homeschooling curriculum guide on how to start home …€¦ · declutter your home – now is the...

HOMESCHOOLING CURRICULUM GUIDE ON

How to Start Home Education

by Willemien Krüger

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This book is dedicated to my friend Jenny who had been

peppering me with a thousand questions on how to start home

educating her children, until she

This has made me realize that

HOMESCHOOLING CURRICULUM GUIDEon

HOW TO START HOME EDUCATION

by Willemien Krüger

Homeschooling Curriculum Guide on


Copyright © 2013 by Willemien Krüger at:

www.homeschooling-curriculum-guide.com

This book is for encouragement and educational purposes

only. Permission for personal use is granted.

All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this publication may

be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted

by any means – electronic, mechanical, photographic

(photocopying), recording, or otherwise – without prior

permission in writing from the author.

Find support to continuously improve your homeschool on

www.homeschooling-curriculum-guide.com pointing YOU in

the right direction, whether you are starting out homeschooling

or have been doing this for a while.

ISBN: 978-0-9922150-1-9

eISBN:

Cover & Layout design:

Designwave

www.designwave.co.za

PREFACE:

The Homeschooling Curriculum Guides series will

be pointing YOU in the right direction as it provides

lots of practical answers to questions by parents

investigating homeschooling. As you read this guide, it

will help you:

Relax when you know how to start

Get ideas on what to do and what not to do when you

start

Know which books to read when reading book reviews

about the most well-known books in homeschooling

circles

Make the paradigm shift to understand what home

education is really about

Understand the ‘lingo’ of homeschool vocabulary

Understand how to make curriculum choices

Get insight into some mistakes homeschoolers can

make

This book has been developed for the homeschooling

community at large, and will help new home schooling

parents who have made the decision to homeschool.

This guide is best read as companion to “Homeschooling

Curriculum Guide on The 7-Step Process to Improve your

v

Homeschool” as well as “Homeschooling Curriculum Guide

on Organization, Administration and Socialization”.

The seven guides included in the Homeschooling

Curriculum Guides series currently are, in order of a

recommended reading strategy:


CONSIDERING HOME EDUCATION




CHILD DEVELOPMENT PHASES


HOME EDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICA


ORGANIZATION, ADMINISTRATION AND SOCIALIZATION


THE 7-STEP PROCESS TO IMPROVE YOUR HOMESCHOOL


A PERSONAL ECLECTIC CURRICULUM

websites are active and current during the publication

process. If any link is not active, I do apologize. Please

inform the author.

vi

Contents

PREFACE: ....................................................................................................................................v

1. INTRODUCING HOME SCHOOLING – THE MORE EXCELLENT WAY ........................................................................1

2. GETTING (RE)STARTED ON HOMESCHOOLING – 10 STEPS TO SURVIVE THE FIRST DAYS .....................................................................................................3

3. RECOMMENDED READING ON HOME SCHOOLING INTRODUCTION ....................................................7

4. CLAY AND SALLY CLARKSON’S WELL WRITTEN BOOKS ...............................................................................................8

4.1. Educating the wholehearted child ..........................................8

4.2. Seasons of a mother’s heart .......................................................11

4.3. The ministry of motherhood .......................................................13

5. CHRIS AND ELLYN DAVIS’S WELL-THOUGHT-OUT BOOK .............................................................................14

5.1. I saw the angel in the marble ...................................................14

6. RUTH BEECHICK’S PRACTICAL BOOKS ON HOMESCHOOLING ......................................................................................18

6.1. The three R’s (Grades K-3) – set of 3 little books

in one ......................................................................................................................................19

6.2. You can teach your child successfully (Grades

4-8) ...............................................................................................................................................21

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7. MARILYN HOWSHALL’S CHALLENGE TO HOMESCHOOLING .......................................................................................23

7.1. Wisdom’s Way of Learning (set of books) ...................24

8. OTHER USEFUL HOMESCHOOL BOOKS TO READ ........................................................................................................................................28

8.1. A Charlotte Mason companion - personal

reflections on the gentle art of learning ..............................29

8.2. For the Family’s sake – the value of home in

everyone’s life ..............................................................................................................30

8.3. The successful homeschool family handbook ..31

9. HOMESCHOOL VOCABULARY - A PRIMER FOR BEGINNERS ...............................................................................................32

10. RELATED ARTICLES ..................................................................................38

10.1. Curriculum decision-making time .......................................38

10.2. Mistakes homeschoolers can make....................................................48

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................58

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1. Introducing home schooling – the more excellent way

believes that home education is the best option

for creating independent thinkers and nurturing

Homeschooling is not so much about schooling as

about educating your own children at home. For

many of us this already implies a big paradigm shift

since we have grown up with schooling and education

school away from home and education was done at home.

In reality homeschooling is about integrating the two, and

maybe the word is a misnomer. The truth is that when you

homeschool you educate and every time you educate you

1

are ‘schooling’. It is also true that a good education will

support you in life anywhere and all the time. If your child

is homeschooled there may be time and opportunities

available which are not provided by a school system

requiring conformance to pre-set requirements. I truly

believe that potential is not only not developed, but even

lost in the constraints any human designed system has.

Many parents are considering the school systems and they

perceive the loneliness, the insecurity, loss of creativity

and interest and the boredom their children experience,

and usually this is the starting point for many to consider

home education. Others may have known all along that

the school system did not develop their own potential and

has therefore considered home education from the start as

the way to educate their own children.

What is home education in short:

It is a wonderful journey of educating your children that

one undertakes in faith…the path is not clearly marked.

COMMITMENT you and your family make

to each other.

It is not just a good idea; it is so much more than that.

It is personal decision you make with your heart, and

your head follows later.

It is the right thing to do.

2

2. Getting (re)started on homeschooling – 10 steps to survive

You have done enough research and now you make

the decision to homeschool! Congratulations – it is

already, but you feel as if you want to start over again.

How do I start my home education?

What do I do?

Where do I begin homeschooling?

What are the basics?

What do I do tomorrow?

10 survival steps you can take for a

smoother journey ahead. More detail will develop as you

will be doing more research and implementing the 7 step

process as described in Homeschooling Curriculum Guide on

The 7-Step Process to Improve your Homeschool.

3

Relax!

2. Continue your normal home life; or if it was

irregular, try and establish healthy routines such as regular

mealtimes, home cleaning and laundry times, bath times

and family together times. Do not be afraid to allow your

children enough productive playtime.

3. Organize your home by making spaces, places

and times available for homeschooling (this may take a

while – days, weeks or even months). In this respect the

book, Educating a wholehearted child by Clay and Sally

Clarkson has helped me. For more information also

read Homeschooling Curriculum Guide on Organisation,

Administration and Socialization.

4. Declutter your home – now is the time to throw away

and clean up your house together with your children if

they are old enough to help. This is part of the organisation

challenge, and allow yourself time for this as a project.

5. Do not buy any curriculum or material that you have

not yet considered fully.

6. However, do invest in some good homeschool books to read (and read again). In the following chapters,

books are recommended to be read by you as the parent

4

in helping you make the paradigm changes needed for

home education. Many parents only end up doing ‘school

at home’ and there is so much more to home education.

Make time to read these books thoroughly and reread as

necessary.

7. Also invest in some good quality books

or ‘equipment’ for your child(ren)

on whatever is their interest.

(Equipment means anything else

but books, e.g. if a boy wants to

do woodwork, invest in some

tools; if experimenting is his thing,

buy a science kit; or if your daughter would love to make

clothes, invest in a sewing machine.)

8. Allow and encourage productive free time as

much as possible. The concept of productive free time

includes investigation, building, reading, hobbies and

playing for children! Allow them to do what they want. If

a child is too used to his/her life being regulated for him/

her, it might take a while to get used to being productive

again. Productive free time will become the indicator as

to what a child’s interests are, which can be build upon in

your home education journey.

9. Have reading times – for yourself, alone and

together with the children, scheduled or unplanned,

read aloud and silent. Read anything your family value.

Make the paradigm changes needed for

home education

5

Include the Bible, include good books, and include non-

reading times for yourself for reading the recommended

books following later in this guide eg. try and read a book

every quarter. Whether it is the father or the mother doing

the actual home education – ensure that both read about

home education.

planning and thinking times – during

this time study and do the steps as laid out in Homeschooling

Curriculum Guide on The 7-Step Process to Improve your

Homeschool. DO involve your spouse in these thinking

times as it will prove to be invaluable for your homeschool

vision to develop.

these errors to

avoid.

6

10.2. Mistakes homeschoolers can make

by Willemien Krüger © June 2011

Mistakes? what mistakes? Is there a possibility of

making mistakes? These are questions that can

cause one to experience fear and anxiety. The

purpose of this article is to encourage you not to become

more fearful and anxious but to learn from others and try

and prevent fear. The idea is to become aware of the things

you can and cannot do, as you are

trying your best. Also remember

that homeschooling is a process,

which will be improved over time

as you become more experienced

and purposeful in what you want

to achieve. So even if you are

making mistakes, do not be afraid

because it is part of this process of

improvement. Learn from it and correct it the next time

around. Sometimes we are blind to our own mistakes and

it will do us good to learn from others. These ideas came

primarily from my own observations of myself and other

homeschoolers.

Even if you are making mistakes, do

not be afraid because it is part of this process it is part of this process of improvement. Learn of improvement. Learn from it and correct it

next time round.

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Seven possible mistakes homeschoolers can make:

1. Unclear or no vision or goals or plans

known scripture and it is true. It is said that if you aim

for nothing that is what you will achieve all the time.

This is true also for your educational goals for your

children. It is not that important that this vision must be

terms of clarifying what you want to achieve and what

is not that important to achieve, comes as a result of life

and learning along the way. However, if you do not have

something to work towards, how will you know if you are

moving/growing/learning? Without a vision you cannot

measure. Often your vision at the start is just the reason for

things that are lacking and which you want to add to your

vision. It is my observation that people tend to limit how

they live by not having a vision. To envision something to

aim for will be challenging and there may be those who

will think it is a waste of time. But I have seen that those

with the clearest idea of where they want to end, are the

most likely to achieve it.

It is a fact that not everybody thinks this is important.

There are those who think that planning is a futile exercise

and that one should just take life as it comes. If this is your

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philosophy you should not complain if things do not turn

is good to envision the future, as it will most probably put

you in the right frame of mind. Make the time to dream

and have the courage to have a vision for your family and

your homeschool.

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail,” is a saying that is

common in management. We as homeschoolers can learn

from this that it is futile to have a vision without any concept

of how to get there. I have seen this happen… families

actually verbalising their dreams for their children but

will not let the dream happen. One must take the steps

in the right direction. If for example your vision includes

for your children to have read a wide variety of books,

but you do not even plan reading time or to incorporate

books in your home, how will your vision be achieved?

So be encouraged – have a vision and a plan for your

homeschool. For more info on how to formulate a vision

read Homeschooling Curriculum Guide on The 7-Step Process

to Improve your Homeschool.

2. Unclear or no measurement of progress

This issue is closest to my heart as I have observed many

homeschool families. One can have vision and even a plan,

but if you do not measure how you are doing, you will

miss the target. I have known a family who had a vision

and a plan, but the thing they did not do was measure.

50

To illustrate: their vision was to train their children to be

honest (as we all usually have as part of our vision), and

they even thought their children were honest, but they

never checked whether their children told the truth w.r.t.

schoolwork done. As it turned out in later years, some

of their children had formed a habit of lying about work

done. These children also did not recognize that a habit

of lying was formed and continued to lie to other people

as well. It was sad to see and it served as a warning to me

personally, to check and make sure that we are still on the

path we want to be on. We cannot assume that things are

happening as planned – nowhere in life is this realistic,

why would it be with our homeschool?

Along with measurement, it is important to adapt, adjust

to plan. It will be useless to measure your progress but not

do anything about it. I have seen this happen – how people

know they are not achieving their goals but fail to do

something about it. Complaining is all that happens, and

they end up never achieving their goals and wondering

why. So be encouraged – take the time to measure, it is

whether there is progress or not. To understand how

measurement is part of the process of homeschooling read

Homeschooling Curriculum Guide on The 7-Step Process to

Improve your Homeschool.

51

3. Misguided expectations

Your homeschool expectations are determined by a

number of things – exposure to other homeschool families,

personal research, reading, inner convictions and belief.

Whatever your sources were, determine now to clarify

expectations for yourself to be realistic and achievable, so

that you will not be disappointed if things do not work

out for you as you anticipated. From my experience a lot

of frustration and irritation happens if you saw something,

or compared yourself or your children to others and then

suddenly there are new unrealistic expectations. If you see

are not always well behaved, remember that you have only

Most probably those same children also have their ugly

behaviour days. Not all days of homeschool are moonshine

and roses. Not all work is nice. Not all relationships with

children are wonderful every day. It is very encouraging

to realize that most people struggle with the same issues as

you do. Remember that we mostly see other people for small

chunks of time, their behaviour over longer time may be

expectations become the guide to your home school. Be real

and discover that others are also real.

4. Not enough focus

One of the things that I observed being a real hindrance to

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when the parents are too busy with other things. It is all right

if those other things are part of their homeschool vision and

plans, but often it is not, and then the complaint is “I do not

have enough time to homeschool”. Sometimes these ‘other

things’ are worthwhile things, but they cause loss of focus.

Everybody has equal time, so if one experiences not having

enough time, the valid question is ‘how do you spend the

time you have?’. I have seen how easy it is to become too

busy even with ‘good activities’ which may not be ‘the best’

for your current family situation. We all need wisdom to

be able to distinguish what it is our family needs to do and

NOT TO DO for now. How we spend our time is something

life. There is always a ‘time for everything’. A time for

something may only be for a season, and then you need the

conviction to let it go.

If you are experiencing disappointment, anxiety and

frustration in your homeschool, ask yourself if there is

enough focus to do what you want to do. Ask the real hard

questions if there are things you are busy doing that are

not helping you focus. Have the courage to get rid of the

things that do not help you focus. Remember that even this

trimming down to simplicity may also be for just a season.

5. Not enough challenges

It is amazing to observe how many parents will allow

even young children to choose what happens in their

lives, and thereby creating the expectation that they are

53

the ‘centre of the universe’. The purpose of training your

children is to be able to make their own decisions more

responsibly as they grow up, but if a child is ‘king of the

house’ at a young age, decision-making will not happen

responsibly, as children tend to choose the easy way. Prov

Children can grow up with the idea that they know what

is good for them, but the truth is that you know what is

good for them and they learn from you. Sometimes we as

parents need to challenge our children more, even when

they do not think it is nice to be challenged. It will not be a

natural thing for a child to challenge him/herself. I believe

that learning opportunities are missed if children are not

challenged enough. It is sad for me to observe people with

their children in situations and see how they discourage

any form of challenge (because they are so fearful) – even

when the children are eager to participate and want to try

and do the thing. It is also the strangest thing to hear some

of these parents then complain how afraid their children

are, not realizing how they have contributed to that fearful

nature.

I am involved in a youth organisation where children are

constantly challenged in nature, and it is amazing to see

the growth taking place in the individual child as (s)he

discovers what they are capable of doing! Things they

would never have even thought of trying are accomplished

and obstacles overcome! It is as if one can see how potential

develops in front of your eyes.

54

Challenge yourself more by doing things that are

uncomfortable to you, and in the process involve your

children as well. See how both of you then grow together.

6. Not enough volume and deadlines

This issue is related to the one above on challenging your

child more. How much work your child should be doing

choice. If you use a curriculum, somebody else made

the scope and sequence choice, but if you are compiling

your own curriculum, you must decide how much work

My question is – is it enough for that child? I am not urging

just increasing work for the sake of being busier but to

challenge and develop potential.

Often when people just start out homeschooling after they

have taken their children out of school, the tendency is to

want to overload. Then they quickly realize that it is not

appropriate; and they start to relax more which is a very

good thing. But what I have observed is that sometimes

the question of increasing volume of work is never asked

again. Doing the minimum amount of work becomes the

norm. Is it possible that our children can actually do much

more than we expect, and we are limiting them in what we

do not expect?

55

It will also be interesting to require not only more work

from our children but expecting it to be completed by a

certain deadline. This will help them tremendously in

preparing for after-school studies and real work, where

volumes of work and deadlines will be very much part of

their lives. Our role as parents will be to help them grow

how your children rise to the challenge. Maybe we will be

amazed to see what they can do.

7. Not teaching the ability to learn, think and discuss

In a world where information is constantly changing and

the availability of information is increasing daily, the

challenge for our children will be to read, learn, analyse,

judge critically, absorb and remember and do it quickly.

The classic school model of teaching ‘scope and sequence’,

with the goal being to remember content, is already not

that relevant anymore. The ability to learn quickly is

needed. So how do we teach that?

more important skill after knowing to read is to understand

what you are reading. And the bigger challenge after basic

comprehension is to be able to judge what you read. Is

it true? Is it valuable? Is it good for you? Will you grow?

What does it mean? How can you apply what you have

56

read? The skill of critical thinking will become more and

more needed with the amount of senseless information we

are bombarded with daily.

All homeschool families have enough reading material

and learning opportunities in their homes. The question

is if critical thinking is supported by discussions of what

is learnt. Discussion, narration and critical thinking skills

are developed as children have sensible conversations

with adults. Do we do that enough? Do we know what

our children read and learn? Do we discuss it with them

and observe how they develop thinking skills? Thinking is

hard work, and that is why narration and discussion is also

hard work. I have struggled with my child not wanting

to discuss everything, and we do not discuss and analyse

everything! But we do make a point of discussing the good

books they read, the variety of research information they

Let us not be afraid to discuss information with our

children, and as we do, enjoy their opinions, perceptions

and growth.

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