Comments on: Taking a semester off

By: Mary Owlhaven

Mary Owlhaven — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 06:13:54 +0000

Scraps– how interesting that homeschooled kids in more-regulated states test lower. And, yes, I can totally understand your point about a parent’s need for a daily break from a kid with issues. When we were getting thru the toughest days, I was so grateful that my husband was able and willing to let me go run errands alone at times, or just sit at the library for a couple hours….

Mary

By: doula-doula

doula-doula — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 01:50:22 +0000

Sign the above comment “Marian.” I never mean to be an anonymous commenter. =)

By: doula-doula

doula-doula — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 01:45:33 +0000

(Ah, I’m able to comment again!)

It’s probably good that you fleshed this one topic out a little more.

Regarding the oversight and the comment above that kids in nonregulated states test better: I have no doubt! I spend so much energy worrying about how our school day and school work will look in the log to the administrators who see it, that it’s a struggle sometimes to focus on what my child actually needs to really learn at the moment! And then I spend far too much time preparing daily logs and portfolios… I feel very sure that my children would be much better served if I could focus 100% on them and not the monkey on my back.
(It’s fuinny: Today, as things wind down toward a break, I know for a fact that many public school kids around here did nothing more at school than have a party, watch a movie, and color a snowflake or something. Do you think it would be ok if I had days where I just wrote things like, “popcorn party, word search, and Frosty the Snowman DVD” on my daily log?! No. But they worry about regulating US to death?!)

By: scrapsbynobody

scrapsbynobody — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:40:58 +0000

By the way, did you know that homeschooled children in highly regulated states actually test lower than homeschooled children in less or nonregulated states? How can that be? Could it be that parents in those states waste valuable teaching time, jumping through hoops for school officials? But I agree with John, who I believe comes from a RAD (etc.) background in adoption. Severely disturbed children might do better at home, but if they are wearing the parents to the bone, it ends up bad for everyone. Sometimes a break is just what is needed. Every child is different, and it can be tricky to read those needs and be flexible enough to provide for them.

By: Nancy Spoolstra

Nancy Spoolstra — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:39:47 +0000

I kept Dora with me for six weeks. I eased her slowly into school, no bus rides and no “specials” at first, just the academics with ONE teacher. And she was English-speaking, of course! The school fought me, but to my advantage, they wanted to get her registered in time to collect money for her presence, so they acquiesced!

By: sharonll2000

sharonll2000 — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 14:35:48 +0000

I SOOOO agree with you about taking time off. from school! I made the mistake of sending one off to Kindergarten while I home schooled one. What a disaster for both kids! It was such a waste of time and really did nothing to aid in our attachment. We are actually repeating the same grade again, at home, this year and it is going so much better. Some kids are just not ready for school when they first arrive. My kids needed a year before they were really ready.

The important thing to understand is the backgrounds of the kids. My kids had NEVER attended school, so had no experience with school. They had lived far out in the country and needed to learn about plumbing, grocery stores, zoo animals, gas stations, libraries, etc.

In all honesty, they were in such a survivial mode the first 6-12 months, they don’t even recall a lot of the things we did. Now they are open to all kinds of activities and have great recollection of all we do.

We do live in a state where we have lots of freedom in homeschooling. Yesterday, we spent the afternoon learning balance, steering, gravity, propulsion, etc, as we went sledding down a fabulous hill near our local library.

Did they learn something? Oh yeah!!
Sharon

By: TeamD

TeamD — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 13:37:13 +0000

I appreciated your blog yesterday about hind-sight and not doing “school” with the girls for at least 6 months. We are just beginning our adoption journey from Ethiopia (which is how I found this site) AND we homeschool our three boys. Honest thoughts like the ones you posted yesterday always remind me of the freedom I have in homeschooling, and that I CAN do things “outside the box”– and even should!! Not to mention all the great info I am getting BEFORE we even bring home our little one, to help me stay flexible and humble about what may lie ahead . So… Thank you!
Blessings and Merry Christmas,
Shari