Our oldest child will soon be 4 and I have been researching homeschooling off and on for the last few years. Until recently I kept telling my husband that I was only considering it (he would really like us to do it). Now I am acknowledging that I want to homeschool and will do it. At the least I want to try it. And it seems that it may be God's will for our family. I don't know if I have the patience, but I suppose that is something I will get better at over time. I have always loved to learn things and study, and what better thing to share with my children.
However, I am feeling quite overwhelmed with all of the information out there about homeschooling. I guess it is a good problem to have so many great Catholic homeschooling resources to choose from. Now we have to decide whether to use a home-study school fully or partially, or to select our own curriculum. I guess that is my project for the next year or so. Anyone have any tips on how to choose? I know each mom (or dad) will have their own teaching style and you have to find what works for your family, but it seems hard to decide where to begin.
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The Extraordinary Wife and I have recently begun homeschooling our 6-year-hold using the Catholic Heritage Curricula.
We haven't been going at it long, but we feel good about our start.
Paul
Thanks for the comment. We receive mailings from CHC and are considering using that curricula as well.
Janet
Janet,
I remember when I went to my first homeschooling conference the summer before my oldest started Kindergarten. I left without buying anything, I was so overwhelmed with all the choices! I ended up using CHC for Kindergarten and really liked it. I had a 2yo and a nursing baby that year, and I liked the simplicity and ease of having everything planned out for me. I've written a post about CHC on my blog, if you want to check it out.
I used mostly CHC materials, combined with lots of good literature read-alouds, nature study, and narration for 1st and 2nd grade. I'm very interested in Charlotte Mason philosophy, but felt overwhelmed trying to implement it in my homeschool. So, this year, we signed up with St. Thomas Aquinas Academy (there is a link to them in the sidebar on my blog--sorry, I don't know how to do links in a comment!). I really like having a personal mentor to help me along on this homeschooling journey. I do best with one-on-one, personalized help, and that's what St. Thomas provides.
There are SO many different styles out there--I don't think there is one thing that is right for everyone. Ultimately, I think the best thing to do (which you're probably doing already) is to pray and ask God to lead you to what will work best for your family. After you've done your research, pray some more and make a decision, remembering that He cares more about your children's education than you do!
Thanks Dawnie,
It is good to know that I am not the only one who feels/has felt overwhelmed by all of the homeschooling choices. I'll have to check out the stuff on your blog! I have a neighbor who uses St. Thomas Aquinas Academy, so I'll have to go bug her too. Why did you choose that one over others? Dan has a cousin who uses MODG with her 10 children. I am drawn to the materials I see in the CHC catalog, though.
As for not leaving links in your comment, don't feel bad, I am pretty much link illiterate at this point. I would never have started a blog if it wasn't for Dan. I didn't even know what they were 2 years ago! Dan is gradually pulling me into the 21st century. At least I don't have to ask him anymore to help me email pictures! I know, it is sad.
Janet,
You can email pictures?? LOL
My dh helps me a lot, too. :)
Why did I choose St. Thomas Aquinas over others? I first heard about them through the book, Catholic Education: Homeward Bound by Kimberly Hahn and Mary Hasson. There was a list of several Catholic homeschool curriculum providers in the back of the book and I sent off for information from all of them! The brochure from St. Thomas Aquinas described the kind of education dh and I were interested in for our children. I didn't sign up with them at first b/c it seemed simpler, at the time, to just use CHC's stuff.
The past 2 years were very busy, though. We put our house on the market, moved, got pregnant w/ our 4th baby, sold our house, and gave birth (in that order!). This summer, I realized that I needed to do something different if we were to keep homeschooling. I felt that I needed help w/ planning--specifically w/ coming up with a realistic plan (I tend to be over-ambitious!) for our homeschool. I thought and prayed about whether or not to even continue homeschooling for a long time and didn't make a final decision until early July. I was considering MODG, but by the time I made a decision, their enrollment was full. Most of the other curriculum providers I know about are rather textbook oriented (which isn't neccissarily bad...it's just not a good fit for us). St. Thomas also incorporates the educational philosophies I'm drawn to--Charlotte Mason, classical, and family-style learning. From what I know about MODG, St. Thomas is very similar--perhaps a bit less history reading than MODG, though. It was less expensive than MODG, too. $150 per child, which is less expensive for us right now (we only have 2 'in school' right now).
Whoops, the above comment was from me signed in on my dh's account instead of my own. Sorry for the confusion!
Thanks Dawnie for all the good info. I've been checking out your blog - very nice!!
I guess we'll have to keep praying about it. And do more investigating.
Whoa! I just saw your comment on Danielle Bean and saw that you are in the same situation as my sister (child-wise) she has a 4girl, twin 2's and a baby! She is struggling with what to do about school too, as she lives very far out in the country and will NOT let her children ride a bus or go to public school. Her hubs is not excited about homeschooling and doesn't see anything wrong with PS. I have homeschooled for about 8 years and have learned to ignore most of what people say about it. You can do as little or as much as you want (depending on your state) and I am lucky that my district pretty much doesn't care about us at all so I just pick and choose from Seton (a lot of the same books as CHC, but I'm used to it...I don't order everything from there, though) and some other sources that really trustworthy friends recommend. It works well this way and I don't have to feel guilty about anything. I have learned to relax a LOT about making my children super-geniuses and have focused more on knowing that God will provide the opportunity they need to do what ever it is they are meant to do (also, there is the joy of belonging to a good, Catholic homeschool group with lots of children my children's ages! I hope they can carpool to PSO when the time comes!). I don't ask many people about what they do, because it lowers my confidence level about what I do. I don't go to conferences or anything like that. It is VERY overwhelming and, after all, the booths are like little stores...so of course, they are trying to SELL you on things! You will find what works for you when the time comes. For my now 7 year old, I just taught her how to read last year (she's the third child) and ordered k math and phonics and that's all for "kindegarten". Now that she really reads well, she wanted ALL the first grade books and begs to "do school" first thing, every morning. If I had known that taking it easy and not pushing them so hard would be that way...? I know now not to be too anxious that my almost 4 year old doesn't really know his letters or numbers. He has an amazing imagination and memory and talents in other areas that I know will help when the time comes for the formal stuff.
God bless you in your quest!
Love,
Laura
Thank you for the encouragement, Laura. I get kind of excited when I think about homeschooling. Nervous, too. I think when the time comes we'll just have to pick something and dive in.
Your sister has kids in age just like ours! How cool.
I definitely could not do public school and I am glad I don't have to have that as my other option. We have a Catholic grade school a mile away and tuition is free in our diocese if you tithe. But the pull to homeschool is greater than that, I guess. We just feel like we want to have more control over their Catholic learning and peer influences. Plus the homeschooling support is good in our area.
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