Saturday, August 7, 2010

ASK AWAY...Children’s Education


It’s the time of year when all home educating mothers are preparing for the next year.  I haven’t written much about our home education because there are so many wonderful blogs who address home education and there is so much helpful information out there.  
However, I began to think that I have been home educating for 17 years now, have graduated one, and it might be helpful to share some of what I have learned in all those years. 
But the way I want to share is to ask YOU TO ASK ME.  What would be helpful to you? What are you wondering about?  
I’ll spend several post in August answering any questions that you have and spotlighting some of my favorite resources.  
I can tell you now, we all are created differently by the LORD as a family and our home education should reflect what we feel like THE LORD wants it to look like.  It wont and should not look like mine.  Mine doesn’t even look like mine...it has changed often with the seasons of our family.
That said, that are so foundations that have kept us strong, kept us going, and kept it fun!!!
So, ASK AWAY....

17 comments:

  1. Greetings,
    If you're interested in homeschooling, courtship, quiverfull issues, child-raising, politics, and spiritual inspiration, try a free, no obligation issue of SALT Magazine. If you haven't tried SALT yet, all we need is a name and mailing address to send you a free issue. Or, you can check out our website (saltmagazine.com) and sign up for a free issue online.
    - In the Vine, Jim & Cindy

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  2. Hi Shonni,

    17 years! Wow...that is something to be proud of! God has been laying it on my heart to HS my toddler duo (soon to be trio). Thank you so much for this opportunity. My questions are:

    1. Is it difficult to HS at high school level? They seem to learn at a much higher level than I was taught.
    2. Where do you find your cirriculum?
    3. Any suggestions for material to teach preschool age about Jesus on their level?

    Hugs and blessings,
    Robin

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  3. Well, honestly- I could use ANY help and don't even know what to ask because - I am THAT lost. LOL But I am going to try it anyway- gotta start somewhere right? Right now, just trying to figure out what I do with the little ones while working with the big ones? How do you manage to get all of the housework done AND the school work? Any tips on that? :) THANKS!

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  4. Yay! Second year homeschooler here, and we haven't found our perfect groove yet. My biggest issue at the moment is how to manage teaching time with my big ones (3rd and 4th grade) with my little ones (3 and going on 5)? It's complicated because I work from home (at least 6-8 hours a day). Not sure how to meet everybody's needs, so if you have any advise, I'm all ears!

    Anita

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  5. Hi Shonni,

    I'm not sure what we are doing educationally for our newest family member yet, but this is the situation. She has been home just under 2 months. She is 12 been through grade 6 in her country, but my gut tells me she is more around grade 3 academically. I will be having an assessment test done on the 18th to give me a better idea on this. If she does test this low, I may try homeschooling her this year to help her catch up to the proper grade level. Her social skills are also immature, therefore, another reason to home school this coming year. I have NEVER home schooled in my life! YIKES. If we do end up doing this, what would you recommend for curriculum?

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  6. Shonni -Amazing!! 17 years - you must have begun homeschooling when you were 5! :)
    How do you balance everything! :) With the possibility of jumping into HS my middle schooler, I am very nervous - any tips to keep him focused and interested in learning, would be great!! :)

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  7. Also, how is Garett feeling?

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  8. Wow- what a great opportunity- where do I begin??

    How do you teach so many children? Divide and conquer? teach as a family? How do you know who is getting it and who is not?
    How much of your day is devoted to home schooling?
    What methods or mixture of methods do you use? Charlotte Mason, classical, etc?
    What do you do to teach/ show you love for the Lord?

    Then= please tell me to trust the Lord and be at peace... it will work out! We plan to bring more home so this is my future- I want to do a good job at it!!

    Thank you for spending this precious time answering questions!!

    PS all the girls LOVE the silks!!

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  9. 17 years is an inspiration to those of us plugging away after you. I'm beginning to think about the high school years now that my oldest is in 7th grade, so any tips on those years would be wonderful. Your blog is beautiful, and so is your family!

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  10. I'm curious what you use for curriculum? Do you find it hard to be able to teach so many different children + ages?

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  11. There are so many things I would like to ask.... but I'll ask what is on my heart right now. :)

    How do you strike the balance between natural learning and formal learning, particularly in the early years? My daughter is nearly 8, and we seem to be getting less and less formal with her education. She is resisting paper work.... but I find when I pull back on the book work she is still learning enormous amounts!!! She is an excellent reader and spends lots of time reading. My concern is that her days are lacking structure and routine. We do have routines, based around mealtimes etc., but she has SO much more free time than her school peers. Should this concern me? (I have 2 little boys also, 5 and 2).
    Looking forward very much to reading these posts! xx

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  12. Boy do I need this! I'll be reading what everyone else asks about. This is our first year homeschooling. Why is it that many homeschoolers do not do tests and quizzes?and what advice would u give to a mom who is doing this the first time?

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  13. Hi Shonni,

    You won my chocolate giveaway! Congrats! You can contact me through my blog's contact tab and leave me your email.

    Celee

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  14. I would love to know what Phonics program you've like the most/had the most success with.

    Chris

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  15. I'd love to know how you manage to correct everything. I find myself buried under just the math books for what seems like hours...anything you can share to help me see the light would be much appreciated.

    and thank you for the sweet encouraging words and prayer.

    Kimmie

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  16. I think we are REALLY doing it this year. Not just talking about it and buying some stuff, but REALLY doing it! So, what would you suggest for a child who LOVES science and wants to be a scientist? THanks!!!

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  17. Shonnie, can I just tell you I'm over-the-moon to have discovered your blog? My husband and I feel God has put adoption on our hearts (my husband is adopted himself.) It seems like you know a thing or two about that! We are still praying about all the specifics, but maybe I could throw some questions at you as they arise? :)

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