Entertainment Vs. News

We live in a time where we have a 24 hour news cycle.  We are constantly bombarded with information.  News has become a loose term meaning anything that will get ratings, clicks or views.  I worry that the upcoming generation will not be able to tell news from entertainment. In a world where I have to tell my son to fact check everything he sees, I wonder how to teach him what true news is.  

I have taught my kids, all three of them, to question everything.  Told them to read both sides of a story and that the truth is somewhere in the middle.  In a political climate where it seems the fringes are yelling the loudest, I have to wonder if the up and coming generation will even be able to tell what is real and what is a fabrication.

Fox news, MSNBC, CNN, The Blaze, they all have an agenda.  It is almost impossible for someone to be completely objective.  It’s the language used or the tone, even the images and lighting will change how we see a story.  News is like a big game of telephone.  I can see something live on one station and look at three others and see something different  - but it’s all the same event.

In a world of sound bites and 140 character tweets, how do we as parents teach our kids to find out what really happened?  Even being homeschoolers, our kids have inherited our biases. We all view the world through our own experience.  We have people watching comedy news shows and getting tweets for news.  Facebook news feeds give us an overview and we don’t bother to read the whole story before we share it and make our decisions.

I think that the only way to combat this is a continuing open dialogue with your kids about what is going on in the world.  Teaching them to see both sides of a story.   With our current political cycle let them read all the candidates views not just the ones you agree with. Teach them to do the hard work of researching a topic to find out all sides of any issue. Teach them to be informed in conversation, not to regurgitate sound bites. Teach them the importance of facts over feeling in the events happening in our world.  This brand of critical thinking has become a lost art and I fear for the future if it is not taught to our kids.  

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Heather Garcia

Set Phases on Run

That we love our children no matter what goes without saying. That said there are times when we don’t like them, or more precisely the phase they are in. The times when they were/are babies and they don’t sleep because they are colicky, or the terrible twos, the four going on forty phase. I remember the “I don’t need a nap” phase. That one was very hard on this frazzled mom. When my teen daughter went through her goth/emo phase, I was pretty sure that the tri-state area would run out of black eyeliner and hair dye.

Any parent with more than one kid knows each one is different and goes through stuff in their own way. My special needs daughter was obsessed with Adam Lambert to the point that we avoid the name and music at all costs. Even more trying was the Harry Potter phase where all she would do is read, we had to fight to get her to eat, or do any school work at all.  

My son’s lack of desire to read was another trying phase. Mostly I think because I wanted him to read more. Now he reads but still on his terms.

The big thing to remember is that no matter what phase your family is going through at the moment, this too shall pass. Even if it seems that you will never again go to the bathroom alone, or have a quiet bath.  Remember that eventually they will grow out of that movie you don’t ever want to see again, and they will probably not even remember being so wrapped up in whatever the phase is.  

So take heart moms.  The eyerolls, the sighs, and the defiance are phases that will pass and there will be the next parental hurdle to get over. In the end that is why we have things like Wake Forest Homeschoolers, so we can talk to other parents who have gone before and survived to share their tale.

A Path Less Structured

“Unschooling is an educational method and philosophy that advocates learner-chosen activities as a primary means for learning. Unschooling students learn through their natural life experiences including play, household responsibilities, personal interests and curiosity, internships and work experience, travel, books, elective classes, family, mentors, and social interaction.”

When I started my journey into homeschooling I would never have thought that Unschooling would be a path for me.  I am a structure kinda gal.  I have color coded notebooks and learned math on graph paper to keep the lines straight.  We started with a curriculum that basicly told me what to do every second of the day. At first I got right down to it and my son was less than receptive.  Then I started to make “modifications” to what they were doing.

The last year we did this we struggled and were losing our love of learning… Both of us.  So I made the decision to totally change how we functioned.  I had met some unschoolers and I was unsure of how I could make this work for us, I like structure and my son needs some.  The great thing is I met some wonderful people who taught me that just because I am Unschooling does not mean I am unparenting. This helped me a lot and I learned to make my way slowly to a less structured education for my son.

I am not an unschooler but I am working that direction.  I still have some things that we can’t seem to let go of, but I am learning that doing worksheets and taking tests is not the way my son learns.  I have let go of the “schooling at home” mentality for the most part, and embraced that we learn things everyday all day in many ways.  

Seeing my son’s joy in learning return has been a blessing.  He is a smart kid (if I do say so myself) and I much prefer the return of the curious kid who enjoys learning.  To this end, we have incorporated group learning such as co-ops and group classes.  Living history is a gift from the gods.  Family discussions over dinner yield many hours of education and family bonding that we would never see otherwise.  

In the end I learned that maybe a path less structured is the way to go for us.  Who knows where this might lead?  Wherever it goes we will enjoy the ride.  

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Heather Garcia

Our Unsung Hero

Our group is incredibly lucky.  We have the best co-op coordinator.  Kristie has a talent for pulling this all together and making it a success.   I am always amazed how smoothly things seem to run.  This, I am sure, is a testament to her hard work and many hours of organization.

There before everyone and the last to leave, I think she may get five minutes to sit all day.  She spends months planning and five Fridays executing her masterpiece. Kristie comes with name tags, hair ties and tarps.  She has class lists, maps and supplies.   She hauls the lost and found and countless supplies for other things.  All this on top of making sure her three girls are where they need to be.  

Kristie manages to deal with parent and teacher absences, wrangling clean up crews, and keeping up with where everyone belongs.  She never lets on how much work this is or how tired she is at the end of the day.  We all go about our business and classes and most of us don’t realize the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes.

So remember to stop and take a moment to thank your co-op coordinator.  This is often a thankless position and we all owe her a debt of gratitude for the hard work and countless hours she spends to make our five weeks twice a year a great time for all.

Posted by
Heather Garcia

Support II

 

How to deal with the unsupportive.

So you have decided to homeschool, your family and friends have given you the third degree, and you feel like you are on an island alone.  Here are some tips I have found helpful in dealing with unsupportive family and friends.  

• Don’t get defensive.  I know this is hard but these people do not live your life. Take a deep breath and remember this is a decision that is deeply personal and not everyone will be walking in the homeschool parade.

• Bring out the names of famous homeschooled kids:

• Lewis Carroll (b. 1832), mathematician, logician, and author of Alice in Wonderland. Carroll was homeschooled until he was 12.
• Astra Taylor Canadian-American documentary film-maker, writer, musician. unschooled until age 13.
• Theodore Roosevelt (b. 1858), 26th President of the United States, homeschooled until college.
• Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist, homeschooled until high school by his parents.
• Come up with more on your own!

• Know the facts.

• “A 2011 small-sample study led by Sandra Martin-Chang of Concordia University* and using Canadian participants, found that “structured homeschooling” – where clear education goals are set and structured lessons in the form of either purchased curricula or self-made lesson plans (or a combination of the two) – produced academic performances much better than those achieved by same-level students in public school.  Specifically, in five of seven test areas (word identification, phonic decoding, science, social science, humanities) structured homeschoolers tested at least one grade level ahead of public schoolers.  They were almost a half-a-year ahead in math, and slightly, but not significantly, advanced in reading comprehension.”
• “The Huffington Post Teen page for 3/28/15 cites a U.S. News and World Report article published in 2012 based on statistics provided by the National Home Education Research Institute.  These statistics indicate that more than 2 million U.S. students in grades K-12 were home-schooled in 2010, accounting for nearly four percent of all school-aged children.  The same Huffington Post page notes that, according to a study that compared graduation rates at one doctoral university from 2004-2009, students coming from a home school graduated college at a higher rate than their peers­ — 66.7 percent compared to 57.5 percent — and earned higher grade point averages along the way (Cogan, Michael; “Exploring Academic Outcomes of Homeschooled Students,” University of St. Thomas, 2009).”

• Take a deep breath and smile.

• I have smiled and laughed off so many misguided comments it is not even funny, but remember being defensive and upset only affects you.  The offending party usually just goes on about their business.
• Remember, anything they have to say is reflective of their issue, not yours.

• Remind them this was not a rash decision

• This is not a decision most make lightly and it is hurtful to have it questioned. But taking the time to remind “helpful” friends and family that this path is the one you thought best for your child can close a lot of detractors’ mouths.

• Walk away

• Sometimes the best thing you can do is let go of an unhealthy, unsupportive relationship. This is not easy or fun, and the hurt can last a long time. Remember that relationships are built on trust and respect.  If it is lacking in those things maybe it’s best to put some space between you and the issue.

• Find like-minded people

• We are living in an age where homeschooling is becoming more mainstream. You can find any number of support groups or co-ops to help you.  There are secular and religious groups.  Either or both are great ways to make friends and have a supportive system.

Remember that most of the negative comments are made from a place of honest concern or love and I usually say thanks for your thoughts but I have that covered, or I understand your concern but this is important to me and my family.  

Really it is all worth it at the end of the day, and you get to see your child live to his/her full potential because you made a choice to take a harder road.

Posted by

Heather Garcia