Posted on 09/14/2007 5:40:01 AM PDT by cinives
Lots of single parents do homeschool. If you are curious, find a local homeschool association. It can probably put you in touch with single homeschoolers. We have a single mom down the street who has homeschooled all 7 of her children (currently homeschooling 4). We both work and homeschool, and I find that there is plenty of time in the evening to do whatever teaching is needed. Most days our boys do their lessons and other things while grandma putters around.
That has to be wrong. They have been saying there are 1.1 million homeschoolers for at least ten years and the movement has been growing. Nobody has bothered to recount though.
I’m not sure the rest of the demographic information there is any better...
Almost the entire Left in the US insists that a 12 year old girl has the right to contract for an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic. What happened to the idea that parents have an unalienable right to made decisions for their minor children. It seems the Left has been happy to ignore and destroy that right in their efforts to secure abortion.
In truth all parents homeschool until they surrender their children to a professional education establishment where leftists hold the keys to the education and the credential-granting mechanisms of the State, who insists that all teachers must be “certified”. But who defines what is “certified”? The leftists who control the State agency that grants the certificate.
Having successfully homeschooled my daughter, who left home to earn two undergraduate degrees with honors and then a graduate degree with honors, I would urge all parents to consider homeschooling for as long as they can do so successfully. Every year they keep their children out of the government indoctrination factory will decrease the likelihood that their children will be consigned to the dark dungeon of leftist thinking, or worse- will turn out to be leftists themselves.
The flexibility is awesome. Tomorrow, I’m taking a half dozen home school scouts backpacking for the weekend. Next week, one of my kids is going with me to a mini-materials science camp for kids put on by some engineering society. I got permission from his teacher to pull him out of school for the day. Course, I’m the principal so my wife does sort of report to me.
My oldest daughter does some of her lessons at night so she can work during the day.-
As you can expect it depends on the age of the kid.
A young child needs your presence or at least a daycare situation with family, friends or the like. The people I know who homeschool young kids either work 2nd or 3rd shift or can take their kids to work with them, or have a great daycare situation with family or friends.
Homeschooling kids in elementary school takes 2 hours a day or less of the parent’s time. Once the kids begin to read by themselves, you gain a lot of flexibility in your methods. Reading is the key, because it’s how you easily get in language arts, science and history. Until the kid reads, you need to read to them every day and get in the phonics and writing lessons to support independent reading. Play can be used to get in practical science and history as well. Arithmetic is easily taught by games, workbooks, or computer drills and games 20 minutes or so a day, depending on the kid’s interest and attention level. Add in visits to museums or historical sites on weekends, local sports leagues, art/music classes at community centers or YMCAs and you have a good curriculum. Piece of cake.
Once the kid gets to be of a responsible age (11 or so with most kids), you can leave them alone for some period of time (I’m not recommending 8 hours !) to do their own studies - they should be self-motivated to do their academic work. Add in some part time work depending on age/capabilities (cutting lawns, bus person at local restaurant, pet care for neighbors, the sky’s the limit), and some time volunteering at local museums, nursing homes, other charity orgs). The key is getting them out of the house and engaged in productive, meaningful and possibly remunerative activities at least part of most days.
By the time they’re 14, if you’ve raised a responsible kid, they can range farther afield (take the local train into the local city for classes or volunteering at museums), and by the time they’re 16 you should have a light hand on the reins because again, if you’ve done it right, they should have a self-determined path to their future - college, apprenticeship - that they are pursuing.
It doesn’t mean you just let them loose - you are their “wise counsel” and chief resource guide while continually steering them towards adulthood.
In my case, my kid spent one day a week in town volunteering at a science museum, one day at a science co-op, one day working and riding at a horse barn, and the other days at home getting her academic work completed. My job allowed me to spend 2 days a week at home, so that worked on the academic days because she did her work while I did mine.
Amen to that, and congrats on your daughter - outstanding job !
I would add that the book “Educating the Whole-Hearted Child” by Clay and Sally Clarkson is an excellent resource. There are also books regarding the Charlotte Mason method, which are worth looking into, as well. Author Karen Andreola is big on Charlotte Mason.
Ping of interest.
“Another reason to homeschool” ping.
He only gets TV one day a week, and only for a an hour or so. His favorite show is the Discovery Channel's Planet Earth series, and he is smart enough to recognize that their Global Warming slant is BS.
Which makes a homeschooled 5 year old smarter and better educated than most liberals. : )
I am amazed at the number of single parent home-schoolers whose children graduate from high school at our state home-school convention every year. It is a very special selfless, loving parent that will commit the time and energy required to see that through.
We hs’d. Our son wanted to go to school in 4th, so we found a small, ‘developmental’ school in town. It was awful, just terrible. I told my husband — “If we could find the money to pay that tuition every month, then let’s use that money and TRAVEL.” I mean, how far could you travel on what people shell out for tuition?
We traveled off-season (LA to Paris, Feb, $299) and SAW ancient history. I highly recommend this history curriculum.
I was debating that but I really do think it is, too. It’s just not as negative as some of the other threads I’ve pinged lately.
Yes indeedy !! The problem with many private schools is that they use the same texts and methods as public schools. I’m thinking about taking the family to the next CPAC in DC and the cost will be coverd by not sending my daughter to the private Christian school next year that she is going to this year.
When we homeshooled her last year I did little of the math instruction because that is my wife’s strong subject. But even I could bring up the math level of many HS graduates especially in practical math and word problems.
Which state ?
When you think about it, homeschooling allows the single parent to enjoy their kid with family time. The lack of peer pressure is the greatest boon to the single working parent.
Virginia
For what it’s worth, I think I saw the one on the Huns. I was not impressed with the history—they got a lot of things just plain wrong.
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Well, that kind of defeats the purpose of a history program.
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