26 September 2011
What curriculum?
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Curriculum; Reading.
USUALLY AFTER A FAMILY HAS DECIDED TO HOMESCHOOL, the first question that comes up is, “What curriculum should we use?” As I have said elsewhere, we did not invest in any formal curriculum until our two boys were 10 and 8 years old. In the early years of homeschooling, reading was practically the primary learning activity in our home.
Getting kids hooked on reading is the road to learning success, and countless studies attest to this. We read widely and voraciously. We borrowed books from the library, we did read-alouds that developed active listening skills, which led to conversation and promoted critical thinking. Eventually we settled on Sonlight because we were all readers to begin with, and you should see our boys’ faces when the package arrived!
Certainly we were overwhelmed as any new homeschooler would be when faced with the staggering amount of curriculum available, so polished and glossy, all screaming at us, “Buy me! Buy me!” Everything seemed more colourful and so much more interesting, you almost felt cleverer just looking at the titles.
Some caveats are in order, however:
Please note that you don’t have to buy everything all at once. And neither is everything necessary. Besides you can always try to source some material locally to save costs.
Second, you don’t have to stick to ONE curriculum or publisher all the way from Grade 1 to Grade 10. Yes, you are allowed to experiment, supplement, and even ditch the whole curriculum in favour of something more eclectic or tailored to a specific need of the student.
Third, it is possible to minimize expenses by using resources available in your local library. You can even homeschool using FREE stuff online – something pioneering homeschoolers knew nothing about in pre-internet days. For example, see Khan Academy, Charlotte Mason Curriculum Guide, or Homeschooling 4 Free.
With that out of the way, we’re back to the question: “What curriculum should we use?”
The short answer is, “Anything.” You can use anything and everything that you can lay your hands on. Literally.
The long answer is, well, considerably lengthier and it begins with the Big Picture. I’ll say more in the next post.
25 November 2009
Living, learning, loving, unschooling
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Homeschool Profile.
Visit the home of Edward and Selina Lim and you know you’ve dropped in on an unusual family. Married for 12 years, the couple have 3 daughters (between 11 and 6 years), and a 16-month old son. Both are are also pastors of a church in Penang. Edward has been in full-time ministry for about 15 years while Selina was a state registered nurse before she received her full-time calling into ministry. Edward also runs Contact Sports Enterprise, a sports events management company. He is just as involved in promoting Floorball and coaches both the state and national team. On top of it all, they’re homeschooling. Here’s what Selina has to say about their homeschooling adventure:
So when did you start homeschooling?
Ever since we became parents we’ve homeschooled and it’s a part of our life – we’ve never lived any other way! Our eldest is 11 years, so that makes 11 years of homeschooling in all.
What made you both decide to homeschool? Who thought of it first?
The decision was actually made during our courtship. Even then we discussed how to raise our children, and I remember we said we wanted them to enjoy the learning process and not be caught in an exam-oriented culture and the rigidity of a regular school system. We wanted to nurture them according to their natural bend which we knew conventional schools couldn’t provide.
We knew we would need flexibility for the family anyway, in view of our church ministry. So before we became parents we sought God intently for confirmation, and our desire to beat the school system became a conviction when we were expecting our firstborn.
Tell us about your homeschool – the curriculum you use, the way you spend your time, etc. With your busy schedule, what’s a typical day like?
Throughout the years we tried different approaches but we found ourselves leaning towards unschooling as it suits us best. We may not be 100% unschoolers but we do keep to Charlotte Mason’s motto of living, learning and loving.
Typical day? Different seasons have different days! Generally, our children begin their day with their own quiet time with God. This slot can sometimes take very long as their prayers often turn into occasions for poems, stories and songs. They call it “creative dreaming in progress”. We have some workbooks for languages and Math but do not rely on them completely. We have a pretty good home library so we don’t need to depend on the public library. However, we do make a point to visit the public library as regularly as we can.
A big chunk of the day is spent reading, making dance pieces, writing stories, playing, talking as a family, and learning from our natural surrounding. We enjoy unit studies too. If something in a book, a recent experience or an issue captures our interest, we will pick it up and do a unit study. Depending on our girls’ level of interest, the topic can occupy us for a week or many months.
Most of all, they find every possible opportunity to play – whether it is a household chore, mealtime, babysitting, even their educational project. Play is work. Work is play. If you ask them, they will tell you: “Everyday is a holiday and everyday is a school day.” So, everything we do at home is intertwined. Household chores are done together with a gotong-royong spirit. No charts. We do almost everything together (or at least with one parent). We minister together. The children are part of our ministry – our prayer team, our helpers, and our dance team. They go with us whenever and wherever we go for ministry (except hospital visitations).
I see flexibility, but where does discipline come in? Don’t you need to have a lot of discipline to make unschooling work?
Indeed, our girls delight in the flexibility of time, space, and freedom to explore and experiment within the boundaries of our faith and values. But along the way they have learnt discipline. They are independent and industrious, and know how to take responsibility for their own learning. Every day offers ample learning opportunities. As i see it, learning is really an ongoing process and all I do is ensure our home provides the children with liberty and every opportunity to exercise their creativity, even to make a mess. It has certainly given them real meaning in learning and they view life more holistically. As they’re with us during formal and informal meetings, I notice they have become very adaptable and interact well with people of all ages.
You seem to spend a lot of time together as a family. What else do your girls do?
The girls are very involved in dance (ballet and contemporary) and they perform in community events, concerts, weddings, as well as in church. They have choreographed their own dance pieces ever since they were 6 and 7. They also enjoy rollerblading and skating, playing the guitar, sewing, knitting, arts and craft and cooking (especially creating our own recipes).
As a family, we’re into adventure – outdoor activities, wall climbing, biking. Since Edward runs adventure camps and sports events, the girls get involved as much as they can. Naturally, they are part of the Junior Floorball team too. Then when we went horseback riding in Australia, they came back crazy over horses – would love to pursue horseback-riding, but it is just too expensive for us here. They swim as well. Oh yes, we love to snuggle up for a good show during family movie night followed by Edward’s debriefing.
That’s really an active family you have. Doesn’t unschooling make more demands on you as a parent, then?
It is hard to say, since this is the only life we know. In many ways we think it’s easier, simply because of its practicality. The children are always with us; therefore, we can be as mobile as we need to be, which is an advantage in our vocation. Besides, since we are close to one another, bringing up our children and disciplining them is more effective. It is easier to instill our beliefs and values. We are definitely more aware of our responsibility as well as the seriousness of educating and nurturing our children, as opposed to letting others do the job that is rightfully ours as parents.
What special challenges (if any) do you face as a homeschooling family? In what way do these challenges affect your children’s homeschooling?
The usual challenge is the lack of support from relatives and friends who think we are depriving our children. It doesn’t really affect our convictions as we have come to embrace homeschooling fully as our lifestyle. Unfortunately, as our children grow up, they tend to be at the receiving end instead. The girls do love homeschooling but often find many people’s comments and questions unbearable. Nevertheless, all this negativity has deepened our children’s own convictions.
Sport is another challenge. As homeschoolers, our girls were not allowed to participate in competition in rhythmic gymnastics (run by the State Sports Academy). Although our girls loved the sport very much and excelled in it, they refused to trade homeschooling to advance in the sport as suggested by their head coach. They did it for recreation instead and eventually stopped due to the lack of skilled coaches.
Finally, the challenge of proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia. Unfortunately, this is one language they are not particularly keen in although I love the national language myself. Since English is widely spoken in Penang where we live, I constantly seek opportunities to make Bahasa fun and practical for the children although this is not always easy. Sometimes the children try conversing in the language when ordering food or shopping, but people always respond in English or Hokkien!
What values have you consciously sought to inculcate in the home as you educate the children?
It is our aim to raise our children to love God and serve His purposes. We gear them towards being responsible, resourceful and respectful persons. We want them to love life and live it loud for the Lord Jesus Christ. We encourage them to dream big and pursue their God-given passions.
What a full life your family has! What wonderful memories you’re building, which is really one of the joys that homeschooling brings. Is there anything else that’s memorable – a milestone maybe – in your homeschooling journey that you wish to share in closing?
We’ve got many! Among other things, all our girls were early readers but we would highlight our third daughter Chrisalynn’s development. She began reading simple words at about 18 months, started simple chapter books at 4, and then on to chapter books at 5 without any reading programme. We believe it’s the result of her listening to us read aloud to the older girls. Chrisalynn was always there with us whenever we were reading. And now the girls are into learning Spanish by themselves via the internet and books. They teach each other (and parents learn from them!)
2007 was very memorable as we took our sabbatical that year. It was an extraordinary year, packed with surprises as we took time to rest in God and fed our faith. The children learnt on the go as we travelled to different places locally (Langkawi, Kuala Lumpur, Cameron Highlands, Sabah) and overseas (Australia and Singapore). Their learning experiences were recorded in two volumes of travel logs, all of which have become their cherished keepsakes. These volumes are filled with stories, research, interviews, reports, book list, budget expenses, and pictures. Above all, they experienced faith in action and watched God’s promises come alive in the journey.
14 September 2009
Site of the Day: Ambleside Online
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Site of the Day.
Charlotte Mason has legions of followers since the recovery of her delight-directed and twaddle-free philosophy of education. The web is inundated with hundreds of links and references to all things Charlotte Mason and homeschooling curricula modeled after her programme.
That’s not a bad thing, I think, because her views on education are among the most life-affirming and child-focused, and more people should know about her contribution (For example, read her eulogies). Understandably, many new homeschooling families are overwhelmed.
But this website Ambleside Online sits right at the top for those who are intrigued and inspired and want to homeschool the Charlotte Mason way. Besides, Ambleside Online offers her methodology and curriculum for teaching young children at home for free. Yes, you read right: FREE.
It’s one reason why it deserves to be awarded Website of the Day!.
Ambleside Online (AO) is remarkable for attempting to approximate a ‘Charlotte Mason (CM) education’ and stay true to literary standards espoused by Mason in her schools, Parents’ National Education Union (P.N.E.U). However, Mason is not just about a method or a curriculum (okay, she did say her’s was a method but not a ‘system’) and therefore principles provide the essential underpinning for holistic learning and child development. You’ll find a reiteration of her ideas on AO’s introduction page if you need a little more convincing.
Therefore books and reading lists though important are but a part, and must not be mistaken for the whole. With this in mind, I am pleased to report that AO has collected Mason’s 6-volume magnum opus and put them online for aspiring CM educators. Yes – no need to buy the hard copies (if you’re not inclined for economic reasons)! And if her writing style is too archaic for your 21st century ears, a modern-language translation is also available here.
A CM education programme – right up to Year 11!
Once you’ve gone through this foundational stuff (no, you don’t have to pass a test) you’re ready for take-off. AO lists an entire curriculum for a complete CM homeschool that begins with kindy or preschool right up to Year 11 (Year 12 is in the works). The wonderful people behind this labour of love – by the way, they’re all volunteer mothers – have put together a meticulous yearly programme in 3 terms encompassing text, daily and weekly instructions, and – gasp! – end-of-term exam questions.
A whole year is mapped out in weekly readings and exercises (by chapters) around a number of recommended books that include Bible, History, Geography, Natural History/Science, Mathematics, Phonics/Reading, Poetry/Literature, and so on. That’s a lot of books to read, mind you. Literacy and numeracy are amply covered. The best thing is, practically all of the recommended texts are available online for free too (check out the online library and links to where they may be downloaded or purchased).
Of course this should not stop you from buying any of these books if you so wish – though not from AO (they’re not vendors), but elsewhere online, or at the nearest bookstore.
There’s a lot of other links to reviews and vintage articles. I must add that this site also hosts a support group that addresses issues, readers’ comments, and queries. So dear parents, you’re not dipping into the deep end alone.
But how does it work for Malaysians?
Having said all this, I can almost hear whispers of hesitation from moms who have scrutinised the CM lists: “But, but….Plutarch? English Revolution? This Country of Ours – The Founding of Maryland? We’re Malaysians-lah!”
Now this is where I step up and say, you’re not in school-lah. Improvise, like all good homeschoolers do.
I understand the bugbear of homeschoolers in Malaysia (and the complaint of local detractors) – is this over-dependence on foreign curricula. Eventually our homeschool kids end up more informed about Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War, than about Tunku Abdul Rahman and the Baling Talks.
Indeed, one should use the CM plan as a guide; and certainly, you should supplement where needful. Surely no problem there for resourceful parents who understand what homeschooling is all about. It’s really a matter of adapting and contextualising Mason’s philosophy to your home, whether you’re Malaysian or Filipino or Singaporean. Remember, homeschool is not about a list of books or a study plan. Neither is a CM education. But until such time when intrepid local homeschoolers design a comparable Malaysian-based CM curriculum, AO is a great find.
Give your child a single valuable idea and you have done more for his education
than if you had laid upon his mind the burden of bushels of information.
Charlotte Mason
To Charlotte Mason, education was a way of living and learning, a new way of seeing. “Education is a life,” she wrote. And so it is. Hers is the way to stimulate the senses of a child and start her on a joyful discovery of knowledge beyond dead facts and fragmented information favoured by some teachers today.
Thanks to Mason, homeschoolers are rediscovering living books, real literature, the classics, notebooking, read-alouds, oral narratives, art, nature walks, and outdoor play. It’s a wholesome approach that stands opposed – no, defies – the glossy offerings of homeschool publishers and vendors, and their increasing dependence on workbooks or technology and multimedia. If this strikes you where it matters, in your heart, you owe it to your children to check out Ambleside Online.
Related Links:
Why you should know Charlotte Mason – previous HOMEFRONTIER post
Charlotte’s Daughters – Learning from Charlotte Mason and her PNEU. Includes her PNEU curriculum guide too.
Charlotte Mason Group (on Squidoo) – helping homeschoolers implement her philosophy in all areas including narration, living books, poetry, Shakespeare, timelines, living math, composer study, artist study, and nature study. Lots of resources.
25 August 2009
Family on the move, and baby on the way
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: FAQ; Parenting.
“There will be a lot of adjustments when the baby comes….how will we cope?”
[DT: When a father wrote to express fears homeschooling 2 children with a third on the way, many moms sent in encouragement for him to continue and not give up. This post which is #4 in a series that began on 18 August, comes from a mom who's got more than baby on her mind, but is happily homeschooling all the same!]
First of all, CONGRATULATIONS on your wife’s pregnancy! I’m presently pregnant with my 3rd child who’s due in mid December (I’m about 21 weeks along). I have 2 boys – Ian, 5+ and Pio, 2+. We’re homeschooling the Charlotte Mason way.
I understand your concerns about homeschooling, as we’re going through some big changes ourselves. We’re moving to Hanoi, Vietnam, next Saturday, and will remain there for 1 year as my husband has an assignment there. With all the packing and organizing and planning, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed … and I sometimes get ahead of myself and tend to get anxious and worried about things, especially about homeschooling.
Early next year, there’ll be a whole lot of CHANGES in our family and lifestyle – new environment & home, new baby and new ‘school’ year for Ian, who will be 6 yrs, like your eldest son. We’ve never had a hired domestic helper (well, I have 3 non-hired ones actually — my 2 boys and my husband haha!), and do not plan to have any in the future. I believe that EDUCATION is MUCH more than just the academics – a child must learn the basics of life, especially on how to take care of himself and others, and these are best learned at home, through every day routines and house chores, etc.
I agree with the other homeschoolers who have replied your email – a child can LEARN anytime, anywhere, anyhow – and everything is an opportunity for learning. Even though I know that our homeschool next year will NOT be a typical ‘school year’, I am sure that my children will get the best out of everything.
Having said that, once all the packing and organizing were done, I seized the opportunity to plan out our Year 1 (Gr 1 for age 6-7). I’ve gathered all the books and materials that we need for each subject and came up with a schedule system that is flexible enough to be modified easily. That way, when baby is born, I can fully concentrate on breastfeeding (which, by the way, makes life so much easier for everyone, especially mommy! not to mention that it is the best food for baby) WHILE homeschooling the 6-year-old. The 3-yr-old tags along in our homeschool lessons (which are done as informally as possible for children of these young ages) if he wants to — If he doesn’t, I have ‘activity boxes’ (Duplos, playdoh, art supplies, etc) to keep him occupied while I do a lesson with his older brother.
You must keep in mind that homeschooling is NOT “school at home” It is actually EDUCATING the child in the HEART OF THE HOME, in the domestic church, which is the FAMILY. The best part of homeschooling is that we can make it as flexible as we want it to be, all the while, enjoying each other’s presence and building strong bonds and relationships within the family. It’s always the toughest during the beginning phase, but it will soon become second nature. I am inspired by many homeschooling families overseas who have 7-10 children and no helpers, and they’re having the time of their lives homeschooling! The support that I’ve gotten from these veteran homeschoolers have really kept me going, especially when there’re any uncertainty or self-doubt.
If you like, I would be more than happy to share with you our lesson plan outline for our 6-yr-old next year, and the schedule planners and templates which you and your wife can modify easily for your own usage. I kept our schedule very light next year, as the main priority is to spend time together as a family with new baby. As “light” as it is, I do not believe that our homeschool schedule will “shortchange” my son in any way, as it is very rich and full of life. That’s another great thing about homeschooling – we can focus on what we believe is important and limit those that we believe are not!
I just want to affirm you in your decision to homeschool your children – it is a decision that you will not regret! Despite all the challenges and a new learning curve, you, your wife and your children will be having the most wonderful time of your lives!
GOD BLESS!
Dominique
23 July 2009
Why you should know Charlotte Mason
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Book Review; Education.
Charlotte Mason (1842 – 1923) was a British educator and a remarkable woman whose ideas were undoubtedly ahead of her time. As the only child she was largely educated by her own mother who I believed, influenced her advocacy for home education and to view children with greater respect than was fashionable then. She loved children, enjoyed them, and delighted in seeing them accepted as persons with a capacity to learn in ways adults denied them.
It has been said that her ideas would have been lost to us today if not for Susan Schaeffer Macauley who drew attention to Mason’s holistic ideals in Macauley’s own book, For the Children’s Sake. Incidentally Macauley’s book was my introduction to the Charlotte Mason method. ( Over 15 years ago, a US homeschooler I barely knew mailed me a copy of For the Children’s Sake after a brief email correspondence!)
Today Mason’s ideas and philosophy have become a major influence in the global homeschooling movement. I don’t think she started out to enact a programme for homeschool per se, but as an adjunct to children’s education – she was concerned how poorly children were raised and taught (either by their own mothers or governesses) that she began to put her own thoughts in writing.
In 1886, her book Home Education – which eventually grew into volumes! – was published with a prescient observation on education in the preface (“The educational outlook is rather misty and depressing…”) that it could almost have come from our own newspapers. She went on to write that,
[But] we have no unifying principle, no definite aim; in fact no philosophy of education. As a stream can rise no higher than its source, so it is probable that no educational effort can rise above the whole scheme of of thought that gives it birth; and perhaps this is the reason of all the fallings from us, vanishings, failures, and disappointments which mark our educational records.
In short, any educational enterprise must be founded on a philosophy that seeks to develop a whole person, to assist in “…the production of the latent good in that being, the dissipation of the latent evil, the preparation of the child to take his place in the world at his best, with every capacity for good that is in him developed into a power”. As you can see, absent are the soul diminishing end of ‘self-actualization,’ the flaccid leveling demanded of politics and ‘nation building,’ and the utilitarian anxiety of being properly equipped for the job market! 
There’s so much online about Charlotte Mason and her methods and books , so I shall skip the details. Let me share a few things that influenced our family and the way we homeschooled. The value of a stimulating atmosphere. By this she meant that we should never underestimate what a child picks up from the environment he is raised and taught in. The habits, the values, the priorities enunciated or displayed by parents and that surround a child are imbibed long before formal instruction takes root. She may not have used the term, but modern educators now refer to this atmosphere of influence as “socialization.”
And oh yes, Mason believed – and how she believed – in healthy unstructured play and nature walks and the outdoors. Lots of it, preferably in the mornings! Read her books and you’ll see abundant references to art, music, dance, and a wholesome attitude to life and learning. If she can only see how our kindergartens have been reduced to exam factories, Mason would turn in her grave.
The importance of real books (or living books)and not twaddle. Mason disdained the way adults talked down to children and dumbed down books for their consumption. Workbooks, disjointed facts abridged into unstimulating textbooks were “twaddle” that dilute and weaken habits of mind and learning. “If a child talk twaddle, it is because his elders are in the habit of talking twaddle to him… On the whole children who grow up amongst their elders and are not provided with what are called children’s books at all, fare the better on what they are able to glean for themselves from the literature of grown-up people.”
The earth split, the clouds rolled away; I dare say, this twaddle comment marked a genuine turning point for my wife and I. More than anything else, it was this illumination that moved us away from textbooks, workbooks, etc, and led us to subscribe to a literature-based system (Sonlight) for our family.
The significance of habit. Despite Mason’s belief in the innate goodness of a child, she had no illusion that children have no “self-compelling power.” The building of good habits – moral, mental, physical (she was also concerned about diet, exercise, and posture) – the efforts of training and discipline to give a child “control over his own nature” so that the acquired good will like growing muscles “take form according to the action required of them.” The easy philosophy that says, “It’s ok, he’s still young” or “Don’t worry, he will know better soon enough,” is the way to shipwreck as far as Mason was concerned.
As a homeschool parent, let me say the training of habits is by far the most challenging part of education. If you are reading this and if you are a homeschooler or thinking about home education, the fruit of your labour will be even sweeter if you pay attention to the inculcation of habits.
Now you can see why educators and homeschoolers should get acquainted with Charlotte Mason. It is wonderful that although she was a devout Christian, her education philosophy has found wide acceptance across religious and cultural barriers (Eg: Check out this Muslim group for Mason). Her ideas moved a generation and continues to shape the modern home education movement today.
Note: Some of her references to race and civilisations were products of her era and therefore should not be held against her otherwise enlightened views.
Just a few links on Charlotte Mason:
Wikipedia
Simply Charlotte Mason – methods and curriculum
Who was Charlotte Mason? About Charlotte Mason’s methods and influence on homeschool
Charlotte Mason & Classical Education – a review on Mason’s views on classical education by Susan Wise Bauer
A Charlotte Mason Education – Homesite, and also read the article by Catherine Levison
Charlotte Mason Research & Supply Company Dean and Karen Andreola’s site