Okay yes, I did already make the decision to homeschool. The great decision I am talking about is method and curriculum. That seems to be the next step after deciding to teach your child at home. What curriculum or homeschooling method will best suit your family and your child?
All this summer I have been doing unschooling while I researched many different homeschooling approaches and compared curriculum. I wanted to go into this with as much knowledge as possible. I think anyone who knows me will tell you that when I decide to do something it has to be perfect…it has to be an Oscar worthy performance. I have very high standards for myself and yes it does get tiresome. I think I went through the usual self doubt that many homeschooling parents go through…can I do this? Will I be a good teacher? Will I have sufficient time? Will I fall flat on my face and make my son pay for my mistakes?
Well, I have a lot of faith in unschooling and wanted to go that route but innevitably I gave in to my fears and also to well meaning family members who insisted that I was being way to casual with my son’s education. I also started to see some unfavorable attitudes develop with an unschooling approach…such as the day my son announced that he did not need to read to do mechanical/engine work (his ultimate goal) and therefore would not be reading or working on his reading anymore. This is one sure way to make my heart stop…reading is like oxygen to me.
So…I made the decision that feels like half and half to me. My son has been enrolled in an online school that uses the K12 curriculum. It is structured and there will be tests on core skills but it is also VERY flexible I found after numerous phone calls to their offices. There is no grading of assignments and homework, there is only testing of basic skills that they need to pass with an 80% or better. They have online tutorials and textbooks for the parents to use in their instruction but using them is really optional. You can teach any which way you want to as long as the basics are covered. So when my son has science this year and needs to learn about the planets we can read their textbooks together and do the suggested activities OR we could go to a planetarium, see a space IMAX movie, create a planet mobile, or watch cute little videos at BrainPop Jr. The journey is not as important as the end result which makes me VERY happy. He can also go at his own pace…he does not need to be at the same level for English and math…he can just work according to his own needs and skills. If need be he could be doing second grade math and science and first grade writing and spelling. This program is hugely flexible and still allows me to incorporate my own ideas and opportunities for LIFE learning. They provide us with a computer and all the required books. They even arrange field trips and parties with other homeschooled students.
In doing the initial placement tests I can see that my son is behind his peers in reading and writing… or so they say. I am not worried about it. Interestingly though he is advanced in his language skills. He is awesome at narration, picking out details in a story, identifying the overal theme or lesson, or picking the missing words that complete the sentences. He is also great with definitions. I think his language skills have a lot to do with the fact that his father and I have always talked to him like an adult. Even when our kids were babies we never used baby talk…we talked to them like we would talk to anyone else. We didn’t “dumb things down” so to speak. If they need clarification we were happy to offer it but otherwise we just talked to them without any special exceptions for their age. Instead of “Oh baby….does baby want some num nums and some baa baa with milkie?” We would ask: “Payton would you like something to eat? Would you like bananas? Here have some warm cereal with bananas and this cup with milk inside it. I will sit here next to you and read this newspaper.” Just more evidence that life teaches a great deal of the lessons they need to learn…sigh.
Both of my older children blow me away with their language skills although I have shared before that my 30 month old is almost completely non-verbal thus far..so we are scratching our heads over that one.
So…we will see how a more structured homeschool approach goes. I figure we can quit anytime right? We are actually considering moving to another city nearby this spring as well…and ahem…farther away from certain naysayers. But that’s not the reason for the move! We want to live in the big city again. We could downsize and simplify. If we do move it will be nice for my son to have some routine and familiarity.
Let the journey begin!
译文:
伟大的家教决定
是的，我确实已经做出决定不让我的孩子去学校，而是留在家里接受教育。这一伟大决定是有关家教的方法以及课程，这似乎是我决定自己在家教孩子以后的第二步计划。什么样的课程以及什么样的家教方法最适合你的家庭以及你的孩子呢？
整个夏天我一直在思考家教的事情，我研究了很多不同的家教方法、比较了不少课程的设置。我希望在我从事对孩子的家庭教育之前我能够尽量多的了解相关的知识。我想任何认识我的人都会说我是一个追求完美的人，任何事情只要我去做，我就一定要做得最好，我想我的这一壮举就如同奥斯卡一样值得关注。我对自己要求很高，有时候确实让我有点累。我想我也和其他在家教孩子的父母一样也会经常怀疑自己，我到底能做好吗？我会不会是一个好老师？我会不会有充足的时间？该不会我自己犯的错误，要我儿子来承担吧？
对于家教我有很强的信念，并且我很想走这条路，但是不可避免我屈服了，屈服于我的恐惧，屈服于我的家人，他们坚持认为如果我给儿子做家教，是让儿子的教育脱离常规。与此同时，我也开始找一些家教的负面例子，比如说有一天儿子对我说，他不需要看机械方面的书籍，因此他再也不会看与之相关的东西了。这几乎让我的心停止跳动，毕竟对我来说读书就如同吸入氧气。
最终我还是做出了要在家教孩子的决定，尽管我只有四分之一的把握。我儿子已经注册了一个网校，他们使用的是K12的课程体系。它由很多阶段构成，他们对一些核心技巧有一个小测试，这个很灵活。我打了无数个电话，最终联系到他们的办公室，这个网校没有家庭作业，也不会给学生成绩划等级给分数，他们只是检测一些基本的技巧，学生们需要拿到80%以上才能通过。他们在网上有辅导，并且还有教科书，父母根据说明在家里使用，我想这是一个不错的选择。我可以想怎么教就怎么教只要那些基础的知识点都囊括进去。因此当我儿子今年学到科学需要了解星球的时候，我们就可以一起读教科书、做书上的活动，还可以去天文馆，或者看太空超速电影，制作星球电话，或者在《大脑风暴》书籍里看一些小的影像。这个过程并不重要，重要的是这一切所产生的结果让我欣喜。另外，我儿子还可以根据他自己的进度来上课，比如在英语和数学上他可以跳级，他还可以根据需要自行选择课程。数学和科学，他可以直接从二年级开始，而写作和词汇，他就需要从一年级学起。这个项目非常灵活，它让我能够把我自己的想法融合到教育中，并且给了孩子一个在生活中学习的机会。网校给我提供了一台电脑还有所有需要的书籍。他们甚至给我们安排了实地考察机会、还有和其他网校孩子一起的联欢活动。
在最初的入学测试中，我发现儿子在阅读和写作上比他的同龄人慢，测试员也这么说。我对此不太担心，因为我觉得他的语言能力实际上是处于高级状态。他在故事阅读上很棒，他可以找出故事的细节、主题，甚至还可以完成填空题；并且，他对概念掌握很快。我觉得他的语言能力很大程度上归根于他父亲和我，因为我们从小就像和大人说话一样同他说话。即使我们的孩子还是婴儿的时候，我们也从不跟他们说叠词，我们就像同成人说话一样对待他们。我们从来不会不做声的给他们东西，相反，我们总是说出来，如果他们没听懂，需要解释的话，我们会很高兴的解释给他们听，其他时候我们从来不会因为他们的年龄对他们有一些额外的语言。我们不会说“宝宝，要不要一些饼饼还有牛奶？”，我们会直接说“你要吃的吗？想不想来一根香蕉？这里有热早餐还有香蕉，旁边有牛奶。我坐在你旁边看报纸，你自己吃。”说这些只是我想给一些例证，让大家知道生活其实教我们很多东西，我们需要在生活中学习，唉……
我的两个大孩子现在语言能力都不那么正常，而我两岁半的小儿子几乎还不能够与人交流，对于他，我们有些忧虑。
总之，我们可以看到一个多阶段的家教方法到底会进展得怎样。我们随时都可以放弃吗？我们在考虑明年春天搬到附近的另外一个城市，远离那些老是唱反调的人。但是，这不是离开的真正原因。我们现在又想生活在大城市了，在那里我们的生活圈子可以变小并且生活可以变得更简单。如果我们搬走了，我想这样对我的孩子会有帮助，至少他可以有一些正常的学习活动和交流，这样他对生活也会变得熟悉起来。
那让我们现在就开始吧。