Homeschool World Forum

[SUZI9876]

This is our first year of homeschooling. My children are 13, 11 and 6. We live in a VERY small rural community, and my husband just recently lost his job. When we first started homeschooling, I envisioned field trips, hands-on activities, and doing some classtime together as a family. Instead, however, I find us chained to our textbooks with me trying to juggle teaching each child. This week we tried doing a Star Wars theme since all three children love Star Wars. It was a disaster! They couldn't keep on subject; they complained about almost every assignment because it was asking for more creativity than they are used to. This isn't going the way I pictured it. Am I doing something wrong, or is textbooks just the right answer for them?

[hscoach]

Since the assignments were asking for more creativity than your kids were used to, maybe you could try a different approach - because you don't want them to become frustrated. Were you using an official unit study? Maybe you could create your own. Don't feel like you have to go exactly by something the way it is written. That's the beauty of homeschooling. Just adjust it to suit the needs of your children.

One way to stray from textbooks is to read living books and the classics. You don't have to buy them. Just use your public library. You can also check out dvd's and books on cd. There are also lots of free educational resources online. Maybe there are some field trips you could go on that would be free and close by...........like visiting a local farm or a tour of the post office or another business.

Don't feel like you have to be chained to the textbooks. Maybe you could use them some, but make an attempt to find other things too. I would recommend that you do some reading online about unschooling. You don't have to become a complete unschooler, but it might help you to get into a different mindset. Learning can occur in many ways and textbooks are only one of the ways children can learn. Try to make it enjoyable. Check to see if your library has the book "Learning All The Time" by John Holt. Here are a couple of links that might be helpful.

http://www.home2teach.com/unitstudies/Resourcesforstudies.pdf

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/levels.php

http://www.christianunschooling.com/
_________________
Laura L. Barth
http://www.freehomeschooladvice.com

[SUZI9876]

Thank you so much for the links. I'm all for getting away from the textbooks; my older children not so much. My oldest is 13, and he's not real fond of textbooks but complains about the living books, movies and creative writing assignments. My 11 year old does the same thing. I think it may be because it requires them to develop new skills, and that's work. They are pretty lazy when it comes to school.

[sandrapitt]

Hey these links shared above seem really good and will help you a lot. Firstly be patient with kids dont jump into doing something out of the box and creative. Make a pattern of learning that suits you and the kids equally. See their performance in it, let them get used to it and then slowly use new tools of teaching them. They will accept it willingly and it will even satisfy you when you see them performing well.