Panel Discussion

So, I somehow got on the list of people to ask to talk at the Champaign Library Home School Open House. I am covering an unstructured homeschooling approach, and thought some people would like to see my outline, especially those who cannot make it to the event. If you are in town and would like to come it is at the Champaign Library on April 10, from 10-12. If you have any pointers of blatant questions that come to mind let me know because I can make changes before I go up there and speak. The people I have run it by know a lot about what I do and so might not see where it is lacking.


Unstructured Homeschooling Panel Outline


1.Introduce Myself
1.Kids
1.Katie – 15
2.Toby – 11
3.Piper – 9
4.Alexis – 6
2.I started homeschooling when my oldest was in first grade, 2001?
3.For the next 5 years I was really searching for what was a good fit for my family.
1.Tried Public school – different public school – private school – homeschool with a curriculum – daily schedule mapped out in 15 minute increments – part time school – finally I found what I was looking for.
2.Unstructured Homeschooling
1.A lot of words in homeschooling are misleading- unstructured is one of them.
1.In comparison to a full school day at home with a mail ordered curriculum what we do does look unstructured, but even the most radical unschooler has structure to their day.
1.Meals, chores, errands, etc.
2.A large part of what unstructured homeschoolers do is focused on Child-led learning.
1.Refrain from forcing children to do school work that turns them away from enjoying learning.
2.Giving freedom (time and space) to each child to find what they enjoy.
3.Relax and trust in the child.
4.Building a curriculum around each child.
5.My oldest has started really increasing her work load, but independently - without pressure from us, but rather with encouragement.
6.Most have these basic goals in mind.
1.Love them
2.Teach them to love learning
3.Teach them about their resources
4.Lead them to want to know more, especially about the things they love.
3.Examples of what child led can mean with the topics that must be covered in Illinois. These are times when a child comes to you with something of interest to them and you get the pleasure of sharing more with them, or asking more questions to help them think further about it.
1.PE – Spidermonkey – standing in line at playgroup to shoot hoops
2.Language Arts – Playing a game called Man Bites Dog that works with sentence structure, writing a play
3.Social Studies – Coloring all the water on a map blue, listing off the continents, asking about what language a friend from India speaks
4.Math – Allowance discussions, making pancakes, how expensive was going to that 3D movie for our family, why we don't use credit cards
5.Fine Arts – hours on iTunes, painting, drawing...
6.Physical Science – bouncing higher on the trampoline with friends, watching the shadows change because the sun changes in the sky, chasing a hawk that lands close by, then stopping before you get too close.
7.Health – Too many girl scout cookies make you sick, talking about why younger siblings don't understand the world the same way because they are at a different stage in life.
3.Our Schedule
1.At Home
1.Tabletime – 30-60 minutes, 3-4 days a week
1.Math
1.find workbooks for each child individually – what works for one does not always work for another.
2.Manipulatives – worksheets for different levels
2.Reading aloud
1.short stories
2.Fiction (Hatchet – goes along with a field trip this month)
3.Non-Fiction – Short picture books - Science
3.Story of the World
4.Journaling
1.Free writing
2.Or on what was read
5.I do want to be clear that we still get complaints from the children about not wanting to do what is asked of them. At a younger age I let children leave the table at tabletime if they are not enjoying it, but that rarely happens. Older children usually only complain when they are crabby, and I often let them take some time off when they need it. We do tabletime year round.
2.Free Time
1.Play together
2.Work together
3.Relax together
4.Argue with each other (hee-hee)
2.Community Activities – We choose activities that go along with our style, so many of these are relaxed environments where the children have freedom and are respected as individuals.
1.Monday Playgroup
2.Drama Club
3.Magic; the Gathering Club
4.Around the World Wednesdays – Spurlock
5.GLO – Group Learning
1.History, Watercolor, sign language, crochet/ finger knitting/ knitting, physics experiments, journaling, ect.
6.Thursday Playgroup
7.Library Time
4.Closing
1.We love homeschooling.
2.It took me years to figure out what kind of homeschooler I was, I would encourage all of you to read as many books as you can. If you are interested in Child-Led I found these useful.
1.Charlotte Mason
2.Thomas Jefferson Education (pamphlets)
3.John Taylor Gatto
4.John Holt
3.Talk to other homeschoolers- every one does it differently and I get great ideas and encouragement from my friends.