As I mentioned in my previous writing "Simply Basics," "we" tend to stick very close to the basics in just about everything we do! The less you complicate your life, the better off you are!

We have been homeschooling for 10 years now, but actually it's been 16 years and 5 months since I count all the teaching I've done since my first child's birth!  Homeschooling is not just the academics!!! No way!!!  We, as parents, are homeschooling our children from the moment they enter this world! Our definition of   "homeschooling" is simply: teaching your children at "home!" I'm not speaking of just any "so called" home though!  The Webster's Dictionary definition of "home" is:  "a family thought of as a unit."  A "happy home," of course is a dwelling place as well. So, if a "home" is to be considered a "happy dwelling," then that is obviously telling me that "homeschool" is a "happy" school. And what is school?  "A period or session of an educational institution" (Webster's).  So, with that, a "homeschool" is: "A period or session of education in a happy dwelling." Right???  Home: "happy dwelling" and School: "a period or session of education." You can't call a "dwelling" that has no love or nurturing in it a "home!" Therefore, those "dwellings" don't qualify to be a called a "homeschool!"   But, if your "dwelling" has plenty of love, nurturing and happiness, then it is called a "home!"  So, if anyone ever asks you if you "homeschool," you should say yes! Any loving and caring parent "homeschools!"  We are teaching our kids 24 hours a day! Around the clock! We are educating our children when we speak to one another, whether in respect or disrespect. When we cook and clean our "homes," when we potty train the toddler or teach them to spoon feed themselves, when we pray to God and study God's Word daily, when we add 2 cups of flour plus 1 cup of flour. When we read them stories and talk to them about our pasts. Everything,  simply everything is education!!! Good or bad...

So, now that we true "home" schoolers all understand that we are teachers, we need to decide what materials we will be using to aid us in educating our children academically.  You can purchase a packaged curriculum, which contains every subject that you will need. It could be one grade level or divided up into various grades.  These can be nice because everything is right there for you as the teacher.  All you need to do is just do what it says!  Some folks like that security, but for us that doesn't work! We like to use "individual" books of our choice! The reasons why?  Because we don't always like all of "one" company's literature. We might like their math book but not their grammar! When you buy a packaged curriculum you buy all "their" literature! I did that when I first started "formal" academics 10 years ago, but quickly noticed that "their" history book wasn't what I really wanted and neither was the math. I did like their spelling though! So I purchased an expensive packaged curriculum and I didn't end up using half of what came with it! Don't get me wrong here! I did look it over before I bought it so I knew what I was buying, but until you actually teach it to your children day in and day out, you're really not 100% sure it will "take!" I also didn't like the packaged curriculum because they are usually divided up into grade or age levels. We don't go by grades or age! We simply do a lesson and if the child does not master it completely, we do not go on until they have. We also will stay on "one" subject for an entire day if needed and not do any other subjects that day if the child is having problems not catching on or even if they just are having fun with that particular subject and don't want to stop! I also don't like all the dwaddle found in some packaged curriculums. We don't need all that cute stuff! We want to get to the point, do our work, and then get outside into the sunshine! So, for those reasons I've explained, we stick to buying "individual" books and use them to aid us in educating ourselves and our children. Below, I will explain what I mean by aid and also tell you the books we are using to teach our children.

When I say aid, I am meaning just that!  The books we purchase, are only aids in "helping" us teach our kids. For example: I purchased an Alpha Phonics book for my children to learn reading. We follow along with the book until we get to a lesson or lessons that my child already knows or has reviewed enough of before in a previous lesson. Then we just skip those lessons and go on to the next set of lessons we don't know! The phonics book is a "guide" for us so that I don't accidentally leave out important information, leaving "gaps" in our education. I can follow along, until I am confident we can skip something, and then move on to what we haven't learned yet! You can see why grades or packaged curriculums wouldn't work for us! We thumb through and learn only what we need in a book and then move on to the next book. So if someone was to ask me what grade is such and such in, I would have to say that it depends on what subject  they're inquiring about?! They may have skipped quickly through math and are at high school level.  But the same individual may have really struggled with English and are barely making it through one book and may only be at the junior high level with that subject. You can't possibly categorize children by grades and ages!! We all learn at  different paces and in different ways.

Did you know that not "everyone" in Room 222 math class is catching on to what the teacher is saying? If you do understand, you graduate from that class and go forward, but if you don't catch it, you get left behind. Period!!! No one gets left behind in our "homeschool!" We all move at whatever pace we can and, above all, do our best! It doesn't matter if it takes us 1 year to finish a book or 3 years. Whatever!   Everyone is unique!  Give your child the time he or she needs to learn! They will catch on when they're ready, not when someone else says they're ready!

Here are some examples of what we use for various subjects:

1- Math: Saxon Math, flashcards, and SOME workbooks.  (These can be very tedious, so you have to be careful and be ready to move on if the child is ready).  Workbooks can stall for time and will burn you out!!

2- Reading: The Bible, various library books that the children are "interested" in, magazines that "interest" them, and Alpha Phonics by Samuel Blumenfeld.

3- Spelling: I make a list of words up from the book reports that my children do. If they spell a word wrong in their report, I know they need practice with that word, and so it goes on the list!

Also, we use the Alpha Phonics book for help with sounding out words so it makes it easier to learn spelling!

4- Grammar: I use Simply Grammar!

5- Writing/Penmanship: We use our reading lessons for that day, Alpha Phonics, book reports, or reports we do from stories the children make up! Lots of practice with writing names, addresses and phone numbers (you know, basics!).

6- History: All sorts of autobiographies we read and also a history book to only guide us through the important dates and info we need to learn!

7- Science: A science textbook to only guide us in the basic facts we need to know! There are also some great autobiographies for science!

I can go on forever, but I have already done that! Smiles! So, my prayer is that you will have learned something here that can help you in your "homeschooling" endeavors. Let me know if you have any questions about what I've said or if you just need help with something in your homeschool! I'm always here!  May God bless you all!

SMILES,

~Donnetta (DC)~

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Last modified February 20, 1999
Copyright © 1999 The Rogers Family 13!