One Size Education Doesn’t Fit All

Education is the work that our children do to prepare them for their life’s work, but it’s getting more and more expensive these days (it gets worse in the college level). What is a family on a budget to do? But, expense aside — morals and values, overcrowding factors and a host of other issues have effected our school stystems.

Well, I’ve been there before. When my first son was born I found out about homeschooling. I had substitute taught for a short while before I got married, and decided that it wasn’t for me. (This was coming from someone who wanted to drop out of school in the 4th grade.)

So I talked with my husband and he agreed to try it out, by then we had two boys, three years apart in age. We started with a group of other families in something called an Independent Study Program. It was up to each family as to what curriculum was used. Plus we would meet once a month. There were field trips, report cards and graduation ceremony each year. For this we paid an annual fee under $500.00.

We stayed in that program for six years, before we decided it was time to go on our own. I went to take the CBEST (California Basic Educational Skills Test) to become certified to tutor them at home myself (being that I had a teaching degree from another state.) Each state has different legal requirements. That’s what I did — with a little brushing up on the math. Phew!

We focused on the basics — with emphasis on them learning the computer. We tried out a variety of styles, and if I had to pinpoint, it would be more a cross between “classical education”, “relaxed learning” and “unschooling” or (“child-directed learning”). There was trial and error, and that’s how we learned what was a good fit. Combining them together into a more “eclectic” approach that worked for us.

My sons are now in their early 20′s and out in the work force, moving toward careers in the technology field. They plan on attending tech school to enhance what they already have learned. The big test thus far has been the homeschool to workforce hurdle and they’ve managed to pass that in style. So the objective is to keep having various hurdles that they have to jump, because they will certainly help them grow.

We were able to do this on a limited or fixed income. I was a “stay-at-home” mom at the time. Homeschooling is not for everyone, but if you are motivated to help your children grow, then this will be a very rewarding and cost effective experience for you and your children. You don’t have to have a teaching degree to be successful (some say it’s better that you don’t and I agree.) There is a lot of information out there.

This is the first time I’ve shared our experience in such an open forum. Hope it will be helpful to someone. But this is just one size or “style of shoe” — when it comes to education there are many styles and sizes out there that are relative to who your children and family are. Here is a list of some very helpful and informative sites that I’ve collected along the way:

Homeschool Advice

www.home-school.com
www.homeschoolnewslink.com

Articles From Blogs & Groups About Homeschooling

www.steve-olson.com/how-we-can-change-our-failing-education-system
www.steve-olson.com/how-the-public-school-system-crushes-souls

Directory(s)

www.homeeducationschooling.com

Extra

www.mochamoms.org
recipeswap.familyclassroom.net