Flashback Friday: Reading Aloud: Not Just for Toddlers!

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Barb

I’d never heard of Joe Hill, author of Heart-Shaped Box, a novel so promising that its movie rights were sold six months’ prior to its publication. But apparently he’s the son of well-known novelist Stephen King. He chose to use his first and middle names as his pen name so that he could break into writing without riding on his father’s coat tails (or his mother’s—she’s writer Tabitha King). His younger brother is also a writer, and his older sister is at work on a non-fiction book. So, how did they all end up to be writers? According to an article I read:

The King children’s interest in books and writing took root early on. “It sounds very Victorian, but we would sit around and read aloud nightly, in the living room or on the porch,” Hill recalled. “This was something we kept on doing until I was in high school, at least.”

This is a good lesson for those of us homeschooling parents who think our older children and teens are too old for read-aloud family time: it obviously worked for the King family!

Originally posted 3/17/07

Flashback Friday: Burned Out and Fed Up

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Barb

A reader writes that she is totally burned out on homeschooling, is about ready to put her child in middle school, and asks for my help. It’s the end of a very busy day, and I’m probably not as articulate as I could be because I’m tired, but here’s what I wrote to her. Maybe it will hit the spot for you or someone you know:

Burnout means you need to take a break from the way you’re doing things, and think about where you’re going down the wrong path.

Not all kids want to “do school.” Sometimes the problem is that the schoolwork they’re doing is boring. Other times the problem is a rebellious child who doesn’t want to do what she needs to do. Which is the problem in your house right now? (I’ve experienced both, sometimes simultaneously!)

A teacher friend of mine calls middle school a box full of raging hormones. It’s not something to be taken lightly. Putting your child there could turn out to be a case of jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Think seriously (and if you’re a Christian, pray!) before you make this decision.

When I’ve felt burned out in the past (I mean major burnout, not just “I’m tired of this”), I’ve found that taking a break from the materials we’re using can help. Sometimes we need a few weeks of museum days and doing things at home like sketching outdoors, baking, sewing, etc. to rejuvenate our spirits. And if it’s a rebellious child, there’s nothing like taking a week off to clean the basement or attic to make them appreciate school.

Hope that helps. Hang in there, and know that this homeschooling thing is not always an easy road, but that it will pay off in the end. My first-born, the rebellious child who is to blame for much of my gray hair, is now 23 and has thanked me more than once for homeschooling her. Who would have thought the kid who said I was torturing her by making her do school would eventually thank me???

Originally posted 3/8/2007

Flashback Friday: Not Exactly Fond Memories of School

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Barb

What’s your earliest memory of school?

Mine is that very first day. I remember it so clearly. I was not quite five, but had been reading for quite a while, so my parents decided I needed to be in school ASAP. Since our neighborhood public school (located right behind our house) did not offer kindergarten, my parents found a kindergarten offered at a church about a mile away, and signed me up.

I recall my nervousness as we approached the multi-sided building with a cross on top. It looked like a space ship, so I suppose it must have been fairly new, a reflection of early 1960s architecture. When we entered, a sick feeling came over me, because I could tell my mother was not going to stay with me.

Soon my fears came true. Mom said she’d be back in a while. The teacher offered me a seat at a nearby table, but I ran after my mother. When I tried to push open the door, it wouldn’t budge. My mother was holding it shut on the other side. All these years later, she says she remembers feeling bad that she had to do that, but that it was for my own good.

I eventually got used to going to school. I even liked it for a while. But I soon grew bored. I occupied my mind with daydreams to pass the time.

Another clear memory: the day school let out for the summer at the end of second grade. I was wearing a light green dress with a collar trimmed in lace, and as I balanced on the railroad ties lining the school’s parking lot, all I could think was, “I’m free!” I planned my summer as I walked home that day….playing, reading, more playing…..freedom! What an incredible feeling!

That was a long time ago. It makes me sad to think about that little girl. To be seven years old and longing for freedom…..I guess I never could bear for my own kids to have that trapped feeling, so I never sent them to school.

I wonder how many people choose to homeschool because they don’t want their children to feel like they did when they were kids. If you’re a homeschooler, did your own school experience have any bearing on your decision to homeschool?

Originally posted 3/2/07

Readiness Applies to Adults, Too

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Barb

(I try not to invade my adult children’s privacy too much, so please forgive the vagueness of this post.)

One of my children, the one who most ignored what I taught them about money, is now (finally) watching what they spend and trying to keep their expenses down. You can’t imagine how happy this makes me.

You see, as a homeschooling parent, I got used to quick (if not instant) results. For instance, I could tell how my kids were doing in math by the percentage of problems they got right. If the percentage was low, we’d work harder on math and soon the percentage would go up. Victory!

But what I’ve forgotten in the years since my children grew up is something I proclaim to younger homeschooling parents all the time: readiness! How well I remember that my kids learned to read when they were ready. Starting before they were ready only resulted in frustration.

So while it’s good that I taught my kids how to live debt-free while they were teens, the problem is that I expected them all to live that way from day one. One of them did, but the others have been learning slowly as they needed to learn, as their readiness developed. I’m just beginning to understand that readiness is a concept that applies to adults as well as children.

I need to remember this when my adult children make mistakes that fly in the face of what they were taught. Apparently they weren’t ready for that particular lesson when we were homeschooling. Now that they’ve reached a point where the lesson actually applies to their life, I guess I just need to be available in case they ask for help…and be happy that they finally did learn the lesson.

Flashback Friday: Raising Stars

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Barb

The announcement that, according to a recent Pew telephone survey, over 80% of today’s American young people consider being rich and famous one of their top life goals garnered a lot of attention. This particular article about the survey results suggests that one cause of young people’s desire for stardom is the “omnipresence” of their parents’ video cameras while they were growing up.

I can’t speak to the cause, but I know where this concept of stardom is being perpetuated, and that’s in the classroom. I recently received the latest edition of our local school district’s P.R. piece, er…magazine, which describes one local school where “learning about health and well-being is fun.” A program called “Staying Well” is the second grade science and health curriculum there, and it includes songs for the kids to sing, including this one (note: I’m sharing it just the way it’s printed in the mailing, sans punctuation.):

I am the star of my body,
The star of my mind
I am the star of my life yeah
I’m doin’ just fine
I take good care of myself
‘Cause I know that I should
I’m feelin’ good
good good good good
Feelin’ good

OK, so not every lyricist is the next Ira Gershwin. But my point is that kids in my town are taught that the key to well-being is reminding yourself of your stardom. You won’t find that kind of nonsense in our homeschooling house. Anybody who starts claiming stardom around here will find themselves the star of a new reality series called “Extra Chores.”

Originally posted 2/10/07