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Any good homeschooling resources that TheMotte would recommend?
I want to start homeschooling my two elementary school aged kids from this year (one is early elementary, the other late elementary). What are some good resources for learning at home? I'm interested in online tools (Khan Academy, stuff like that) but also premade programs and curricula, mail order/correspondence programs, anything like that. Also, any resources on being an effective homeschool teacher without formal training in education.
I want to teach the usual basics skills, but I'd also like to teach formal logic, Latin, computer skills/coding, and handwriting.
I think there was also a recent thread about homeschooling experiences on here... I'll have to dig that up as well.
I remember doing Sing, Spell, Read, and Write, and it worked well -- I still remember several of the songs -- but don't know what an updated version might be. We did Saxon math, for some value of "doing," but I much prefer Khan Academy. Some school districts have an official Homeschool Liaison, who will recommend something. Also, kids can often take electives at their local public school for free or very cheap. I took swimming, and was no good at it, but it was a positive experience.
This is the absolute last thing you should worry about. Don't bother even thinking about this at all. I have a degree in education, and education courses are entirely useless for homeschooling. They don't really teach classroom management, but if they were going to teach a useful skill, it would probably be that one. There was an entire semester long class about teaching philosophies, where we would look at a teaching philosophy, such as the one with an ideal tutor following an ideal child around and making everything a learning opportunity for him, and would invariably conclude each time "but we're training to be public school teachers, so while interesting, this has pretty much nothing to do with us." There was an entire semester long class on specific educational acronyms. We learned to think-pair-share 28 times. None of it would be useful to you at all.
How do the kids feel about the change?
Thanks, this is encouraging.
They are excited about it because they'll get to focus more on the things that they enjoy, but as young children they probably don't fully grasp it. Do you have any advice how to make the transition smooth? It will likely be accompanied by a move.
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Check out this pdf by the Mathacademy called the Mathacademy way, very thorough document they themselves use, also get a subscription for jr once the kids are old enough, will sort all your math needs.
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If your kids are smart(I assume they are) and want to learn Latin, they should be able to work through a unit a week of Lingua Latina per se Illustrata with the accompanying primer, assuming there's a tutor to keep them on track and assign homework(yes, homework is mandatory for learning a foreign language). Latin tutors are (relatively)cheap and you can get them from any university with a classics department.
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My memory of what books I used is pretty foggy, especially so for early stuff...but Abeka books were the main resource my mom used for writing/grammar/early math I believe. Saxon math for later stuff. We were going at it without internet though, and I think Khan academy is already going to a better job for a lot of stuff. Both Christian based resources, from what little I've researched there are equivalent secular curricula floating about but it has been a while since I've looked.
You should check out Lingua Latina per se illustrata for Latin. Very cool way to learn the language IMO, although online it seems to be a battle between this method and traditional grammar texts. Seems like it would be perfect for kids.
Thanks. I'm especially interested in the textbook series, it looks more interesting and serious than others I've seen, like the Minimus series.
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I apologize in advance because what I'm about to say isn't what you asked for but I think it's important to comment.
Independent of how good of an idea homeschooling was in the past, I think it is going to become a much worse idea in the future.
One of the joys of my job is that I get to see every single slice of the population and something I've noticed is that young people are nervous wrecks theses days (especially post-COVID)...this is known - but also that a lot of home schooled kids are a lot worse.
I suspect this is due to decreasing opportunities for independence and socialization and regular school is one of the last bastions of that. This trend will likely continue to worsen as people spend more time online and less time touching grass.
I'm sure the research will catch up at some point, as it has with social media and COVID pauses, but at that point some people's lives will still be fucked.
There are plenty of reasons to avoid traditional school (safety, poor quality, woke bullshit) but the benefit is probably worth it and if you are going to home school you'll need to dig out chances for your kid(s) to socialize adequately.
Yes, this is key. We're hoping to have them out of the house doing something with other kids their age at least 3-4 times per week, plus playdates, playing in the park, etc. One of the two is very outgoing, so we're already thinking about how we're going to handle this and looking for homeschooling groups and activities that are not tied to schools. We very much want to avoid the "house arrest" model of homeschooling.
Sounds like you've thought a bunch about this!
Were you home schooled? Personally I feel like I'd have missed out on all of the activities and dumb stuff of school if I skipped it, but that doesn't mean that is the "only right way."
key thing is being involved other ways - church, neighborhood two huge ones that are admittedly probably harder than they used to be. Once you hit high school might be worth starting to get more involved - taking some AP classes, dual enrollment at local college, and highly highly recommend music and athletic extra curriculars.
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I wasn't, but I think I might have liked it. Probably like a lot of people on here, I enjoyed reading almost anything as a kid, from children's fiction to reference books and encyclopedias, and I always wished I had more time for that (well, that and PC gaming). I also used to write and draw for fun, but my enthusiasm fizzled by the time I finished middle school. I think I would kept them up had I learned how to properly draw or had a chance to write about the things I was interested in (history, fantasy, adventure) instead of analyzing e e cummings poetry or whatever.
I'm still a bit worried about their ability to make and maintain friendships without school, though. Friendships happen when you have forced repeated contact and shared experiences, and I've heard that some homeschooling circles have a constant flow of people coming in and out (but I guess some schools do too). We will have a good family friendly neighborhood and a nearby church, so that might help. Sports will probably be important for this as well.
Yeah this will help a lot.
So many people are maladjusted now and have no or few friends and I cannot imagine how much harder it is for the young. Like it's hard enough to find a GF for functional wealthy adults now.
A freshmen in high school? Yikes. And home schooling might be much, much worse.
However it seems very clear you are actively thinking about what you are doing and what the plan is and aware of limitations - fantastic prognostic indicator.
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Homeschoolers IME(and I know a lot of homeschoolers) go one way or another. There are plenty of homeschoolers who are ready to be functional adults, not nervous at all, mentally healthy and well rounded... at 16. There are also homeschoolers who are the opposite of that at 25. There is much less in between.
Do not go it alone when homeschooling. Do not delay normal developmental milestones, even if you think there's a good reason for it. If you are homeschooling a boy, he needs to be working for a non-family member and in sports the whole time(girls can usually handle most of the things these accomplish for themselves if allowed to). Shelter a level less than you think you need to.
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This was always the case. If you're going to homeschool, you have to make sure you socialize your kids in other ways. When I was growing up, my parents did that through groups with other homeschoolers, through church, and through other youth activities (scouts, 4-H, etc). I don't think that it's worse than before or anything, I think that this was just something you always had to do if you were going to homeschool your kids.
I agree it was always important but my fear is that it is going to be increasingly harder to do. :/
I see... I misunderstood your comment.
I don't know how clear I was - what I see oncoming is an increase in anxiety disorders (for instance) and that will likely be way worse for homeschooled for non-home schooled (but both will be bad).
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The thread in question (including my contribution)
Thank you!
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