Schooling Ourselves ?

[JesiLynne]

In the quest for educating our children, has anyone thought/decided to "go back to school" ? At home I mean.

I personally have felt the desire to go back to high school so to speak. I know for a fact my math skills could use some improvement, and even with dd's 3rd grade English course I am learning a ton. I even went through the 10-12 grade reading list from http://www.classical-homeschooling.o...00-senior.html

Anyone else feel he same ? Or am I just a dork ? :

[holyhelianthus]

ME TOO!!!!!

I have always loved learning but having kids has taken my non-fiction reading and personal study waaaay down. Ok, I'll be honest, it doesn't exist

But now that in this coming year we are starting with a "real" curriculum and schedule I am right back to wanting to get back to homeschooling myself. I have been thinking about how I want to go about this. I was thinking of maybe just picking a topic/subject at a time and really allowing myself to get into it.

I know for sure I want these two books- The Well-Educated Mind and The History of the Ancient World

[flowers]

I can so relate and it's one of the reasons why I am so excited to homeschool/unschool b/c I'll get to learn right along side them!:

I love learning and to my horror I find my grammar to be horrible and when someone brings up some science or math fact I have this vague memory of learning it once. I feel like my desire to learn in a relative and hands on way alongside my children's natural desire to learn will only keep our family learning all time.

[briansmama]

I LOVE learning and put a hold on just as many books from our library for myself as I do my kids

I strongly feel that the longer I've been out of school (including college), the more I've learned. Granted, my "curriculum" may not appear to be well-rounded, as it is focused heavily on natural health and herbal medicine, how children really learn, yoga/meditation, knitting/crocheting, and vaccinations, but it is a very well-researched ad very passionate.

Every few weeks I dream of taking all this knowledge and applying it to some sort of career, but then I realize that deep down I really just want to be focused on the kids and my own hobbies.

[Lissybug]

yup- I'm just THRILLED to be getting back into speaking German. We're not into any other stuff really yet, but I really look forward to learning more about history, geographhy, plants...everything actually.

[annettemarie]

It's funny you brought that up. I was really involved in early childhood education/child care advocacy and reform (nor mandatory preK or anything like that, just making sure that every child who was in care had good, quality, loving care) and I've really been missing it, but I'm not quite sure what to do about it. I have decided to get my teaching certificate valid again. I just need 180 education hours. Luckily, I can get a bunch for free online.

[PGTlatte]

Yes.

When I read "The Well Trained Mind", I was inspired to use their lists as guides for myself to go back and learn all the things I either missed or was never offered during my "education".

I also want to go back and take myself through all the math I had in college. I have an engineering degree with enough hours of math to have a minor in it, and yet I don't feel I learned the math, because I got through the classes with a lot of pressure, cramming, and regurgitating solutions to problems I knew would be on the exams. I saved all of those books, and when my kids are not so much in my hair all the time, I want to go back and cover it all again, at my own pace, and without the pressure of earning a grade or a degree.

And after I've done that.......I want to tutor people of all ages in math.

[skueppers]

It doesn't really have anything to do with our decisions about our children's education, but we're definitely a very learning-oriented family.

My husband and I make it a point to sit down at least one evening a week and watch a 30-minute lecture from The Learning Company. Right now we're doing a course on the History of England from the Tudors to the Stewarts. After that we plan to tackle Art across the Ages. I can't wait!

We're always learning new things and sharing what we've learned. Today I read an article on the history of Maryland and was amazed at what I didn't know!

[emmsmama]

One of the reasons why I enjoy homeschooling is because I get to learn new stuff or relearn stuff I've forgotten. History is one area that I'm loving learning now whereas before I hated history classes.

I am an adult learner in that I love to read and self-teach myself things from programs and books. However, now that I homeschool I have less free time for just reading whatever I feel like, so my "studies" are focused more on what the kids are learning at any given time

[3momkmb]

I have found myself reading a lot of the *classics* I was probably supposed to read in high school/college and either never did or forgot about I also find myself reading a lot more non-fiction then I did before homeschooling, especially on the subject of US history, which I didn't want to touch for years after being forced to take two years of boring classes in high school, as well as biology, which I love but pretty much ignored until recently. My latest *splurge* was an illustrated version of The Origin of the Species.

[1stTimeMummytoLore]

homeschooling is precisely what has rekindled the flame for me and led me back to loving the process of learning. my institutional school experiences snuffed it out a loooong time ago. but i'm thrilled that i'm back and burning brighter than ever. hence one of the reasons i hope to facilitate my children avoiding institutional school during their learning journey.

[cappuccinosmom]

My self-education has really picked up. Not so much because I don't feel educated enough to teach (I'm good with that, at least for elementary). But it has rekindled my love of learning new things. For me it's mostly in the area of history and social issues.

[Brisen]

It's a big part of our educational philosophy. We mostly follow Thomas Jefferson Education (www.tjed.org), and a couple of the main principles are "you, not them," and "inspire, not require." The focus is on the parents continually learning and studying and working at it so that it is part of the family's lifestyle. I find it difficult to get into really studying while I'm also helping out my kids with their stuff, but I try.

Right now, I'm part of a yahoo group doing a 10-year reading plan of the Great Books series. In theory, I read the weekly selection and then write about it and discuss it with the group. In practice, though, we've just started working on our garden and almost everyone here was very sick with the flu and I'm newly pregnant and exhausted.

[holyhelianthus]

A tad bit OT...

Hey Brisen!
I don't know if you are on nLDS but this site was brought up and maybe you'll find it beneficial?

[dotnetdiva]

To me, this is one of the biggest benefits! I could've stayed in college forever, hehe, but since then I discovered I learn best on my own anyway. I teach myself everything. Right now I've been reading tons of history books and having a blast! Can't wait to start teaching history to my dd.

[JesiLynne]

Originally Posted by Brisen

It's a big part of our educational philosophy. We mostly follow Thomas Jefferson Education (www.tjed.org), and a couple of the main principles are "you, not them," and "inspire, not require." The focus is on the parents continually learning and studying and working at it so that it is part of the family's lifestyle. I find it difficult to get into really studying while I'm also helping out my kids with their stuff, but I try.

Right now, I'm part of a yahoo group doing a 10-year reading plan of the Great Books series. In theory, I read the weekly selection and then write about it and discuss it with the group. In practice, though, we've just started working on our garden and almost everyone here was very sick with the flu and I'm newly pregnant and exhausted.

Hi Brisen

I'm interested in hearing more about this group.

What is everyone reading right now ? Currently, I am trying to get through Anna Karenina ( 2nd attempt)

[Brisen]

Thanks for the link, Maggie. What is nLDS?

JesiLynne, I'm still working on The Inferno from last week, but this week was supposed to be Harvey's "Motion of the Heart and Blood." Next week is Part 1 of "Don Quixote." The group is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thegreatconversation/.

[3momkmb]

Right now? I'm taking a brain break and reading a cozy mystery

Next on the list is Eden's Outcasts (The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father) and then I'll probably read Gulliver's Travels as I never have and it's on DD's Brit Lit list.

[PGTlatte]

I am reading "The Teenage Liberation Handbook".

[Jennifer3141]

I consider re-educating and expanding my own education as we go along to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest benefit to homeschooling. I LOVE it.