Wonderful... You were fortunate to have really good parents to teach you! I homeschooled my 4... and my pedagogy seems similar. I didn't lecture droning on about this or that- that's not teaching. Teaching (at least to me) is developing skills. The most important think I learned in college was how to find out what I needed to know.
I had my kids do research and write about whatever the subject happened to be. Then we went over what they had written, correcting for grammar etc.. Math was of course a bit different where some instruction was necessary. I say you were very fortunate.
I do feel very fortunate! And if I do say so myself, so should your kids! Thank you for taking the time to read this! It means a lot!
Thank you... I'm pleased with the result... both sons run their own successful businesses, my oldest daughter is a pharmacist and my youngest is a stay at home mom with 3 beautiful kids. I couldn't be happier.
That is absolutely incredible! I'm blown away by that! You deserve all the happiness you get, you did an amazing job!
It is encouraging to see positive comments about homeschooling. We are just about to start homeschooling our eldest and I think I am getting cold feet!
Hope you get the time to visit my post about it - https://steemit.com/education/@arrliinn/i-am-a-full-time-working-mom-will-homeschooling-work-for-us
DON'T get cold feet! It's the best thing, the greatest gift you can give your child. If you're wavering I suggest reading, Homeschooling: The Right Choice, by Christopher Klicka. He traces the history of public education and it's real intent. If you want your child brainwashed and indoctrinated (as well as uneducated) send him to public school.
All of my children turned out fine. All well adjusted adults (don't listen to people who say that "you're isolating your kids- they need to be around other children") My kids took part in sports and other activities with other kids. My oldest son has a marketing consulting firm (I don't really understand what he does lol!) that is very successful. My other son has a remodeling company and is a teaching pro at a golf resort. My oldest daughter is a pharmacist and my youngest is a stay at home mom with three beautiful kids... not bad, I'd say!
Thanks for these wonderful words of encouragement! I want nothing but best for my kids and I hope the sacrifice would be worth it in time.
I see your kids have gone far. Now who wouldn't want that for your own children?
I'm here if you ever need any advice... I followed you. My teaching style is simple. If you lecture, kids lose interest fast. You know your own kids better than any teacher, so you can design your lessons accordingly. For subjects such as history, or science, I had my kids read something and write me a paper about it. Then we would go over it and correct for grammar, spelling etc. This helps develop writing skills as well as critical thinking, They have to think about what they're writing, rather than just parroting something from a lecture.
I have a good friend who was a professor where I went to college. He left teaching and went to work at a think tank in Michigan. There he does studies on education... He interviewed the heads of Human Relations depts at major corporations such as GM, Ford, etc. They said the biggest problem they have finding qualified people coming out of college is- Nobody can write clearly. This is because they just don't teach it in schools anymore. The greatest gift you can give your kids is a good education... it will give them a leg-up later on in life!
Thanks @richq11! I have followed you back. I will definitely need help/advice on this and it is great there are people like you to support. 😍
I think a good education is the greatest gift we can give out kids! Always happy to help!
I see a few home schooling people here and there are home educating groups all over the place if you need help, or just want to vent. I'm going to read your post and reply to that as well. Cold feet are quite normal I think. I've been educating my kids at home for three years now and there are moments in those three years when I wondered if I was doing the right thing. And then they do something that shows me that it's the best thing I could have done for them.
Thanks for that! I will try to document and share our journey as much as I can.