Posted on 07/05/2006 8:34:28 AM PDT by Clara Lou
It's been working well for us. Now that they're older, it also gives me a chance to get my 2 cents in about more controversial areas like the evolution/creation debate.
They already know that I think that the school has no business teaching things like sex education.
Recently, there was an assembly having to do with just that. It required an opt out form I hadn't yet received in the mail. The girls told their respective teachers that they didn't think their mama would like them attending such a thing, so the teachers sent them to the library instead.
I was SO proud they stood up for themselves...not that I'm bragging or anything.
(grin)
Are there people who actually say "hehns" or "pehns" or "dehns"? I don't know any.
My dad always said that I talked about "daintzing" or going to a "daintz" with my date, with the "ai" pronounced like the word "eye" - a "long i." I couldn't hear that, lol. Oh, he also hated the way I say "coat hainger." I can hear that, but don't see anything wrong with it!
Maybe regular dogs aren't spelled that way, but "Deputy Dawg" is!
ping - let me agree with the statement that kids do not get classic literature exposure. rather, a lot of liberal / multicultural indoctrination in the book choices.
"ping - let me agree with the statement that kids do not get classic literature exposure. rather, a lot of liberal / multicultural indoctrination in the book choices."
Let me add ...
I know this because I have an 11 and an 8 yr old in the pulblic schools. No matter, they both are big readers, read a lot more than I ever did at their age, and much of it is classic literature (children's classics) - at home. Although my daughter is also this week reading an ALA-approved modern book that in my mind fits the 'liberal indoctrination' mold, the book "Hoot" (plotline: kids fights meanie developers to save an owl's nest). She got the book via the school (book sale).
I cannot think of a single classic literature book that they read via the school.
Most of their learning, as is ever the case, is outside the classroom.
Chahta imanumpa ish anumpola hinla ho?
"Yep Our twin girls are 2 and 3 levels above grade average because we have a home version of summer school where they learn basic Math, History and English."
Can you explain more?
Sounds like something we are trying to do. My wife got some Saxon math books because we felt the schools wasnt giving the kids enough homework, so we started them on that...
Halito. Chim achukma?
Well, take Math for example. Kids today get thrown from one type of math to another before the facts are firmly grasped. Multiplication is frustrating if your simpler addition isn't automatic. Frustration breeds resistance, so the fastest way to get them to not like Math is to dump it all on them at once.
At home, History is taught from an American standpoint, something the schools are woefully deficient in. Public school class time is spent more on the evils of slavery that the actual history of the Civil War, and teaching kids the words of the Declaration of Independence doesn't necessarily teach them the MEANING of it. The Founders went through Hell to establish this country, yet many of the hardships they endured aren't even noted in public schoolbooks.
We tend to stick more the Classical literature at home, too. Facts about Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, Rome, and England are covered along with age appropriate literature. They haven't actually read the Iliad or the Odyssey, but the parts they know through short stories and films has interested them, so they will be reading them as they get older. Odysseus is a favorite character of theirs.
English and literature are my favorite subjects. Grammar, punctuation and proper sentence structure is important. Something as small as a semicolon can change the meaning of an entire sentence. Words DO have power. :-)
Sorry if this hasn't been too informative. There are ton's of websites out there with worksheets and such. A lot of our school tends to be a short amount of bookwork and a lot of discussion. If there's something that really peaks their interest, or if they ask something I can't answer, I look for more information on it.
It really isn't the amount of homework, either. I can't tell you the amount of busywork my girls have brought home
Teach them what you'd think they should know along with things you'd like to know more about. Science is always a good start around here. We all learned more about hummingbirds by checking out library books and doing Internet research. Then I had them write a paper on the subject. Then they had to write it again with clarified sentences and proper punctuation.
I hate the way schools have conglomerated so much of the necessary education in one course. 'Social Studies' could be more aptly called World Cultures, IMHO. It's like trying to eat a 4 course meal in 45 minutes. No wonder all the kids are so confused.
How old are your children, BTW?
my children are 11, 8 and 2. Are you home schooling then, or adding to the formal education?
btw, my kids also like greek mythology.
we have hins as well as a dowg.
the dowg isn't very effective at keeping the cayots
away though.
they don't bother the ponies.
Adding to. I don't feel competent enough to completely homeschool, so we use the summertime to catch up on whatever is needed and to get a jump on what will be covered next year.
Our public school curriculum is on-line. I check before the girls start school to see if there's anything that might be more indoctrination than education. That way I can notify the school of any objections and/or make sure the girls have both sides of the story before it's covered in class.
----
btw, my kids also like greek mythology.
Very interesting characters, that's for sure. Schools don't cover classical literature hardly at all anymore. Heaven forbid the kids read about someone with a ....(gasp) SWORD!
LOL!
"Adding to. I don't feel competent enough to completely homeschool, so we use the summertime to catch up on whatever is needed and to get a jump on what will be covered next year."
Ah, We are doing the same, more or less.
How old are your kids?
We have 12 year old twin girls.
It would be nice if students left school with basic spelling skills. That would be a start. At present it seems that graduating students feel free to express themselves in kreeatiff speellink.
Spelling requires memorization. Memorization has been the most maligned of the study skills because, you know, it's just so boring! It's the downfall of many students who enter first-year foreign language.
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