I've reached the conclusion that some people are cowards. Maybe that's too harsh. Perhaps they are just trying to avoid lots of crazy drama, deflecting it elsewhere, without considering what they are doing to the target it finally hits.
For example, in a group I run, a former member wanted to return. But when she sent a huge, long letter that went on and on about how she'd learned her lesson and wouldn't do it again if allowed to return, I figured I'd better go find out what had happened previously before making a decision. When I talked to those who'd been in leadership at the time, one told me, "No! No! Don't let her back in! She made our lives miserable with one drama after another. Constantly going behind people's backs and causing trouble. A long string of incidents. Clearly her personality is such that she thrives on causing drama and stirring up trouble." Another told me a similar tale. A third echoed the first two but said she didn't want a say in what was decided.
The decision seemed clear. Especially as we already had our fair share of people stirring up drama and causing problems. We didn't need any more of that at the moment. Everyone asked had agreed, though one didn't want to vote on it.
And why not? So that later, when those who were already stirring up trouble came to complain that I was unfair, and claiming that I made this decision by myself (and lied about asking previous leaders' opinions), she could honestly say that she abstained from voting. Why not add that she had concurred that the woman had caused lots of trouble for an entire year? Because she didn't want the troublemakers upset at her.
Am I wrong to think that's cowardly? Ducking to let the arrows go all at someone else doesn't seem right.
But then again, that's part of being a true leader, I think. Being willing to make a decision and then have some people mad at you, thinking you made the wrong decision, because there is no decision that will please everyone. None.
Funny how those who wanted to criticise my leadership didn't last more than a day when they volunteered to take part as leaders. One day of being in the hot seat, having to make tough decisions and having people upset at them, and they all quit. But somehow I doubt they've learned to appreciate those who aren't cowards, who are willing to get things done and take the heat, so that they can sit back and complain about the work that they are now enjoying the fruits of....
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Group Politics--UGGH!
Why is it that people can be so difficult to work with? Especially in a group setting?
The past few years have been a great learning experience. In our Home Owners' Association meetings, I seen meetings where people have been ready to start a fist fight over seemingly tiny things. I've seen people who get upset at the drop of a hat, and bring their own hat. They seem primed for a fight, or assume that anything not done their way is done intentionally to get to them.
Now I've inherited leadership of a long-standing homeschool support group. I volunteered to help a fairly large group of people lead the group and ended up being the lone leader standing as people quit or disappeared for months at a time. I don't mind doing the work of organizing and such, but the bickering and back-biting, the people who assume the worst of other people, the people who want to constantly complain about the way I do things but don't want to help lead, either, gets old fast. I've tried accomodating them, trying to use their ideas and include them, but it seems to have back-fired and left me with more of them mad at each other.
Guess it's time to let some of them just leave the group and move on. But why is it that people who came together for the same purpose initially can't just get along? Why can't they be civil and work through their problems? Why?
The past few years have been a great learning experience. In our Home Owners' Association meetings, I seen meetings where people have been ready to start a fist fight over seemingly tiny things. I've seen people who get upset at the drop of a hat, and bring their own hat. They seem primed for a fight, or assume that anything not done their way is done intentionally to get to them.
Now I've inherited leadership of a long-standing homeschool support group. I volunteered to help a fairly large group of people lead the group and ended up being the lone leader standing as people quit or disappeared for months at a time. I don't mind doing the work of organizing and such, but the bickering and back-biting, the people who assume the worst of other people, the people who want to constantly complain about the way I do things but don't want to help lead, either, gets old fast. I've tried accomodating them, trying to use their ideas and include them, but it seems to have back-fired and left me with more of them mad at each other.
Guess it's time to let some of them just leave the group and move on. But why is it that people who came together for the same purpose initially can't just get along? Why can't they be civil and work through their problems? Why?
Monday, November 30, 2009
Our Curriculum
Curriculum is more than just the textbooks used. It includes textbooks to be sure, but it also includes "regular" books, DVDs and other multimedia, games, manipulatives and any other materials to be used. Mostly, though, it is the overall plan for the education.
Our curriculum is loosely based on the book "The Well-Trained Mind" which uses the "classical" method of education. It assumes that young children are great at learning facts that they'll later put to use, and so we try to fill the children's heads with lots of facts. We do take the ideas presented in the book and adapt them to our needs--but any good educator does that, in my opinion.
While the children are in second and third grades, officially, much of their curriculum is identical. They each work at their own individual level in math and spelling, but most of the rest of the lessons are the same as it doesn't make sense to teach two separate lessons all the time. This works quite well as it requires less time of me, the teaching parent, and it can be more fun to learn with someone else.
Some examples of what we've been working on this year:
Social Studies
After spending the last three years going through 2 different world histories, this year we've been focusing on a variety of more specific areas this year. We're reading through "The History of US" by Joy Hakim. The series is very long, but we're already on the third volume of this American history series. I read it to them and they listen. Sometimes we discuss it, but mostly the children view it as "story time" and enjoy the stories. Yet, I hear them using some of the history in their play-acting or in their drawings during their free time, so I know that the lessons are taking hold. Besides, they are clearly well-ahead of the children in our local public schools. Here all teaching in the public schools seems to be geared to what's tested on the FCAT (the state's standardized test); since there is not yet a social studies FCAT, most elementary schools skip social studies completely and students don't really get any history or geography until 6th grade. Not so in our homeschool where world history began in kindergarten or preschool.
We're also 2/3 of the way through a textbook called "Florida", learning the geography and history of this state we live in.
Also, we've been going through a book called "Yisrael Sheli" with snippets on Israel's history and geography, together with the book "A Child's History of the Hebrew People."
And we've done some units using the Highlights for Children's "Top Secret Adventures" series; each set includes a jigsaw puzzle for a particular country and an informational book on that country's geography and history. There is also a puzzle book and the kids have to use the information in the rest of the set to solve a mystery (and learn more about the country being studied).
All in all, we've got a lot of social studies going on this year. But the kids mostly see it as story times and fun stuff, so they don't realize all that they are learning. Besides, having been a world traveler before I could walk, I want to make sure that they know a lot about the world that they live in--their corner of it, but also the rest of the world, too. I don't want children who, as adults, don't understand where a lot of current political problems came from.
Mathematics
The children were ahead of their official grade levels in math last year. But I was disappointed to see that they didn't really have a firm grasp on their math facts, even though they were doing well on paper. As a former math tutor, I know that kids who can't recall their facts instantly generally don't do well in math. So, we backtracked--that's one of the great advantages of homeschooling, that we can move at the pace dictated by the children's needs, rather than by some arbitrary bureaucrat. Over the summer, we changed to a new math curriculum and did the grade level over again. Saxon math is one that many homeschoolers have strong feelings about. I love Saxon's elementary level program. It drills the facts well. It seems a bit tedious and repetitious at times, but I can see that has been a good thing--helping to build "automaticity" so that the children will do well as they move on to harder mathematics. They will both have moved on to the next grade level in math by January and hopefully will continue to do well.
Science
Per the plan in "The Well-Trained Mind," the children are studying chemistry this year. We're using a hodge podge of texts for this, including "Hands-On Chemistry Experiments (K-2)" and "The Periodic Table: Elements with Style" and an old third grade science textbook. They've made models of atoms and molecules and a lapbook on basic chemistry. Currently, they are working on memorizing the first 20 elements on the periodic table and we'll be testing for acids and bases soon.
We've also been going through a health textbook learning about nutrition and physical fitness.
Reading
This is probably really radical, but our main way of teaching reading is to have the children practice reading. They've learned the fundamentals of reading at this point and we go to the library often. How better to learn reading than by doing it?
English
We were using an old standard English textbook that the public schools discarded. That worked okay. But now we are mostly using a series called "First Language Lessons." At times, we've combined some of the lessons (or even skipped a few), but I find that the series is great for having the children memorize definitions of parts of speech and poems and such. It doesn't have a lot of written work for young children because it is intended for people who are teaching at home and don't need busy work for them. Some people don't like the emphasis on memorization but I think that memorization is a neglected skill these days; it builds the muscle in the brain and makes it stronger as well as a good academic foundation. We also use an out-dated public school spelling curriculum and "What Your Third Grader Needs to Know" by Hirsch to supplement the lessons.
Other
We also include a variety of other lessons. We are using "The New Hebrew Primer", the Artscroll Siddur, and the Bible for Hebrew and religion lessons. The kids are putting together their own journals of the weekly Bible portions. We're using 4-H curriculum for sewing and library books, along with hands-on projects to teach wood-working. We've done a unit on baseball that ended with watching some of the World Series games and we're doing one on football that has included watching some televised football games. And then there are Tae Kwon Do and piano classes, field trips, and more.
I know. It sounds like a lot. When I read it all, it sounds like a huge amount to cover. But we aren't slaving away endlessly. We cover a few subjects daily, but some are done only once or twice a week. As long as no one's bored and no one's stressed out, I think we're finding a good fit. And we do take vacations sometimes--such as this week when we're working on removing our old carpeting and putting down tile. Okay, maybe that's not a fun vacation, but it's a learning vacation as the kids learn some hands-on lessons about how to do things around the house.
Our curriculum is loosely based on the book "The Well-Trained Mind" which uses the "classical" method of education. It assumes that young children are great at learning facts that they'll later put to use, and so we try to fill the children's heads with lots of facts. We do take the ideas presented in the book and adapt them to our needs--but any good educator does that, in my opinion.
While the children are in second and third grades, officially, much of their curriculum is identical. They each work at their own individual level in math and spelling, but most of the rest of the lessons are the same as it doesn't make sense to teach two separate lessons all the time. This works quite well as it requires less time of me, the teaching parent, and it can be more fun to learn with someone else.
Some examples of what we've been working on this year:
Social Studies
After spending the last three years going through 2 different world histories, this year we've been focusing on a variety of more specific areas this year. We're reading through "The History of US" by Joy Hakim. The series is very long, but we're already on the third volume of this American history series. I read it to them and they listen. Sometimes we discuss it, but mostly the children view it as "story time" and enjoy the stories. Yet, I hear them using some of the history in their play-acting or in their drawings during their free time, so I know that the lessons are taking hold. Besides, they are clearly well-ahead of the children in our local public schools. Here all teaching in the public schools seems to be geared to what's tested on the FCAT (the state's standardized test); since there is not yet a social studies FCAT, most elementary schools skip social studies completely and students don't really get any history or geography until 6th grade. Not so in our homeschool where world history began in kindergarten or preschool.
We're also 2/3 of the way through a textbook called "Florida", learning the geography and history of this state we live in.
Also, we've been going through a book called "Yisrael Sheli" with snippets on Israel's history and geography, together with the book "A Child's History of the Hebrew People."
And we've done some units using the Highlights for Children's "Top Secret Adventures" series; each set includes a jigsaw puzzle for a particular country and an informational book on that country's geography and history. There is also a puzzle book and the kids have to use the information in the rest of the set to solve a mystery (and learn more about the country being studied).
All in all, we've got a lot of social studies going on this year. But the kids mostly see it as story times and fun stuff, so they don't realize all that they are learning. Besides, having been a world traveler before I could walk, I want to make sure that they know a lot about the world that they live in--their corner of it, but also the rest of the world, too. I don't want children who, as adults, don't understand where a lot of current political problems came from.
Mathematics
The children were ahead of their official grade levels in math last year. But I was disappointed to see that they didn't really have a firm grasp on their math facts, even though they were doing well on paper. As a former math tutor, I know that kids who can't recall their facts instantly generally don't do well in math. So, we backtracked--that's one of the great advantages of homeschooling, that we can move at the pace dictated by the children's needs, rather than by some arbitrary bureaucrat. Over the summer, we changed to a new math curriculum and did the grade level over again. Saxon math is one that many homeschoolers have strong feelings about. I love Saxon's elementary level program. It drills the facts well. It seems a bit tedious and repetitious at times, but I can see that has been a good thing--helping to build "automaticity" so that the children will do well as they move on to harder mathematics. They will both have moved on to the next grade level in math by January and hopefully will continue to do well.
Science
Per the plan in "The Well-Trained Mind," the children are studying chemistry this year. We're using a hodge podge of texts for this, including "Hands-On Chemistry Experiments (K-2)" and "The Periodic Table: Elements with Style" and an old third grade science textbook. They've made models of atoms and molecules and a lapbook on basic chemistry. Currently, they are working on memorizing the first 20 elements on the periodic table and we'll be testing for acids and bases soon.
We've also been going through a health textbook learning about nutrition and physical fitness.
Reading
This is probably really radical, but our main way of teaching reading is to have the children practice reading. They've learned the fundamentals of reading at this point and we go to the library often. How better to learn reading than by doing it?
English
We were using an old standard English textbook that the public schools discarded. That worked okay. But now we are mostly using a series called "First Language Lessons." At times, we've combined some of the lessons (or even skipped a few), but I find that the series is great for having the children memorize definitions of parts of speech and poems and such. It doesn't have a lot of written work for young children because it is intended for people who are teaching at home and don't need busy work for them. Some people don't like the emphasis on memorization but I think that memorization is a neglected skill these days; it builds the muscle in the brain and makes it stronger as well as a good academic foundation. We also use an out-dated public school spelling curriculum and "What Your Third Grader Needs to Know" by Hirsch to supplement the lessons.
Other
We also include a variety of other lessons. We are using "The New Hebrew Primer", the Artscroll Siddur, and the Bible for Hebrew and religion lessons. The kids are putting together their own journals of the weekly Bible portions. We're using 4-H curriculum for sewing and library books, along with hands-on projects to teach wood-working. We've done a unit on baseball that ended with watching some of the World Series games and we're doing one on football that has included watching some televised football games. And then there are Tae Kwon Do and piano classes, field trips, and more.
I know. It sounds like a lot. When I read it all, it sounds like a huge amount to cover. But we aren't slaving away endlessly. We cover a few subjects daily, but some are done only once or twice a week. As long as no one's bored and no one's stressed out, I think we're finding a good fit. And we do take vacations sometimes--such as this week when we're working on removing our old carpeting and putting down tile. Okay, maybe that's not a fun vacation, but it's a learning vacation as the kids learn some hands-on lessons about how to do things around the house.
Monday, November 16, 2009
When a homeschooled kid asks to go to school...
I was talking with some other homeschooling moms this afternoon. One mom has homeschooled all of her children but also sent each of them to school for a while; she explained sending them to school because they asked to go. This isn't the first time I've heard of parents doing that, but I just don't get it.
When my oldest was about 6 years old, he begged for days to get to go to school "like the other kids." My husband and I had decided, for a multitude of reasons--including how terrible the local schools are, that we did not want to send our children to school as long as we had any other choice. And this isn't the sort of thing where a child gets a vote--at least not in our family. But that doesn't mean that we don't listen to our children. Rather, I spent time trying to get down to the nitty-gritty of why he was asking to go to school. I finally got him to admit that he really, really wanted to ride a school bus.
Once I figured out the reason behind his request, we were able to deal with it. I explained to him that we live so close to the nearest elementary school that they wouldn't let him ride a bus; he'd have to walk if he went to school. And then I took care of his real desire: We took a bus trip.
We walked to a public bus stop and got on public transportation. I chose a destination that involved having to transfer to another bus, with a long wait in the hot Florida sun, and when he complained about the wait and the heat and the noise on the bus that made it hard to hear each other, I cheerfully said, "But this is all part of riding a bus." Later, we talked about the kids who do ride a bus to school and have to wait for it in the heat, the cold, the rain, and whatever other weather comes their way. The kids who have to get up early every morning and gulp down their breakfast to get out to the bus stop in time, while we get to enjoy a leisurely morning routine, watching cartoons before Dad leaves for work, doing lessons in the family room (or on the patio, or in the car, or wherever we feel like it), having a snack when needed, getting to go on lots more field trips, being able to stay in if the weather is lousy, and so on.
The requests to go to school faded away....
When my oldest was about 6 years old, he begged for days to get to go to school "like the other kids." My husband and I had decided, for a multitude of reasons--including how terrible the local schools are, that we did not want to send our children to school as long as we had any other choice. And this isn't the sort of thing where a child gets a vote--at least not in our family. But that doesn't mean that we don't listen to our children. Rather, I spent time trying to get down to the nitty-gritty of why he was asking to go to school. I finally got him to admit that he really, really wanted to ride a school bus.
Once I figured out the reason behind his request, we were able to deal with it. I explained to him that we live so close to the nearest elementary school that they wouldn't let him ride a bus; he'd have to walk if he went to school. And then I took care of his real desire: We took a bus trip.
We walked to a public bus stop and got on public transportation. I chose a destination that involved having to transfer to another bus, with a long wait in the hot Florida sun, and when he complained about the wait and the heat and the noise on the bus that made it hard to hear each other, I cheerfully said, "But this is all part of riding a bus." Later, we talked about the kids who do ride a bus to school and have to wait for it in the heat, the cold, the rain, and whatever other weather comes their way. The kids who have to get up early every morning and gulp down their breakfast to get out to the bus stop in time, while we get to enjoy a leisurely morning routine, watching cartoons before Dad leaves for work, doing lessons in the family room (or on the patio, or in the car, or wherever we feel like it), having a snack when needed, getting to go on lots more field trips, being able to stay in if the weather is lousy, and so on.
The requests to go to school faded away....
Monday, November 9, 2009
Holidays and homeschool
Each year, I hear worried homeschooling parents wonder about how much time they are "allowed" to take off for the holidays. So I thought I'd share a few thoughts: Homeschoolers in Florida (those who sent in a "letter of intent" and so are legally considered homeschoolers) are *not* required to meet any attendance requirements, are *not* required to have "school" for a certain number of days each year, and are not required to have lessons for a certain number of hours each year. In addition, the parents of homeschoolers are the "directors" of their child's education, so they have the authority to decide on the school calendar for their child.
Every homeschooling family handles the holidays differently. Some continue homeschooling throughout, but they may do less bookwork and more hands-on lessons that relate to the holidays. Baking cookies can count as a home economics lesson, a lesson in reading and following directions, a lesson in math (measuring and dealing with fractions), and even science (chemical changes caused by baking, for instance); so why not spend a few days baking cookies and include it in the log of academic activities? As the family puts up holiday decorations, the child is learning about our culture (i.e., social studies), and if the family takes the time to talk about the history behind the holiday even more social studies is covered.
Some families may stop some of their regular studies and do unit studies at this time. Perhaps a study of how Thanksgiving has been celebrated throughout the history of our country? Or a study of how other countries in various times throughout history have celebrated holidays for giving thanks? Or a study on the turkey, its biology, its place in our culture and history, how to cook it and how others have cooked it? Or a study of deciduous trees, why they lose their leaves, and then a drive up north to grandma's house (a field trip) and notice the trees that have lost their leaves. Or pick some other aspect of a holiday and turn it into a unit study that can be part of your curriculum.
Some families have too much going on and decide to take a longer vacation at this time than the public schools do. There's no reason you can't decide to do that. Especially since, with the one-on-one nature of homeschooling, children tend to learn more in a shorter period of time anyway and so they may already have covered more than the public schoolers will by the end of the year. Or some people in Florida use this time of the year to schedule a long vacation,when the weather is more pleasant, and then do "school" throughout the hot,miserable summer months when it isn't fun to be outside much anyway--that's fine, too.
Pick the method that works for you. Work celebrating the holidays into your lessons. Or take a break from lessons to celebrate the holidays. But however you decide to do it, we hope that you have an enjoyable holiday season!
Every homeschooling family handles the holidays differently. Some continue homeschooling throughout, but they may do less bookwork and more hands-on lessons that relate to the holidays. Baking cookies can count as a home economics lesson, a lesson in reading and following directions, a lesson in math (measuring and dealing with fractions), and even science (chemical changes caused by baking, for instance); so why not spend a few days baking cookies and include it in the log of academic activities? As the family puts up holiday decorations, the child is learning about our culture (i.e., social studies), and if the family takes the time to talk about the history behind the holiday even more social studies is covered.
Some families may stop some of their regular studies and do unit studies at this time. Perhaps a study of how Thanksgiving has been celebrated throughout the history of our country? Or a study of how other countries in various times throughout history have celebrated holidays for giving thanks? Or a study on the turkey, its biology, its place in our culture and history, how to cook it and how others have cooked it? Or a study of deciduous trees, why they lose their leaves, and then a drive up north to grandma's house (a field trip) and notice the trees that have lost their leaves. Or pick some other aspect of a holiday and turn it into a unit study that can be part of your curriculum.
Some families have too much going on and decide to take a longer vacation at this time than the public schools do. There's no reason you can't decide to do that. Especially since, with the one-on-one nature of homeschooling, children tend to learn more in a shorter period of time anyway and so they may already have covered more than the public schoolers will by the end of the year. Or some people in Florida use this time of the year to schedule a long vacation,when the weather is more pleasant, and then do "school" throughout the hot,miserable summer months when it isn't fun to be outside much anyway--that's fine, too.
Pick the method that works for you. Work celebrating the holidays into your lessons. Or take a break from lessons to celebrate the holidays. But however you decide to do it, we hope that you have an enjoyable holiday season!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Baseball--a P.E. unit study
Usually, our P.E. program is based on doing things. The kids take a martial arts class for homeschoolers. They go to the park. Ride their bikes. Run around a lot. Play with friends. Go on walks. They are normal, busy kids and we don't usually schedule anything for P.E. other than their martial arts class.
But I heard another homeschooler worrying about P.E. and started thinking about it. As long as the kids are active and healthy, I don't worry about P.E. But they should learn the rules to common sports, so they can fit in with the culture.
So, I decided to start a unit on baseball. Simple enough. Get a few kids books from the public library on baseball. Start reading them to the kids. As we were driving home from the park, we saw two teams of retirees playing ball. So we stopped and watched an inning and discussed the rules that we saw acted out in front of us before continuing on home.
Maybe later we'll sit and watch a World Series game. And write it up in our portfolio as a lesson.
But I heard another homeschooler worrying about P.E. and started thinking about it. As long as the kids are active and healthy, I don't worry about P.E. But they should learn the rules to common sports, so they can fit in with the culture.
So, I decided to start a unit on baseball. Simple enough. Get a few kids books from the public library on baseball. Start reading them to the kids. As we were driving home from the park, we saw two teams of retirees playing ball. So we stopped and watched an inning and discussed the rules that we saw acted out in front of us before continuing on home.
Maybe later we'll sit and watch a World Series game. And write it up in our portfolio as a lesson.
Homeschooling--Our beginning and the socialization question
Before our first child was born, we decided to homeschool. I researched local laws and found that our state statutes were more readable than I had imagined. I found homeschool support groups online and lurked for a while. At the local library, I found more books than I had imagined on homeschooling--everything from catalogs of resources to books on reasons for homeschooling to a wide variety of methods of homeschooling. I downloaded lists of skills children should learn at various grade levels. I did all the sorts of things that many families who are considering homeschooling do.
Unlike a lot of families making this decision, we weren't complete novices when it came to educating our own. I was a classroom teacher with vast amounts of experience in private and public schools. My spouse was (and still is) a public school teacher. But more importantly, I'd been homeschooled myself for a couple of years several decades ago, before anyone had coined the term "homeschooling." So, we weren't trying to decide whether we really wanted to homeschool; rather I was researching how we would do it.
The big surprise to us was the negative attitude of my mom. My mom who had homeschooled me didn't like the idea of us homeschooling our own. How could this be?
Slowly it dawned on me that she was what I've heard called a "reluctant homeschooler." She hadn't homeschooled my sister and I out of a passion for teaching her own. Rather, she'd tried her very best to get a qualified teacher to teach us while we traveled the world on the yacht my dad built. She found a couple who were willing to live on board and travel with us; the man would help sail the boat while his wife, the certified teacher, would teach me the lessons in the correspondence curriculum that my parents had bought. The only problem with the plan was that the teacher never got around to teaching anything. Eventually, out of desperation, my mom decided to teach me. She figured that she, with just a high school diploma, could surely do a better job than someone who never even tried. But it was not the way that she would have chosen if she'd had any other choice.
What mom didn't realize was that she'd done a great job. Okay, a certified teacher would have cringed at her methods. But you know what? They worked. They would never have worked in a classroom with 25 students, but at home they worked well. Which is one of the great aspects of homeschooling. The one-on-one nature of homeschooling means that parents don't need to know proper teaching techniques.
Her method? She'd hand second grade me a packet of lessons for the week and tell me to go do the first day's lessons and come find her if I had any questions. I had to learn to read the directions for myself and then do the work. She'd check it and answer questions if I had any. I learned how to learn mostly on my own. I learned to manage my time well, since once I did the packet of work correctly, I could play. These are valuable life skills.
Mom was worried that our kids wouldn't get proper socialization. And she didn't see why we'd bother homeschooling since we didn't have to; we weren't gallivanting around the world. But she didn't understand that she'd given me a great gift in homeschooling me. She didn't know what I saw daily in the current public schools (the low educational standards, the bullying that administrators wouldn't stop, the violence, the wasted time, the high levels of nasty peer pressure, etc.) nor what I'd seen in private schools (parents and children who felt their money bought them good grades, drugs and other problems swept under the carpet to avoid losing tuition dollars, administrators who sacrificed teachers rather than have upset parents, etc.).
We knew we were homeschooling. We just had to figure out how to win Mom over. And make sure that no other friends or relatives had similar outlooks. I'd read too many stories of homeschoolers who ended up in trouble because some caring relative thought they were helping the children by causing trouble, and we didn't want to go there.
Our solution? Create a family newsletter. A few times a year, we typed it up on the computer, pasted on pictures of the children, and wrote articles about what we were doing at home. About the field trips we went on. The fun we had at homeschool support group meetings and events. The books we were reading as a family. The friends the children had. The sports and other events the children were involved in. The things they were learning. We hoped that if we bragged enough about what we were doing, let loved ones know that the children were learning a lot, had friends, were out and about with other people, were experiencing more than they'd ever experience in a modern school settings, then our loved ones would support us in this homeschooling endeavor--even if they'd never choose to homeschool their own.
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