Because most philosophies that frown on reproduction don't survive.

Monday, August 21, 2006

But what do I know?

Love2LearnMom was kind enough to tag me with a homeschooling book meme. I've realized that we have a pretty laissez-faire attitude, not in regard to education, but in regard to the mechanics of homeschooling. After all, now that Darwin and I are years from our homeschooling days, no one quizzes us on whether we had a history timeline on our wall or what phonics program we used. We're also big proponents of the "jump in and swim" school of teaching, which means we start with what we have and supplement as we go with what we find. No doubt this is easier with pre-schoolers that with older children...

Homeschool books I actually enjoyed reading:
Gotta 'fess up here: I haven't read that many homeschooling books, and I haven't made it through most of the ones I've started. I did really enjoy Dorothy Sayer's essay The Lost Tools of Learning. Is her educational system feasible? I don't know, but I enjoy her style.

Resources I won't live without:
-The library
-Amazon
-Bookshelves from IKEA
-Darwin's mother
-a timer

Resources you wish you had never bought:
As I haven't gotten far in my homeschooling-induced purchasing, I'm going to change this to resources I wish my parents had never bought...
-Christ the King, Lord of History
-Seton packaged High School curriculum

Resources you enjoyed last year:
-Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons
-Inside the Human Body
-An Alphabet of Skulls
-An Alphabet of Dinosaurs
(doubtless Noogs's interests are becoming clear)

Resources you'll be using this year:
-Faith and Life Book 1
-Houghton Mifflin Literary Reader Book 2 (from the collection of Darwin's mother; I have it on my shelf so why not use it?)
-my nifty new educational planner

Resources you'd like to buy:
-Grey's Anatomy
-a skeleton (any species; Noogs is fascinated by bones. She'd like a human skeleton if she could get one, though.)
-a piano

One resource you wish existed:
I'm still trying to figure out what resources actually exist, let alone what ought to exist.

Homeschool catalogs you enjoy reading:
-I haven't really looked at any specifically homeschooling catalogs, but I do drool over the various Dover Books catalogs. I should find some homeschooling catalogs, because I love catalogs and pore over far too many: Pottery Barn, Rejuvenation, Victoria's Secret, Anthropologie, and very shortly, the Skulls Unlimited catalog, ordered for the delectation of Noogs.

One homeschooling website you use regularly:
This is two, but I regularly read The Opinionated Homeschooler and Love2LearnMom, both of whom have years of experience on me, at least in regards to the educator side of the equation.

I won't assign tags this time, though I would be interested in hearing the Opinionated Homeschooler's recommendations and advice on the subject.

3 comments:

The Opinionated Homeschooler said...

There's a Grey's Anatomy coloring book & a cheaper & simpler Dover anatomy coloring book which Offspring #1 enjoyed. Also a very strange book called Make Your Own Dinosaur out of Chicken Bones: Foolproof Instructions for Budding Paleontologists.

mrsdarwin said...

That sounds perfect for Noogs. She would love to make her own dinosaur out of chicken bones, and then she would bury it in the backyard, and then she would dig it up later. She's been chafing to get out in the backyard with a shovel to find out if there are any skulls buried there. The girls have already excavated a hole at the bottom of the slide and poured in water to make mud -- the better for making dinosaur soup, you know.

love2learnmom said...

Thanks for playing Mrs. Darwin. :) I love your variation on the theme as well as your daughter's special science interests. I have two little girls (6 and 8) who are really into bugs, frogs etc. and my now 13 year old daughter went through a big fossil stage.