Any other "school-at-home" homeschoolers?

[Mama Bird]

My DD enjoys a more structured, predictable schedule, with worksheets, etc. Go figure!

We tried FIAR, but it didn't work at all for her! :doh

[Sara]

Well, I'm not sure where I fit in, to be honest. Among the people in our HSing group who use Abeka and sit at the table several hours per day doing school, we'd be considered quite relaxed. Among unschoolers, though, we'd probably seem more like school-at-homers since we do use some curriculum.

At any rate, I understand about your dd needing more structure. While I like the idea of unschooling, my dd really wants to "do school" each day and is happiest when we approach things that way.

[iplsmama]

I'm a school at home wannabe. Meaning I think my dd and I both would do best with structure but I'm a little lazy about it. Of course she's only pre-K age so I have decided to do more next yr. Everyone around me wishes we were more structured but I think she is doing fine. I think I'm going to need to find a good all-inclusive curriculum next yr. as I am very not structured by nature.

[Sandy]

We're pretty formal around here, but then I'm doing jr high/high school (and my 8th grader is doing two high school subjects). I envision being more relaxed with my youngest in the elementary years...I hope I can do that!

[lenswyf]

We use Sonlight and I try to follow their schedule. Does that count?

[Mama Bird]

I'm not the only one!!!!! :spit Yeah! I was feeling like I was the only GCM who isn't a relaxed or unschooler. Here's to doing what's best for our kiddos! :cup

[Charity]

We are doing a more school-at-home approach this year.
We started out a few years ago with Abeka workbooks, but they didn't seem to fit what I wanted, so I used those books and came up with a list of things I wanted them to cover, and we did relaxed schooling for over a year. Only problem with that, was the kids got waaayyy too much free time and were not filling that time with learning stuff. Especially my 7 yr old ds who preferred to play video games, watch tv all day, or play outside. There was lots more arguments and bickering between the kids too, because they all had way too much unstructured time on their hands, and kept getting on each other's nerves. And we're stuck at home because dh and I share a car, so we can't get out and do educational things to help fill time, and keep their minds off of each other and on other things. So, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I knew I needed to structure their day somewhat. Then a friend introduced me to "Switched on Schoolhouse" and we tried it, and ds really seems to love it. He seems to like knowing what he needs to do each day, and knowing that when it's done he can have the rest of the day off. It also takes the pressure off of me making them do stuff, since they seem to view the computer as their teacher. Ds doesn't think I'm making him do all this work, he just thinks, "that's what I have to do today and mom didn't have a hand in deciding it" (course, I do have a hand in much of it, but they don't see that.) .
So yes, we're doing school-at-home now, but it gets done so quickly and then the kids still have lots of time to do whatever unschooling stuff they want, or just play. At least I'll know they've gotten much of the basics out of the way in case they do decide to spend too much time playing games.

[blessedmomof4]

I guess we kind of do. :shrug

My oldest dd loves worksheets and knowing what's happening next. I also thrive on routine...w/o it I get really stressed!!! We don't do school at a desk or a set place. I allow my dd's to stand, sit on the couch, be on my bed, etc. to do their work.

I like to keep a balance tho and make sure we have some hands-on learning.

[mommyTay]

I think I fit somewhere in-between. I am not self-disciplined enough to "school-at-home", but I am too much of a perfectionist & people pleaser to be an unschooler. This year, we finally found a happy medium that is working very well for us.
I made "chore / class" cards for each thing the kids are expected to accomplish. These are kept in "to-do" pockets on our bulletin board, and moved to a "completed" pocket as finished. This allows the kids to choose the order of their projects of the day, and it is a very visual indication of their progress. They also get a bonus for completing ALL of the days assignments. At the end of the day, the cards are turned in for "credits" (poker chips). At the end of the week, the credits can be turned in for something from the treasure box or allowance.

This system has made a world of difference on what we get done and the attitude it is done with.

[MamaBeth]

I'm an unschooler at heart, but Sarah is enjoying SOS, although she'd rather do it on a different time table than we're using...but at the same time, she wants to finish this "year" "on time." Next year we'll probably set the calendar to a three day schedule.

[Reva]

I think I fit better in the "school at home" category too. Dd actually enjoys worksheets now, and she thrives on stucture too. I'm big on structure as well-I'd feel lost if I didn't have it!

I'm glad to see this post-it seems like *everyone* unschools!

[Miss Priss]

We're kind of like Sara, somewhere between "school at home" and unschooling.
Mainly because I have children with very different needs. My oldest, while she *needs* some structure wrt to her ADHD- that structure just needs to come in the form of knowing what comes when during the day, etc. As far as school goes- I could do a looonnnggg post on how Calvert did not work with that child- she's too much of a free spirit.

My 2nd one thrives on the structure and "worksheetedness" (hey, I just invented a word :lol) of Calvert. If it were just her, we'd be strictly school at home.

[TestifyToLove]

LOL, Julie. I could post a similiar post on Calvert just add a hyper older child AND a mom with ADHD and let us say we were ALL miserable with Calvert.

Calvert was actually my clue that I am NOT a strict school-at-homer. We do have a loose schedule, we do have some cirruculum that we use. And, most days, we cover some materials whether they would pursue those on their own or not. So, we are definitely not unschoolers (not once they hit kindergarten anyway). But, we're not strict school-at-homers either. We're somewhere in-between the two. And, we're probably switching to Sonlight from the eclectic materials that I've accumulated this summer. But, for now, what we are doing is WORKING. And, I've come to realize that no matter how many times I have to re-structure, re-think and change approachs, how many times I have to cater things differently for different children, the success is not in HOW we school but what they accomplish in school.

[Joanne]

"School at home"? Definately not. But we have lots of mother imposed, curriculum based, formal education here.

More so now that Andrew is *gulp* nearly 10.

[Sara]

Oh, Joanne - you're such a meanie! Quit being an imposing mother! ;)

Just teasing you!

[Joanne]

Oh, Joanne - you're such a meanie! Quit being an imposing mother! ;)

Just teasing you!


All these adjectives. In another forum, I was called "serene". I like that better. :highfive

[Sara]

Joanne,

I sure hope I didn't offend you. I just thought your mother-imposed comment was really funny. My dd also does lots of things (school and other) that are "mother-imposed." :lol

Serene is good! :tu

[BluegrassMama]

My goal has always been for my childen to think they were unschooled.

With my learning and teaching style, it takes me 6-10 hours of planning each week to pull that off :shrug . I often wish I were the type who could notice the teachable moment. I catch some of them but mostly I have to set it up. I'm a great 'suggester', though...so far the kids haven't caught on.

A successful day for me is when I'm tucking them in and they say, "ooops, we didn't have school today!" But I know we did everything in the curriculum that I wrote for the day.

Amy (who is following Sara around GCM today :lol )

[Joanne]

Joanne,

I sure hope I didn't offend you. I just thought your mother-imposed comment was really funny. My dd also does lots of things (school and other) that are "mother-imposed." :lol

Serene is good! :tu


No offense at all. I was playing with you. :heart :spit

[Mama Bird]

Joanne, you described it much better than school at home does. By that, I don't mean that my DD has to raise her hand, or ask permission to use the bathroom. :rolleyes I meant the mom-imposed schoolwork. Thanks for the new term! :idea

[Gailmegan]

Although my boys are young, and what we do now is more like unschooling, I think we will need to move into a more structured design. Justin loves predictable schedules and ever since I introduced him to a workbook, he has begged me for more. I think his personality is definitely more suited to a structured environment, so as he gets older I plan to include more formal learning times and see how it goes. So, I'll be keeping an eye on this board for suggestions from all of you!

[Joanne]

Joanne, you described it much better than school at home does. By that, I don't mean that my DD has to raise her hand, or ask permission to use the bathroom. :rolleyes I meant the mom-imposed schoolwork. Thanks for the new term! :idea


:tu When I think of school at home, I think of desks, flags, scheduled times for certain topics and a school in a box curriculum. I used to be completely against that. But I think it is truly a match for some families.

[Maggie]

Interesting thread! I love the variety of homeschoolers we have here! :)

What is SOS?

[Quietspirit]

We are somewhere in between. My son (age 10) has mother-imposed formal curriculum and also child-interest led activities, etc. We work at the kitchen table, the living room floor, and the back deck ;) We're not unschoolers but not school-at-homers. I guess we're "eclectic" ;)

[Mama Bird]

When I think of school at home, I think of desks, flags, scheduled times for certain topics and a school in a box curriculum. I used to be completely against that. But I think it is truly a match for some families.


Not exactly what we do. We don't have scheduled times for each subject. We start each day around 9am, after breakfast and tidying up our beds and rooms. We usually do our subjects in the same order, but change them around if an activity comes up. We don't have a desk, we use the kitchen table. She has a desk, but isn't old enough yet to do much of her work by herself, so we sit at the table together. If it is a reading assignment only, we'll often sprawl out on her bed and read together.

We have not deliberately tried to set up a public school scenario in our home. In fact, we began with a less structured approach with FIAR. We've worked hard to find what works for us, and this is it. I am sure that it has something to do with the fact that this is what she saw in Kindergarten at public school.