Well we have officially finished public education. Now we start on a deprogramming journey for a while and the start of our homeschooling journey too. I guess they are one in the same really.
Everyone seems to be asking me about the structure of things and if I have a daily schedule. My sister seems to think that it is more expensive to home school because you HAVE to buy all the texts and programs that schools use.
I am not sure how I will cope with all their issues but I can only try can't I :)
May 30, 2009
May 4, 2009
It's Done
Ok, so no turning back now... not that I want to :)
Put the paper work in today it goes before the council on wednesday, if they are happy with it I will know soon, if they are not happy with it, it will go to the meeting on the 22nd of this month. So either way I should know before we actually plan to start our journey on the 1st June.
It might all fall in very close with baby being born, Ishtar's 7th birthday, moving house and completing renovations/selling house. But that just means the start will be the hardest part :)
I am eager to take on this challenge and try my hardest to reconnect with my little girl who seems so distant from me at the moment.
She is looking forward to the journey but continues to make sure that going to 'School" is still an option for her if she doesn't like home school. I am trying to reassure her, and finding it hard to explain that it will be very different but she just need to try it before she will know whether it is right for her and right for me.
We have been having a few topsy turby moments recently and things get a bit out of hand. I think my over emotional pregnant side is not helping matters and the fact that so much is going on in our lives right now is not doing her all that well either. She is struggling to understand some things and has a tendancy to lie to us if she thinks she will not be taken seriously in her thoughts. I am struggling to get her to understand that we are here to listen and keep her feeling strong and secure and that although we do pass over some things it is not because we don't think they are important it is because other things are more important at the moment.
When ultimately Ishtar's comfort in matters and understanding of them is what should be the most important thing to us it seems to get put behind because of the stress involved in all the other things that are going on!
Argh, I have to have this talk with her again and include her father but it will just be dismissed again or she will start talking about little things that are worrying her. I need to find a way to reassure her that all those 'silly' little things are not something she needs to be concerned about. Without dismissing them as unimportant.
Put the paper work in today it goes before the council on wednesday, if they are happy with it I will know soon, if they are not happy with it, it will go to the meeting on the 22nd of this month. So either way I should know before we actually plan to start our journey on the 1st June.
It might all fall in very close with baby being born, Ishtar's 7th birthday, moving house and completing renovations/selling house. But that just means the start will be the hardest part :)
I am eager to take on this challenge and try my hardest to reconnect with my little girl who seems so distant from me at the moment.
She is looking forward to the journey but continues to make sure that going to 'School" is still an option for her if she doesn't like home school. I am trying to reassure her, and finding it hard to explain that it will be very different but she just need to try it before she will know whether it is right for her and right for me.
We have been having a few topsy turby moments recently and things get a bit out of hand. I think my over emotional pregnant side is not helping matters and the fact that so much is going on in our lives right now is not doing her all that well either. She is struggling to understand some things and has a tendancy to lie to us if she thinks she will not be taken seriously in her thoughts. I am struggling to get her to understand that we are here to listen and keep her feeling strong and secure and that although we do pass over some things it is not because we don't think they are important it is because other things are more important at the moment.
When ultimately Ishtar's comfort in matters and understanding of them is what should be the most important thing to us it seems to get put behind because of the stress involved in all the other things that are going on!
Argh, I have to have this talk with her again and include her father but it will just be dismissed again or she will start talking about little things that are worrying her. I need to find a way to reassure her that all those 'silly' little things are not something she needs to be concerned about. Without dismissing them as unimportant.
April 30, 2009
Registration Letter
Outline of Proposed Program – ISHTAR LINTNER
Aims and Purposes of the Proposed Education Program.
We believe that Home Schooling Ishtar is the best option for our family to maintain a trusting and healthy relationship with each other. We are of the opinion that we are better equipped to maintain a stimulating environment for our daughter to learn things appropriate to her age and skill levels. Home educating Ishtar will give her more opportunity to learn using tools that interest her, in a more stable one on one environment.
General Outline of the Proposed Program.
Given that a lot of Ishtar’s learning will take place informally, we are not planning to adhere to a precise timetable and intend to be flexible in order to take advantage of learning opportunities as they occur. This will also help to give Kurt an opportunity to play a more substantial role in Ishtar’s learning experience. We have come to the belief that the best approach for Ishtar is to follow her lead in learning, by using her interests as a basis to any structured learning. Our entire family will be involved in Ishtar’s learning experiences, focusing on her reading, writing, mathematics and sciences.
Planning and Research Undertaken to Prepare for Home Schooling
As the main care giver for Ishtar, I have put a lot of thought and research into our homeschooling options over the last year. I have considered Steiner, Charlotte Mason, Montessori, unit studies and unschooling. I have looked at the Tasmanian school curriculums, as Ishtar has been enrolled at West Launceston Primary School for 2 years and 1 term. We are planning to start our journey at the beginning of term 2 this year. I have had many discussions with other home schooling parents both locally and nationally, via internet forums and in person. On a practical level we have been doing ‘home readers’ with Ishtar for 2 years through her primary school, and she has shown interest in doing printed out word puzzles and mathematics based games.
Literacy Skills Development
As Ishtar has already started literacy development from her time in the public school system, she is doing very well and enjoys reading, writing and learning how to spell. We plan to continue her learning in this area via the use of daily reading, writing projects relating to day to day tasks, story writing, weekly journal writing and spelling using word lists over a 1-2 week period. We will also complement these with the use of internet sites, such as www.starfall.com and www.pbs.org/parents. We also plan to use some educational computer games such as Reader Rabbit.
Numeracy Skills Development
Ishtar uses basic maths skills daily without prompting, so we anticipate that much of her learning will continue to be self-directed. Using day to day tasks such as cooking, gardening, temperature and rainfall record keeping, we will continue to provide her with ever increasing difficulties. Which will be supplemented at a later stage of development with various texts, internet sites (www.kidzone.ws) and other maths based computer games and programs.
Use of ICT
As Kurt’s work is ICT based, Ishtar will have access to her own computer set up for educational and fun games. She is competent in the use of mouse and keyboarding skills and will have monitored access to ADSL internet for use with research and information collection. She will also have access to a printer for printing pictures and information she finds, as well as worksheets or games she would like to have access to, away from the computer.
Other Learning Areas
There is a range of learning areas Ishtar is interested in, which we will encourage her to explore.
Science, through gardening, pets and composting. She is already interested in using a microscope she was given as a Christmas gift this past Christmas.
Music, through her own exploration of guitar and the limited knowledge that Kurt has in this area, and recorder playing by the use of books and Katie’s knowledge of this area. This may extend to formal lessons at a later date, if Ishtar becomes confident and interested to that level.
Arts and Crafts, through a range of different products. Ishtar has continuous access to a range of craft supplies. As well as drawing, painting and collage materials, Ishtar will have access to pottery and sewing materials and will be encouraged to include artwork in any and all projects she undertakes.
At this stage in her development we do not see the need for any sort of structure for other subject areas, as she develops interest in other topics we will change her learning experiences to suit her interest.
Social Interaction
This will include group activities/projects with other home schooled children and participation in community/voluntary activities, as well as frequent contact with family members and friends with both home educated and conventionally schooled children. She has also shown interest in joining team sports, like Hockey, as well as becoming part of a Pony Club. We are yet to investigate extensively into the options she currently has to participate in these activities, but she has previously been involved in Swimming, Dancing and Cricket outside of her conventional school hours. She also receives social opportunities most weekends when going to watch Kurt play Hockey, as there are many children around for her to interact with.
Evaluation and Record Keeping Strategies
We plan to record Ishtar’s progress in a combination of different ways listed below.
Journal entries: Initially hand written on a weekly basis, both by Ishtar and Katie/Kurt. Via a Blog specifically for Katie to record various things associated with our home schooling journey.
Photo’s: Photography is something that interests Ishtar so we will be using her own photography as well as the pictures we take to build up a folio of work.
Seasonal work: We will have a seasonal project involving literature, numeracy and art works which will help build the folio along side the photography.
We will evaluate the level of work Ishtar is doing on a regular basis and set harder/more complex tasks as her skills in certain areas develop. We will also change the areas of learning we focus on, according to her changing interests and skill levels.
Aims and Purposes of the Proposed Education Program.
We believe that Home Schooling Ishtar is the best option for our family to maintain a trusting and healthy relationship with each other. We are of the opinion that we are better equipped to maintain a stimulating environment for our daughter to learn things appropriate to her age and skill levels. Home educating Ishtar will give her more opportunity to learn using tools that interest her, in a more stable one on one environment.
General Outline of the Proposed Program.
Given that a lot of Ishtar’s learning will take place informally, we are not planning to adhere to a precise timetable and intend to be flexible in order to take advantage of learning opportunities as they occur. This will also help to give Kurt an opportunity to play a more substantial role in Ishtar’s learning experience. We have come to the belief that the best approach for Ishtar is to follow her lead in learning, by using her interests as a basis to any structured learning. Our entire family will be involved in Ishtar’s learning experiences, focusing on her reading, writing, mathematics and sciences.
Planning and Research Undertaken to Prepare for Home Schooling
As the main care giver for Ishtar, I have put a lot of thought and research into our homeschooling options over the last year. I have considered Steiner, Charlotte Mason, Montessori, unit studies and unschooling. I have looked at the Tasmanian school curriculums, as Ishtar has been enrolled at West Launceston Primary School for 2 years and 1 term. We are planning to start our journey at the beginning of term 2 this year. I have had many discussions with other home schooling parents both locally and nationally, via internet forums and in person. On a practical level we have been doing ‘home readers’ with Ishtar for 2 years through her primary school, and she has shown interest in doing printed out word puzzles and mathematics based games.
Literacy Skills Development
As Ishtar has already started literacy development from her time in the public school system, she is doing very well and enjoys reading, writing and learning how to spell. We plan to continue her learning in this area via the use of daily reading, writing projects relating to day to day tasks, story writing, weekly journal writing and spelling using word lists over a 1-2 week period. We will also complement these with the use of internet sites, such as www.starfall.com and www.pbs.org/parents. We also plan to use some educational computer games such as Reader Rabbit.
Numeracy Skills Development
Ishtar uses basic maths skills daily without prompting, so we anticipate that much of her learning will continue to be self-directed. Using day to day tasks such as cooking, gardening, temperature and rainfall record keeping, we will continue to provide her with ever increasing difficulties. Which will be supplemented at a later stage of development with various texts, internet sites (www.kidzone.ws) and other maths based computer games and programs.
Use of ICT
As Kurt’s work is ICT based, Ishtar will have access to her own computer set up for educational and fun games. She is competent in the use of mouse and keyboarding skills and will have monitored access to ADSL internet for use with research and information collection. She will also have access to a printer for printing pictures and information she finds, as well as worksheets or games she would like to have access to, away from the computer.
Other Learning Areas
There is a range of learning areas Ishtar is interested in, which we will encourage her to explore.
Science, through gardening, pets and composting. She is already interested in using a microscope she was given as a Christmas gift this past Christmas.
Music, through her own exploration of guitar and the limited knowledge that Kurt has in this area, and recorder playing by the use of books and Katie’s knowledge of this area. This may extend to formal lessons at a later date, if Ishtar becomes confident and interested to that level.
Arts and Crafts, through a range of different products. Ishtar has continuous access to a range of craft supplies. As well as drawing, painting and collage materials, Ishtar will have access to pottery and sewing materials and will be encouraged to include artwork in any and all projects she undertakes.
At this stage in her development we do not see the need for any sort of structure for other subject areas, as she develops interest in other topics we will change her learning experiences to suit her interest.
Social Interaction
This will include group activities/projects with other home schooled children and participation in community/voluntary activities, as well as frequent contact with family members and friends with both home educated and conventionally schooled children. She has also shown interest in joining team sports, like Hockey, as well as becoming part of a Pony Club. We are yet to investigate extensively into the options she currently has to participate in these activities, but she has previously been involved in Swimming, Dancing and Cricket outside of her conventional school hours. She also receives social opportunities most weekends when going to watch Kurt play Hockey, as there are many children around for her to interact with.
Evaluation and Record Keeping Strategies
We plan to record Ishtar’s progress in a combination of different ways listed below.
Journal entries: Initially hand written on a weekly basis, both by Ishtar and Katie/Kurt. Via a Blog specifically for Katie to record various things associated with our home schooling journey.
Photo’s: Photography is something that interests Ishtar so we will be using her own photography as well as the pictures we take to build up a folio of work.
Seasonal work: We will have a seasonal project involving literature, numeracy and art works which will help build the folio along side the photography.
We will evaluate the level of work Ishtar is doing on a regular basis and set harder/more complex tasks as her skills in certain areas develop. We will also change the areas of learning we focus on, according to her changing interests and skill levels.
April 26, 2009
Starting Out
This is my second blog, My journey into Homeschooling, my almost 7 year old, is just beginning and this is going to be a place for me to record alot of what we do on this journey. Starting a journey is the hardest step and I am sure there will be many hard times along the way! The registration process in Tasmania is a rather daunting one to read about. But after talking to the admin officer and other home school mums it is feeling alot less trouble right now.
The next big step I need to take is sending in a letter outlining the program I plan to use. I have no set program so I am working on a few lists and drafting up a copy at the moment.
I will post some ideas later when I have more time and will post the letter when it is done also.
There is alot going on around here as we are looking at moving house at the same time as starting our home school journey and giving birth to the 5th member of our family.
Bare with me if it takes a while to get things updated.
The next big step I need to take is sending in a letter outlining the program I plan to use. I have no set program so I am working on a few lists and drafting up a copy at the moment.
I will post some ideas later when I have more time and will post the letter when it is done also.
There is alot going on around here as we are looking at moving house at the same time as starting our home school journey and giving birth to the 5th member of our family.
Bare with me if it takes a while to get things updated.
March 27, 2009
More belly shots
My belly now at about 31 weeks... Not so great a photo but i don't have a body length mirror so had to do this with outstretched arm :)And from my point of view with my gorgeous little man Konrad (18 months)
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