Home School In Florida

FPEA’s homeschool convention is fast approaching. This is your opportunity to browse hundreds of curriculum packages, meet and greet other homeschoolers, attend workshops by seasoned veterans, and have some fun. Bring your kids – there are children and teen programs as well.

You can find the registration form and more information at the FPEA website.

The dates are May 27th – 30th.

Should we honor our children’s right to curiosity? Their right to not only choose what they want to learn, but from whom they want to learn it?

No human right, except the right to life itself, is more fundamental than this. A person’s freedom of learning is part of his freedom of thought, even more basic than his freedom of speech. If we take from someone his right to decide what he will be curious about, we destroy his freedom of thought. We say, in effect, you must think not about what interests and concerns you, but about what interests and concerns us.

John Holt, child advocate and supporter of school reform thinks so. Read more here and when you’ve finished, please comment and tell us your thoughts!

Dan Lips, a senior policy analyst for The Heritage Foundation, a research group in Washington, said Central Florida’s increases are dramatic when compared with the rest of the nation. But they reflect a rising national interest in home schooling among parents, he said.

Take a look at today’s article in the Orlando Sentinel. Take the poll while you’re there and tell your reasons for homeschooling.

Race to Nowhere is a close up look at the current state of education and childhood in America.

I am very interested in watching this film once it’s released. I am not buying into the idea that in order to raise (and educate) “successful” kids that they have to be SuperKids and overstressed kids.

This is a major reason why I love Enki Education so much. Enki focuses on what’s important: raising whole children and teaching them the rhythms of life, of nature, of humanity, and then building academic and concepts upon this important foundation.

The end result for its students? Deep, profound learning and understanding of not only themselves, but the nature of the world. This is in direct opposition to the “go, go, go, achieve, perform, drill, drill, drill, bigger, faster, higher, better, mentality so prevalent today.

I remember a Newsweek cover many many years ago entitled “Too Much Homework?” (paraphrasing here) but I bought that magazine and saved it for many years because I knew that things were only going to get worse from there. By worse I mean exactly what these filmmakers are highlighting.

Perhaps we’ll all watch and be inspired to be part of the change. Even if it’s only in small ways inside your own home or community.

Almost every time I evaluate a 5, 6, 7, even 8 year old’s work, the parent asks me about letter and number reversals.

And almost every time I tell them that it is perfectly normal for a child of that developmental stage to be reversing some letters and numbers. The most common are b,d, p, q, 3, 6, 9.

Recently I learned out about an exercise (from Brain Gym) that helps with neurological integration and can be useful for helping both halves of the brain work together (a skill that is lacking at this point, thus causing reversals.)

The exercise is sometimes called Rhythmic Eights or Lazy Eights. Here are two links to help understand how it works. The first is from Brain Gym (it’s about 2/3 of the way down the page.)

And this youtube video.

Note: Have the children do this exercise much slower than is shown in the video.

If reversals continue on a consistent basis around age 8 you may want to look closer. Until then, have fun with this exercise and don’t make a big deal about reversals; they will usually take care of themselves.

Homeschool Radio Shows.com is a unique and interesting homeschool resource, well suited for later primary, middle and high school students. Become a member and download audio files on all kinds of topics from the women’s suffrage movement to stories by Herman Melville and Ray Bradbury.

Memberships are also on sale now and they are taking no new members after this Saturday, September 19th. If you’d like to get in on this, sign up today!

Planning and organizing. A never-ending homeschool parent’s task. I love looking at and trying new organizational tools. Want to know just how much money I’ve spent in Office Depot on pages of planners I’ll likely only use as scrap paper? Nah, you really don’t.

One day I’ll stop looking at them all, buying them, and actually commit to one! Truth be told, after several tries, I now have a relatively good system in place, and one that I’m happy with. Well, two actually. I have one home management binder, and one homeschool binder.

Here is a homeschool planner and home management binder combo that looks functional, pretty and includes inspirational quotes.

Normally $24.99, it’s now on sale until September 19th for $21.95 or $19.95 for the pdf download.

If anyone gives this a try, please feel free to leave a comment or email me your review. I’d love to hear about it and add it here!

Since bringing Enki and other Waldorf-inspired ideas and traditions into our home, we’ve been more mindful of using natural materials in almost everything we do. We have long been mindful of the things we put into or on our bodies, and clean our home with, but we are now entering a whole new world of Waldorf-like toys, paints, crayons, modeling clay and the like.

How does one go about doing this after being entrenched in plastic toys and toxic materials? Small steps. We began with art supplies. We became more mindful of using natural and non-toxic brands, most of which are so well worth the extra money in in quality and durability. Right now we’re in the throes of revamping our toy situation. But that’s the subject for a whole new blog post or two or three or four . . .

For now though, check out Hip Mountain Mama’s inspiring blog – perfect for those of us who are incorporating more natural ways into our lives. Post a comment on her blog by the end of the month and be entered to win a bunch of cool, natural art products! Oh, and Hip Mountain Mama also has a shop by the same name.

Many of you know that we are using the Enki Education curriculum and are thrilled with the results that we see. Sometimes I think I should blog solely about Enki and how much it has changed our lives!

Since Enki is Waldorf-inspired, I’ve been reading about Waldorf education and the writings of Rudolph Steiner again. Fifteen years ago, when I was in graduate school learning about how children learn, I studied Steiner’s work and others’ who were proponents of holistic education and teaching kids how to become life-long learners and they SO inspired me! This is why I wanted to become an educator!

Many years passed between those years and now and today I am re-inspired all over again by getting back to what I had learned all those years ago and I hope I can inspire you too. The best part of this is that I can bring what I believe in to my own children, the way I want to, and have FUN every day while doing so.

For me, the Enki principles keep me grounded in my heart center. It keeps me reverent. It helps me remember what is important in my life. It helps me to remember that family rhythms and the rhythms of nature are the foundation at this point in our homeschooling journey. It helps me breathe deeply when I wonder if I am doing “enough” with my girls, if they should be enrolled in yet another extra-curricular activity, if we should be running around day to day from activity to activity just because so many others are doing so.

While Waldorf is not a “curriculum”, the principles of holistic learning and family centered education can be implemented in any home, at any time regardless of what curriculum you use. It is my belief that incorporating any of the holistic principles in your life and home can only enhance it.

I hope this inspires you as well!

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Today was the first day of public school. Even though I have been gone from the classroom for long enough not to feel the usual excitement and anticipation of new beginnings, and even though my daughters did not go off to school today, and even though we’ve been into our homeschool rhythm and routine for months now and did not take the summer months off, I still can’t help but perceive this day as somehow new and different.

Many of my friends’ children and my daughters’ friends went off to school today and I could not help but think of them all day. I wondered how the kids were doing, what activities they engaged in, whether they were having fun, how they enjoyed the bus ride.

I wondered how the moms were doing, did they take a lot of pictures, did anyone shed tears, what cute things did they pack in the lunch boxes, and mostly, how does it feel to experience the freedom that comes from having someone else care for you children for a large part of the day?

Don’t get me wrong. I love homeschooling. For thousands of reasons. But some days I wonder what it would be like to have a quiet house for the day. I like to fantasize about what I would do. Would I relax and read? Would I write? Would I go back to teaching and actually make a real salary again? Would I go get a different job? Would I take riding lessons again, get another horse? Would I finish this Ph.D. in half or a quarter of the time it’s been taking me now? Would my house be cleaner? Would I be more organized? Would I just rest?

A friend once told me that she felt that one needed to “be called” to homeschool and I believe this is true. I have received that calling but sometimes wish I hadn’t.

Today we began our Monday morning like we always do with snuggles, breakfast, a short play time then our circle time, story and learning time. By 9:45 this morning it was already clear that we were not having a smooth flowing morning. My eldest was already lying on the floor tantruming, her sister close behind, and I was ready to quit. I threw up my hands, walked out of the room to regroup and suddenly it hit me: we can have a Do-Over Day!

So I returned to our learning area and explained the concept of a do-over. This was met with enthusiasm and smiles and we continued on. What else could we do?

I can’t say that the rest of the morning went smoothly right away. It didn’t. We actually needed three do-overs today, but that’s okay because we homeschool and we CAN have do-overs! We can regroup as many times as we need to during the day.

Oh, and I burned the dinner just now as I was absorbed in my writing. Some days are just like that. Time for yet another do-over I guess.