The Rookie Workshop for New Homeschoolers
Howdy! If you're wondering who I am, what my background is, etc., take a gander at the About Me page.
Beyond that, welcome to the online version of my 3-hour-long workshop for new homeschoolers! I know that sounds like a long workshop and a daunting bunch of stuff to read, but don't worry. This workshop has been tweaked by years of presentations to parents all over Colorado, and designed to be informative, but relaxed, insightful but humorous. Because, although you're nervous now, it'll all be okay. Homeschooling is fun. The sooner you learn to relax and enjoy the sometimes crazy process of homeschooling, the sooner you'll be smiling. Take it in stride that you will bumble and stumble, stick your foot in it, take wrong turns, backtrack . . . . and your child will be fine anyway. Mistakes just come with the territory. I've made 'em. We've all made 'em. I'm here to tell you that my kids are adults now and they are not a bit damaged for all the goofs I made.
The First Year of Homeschooling: It's All
Greek to Me!
What am I getting myself into? Hindsight and humor from
a homeschool veteran. An RMEC article. By Cindy Englan.
Questions About Homeschooling From a
Teacher
As a former teacher sympathetic to homeschooling, I
often wonder, who guarantees that the parents actually
have the appropriate knowledge to teach? By Tammy
Takahashi.
However . . . . if homeschooling up til now feels more like preparing to do your taxes, methinks you've been visiting the wrong web sites. Perhaps you've been perusing the places that view homeschooling as just another form of education, a Goal, a Means To An End. Public schools think that way, but homeschooling is nothing like the school system. It's just the opposite. Learning at home is an adventure, a journey, a new lifestyle. Instead of thinking taxes=homeschooling, try compare homeschooling to something you enjoy. Let's say eating. We all enjoy eating. (me, after I quit smoking? oh yeah, probably too much) But none of us sit down to a meal just to reach a goal. Like getting our daily dose of vitamins and minerals. If that's the whole aim, well, let's just gulp down a couple of supplements and call it good. Dinner would take 30 seconds and there'd be barely any dishes to wash. Tah-dah. We're done!
But that's not why we eat, is it? We sit down to a meal because we enjoy the smell, the tastes and textures, the sheer delicious sensations of ingesting food. Every one of us has fond memories of Thanksgiving feasts, Sunday dinners, warm cookies fresh out of the oven, waking up to the smell of maple syrup and pancakes on a frosty morning. Learning at home is just as tantalizing. Or should I say, it used to be. And, it can be again. Disregarding all the other good information I've included, the main point of this workshop is just that: to show you, (and by extention, your children) how to love learning again, like you used to when you were little. If I can get that across to you, your homeschool program will be a resounding success.
Oh yeah, and there's just one more little thing before we jump in. Bookmark this page, peruse it at your
leisure, share it, link to it, whatever.
But please don't distribute/copy/publish (all that jazz) my
copyrighted work without my permission. Thanks.
NEXT: THE ROOKIE WORKSHOP (Part 1) -- Deschooling: The Mental Vacation You
Didn't Expect
Are your kids resisting all your attempts to start homeschooling? They're not trying to drive you nuts. Really. They're just unconsciously letting you know that they need time to decompress, to take a deep breath and flush all that unhappiness out of their system.
and coming up . . . . . .
THE ROOKIE WORKSHOP (Part 2) -- Homeschooling Styles
What will you teach? How will you teach it? And how do you determine if your child will really listen and learn?
THE ROOKIE WORKSHOP (Part 3) -- Learning Styles
Successful homeschooling isn't just a matter of finding 'the right curriculum'. Rather, it's finding the best fit for both of you.
THE ROOKIE WORKSHOP (Part 4) -- What Else Counts As Curriculum?
Contrary to popular belief, learning doesn't begin precisely at 8:00 a.m. or abruptly stop at 3:00 just because a bell rang.
THE ROOKIE WORKSHOP (Part 5) -- The Best Homeschooling Books and Magazines
From inspiring to radical, theoretical to practical, here's the cream of the crop, written by veteran parents who've been there, done that, hugged trees, blazed trails, and bought the denim jumper.
"I am beginning to suspect all elaborate and special systems of education. They seem to me to be built upon the supposition that every child is a kind of idiot who must be taught to think." - Anne Sullivan, Helen
Keller's teacher
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