I have just spent the last hour reading through various HE threads and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it!
I noticed many of the threads are from concerned Mothers who are anxious about beginning to home educate, so I wanted to share my story and hopefully a little wisdom about this wonderful world of home education.
I'm 27 years old with a 10 year old Son (as you can probably work out I became a Mother at a very young age) whom I have been home educating for almost 3 years. My Son began experiencing problems within school (bullying, falling behind etc) and after months of watching him become more and more stressed I decided to take the plunge and remove him from school.
Literally within weeks I saw a different child emerge, a confident, happy, relaxed and calm child. You could almost see the stress dissolving!
I unschooled for a few months, then panicked slightly and began to plan a tight timetable of hourly lessons. I tried to replicate 'school'. After a month or so, I realised this system I had devised was not working, and subsequently decided to scrap the whole curriculum and start afresh!
This decision led me and my Son down a path that would spur us onto the most incredible educational journey.
I'm a self educated writer and researcher, on subjects that many people don't particularly find interesting; Astophysics, metaphysics, universal cycles, earthly cycles, pre-ancient history, astronomy, seismic/solar/magnetosphere activity, and also a strong interest in conserving the environment.
I find these mind expanding subjects are lacking in the mainstream education. Schools seem to have a way of closing down on a child's mind rather than opening, expanding and strengthening it. Also schools do not tell a child that everything (especially in science) is just theory, that ANYTHING is actually possible. Children are not encouraged to free think or even think for themselves.
Anyway, I decided I would construct a kind of 'Earth Education' system where basically the world and Universe is his classroom, where anything is possible!
My Son is now doing amazingly, his reading age at 5 years was 4.6 years, it's now 11.11 years! (and he has only just turned 10)...
We do project after project on all kinds of different subjects, I find the longer the project, the more he soaks up and remembers. We still do math and english etc, but I always add a seperate element to make it more interesting and enticing.
Also, the work I do with my Son regarding the environment has produced results far beyond what I imagined. When a child respects his/her surroundings, they in turn respect themselves. My Son has a beautiful compassion for the Earth, animals and other people, I have found that encouraging this (which is there naturally) raises their own self esteem. Children understand how they are connected to nature, something many adults lose along the way.
So I just wanted to share with you a really positive HE story, I would recommend it to ANYONE!... I earn very little, and I am a single parent, so if I can do it, anyone can.
If I could give any advice, it would first be to relax! Unschool for as long as you feel necessary, don't feel pressured to stick to guidelines, and don't feel the need to replicate school.
Discover your child's interests, encourage them, and watch them flourish. Don't push the reading, it comes naturally!
If your child dislikes maths, I found maths activities online really helped, it keeps them focused for longer, rather than staring at a text book. My Son doesn't like writing for long periods at a time, but sometimes he likes to write spontaneously (usually at night in bed) and that's fine! There are no rules with HE!
I have found everything evolves naturally, there's no need to rush them or to panic. I know it's easy for me to say that, but I think most will agree with me.
And last but not least, pump them with curiosity, support, love and life! Let them question as much as they like, if you don't know the answer, discover it together!
:D