Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

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What is REAL Homeschooling? Homebound, Co-op or Public School at Home

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

To the world outside of homeschooling, it is hard to define the “normal homeschooler”.  Is it a family who raises chickens and who milks their own cows?

Is it a family who believes in the conveniences of city life or a family that loves fast food?

Is it a family that loves homesteading and eating only organic or is it a family who loves traveling?

We know as homeschoolers we embrace families from all backgrounds as the norm.

Satellite Schools, Cyber Schools, Independent Study Programs – Homeschooling?

More important, we understand the one common weave among so many different homeschooling families is that we all respect the right we have as parents to make the educational choices for our children.

However, as important as that choice is, it can cause quite a bit of stir in the homeschooling community to define what is real homeschooling.

Too, many new homeschoolers are joining our ranks by the hundreds and bringing with them their definition of what they may feel is homeschooling.
It is important to not only sharpen their definition of homeschooling but to remind us as veterans what is real homeschooling especially if we have seen times when homeschooling was not so freely allowed.

For example, when I was a high school freshman in public school, I got real sick and was homebound for a year.

Some people have never heard of being homebound.

What is REAL Homeschooling @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschooling Plus

My mom was not homeschooling at that time and we understood as a family that learning at home was an exception made for me because of my health. I would have to do my public school work at home.

I was simply changing the location of where I did my school.

My lessons were issued by the teacher and my parents had no say over the lessons I did and also, like a public school, the cost was free.

Did I consider myself homeschooled then? Absolutely not. Just being at home did not make me a homeschooler.

There are two very fundamental things that define what is real homeschooling.

The first significant factor is that all teaching is parent-led or parent directed.

You notice, I did not say all teaching is parent taught.

It does not have to be and that becomes important as you homeschool the upper grades where you may want to receive some outside help.

Classes offered online, private tutors, co-ops and homeschool events are all chosen by the parent.

Parent-led means that the education and instruction of the children falls squarely on the shoulders of the parent, free of government input, which is the key to understanding the very fine but clear-cut difference.

The way a parent uses a homeschool co-op too, for example, can be quite controversial today though it wasn’t that way before I started homeschooling.

I didn’t take my son out of public school to only enroll him in a 5 day “homeschool” co-op which was ran more like a private school.

I would be exchanging one task master for another had I put my son in a 5 day homeschooling co-op.

All I really would be doing would be enrolling my son in a private school and “helping” him with his homework.

I could see the difference in using a homeschooling co-op to supplement and add enrichment and relinquishing all teaching over to somebody else.

The second important point of what is real homeschooling I touched on briefly and that is you are free of public school or governmental control.

If you are newer to homeschooling, you may not fully appreciate the bristling of homeschooling parents who when they hear a family solely using a free, government backed, full online public school say that they are homeschoolers.

The second definition is not meant to put homeschoolers at odds but it is to remind all of us of our homeschooling roots and what we hold dear when it comes to homeschooling unencumbered.

Homeschooling options, like having cyber schools, have changed tremendously even since I started homeschooling.



This is a good thing because it allows more families to homeschool.  However, even with online schools, there is almost always an option to choose what is not free.

Why would a family make that choice? Because free for online public schools is not really free. You are giving up something.

Free of charge is different than freedom to educate in the way you feel is right for your family.

Homebound, Co-op or Public School at Home – Homeschooling?

Free for a lot of online public school means you are required to test, “attend” online parent teacher conference, join in live classes and more than not have a workload that has taken some homeschoolers 6 or more hours to complete.

More importantly, you are not picking and choosing the lesson planning day to day.

I have helped numerous new homeschoolers get out of on line schools because they thought they would be stress free to only find out that again, they have exchanged one taskmaster in public school for another one online.

Though free may sound inviting in the beginning, you are given up something else valuable, which is the right for your children’s education to be parent-led or directed.

This does not mean that online schools are to be avoided but it means that you want to maintain control over what your children learn day to day.

Most online schools or boxed curriculum providers have options for you to pay for the program as well or to enroll in their “free” program.

If it does not have an option for you to pay for the program then it is just an online public school.

Did you know that some states only consider a family homeschooling by law if it’s parent funded and parent directed?  Even they recognize the two fundamental differences.

Using outside sources is for sure part of homeschooling, but turning over full control of your children’s education has not ever been a definition of what is real homeschooling.

In sharing today, I am encouraging you to value and to not give up so easily the time tested methods that have worked for years and years in graduating well-educated children.

Giving over control of your homeschool changes the dynamics of your homeschooling and it’s worth every effort to be sure our homeschooling stays parent-led.

What about you? Do you think the dynamics of homeschooling has changed over the last few years?

Hugs and love ya,

 

What is NOT Homeschooling?

What Do You Fear Most About Homeschooling?

Should You Really Give Homeschooling a Trial Run?

What Do You Fear Most About Homeschooling?

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

What do you fear most about homeschooling?  If we could see the list of others, whose list would be longer?

  • Fear that I won’t prepare my kids for the world outside of my home.
  • Fear that my extended family that is watching ever so close will inspect us at the end of the year to see if we failed.
  • Fear that I won’t guide my children to fulfill their God given talents to the best of their ability.
  • Fear of being a perfectionist on top of that being unorganized – is that possible?
  • Fear that I will miss some vital subject.
  • Fear that my children will get behind.
  • Fear that I am the only one that loses patience with my kids.
  • Fear that I am the only one where public school looks like the perfect solution on some days.

Does your list look similar?

What would make you more confident?

Knowing that you are not alone in your fears and knowing what worked and what did not work for others is encouraging.
However, there is one noteworthy step in my experience that stand outs among all others and that is goal setting.

What Do You Fear Most About Homeschooling @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Goals are not only essential but they are crucial.

Fears are normal in the beginning when homeschooling, but what is more important to remember is that you are now swimming upstream so to speak.  You are going against the norm and that requires hard work.

Goals energize us to stay focused on our family’s needs.

We will avoid just floating along, responding to the moment or jumping ship to adopt the newest trend in homeschooling when our goals are specific and measurable.

The second important thing to remember is that your journey will be unique.

This point is so important I want to say it again.

Though some of your experiences will mirror my experiences and other homeschoolers, they will not all be the same.

How to Make a Strong Start in Homeschooling

Bottom line is you have to be able to measure progress for your own unique journey and you need a way to do that.

Look at how setting goals reduces fears, gives you very specific ways to measure the progress of your unique family and fortifies you for each year.

  • We make progress based on our family’s need.
  • Instead of wasting time checking out all the latest trends in homeschooling, we are analyzing our own efforts and measuring progress within our own family.
  • We avoid boredom and a stagnant year because we are focused on whether we need to speed up our homeschooling journey or slow it down to meet our family’s need.
  • Homeschooling is more purposeful and inspirational because out time is focused on meeting goals instead of coasting along.

Though I have made some pretty pages for you to write your homeschool goals on, you can write them anywhere.

I tout it all the time and that is though goals may sound good in our mind, when we put them to paper they are concrete.

Don’t ever forget what brought you to homeschooling in the first place.

If our goals and reasons are not in plain sight each day we give in to fear.

As time passes, it happens to all us and that is we forget why we chose homeschooling as a superior education.  Those reasons quell any fears and keeps us plodding forward.

Like the subjects we teach our children, reminders are needed throughout the years when fears resurface.

Overcoming fears happens by not only arming yourself with homeschool knowledge but with goals.

When your goals are met each year, you don’t need the validation of others, either by testing or by family approval.

What are your fears about homeschooling? Where are your goals?

Hugs and love ya,

Tina 2015 Signature

Also, check out these other posts.

When You Feel Like a Homeschool Failure

When does homeschooling become “normal”?

 

Homeschooling A Trial Run?

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

No matter what our knowledge of the homeschool world is when we begin, the thought of giving homeschooling a trial run crosses our mind during our journey.

I had a younger sister who was homeschooled and I knew quite a bit about the homeschooling world then, but I still thought I should be prepared to send my first son back to public school.


Homeschool Trials – A Sign of Weakness?

What if my son missed out on opportunities that only the public school could offer?

What if the public school teacher was more prepared than myself on a particular subject?

What would I do if we got to high school and I didn’t have a science lab?

What field trips would he miss out on?

What I have learned is that we can’t lead our lives, teach our children or fully enjoy the benefits of homeschooling based on “what ifs”.
We will either be insane, live in a state of constant panic and fear or we can choose now to intentionally homeschool.

Now, when I think about homeschooling being a trial run it’s like saying: “I’ll give my newborn a year. Because if I don’t have a great year, we’ll we just can’t keep him.”

That may sound like a way out there analogy but homeschooling half-heartedly was paralyzing and insane.

I think about all the preparation I made for nine months when I had my first born.


I thought everything would go perfect, along with our perfect crib, perfect schedule and perfect baby because well — I planned, right?

If I had judged my whole parenthood by the first year with my oldest son, I wouldn’t have had any more kids because very few of my expectations were met.

It was not rock-a-bye-baby with my first son.

The sleepless nights, constant calls to the doctor and worrying, the nights up pacing, rocking, digging for information to understand him was met by lots of hard work and on the job training.  It was much more time than I even imagined.

Homeschooling is very similar.

I homeschool to enjoy the freedom, to have better standards, to give more time, to tailor the curriculum, to give my children a better future, to give my sons a better foot hold in life, to build Godly character, to foster sibling relationships, to build a relationship with God, to capture my child’s heart, to make learning a delight for the child and on and on.

Homeschooling A Trial Run @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I was not giving that up.

Along the way, I figured out this would not happen if I kept looking back instead of looking forward.

After my momentary lapse of fear when I put my son back in school for less than a year and took him back out, I realized that ruling out public school as an option from the beginning was the only way I could whole heartedly homeschool.

Too, though in the beginning my fears were more about not being able to meet my sons’ academic needs, the turns and twists of life have proven more challenging than meeting the academic ones.

Extended sicknesses by family members, deaths in our extended family, change of employment, financial ups and downs, pregnancy, and moving have been challenges that have you second guessing your journey.

Breaking all ties with public school was the best thing I did for our family. Why?

Because meeting the challenges of life was done best without interference with the public school schedule.

Public school may seem like a blessed relief in the beginning, but relief can quickly turn to restraint after the initial phase has passed.

Year-end testing, homework in the evenings and giving up control of what your children will be learning and when, were not things that I wanted to add to an already stressful time.

I weathered all the personal challenges I mentioned above and my homeschool conviction was stronger because of it.

At the time when I was making trips back and forth to the ICU in the hospital to care for my husband, laying on the couch because I was so nauseated each day of my pregnancy that I couldn’t hardly move to take care of my other children and driving hours and hours back and forth from my house to my mother’s house to care for my very sick mother, I felt my sons were going to be so behind in their academics that public school would be a relief.

Academics – Perk of Homeschooling?

Tears followed and the feeling of defeat loomed.
What I have come to treasure, value and hold on to is that out of every one of life’s challenges, we raced ahead, caught up and even moved ahead at certain times.
Along through the years, I taught my sons about compassion, nurturing older ones and the value of precious life. What a blessing!

Here are my answers now to the above questions:

If I sent my children back to public school, it would be giving them less as I can offer more even when the road blocks of life happen.

Yes, I have gaps in my education and will make mistakes. Through the years, I have seen plenty of mistakes in textbooks though.

Many professionals will know more on subjects than me, but I am the parent I don’t have to know the subjects, my children do.

I can hire private tutors, use DVDs, have my sons take on line classes and use co-ops and not to mention learn right along with my kids and I did.

We still don’t have a science lab.

We have something better, a fully stocked kitchen that is the perfect science lab.

Field trips are not taken once a year or a few times in the early years and then almost non-existent in the older grades, which is the norm in public school.

I did better. We have taken monthly field trips for every year and the field trips are some of my boys best learning moments. The tales we have to tell you now.

I don’t view myself as a particularly courageous or brave person, but through each hurdle, I was fortified, fueled and empowered for the next challenge and unswerving in my determination to stick to homeschooling.

Keep looking forward to your end goals and don’t measure your whole homeschooling career in front of you by one or two years. It is worth every effort and sacrifice.

What about you? Have you chosen to intentionally homeschool NOW?

Don’t give in thinking the other path is easier, check out these posts:

Hugs and love ya,

Homeschooling Kindergarten: What Subjects to Teach and For How Long?

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Giving you practical advice on homeschooling kindergarten, what subjects to teach and for how long, now that all of my boys have moved well past kindergarten gives me a different perspective than giving advice in the moment, which may or may not have been helpful. You’ll love the tips on my page kindergarten homeschool curriculum.

Homeschooling Kindergarten

I always prefer giving you specifics, which were way more helpful to me than generalities.

In helping a lot of homeschool moms plan their kindergarten day, one thing a lot of them had in common was over planning academic subjects.

Homeschooling Kindergarten: What Subjects to Teach and For How Long?

Let me back up first and tell you how I felt when I started homeschooling kindergarten with my first son, Mr. Senior 2013.

I wished that I could say that I was reasonable, balanced, and unafraid when I started with my kindergartner. I was not.

I was terrified that if I didn’t start the formal learning part of kindergarten on time or earlier that my son was simply going to be behind and evermore I would ruin his chances for success as an adult.

Focusing on more scare tactics I read than practical advice, I made the mistake a lot of parents do which is to rush the part of learning that comes with kindergarten, which is to play.


It’s ugly to admit, but I wasn’t the mom interested in if he was delighting in learning, I was only interested if I could prove what he was learning. Ouch!

Going one step further to reveal my twisted attitude, I thought that moms, who spent their day doing crafts with their kids didn’t have the same goals I had, which were rigorous standards. There I said it.

In my defense though those feelings were coming out of a heart of love. I wanted to be a conscientious homeschool mom because like you, I wanted the best for my son.

Kindergarten Beginnings

This is the very opposite of the way I feel today.

It is a privilege to learn and I will take a child any day with an almost unquenchable resolve to learn over one who only cares about getting finished.

Would you believe me if I told you it starts in kindergarten?

That is how important your beginnings.

You can nurture a scholar who basks in learning and then rigorous learning comes OR you can raise a learner who resents academics because you feed a “show me the results” attitude only.

Part of the hard time I had in kindergarten was that my son, though I didn’t fully understand it at the time until he got around other kindergartners, was advanced for his age. I was told at public school that he was gifted as the term was used then.

Did you know that this is common for some homeschoolers to have high achieving children?

Many times I hear moms say: “Oh you don’t understand, my son or daughter wants to sit and do schoolwork for hours and hours.”  I will talk about that in just a minute.

Whatever label the public school wants to give advanced learners, which I never worried about much, I knew the subjects I did and did not do in kindergarten had a positive affect on his development.

Essential Subjects to Cover When Homeschooling Kindergarten

Like I mentioned before, some of my experience was based on failures or what did not work because it was unbalanced.

However, many things and subjects I covered did work.

I have divided homeschooling kindergarten subjects or activities into two groups.

One group, which is vital and the other group, which if you can find the energy to possibly do, adds enrichment to your kindergartner’s path and what is more creates the life long learner we all want.

New Homeschooler Online Self-Paced Boot Camp By Tina Robertson

Too, I have given an estimated amount of time to spend on that subject.

Before I give you estimates for the formal part of learning, one important point to remember is that kids this age are learning with every breath.

That is why playing outside, nature, and plenty of time for arts and crafts is part of a learning. They are just as important IF not more so depending on your child’s development for learning.

Subject

Time Covered

Phonics

20 minutes direct instructions which means 1:1 time each day.  Then an unlimited amount of time exploring the sounds through hands-on crafts and movements.

Penmanship

10 minutes with direct instruction which means 1:1 time each day and showing them how to form letters. Then an unlimited amount of time enforcing the shape of the letter and strengthening fine motor skills through play and movement.

Reading

30 minutes with direct instruction which means having them read to you mixed with a combination of you reading to them. Then an unlimited amount of time each day as they want to read to you, listen to audio books and yet still more reading aloud by you.

Math

30 minutes with direct instruction which means working with them 1:1 teaching them about the basic operations. Then an unlimited amount of time reading living math books, playing games about numbers and using interactive content like iPads along with hands-on manipulatives to learn math.

This next group of subjects is inextricably linked to a kindergartner’s development and like I mentioned play a valuable part in stimulating the intellectual growth of my sons.

  • Art, music, and gymnastics.

Art stimulated imagination and fed their creativity.

Music played an important in stimulating math and science thinking skills and gymnastics helped to strengthen their motor skills for both large gross skills and fine motor skills.

Learning Through Play – Vital to Kindergarten.
It’s called Developmentally Appropriate

My reason for dividing out the groups in this manner is because when you are overwhelmed taking care of so many littles, you need the assurance that if you just do the vital subjects that your kindergartner will still have a huge head start.

I am sure you noticed by now that the actual direct part of teaching kindergarten only takes about 1 1/2 hours.  Yes, that is it!

This is the only formal part of teaching that is needed. 

Learning at this age is intertwined with playing as it such be.

I almost made the mistake of allowing Mr. Senior 2013 to do workbook after workbooks for hours because he wanted to until I realized that by second grade I almost had a homeschool burnout.

All About Reading Pre-reading

When children are high achievers, gifted or just enjoy learning, think of long term hands-on projects or activities that can be expanded to feed their almost tireless need to learn.

Guide them to expand that learning not only takes place with seat work, but that is it more hands-on than seat down.

Look at some wonderful, detailed tips for teaching young kids:

I have never heard an older child reflecting back say that he or she did too many crafts or interactive activities during their kindergarten years, but I have heard many who wish their moms had done more fun things and crafts.

They only have ONE year to be a kindergartner, make it memorable for the right reasons and they will remember and better yet grow up to be well-rounded high achieving homeschoolers.

How many subjects are you covering in kindergarten? Do you need some help? Post them here and I don’t mind a bit looking them over.

Do you want to see some of what I used in kindergarten?

I look fondly at these products like Dr. Maggie’s Phonics readers because this set was my very first set and Alpha Omega Horizons phonics challenged us.

Also, be sure to look at my Amazon Store where I have subjects organized for you on things I’ve used through the years.

Homeschooling Kindergarten: What Subjects to Teach and For How Long?

Hugs and love ya,

Homeschool Kindergarten. What Subjects to Teach and For How Long @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

5 Signs That You Need to Switch Your Homeschool Approach

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Sharing 5 signs that you need to switch your homeschool approach, maybe I will spare you my same stubbornness struggle.

5 Signs to Switch Your Homeschool Approach

Switching from a strictly classical approach to a more unit study approach with an eclectic twist was not easy for me. However, there were tell-tale signs.

Unless you have a public school teacher background (I did not) when you first started homeschooling, you probably were unaware of a homeschool approach. I wasn’t even able to define the term.

First, being able to define a homeschool approach helps to sort through what will work for your family and what will not.

5 Signs That You Need to Switch Your Homeschool Approach
A simple definition for homeschool approach would be the techniques, style, manner, and beliefs as to how you will educate your child.

1.You now understand that you may have chosen your current homeschool approach by default not choice.

Being able to understand and articulate that simple, but powerful definition of a homeschool approach was my first prompt in realizing now that I had homeschooled a few years, I needed to research more carefully the best way to teach my children.

When I started homeschooling I almost felt like I chose a homeschool approach by what I call default.  Classical approach was the homeschool approach my brain was drawn to; it made sense to me.  By default because I was the teacher, I chose that homeschool approach for my children.

2. Regardless of your teaching preference, your children learn better with another style.

My second sign was that although the classical approach worked most of the time for my oldest son, my middle son learned best by more hands-on activities.  I truly was not going to leave any child behind.

3. When you’re losing your homeschool joy because you want something to be successful.

The next sign was one that was real important to me and that was that all of us, including myself, were losing the joy of learning.

Although the definition of homeschool approach in its simplest form means your individual style of teaching, it has to be something you enjoy doing each day too.

Losing a bit of my joy in teaching, I knew the classical approach wasn’t exactly a perfect fit for my teaching style.

Constant moans when we got ready to homeschool played a part too.

You know they weren’t the normal I-am-not-in-a-mood-today-for-school moans, but major moans. The I hate to read now were words spoken in my house. 

My heart was heavy because my push and my drive for a heavy language arts focus was stealing our joy.

Although I can’t all together blame the classical approach because I could have added balance, it certainly started feeling like a noose around my neck.

I could easily move past not having such a great day teaching, but young children don’t have the same ability to reason that sometimes things are temporary.

4. Your day is getting longer and longer because you’ve been focused on following the curriculum instead of the lead of your children.

Another negative sign was that I started making our days go longer and longer, which is beyond anything that I preach tout for teaching kids in the younger years

5. Knowing that when we added in something else other than what our curriculum called for, my kids were more engaged. In our case, it was hand-on activities.

Also, we were finding delight when we took time out of our reading and writing.

For instance, we added a volcano activity, outside geography hunt in the yard or made a themed history meal. They were indicators that we needed more hands-on activities.

Careful Stubborn teacher that I was, it still took me another two years before I changed.

Also, I knew that I had to adopt a homeschool approach that fit my whole family and not just suited me as the teacher.

The good thing about homeschool definitions that you adopt is that they can be expanded.

Now, my expanded definition of homeschool approach would be this:

A homeschool approach would be the techniques, style, manner, and beliefs as to how you will educate your child AND it is the way a teacher nurtures a love of learning recognizing and accepting how a child learns best.

You’ll also love these other tips:

5 Signs That You Need to Switch Your Homeschool Approach

Do you have any of these symptoms signs?

5 Signs That You Need To Switch Your Homeschool Approach @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus.

Hugs and love ya,