Bernard's posts with tag: letter from malene
 Letter from Malen Manese Isaac:Qoute: "Hi Ivy, Wer planning on enrolling our 4 yr old son at the Fort's homeskulin program. M planning 2 use sing spell, n singapore math/kindr thinker. Wud this be the best curriculum? As Frank wud put it, if ud do it over agen, wat wud u use? Many thanks.Malen"End of Qoute
Reply:First, let me congratulate you for being brave to be doing homeschool. Its not easy. Its not cheap. In fact, for us its more costly now than just sending our kids to regular school.But let me qoute to you a homeschooler's perspective on homeschool for beginners.
"People often think that their first job as a new homeschooling parent is to figure out which curriculum to use. I say their first job is to learn about learning and about their own kids' learning styles." Pam Sorooshian
I think she is so right when she said "Our first job is to learn about learning". The minute you decide to do homeschool, it is a perpetual learning experience. Its like starting a restaurant where your goal is to provide not only food to your costumers but also ambiance, experience and recall.
I see homeschooling as such. Getting a good curriculum is just the start, but what is more important is your system for learning which are your daily habits, routines, procedures, rubrics, testing, feedbacks, projects, groups or homeschool community plays a whole lot more factor in the molding and developing of the child's character and perspective.
If I were to do it all over again, I would study first what is required. There is a book called the EDUCATED CHILD by WILLIAM BENNETT. It talks about what your child needs to learn each grade level. This should be the minimum learning goals for your kids.
Then I would ask, "Why do they require this?". Another question could be "What are the ways children effectively learn on different grade levels? Do I have to do all in the primary grades? Or Are there priority learning skils that builds up?" So on and so forth.... Just keep askinig...
Asking the right question will navigate you through this homeschooling process.
Ask the right people who are immersed in the program. Research. Read. Surf. Order online. Ask around. "Multiply" your needs. "Multiply" your new found solutions. "Multiply" your queries. (When i say "Multiply" I am referring to Blogging).
When we started, our first hurdle was the feeling of being overwhelmed. Ivy would say: "I am not a teacher" "I am not an Educ graduate". "I myself hate Math". "Who can help me?" "How can i succeed in this?"
So, to get you through this. I would suggest, set up your school first. In any building endeavor ARCHITECHTURAL design is the first requirement to provide direction for the project.
First Question to ask: "What do I want to achieve in this program?", Next, "Are there working models out there for me to follow?", then scout around.
Many Homeschoolers start doing school without a deep understanding of why they are doing what they are doing. UNDERSTANDING and LEARNING for me is the top priority activity in starting the Homeschool with our kids.
Spend a good two to three months just learning about homechooling. Since you have time and your son is just 4 years old, you can still study and do informal schooling (which is the best method for primaries --- Learning through play. See Gymboree, Toddlers unlimited, etc... its all about play with an intent to discover, learn and process.)
After knowing your goals and what methods are available, the next step is to study your kid. Check out his learning style. We call this V-A-K learning styles. Some kids are Visual learners, others tends to hear their way through the learning process. And others, just want to kinesthetically move around, touch and explore. So, Find out your child's learning style and start there.
I hope this will help you as you start.
From a homeschool Dad,
Bernard
(Ivy's Ghost writer)
here are some sites for you to check out:
www.homeschool.com
www.home-school.com
www.homeschoolcentral.com
www.thehomeschoolmom.com
www.time4learning.com
www.homeschoolmath.net
www.whyhomeschool.blogspot.com
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