Please see our events page for an updated list of upcoming events for Perth and Tayside Homeschoolers.
The dates for our meetings over the winter and spring in Perth are also now arranged, and we will have a health theme for our meetings this year.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Home Education Day Conference, Saturday 8th August, Dundee
Perth and Tayside Homeschoolers will be holding a day conference for home educators, their relatives, and those interested in home educating, on Saturday 8th August 2015, from 10 am to 3 pm.
The speaker will be Charlie Webster, addressing the subject of the Parent's Role in Christian Education.
There will be the opportunity for questions and discussion, and Icthus Resources will also be running a stall with home education resources for sale.
If you are interested in attending, you can use our contact us form for more information.
The speaker will be Charlie Webster, addressing the subject of the Parent's Role in Christian Education.
There will be the opportunity for questions and discussion, and Icthus Resources will also be running a stall with home education resources for sale.
If you are interested in attending, you can use our contact us form for more information.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Taking Care of Maw
by Susan.
This article first appeared in 'Home Time', newsletter of the Christian Home Education Support Service (formerly known as Home Service), and is used with the author's permission.
Yes, we live in Scotland and that's what I got christened when my enterprising older son decided he'd outgrown "Mummy"!
When we consider the issue of taking time for ourselves as homeschooling mothers, the first thing which might spring to mind might be "me-time"; this is a popular concept which suggests that because we are constantly giving out, we need to refuel away from the daily grind. I don't believe that mothers have a monopoly on selflessness, and I don't think this is what taking care of ourselves is all about. In her article 'The Me-time Myth' (Raising Arrows), Amy Roberts exposes the errors of this concept: that the very idea suggests that who we are during the daily grind is not who we really are, and that our roles as wife and mother are largely negative ones which will suck the life out of us if we let them. While our lives may be busy and full, I think most homeschooling mothers can testify to a deep sense of calling and experience of enormous blessing and personal fulfillment as we follow God's plan for our families.
That said, there are always pitfalls. We can overload our schedules by refusing to accept that when we choose to homeschool, we choose to give up certain other things. Often some of our interests must be put on hold, just as our children will probably not be able to do every activity that they would like to try. Our children are only little for a short time, and we need to prioritise the things we want for our families as a whole. If the Lord tarries, there will be time later; if not, we did the most important thing. This goes against the world's view which would encourage selfishness and introspection. However, many mothers, especially those with young children, can easily fall into a pattern of self-neglect, and less than vigilant husbands, churches and unrealistic approaches to parenting and family life can exacerbate the problem. There is a school of thought which would heap guilt on us for even the shortest time away from our children. We can easily give up and relinquish our personal interest our personal interests, lifelong learning, relationships and very personalities in a noble but misguided quest to be the perfect parent. Karey Swan (in 'Things We Wish We'd Known' edited by Bill and Diana Waring) identifies this as "a sort of negligence: withholding who she is- the best part of herself- from our children". Our lives ought to be attractive to our childrenas we live beyond 'maintenance'.
Taking care of ourselves will look different at different stages of life. We have three teenagers living at home and our youngest is six, so things look very different than when we only had small children. I no longer need to carry a carseat to evening events. I can go for a
run after the younger children go to bed (ha- that hardly ever happens). My husband looks after the children so that I can go to homegroup, Sunday evening communion and Russian conversation group on Saturday morning. My husband and I can take an hour to go to our favourite coffee shop; I'm not sure if it's any more appreciated, though, than the brief conversations we used to have at the park, while the children ran ahead, or the deeper chats while they slept in the car. They are simply different seasons.
We need to be aware of our weaknesses: taking care of oneself for me also involves avoiding certain foods (which my family enjoy) and minimising stress, since almost developing a stomach ulcer last year. It is OK sometimes to let our family know that we are tired and need help. It can seem easier to stay up late to finish our jobs, but usually it's better to get to bed. While we might sometimes actually catch up, our work is never done, and we need to be content with that and not let it stress us. Our husbands can help enormously here, and if you are homeschooling alone, a support system is essential. There are very helpful chapters in 'The Survivor's Guide to Homeschooling' (by Luanne Shackleford and Susan White), and 'Homeschooling with Joy' (by Frieda Thiessen), on this subject.
For most of us there won't be time for in-depth Bible study or being a prayer warrior. But it is only in the Lord Jesus that we will find strength for every day and inspiration for our ministry of motherhood and homeschooling. We long for our children to follow Christ; we must be following Him too. Whether we have five minutes or an hour, this is the most important part of our day. I have found a large chunk of time unattainable; I read a short devotion while dressing, but keep reading materials, my one-year Bible (I'm behind already) and prayer lists in a basket on the ironing board which I can access easily throughout the day. I have just read 'Guilt-free Quiet Times' by Emily Ryan and found it very helpful. We often find God speaking to us as we lead devotions with our children.
Lastly, while homeschooling brings its unique highs and lows, time spent with our children can also be amazingly restorative. My bouncy nine year old is an excellent walking companion, I have spent countless afternoons relaxing doing crafts with my girls and my elder son keeps me up to date with the world of politics. There is lots of fun to be had with these young people!
This article first appeared in 'Home Time', newsletter of the Christian Home Education Support Service (formerly known as Home Service), and is used with the author's permission.
Yes, we live in Scotland and that's what I got christened when my enterprising older son decided he'd outgrown "Mummy"!
When we consider the issue of taking time for ourselves as homeschooling mothers, the first thing which might spring to mind might be "me-time"; this is a popular concept which suggests that because we are constantly giving out, we need to refuel away from the daily grind. I don't believe that mothers have a monopoly on selflessness, and I don't think this is what taking care of ourselves is all about. In her article 'The Me-time Myth' (Raising Arrows), Amy Roberts exposes the errors of this concept: that the very idea suggests that who we are during the daily grind is not who we really are, and that our roles as wife and mother are largely negative ones which will suck the life out of us if we let them. While our lives may be busy and full, I think most homeschooling mothers can testify to a deep sense of calling and experience of enormous blessing and personal fulfillment as we follow God's plan for our families.
That said, there are always pitfalls. We can overload our schedules by refusing to accept that when we choose to homeschool, we choose to give up certain other things. Often some of our interests must be put on hold, just as our children will probably not be able to do every activity that they would like to try. Our children are only little for a short time, and we need to prioritise the things we want for our families as a whole. If the Lord tarries, there will be time later; if not, we did the most important thing. This goes against the world's view which would encourage selfishness and introspection. However, many mothers, especially those with young children, can easily fall into a pattern of self-neglect, and less than vigilant husbands, churches and unrealistic approaches to parenting and family life can exacerbate the problem. There is a school of thought which would heap guilt on us for even the shortest time away from our children. We can easily give up and relinquish our personal interest our personal interests, lifelong learning, relationships and very personalities in a noble but misguided quest to be the perfect parent. Karey Swan (in 'Things We Wish We'd Known' edited by Bill and Diana Waring) identifies this as "a sort of negligence: withholding who she is- the best part of herself- from our children". Our lives ought to be attractive to our childrenas we live beyond 'maintenance'.
Taking care of ourselves will look different at different stages of life. We have three teenagers living at home and our youngest is six, so things look very different than when we only had small children. I no longer need to carry a carseat to evening events. I can go for a
run after the younger children go to bed (ha- that hardly ever happens). My husband looks after the children so that I can go to homegroup, Sunday evening communion and Russian conversation group on Saturday morning. My husband and I can take an hour to go to our favourite coffee shop; I'm not sure if it's any more appreciated, though, than the brief conversations we used to have at the park, while the children ran ahead, or the deeper chats while they slept in the car. They are simply different seasons.
We need to be aware of our weaknesses: taking care of oneself for me also involves avoiding certain foods (which my family enjoy) and minimising stress, since almost developing a stomach ulcer last year. It is OK sometimes to let our family know that we are tired and need help. It can seem easier to stay up late to finish our jobs, but usually it's better to get to bed. While we might sometimes actually catch up, our work is never done, and we need to be content with that and not let it stress us. Our husbands can help enormously here, and if you are homeschooling alone, a support system is essential. There are very helpful chapters in 'The Survivor's Guide to Homeschooling' (by Luanne Shackleford and Susan White), and 'Homeschooling with Joy' (by Frieda Thiessen), on this subject.
For most of us there won't be time for in-depth Bible study or being a prayer warrior. But it is only in the Lord Jesus that we will find strength for every day and inspiration for our ministry of motherhood and homeschooling. We long for our children to follow Christ; we must be following Him too. Whether we have five minutes or an hour, this is the most important part of our day. I have found a large chunk of time unattainable; I read a short devotion while dressing, but keep reading materials, my one-year Bible (I'm behind already) and prayer lists in a basket on the ironing board which I can access easily throughout the day. I have just read 'Guilt-free Quiet Times' by Emily Ryan and found it very helpful. We often find God speaking to us as we lead devotions with our children.
Lastly, while homeschooling brings its unique highs and lows, time spent with our children can also be amazingly restorative. My bouncy nine year old is an excellent walking companion, I have spent countless afternoons relaxing doing crafts with my girls and my elder son keeps me up to date with the world of politics. There is lots of fun to be had with these young people!
POI: Point of Interest Education
by Joanna.
I was frustrated, our 11 year old son was not retaining anything I had been teaching. The work we had done seemed to be forgotten the next week. I felt like "what's the point?" I was sliding down the usual slippery slope of doing 'school' at home. Education was becoming meaningless to him, as it had been for all my schooling years.
It was then that I remembered something interesting that I had come across a few years back. POI, point of interest, the crux of the philosophy is this, that when we are interested in something then it's like we begin to massage a certain point of our brains which then in turn opens us up to having a deeper understanding of the subject that has caught our interest and in turn gives us the ability to actually retain the information and store it for use whenever we thin we may need to recall it.
This made perfect sense to me as I looked back to my schooling years, it was only the subjects of interest that I could recall. As for the rest, gone with the wind.
So it was that our home schooling journey took a massive turn, I decided to try POI education.
In a nut shell we start by raising a subject, say my son has science to do for that day. He reads the chapter and then instead of answering the questions at the end he gets to choose 3 points of interest, any 3 points that caught his attention. He then in his own words writes as little or as much as he wants expressing what he has learnt. The results have been brilliant. I have been thrilled by what he has come back with and not only in his work but his attitude toward it also.
What we also do is run with any POI the children might have, so if time permits we address that interest straight away. For example my son had been watching Lilo and Stitch and took an interest in Elvis (he sings some of the theme music) so we hopped online and watched a few You Tube videos of Elvis. We then looked up a website with information about his life and ultimately his death; this got us thinking about how fame and fortune are not all they are made out to be. I could not have sparked that spiritual conversation with my own ideas without my son shutting down in defense of 'mom is talking spiritual stuff at me' attitude.
I would encourage everyone to try a POI day. It gives your children freedom to be the individual God created them to be rather than just tick the box according to the curriculum.
I was frustrated, our 11 year old son was not retaining anything I had been teaching. The work we had done seemed to be forgotten the next week. I felt like "what's the point?" I was sliding down the usual slippery slope of doing 'school' at home. Education was becoming meaningless to him, as it had been for all my schooling years.
It was then that I remembered something interesting that I had come across a few years back. POI, point of interest, the crux of the philosophy is this, that when we are interested in something then it's like we begin to massage a certain point of our brains which then in turn opens us up to having a deeper understanding of the subject that has caught our interest and in turn gives us the ability to actually retain the information and store it for use whenever we thin we may need to recall it.
This made perfect sense to me as I looked back to my schooling years, it was only the subjects of interest that I could recall. As for the rest, gone with the wind.
So it was that our home schooling journey took a massive turn, I decided to try POI education.
In a nut shell we start by raising a subject, say my son has science to do for that day. He reads the chapter and then instead of answering the questions at the end he gets to choose 3 points of interest, any 3 points that caught his attention. He then in his own words writes as little or as much as he wants expressing what he has learnt. The results have been brilliant. I have been thrilled by what he has come back with and not only in his work but his attitude toward it also.
What we also do is run with any POI the children might have, so if time permits we address that interest straight away. For example my son had been watching Lilo and Stitch and took an interest in Elvis (he sings some of the theme music) so we hopped online and watched a few You Tube videos of Elvis. We then looked up a website with information about his life and ultimately his death; this got us thinking about how fame and fortune are not all they are made out to be. I could not have sparked that spiritual conversation with my own ideas without my son shutting down in defense of 'mom is talking spiritual stuff at me' attitude.
I would encourage everyone to try a POI day. It gives your children freedom to be the individual God created them to be rather than just tick the box according to the curriculum.
Book Review- The Self Propelled Advantage
Book review by Gwen.
The subtitle of ‘The Self-Propelled Advantage’, by Joanne Calderwood is ‘The Parent’s Guide to Raising Independent, Motivated Kids Who Learn with Excellence’. Mrs. Calderwood describes how her own experiences of homeschooling eight children led her and her husband to believe that children learn best when motivated to plan and complete their work through their own enthusiasm.
The author divides self-propelled learning into three aspects: self-learning, mastery and self-mastery (or self-control). She places an emphasis on aiming for excellence in everything, but with Godly character, rather than knowledge for its own sake as the ultimate goal. Although the biggest practical applications of the book will be for home educating families, Joanne Calderwood does address how it would apply for families who send their children to private or state schools.
I found this book helpful in seeing how I could guide our children to be more self-directed in their learning, and although the author produces her own ‘Student Planners’ for purchase from her website, I have easily been able to implement her ideas in our home by downloading free-to-print home education planners from other websites.1 It was also useful that Mrs. Calderwood discussed how self-propelled learning would look for children of different ages.
I particularly enjoyed the chapter of questions and answers with the Calderwood children, including the three who are already at college, and the author’s insights into having a common sense perspective on family life and our attitudes towards the real point of education.
There were a few downsides I found to Joanne Calderwood’s book. The first was that a major chapter later in the book is devoted specifically to the American system of High School diplomas, SATs, and college applications. Secondly, the author talks mainly about children aiming to go to university, without mention of those who will go straight into the world of work. Also, if a family relied heavily on unit studies or little bookwork, this approach might not work so well for them. However, these downsides do not detract from the positive aspects of the book in my view, and I would definitely recommend it for parents who are looking for a way to encourage more self-motivation in their children’s learning and a less ‘teacher’ centred homeschool.
Secondhand copies of ‘The Self-Propelled Advantage’ are now becoming cheaper, but I feel that even though I had to buy my copy brand new, it was worth it.
1 The planners we have been using are from donnayoung.org
This book review first appeared in the 2013 newsletter for the Wisdom House Summer Reading Challenge.
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