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Yet another change in home ed styles.

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by

Jax Blunt
in

Over the years I’ve tried a wide variety of styles of home education. We’ve been structured, used bits of curriculum, tried out Montessori, unschooled, gone childled.

And nothing has really worked for any length of time. Which is why we keep changing. I’d love to be able to unschool, but it really really doesn’t work for us. And I thought that when I’d tried structure (we’ve had ticklists, a box of activities, all sorts of things) that that was a problem too, but it turns out that actually I hadn’t been specific enough, rather than being too prescriptive.

How did I find this out? Well, the other day, Small really pushed me. And to avoid losing my cool at him, and to keep him out of further mischief for the rest of the day, I wrote him out a really detailed list of what I wanted him to do. I expected a fight back, but instead, he completed everything without a single complaint. And when I asked why that had been (especially as it had been way more comprehensive and longer than a normal home ed day for him!) it turned out that previous lists had been too waffly or generic – so I’d put on reading, english, maths, whereas with this one I’d put on English book p38 – so he didn’t have to figure out what to do, he just did it.

Knock me down with a feather. So it looks like I’m going to have to up my game a little and do him a list a day each week, with clearly specified requirements each day. I’m not really going to enjoy it much, as it’s not how I envisaged home education, but if it’s what works for him, it’s what works for him. And it means that in the future we can build towards online learning for qualifications, and I’ll know how to manage that too.

So, has anyone got any preferred curriculum sites to build my weekly/ daily plans from? 😉

Comments

22 responses to “Yet another change in home ed styles.”

  1. Hannah F avatar
    Hannah F

    Isn’t it funny that home ed turns out to be so different to the way we imagine it will be? I think I need to up my game too – I know it works much better when I am clear about what I want them to do. There are some great days when we go off at a tangent and it’s fantastic, but for all those ordinary days in between we need some more structure I think.

    Reply
    1. Jax avatar
      Jax

      Agreed – sometimes it does just all come together and it’s fantastic, but too often atm I seem to be running to catch up, and I also don’t seem to have time or energy to be doing anything much with Smallest. I know she’s only two, but she could still do with more input than a book or two a day and some colouring. She loves craft, beading, I’m reasonably sure she would get lots out of painting and so often the day flies by without me getting round to it. A plan, that’s what I need…

      Reply
  2. Allie avatar
    Allie

    Is there a reason why you’re planning to use ICS for qualifications?

    Reply
    1. Jax avatar
      Jax

      It’s somewhere I’ve been looking at because they have a wide range of different qualifications – I don’t know whether I’ll actually use them or not tbh! I’m open to other suggestions if you have any?

      Reply
      1. Allie avatar
        Allie

        I guess it depends what you want and how confident you are (or child is) with the subject but I wouldn’t assume you need to pay for courses – at least not for everything. I helped P get geography IGCSE last year with just textbooks, a fair bit of planning on my part. That’s a much cheaper option than buying courses.

        Reply
        1. Jax avatar
          Jax

          Part of the issue is going to be having 4 different children of widely differing ages and abilities. I’m resigned that I will have to outsource at least part of it at least part of the time, and I’m sure that at least one of them is going to want to do something I’ve never encountered. It’s going to be another of those things that I make up as I’m going along 😉

          Reply
          1. Allie avatar
            Allie

            Well, we’re all doing the ‘making it up’ thing! I think the best source of info on exams is the yahoo exams list where you can get opinions from people using all different course providers – including those who are home edders or ex-home edders – like Catherine Mooney and Sam Martell. I have seen pretty horrendous course material (think it was OOL) that people had paid a packet for so I’d be very cautious before handing over any money.
            I take your point about having kids at different ages – not such an issue for us. We’re very lucky at the moment to be benefiting from IGCSE biology and chemistry groups being run by a local home edding mum here – shared costs, people to do experiments with and a good experience of group learning. Not sure if you have enough local home edders for such things to be happening?

  3. Ailbhe avatar
    Ailbhe

    We’re very changeable. We don’t do set work much but sometimes I give them things to do. I tend not to require it, just because that doesn’t work at all, but I will sometimes persuade them to keep pushing at something tricky. I’m sure it’ll all be fine. Right? Right. Right…

    Reply
    1. Jax avatar
      Jax

      Yes, it will be fine.

      Reply
  4. Emma avatar
    Emma

    Coming from a teachers angle, being specific is what works best in the classroom too. I guess many children like specific instructions. Teach it is great for resources for English. Tons of stuff and schemes on there if your looking for resources.

    Reply
    1. Jax avatar
      Jax

      Great, I’ll have a look at that, thanks.

      Reply
  5. Midlife Singlemum avatar
    Midlife Singlemum

    Just a question – as Small seems to thrive on a timetable of sorts (or at list working to a list), what would you do if he suddenly said he’d like to go to school for Secondary School? Is this likely to happen?

    Reply
    1. Elizabeth avatar
      Elizabeth

      Well–I guess a home educated parent faced with that question would do the exact same thing a parent of a school child who comes home and declares they want to be home educated would do.

      Reply
      1. Midlife Singlemum avatar
        Midlife Singlemum

        Except that not every parent is equipped to teach at home, or they have to go out to work and maybe they just can’t afford it. I agree that the principle is the same in that your child would be asking for something you don’t necessarily believe in but the practicalities are easier for the child wanting to go to school.
        I hope you took my question as one of genuine curiosity and not judgemental in any way. I have nothing against home schooling and in fact I’m fascinated by how it works.

        Reply
        1. Debbie avatar
          Debbie

          Perhaps I can butt in here Midlife Singlemum, because my eldest daughter did just that! She suddenly announced out of the blue that she’d like to go to school for secondary. (She is due to start this coming Sept) Whilst I love having her at home, I’d also always said I wouldn’t stop them going if they wanted…anyway, we visited a couple of the schools around here, she sat 11+ to try for grammar school, but we decided not to apply there – we were disappointed in the facilities. (Bearing in mind this is the state school everyone aspires to, it’s dire!)
          Then we visited a private school and she sat the entrance exams – but without a bursary we couldn’t afford to send her. As it transpires as time wore on she was less enamoured with the idea – getting up in time to catch a bus at 7:30am, not having as much free time to pursue her own interests, having to wear a uniform and be the same as everyone else, you get the picture!
          So even before the exam results came out she was fairly sure she’d rather stay at home. Which she will. At least she now knows we will take her seriously if she expresses a desire to go again, and she knows its her decision!
          Does that help?
          Debbie

          Reply
        2. Elizabeth avatar
          Elizabeth

          I didn’t find it judgemental, I’m just constantly surprised anyone would ask this question. I think that all parents will decide to do what is best for their children and the family as a whole unit, whether it’s about their education or any other life-choice. Children will always express desires, and it’s our job to weigh up the pro’s and con’s and discuss the issues with our children and come to a conclusion that works best for all involved. Isn’t that what parenting is all about?

          Reply
      2. Alison avatar
        Alison

        Nah, the HEd kid is more likely to get listened to than the schooled one, Elizabeth 😉
        Jax, having very specific weekly goals was what worked best for Gwenny. Thinking about what to do just made everything one step more difficult.

        Reply
        1. Elizabeth avatar
          Elizabeth

          lol Alison, that may be true!
          Disclaimer: We mean no offence to anyone with schooled children (especially as one of us has schooled children!!)–we know it’s easier to put a child into a school system than to change the whole way a family functions to take a child out of school. 🙂

          Reply
          1. Jax avatar
            Jax

            To address the specific question in relation to Small 😉 I think it highly unlikely he’d ever request to go to school, he’s just not that fond of other children. If he did it would be challenging for the school – he’s very ahead in certain subject areas, average in others and has complete blank spots in others. And when I say very ahead I mean he’s been assessed as gifted by a paediatrician, not just that I’m bragging about him 😀

  6. Caroline (Frogmum/TMFH) avatar
    Caroline (Frogmum/TMFH)

    Welcome to my world! 😉
    Take a look at ‘Lesson Pathways’ ~ it’s fee and pretty comprehensive. Not sure if it’s exactly what you are looking for, but it might be helpful in your planning + it’s FREE & fully customisable :D. It says from K-5 but Abbie (yr6) still uses it a bit for Science. She steers herself through, but you can be as prescriptive as you like!
    http://www.lessonpathways.com
    We love ConquerMaths for ~ well, Maths! A lesson or two a day is plenty (depending on how easy it is) and the structure is fairly obvious.
    You could look at StudyLadder ; http://www.studyladder.co.uk/
    This has restricted use (two lessons a day ~ per subject I think?) unless you pay for it, but still pretty good.
    Hope that helps.
    Cx

    Reply
    1. Jax avatar
      Jax

      Thanks Caroline, I’ll take a look at those. Small would be yr 4 I think, though he’s working couple years above that in maths. Should give me some clues anyway.

      Reply
  7. TBird Anni avatar
    TBird Anni

    something that I’ve seen suggested is that you break apart work books if thats what you use and put the required page for each day into folders marked Monday Tuesday etc then they know exactly what to do on each day. I suppose for proper text books etc then you would need to re-think (maybe coloured paperclips – do the page marked with a red clip on Monday etc) but if you already have lots of resources then it would work well and save you needing to buy more stuff or invest in curriculae.

    Reply

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