heartofdakota.com

I just wanted to thank those of you who take the time to check and respond to posts. I have been "bugged" since Friday! I visited a pool with several friends. Of course, they asked me how homeschooling was going. We are only a week into Bigger w/extensions with my four kids(ages 8-11). I love my friends and am so excited that my church has such a large active homeschool group but I'm kind of out here on my own. So many people use Sonlight. I had tried it when my first two were young, became overwhelmed, and gave up. I loved the material and the organization but not the intensity. Anyway....at the pool, one friend was explaining to another about CM method. After describing it a bit, she commented that it sounded lovely but she wondered if CM kids would be able to be competitive and get into college! I looked around to see if I had turned on my magic invisibility cloak but noooo I was indeed still sitting there! Thankfully, someone at our church had started a CM group and I am reading the CM Companion. I too struggle with the "this stirs my soul but feels too easy syndrome". I mean it must not be school unless the kids are crying at the end of the day right? On our first day, my kids grumbled about having to be the only kids in the world doing summer school. I coaxed them along. Then at the end,they looked at me stunned and said, "That's it?"! My friend also commented about how she had compared her curriculum with our friends(that started the CM group). She reported that they read so many more books each year then CM....is that necessarily a good thing? I mean I know that I probably do more laundry then any other mom on the block but I'm not sure that makes me a better mother! Anyway, I know I sound bitter but I was a bit frustrated. I'm just one week into taking my kids out of private school and bringing them home. I'm the only one that I know in our area using HOD. I just wanted a bit of encouragement or actually nothing at all instead of someone pointing out that my kids would not be competitive in the real world. So what did I do????? I came to the board and sure enough there was a post from July 08 that pretty much addressed the issue. I felt encouraged to just keep following my gut and let the static float away. I was especially encouraged b/c some of the posters were former school teachers who know a bit about standardized testing. I came here today to post for encouragement however I'm already encouraged so THANK YOU!

{{Monica}}

Give yourself a little time to really get into the groove. I has taken me 9 months (6 of schooling at home) to be just now getting comfortable in my skin as a home schooler, and a little better able to defend why I have chosen what I did. But really, I usually just say that I prayed and prayed about it and God led me straight to HoD - and now I have such a peace about my curriculum that I don't even look at others. If God led you to it, what more reasoning is there?

And, someone posted to the HS group on Facebook this morning - God will probably not say someday to me and my children "Good job on your math and grammar" but will more likely say "Good job on your work for my kingdom, my good and faithful servant"! Would I rather have children with a heart for God or a head for Harvard? I know the answer. But I may just wind up with both!!!

I'm so glad you found the encouragement you needed! YOu can trust these methods, I am certain of that! I can read 5 books in a day, but how much will I remember? If I read only 1 book and savored it over the day, I would remember more and enjoy the learning process. Your child will not only be competitive but also have a very important asset many do not have -- a love of learning. A love of learning can get you so far in the academic world since learning is not a chore, but a joy. I was a very bright student, honor grad in high school, full academic scholarship to college, didn't have a love of learning, nor did I have any learning/study skills (like narrating/summarizing ), and ended up getting on academic probation and losing my scholarship when I couldn't pull my grades up. I am the student that is highly competitive that everyone wants their child to be, but once I "win" my way into college, I don't know what to do when I'm there. Our kids using HOD will know exactly what to do and will do it well!

I'm a long ranger as well, and I know how that feels. I want a great homeschool support group but I don't like being surrounded by people talking about the latest A Beka or BJU or Alpha Omega texts and such...I want to talk about CM, and reading good books, and discussions with my kids about the Bible on a deep level, etc. It's hard to find those ladies but they are out there...if you build it they will come Might have to start our own groups. LOL Remember the other people don't matter, it's your children that are benefiting from your choice to use HOD and no one else has to approve! (Well other than God and DH).

Keep up the good work and come back as often as needed for encouragement!

nowweare6 wrote: She reported that they read so many more books each year then CM....is that necessarily a good thing? I mean I know that I probably do more laundry then any other mom on the block but I'm not sure that makes me a better mother!

There is so much misunderstanding about what a CM education is all about. First of all, Charlotte Mason was a "person", not a "method." I am inspired by Charlotte's writings and am so thankful for her ideas and insights, but her methods were not so rigid that there is no wiggle room. My CM homeschool will not look just like your CM homeschool. I think that is what a lot of commentators miss... they see CM as just a method rather than as an inspiring person. CM isn't about how many books you read or don't read... it's about getting something out of the books that you do read! I've done three Sonlight cores and have really enjoyed each one, but at some point, the children (and me!) are just on information overload. I got quite burned out by the end of Core 2. I found that the children and I were not really connecting with some of the books. So, what's the point? Maybe some families can digest that much info., but we, at some point, couldn't.

I like how with HOD you can still read just as many books as with Sonlight... but because not so many titles are assigned in the lessons, you still have time to choose some for yourself. I doubt that we will read any less books with HOD (overall), but I feel pretty sure that we will be reading titles that inspire us more. CM isn't just about "less" - though CMers do tend toward a "less is more" philosophy. Rather, CM is about digesting the material and connecting with it at a deeper level. Each family can choose their comfort level for themselves. We just started DITHOR this spring but I can already see that my oldest son (who loves to read and reads all the time) has really needed more in this area... he is beginning to move beyond reading as entertainment or information. Those are fine goals for reading, but with the CM method, you are enabling the child to relate to the material at a much deeper level.

As for the laundry, I'm about as CM as anyone I guess and mine stays piled up! Believe me... yes, doing the laundry definately makes you a better mom. .

I think CM was a genius! I remember reading about her and her ideas, and thinking that it sounded good, but seemed too good to be true. Well, I've found that her ideas are not only good, they're great - and they are NOT too good to be true, they work! Every CM idea has taken me a bit to get used to. For instance, I thought I still need spelling lists not just dictation - so I did them both. What have I found over the years though? Only dictation is working, so I dropped the extra spelling and have had better results. For writing, I wasn't sure copywork was enough, so I added daily oral language review to it. What did I find over time? Copywork works better, so I dropped the extra DOL, and have had better results. Oral narration - loved the idea, but not sure it was enough; so, I added countless questions where I grilled my dc about what they read. What did I find over time? You guessed it, oral narration done as CM suggested was way better, and much more enjoyable, so I stopped the grilling. Anyway, I have stopped second-guessing CM's advice. It's good and it works. I have never understood the "look how many books I read this year" theory of learning. Like whoever had the bigger stack must have learned more! CM encouraged savoring books, interacting with them and with others as you read them, and this has been so much more memorable than reading a big pile of books. I love books too, and we have books on hand the dc read for fun as fast or slow as they want to, but it is always the books we've done with HOD that they truly remember! Feel good about the education you are giving your dc - it is top-notch for the long haul!

In Christ,
Julie