Your Feedback Needed for our Jan-Feb Homeschooling Issue!

Dear NGJ,

I am sitting here reading your homeschool article and never been so happy to hear that....the Pearls are not perfect!!!! Lol, I hope you don't take that the wrong way, :D. I really don't mean that negatively. I am referring of course to your confession of your children's lack of spelling skills, :D. Whew!, its a huge burden lifted because of my own fear that I may not preparing my own kids well enough for their future.

Tho I haven't held to your exact model of homeschooling because, well, I'm a city girl thru and thru. I don't "love" gardening or I DON'T LIKE caring for farm animals or even camping, tho I do camp for my kids who love it. (I do have a small vegi garden. I do love flower gardening tho.)

I don't like running myself ragged like some other home school moms running their kids 7dys a week to every class/lesson offered. I am a bit of a homebody. I love my home and teach from my home mostly, and mostly by me (except for like mechanics, baseball and music lessons). I have taken bits of your advise and incorporated it into our homeschooling and I think it has worked well for us. My kids are not overly stressed because I don't believe that is how The Lord wants us to be. And I have never stressed the importance of tests or grades. My kids have the opportunity to answer Q's until they "get it"! I give them tests, but if they don't do well they know it is only to see where our gaps are and we can go back over it til the do get it.

Ok, so I didn't write to say all that, so back on subject, :D, which is...

My kids might not hate school, but they don't exactly love it, either....there, I said it, 🙁 . And I blame myself, as their teacher. Especially, as they've gotten older. They like aspects of it. They love love! history, Bible, science, arts/crafts, cooking, the hands on things, and sports and piano lessons. They LOVE LOVE to read, and love to read about history and the Bible. But they do not like to write.

We have used a blend school book/computer curriculum, and activities. And we always have had a very relaxed setting to learning. I am not a "formal" kind of person. Our actual book learning is never more than 3hrs or so, and mostly for math, language and writing essays.

But... I have to confess as my 2 children have grown (ages are 12 and 14) we have moved more and more into the curriculum bks and computer schooling, and more and more they are hating math and language as we move into Algebra, and equations, and conjugating verbs, and sentence structures, etc., but all of which are going to be needful if they decide for college. The thought of teaching HS lang and math has terrified me since they were newborns. I have dreaded the HS yrs.

I had even enrolled my 14yr old son into a small private Christian school this yr to avoid it, which he was really excited to do. It was a joint decision he was very much involved in. But well, 4mos later here we are withdrawing him at the end of the semester not because of the teachers/teaching which I believe is A+, but because my son was so frustrated w/the disruption of the students. He just could not tolerate anymore the lack of discipline and the lack of respect the school tolerate, and seems to have to tolerate if they are to have the finances to run a school. The poor teachers are stressed because of the lack of parent's ability to train their kids. THANK THE LORD my son has escaped w/o picking up any of those bad habits!!!! It was actually his decision to return to homeschooling, and I am so happy. After the first week I didn't like the fact that I barely saw him but at dinner and bedtimes, and sometimes not even then. I can't tell you how shocked and saddened and disappointed at the testimony The Church has been presented by their child rearing. I always knew I had great children but I just really never knew the extent!!! Thank You, Father, :D,... :(.

So, here I go beginning next week homeschooling my Freshman high schooler....HELP!!!

Can you please share some of your tips on how to teach those dreaded HS subjects that are going to be essential to college prepping, pleeeeaaassse!!!

Blessings,
SK

One comment on “Your Feedback Needed for the Jan-Feb Homeschooling Issue!”

Sally Keen says:

January 4, 2013 at 11:14 am

Dear NGJ,

I am sitting here reading your homeschool article and never been so happy to hear that....the Pearls are not perfect!!!! Lol, I hope you don't take that the wrong way, :D. I really don't mean that negatively. I am referring of course to your confession of your children's lack of spelling skills, :D. Whew!, its a huge burden lifted because of my own fear that I may not preparing my own kids well enough for their future.

Tho I haven't held to your exact model of homeschooling because, well, I'm a city girl thru and thru. I don't "love" gardening or I DON'T LIKE caring for farm animals or even camping, tho I do camp for my kids who love it. (I do have a small vegi garden. I do love flower gardening tho.)

I don't like running myself ragged like some other home school moms running their kids 7dys a week to every class/lesson offered. I am a bit of a homebody. I love my home and teach from my home mostly, and mostly by me (except for like mechanics, baseball and music lessons). I have taken bits of your advise and incorporated it into our homeschooling and I think it has worked well for us. My kids are not overly stressed because I don't believe that is how The Lord wants us to be. And I have never stressed the importance of tests or grades. My kids have the opportunity to answer Q's until they "get it"! I give them tests, but if they don't do well they know it is only to see where our gaps are and we can go back over it til the do get it.

Ok, so I didn't write to say all that, so back on subject, :D, which is...

My kids might not hate school, but they don't exactly love it, either....there, I said it, 🙁 . And I blame myself, as their teacher. Especially, as they've gotten older. They like aspects of it. They love love! history, Bible, science, arts/crafts, cooking, the hands on things, and sports and piano lessons. They LOVE LOVE to read, and love to read about history and the Bible. But they do not like to write.

We have used a blend school book/computer curriculum, and activities. And we always have had a very relaxed setting to learning. I am not a "formal" kind of person. Our actual book learning is never more than 3hrs or so, and mostly for math, language and writing essays.

But... I have to confess as my 2 children have grown (ages are 12 and 14) we have moved more and more into the curriculum bks and computer schooling, and more and more they are hating math and language as we move into Algebra, and equations, and conjugating verbs, and sentence structures, etc., but all of which are going to be needful if they decide for college. The thought of teaching HS lang and math has terrified me since they were newborns. I have dreaded the HS yrs.

I had even enrolled my 14yr old son into a small private Christian school this yr to avoid it, which he was really excited to do. It was a joint decision he was very much involved in. But well, 4mos later here we are withdrawing him at the end of the semester not because of the teachers/teaching which I believe is A+, but because my son was so frustrated w/the disruption of the students. He just could not tolerate anymore the lack of discipline and the lack of respect the school tolerate, and seems to have to tolerate if they are to have the finances to run a school. The poor teachers are stressed because of the lack of parent's ability to train their kids. THANK THE LORD my son has escaped w/o picking up any of those bad habits!!!! It was actually his decision to return to homeschooling, and I am so happy. After the first week I didn't like the fact that I barely saw him but at dinner and bedtimes, and sometimes not even then. I can't tell you how shocked and saddened and disappointed at the testimony The Church has been presented by their child rearing. I always knew I had great children but I just really never knew the extent!!! Thank You, Father, :D,... :(.

So, here I go beginning next week homeschooling my Freshman high schooler....HELP!!!

Can you please share some of your tips on how to teach those dreaded HS subjects that are going to be essential to college prepping, pleeeeaaassse!!!

Blessings,
SK