Homeschooling is a special responsibility and a valuable family decision. It takes work and planning and can be overwhelming at times. The journey doesn’t always begin smoothly. Many of us have floundered in those first years, trying to find our way and navigate the many twists and turns in concepts and products available to us.
Knowledge Quest understood the fears and questions that many parents have as they begin their journey into the homeschooling world. They address these fears with their on-line, e-mail based class called Homeschooling ABC’s.
For $10/month or $2.30/class a homeschool newbie can find out what they need to know about the exciting learning opportunities they have as homeschoolers.
I have been homeschooling my oldest for 3 years, but the memory of the search for answers and understanding homeschool philosophies is fresh in my mind.
Here is what we got out of this class:
The class begins with an unschooling approach. It discusses student- led/ delight-driven learning. I believe, personally, that this is very helpful and insightful when taking a child out of Public School to begin homeschooling. It allows them a graceful entry into learning that takes the pressure off of both the child and the parent.
This course is clearly coming from a Christian view of Homeschooling. I appreciate this as I strive to make God the heart and center of our homeschool. That is not to say, however, that a secular homeschooler could not use this class. There is a lot of valuable information contained in these classes for all beginnig homeschoolers.
I found a lot of good advice and wished that I had had this class prior to my start in homeschool.
Some information was a little obvious to me, but other classes made up for this by really drenching me in information that frankly, I hadn’t had much time to consider.
For example, I am an eclectic homeschooler. For us this was more of a necessity than a choice. We don’t have an enormous budget for schooling and formal curriculums were a little too costly for us. Most of what we use is hand me down materials from friends who have graduated their homeschoolers. I have taken these gifts happily and adapted as necessary to make them useable for our family. Because of this, I had never really looked into different philosophies of homeschooling.
This class goes into depth explaining both the pros and cons to varying approaches. I had heard enough from others about their philosophies, but learning the disadvatages to each was a bonus to me.
The writer of this class is very organized and, at times, I thought some ideas she presents might be impractical or more structured than I would want to be personally.
My favorite lesson in this class was lesson K ( I love the schoolbox idea! It’s worth learning) and all in all I think this is an excellent resource for a beginner. At this cost I would recommend co-ops or support groups to offer at least a few classes (if not the entire course) to beginning homeschoolers in their groups. They could even gift the new homeschooler with a class as a welcome to the group.
Another favorite part of this class, for me, were the bonus gifts that come with many of the lessons. There are 10 gifts in all and the class combined with these gifts are worth over $250! All that for $10/month! It is very worth it.
If you want to be a real blessing to someone starting out this could be the way. Knowledge Quest’s Homeschooling ABC’s will equip them with the understanding and confidence to succeed in their homeschool.
Check them out at http://www.homeschoolingabcs.com