curriculum fair had already happened, so I don't have an opportunity to see any materials 'in-person' and it just makes me so nervous to spend that much money on something 'sight-unseen,' if you know what I mean?

I guess I am leaning towards a Charlotte Mason/literature based approach, but I have to admit that I am nervous about how time-intensive that method is (because I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old as well.)
I like the simplicity of 'school in a box' but It just doesn't feel right to me - I want my kids education to be more hands on. -
That's one of the reasons why I'm 'pulling them' from their old school.
I know I'm going to be 'eclectic' but it is just so hard to decide what to buy when there is so much out there, and I don't want to go overboard my 1st year, as I am definitely on a budget.
Thanks for your advice!
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
I was just going to make a thread asking for homeschool resources as well....

We might be moving to Punxsutawney PA where the public schools use corporal punishment & regardless of the waiver I don't even want Leila worrying about her friends suffering battery at the hands of adults -- so we'll be homeschooling if we move there!

Ulrike, I requested those catalogs & will look into any homeschooling books available from the library ... I can't afford right now to buy any -- easy read recommendations for the "terrified to homeschool & mess everything up" parent would be most appreciated :rolleyes: :eek: :D
 

Lea_Ontario

Well-known member
Our plan at the moment is to develop our own curriculum, but base it around the Ontario school objectives.
 

scatterbunny

New member
I really, really want to hs Hayley but I have ADD and can't even keep myself on any kind of schedule or stay organized, so I am terrified that I won't be able to hs very well at all. And budget is, of course, a huge concern.

Mark wants Hayley to go to public school for kindergarten (she starts in September) and possibly 1st/2nd grade. She is a social bug and the neighbor kids that she used to play with daily just moved away. She's devastated and has been a real handful since they moved. She tells me all the time, "I LOVE people, Mama. I want to always be around people." So I worry that hs'ing her would be the wrong decision for her, socially. I always scoff at people who assume hs'ing kids don't socialize, but I know that would be the case for us. Mark and I are very much introverts, we don't have a big circle of friends.

If I could find a low-cost curriculum to follow, that would be the way I'd go, to keep myself organized. But I don't want anything religion-based.

I ordered the catalogs from both the links Ulrike posted, too.
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
papooses said:
Ulrike, I requested those catalogs & will look into any homeschooling books available from the library ... I can't afford right now to buy any -- easy read recommendations for the "terrified to homeschool & mess everything up" parent would be most appreciated :rolleyes: :eek: :D

The perfect book for you is John Holt's Learning All the Time.

Beyond that, anything by Mary Griffith, Linda Dobson (no relation to James Dobson), John Holt or John Taylor Gatto is going to be good.
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
pablomichi said:
Unfortunately I decided to homeschool after our local curriculum fair had already happened, so I don't have an opportunity to see any materials 'in-person' and it just makes me so nervous to spend that much money on something 'sight-unseen,' if you know what I mean?

I guess I am leaning towards a Charlotte Mason/literature based approach, but I have to admit that I am nervous about how time-intensive that method is (because I have a 1 year old and a 3 year old as well.)

1) Many curriculums offer a money back guarantee, so look into that. Also, with literature based approaches, you can get most, if not all, of your materials at the library. :D

2) The nice thing about literature-based approaches is that you can involve everyone. We used Sonlight for 2 years before we switched to unschooling, and the nice thing about it was that it was mostly reading aloud. My younger kids would listen along.
 

Michi

Member
Ulrike,
How do you like unschooling? I love the concept of this approach, but I am SO worried that my kids wouldn't be motivated to do anything. Do you feel like your kids are learning enough? Do you 'suggest' activities for them to do?
How does it work?
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
MOTIVATION has been a huge obstacle for Leila during her speech therapy this year -- the therapist is super fun & just great in every possible way ... Leila loves her, but still we've had an incredibly difficult time getting her to stay interested for more than 2 minutes (literally) -- I've been doing my own sort of "learning all the time" approach since infancy anyway, but I really do worry about the genetics aspect since her 1/2 siblings & biofather have learning disabilities, bipolar, etc. :( I've always believed it (without encouraging a self-fulfilled prophecy as best I could, LOL) that she's *spirited* & her nursery school teacher & the speech therapist both agree ... but, her IEP did show improvement so we all decided that "homeschool speech therapy" would be the most ideal choice this summer anyway & I think that is what's giving me a bit of confidence -- my SO has been amazingly fantabulific about it all ... joined in at the IEP meeting, came up with some ideas for us to do at home that have worked well & he's been contributing a lot -- I could get emotional about it if I let myself :D :p He's very supportive of homeschooling in PA, too! *WHEW*

& yes, last I remember there were 21 or so states that still paddle -- not every school district does within the state, but the district we'd be in does *UGH UGH UGH* there's more info at the Parents & Teachers Against Violence in Education website > www.nospank.net
 

scatterbunny

New member
Hayley is a "spirited" child, too. So far in our podunk town no one will take our concerns of ADHD/SID seriously. I think Mark wants her in school a year or two mainly so someone will pay attention and listen to us. Doctors here have said they won't diagnose anything until she presents symptoms in both a school and home environment. Mark's two brothers have been diagnosed with ADHD and if Mark would be evaluated, I know he'd be diagnosed, too. I have been diagnosed with ADD (no hyperactivity) and GAD. Wouldn't be surprised if I have OCD as well. Mental health issues run rampant in my family AND Mark's family, unfortunately. Mostly undiagnosed, though. No one wants to acknowledge it.
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
Yeah, I'm not ADD but I'm dyslexic, OCD & SAD ... organization is just fine for me, but I have a habit of getting super freaked out & basically hiding till things either disappear or explode -- that's why homeschool has made me so nervous before ... daycare curriculum doesn't stress me out because they're not my kids (horrible to say, but true) -- but the risk of the school paddling her friends or ignoring my waiver makes it worth the extra effort for me now! My SO is a genius & has excellent study skills without any emotional/anxiety issues, though, so with a team effort I have faith Leila will do well in homeschool :eek: :rolleyes: :) Finding a babysitter I trust for a night or 2 each week for some ADULT time will be tricky, though, LOL!
 

scatterbunny

New member
I tried Flylady once and she overwhelmed me! :eek: When I feel overwhelmed I tend to retreat inside myself and shut down, getting NOTHING done, and the problem grows.

I used to have a daily schedule when Hayley was younger, but as she's grown and become more disagreeable and difficult I abandoned it. I think I should try to start it up again.

And I am laughing out loud at your dh thinking you'd spend too much time on here and not enough time on other stuff. That's my everyday life! :eek: It's so easy for me to get sucked in to things that really appeal to me, but when I'm doing mundane household things I get sidetracked by EVERYTHING and forget to finish the first thing I was doing. I started taking fish oil about a month ago but so far it isn't helping.
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
Jenny, I'm the exact same way! I'm really emotionally driven -- Moise counteracts that with his overly logical scientificness, LOL ... & thank god he doesn't let me retreat without a "fight" -- not argument, but well it's hard to explain, he just keeps be grounded & HERE :rolleyes: :D

I make my own excell spreadsheets & have various alarms chiming off to do what, LOL -- that's my OCD, I feel like I've accomplished something if I can check "set alarms & create list" off my list :p Then I can keep going ... but, without my alarms & lists I'm a GONNER because I just get so overwhelmed with what has to be done & can't focus.

We've started using a rotation where breakfast = Spanish, lunch = French, Dinner = German one day & the next day the meals change language ... so we're starting to learn all these languages at once & have a recorder playing while we eat, we take turns reading books in these languages out loud (about the alphabet, numbers, colors, opposites, animals, community, feelings, etc.) & the rest of the day so far the last few weeks we've been using American Sign with English of course to just learn from our environment & experiences -- I guess one good thing about not working is that we've made time to take a long walk everyday regardless of the whether & have had lots of random fun science experiments, etc.

It's the state regulated evaluations by a 3rd party & testings that really start to FREAK me out, though!
 

skaterbabs

Well-known member
Try removing artificial preservatives, colors and flavors form your diet, as well as salicylates (sp). They've been known to be contributing factors to all sorts of attention and other mental health issues because of the way they affect the brain.
 

vamom

New member
You guys are great - I have been wrestling with the homeschool thing for awhile. First with my stepson, but I had no support. My family and friends are very pro public school, my husband could not be bothered, and his exwife was horrid. The child had emotional and behavioral problems, but he wasn't the worst kid in school, so the school system let it go, and the family would not acknowledge. Now I am a single parent to a child with several challenges. He has health issues that would mean lots of absences for illnesses. He redefines "spirited". I know he has sid, and the pediatrician is talking asperger or pdd. He has severe seperation anxiety and an attachment disfunction. Currently I am struggling through each day with him and I cannot determine if the problem is emotional, physical, behavioral, or neuroligical. The bottom line is my son is unhappy, very unhappy. He just started back on prevacid for his reflux (crazy dr would not refill script to see how he would manage off it, and hey we had 4 weeks before he started crying everyday in pain, spewing everytime he tries to eat, and having wet burping hiccups... oh yeah and the waking up spewing, so the pulminoligist hooked us up w/ prevacid). But he is still having reactive airway problems (we even added oral predisone and daily albuterol to all the allergy/asthma meds). Then we have the biological factor of antisocial disorder, bipolar, (both diagnosed) and several other undiagnosed issues from dad, who also disappeared with the cosleeping, breastfeeding child when he was 22 months old for 13 days - and the beginning of the seperation/attachment issues. Then dad ran off with girlfriends (yes, plural) until live in went back to her husband, and now he has come back for visitation. Now I have to take a screaming child against his will for visitation to be ignored by his father, which makes him very angry at me coupled with being terrified that his father will take him again (he remembers the abuse in the marriage and the seperation). I think he is depressed now. His attachment counselor says that he is "neurilogically special". He has a language problem and is in speech therapy, and has borderline cognitive issues. He is very aggressive and has boundary issues. Finally, we live in my parents attic, due to safety and divorce issues. Anyway to the point - I tried preschool since he had friends going and it was a major bust (he got really sick, the seperation issues went to a whole new level (which I didn't know was possible), he became very physically abusive to me for leaving him, and his anxiety went through the roof.) My friends are pushing me to send him anyway, that he will just get over it, but they also "ferberized" their kids. I want to be there for him and support him. I have anxiety issues, ptsd, and I am going through a nasty divorce. I find myself struggling to find a rhythum, routine, or some sort of structure. I love the idea of unschooling, but I am afraid that we might both get lost, if you know what I mean? I am trying "Before Five in a Row" now, since he loves reading and I thought it would be helpful to have things laid out some. I have noticed that I am finding more "teachable moments", but it is definately a work in progress. I am reading up on the feingold program mentioned in another thread. I am also looking into montessori programs for myself (to become a teacher) and for him. I have been to a lot of websites and am trying to connect with the local homeschool group. I really appreciate all the suggustions (ordered the catalogs and reserved the books at the library) and the connection/support that I am not alone in my struggle/quest. Sorry to be so long winded - it's just this thread was so relevant in my life at this time. Thanks again.
 

vamom

New member
Oh, I left out the sleep apnea and nightmares. I haven't sleep through the night in over four years (since prepregnancy). I just wanted to add that he is seeing a whole gaggle of specialists (pediatrician, pulminologist, ent, sleep dr, neurologist, gastro, developmental ped, counselor, attachment specialist, feeding/ speech, and ot. Hopefully they will figure something out to help me to help him. No one here seems to understand why I would want to be at home with him - I am the only stay at home mom that I know personally. Even though he can be very trying (especially the last three weeks), I love being with him and I treasure our time together - he makes me want to be a better person, and inspires me to learn and try harder. I know all to well that time is fleeting and the future unpredictable, so I want to be with him all I can, but I want the best for him too. My friends keep pressuring me to place him in a center, but most of these places require minuimal education and pay very little, so the staff is marginal if you know what I mean. Plus, with his issues I think it would be so hard for him to make it through each day with all the stimulation and challenges.
 

super_grape

Active member
I have ADD too...manage ok now but as a kid it was more along the lines of
ADHD. My Mom didn't want to do the meds so they did the Feingold diet
with me and it worked very well.
Like Rebeckah said, no artificial preservatives, colors, etc.

http://www.feingold.org/

My Grandma did the diet to make it easier on me
(she took care of me during the day) and lost
about 35 lbs. I stayed on it until I was about 9,
I often think about doing it again tho.
 

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