Speaking Out

Today, I served as a panelist for Leadership SLO, a program of the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce. The year-long program takes future leaders on an educational tour of the area's services and infrastructure, from healthcare to finance to arts and education. Today was education day, and after their tour of SLO High and a variety of other discussions, the panel got its shot. It included one public school board representative, a magnet-school representative and me, representing homeschooling. We each gave introductory remarks, then answered questions from the Leadership class members.

Some thoughts came to me as I tried to be coherent if not eloquent. As I listened to both the magnet-school rep and the public school rep speak, I thought about how confined and restrained their teachers are by the various pressures of their situations: the system, government control, class size and any of a number of other issues the modern-traditional educator faces. As homeschoolers, we are confined only by the obstacles we accept, whether they be financial or social, academic or geographical. It also occurred to me that while some people homeschool primarily to shelter their children from the world, others believe their primary mission is to expand upon the education that might otherwise be available to their children. I believe I fall a little in both camps, but certainly lean heavily toward the latter.

The modern-traditional schoolers were very supportive of homeschooling. Even when given the opportunity to bash it, they wouldn't. In fact, one question asked of the school board president was, "What negative aspects do you see in homeschooling?" His immediate answer, "I don't think there are any. I think when homeschooling is done in a loving environment with the children's best interests in mind it's a wonderful thing. I think it's a gift." Wow! NOT the answer I expected, but I sure did appreciate it!

Meanwhile, the girls enjoyed a day at home with Mr. Daddy, the substitute teacher. While he said the plan for them was to play, it sure looked to me like they did some educational stuff, too. When I arrived home, the Matchbox-style cars were lined up in categories (coaches, winners and other competitors) near a ramp they'd erected. On the white board was a running tally of just how far each and every of those 20-some-odd cars had managed to jump, both clean and crash-and-burn. They were ranked by distance (winners in both the clean jump and the crash-and-burn categories). E also taught Mr. Daddy some language arts lessons. ("Today we're going to talk about mood in our writing.") They wrote poetry, and practiced their public reading skills, complete with emotion.

Good day was had by all!

Homeschool Galore

A lot of people ask us when we're going to send our kids to public or private school, the modern traditional school. We really don't have a plan for that, though we're not entirely opposed to it. I know that what we're doing is not traditional and can be kind of difficult to understand, particularly given the lack of information most of us receive about homeschooling options. So, I thought I'd start using this blog to share with concerned family and friends what it is we DO here at Best Family Academy.

First of all, BFA is registered with the state as a private school per state requirements. So, while we say we're homeschooling, technically our children are attending a (very) private school.

While we don't used boxed curriculum, I do consult with the state's "content standards" to ensure that our girls have completed those requirements. This ensures that the girls will be in line with their peers when or if they attend public school. It also gives me some guidelines since I'm not one who studied education and child development. Anyone who knows me understands that I tend to have rather high expectations. Checking content standards may help keep that in check. But I also move well beyond those standards as I take each girls' interests, knowledge and attention span into consideration.

I believe our girls' use of time is much more efficient in this 2:1 student-teacher ratio and tailored curriculum. They are as likely to create a historically accurate diorama of their own accord for fun on a Saturday as they are to pick up Chinese during a school lesson on any given weekday. So far, we've been able to complete the state's mandated content standards in the first month of school, then move on to projects in which the girls are more interested, thereby keeping their attention throughout the school year and beyond. In addition, they have a lot more freedom, more time to play and learn life skills like cooking, goal setting and the steps it takes to reach those goals, sewing, carpentry, and whatever else comes along in real life.

Here's a taste of Social Science ala Best Family Academy. And a look at P.E. More to come...

I know a lot of friends and family are also worried about how our girls will EVER learn social skills. Well, the first thing I think everyone needs to remember is, well, you've MET these girls. What do you SEE and experience? Still, where do they meet friends, you ask, and how do they develop relationships? Well, they DO have regular activities outside our home including, at this point, swimming 3-days per week, gymnastics (thanks, Grandpa!), and ballet. Through these activities, they're making friends with whom they immediately share at least one common interest. We're also involved in our local homeschool group with which we do a variety of activities, both academic and social. (Today the kids are converging upon our home to work on Chinese crafts for our Chinese New Year celebration slated later this week.)

In coming months, I'll use this blog to offer updates on the girls' schooling and related activities. Stay tuned!

Entering the video world

(I removed this video in 2014 after Google banned us from monetizing on ANY Google-owned properties. Look it up. It's happened to countless people. It'a monopolistic mega company. Beware!)

Well, we've finally done it: made a video and uploaded it on YouTube. Why? Cash. Cold, hard cash!

A distance learning program is offering a cash reward for a video representing "why homeschool is cool." These are the answers my girls came up with at ages 5 and 7. This video represents our first effort at converting files, editing and otherwise creating a video. WHEW! That took a lot more work than I'd expected!

Every view of the video counts as a vote BUT WE ONLY HAVE 'TIL Jan. 7, 2008 to vote! Entries gain additional points for every positive comment left about the video. I'd sure appreciate it if you'd be so kind as to at least watch the video by clicking here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=oX1kYH4VsY0

If you like it and want to help us out on our endeavor to win the Grand Prize (cash for college savings), please help spread the word!

Thanks for your help!

Jennifer