My Homeschool Odyssey, Part 2
When my husband told me to read up on homeschooling, I read A LOT of books. I researched the types of books I should read. I asked people for recommendations. I also went to the homeschool section at the library and picked up any book that could help me. Some books eased my mind. Some books made me more nervous. Being the personality that I am, I just wanted someone to give me the structure and curriculum to follow, but there wasn't one to follow.
The book that influenced me the most was written by an unlikely person: Blair from The Facts of Life! If you are my age or older, you will remember that show with Tootie, Jo, Natalie, and Mrs. Garrett. Well, Lisa Welchel played Blair. She is now a pastor's wife and homeschooler. She wrote the book So You're Thinking About Homeschooling.
Each chapter was written by different homeschooling families. They shared their style of homeschooling. One was even written by a homeschooled student who was now an adult. I loved it. This book showed me that homeschooling didn't fit into this one size fits all mold. It could be tailored to fit each child in your family.
I had had many conversations with my friend, Gloria, about homeschooling, and she had also lent me many books to read. She had started homeschooling while living in Texas. Seeing that I was interested, Gloria took me to her homeschool co-op. Basically, this was a group of homeschooling moms that got together every two weeks. They divided the children by age groups and taught different classes. Different moms taught different classes for different age groups. The children would all meet together for devotions and then go to their different music, art, science, cooking, math, language, or ______ class. All age groups also had a physical education class.
A1 was still in school at the time but happened to have the day off on the day that we went. He loved the classes. I loved the classes. It was so encouraging to see a homeschooling community. It gave me more of a picture of what could happen if I homeschooled.
Each chapter was written by different homeschooling families. They shared their style of homeschooling. One was even written by a homeschooled student who was now an adult. I loved it. This book showed me that homeschooling didn't fit into this one size fits all mold. It could be tailored to fit each child in your family.
I had had many conversations with my friend, Gloria, about homeschooling, and she had also lent me many books to read. She had started homeschooling while living in Texas. Seeing that I was interested, Gloria took me to her homeschool co-op. Basically, this was a group of homeschooling moms that got together every two weeks. They divided the children by age groups and taught different classes. Different moms taught different classes for different age groups. The children would all meet together for devotions and then go to their different music, art, science, cooking, math, language, or ______ class. All age groups also had a physical education class.
A1 was still in school at the time but happened to have the day off on the day that we went. He loved the classes. I loved the classes. It was so encouraging to see a homeschooling community. It gave me more of a picture of what could happen if I homeschooled.
That was the first homeschooling book I read too. Did I tell you that I met Lisa Welchel at a conference and took a picture with her? LOL!
ReplyDelete