The "S" word - socialization

First of all, let me say that I am NOT opposed to public schools, private schools, church-based schools or any other group education. One of the things that has made America a great nation in such a relatively short time is our nation's belief that everyone should be educated because educated citizens make a stronger society. For heaven's sakes, I was a school teacher, you know. I loved school. I loved college. I plan on being one of those retirees that audits classes at a university for fun. It keeps the brain and spirit young and vital. I'm also for whatever God has called your family to do be it group education or home school. That being said, I will now turn to the main topic of this post.

The one question that home school opponents like to throw at you, inevitably with some sort of "Ah-ha, I gotcha!" kind of attitude is "But, what about (dum, dum, dum; dramatic pause) socialization?!?". I must confess that I was a bit concerned about this as well before I started the home school journey. When I read "A Well Trained Mind", I felt much better. The author makes some great points that really got my mental wheels spinning and reassured me as a parent. Group education is actually the opposite of good socialization. 

At school, children are in a room all day with children their age and one or maybe two adults. When else in life do we have this kind of situation? When I made it to the "real world", I was surrounded by people of all ages. Some of the teachers that I was teaching alongside had taught my younger siblings. I had parents of all ages and all walks of life to interact with daily. When I started working in the corporate world, it became an even broader base of people that I was required to use my social skills on - men, women, straight, gay, atheist, Christian, Muslim, American-born, foreign nationals, younger, older and on and on I could go. I'm not sure where we as a society began to believe that a classroom is the "real world" but it is not.


In a classroom, children are mostly required to be in their seat and be quiet. They will (if they are fortunate) get to have free play for 1/2 hour total with yet more children the same age or close to it. Personally, I don't think the best teacher of good social skills is other children and/or peer pressure. They do learn some things that are good but they also tend to pick up a lot of bad things. Do you really think that those sweet angels are practicing good manners all the time out there on that playground? Think again...

Just because I home school does not mean that my child never interacts with anyone but me and his dad and sister. He plays with the neighborhood kids who happen to be black and have very different family situations than ours. A couple of the girls are older than Baker and the boys are younger. They have a ball together and can play outside for as long as they like - no 15 minute time limit here. He is in a home school group on Mondays, Bible Study Fellowship on Monday nights, he plays one sport a season, attends church on Sundays and the first service room that he is in has children that are older and younger. He is learning to relate to other people of all races and ages and gender. Now, this is looking more like the "real world" that I know.

Another advantage in our family is that our daughter has Down Syndrome. She has required therapy most of her life to mitigate her developmental delays. Baker was (and still is) exposed to children with all sorts of disabilities and has never blinked an eye. It's just the way they are. He is expected to use good manners with the parents, other siblings and staff at Easter Seals and doctor offices and AR Children's Hospital. He has been exposed to all sorts of career options that I would never have thought about - therapists and directors plus all of the medical jobs. During Anna Marie's stays in the NICU and CVICU, he was exposed to techs, nurses, physician assistants, doctors, social workers and he even got to get a tour of the Angel Flight helicopters with one of the pilots. (I have to admit I was jealous that I missed that one. My mom was with him for that spur-of-the-moment opportunity.)

It has been a joy to see his manners improve and has ability to carry on a conversation with adults blossom. He can stand up for himself with other kids, is learning to be considerate of those less capable and/or younger and is seeing that most of the world does not live like we do - with a solid faith in God and both parents together. He is learning these lessons under my (mostly) gentle guidance as opposed to the (sometimes) harsher group education environment. 

Yes, I realize that taking this argument to the next level opens up the whole can of worms regarding cults and other such fringe groups. Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world and these sorts of things will go on no matter what. It does not mean that my family has to fall into line with the current group education mentality. We are not isolationists but neither are we conformists. After all, God has called all of us as Christians to live differently from the world. For now, this is one of the ways in which we are doing that - by home schooling. 


If you are a home schooler, I hope this has encouraged you. If you are not, I hope this has given you some food for thought.

One of those weeks...

Well, I knew that sooner or later it would happen. I just didn't expect it to happen this soon. I have been under the weather in a big way all week so we got zip, zero, nada "real" school work done here. I didn't even have the mental energy to pull out some independent stuff for Baker to work on. I was impressed with Baker's initiative. He did a great deal of drawing and Lego building and reading unprompted. Maybe I'll just say that it was an "independent study" week. The beauty of home schooling is that we can make up for it later. He also had the privilege of spending his birthday with my parents so I could go to the dr. and sleep. He built with his new medieval Lego set for hours over there and laughed with my dad and just felt loved on and special. No amount of school hours could ever duplicate that for him and I'm grateful for that relationship.

Anna Marie started at her developmental preschool this week. I still have a lot of mixed feelings about this big change. She is doing well and having a great time - especially outside in the dirt. Who would have thought it of Princess Baby? Her teachers are so precious and understanding that sometimes she needs to be by herself and observe. They are very encouraging. When we picked her up on Friday, one of them told me that he thought she was a bit tired and homesick. That about broke my heart but at the same time I was touched at his thoughtfulness and sympathy for her. I am seeing progress already in some areas. She is seeing a therapist every day in one discipline or another. Combine that with the active day that is focused solely on development of cognitive, social and self-care skills and I know that she is going to blossom in so many areas.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend, my fellow travelers. May God bless your extended family time in new ways. May we all return to the trenches of home schooling refreshed.

Great Idea for Toddlers / Preschoolers

I know that a huge challenge for many of us is how to keep the littles busy and out of trouble while we work with the olders. I just got this idea in my email this morning from education.com and it's wonderful! I'm going to have to do this and it will be so good for the Princess. Of course, keeping big brother focused on his work will be the new challenge because he'll want to play with her - LOL! Actually, it might be a good project for him to set up for her and they can both play while I get some work done. OK, I'll quit thinking out loud...
Enjoy this idea. Let me know how it works for you. I'll try to do this today and post pix asap.  

Pix as promised. This kept her engaged for approximately an hour. Lessons learned: Popcorn kernels make a very satisfying sound, this worked on more motor skills than I expected, food safe dye will wind up on hands.

School without Usborne books?!?!? NEVER!

(Yes, this will be a "shameless promotion". But, I can't help it.) 

I began using Usborne books for school before I became a consultant. I was trying desperately to keep up with our Classical Education group without Usborne books and realized quickly that I really did need the Ancient History Encyclopedia and some geography books. So, I ordered a few. Right after that, I saw a once-in-a-lifetime consultant sign up offer. I thought about it for a few days then jumped in with both feet and have never looked back.

So, you ask, how do I incorporate these books? I'll give you a few examples. The World History Encyclopedia is an absolute necessity. We are studying the Medieval / Early Renaissance time period this year and it is so much fun. The encyclopedia is not only gorgeous to look at, it is informative and easy to read in small bits. The internet links are the biggest time saver and homework helper. For example, last week, Baker wanted to report on Clovis. We read about him in Story of the World, Volume 2 and the encyclopedia. We then went on line to the encyclopedia-specific internet links and found some great pictures that we could print to go along with his oral report. He was so excited about it that he wasn't nervous at all about giving his report in class! I couldn't have done it without the Usborne encyclopedia.

We used the World History Sticker Atlas (also internet-linked) last year to help him connect the geography with the history. It was also a great way to sneak in some fine motor skill development. We still get to use that book this year since we didn't finish "stickering" last year (only because I held him back from doing it all at once).

I have Learning Palettes for Math and Reading. These are self-correcting, independent, non-consumable, skill reinforcement activities. (How's that for some teacher lingo?) He has reviewed number order, phonics, rhyming, graphs, ordinal numbers and many others using these. 

I truly could go on and on - Playtime Activities, Science Things to Make and Do, dot-to-dot books, phonics readers, abridged classics, etc. These materials have added so much FUN to our school days and beyond. Baker's been known to stretch out on the couch with an encyclopedia or atlas just because he wanted to look. Don't you remember how fascinating those types of books were when you were young? I certainly do. I love seeing him have the same experience. 

I can see that these resources are developing in him a love of learning and isn't that one of our ultimate goals as parents? If it isn't, it certainly should be. I would be honored to help you select some great things for your specific needs, hold a workshop/home show and even sign you on as a consultant if you so desire. 

Onward and upward, parents! Let's raise a generation of LEARNERS not test-takers.

www.bookwormfavorites.com

The heat is on!

I don't know what your school count down is but we are down to 4 days!! EEEEKKKK! Baker's home school group starts meeting Monday. How is is that I have been working all summer and still don't feel ready?!?! Is anyone else in the same boat? I'm ready to dive in and start making some daily plans. How about you?
I'm going to love having all of these resources ready to go - Months of the Year lap book, math practice sheets, file folder games and Learning Palettes to name a few. Please share a few of your fave "go to" resources. I'm a junkie - LOL!