I’m over at California to Korea today, where my friend Micaela interviewed me about my homeschooling style as part of her How I Homeschool series.
So, head on over there to find out my answers to questions about my one sentence Homeschool Philosophy, the ONE Mother of Divine Grace book that I just can’t stand, how I choose a curriculum, what outside activities we do, how I keep pre-schoolers entertained, and whether or not I’m a robot.
For more about what homeschooling looks like around here, you might like:
THE SECRET TRUTH ABOUT WHY I HOMESCHOOL
QUIT WORRYING ABOUT PRESCHOOL. SERIOUSLY, STOP IT.
And to see what a real day of school looks like at our house, try:
Loved this and all Micaela's interviews! Sounds like you have an amazing homeschool group. I'm also a Writing Road to Reading drop-out. The WORST! But happy with All About Spelling and enrolling with MODG for the first time this year. I also realized last week that my oldest "forgot" pretty much an entire subject this year, so she's doing a lot of Handwriting this summer!
I love your blog, and I love how often you update it! There's a meaningful, entertaining, well-written post almost every day… you rock!
Thanks! :0)
All this talk about robots – what is your Myers-Briggs? I'm an ENTJ who's borderline INTJ and I have more than once been accused of being a robot or machine…. I'm guessing you're something similar.
Yep. You nailed it. INTJ! I read the description of INTJ on Wikipedia and felt like someone had crawled into my brain. It's kind of disconcerting that all my personal quirks are shared by a whole (albeit comparatively small) subset of the population!
My tests come back INTJ, but I am honestly no where near as efficient and organized as you are. I think those tests have lied to me.
I think I just WANT to be an INTJ and probably am actually not.
Great interview! I can't agree more about those bad school days, when I'm just trying to get (other) stuff done!
Uh-oh. We start our first year with MODG in two weeks. We tinkered with the Writing Road to Reading over the summer. I hope it isn't a train wreck. Spelling has been so far. All I hear on the interwebs is how GREAT All About Spelling is. I think I've heard it so much that I've convinced myself it really isn't true and people just want affiliate money. (I'm sure that's not the case with you, right? :))
I've thought about writing a whole post on how much I dislike WWTR, but everyone at MODG, whose opinions I really respect, are strongly in favor of it. So I keep thinking it must just be me. But WWTR reads like a book on theoretical practices, trying to convince you of the merits of a phonetic approach to teaching spelling. I don't need that. I'm convinced. What I need is a book that says, "Teach these phonograms on this day. Say the following things in order to do so." That's what All About Spelling does. It breaks down the theory into actual lessons. And I'm not an affiliate, but I think you'll like it better.
I mean WRTR. Writing Road to Reading. 🙂
I really enjoyed reading this! My question is about one of your priorities in homeschooling "I want them to learn how to be responsible, independent, and curious. I want them to be self-starters and self-finishers." <<This, I think, I brilliant. What are some ways you encourage self-starters?
Thanks Gina! The older kids set an alarm for themselves on schooldays and they get themselves up and breakfasted and do their chores on their own. Now, it's because I MAKE them, but still, they are getting in the habit of accomplishing tasks without direct supervision.
Also, I give them access to stuff and time to create. In their spare time the older kids do their own projects. Jack invents and builds stuff, some of it works, some of it doesn't, but I always try to encourage him to try stuff and not give up easily. (And to clean up after himself!) Betty and Bobby do art projects, Betty and Jack cook. A lot of it is giving them unsupervised time and the freedom to experiment and make some messes. (Then clean them up.)
It's tempting to shoot down kid ideas for being messy and unrealistic, but I really try to give suggestions and a little guidance without killing the idea entirely. They seem to enjoy and learn from even stuff that doesn't work out as they hoped.