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I'm a mother of four great kids: Cassandria-10, Fredric-8 1/2, Coriandre-7 and Clairette-almost 5. Three girls and a boy. We live in Calgary, Alberta (Canada). I began homeschooling in September 1995, as my eldest was entering grade one. It wasn't that I was opposed to the school system. It wasn't for any specific reason, really. Circumstances made me look into it and I decided to embark on this great "adventure" - one year at a time!
I had no teaching experience whatsoever. My own schooling had been an incredible roller-coaster (different schools, interruptions, etc.) which I managed to survive - at the top of my class! (mostly, I guess, because I enjoyed learning - the challenge of it, but not school itself as I was extremely shy - an impediment my children are lucky not to share with me!).
When I first heard of homeschooling, I thought it was crazy! Teachers have training and experience, schools have resources, all students follow the same program - how could parents be allowed to teach their children however and whatever they wanted? And all the usual misconceptions: what about socialization? phys ed? discipline? And of course: how can anyone have the patience to homeschool?!!! (patience has never been, and still isn't my strong point - by far!)
I just shook my head at the idea and went on with my life. My eldest was in kindergarten which she loved (she had no preferred activities: she loved it all, no exceptions whatsoever) and she was doing great! Had I even considered homeschooling just then, the idea of removing her from an environment she liked so much would have discouraged me instantly!
But nothing is ever as easy as it seems! French is our first language at home - mine by birth and the children's by my husband's and my choice. The only way to guarantee that the French language stays alive in a totally English environment (including one English-speaking parent) is to register the children in a French school (French as a First Language, not French Immersion). That is the main reason why my children went to preschool - to reinforce their first language - although socialization was an important factor too.
There were two francophone schools in the city at the time and both were relatively far from our house (15 km and 30 km)... Transportation became a major concern. There were three options open to us:
- Of course, the easiest option was to move closer to one of the two schools but this just wasn't in our budget.
- The second option was to put the kids on the school bus three hours a day, five days a week but that was not an option I was willing to consider.
- The third and apparently last option was to drive the children to and from school daily, (like I had been doing already but) with an extra trip for the younger ones in kindergarten or preschool (half days). That seemed like a little much, even for someone like me who enjoys driving! I didn't feel like turning into a full time family taxI driver! Anyway, that option had one big flaw: we did have two cars but both were old and unreliable. We had no budget for a new vehicle and our priority was for the "bread-winner" to get to and from work! So, what if one of the cars broke down and it wasn't worth fixing? We'd all have to share the one car with different schedules and major detours... Not a pleasant prospect!
"OK, what about this homeschooling concept?! It's an option I never thought I'd consider seriously, but it may actually turn out to be quite an interesting one after all..."
So I began looking into it, very doubtfully at first and then with more and more convinction. So much so that, even if I had been given a brand new vehicle, I would have chosen homeschooling anyway! Why be on the road two hours a day when you can do school in three hours at home? Actually, I didn't have to do much research at all as a friend of mine was already involved in homeschooling and had all the legal information I needed, a program coordinator and the contact for the French Distance Learning program I was interested in!
Another very important factor came into play in my decision to homeschool: my husband is in the restaurant business. He works week-ends and takes his days off during the week. He enjoyed this when the kids were all at home in that there were never any crowds on his days off. However, with the kids entering school, when would he get to see them? After work or after school, never full days... Homeschooling really did make a lot of sense in our case.
But I wasn't quite ready yet. I still had two major obstacles to overcome:
(a) Could I actually teach my kids? and
(b) How could I remove them from school?
("they like it so much and they'll miss their friends...")
For (a), I gave myself a test: if I could teach my daughter how to read over the summer, I would feel qualified enough to teach her and I could go ahead with homeschooling. If not - I didn't want to reconsider the options I had already dismissed but I would have to face them again then.
Since the French grade one program I had ordered had not arrived yet and that French resources are very few around here, I decided to teach her to read in English first, with some readers borrowed from the public library (the excellent British "Ladybird" series). We read ten to fifteen minutes a day, Cassandria loved it and went beyond the grade one level before the end of August!
So, now that I knew that I could teach, how was I going to deal with removing her from her school and friends (b)?
First I talked to the parents of her best friends to see how they felt about my intentions and to see if they would be willing to make an extra effort for our kids to keep seeing each other on weekends. Their response was positive and we would drive across town regularly for weekend visits! I felt better knowing that I wasn't going to severe all ties. Now, to convince my daughter...
Kindergarten is fun, there's hardly any work at all, and it's only half days. My main argument became "time": work half days at home or go to school ALL day. My daughter jumped on the bait and looked forward to having afternoons off! It had been easier than I thought but I knew she didn't fully realize what she was getting into. To make sure she didn't stay isolated, I signed her up for lots of field trips with other homeschoolers, registered her in swimming and gym lessons, planned a Halloween and a Christmas party to gather her friends at home (and make sure they didn't forget her), and - crossed my fingers!
I basically spent that whole summer filled with guilt and doubt. But I have never yet regretted my decision to homeschool.
It really worked. Our diningroom took on a new look and a dual role: it was our classroom in the morning and served its "normal" purpose at any other time! There was a school calendar on one wall; a tri-lingual illustrated alphabet on another; the children's artwork on the third wall - and the fourth wall consisted of a full-length patio door opening onto the backyard. The room was bright and comfortable and the diningroom table large enough to seat us all and for spreading all the books and materials!
My daughter only really missed her school once:
on Valentine's Day, when her siblings brought home cards from their friends from kindergarden and preschool and she got none... It was my fault: she made cards for her friends but they hadn't thought she'd come by and hadn't made any for her... I promised to organize a Valentine's party at home the following year!
Otherwise, she saw her friends regularly and never once regretted she wasn't in school with them. Writing was our major problem though! The French program I had was very intensive and required lots of writing. That became a daily struggle but learning together and including the younger ones (at times) was a lot of fun and very rewarding. We worked four or five mornings a week with lots of free time and lots of outings! We made full use of our zoo pass, we visited friends across town and had the gym and swimming classes. We also had the younger brother to drive to and from kindergarten daily which did impede our schedule somewhat.
All in all, it was a good year. We finished at the end of May and took three months off with only reading throughout the summer (lots of it though, Cassandria must have read over 50 books as part of the public library summer reading program!). The year's success was confirmed by the final test: when asked, Cassandria declared she preferred to stay home than return to school for Grade 2. I felt so good and guilt-free at last!
Our second year was a bit more of a challenge as my son joined us and he wasn't nearly as ready as his sister had been the previous year. He's an autumn child whereas she was born in the spring. Six months' maturity is quite a difference and he made it feel like it was even more! His sister had gone through a phase of denial: "I don't want to go to school but I don't want to homeschool either!" for a while but it had passed. He went into it too - and I think he's just only left it! He had problems holding his pencil which made writing exercises a nightmare I just had to bypass. Math and reading were fine but writing and spelling were definitely out. My patience ran out many times but I figured that, in his case, school would probably be worse as he would most likely make even less effort there than he did with me - and when he brought extra work home I'd get the extra opposition of "the teacher doesn't do it that way", etc. So we kept on going, avoiding, for the time being, his "problem areas".
My daughter, on the other hand, became quite independent, doing most of her work on her own, requiring my assistance only occasionally. We only had to drive my second daughter to preschool and back twice a week which was much better than the daily trips of the previous year. We still did too many extra activities - at one point, it seemed like we were scheduling school around the extra activities instead of the opposite!
We held a Halloween party like the year before but replaced the Christmas party by three small Valentine parties (one for each of the three older children) which actually turned out to be much easier to organize and run than one big party for all of them (multi-age and co-ed!). There was a craft, a snack and a video, age appropriate. A few less friends showed up than the previous year but the good, close ones returned.
The classroom saw few changes. The calendar was updated, the children's "art gallery" renewed and a small blackboard was hung up. We still did history, geography and science as a family and at the oldest child's level, and that worked really well. We included the little ones, at their own levels, but only when they wanted to be involved. Unfortunately, we did less than planned in phys ed - both children took skating and swimming lessons, drama and spring soccer; no real daily routines. And we didn't do much in art and music either (all three being areas I just don't do well in...). For art, the kids did lots of crafts (including family Christmas gifts) but not a lot of structured work. As for music, we didn't do anything except learn a few songs, listen to some classics and study the instruments of the orchestra. The children did get a wonderful opportunity to dance at the Opening Ceremonies of the World Police/Fire Games here in Calgary on June 28, 1997. They represented France (their second country - and my first one) and wore blue/white/red revolutionary costumes. They had a lot of fun during the rehearsals and had no fear performing in a crowded football stadium and for live TV cameras! (something no one could ever have had me do at their age!) Homeschooling is definitely not turning them into shy recluses!
Our schedule was as far removed from a regular routine as can be, especially during the second half of the year as I became really tired and less and less eager to get up in the morning... Burn out? Probably. But not because of homeschooling. I think just having four kids and always being on the go was the main reason! Anyhow, we finished the year at the end of June and only got two months off. Both kids agreed they wanted to continue with homeschooling for the time being, which made me feel good and confirmed that I wasn't keeping them home against their will!
The summer went by very quickly. The children went to daycamp every second week which gave all of us a break but made time fly. With only four weeks all together, there wasn't much time for reading, outings, etc. But it was a nice break, batteries got recharged and we were ready for a new school year at home.
For our third year, my second daughter went to kindergarten. Luckily, the French school she attended had decided to offer its program two full days a week instead of five half-days. This meant much less driving - only twice a week, I could deal with; five days I would have kept her home... She joined our "class" regularly on the days she was home, probably getting an early start on Grade one material as she was more than ready. The youngest, only 3 years old, wanted to join in too which was a little tough! She wanted my full attention and that just wasn't possible! The oldest was still quite independent but some work just had to be taught or supervised. My son still needed as much attention as he had the previous year - if I turned my back, he did nothing!
We did somewhat less activities, centering more on local programs and weekly sports such as basketball, floor hockey and tae kwon do; as well as a craft class and participation in a church choir. The classroom crowded up with two individual school desks (which the kids fought over regularly!) and more cabinets to hold all the books and school material! The kids learned a lot and, asked to choose for the following fall, they all picked "homeschooling" again over going back to school.
The year was short, though, as we finished on May 15 - not by choice but because we were moving! The kids had achieved most of the year's educational goals, thankfully, and packing just became priority one for a June 2nd move... Then the whole summer was spent settling in so they ended up with a four and a half month summer vacation! Now, they all have their own bedrooms with a study desk for homework or independent study and we have an actual "schoolroom" in the basement (at their own specific request: "we want it to look like a real classroom this year!") with 4 schooldesks, a teacher's desk, a blackboard, bulletin boards and two computers with headphones! It was definitely worth the long break and hard work that the move involved!
Four weeks of daycamp spread out throughout the summer allowed all of us to "take a break" from each other and gave me the opportunity to finish painting and cleaning the house! Bugs and heat kept us mostly indoors - which was a good thing, considering how much there was to unpack and organize! Now, we're all set up and ready for a new year of learning and challenges!
For our fourth year, we started school on time on Wednesday, September 2nd, 1998 (after almost four and a half months off) with a full overview of all the subjects to be studied this year and my general expectations. I decided to make independence ("homework" to be done after class, research and reports) and responsibility (assignments, no excuses, organization) the two major goals for my "students". We would have started a day early but it was our eleventh wedding anniversary and all four kids had their scheduled annual doctor's checkup!
Our class was bigger: Grade 4, Grade 3, Grade 1 and an ambitious and active 4-year-old! Balancing how much time I spent with each child was definitely a challenge but I felt much more confident than I did before (each year builds confidence!). Also, having a "real" schoolroom helped. Our diningroom setup in the old house was just too crowded.
We had different activities planned: ballet for the two youngest, tap dancing for the oldest, gymnastics for the two older girls and ice hockey for my son. The greatest improvement to our schedule was: no driving during the day as Clairette was not going to Preschool (our schoolroom should be enough for her, especially with ballet giving her her very own weekly activity complete with discipline and independence) and no one was in Kindergarden. All our activities were in the evening, therefore not interfering with our daytime schedule and leaving us with more free time "at home".
Fredric still hated writing and put very little effort in his schoolwork. However, since he has a natural ability at math, I decided to have him use the same textbook as his older sister, one grade up (hoping to motivate him while making my teaching/marking job a lot easier!). He had no problems with the material as long as minimal writing was involved! Science, History, Geography and Social Studies were all family activities at the Grade 4 level but the kids also did some individual projects on their own (Cassandria chose the California Gold Rush, London England and the Solar System; Fredric chose the "real" cowboys, the NHL Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and plants; Coriandre chose electricity and Calgary). For music, the three oldest learned recorder basics and a few tunes. Unanimous enthousiasm here, but what a headache when they all practiced at the same time!
Cassandria, the oldest, took a new enthusiasm for schoolwork and couldn't get enough work to do/stuff to learn! Maybe having written province-wide exams the previous Spring had something to do with this sudden change, but she definitely decided to do well this year and make us proud (two things that her brother really couldn't care less about!).
Coriandre (number three) shared Cassandria's enthusiasm for learning, and was the first one to enjoy writing (despite the fact that her numbers were still reversed, that she liked to mix capital and small caracters and that she mixed up certain letters and even sounds!). She got a lot more computer time than the others ever did in Grade 1 because we finally owned some great programs for English and Math - and it freed time for me to spend with the older two.
Finally, Clairette wandered in and out of the classroom. When she was with us, she flew through some workbooks, drew and colored, listened in and played on the computer. The rest of the time, she watched TV or played nearby (our schoolroom opens onto a large play area and is partly open to the TV area). She got the best of everthing this way!
At the end of April, our financial situation dictated a change of pace: the kids went to school for two months (daycare three days a week for the youngest) while I worked as an office temp for six weeks...
The kids adapted very well, having no problems with the material covered or with the social structure. The three oldest got their first "official" report cards since Kindergarden - which were most satisfactory for the two girls; Fredric, however, was no more motivated by the school environment than he had been by homeschooling - which at least gave me the relief to know that it wasn't "just me" but learning in general that he was at war with! Writing is still a challenge for him and he makes no effort to improve his reading or understand a question before answering it! He's always looking for a shortcut and guessing seems, to him, the fastest answer available... He wrote the provincial exams in class and I dread his results - not for his lack of skills, but his "shortcut" approach...
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Now
I don't know if the kids are better off at home than if they attended school but I'm now confident that they're not worse off. They may be somewhat spoiled in that they get lots of free time, make some of their own schedule, pick some of their themes and go on lots and lots of field trips. I know they see their father much more and they enjoy being a family. I can't predict how things will go in the future. I just know that I'd like to continue this way. I may need to return to work when I no longer have a preschooler as an official excuse to stay home - and that's only two years away. We take it a year at a time and try to somewhat parallel the schools' programs so that the transition will be as painless as possible if and when we can no longer homeschool.
The areas we have to work on are phys ed, art and music; my patience; discipline and attitude. I'm sick of getting sighs and complaints when I say it's school time when I know all the other kids have a much longer day than mine have! Basically, I'd like our homeschool to be fun, flexible and relaxed. We're not quite there yet but we're working on it!
During the summer, I'll be working on and off as temporary assignments become available and all four kids will enjoy 8 weeks of subsidized daycamp. It will get them caught up on those activities we didn't emphasize enough such as arts and crafts and team sports. I find the rhythm just as difficult as I had imagined: the morning rush and evening super-structured madness (dinner, baths, homework and reading, bedtime and next-day lunches)! I much prefer the rhythm of homeschooling to that of regular school!
The Lion School will reopen this fall but I'm going to keep on working, Monday through Thursday, until the beginning of winter. I'll be sharing the teaching responsibilities with my husband. He'll be teaching on Wednesdays and Thurdays (his days off) and I'll be teaching on Fridays, Saturdays and sometimes on Sundays (my days off) and we'll have to hire a babysitter for the remaining two days. It will be quite a different yet interesting experience, and the children will most certainly benefit from the shared teaching and from having their father more actively involved in their schoolwork.
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Resources
I've been lucky in having been well supported in this great "adventure" and having found great materials and resources to work with.
For the first year, we were registered with a private school. The coordinator offered lots of support. I would have stayed with her if I hadn't heard of a school board offering more financial support. Financing is a key factor in our case as we can't afford all kinds of activities for several children. Even for books, when you deal with two languages instead of one, you're doubling the cost of materials!
So, for our second year, we switched to the School of Hope. The kids have been able to do things they wouldn't have been able to do otherwise (drama, skating, daycamps, as well as have access to the Internet and educational software). We have hardly had to spend any money on their education (which is the way it would be if they were going to school) yet we have full control over their program of study. We choose the books and the materials, and we get a lot of support and advice too, despite the distance (the School of Hope is in Vermilion, some 300 km north of Calgary).
Our main program, for the first three years, (Language Arts, History, Geography) came from France, from the French Distance Learning Centre or CNED. The courses are very complete, almost too intensive but very well developped and perfect for independent study. There is no preparation for the parent which is a great advantage when you have several children all at different levels! Unfortunately, my oldest just wouldn't continue with it and you can't just buy it, you must register, be accepted and keep sending the assignments regularly... So, during our fourth year, we tried a few different resources with more or less succes and we have now handpicked a few which seem to best suit our needs.
For English Language Arts, we started off by using the Ladybird readers and various phonics workbooks from Teachers' stores, nothing formal. Then we tried the Pathway readers for a year, an Amish program, relatively easy to follow - readers, workbooks and teacher's guide with answer key. We've finally settled on novel studies, complemented by spelling and grammar workbooks (phonic workbooks for grades 1 and 2).
We also use the French version of Math Quest. And to learn about Canada: Canada, my country. For Science and Social Studies, we used a bit of everything - library, CNED materials, the individual projects chosen by the kids - but not really the French resources recommended by Alberta Education... For music (recorder), we used some of my old school textbooks and library books! For Art, we usually start off by selecting and making Christmas gifts for relatives, and for Phys Ed, it consists mainly of the activities planned (ballet/gym and hockey) as well as skating and swimming - we bought an annual pass to a recreation center offering all three: gym, arena and pool. And at home, for those days that don't have an outside activity, we have a couple of exercise videos for kids as well as a nearby park to run around at...
For educational software, we have a great French program from Sierra France called Adi (Adibou from Preschool to the end of Grade 1) which covers both French and Math; a fantastic (and fun) typing program from The Learning Company: Read, Write and Type, which, I hope, will save the kids time and open new horizons for them (the two oldest, anyway) by allowing them to touch type and thus not always having to search for each key on the keyboard... Also from The Learning Company, we have Spellbound, Midnight Rescue and some Reader Rabbit's. Finally, Sim Park, which teaches a lot about plants, animals and ecosystems.
There are a lot of resources on the Internet for homeschoolers. I just haven't had the time to look for them - yet. All the links I have are in my recently updated Bookmarks under Education and Home Schooling... Actually, all the links under Education should be interesting!
I finally added some photos to this page...
The kids actually asked to receive marks this year so I designed a weekly "report card". I found that weekly was too much so I designed the following monthly report card made up of two parts. In the first part, the children must record what they learned during the month, what they liked best and how they believe they did overall. In the second part, the marks are recorded by subject in three categories: tests, average and effort.
Another useful form, in my opinion, is the weekly schedule sheet which I try to fill out every day after school. It helps me keep track of what we did when, our activities and our progress, our days on and off - it's basically "our whole school year at our fingertips"!
And, just because I had to put them somewhere on my homepage, here are the links to my children's own homepages - made by yours truly, of course! But I'm seriously considering teaching them to build some of their own next year...
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Cassandria (10: dogs, Spice Girls, games) |
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Fredric (8 1/2: dinosaurs, hockey, games) |
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Coriandre (7: Barney, Rugrats, games) |
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Clairette (5: Sailor Moon, Aqua, Disney) |
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Last update: August 4, 1999
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