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Best way to educate a child who is a follower in large groups but independent in small groups.

lynnie-the-pooh — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:54:18 -0800

Need advice: what is the best way to educate a child who is a follower in large groups but an independent leader in small groups? Hello:

My five year old daughter is in public Kindergarten right now and the teacher tells me she is not independent and that she is a follower. She does not speak up and does not show confidence. At home, my child is talkative, independent, assertive, and a negotiater; the complete opposite of her school situation. Plus she is reading at a first grade level.

But I also see this independence outside of home, as long as it is a small group or only a few people. For example, she is a model/actress for a company, and can get up and do a monologue that she memorized in front of a small group. And one time I introduced her to a lady that she never met before (who was a choir instructor), and my daughter got up on the stage in front of this person and began belting out a song from the sound of music, using her arms and face to express the song and everything.

She used to go to Montessori school for preschool, where supposedly an independent child will thrive. The teacher there did tell me that my child was on the quiet side and seemed to be a follower. Now that we are in public school, it seems to be the same thing.

My question is, should I put her back in Montessor, in hopes that she will become independent? Should I keep her in public school, since those schools are more geared toward telling children how and what they are going to do and learn, or should I homeschool her and then put her in a lot of activities? I do homeschool her in the summer, so it's not like I don't know anything about that.

What I'm concerned about, is that a child who appears to be free and independent and assertive, is now changing her personality with every experience she has at public school. And eventually she will see herself as the quiet, unsure, follower in the group.

Any advice?

Lynnie-the-Pooh

Help a 13 y/o get to know the Amercian soldier.

keith0718 — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:30:34 -0800

What resources (films, books, websites) can I share with my 13 y/o daughter who has expressed a recent keen admiration and care for the American soldier from the Vietnam War era to the present? I recently took my 13 y/o daughter to see The Hurt Locker, after which she expressed a deeply felt admiration for the American soldier. I told her that not everyone feels the same way; and that, especially after the Vietnam War, soldiers were subject to quite a bit of disrespect when they returned home. She was really interested in his phenomenon and I would like to direct her to some resources (films, books, websites) that help her explore it and empathize with the existential experiences of the American soldier both on the battlefield and at home.

Advice for 1st Time Homeschooling Parents?

Otis — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 06:59:25 -0800

For those of you who home school your children, why did you choose to home school? What teaching approaches and strategies work best for you? Any mistakes to learn from? My wife and I have decided to home school our 4 year old son and we are completely new to the concept and looking for tips and guidance. Our son is very energetic, eager, quick to learn and seems to prefer active, hands-on methods. While we've come to realize that there isn't really any certain method or plan that fits all families, we are very curious to hear about other home school experiences in hopes to help develop our own plan. So, for those of you who home school, why did you choose to home school? What works best for your family? What mistakes have you made that we could perhaps avoid? We are particularly interested in Unit studies and would love to hear other's experiences with this method. We'd also love to hear about the early years as we will be home schooling from the start.

A little background information: I attended public school most of my life and my wife has attended both public and private schools. We both have liberal arts degrees, and I have a bit of teaching experience, mostly on the community college level. We have an older son who is 14 who has attended public school his entire life, in both good and bad school districts, and who has done quite well. The main motivator is not that we have horrible public schools, but that formal school is not, in our opinion, a good fit for our youngest son.

We are not interested in arguments against home schooling as we have already made the decision, but we would love to hear stories and advice from past, present or future home schoolers. Thanks in advance!

Home-School Management Software

kc0dxh — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 14:15:41 -0800

What home-school software would you recommend? I'm thinking of something that will make assigning work, planning lessons, and tracking grades simple and easy. This is for a PC, not a Mac.

No assembly required?

Zinger — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:07:21 -0800

Can anyone recommend a good secular homeschool science curriculum package that includes materials needed for experiments? I'm homeschooling my boys but I'm not satisfied with the way our science work is progressing - and I regard science as a critical part of what they should be learning in the 21st century.

Part of the problem is that the books I've been using suggest several demonstration experiments, but they all require various random bits and pieces that need to be purchased and assembled well ahead of time - ie., ziploc bags, which we don't normally have on hand, or iron filings, which are apparently impossible to get from the local hardware stores these days, etc. I'm finding it really difficult to get the time to find and purchase all of this stuff.

So what I'm hoping to find is a complete package where there are books and all the stuff you need to do the experiments in the books all in one box. Right now I need K-8 material. Any thoughts?

Learn Me!

Sassyfras — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 09:00:40 -0800

I have decided to home school my preschooler. It is just for this year. I'm a little lost at how much schooling I should be giving him to prepare him for kindergarten next year. So, I have designated Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays our school days with Fridays being our "Field Trip Friday." So, most of the learning is being done on Mondays and Wednesdays. I'm a little insecure as to whether I'm teaching him well enough. I don't want to bore him and I certainly don't want to force learning on him making him hate school.

My issues basically boil down to these:

1. How much time should I be dedicating to his schooling especially since it is one-on-one?

2. How do I make lesson plans? Do you know of any good resources for spelling lesson plans out for me? I need free resources.

3. Content of learning: What should I be focusing on? Right now we are doing "Letter of the Week." This week is the letter "F" and we will be learning about fish, making a fruit salad, and playing football.

At this point I feel that there is not enough "oomph" in his school day. It gets a little more complicated since he has a demanding 1 year-old brother that splits my attention.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Homeschooling info and related background check needed.

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 10:22:49 -0800

Home schooling info and related background check needed. My 11 year old daughter has been having trouble with social anxiety. As a result, my ex-wife, with whom our daughter lives, has once again (third time) pulled her from school without discussing the issue with me. This time she has made arrangments for a woman she knows to homeshool our daughter along with her own children. I know many people who have successfully been homeschooled and have successfully homeschooled their children. I am a little reticent about the idea considering the last time my ex did this she tried to homeschool our duaghter herself. That was useless; our daughter ended up being her own teacher when she was at her mother's house.

Can you give advice on what questions I should be asking, things I should know and variables I should consider.

Also, I have decided that I need to run a background check on our daughter's new teacher. What do I need to do this? I have the woman's name, phone number, address and social security number. Can you recommend a reputable service to do this? The services that I've found so far via internet search seem a little dodgy to say the least.