Tag Archives: Home education

World History – our approach

History, History Books, Home education, ,

A couple of years ago after a quick run through of British history we started looking at world history.
Many home educators use The Story of the World as a basis for world history, so we began by investigating this.

Story of the World

sotw

See on Amazon

The first story grabbed my then eight year old daughters attention, but we soon discovered that these books didn’t work for us. We found the layout and writing pretty boring. Past the first story the tales lacked characters and everything lacked enough variation to make things interesting. The Activity book didn’t really work for us either, as we’ve found conversation and story telling to be more useful. The slight Christian bias also didn’t suit us.
I was however quite taken with the idea of the four year cycle of ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern.

Well-Trained Mind, The Story of the World

Our approach

Rather than use The Story of the World I decided on a research it ourselves and collaborate with friends approach. Here is a bit about what has worked for us.

Monthly time period

I assigned a time period to each month (around eight per year) focusing on ancient history for the first year, then this last year we have moved on to medieval history.

1. Ancient History (Up to approx 400AD/CE)

  • Prehistory
  • Ancient Mesopotamia
  • Ancient Egypt
  • Ancient China
  • Other ancient peoples
  • Ancient Greece
  • Ancient Rome

2. Medieval History (approx 400 to 1400AD/CE)

3. Early Modern
A bit about how our approach is developing this year…

  • Renaissance Europe
  • Islamic Empires
  • Russia
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Australia
    • pre-Contact Australia
  • Americas
  • England
  • British Isles

4. Modern

The schedule can also be easily changed to include times and places of particular interest or significance to your family

Resources

Rather than use a bought curriculum we have researched ourselves.
We have used lots of different resources along the way. reference books, websites,  historical fiction, children’s factual books, websites,  TV documentaries, children’s TV, board games, music videos and more. Sometimes I read adult books and shared my findings with my daughter through conversation.

  • World History reference books
  • Factual books
  • Historical fiction
  • World History websites for adults and children
  • TV documentaries
  • Children’s TV shows
  • TV drama
  • Music videos
  • History craft books
  • Board and card games

Over time I will blog about resources we found and used along the way.

Special Interests

Although this approach does require more research it has also enabled us to tailor history and has the advantage of allowing us to incorporate special interests. For us this meant focusing on mythology for some of the ancient time periods and then later on famous women in history. All sorts of interests can be incorporated in this way, from animals, transport to warfare depending on what excites the child. .

History Groups

We have really enjoyed tackling much our history as part of history groups. It helps us focus on the history and gives a deadline by which to produce something to share.
We are part of a Facebook group where home educators can share resources and ask for help and ideas. https://www.facebook.com/groups/historyhomeeducation/

Structure in Home Education

Education, Home education, Learning, , , , ,
Schools use structure to deliver a National Curriculum, and to organise lots of people, both children and teachers. But as parents, with our own children the need for plans and lots of organisation becomes less clear. The lines begin to blur between education and everyday life. Every home educating family finds its own balance between these elements.

What is structure?

  • the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex (noun)
  • construct or arrange according to a plan; give a pattern or organization to (verb)

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/structure

Whose structure?

Often the term structured education is used to mean a particular approach to education, where the adult determines what is covered, possibly using a curriculum.

This sometimes causes some confusion when home educators using child-led approaches such as autonomous education or unschooling are exploring what structure means to them. At its very basic structure could simply mean reading a book in order of chapters, or eating at a particular time of day. Home Education has to work for everyone involved, and that may mean more, less, or different structure for each child, or for the parent.

I find it has really helped to think of structure as a tool, rather than the name of a particular approach.

What kind of structure?

Some people find that they want structure to the day, or week, but not learning.

This can mean the daily routine of when to eat and sleep. Or a weekly structure with certain groups on certain days, or in a world of lots of groups and play dates it even mean scheduling time just being together at home and focusing on what ever the children happen to be interested in at moment. Sometimes this is adult driven, at other times, especially with children with special needs, or anxiety structure can be largely determined by the child’s needs.
This a very interesting book that has helped me focus on what they are learning, and making time available to be with girls and allow them time to follow up their interests.

Some people want the learning to be child-led but need structure for themselves in recording learning and providing resources.

There is a great blog post about how this can be done: http://organizedunschooler.com/2009/07/19/in-the-beginning/.
It is possible to record, compare progress with learning goals, tick off things you’ve done, put together files on different topics, find resources and have them available, but still have the child control their own learning. The resources come out as child asks questions or raises topics. The adult initiated structure in the learning is for home educator, not the children.

A little bit of structure.

Some people have a little bit of structure. Often this might be a small amount of literacy, maths every day or a couple of days a week.
Others follow a particular curriculum or programme very loosely, or just for the odd subject, eg. history.
Tidal homeschooling is another interesting approach  which takes elements of unschooling and a structured programme and flows between the two.

Structured programme or curriculum.

In the England most state and many independent schools use the National Curriculum. This is set down by Department of Education. There has recently been a consultation and a new National Curriculum is planned to come into effect from September 2014.
Most online resources and much of the children’s book publishing in this country is focused on National Curriculum. Some parents follow it, others keep a vague eye on it as a comparison.
Other curriculums used tend to be US in origin, as the pervasiveness of National Curriculum, the lack of state monitoring, and the great diversity of approaches in home education all make for a infeasibly small market.

How structure looks in our home?

We are autonomous/unschooling. But we still have some structure. We tend to eat at a particular time of day, have certain groups on certain days, have rhythms to each day.

I don’t do structure for reading, writing and maths as they come up in everything else we do. But we have a little bit of structure in that we do a history, library and topic group most months. So we have something to prepare for these. Being autonomous each child is free to take part or not, and determine how to contribute themselves. My eldest has recently been asking for more structure, and help in delving deeper into the things she is interested in, and guidance with investigating new more structured, formal approaches to learning that move beyond the reading, conversation and play based education that has predominated up to now.

And as a fellow learner I have found that I too have interests that I want to investigate that often come with some form of structure - whether it be organising my history group, or taking an online course.

Education choices Pt 1:- What would suit your child and family?

Beyond babyhood, Education, Learning, Parenting, , , , ,

Where and how to educate our children is one of the biggest decisions we make for them.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the law states that ‘The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable to: His age, ability and aptitude, and any special educational needs he may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.’

Education, like every other aspect of our children’s lives, is our responsibility as parents. But it is an area where our options are often hidden and it is easy to make choices without fully exploring the possibilities. The three basic options are state school, independent school and home education.

What would suit your child and family?

What suits one child or family won’t necessarily suit another. Some people use a mix of educational settings depending on what works for each of their children at any particular time. And don’t forget it needs to work for your family as a whole too. And of course your choices are not set in stone, you can always change your mind and use another option later.

What would suit your child?

Think about your child’s personality, abilities, needs and interests. Are they academically inclined, or would a setting with greater emphasis on sports or music be a better choice? Is your child very active or sensitive and better suited to an informal education or a later start to formal education?
What environment would suit your child? Think about the number of children and age range in a class or group. Should activities be child-led or directed by an adult?

What would suit you and your family circumstances?

Do you want to be actively involved in your child’s education? Can you provide or arrange full time care for home education? If you would prefer an independent school do you have the ability to pay? Is a local state school a better option because of travel arrangements?

What are your family values and parenting style?

Any adult that spends a significant amount of time with your child is going to have a major impact on your child. It may be important to you to choose an education that supports your family values. This may mean a faith school, an academically selective school, or one with a strong environmental, spiritual or creative focus. Or do you prefer the personalized, learning through life experiences opportunities afforded by home education?

There are many different approaches to education. Which education options are available in your local state school? If you have a Free School locally you may find it has a different approach to other state schools. Do you need to consider independent schools or home education to meet your requirements?

What compromises are you able to make?

How and where your child is educated has immediate financial and social impacts, as well as the long term influence on your child.

Are you able to forgo a salary if you would prefer to home educate, or can you earn enough to pay school fees if you would prefer an independent school? Are you happy for your child to travel further or board to go to a school that fits your requirements better?

Pt 2: State school, independent school or home education? >>

Education Choices Pt 2c: Home Education

Beyond babyhood, Education, Home education, Parenting, ,

Some parents choose to educate their children themselves, outside school. This may be their their first choice, because they want to take responsibility for the education themselves and allow their child to learn in a flexible, individualized way within a family setting. For others it is a response to school not working for that child, sometimes due to bullying, special needs or educational issues.

Home educators are a diverse group with a range of reasons for choosing home education, and different backgrounds. You do not need to be a teacher to home educate.

Educational approaches:

Home education covers the widest range of approaches, from formal work, as used in schools, to informal learning. Some families use a structured adult-led curriculum and there are many different ones available, as well as lots of resources for the National Curriculum. Others are autonomous, with the child leading the education. Often this emphasises informal learning through play and conversation but may also include structured worksheets and courses. Many use elements of both approaches. The individualised nature of home education means that parents can tailor every child’s education by picking the approach that works for them at that time.

Home educated children can take formal qualifications, such as IGCSEs, GCSEs and A-Levels either through correspondence courses, as external candidates or at further education college.

Finding out more:

There are a number of national organisations for England that support home educators.

You local public library should also have books on explaining more about home education.

Getting started:

If your child is not at school yet, you do not have to inform anyone that you are home educating since education is a parental responsibility.

If you want to remove your child from school in England then you need to inform the school in writing, and they will inform your Local Authority. The Local Authority has a duty to act if it thinks that a suitable education isn’t taking place, and you should respond to any enquires. Local authorities often prefer visits, but you may instead provide written information to satisfy their enquiries. De-registration from a designated Special Needs school requires LA consent.

Many home educators start by joining one of the national organisations and using its local contact lists to meet other home educators. There are local support networks (try searching yahoo and google groups for one in your area) through which home educators pool resources and take part in a wide range of group activities and social events.  Talking to home educators is a great way to find out if home education is for your family and how others go about it.

References:

Elective Home Education Guidelines
Ed Yourself – Comprehensive look at legalities of home education

<< Back to Pt 2b: Independent School

Finding out about animals

Home education, Learning, Nature Books, ,

My youngest and I are both very interested in animals, so I have started spending more time finding books and other resources that should interest her.

Our approach is fairly informal. But I do have a need to create a framework, in order to satisfy my sense of order and it makes it easier for me to research good resources and books, which as you can tell from my blog is something I love to do! Then if and when my daughter is interested we share them.

For the animal kingdom the obvious approach seemed to be to reflect the evolutionary relationships of animals, and the starting point for this has been the poster that takes pride of place on our living room wall. Produced a couple of years ago for the Open University, the Tree of Life poster is a beautiful representation of evolutionary relationships between living things. We have laminated it so that it will last. A variation on the poster is available on Amazon. My daughter is endlessly fascinated by pictures on this poster and the relationships between the animals. And this prompted me to find more resources for her.

A second essential resource is a good animal encyclopedia. As a child I spent hours reading my one and became extraordinarily proud of knowing about really obscure animals such as the South American Yapok (an otter like marsupial or pouched animal). So I spent a while roaming shops and Amazon looking for a really good up to date book to replace my rather out of date and tattered volume. My criteria were that the illustrations or photographs had to be beautiful to look at, that it be an adult one so that it has enough detail and coverage to satisfy an interested child’s thirst for the unusual, and that it include distribution maps so that we can easily see where a species comes from. The favourite we settled on it was the then current edition of The Encyclopedia of Animals: A Complete Visual Guide. Though we do also like the Natural History Book from DK – which includes rocks, plants and a larger number of species, but lacks the distribution maps.

We also have a copy of the very wonderful Zoo-ology, which I have blogged about before and is a great pictorial starting point for even the youngest child.

We don’t tend to use online resources but a one that appeals to me and I’m keeping in mind for my daughter as she gets older is the very comprehensive and visually appealing Arkive, a multimedia guide to animals, plants and fungi. There are teachers resources, games as well as comprehensive information on each species.

We also have a giant world map that we use to blue tac on things of interest. It has taken me a long time to find the ideal map website for our home education needs but have finally found the solution. These MegaMaps allow you to print out maps on A4 paper and stick them together to create really large maps. We print out pictures of animals of particular interest and stick them on to show where they come from.

For each group of animals I search Amazon and the local library for books to share. Then we reserve and borrow library books and see which ones we like. If there are books from particular series or that come highly recommended and my daughter likes the look of them then we might even buy one! I will post our favourites as we go along.

Coming next – Our favourite resources on the Great Apes

 

Home ed magazines

Books and Magazines, Home education, ,

Here is a list of home education magazines.

EOS – new UK home education magazine.

Home Education Magazine Long running US magazine.

Life Learning Magazine Self-directed, life-based learning.

Back-to-Homeschool Magazine – magazine by girls for girls.

Secular Homeschooling Magazine – another US one, non-religious bimonthly magazine.

Growing Without Schooling – Archives issue (Aug 1977 –  Oct 2001) of the magazine founded by John Holt, one of the founders of the modern unschooling movement.

Also a mention for Green Parent – a mainstream(ish) parenting magazine that often includes alternative education, including home education.

Are their any others that you would recommend?

Learning Trust, Trusting Learning conference 2011

Home education, Parenting, , , , , , , ,

Spent yesterday at the LiTTLe Conference in London – Learning Trust, Trusting Learning.

Very nice to see some old friends, put some faces to Twitter friends and see some well-known autonomous home educators in real life.

  • Imran Shah – Social worker and active member of email lists, with an articulate passion for parent-baby attachment. Talked about the vital importance of parent-child attachment.
  • Sandra Dodd – US Unschooling guru. Talked about living thoughtfully in the present and fostering a sense of wonder.
  • David Waynforth -  Research scientist on human behavioural ecology. Talked about children’s food choices.
  • Mike Fortune-Wood – Home education veteran, advocate and editor. Talked about the challenges facing Home Education in a political climate of increasing State control of childrens’ personal lives.
  • Alan Thomas & Harriet Pattison – Researchers into how children learn and informal learning.
  • Schuyler Waynforth

Considered writing a bit more about each – but KP Nuts has beaten me to it! The LiTTLe Conference in London 11.6.11

 

E learnt to read…

Home education, Learning, ,

My nearly eight year old daughter E is a voracious reader. She disappears off into a book for hours, procrastinating when it is time to do anything, just to spend a few more moments reading, and regularly disappears only to be found reading in the bathroom.

But no-one has taught her.

E does not go to school, so she has had the freedom to learn in her own way, at her own pace. Outside school learning primarily happens through conversation and trying things out, so there was never any hurry to start teaching her to read!

E has always been surrounded by books, has spent sometimes hours a day being read to and regularly visits the library where all our library cards are permanently maxed out. Indeed ‘book’ was one of her first words.

Some days I will disappear into a novel, until at last I reappear, satiated for a while. And her father is frequently found to be missing, presumed reading on his i-phone in the bathroom. Reading is just something we all do for fun – both to ourselves and to E and her little sister.

I guess we have taken the ‘just read to them approach’! And it has gone something like this:

Step 1.

Read lots to E

Some days we may not read to her at all, other days we will curl up in bed in the morning and read … for hours. First picture books, then later adding in non-fiction and a chapter or more in the evening. Once upon a time it was the Far Away Tree, then Swallows and Amazons, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and most recently the Hobbit. With a sprinkling of lots of others books too!

Step 2:

Play at reading

When she was a toddler E would often play at reading to her doll of course. Just like anything else a small child sees others doing.

Step 3:

Follow her lead

As time went on we got a feel for what worked for her.

Which turned out to be absolutely no teaching, no getting her to read or try to sound out words. And definitely no asking questions, or interrupting the flow. As soon as we tried any of these E just closed down and switched off. Instead she just asked me to follow the words with my finger for a while. So we listened and just continued to read to her.

Step 4:

Find words everywhere

Reading started with E recognising her own name, then the word google when searching for pictures of animals online. Words are of course everywhere!

On one memorable occasion when she was four we were walking home down the street and she shouted ‘stop’. In a panic I turned, envisioning an oncoming truck, but found instead that she had just read the word off a car sticker.

E found words on the computer, the playstation,  in shops, in magazines, on board games, in recipes – just a few of her favourite things!

But mostly E loves books. We all still read lots of picture books, many of which we borrow time and again from the library. Indeed although E can now read Harry Potter she will inevitably spend the longest time browsing and choose to borrow picture books. I will choose the chapter books and factual books that I think might appeal to her when we get home.

Step 5:

Reading to others

As she became more confident E would read simple books to others – her sister, and her Grandpa. But not to me – oh no, never to me!

Step 6:

Fairy Magic

As her reading developed E immersed herself in the Rainbow Magic books. She worked her way through at least fifty of these highly formulaic books, building up her reading skills. Sometimes two or three per bus trip.

Step 7:

E can now read quite independently. She has read a few chapters of Harry Potter, and is reading and re-reading her current favourite – Tony Robinson’s Kings and Queens. Interestingly before she could read fiction was a firm favourite, but maybe that is more to do with the general lack of good factual picture books?

Step 8:

Keep reading to her

And of course I still read to her. Not for so many hours a day – but most days we will manage at least one chapter. The latest favourites are the Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan.

Our aim has been for E to see reading as a joy, not a chore. Whether it be a story to lose herself in or a factual book that feeds that thirst for knowledge. Her personality has dictated that this meant leaving her to learn to read, whilst sharing books with her, and  surrounding her with words and stories. For our part we have simply needed to read to her, provide books and maintain faith – faith that she would learn to read.

A few favourite articles on reading:

http://lisarussell.org/blog/please-do-not-read-to-your-child-for-20-minutes-a-day/

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201002/children-teach-themselves-read

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201311/the-reading-wars-why-natural-learning-fails-in-classrooms

http://schoolingtheworld.org/a-thousand-rivers/

Other experiences:

This was written as part of Liveotherwise’s Reading Carnival.
Other experiences in Oxfordshire Home Educators’ Magazine. 

Education Choices Pt 2: State school, independent school or home education?

Beyond babyhood, Education, Learning, Parenting, , , , ,

There are three main choices for educating your child in England – State school, Independent school or Home Education…

When to start:

Every parent in England has to, by law, provide an education from the start of the term following their child’s fifth birthday.

School stages and ages

(State schools and many independent schools)

Primary:

  • Key Stage 1: Reception, years 1 and 2 (5 to 7 yrs old)
  • Key Stage 2: Years 3 to 6 (ages 8 to 11)

Secondary:

  • Key Stage 3: Year groups 7 to 9 (ages 12 to 14)
  • Key Stage 4: Year groups 10 and 11 (ages 15 and 16)
  • Year Groups 12 and 13 (ages 17 and 18) are referred to as Post 16.

In many other countries formal education does not start until age seven, as it does in independent Steiner Waldorf schools. And within home education it is common for informal methods to be used for the majority of a child’s education.

If you prefer to start school later, you can delay your child’s school start as long as you like by home educating, then apply to schools when your child is ready. With pre-school aged children you may choose to do things full-time as a family, or supplement with play-based settings such as nurseries, playgroups.

How to Choose a School

Inspection reports, reviews and league tables can all be helpful, but you can learn far more by visiting a school and talking to pupils and observing the teachers and pupils.

Remember to ask lots of questions.
How does the school seem to you?
Do the teachers and children seem happy and how do they interact with each other?

It is important to remember that not all children will benefit from a high ranking academic school, and there is more to school than what you learn.

Any reports of a school, whether by writers or parents are subjective, based on their own opinion and background, and may not necessarily reflect your or your children’s priorities or viewpoints.

Mixing it up

Many parents will use a different option at different times, or for different children, depending on their individual needs. Another option is flexi-schooling, where a child is registered at school, but attends part-time at the discretion of the head teacher and is home educated offsite the rest of the time.

Find out more

 

<< Back to: Pt 1: What would suit your child and family?

On to: Pt 2a: State School >>

1st issue of EOS – Education Outside School

Home education, Magazines and blogs,

The first issue of the eagerly awaited home education magazine EOS is now out.

It’s available in an online format only, at www.educationoutsideschool.co.uk, free of charge. It is hoped that it will be a much needed resource for new and experienced HE families, but something which also makes an informative and valuable contribution to how HE is seen in the UK, and beyond – a step towards normalising home ed and give it a more positive image.