Hi,
One of the comments often leveled at home-schooled families is the socialisation aspect. Actually, in my experience home-schooled children seem to have a far broader range of social skills and a greater ability to communicate with all everyone than many of their peers of the same age.
Networking
I was really delighted a few weeks ago. I took my girls to hear Brad Sugars speak. He is an Australian self-made multi-millionaire businessman and entrepreneur.
He was keen to have young people at the event, as he wants to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs. Of approx 400 in the room, there were only a handful of teens or "almost teens".
I knew quite a few people and my girls were quite happy to chat to these people. Jacqueline marched up to Brad Sugars, introduced herself and gave him her business card.
Personal and Business Development.
A good friend of mine, Tony Burgess of www.aha-success.com, runs business and personal development training. I was invited and took my girls along.
I was delighted at how well they interacted with people of all ages.
In my opinion, by introducing children to as many different people of all ages, backgrounds and experiences, they grow in confidence much more than they seemed to do in school.
I have had so many comments of how MATURE they seem to be for their ages.
I have also noticed how much more mature emotionally they seem to be. They seem to take it far less personally when someone is nasty or rude to them on MSN or online. They now have friends all over the world.
Growth Spurt.
Has anyone else noticed a huge growth spurt in their children since they came out of school?
Since March, Stephanie has released over 2 stone (28 pounds) in weight, as she is no longer the "emotional pillow" for all her friends. Stephanie is now taller than me.
Jacqueline has shot up in height and is now only 4cm shorter than me! At 11 years old!
Yes, I have heard all the jokes from the kids about being the "short one" in the family!
This was really brought home to me when Jacqueline's friend came to play. This girl is not very tall anyway, but the difference was really marked. I was stunned!
Here are my musings for today.
With abundant blessings.
Amanda Goldston
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Back on Track
Hi all.
I must apologise for the lack of any posts over the last few months. It has been a strange time.
From May, when I last posted, schooling has been somewhat bitty- to say the least.
In May, we had the whole house decorated as we are planning on selling it and moving to Devon. It was complete chaos as every room was in disarray.
We went on into June and then it was "summer holidays." My girls seemed to have very little inclination to do very much "schooling" while their friends were off school.
They did a summer workshop with Stagecoach (singing, dancing and drama), which was excellent. The group put on an entire hour long production, starting from nothing, in a week.
We were so proud of them.
Over the course of the summer, we have got a first BUSINESS up and running for both girls.
Jacqueline's business is www.PawingPhotographs.com
She is selling her photographs as prints and also for printing on mugs, t-shirts, mouse mats and we will have calenders shortly.
Stephanie's is www.MathsbySteph.com where she is offering Maths tutoring in person or by email for 11-14 year olds.
We had let things slip a bit, with starting a bit later each day, finishing a bit earlier and having longer breaks.
I came to realise that our family needs a bit of discipline for this homeshooling to work. We ahve designed a timetable with the subjects we are going to be covering.
We have got Maths, English, German, Spanish, History, Geography, Art, ICT, Business, Speech and Drama, Science and Cookery at the moment, with some flexibility.
We are currently working on a film project that we found via www.saftas.org.uk (Staffordshire schools). Unfortunately, as a home school we are not eligible to enter the competition, although the ICT officer is going to assess it for us.
Having got ourselves back on track, we are not much more organised.
We can continue to make this the rewarding experience we started out with.
With abundant blessings.
Amanda Goldston
I must apologise for the lack of any posts over the last few months. It has been a strange time.
From May, when I last posted, schooling has been somewhat bitty- to say the least.
In May, we had the whole house decorated as we are planning on selling it and moving to Devon. It was complete chaos as every room was in disarray.
We went on into June and then it was "summer holidays." My girls seemed to have very little inclination to do very much "schooling" while their friends were off school.
They did a summer workshop with Stagecoach (singing, dancing and drama), which was excellent. The group put on an entire hour long production, starting from nothing, in a week.
We were so proud of them.
Over the course of the summer, we have got a first BUSINESS up and running for both girls.
Jacqueline's business is www.PawingPhotographs.com
She is selling her photographs as prints and also for printing on mugs, t-shirts, mouse mats and we will have calenders shortly.
Stephanie's is www.MathsbySteph.com where she is offering Maths tutoring in person or by email for 11-14 year olds.
We had let things slip a bit, with starting a bit later each day, finishing a bit earlier and having longer breaks.
I came to realise that our family needs a bit of discipline for this homeshooling to work. We ahve designed a timetable with the subjects we are going to be covering.
We have got Maths, English, German, Spanish, History, Geography, Art, ICT, Business, Speech and Drama, Science and Cookery at the moment, with some flexibility.
We are currently working on a film project that we found via www.saftas.org.uk (Staffordshire schools). Unfortunately, as a home school we are not eligible to enter the competition, although the ICT officer is going to assess it for us.
Having got ourselves back on track, we are not much more organised.
We can continue to make this the rewarding experience we started out with.
With abundant blessings.
Amanda Goldston
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