sahd thunder from Down Under

[benj]

G'DAY ! T3, Remi, MJ, Don and ToD(The other Don) the backbone of this site...Hello also to all you double digit posters and of course you lurkers...I've spent the last few days reading the entire backlog of replies so as to get up to speed with this busy little site...I'll keep this short so we can all go and dive back into the forum, some serious activity happening there...
I'm a Yank who's been living in Oz for 15yrs...I have a 5 year-old son(going on eight) and have been a sahd for 4 1/2 years (by choice)...I've also stepped up to the next level and now homeschool my son...catch you all in the forum...cheers..Benj.

[mjknapp]

Welcome Benj, Glad to have you aboard Mate<-------- :lol: (my lame attempt at humor after just waking up).

Homeschooling is a thought that has been lurking in the back of my mind for the last few months, but I am not sure if I am capable of it, I teach my daughter every day, she is 3, and can identify all of her alphabet, and can write all of them to the letter F until she cant remember how the G goes, I practice as much as we can every day, I think I am good at the early stages of learning, but when it comes to the more advanced learning, I am at a loss.

[tt3]

Welcome benj! Glad you found us!
I've toyed with the thought of homeschool as well... having a background in education gave me the idea, but I've got a few years to think about it :wink:

[benj]

In fact, MJ and T3, you like all parents, have been homeschooling your children since birth...Learning is not seperated from living, and children learn all the time, mainly by following their own interests...
Toddlers learn their two most difficult skills without our direct help, walking and talking...If a child can learn that on their own, you must have confidence that they can learn anything with us there for support...
Children learn best, not by being taught but by being part of the world, free to explore what most interests them, by having their questions answered as they ask them, and by being treated with 'respect'...
Our job as parents should be to make the world accessible, interesting and transparent...What you do matters less than as much as the 'spirit' in which you do it...
You are on expert on your child,...no one else on earth knows your child as well as you do, or cares as much about the experiences that fill his time...Preparing food for his heart and mind is no less worthy of your time and attention than prepareing food for his body...
I cherish spending all day with my son and learning together (for one never stops learning) and the brighter you are, the more you have to learn...that is the core of my homeschooling philosophy...you can never do worse than the institutional educational system...
As Remi said, 'Invest in your own family'...

[mjknapp]

I agree that we as parents teach them the basics of life, and they learn alot on their own, but when it comes to advanced mathematics, science class, things of that nature I will be at a loss. I can teach them to add, and subtract, but when they are older and they are learning advanced mathematics, they will be teaching me again, I can't remember for the life of me some of the things I learned in geometry, let alone how to spell it. I have a couple years left to ponder this idea though.

[Don-Dad]

Welcome Benj, glad you found us.

I briefly tossed around the idea of home schooling but I have opted for public schooling. We are moving to a new district that has great marks.

The web has tons of home schooling information as well as your local library. You can get online help, books, kits, you name it. Check out your local university library as they may have some access to good articles in professional journals, try ERIC, http://www.eric.ed.gov/ (I used to be a librarian)

[mjknapp]

(I used to be a librarian)

Damn Don, you have done everything....lol

[Don-Dad]

Hehehehe, really not much, I do have a masters degree in library science though. Too bad after paying all that money i do not use it. I am much happier working for myself and raising my children :D

[tt3]

Hehehehe, really not much, I do have a masters degree in library science though. Too bad after paying all that money i do not use it. I am much happier working for myself and raising my children :D

There are some times I feel really crappy shelling out for my student loans when I'm not even proffesionally using the degrees...
Then I have a brew and its all good ;)

[Remington]

I have kicked the idea around about homeschooling. I think if I decided to do it I would either do it all or none of it. Of course I would help with homework and all that junk... lol

I want to do it but I also don't want to take away some of the resources schools can provide, etc. I also want my children to understand the world and learn how to cope in a changing environment. I think it is important. I also don't want them to get consumed by it but I am here for them. I am home when they get home to discuss the issues.

The public school system here is not that bad so I am not completely worried about lack of education or violence and corruption.

[SAHF]

Welcome Benj!

Hey, I use play a gang in Oz! :D (Gang-wars). We won that round by the way! :wink:

It is great to hear that others have thought of home schooling. The wife and I are kicking it around...but we keep kicking it and that is as far it has gone to this point.

And Mike...Don has been doing the SAHD for a lot longer that all of us! He the man!

[mjknapp]

yeah, he has much more of a patience tolerance built up than me, mine is building little by little.......wish it would go a little faster though

[benj]

Prayer of the modern American: 'Dear God, I pray for patience. And I want it right now!'

[Don-Dad]

Hehehehe! Patience, I sure have alot more than my wife but my oldest has been really trying to test my limits. My youngest, almost ready to turn one at the end of the month, is walking now. No rest for the wicked! In December It will be 5 years of being a SAHD, this site has been online for almost the entire 5 years.

[benj]

Don...You've filled a hole with sixty cups of experience...now we can all drink from your sahd well of knowledge...I raise my glass..cheers.. tink...

[tt3]

I'll quaff to that
...tink...

:drinkers:

[SAHF]

:drinkers:

[Don-Dad]

Too many :drinkers: leads to :partyman: then maybe :vom: , hehehe!

Thanks guys, I appreciate the kind words.

[Jackson's Dad]

Homeschooling... what a thought. I think it's more than I can handle. Hmmm..., although my wife does have a degree in applied mathematics....

Learning is not seperated from living, and children learn all the time, mainly by following their own interests

I agree with you Benj on this. For example, I am now a photographer, although I didn't study it in school (or any art for that matter). But my Dad was a photographer (he's since given it up to devote his time to writing), and I grew up with a darkroom in the basement, and an old enlarger for my desk. It was all around me -- not as a structured set of classes, but just as part of life.

Wow, I can only imagine what Jackson is picking up from me!

Dan

[mjknapp]

oh no, I grew up as a farmer on a small farm in southern Iowa, hopefully I wont end up back on the farm in ten years..... :cry:

[tt3]

Speaking of all that, the biggest reason I've picked up the guitar and bass isn't to be a great player, but to have Tara surrounded by music and hopefully she'll grow to have an interest in it too!
(and brewing, I've said it before, I'm hoping she'll be at a party one day many many years from now and handed a beer... she'll look at it and say "I can't drink this crap! What is this, colored water?!?" :lol: )

[Remington]

oh no, I grew up as a farmer on a small farm in southern Iowa, hopefully I wont end up back on the farm in ten years.... :cry:
having a wife and kids... could lead you to the funny farm..

[mjknapp]

I am already halfway to that funny farm today............I just feel it in my gut to be in a bad mood today, no patience for the kids, or the wife. Maybe a beer later this afternoon will help

[tt3]

why wait?!?

Look into brewing up a java stout of some sort... that'll really kick start your morning! :lol:

[benj]

I just feel it in my gut to be in a bad mood today

Hey MJ...let's hope that feeling in your gut is just beer gas...nothing a little venting won't cure...

[mjknapp]

My wife is coming home early today to help with some of the stuff we have to do before vacation, and I drank a little to much last night, had a pretty good headache this morning, maybe that gut feeling is just beer gas then....lol

[benj]

We're jetting off this Sat for the States to begin our four week holiday too...As you know in America there are two classes of travel-first class and with children...I'm already salivating at the thought of gorging myself on a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts...Death by doughnie...Enjoy your Vacation MJ...

[tommyw/1]

Welcome to the site Benj!! Be sure to wash down those Krispy Kreme doughnuts with some famous Dunkin Doughnuts coffee, it'll be worth the trip. Have a safe trip guys!

[mjknapp]

Krispy Kremes, oh how I love them, but you can't get any dunkin Doughnuts and krispy Kremes in the same place...lol

In Iowa Krispy Kreme's were the bomb, wasnt even a Dunkin Doughnuts around, but here in philly, Dunkin wins hands down.