Home school diary.
Sep 1st 2001
One of the most difficult things is to watch what seems as “non doing” and refrain from intervention. I try it every day with different levels of success. I try to do it in small dosages. I try for one day then a week. What helps is seeing how happy and relaxed she is. She does not seem bored (in spite of all the non-doing)
My home school diary – our first year.
March 3rd 2002
Yesterday we decided to leave school, again. Even two hours a day seems too much. Every day we have the same discussion whether to go or not. Its’ not that it is a bad school it is just, a school, same as the one we left originally. Amazing how all schools essentially are the same. The school here appears nicer and more organized. Everyone is very polite and helpful but the fundamental nature is the same. The kids jab each other trying to be subtle about it, the teachers offer the same learning menu to everyone. There is no real growth. Somehow the contact with the system had for awhile a relaxing effect, there will be someone to look after us, it was just an illusion.
My home school diary –the first year, Idaho.
March 22nd 2002
Waited 2 weeks to see if anyone from the school will call to ask where we are, no one did. So, I thought, freedom can work both ways. We have the freedom to be a part of and the freedom to leave. And why would anyone interfere. I took the responsibility and told them (the school) that we are taking “a break”
They said “Great! Come back when you feel like it”
So we are back home .Keren says she likes it better and I am trying to fight panic attacks concerning “we have done nothing today”
My home school diary – the first year, Idaho.
March 4th 2002
What will happen if we will not study history?
Maybe nothing…
My home school diary – the first year, Idaho.
April 23rd 2002
It is almost springtime and we are starting a garden. Planning a garden turned out to be a complex project concerning choosing the right spot, getting the area ready, picking the plants and the right time to plant. I believe all these activities constitute learning…
In our prior life time was a very substantial part and dictated what we did, a tyrant of sorts. Now that I have time to think about time I can see the different rhythm each one has. I tend to get up early in the morning to do my things. Keren on the other hand likes to stay up very late and read. She usually gets up around noon. Watching her I wonder, how anyone can assume that a group of kids can be interested in the same thing, at the same time.
My home school diary – the first year, Idaho.
July 2nd 2002
Summer Idaho style, not too hot and rainy, School vacation does not mean much to us, we continue with our daily routine. We adopted an abandoned duck, Raisin, who refuses to go back to nature and looks satisfied living in the garage. We take him to the lake everyday so he can meet other ducks but he is afraid of the water and follows Kerens’ feet very closely. We were disappointed to find out that what we thought was gold is some worthless material. So the gold rush will not start again …Our lake went back to its regular size and left behind dried patches of earth with dead fish. We tried to save them with no success. Keren is playing baseball with a local group, riding horses and reading.
Every time I worry about her education she will say something that will prove to me, again, that she is absorbing knowledge all the time.
My home school diary –the first year, Idaho.
Jan 28th 2003
We are moving in a month to the East coast, Maine. We are experienced in moving by now and know how to find, quickly, who is who. Still each move is a challenge. As homeschoolers we need to learn all the rules, find the people who can supply the information and create a social network. The first year had taught us a lot and we are not as lost as we were when we got here. When I remember how worried I was that we will not be able to fill our day, I look at the list Keren compiled lately, of all her occupations and laugh. I realize how much confusion and how many questions I had and see what a long way we did. Yet not being sure and constantly asking questions is an essential part of home schooling.
My home school diary – the second year, Idaho.
March 3rd 2003
We are in Maine. Having to start all over even though we are more experienced, is not easy. We need to learn the rules and form new contacts. I think the hardest thing with homeschooling and maybe the biggest challenge is to create your own support net. People warned us, when we moved to Maine, that it will be hard to shake the “being from away” feeling and it will take a lot of work to find the way in.
They never told us about the other famous Maine saying. “You can’t get there from here” it is hard to get from one place to another because there is always a mountain or a lake in the way and there are no easy shortcuts. This seems to be true for human connections too.
My home school diary – the second year, Maine.
May 17th 2003
We found a virtual school. You enroll the same way as in a regular school. Get all the information regarding subject matter, books etc’. From that point on you are free to build your own plan of studies. You’re assigned a contact teacher and report twice a year. By the end of the 4 years or when she is done with all the requirements, Keren will receive a high school diploma.
I was captured by the idea of freedom within a frame work, being part of the system yet out.
My home school diary – Maine, end of the second year.
March 3rd 2004
Keren was featured in the local newspaper. It documented her daily life as a homeschooler and especially her volunteer work at the local cat shelter. We did it!!! I can see the cracks in the ice. We worked hard, invested many hours in volunteer work and reaching out to the community.
When I read the article my first thought was “what a full and interesting life this kid has”.
I am not always sure what we are doing but from a distance, looking at the whole picture, I can see that what we are doing is good. More than that, we feel good with what we are doing and that is the main thing.
My home school diary – the third year, Maine.
2004 – Third year
As Keren grows up a strange development is taking place. She is more independent and spends more time outside the house in volunteer activities or girl scouts. I am home alone. I consider that a success. She is spending time with other kids but what about me. I can’t commit to anything since I need to drive her and bring her back and I am still responsible for her school work. Am I in the stage where I will have to home-school myself?
My home school diary – the third year, Maine.
2005 - Fourth year.
Now that we are in our fourth year things seem to have their own flow. Keren is taking classes in adult Ed. She adjusted to the change easily. I watch her studying in a formal classroom setting and succeed. I give myself an A; we did a good job.
This is my answer to the skeptics who kept telling me of the difficulties she will have fitting into society. I see no difficulties at all. I watch her with her friends acting like any other teenager.
Now that we are in a formal setting there are also grades. Hers are excellent. I smile to myself. Beforehand, when I graded her, everyone said that I am biased being her mom.
My home school diary – the fourth year, Maine.
2005 – Fourth year.
“Is it difficult?” is a question I am often asked. It is difficult, sure, but also not at all. Not more difficult then living with the knowledge that other people determine day after day what’s important for your child. And yes it is difficult because of the need to determine time and time again what’s important.
But with time a new clarity is growing inside me and with it strength and confidence. My actions are going through this new filter. Not everything is simple or clear but it is impossible to ignore this “something” that have no name and was not there before.
My home school diary – the fourth year, Maine.
2006 – Fifth year.
Our time together is becoming lesser and lesser. Keren is taking classes in the community college. She is working part time, driving and in the midst of completing a big project for the girl scouts. We meet once a week to plan the week ahead and the rest is her responsibility.
My home school diary – the fifth year, Maine.
2007- Sixth and final year.
High school is over Keren is enrolled in the university for the coming fall...this is so exciting.
I am watching with anticipation to see how she is going to take to the world.
We started when she was 12 and she is eighteen now.
We tried to open the world for her and show her that all is possible; it is for her now to make it happen.
My school years are finally over.
My home school diary – the sixth year, Maine.
I'll have more comments later, but this immediately jumped out at me: "This is my answer to the skeptics who kept telling me of the difficulties she will have fitting into society"
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I and another couple started an alternative school in 1979, and we heard that all the time, but the proper response is to look at what actually goes on in the public schools: the regimentation, the hypocrisy, the cruelty, the craziness, the mediocrity, the boredom, the lies, the absurdity.... If you can shield your kids from some of that, they will do fine. You don't prepare people for bad things by visiting bad things on them.
"One of the most difficult things is to watch what seems as “non doing” and refrain from intervention."
ReplyDeleteI've had the same experience often--when people are working well and learning either in a group or singly, it's important to butt out. When I taught younger kids, I became the teacher who'd step out of the classroom, walk down the long corridor, open the door to the fire escape, take a breath of fresh air, watch the birds, and then slowly walk back to class--all to avoid interfering. I'd count it success when I hadn't said a word for 45 minutes.... Teachers can be such motormouths and busybodies.
I enjoy and admire your decision to offer week 6 in diary form, certainly a classic and traditional way of dealing with a mass of material. The weakness here is that it's not a completely freestanding piece; understandint it depends on having read the first part of week 6.
ReplyDeleteOne solution might be to intersperse these diary entries between sections of 'Once a Teacher,' going from regular font to italics, as the material slides back and forth.
The first version of this piece had some links in between the diary enteries giving some background. I took them out trying to make it freestanding...oh, well :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, homeschholing is a great teaching experience for parents and ex-teachers like me.