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| Homeschooling Parents |
| Public online group |
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Hey Everyone,
I thought since we have had so many new members join we could tell each other a little more about ourselves.
I am Jody the Moderator of the group. Kelly was the original Moderator but she had a lot going on and passed it to me. I can only hope to do as well as her :).
I have two boys ages eight and six. We live in Michigan. I have been homeschooling the boys since the beginning. I remember the first year being the hardest. Since starting to homeschool I have relaxed a lot and realized the boys really do learn without me over there shoulder 24/7 :). I use a curriculum (a variety actually) but if something else comes up I am willing to put it away while we venture on to something else.
This is our fourth year of homeschooling so I am still in the beginning stages I think but am much more relaxed then I was that first year. It has really been a blessing for us as a family. We do a lot of things together both school related and family related. I have learned that most of the time life is homeschooling and it has nothing to do with sit down work :). I love watching them learn new things and watching them grow. I hope to homeschool them through high school but we take it one year at a time for now. So how about you? |
| Posted by Jody on 08/14/2008 11:10 AM
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I'm gidget. We just moved to Texarkana, AR. there are so many differences once you cross that stateline!
My boys are 7 and 5 and are in 2nd grade and Kindy. We use a variety of curriculum for my 5 year old. We use ACE for my 2nd grader.
I also work from home in project management for an online educational company. If you have highschoolers, check out our newest venture at www.edwayacademy.com
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| posted by Gidget on 08/14/2008 12:17 PM
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Hello my name is Ruthy. I am the mother of five daughters ages 24-14 and expecting the arrival of our first grand child in September. I am a former educator of 19 years, special education was my specialty area. i did homeschool one of my daughters for about two years and due to her diagnosis of PDD and emotional problems. I now work as an independent educational consultant with Usborne books and assist parents with special needs part time.
Still a teacher at heart :)
Ruthy
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| posted by Ruthy on 08/14/2008 02:01 PM
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Hi!
I am Jackie. I have a 6 year old daughter who is anxiously awaiting the start of her third year of homeschooling. We live in Michigan.
We are very eclectic in our approach, this being the first year that I haven't created everything for her from scratch.
Homeschooling has been the most wonderful, enlightening, frustrating, blessed adventure that we have ever undertaken. I love it most of the time and the rest of the time I practice counting in whatever language we are studying at the moment. We plan to continue through high school or beyond, but nothing is carved in stone. |
| posted by Jackie on 08/14/2008 03:35 PM
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Hi my name is Stephanie, I have four girls. We live in Colorado. I also work out side of home. We have been homeschooling for 6 years. |
| posted by stephanie on 08/14/2008 09:55 PM
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I'm Kelly, and I think Jody is doing a fine job moderating the group!
I started homeschooling my son 3/4 of the way through 7th grade. He was unable to concentrate on learning at school due to the abuse he suffered from other students. He had been the new kid the year before, and some of the boys really were cruel to him. The administration didn't help my son at all to stop the mistreatment or deal with what was going on. I decided I could give him a better learning environment at home, and started out working 45 hours per week and homeschooling him on weekends and evenings. He's in 11th grade now.
Ironically, I took my daughter out 1/4 of the way through fifth grade because she was a social/emotional bully. Her attitude carried over to our home life as well. She had started in 4th grade and gotten better over the summer with restricted access to certain "friends." But her bad side blossomed quickly and bigger than ever when 5th grade started. I talked to teachers, the counselor, and other moms. We worked with her at home and it's not like we had never taught her to be nice before - that's what I'm all about. The only thing left to try was homeschooling. She's now in 7th grade and her attitude is so much better. We are using the time to strengthen her against those tendancies to act like a troublemaker and she's been told we'll consider sending her back to public school in 9th grade.
Since both my homeschooling decisions were made very quickly, I was thrown into it with little curriculum and planning, but we took it day by day, used what we had and have done very well.
The hardest thing for me has been scheduling. I am a morning person and my kids are night people. When I'm fresh and on top of my game, my kids are dragging with bleary eyes and unclear thinking. We get around that by starting school later than the public schools, but not so late that I'm getting tired and draggy. Our school hours are 9-3 for my daughter, and when we can fit it in for our working son.
I enjoy spending the time with my kids each day and I have an obssessive orderly streak that gets a kick out of grading papers and recording attendance and grades on the computer each day!
I've also had a nearby family that homeschools as well to enjoy doing things with and bouncing things off of. That's been one of my biggest helps. |
| posted by Kelly on 08/15/2008 09:56 AM
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