What 'subjects' have your home ed DC's done today?

[discoverlife]

I thought this would help those thinking of Home Educating their children to show the spread and depth of subjects that can and are covered by their DC's.

Each childs needs are different so what is commonplace or regular for one will be totally different for another.

So today I did with DS 10yo with SEN.

20 minutes on the trampoline and playing catch to get his neurons warmed up for mental activities.

20 minutes on his gardening project where we have sunflowers seedlings, analysing why one set have not sprouted yet (probable answer 'not warm enough') writing down in his book a few sentances about todays readings eg. height of seedlings.

30 minutes Oragami, (maths) angles etc.

Then as long as he likes on an online game called 'Eve' where to get on you have to mine asteroids and sell the metals then buy new equipment or training etc. (economics and socialising in one).

(LOL at the evolution of Pokemon!)

Oh and I forgot, dd also learned and receited 'The ghost teacher' to me....we read some Shel Silverman before she went to school as well.

Thread title "What 'subjects' have your home ed DC's done today?"

Earlier post from the OP: "But anyway could we please not turn this thread into another school versus HE thread as so many other threads have been."

Any respect for any of that forthcoming, please?

Total respect.

I'm not against HE really. I looked at the thread because I thought it would be interesting, but then as I read it I thought it was a bit absurd. Because everyone was going on about how amazing it was, and how brilliant and superior it was, and I just thought 'it really isn't is it?'

BTW at school - shock, horror - dd did a 'great thing' where someone was a customer and someone a waitress, and ds2 loved a lesson he had with rocks, where they played with them and saw what they were like and looked at them with 'weird glasses' and ds1 played hockey and had an English lesson where they brought in costumes and took photos of each other in costumes, and then they had to give them names and include these 'characters' in their stories.

Just while we're swapping stories.

so you not see the smilies?

can no counter to HE ever be made, no matter how nicely? I would have thought that you would be delighted to see that learning continues outside of school. But it would seem that I am wrong

and for what its worth I fully agree with 100x. What you are doing is great, but I bet loads of people, HEdders and schoolers do the same.

Not sure what point you are trying to make. If the children get to where they are going does it really matter the route they take?

I don't think that it does either.

My post was only along the line of 'Well, we do the same things too. we don't shove the kids in an educational free box at the end of the day, this sort of home stimulation isn't unique to HE'

Hypothesis shmypothesis. I loved school, DD loves school, she is learning all sorts of things from all sorts of people. She is popular with her peers and many of the older children ( very LLLLlllllarge range of other children). At home today she has learnt a few new words from reading the back of a new book she received in the post from a friend in the states. There followed a discussion with her daddy about where America was, followed by him showing it to her on a map of the world (HE geography lesson anyone?) Emmaagain - your lack of humour is doing the cause no favour I'm afraid.

My post on Tue 05-Feb-08 23:30:01

"And yes it is pretty much what a lot of you seem to do with your children at weekends and holidays-just a great deal more of it, but also it is more to the child's timetable."

Has anyone said that you do put them in an educational free box after school?

Not sure why Emmaagain is being accused of no sense of humour for bringing the thread back on topic.

Oh dear.

Agh. Don't worry. I don't want this to be a fight either.

I can see that HE is fantastic and jolly and all. But recently there has been this zealous tone about it on MN as though all school-going children are drones, and never able to follow their noses and explore the world at home OR at school.

And sometimes that irks, because, well, it isn't true.

Sounds like your DD is having a wonderful time DANCES

I meant the last post in a light spirit, but I guess I didn't put enough smilies in. I thought you were saying "her confidence and popularity and reading are a direct result of her going to school" and I was trying to say "well, she might have been becoming popular and blah blah at this age anyway". But if that's totally unpersuasive to you, fine - you know your DD just a leeetle bit better than I do...

What I'm reading from these recent posts is "anything you HEers do, we do AND we send our children to the rich and wondrous environment that is school, so WE are making the best decision, not you.". If that's not what you are meaning to say, then say so, because I must be misreading you.

but please, if you want another HE versus school argument, could we take it away from Discoverlife's thread, which is explicitly labelled as an HE support thread and has had a plea to return to that, from her, upthread. It seems a bit rude to HE bash in it, don't you think?

The point that HE people make is that education happens all the time, which is quite right. Why don't you like it if we share what educational experiences our kids have at home?

Ah, no I do think what you said except the last bit 'about the right decision'. I mean I'm happy with my decisions and how diverting and imaginative and interested my children are, but I don't think my decision is SUPERIOR to yours, just different.

And I suppose what I was responding to was this recent tone on MN where HEers keep banging on about how vibrant and exciting their world is, and how someone walked past a school and heard a teacher and he sounded patronising. It is what sounds like the HEers assumption of superiority that rankles.

Thanks MB. That's a really helpful post.

I think the crux is:

in the same way that some schooling families see the very existence of HEing families as an implied criticism of their own choice to send their children to school, my gut response to those posts was to see them as an implied criticism of my choice with my family not to. My bad.

From my 19:37 post, you can see that going on exactly.

Thank you for sharing the wondrous things you have been doing with your families. I am glad they are having as lovely an experience at home+school+out-and-about as ours are having at home+out-and-about

Cross posted (for the second time!) with 100x

I must go. As you were HEers. DD is making a sandwich which she really SHOULD NOT BE DOING even if she is curious to see whether honey and marmalade is a good mix.

I also have 2 who were schooled. DD especially loved it, popular girl, and she eventually went on to get a HND in Drama, Dance etc. (I forgot the full name) with a couple of distinctions etc. But she finished the course and totally changed tack as she realised that she wasn't techie enough for behind the sceens work or talented enough for acting or dancing. She has taken further courses to get the job she is on and is waiting for the new round of college courses to start in september so that she can start doing a British Sign language course, which i am thinking of doing myself with DS if he is comfortable with it.

Martinbishop, stop it please, we are just trying to show what can be done, and as we arn't teachers like you, I think we do really well.

I've no problem with people sharing their children's educational experiences at home. I've not really any problem people sharing their children's experiences at school (school trips etc). It gives me ideas.
But much nicer if it's not with a sneery attitude as though HE is inferior to school.
If your child is happy at school then fine, if not then it's a waste of those hours that they are in school.
Also, when people bring their children out of school it can be very frightening to begin with. Especially if all you have known is the school system. It can feel very isolating and until you settle into it it's reassuring to hear from others more experienced in home-ed to help you know you are on the right track. To then feel shouted down by someone still in the school system it's easy to feel undermined. It passes with time but can be very stressful in the beginning.

Sorry martinbishop Xpost, the page had hurried on so far I didn't see your second post.

Nobody was shouting juule - were they? I wasn't, and neither was MB.

But I see where you are coming from. You are a minority, and it's understandable to be defensive when you feel yourself to be a minority. It also happens that that minority over inflates itself in order to counteract feeling got at or criticised or whatever because they often are.

The daft thing is we're both accusing each other of being superior, whereas in fact we are all just trying to do the best by our children.

The other daft thing was that sandwich dd had!

Actually Im not sorry, I just caught up with the thread, and Juuule puts it best, we are trying to help other people who want to know what can happen in a HE household, and all you lot can do (as usual) is HE bashing, and ohh look my kids do that and go to school. Wasted 10 hours a of a day, when are they your kids and not the education systems?

New title for this thread. HE bashers heres a new one.

Oh crikey you are hard work. Suggesting that children can follow their noses just because they do either in or out of school is not HE bashing. It just isn't.

But I'll go because you are right, this isn't the thread for that conversation.

So why are school-ed people defensive and over-inflate things to counteract being got at or criticised when they are not a minority? Why are people so defensive of a system that works for some and not others?

As you say we are all just trying to do the best by our children.