Holistic Living
October 2005 Newsletter
Written by
Aimee Wood, MS candidate in Holistic Nutrition
Have
you checked out the Marketplace?
A marketplace was added to
Holistic Living Rochester last summer. It is the perfect place for local artisans,
business owners, crafts people, and practitioners to show their “goods”.
The holiday season is coming very soon. This would be a great place to
browse for gifts. Buy locally and support your neighbors! If you
are interested in placing your “goods” in the Marketplace, we are offering a
free trial period with no obligations. Call Ian Wood at 585-260-7900 for
personal assistance!
Preparing
for your Newborn
Join the Holistic Moms
Network for a discussion on birthing options, nutrition, cloth diapers,
diaper-free living and more. November 10, 2005 at the Victor Village Hall on 60
East Main St., Victor (Behind First Presbyterian Church) at 6:30
pm.
A
Conversation with Local Homeschoolers
Education today is not as simple as seeing
your children off to the bus, wishing them well, and welcoming them home with a
plate of cookies and some milk. As this may be a classic memory from your
childhood. Times have changed and with them, the issues surrounding
education. Many more people are homeschooling their children in the face
of this education revolution. Homeschoolers, a significant portion of our
population, can be looked at with skepticism by many doubters and naysayers;
however one must be careful and take a close look with
a nonjudgmental eye.
Recently, I had the opportunity to communicate with a small group of local
homeschoolers. I asked them some questions and here is what they shared
with me.
Why do you homeschool your children?
There are many reasons why
people choose to homeschool their children, however
the one reason that stood out above all the rest is to provide an education
that honors their child’s way-of-learning. Many of the families I spoke
with tried sending their children to school and decided that homeschooling was
their best route. One mother stated that her son is a visual spatial
learner, making it difficult to learn in a traditional school environment.
Visual spatial learners learn holistically rather than in a step-by-step
fashion. Displeasure with the school environment was another big factor
in the decision to homeschool. A good majority of parents I spoke to
never sent their children to school and knew they
would homeschool from the beginning.
A simple and less hurried life was reflected in my conversations with these
mothers. Renata Rooney stated, “I love most the fact that I am
continually pushed and motivated to be at my best for my girls: no getting away
to work or seeing them off on the bus. I love seeing the girls
growing into who they are instead of trying to fit what is expected of them
from a teacher, curriculum, test, standards, peers. I love being the most
important people (together with my husband) in their lives while they are
learning how to relate to others, themselves, the world.”
What do you enjoy most about homeschooling?
The flexibility, mobility,
and freedom of the day were resounding answers to this question. The
ability of their children to learn independently without outside influences or
pressures from test taking and curriculum standards was important to these
parents. Mom of three, Marcia Weinert says, “we got to experience their intellectual growth first-hand---and
watching an emerging reader or scientist or historian or mathematician is every
bit as exciting as witnessing a child's first steps or first words!
Again, because they/we were free to use their own questions as the basis for
their explorations, ‘motivation’ was almost never an issue, so a lot of their
‘studies’ have been pure joy for all concerned.” The typical “rush”
of a school day is gone with a family that home schools, there is no pressure
to rush to the bus, rush to extracurricular activities, or rush to finish
homework. Don’t get me wrong, homeschooling families can be very busy,
but the frantic nature of a typical day isn’t there.
What challenges do homeschoolers face?
Balancing a homeschooling
life with outside factors such as work is a challenge faced by many. Most
everyone interviewed indicated wanting more time in the day. Fortunately, the
Another prominent voice echoed in response
to this question was the challenge of dealing with “naysayers” and skeptics,
which can confront the many fears and insecurities we all have. Many
homeschoolers have to deal with people who believe that homeschooling will have
deleterious effects on children. Most importantly, families who homeschool
would like others to know that education is a very personal and private decision,
and homeschooling works for them and they honor and respect that it might not
work for your family.
What opportunities do your children have for
socialization?
Here is a list of ideas and
places to get your children involved in the Rochester area:
-chess club
- classes at the Life Science
Learning Center at U of R
-book clubs
-karate
-co-ops
-volunteering opportunities
-field trips to area nature centers, museums
-play dates
-Girl and Boy Scouts
-skating lessons
-music lessons
-dance lessons
-acrobatics
-youth group
-classes at Rochester Museum and Science Center
-classes at Genesee Country Village and Museum
-day trips to Cummings Nature Center
-day trips to Mendon Ponds Park, Powder Mills Park
Do you follow a defined curriculum?
Some families find the
structure and guidance of a curriculum helpful whether it is as a simple
guidance check or as tool for teaching. Delving into the child’s mind to
find where their interests lie is the foundation of a homeschooler's
curriculum. Finding out what provokes their interests is at the heart of
their learning.
Unschooling is also a theme that immerged;
the idea is to follow your
children's lead. Allowing them to learn from a wide variety of experiences and
resources instead of drills with worksheets and flashcards is an example of
unschooling. Renata Rooney explained how she chose to stop using a math
curriculum with her daughter and instead have a
Math Fun Day, “She finally allowed me to show her how to add with regrouping
because we have a Math Fun Day coming up and she wants to participate. (I made
up a scenario where a Queendom has no one who can count and the travelers have
to help the Queen to figure out all her problems, such as how many people live
in her villages, how much in taxes they need to pay her, how large should her
new fountain should be and so on.) We are much more creative about using math
and writing in our daily lives. It is so much less threatening. She requested
to do a standardized test (I had it on the table.), loved doing it, and did
very well. So for us, this year it's unschooling.”
Some families use curriculums for subjects
they are less comfortable with such as upper level math and science. Here
is a short list of curriculums parents use.
Curriculums used by families:
- Math by
-
- Local libraries have materials for homeschooling families
- Oak Meadow (www.oakmeadow.com)
Choosing to homeschool is a challenging and
very personal decision. Many factors have to be weighed and
considered. If your family chooses to homeschool, let it be known that
there are many wonderful resources and groups out in the
Resources
for Homeschooling
Local Yahoo homeschooling group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/simplyhomeschooling.
RAHA (Rochester Area Homeschooling Association):
234-0298
Lilac Children’s Garden (Waldorf based supplemental classes, meeting
once/week): http://lilacchildrensgarden.org/
Homeschool Legal Defense: http://www.hslda.org/
Books
recommended by homeschooling parents
1. Homeschooling for Excellence by David
& Micki Colfax
2. The Homeschooling Book of Answers by Linda Dobson
3.Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto
4. What Your 1st Grader (or whatever grade) Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch
5. Creative Home Schooling for Gifted
6. Anything about Charlotte Mason
A special thank you to the
families on the yahoo group, “SimplyHomeschooling” List! You opened your
hearts and family life to share an intimate picture of what homeschooling means
to you, Thank You! I hope that this article provides a “beginner’s”
resource for parents thinking of homeschooling in the
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