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Tabitha
Posts: 299
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:55 pm

How perfect! Pull up a chair, grab some coffee/tea - Enjoy!

Post by Tabitha » Fri May 30, 2008 8:59 am

How perfect is this!

For those stressing with getting school work done, unsure on which HOD level to choose, how much is too much...how much is not enough...PLEASE READ! I felt such peace from this, and was totally reaffirmed, once again, that HOD is perfect for us for all the reasons below!

I will put the link here, but had to save ya time and paste the whole article!
http://www.excellenceineducation.com/be ... _early.php

Delayed Academics: Key to Preventing Learning Problems

As children are pushed to achieve academic goals at earlier and earlier ages, the incidence of learning disabilities is growing at an alarming (some say epidemic) rate. There may be a host of root causes, from immune response issues to dietary and familial problems, but one factor is susceptible to immediate control by parents who choose to homeschool and that is the age at which traditional academic work is introduced to their children. One hundred years ago, it was common for children to enter school at age 8 or even later. Two hundred years ago, children were not even accepted in most schools until they could read.

Today, in contrast, the most arduous efforts of our public schools cannot produce high school graduates who can compare favorably in knowledge and skills with the 8th grade graduates of 1900. What on earth is going on? It is claimed by the education establishment that the fault lies variously with the children (learning disabled), their parents (incompetent and /or uninterested), or the government/tax payers (low funding), or all three. Educators seldom blame their own methods, materials, timetables, etc. Most people would agree that “one size fits all” items actually don’t fit most people very well, but when it comes to education, otherwise intelligent folks are inclined to bow to the “wisdom” of the established educational order in the matter of what a child should learn and when he should learn it. Homeschool parents come to me every day asking for “the list” of what their children should be learning at each grade level. Or, they come in very worried because Jr. is in third grade and doesn’t yet know his multiplication facts or parts of speech or the difference between a parallelogram and a trapezoid! Oh, my!

As a former primary teacher, I can attest to the almost total incompetence of the school bureaucracy – from the teacher colleges to the state mandated textbooks. Even though the new emphasis on phonics is a promising sign, it appears that the manic insistence on developmentally inappropriate “academic” goals will insure a large number of educationally handicapped children for years to come, incidentally providing job security for legions of special education teachers. As principal of a large, private homeschool Independent Study Program (umbrella school for homeschoolers), I see children daily who have been battered by this insane and inhumane system.

But, that is not the worst of it. The problem is compounded by the tyranny of “experts” who are determined to “help” homeschoolers by “diagnosing” and offering to “treat” all manner of suddenly discovered maladies from ODD (opposition/defiant disorder) to ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder) to my favorite: Auditory Processing Disorder(APD), a wonderful catch-all for the late bloomer who hasn’t yet cracked the phonetic code of English. These “experts” would have us believe that otherwise normal children suddenly become “disordered” when they enter school or begin formal “homeschooling.” This is not to say that there are not children with very real medical and /or psychological problems, but the vast majority of children diagnosed with a “learning disability” are simply normal children with either a low tolerance for boredom (ADD), too much energy to sit still for long doing boring, repetitive work (ADHD), developmentally unready to absorb the material presented (LD, ADD,APD, Dyslexic, Dysgraphic, etc.) or possessed of a learning style which is incompatible with the curriculum in use(ADD, etc., etc.) The labels fly so rapidly and predictably to so many children that they have become virtually meaningless except to the professional “experts” whose livelihood depend on a full IN basket of educationally handicapped kids.

Many distraught parents opt to homeschool after receiving one or more of these dred diagnoses for their children. They remove them from school in order to help them overcome their “disability” and “remediate” their “deficiencies.” Although they intuitively know that their children are bright and can learn, they cling to the standards and timelines of the system that condemned their children and in so doing, create unnecessary difficulty for themselves and their offspring. Often, parents come to me in search of a curriculum to help their children “catch up.” I have to ask, ”Catch up to what?” In trusting that the state and the state’s schools know the best way to educate a child, they are in danger of destroying their children’s best opportunity to learn in the home environment. By pushing children too hard too early, resistance, aversion and fear of failure create barriers to learning, only compounding the damage already done by the school system.

Teaching and learning are neither difficult nor mysterious. It does not take a trained expert to teach the phonetic code to a child who is ready. READY is the operative word. As a former first grade teacher who learned to read in the first grade, I once thought that all children could and should learn to read at age six. It took a determined homeschooling neighbor, my own “late” reading daughters and the research of pioneering homeschool advocates, Raymond and Dorothy Moore to convince me otherwise.

We were very excited about homeschooling and started right in with MCP Plaid Phonics when Tenaya was five years old. She learned the letter sounds quickly but could not put them together to make words. We were both frustrated while the neighbor boys, two years older than my girls, played happily and didn’t even attempt to read. Their mother, Susan, introduced me to the Moores’ books and philosophy. I was unconvinced but I had no choice. My very bright and eager daughter was not reading no matter what we did. Had she been in school, she would have been labeled dyslexic simply because she did not read. Her sister, however, would have earned a whole list of labels: ADHD (she bounced off the walls when she wasn’t climbing them), APD (she made no sound/symbol connections until she was about nine), dyslexic (she couldn’t read), dysgraphic (she couldn’t write) among others.

Dr. and Mrs. Moore’s first book, School Can Wait and its twin for laymen, Better Late Than Early, introduced me to the facts about education and child development. The Moores collected early childhood research from medicine, ophthalmology, neurology, and psychology and came to the inescapable conclusion that for most children, the optimum age to begin formal academics is between the ages of eight and twelve! For those of us who are steeped in the culture of early academics, this is a strange pill to swallow. But the Moores didn’t stop with mere laboratory research; they studied homeschool families in the 70’s and 80’s to see what happened when children were free to learn at a more natural pace. The result was several more books, culminating with The Successful Family Homeschool Handbook. This volume elaborates on “The Moore Formula” which Dr. and Mrs. Moore developed over the years as they combined research with practical application.

The “Moore Formula” includes three elements in approximately equal portions: study, work and service. They do not recommend formal academic studies before age 8 and in some cases, as late as 12. (My younger daughter fell into this older category.) This does not mean that the child does not learn anything until age 8+. Children are learning voraciously from birth and only the roadblock of clumsy “schooling” can retard or stop a child’s otherwise insatiable thirst for knowledge. Books are useful and important tools, but for a young child, the world is filled with much better learning opportunities than can be found on the printed page alone. When a child is allowed to explore and question and wonder, whole worlds of interest can open that might never be discovered otherwise. In this homeschooling style, a child might learn to read at five, at seven or at twelve, depending on the child.

This more relaxed early learning/teaching style will incorporate important developmental areas often neglected or ignored by formal curricula: listening, hand-eye coordination, large motor skills, spatial relationships, personal relationships, knowledge about the physical environment, memory development, imagination, logic and many more. Because of the overwhelming presence of electronic media in our lives, children are often have difficulty using their own imagination or even listening to a story without pictures. They are so bombarded with constant sound from radio, TV, and electronic games that they can hardly think for themselves. Giving children time in the early years (hopefully with a minimum of TV, etc.) to develop physically, neurologically and emotionally allows them to move into formal academics with a maximum of preparedness and energy.

Since we are on the topic of physical and academic readiness we should spend a few moments on learning styles. It is important to understand that each child has a unique learning style that might be different from yours or his siblings. Regardless of when you start teaching your children formally it is critically important to teach in a manner that best fits the child’s learning style. The absolute best publication we know of to assist you in determining and understanding your child’s learning style is Mariaemma Willis’ and Victoria Hodson’s book, Discover Your Child’s Learning Style. The blending of this book with the works of the Moore’s will provide you the foundation of a highly successful homeschool experience.

Delayed academics does not mandate delayed reading; it encourages parents to wait until their children are ready. Until that time, parents can read to their children, play games with letters and sounds, and watch for signs that their children are beginning to catch on to the code. Once that happens, you cannot stop a child from reading. Some will move quickly and others will make slower progress, but as long as the instruction is phonetic (this is vital), children will make gradual progress until they are reading at an adult level. The catch here is that although you can toss out the LD labels, you may not be able to use a packaged curriculum (Oh shucks!) One of my daughters learned to read (effortlessly) at age 8 and the other at 10 ½. One used Primary Phonics readers and the other preferred Dr. Seuss I Can Read primers. Once past the primers, they simply selected (with my guidance) books they enjoyed. Gradually, they moved to more and more difficult material. Both are college graduates with enjoyable careers.

We used the Moore Formula instead of a formal curriculum. The girls worked at many jobs and invented as many businesses including one, Fun Ed, that is still thriving as part of Excellence In Education Resource Center. They were involved in numerous service projects culminating in overseas missions work. Most people would classify us as unschoolers and I would not argue except to qualify that label by saying we did use the Moore Formula to balance our lives.

This happy ending would not have been possible without the concept of “delayed academics,” for our daughters would have been labeled early and often had we taken our little non-readers to the “experts.” Thankfully, we went instead to Dr. Raymond Moore and his wonderful wife Dorothy, who told us that as long as they were making progress, we should not worry. They were right!

Modern schools were intended to do for education what Henry Ford did for auto manufacturing. In some ways they have succeeded, but remember that children aren’t molten blobs of metal that can be reshaped by any mold to fit in any space for any purpose. Children are unique and delicate human beings with special talents, strengths and weaknesses. Each has his own developmental schedule, which we ignore at our peril. As homeschoolers, we have rejected the “system” for a variety of reasons; we have stepped outside the box. Remember that the box includes much more than just the building. Stepping outside the box and giving our children the very best tailor made education includes questioning the school schedule and curriculum as well. Things that are mass-produced are never of the finest quality and the same goes for a copy of a mass- produced item.

The best education for your child is one that is developed for his or her unique learning schedule and learning style. Only the parent can judge the appropriateness of the schedule by watching for things to “click,” but we can get quite a bit of guidance from Raymond and Dorothy Moore’s many books on homeschooling and Willis and Hodson’s Learning Style Profile found in Discover Your Child’s Learning Style. Trying to get a head start by pushing early academics can backfire, causing difficulties for years to come. Instead of worrying about a “learning disability” because your child does not fit the style and sequence of “in the box” schools, spend your energy on developing your child’s natural interests. You will be amazed at the results.

annaz

Post by annaz » Fri May 30, 2008 10:52 am

This is an awesome post! Something I've thought about for years! For some reason though it really never sinks in to many parents or teachers, etc.

This goes hand in hand with a conversation I heard at karate AND the lady there had asked me my opinion.

They had a therapist come to their school for testing. (I don't know why) Language skills testing. Her son and this other lady's son in the same class were tested and found that they needed "language therapy". She asked me what I thought as both ladies were comtemplating what to do. Which in itself I found crazy; you'll see why below.

TI asked her what do they think his problem is. She told me they said, "he can't say his "r's". I asked her how old is her son. She said, get this....................FIVE! Then she proceeded to tell me that the therapist said 80% of the kids need therapy! :shock: :shock: :shock: Of course I said it's the 20 percent that may be ahead of the game, but the 80% is the norm, not the ones who need therapy. Are you kidding me? Then she went on to say that these therapies are not covered by insurance.

CAN YOU IMAGINE?????? Who would even think to enroll their child in a therapy where 80% of the students...oh wait, 5-yr olds can't say their "r's". What is this a racquet? I find it pathetic.

susie in ms
Posts: 230
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:37 pm

Post by susie in ms » Fri May 30, 2008 11:56 am

You know I agree with this entire post, but I have to comment on the ODD (opposition/defiant disorder). I think all of these labels are just dumb. This one especially. I had a lady call me cuz she heard that I hsed my kids. The ONLY reason she was considering hsing was cuz her dd had ODD (opposition/defiant disorder) and she, the mother was at risk of being thrown into jail cuz dd was skipping school. I was VERY glad that I was on the phone with this woman cuz I know my face must have twisted all out of sorts!!! This kid had needed good old fashioned discipline and had been needing it for years!!

The rest of the article....it is very important to NOT push a child to learn. That would make them hate learning. I agree with this 100%! I am glad 12 yo is not the norm though as I am really excited to get to sharing the LHFHG experience with Hannah Grace! :D

ETA: I know there are children with physical problems that can manifest themselves in mental ways (I personally believe vaccines play a part, but that is another story). These children need special help. But for the large majority these labels are just lining the pockets of the doctors.
Last edited by susie in ms on Fri May 30, 2008 12:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Susie ~ servant to Christ, wife to Ricky for 25 years, mom to Trisha 22, Kris 21, Joshua 19 and Hannah Grace almost 4.
Loving Little Hands to Heaven!

susie in ms
Posts: 230
Joined: Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:37 pm

Post by susie in ms » Fri May 30, 2008 12:00 pm

annaz wrote: TI asked her what do they think his problem is. She told me they said, "he can't say his "r's". I asked her how old is her son. She said, get this....................FIVE! Then she proceeded to tell me that the therapist said 80% of the kids need therapy! :shock: :shock: :shock: Of course I said it's the 20 percent that may be ahead of the game, but the 80% is the norm, not the ones who need therapy. Are you kidding me? Then she went on to say that these therapies are not covered by insurance.

CAN YOU IMAGINE?????? Who would even think to enroll their child in a therapy where 80% of the students...oh wait, 5-yr olds can't say their "r's". What is this a racquet? I find it pathetic.
Now who needs the education here??????? This is just ridiculous!! And the thing here is that the majority of our adult population CANNOT think for themselves (just look at how many people believe everything on the news!!) so they believe those percentages!! :?
Susie ~ servant to Christ, wife to Ricky for 25 years, mom to Trisha 22, Kris 21, Joshua 19 and Hannah Grace almost 4.
Loving Little Hands to Heaven!

lovetobehome
Posts: 208
Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2008 9:16 pm

Post by lovetobehome » Fri May 30, 2008 2:12 pm

I just ordered this book, The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook, and would be happy to pass it on to any other mamas here after I am done with it. I think it would benefit me to read it now, and encourage me to take the summer off and let the kids be kids....still having responsibilities and work, but I think I tend to get caught up in schooling.....thanks, Tabitha, this was a great post for me to read today.

amysconfections
Posts: 247
Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2007 1:37 pm
Location: AL

Post by amysconfections » Fri May 30, 2008 6:55 pm

lovetobehome wrote:I just ordered this book, The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook, and would be happy to pass it on to any other mamas here after I am done with it. I think it would benefit me to read it now, and encourage me to take the summer off and let the kids be kids....still having responsibilities and work, but I think I tend to get caught up in schooling.....thanks, Tabitha, this was a great post for me to read today.
I would agree but I've been taking time off since we finished LHFHG and my kids don't know what to do. They are 3 and 5. I constantly tell them to play. Besides swimming they are bored stiff and so I'm thinking of starting back school. Although they would love lots of being read to time. Any ideas?? :?: It's just too hot here to go outside all day right now. :(
Amy
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Heart of Dakota user since 2007.

lovetobehome
Posts: 208
Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2008 9:16 pm

Post by lovetobehome » Fri May 30, 2008 7:04 pm

I have a huge list of books we plan to read, we read a LOT and love it...how about summer reading programs at the library? VBS? Craft days? Short excursions? Nature walks (in the cool of the evening maybe, or AM?) Books on tape, Lauri puzzles, board games together, music sing-alongs? More reading? Crafts to go along with the reading you are doing? Focus on Bible study and lapbooking through your children's Bible? Tea parties, picnics? Acting out stories with stuffed animals and dolls? So many yummy possibilities! Oh, that reminds me! Cooking! And how about handicrafts....and teaching them to set the table, dust, sweep, sort socks.......I could go on......focus on character study.....bring on the summer! Though I will miss HOD! But the anticipation and planning I will get to do!!! I actually plan to do some LHFHG with my 6yo over the summer, but plan to wait until Aug to start back to BIGGER with my 8 yo.

Kathleen
Posts: 1980
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2008 3:23 pm
Location: NE Kansas

Post by Kathleen » Fri May 30, 2008 8:16 pm

Amy,

I've found that boredom quickly goes away when I let them know that I have a great list of chores that need to be done...and I'd gladly find something for them to do if they can't come up with anything on their own. "I'm bored" doesn't come out much around our house. :D :wink:

:D Kathleen
Homeschooling mom to 6:
Grant - 19 Kansas State University
Allison - 15 World Geography
Garret - 13 Res2Ref
Asa - 8 Bigger
Quinn - 7 Bigger

Halle - 4 LHTH

Tabitha
Posts: 299
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:55 pm

Post by Tabitha » Fri May 30, 2008 10:26 pm

amysconfections wrote:
lovetobehome wrote:I just ordered this book, The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook, and would be happy to pass it on to any other mamas here after I am done with it. I think it would benefit me to read it now, and encourage me to take the summer off and let the kids be kids....still having responsibilities and work, but I think I tend to get caught up in schooling.....thanks, Tabitha, this was a great post for me to read today.
I would agree but I've been taking time off since we finished LHFHG and my kids don't know what to do. They are 3 and 5. I constantly tell them to play. Besides swimming they are bored stiff and so I'm thinking of starting back school. Although they would love lots of being read to time. Any ideas?? :?: It's just too hot here to go outside all day right now. :(
What!? Too hot to be outside already? I'm in Michigan, and an just waiting until it's warm enough to wear shorts. It's been iffy, but still cooler than warmer here for that kind of stuff.

shera
Posts: 194
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:53 pm

Post by shera » Sat May 31, 2008 9:53 am

Tabitha you can come here. Its already over 100 here. Summer swim team season is half over.

Needless to say we school through the summer and break in Oct for a bit and in March/April for a bit. That's when you want to be outside in AZ.
Sarah
ds 11/01
dd8/04

Tabitha
Posts: 299
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:55 pm

Post by Tabitha » Sat May 31, 2008 9:34 pm

shera wrote:Tabitha you can come here. Its already over 100 here. Summer swim team season is half over.

Needless to say we school through the summer and break in Oct for a bit and in March/April for a bit. That's when you want to be outside in AZ.
:shock:

No, I really mean :shock: :shock: :shock: !

I'm a Virginian native, and I sure don't miss the heat and humidity like they have there at times. But this cold weather, I can also do without. It lasts too long.

MidwestMama

Post by MidwestMama » Sun Jun 01, 2008 5:49 pm

I think here in Iowa, we just get a LOT of everything!! So while our summers are nothing like, say, TX, and our winters are nothing like Northern Michigan... well, I just get to whine a little bit about the weather all year round!! :D

What a great article!! I'm making dinner so only got to skim it, so later I want to sit down and read it more carefully. Lots of great concepts...

Cris

netpea

Post by netpea » Sun Jun 01, 2008 6:59 pm

Tabitha wrote:
shera wrote:Tabitha you can come here. Its already over 100 here. Summer swim team season is half over.

Needless to say we school through the summer and break in Oct for a bit and in March/April for a bit. That's when you want to be outside in AZ.
:shock:

No, I really mean :shock: :shock: :shock: !

I'm a Virginian native, and I sure don't miss the heat and humidity like they have there at times. But this cold weather, I can also do without. It lasts too long.
I am a Cincinnatian, born and raised... I moved to Alabama for graduate school, couldn't take the heat. :lol: So now I'm in Michigan!

Tabitha
Posts: 299
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:55 pm

Post by Tabitha » Sun Jun 01, 2008 11:27 pm

netpea wrote:
Tabitha wrote:
shera wrote:Tabitha you can come here. Its already over 100 here. Summer swim team season is half over.

Needless to say we school through the summer and break in Oct for a bit and in March/April for a bit. That's when you want to be outside in AZ.
:shock:

No, I really mean :shock: :shock: :shock: !

I'm a Virginian native, and I sure don't miss the heat and humidity like they have there at times. But this cold weather, I can also do without. It lasts too long.
I am a Cincinnatian, born and raised... I moved to Alabama for graduate school, couldn't take the heat. :lol: So now I'm in Michigan!
:lol: 8) :lol:

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