RE: HELLO!!&???'s
BY: Clint Asbell to Alinda Harrison on Thu Jul 18 1996 16:15:00
 > Thank you for answering.  It seems from your answer that I am already
 > doing ok.  I guide Brandon to educate while playing.  I always
 > "opportunity" teach.  I can get him to sit down sometimes, but for the
 > most part, he is too busy moving!!  Amanda will not sit for a minute.
 > She has to do her own thing now that she's so grown up at barely two
 > years of age!!:-)
I've got one just a little older than that (2 1/2) and she doesn't sit for 
long
either, but she does like to color, play on the computer (yes, she gets into
and plays games herself!), and just about anything else her older sisters are
doing and she thinks she should ;)
 
 > 
 > Space for all of the books we have is a problem in our 1295 square foot
 > old (I mean old) country farmhouse.  Money for storage space like
 > shelves, bookcases, etc is just not here.  The cottage addition is being
 > done mostly with scrap materials from Clint's job and my father.  My Dad
 > builds houses.
We built a bedroom for my brother in our last house that way. If it weren't 
for
the city's building permit requirements (which cost as much as the building
materials!) we'd have a couple little additions on here...we use salvage wood
all the time. the city gets nasty though if we build without getting official
OK first though :-/
Scrap material make great wall to wall or in-a-nook-somewhere bookcases. It 
may
not look professional, but it will hold books. That's what most of ours are.
 > Do you make up a curriculum for all of your children?  How do you know
 > what to teach them at each level?
At this stage, I just make up curriculum for my older two girls. My son is in
special ed in the public schools (He's severly retarded.) and the younger two
girls are still at the "play" stage...lots of counting games, abc work, and
motor skill developing art projects.
I'm still relatively new at this, but as for my curriculum planning...I have
overall goals for what I want them to learn and every couple or weeks or so I
look at where we are and plan from there. I've always worked with my girls on
their schoolwork, so I have a pretty good idea where they are. As for 
atching
the work to the grades they are in, most books at the local school supply 
store
are written for specific age or grade levels. They make a good starting 
oint.
 
 > 
 > I do not have much support in what I am doing.  Clint agrees
 > wholeheartedly, my parents are fickle, and my penpal Vicki is doing it.
 > Other than that, I am isolated.  The homeschool group. . .can't seem to
 > get there since we have only one car.  How is it for you?
My husband likes it one minute and isn't sure the next. He expected a lot 
ore
"bookwork" than the girls are getting. It wasn't until we got home from a
nature hike one day and I quizzed the girls on what we saw in front of him 
that
he caught on to what I was doing. ;) 
As for local homeschool groups: I just started this summer, and, of course, 
all
the groups pretty much shut down during the summer. There's a statewide
orginization, but the membership dues will have to wait until money isn't so
tight...and our schedule. Basically, I'm in the same boat you're in.
 > 
 > Where are you from?
I live in Tacoma, Washington. It's a good city for homeschooling, I think: 
lots
of parks, nature preserves, museums, theaters, ect...a good bus system... and 
a
school district that has it's own department to support homeschoolers. I can
even get text books on loan from them, although at this point, I think, I may
not have to. I've built quite a collection between thrift stores and the 
ocal
school supply place. Maybe in later grades...
Till next time...
                              ...peace...
                              Alinda Sue... 
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