Wanting to start – Not sure how to :)

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  • dfcmomma
    Participant

    Hello everyone! 
    I have had the blessing of a prayer for many years answered!
    My husband coming on board with homeschooling BIG HUGE SMILE!!!
    I have been praying about this for years but with him thinking at the time that “public school” was the norm, my girls have been in public school for years. I have a 10 yo girl who just finished 5th grade and my 7 yo girl was set to be retained in 1st for not being “on level” with reading but excelling everywhere else.
    The reason I am here is simple… I AM SCARED TO DEATH I AM GOING TO DO IT WRONG!!!

    It was through several home school families being put in our lives that he has started seeing things differently. Then we watched indoctrination and he was SOLD.
    I suppose where I am now is: WHAT DO I DO?!?!?!
    I have been reading and reading and reading all sorts of articles and blogs watching videos and checking into curriculum and have decided on Charlotte Mason’s approach for the girls. I just need some sort of step by step of how to do everything as inexpensively as possible. 
    Oh and prayer and support. Please any info, tips, warnings or any other random babbling about how to get started would be greatly appreciated πŸ™‚
    Thank you so much!
    Tabitha 

    suzukimom
    Participant

    There is a lot of great information on this site!  

    You can see lots of topics here:

    http://simplycharlottemason.com/blog/series/

    You probably would like to read this one to start

    http://simplycharlottemason.com/blog/series/getting-started/

     

     

    butterflylake
    Participant

    Welcome Tabitha!

    This is a great forum for all your questions and concerns. There are probably others here who are from your state if you have questions specific to your state laws. I am new to homeschooling also, doing kinder with my only child.

    My best suggestion is to integrate all this newness slowly. Let your girls enjoy the summer vacation. If you need to extend it while you get your mind around everything that’s fine! You aren’t late or behind in your homeschool, you are where you are! If you integrate the different subjects/methods one at a time over several months, it will be much easier on each of you. 

    I am sure many of the other more experienced ladies here can give you more advice. 

    I will pray for your family

    Vanessa

    Wings2fly
    Participant

    That is wonderful news! It took a few months for my husband to come around; his concern was socialization. Have you searched for a local homeschool group yet? You could check with the leaders if they know anyone using Charlotte Mason. Of course, this forum is a great source of wisdom and encouragement for your homeschool journey. When I first started to homeschool, I was able to attend a live conference. Though I did learn a lot, it was very overwhelming. But, that is where I learned about Charlotte Mason from Jeannie Fullbright, author of Apologia elementary science books. It is good you have decided on a method. There are many resources available to learn more, including the getting started link here.

    http://simplycharlottemason.com/how-to-get-started/

    I found the transition link there in step 2 very helpful. Let your children have time off to De-school. Then start school with basics only. When those are going well, gradually add in extras.

    Use your library if that is an option for you. You can read Charlotte’s original series free as an ebook series on the Ambleside online site. It is a hard read, which is why there are other books about her methods by Sonya Shafer here, Karen Andreola, Catherine Levison. Many forum members here have blogs you can learn from by clicking on their username under their picture if it is green. For school you could use many good books free or inexpensively with ebooks if you need to. We listen to audio books free from LibriVox. There is an Ambleside Online book list there with many classic literature titles. Read the free ebooks here like Education Is and The Way of the Will. The more you read and research, the more confident you will be. And there will be a learning curve. That is okay. You learn from your mistakes. As long as you are trying and using books and things to learn from daily, you cannot do it wrong. When I first started, I had the misconception that this was to be school at home. I was trying to make it like the classrooms I had attended. But as Charlotte says, education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.

    I hope I am not overwhelming you. Really it is best to keep it simple and basic. Learn about narration and read good living books to narrate from. Use copywork and dictation passages. You can make your own from the books you are reading if needed. Spelling Wisdom here is great for both too though. And choose a good math program that is a good fit for your family. So there are the basics of reading, writing, and math. You really need to do these skill based subjects daily. And Bible. Other subjects do not have to be done daily. You can do some subjects for just one term if you want. Check with HSLDA for your state school requirements.

    I think you are doing great. You are reading and learning and you have ended up at a great place right here. Welcome, Tabitha!

    Angelina
    Participant

    Welcome Tabitha!  What an incredible journey you are about to embark upon.  I know you will find SCM and this forum a wonderful source of help.

    I, too, pulled my children out of public.  My eldest was halfway through 2nd grade, and my second son was halfway through 1st grade.  Our transition went beautifully, and looking back, I feel strongly that this was because my ELDEST was fully on board with the our decision to move to homeschooling.  He absolutely set the tone for my other children.  I saw this very quickly and as such, although my second son was the one was struggling more with academics at the time, I focused way more on my eldest – making school interesting, focusing on HIS favourite subjects, keeping it all pleasant even when I was feeling low confidence, making it thought-provoking, interactive, full of field trips, full of social stuff….for the first six months (at least).  Yes, this meant that working on my second son’s reading was put on hold a bit, but I just knew in my heart that without good attitudes and perspective we would be in for a rocky time.   There were MANY days in that early transition where all we did was math games on the computer and curling up on the couch for family read alouds in literature and history.  My children and I STILL look back and remember those early days with warmth and fondness, and we still talk about those first homeschool family read aloud books (Dr. Dolittle and Trumpet of the Swam) as though we were actually WITH the characters on their journeys…LOL.

    All this being said, my suggestion would be to focus strongly on your eldest daughter.  The adjustment will be much different for her, having been in public school for much longer than your 7 year old.  Your 7 year old, though she may have been in “the system” for what feels like years to you, has not had the same experience as your 5th grade daughter who has experienced all her education (which amounts to many hours of desk time by end of 5th grade) via the public school routine, methods and philosophy.  I would suggest you get REALLY close (in mind) to your daughter so that you can truly understand her learning style, her way of processing information, her strengths and her weaknesses.   Does she already have the skill and gift of absolute attention in reading, or will this be something that you’ll need to work on?  Knowing the answer to this question in particular may very well determine whether she will adjust quickly to a CM education or whether it will take a bit more time.  Knowing the answer to this question will be key in understanding where you can begin on narrations and how well she will do on narrations (also, how long a reading should be before you ask for narration, etc.)  Finally, knowing this one fact on her reading ability and her habit of attention will help all of you (including husband) set expectations realistically. 

    So, again, understanding how her brain works (in a learning environment) is really key IMO.  This all comes before choosing a curriculum.

    When I began, the books I leaned on most for learning styles, overview of curricula and how a curriculum maps to different children’s learning styles:  101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum, by Cathy Duffy.  Duffy covers the CM way in detail, subject by subject, but this book will also help you to see ALL the other teaching methods out there, as well as the pros, the cons – and the realities – of each.  (note, Cathy Duffy has a website as well, but the book provides FAR more on learning styles and understanding the CM way versus other educational philosophies).  Even if you don’t want to go to other methods, understanding what they are all about might give you insight into how your daughter was previously being taught and the extent to which you’ll need to tweak things to set her up for success in a CM education.

    On CM – there are so MANY amazing resources available.  My first was Catherine Levison’s, “A Charlotte Mason Education”.  I found it was just perfect because it is short and concise.  Gave me just enough to think about, without becoming overwhelmed.  From there, I came to SCM and began diving into all the resources here.

    If you are truly a bit scared about where to begin, it might be worth considering a “boxed” type of CM curriculum for your first year.  Every subject, schedule, goal, reading length, etc. is already figured out for you and you would need only to follow the to-do list and charts in a very beautiful teacher’s binder that’s already prepared for you.  (smile, can you tell I love beautiful teacher binders and charts?)   Anyway, a boxed offering just may allow you to leave behind the “am I doing enough/am I doing it right” for your first year.  It  may allow you to unload some of the weight that comes with being a first year HS teacher…and this may very well make the difference between having a struggle year and having a pleasant year.  The offerings I would lean to (and sometimes dream about moving to) include Sonlight or WinterPromise.  If you are Catholic you would consider Mater Amabilis.

    Blessings to you! Angie

    dfcmomma
    Participant

    Thank you so much for all of your encouragement!!!
    I truely appriciate it and will continue to come back to reread all of your tips, ideas, thoughts and support πŸ™‚
    Thank you!!! 

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