Homeschool and the Curriculum Debacle

This is a 50/50 post for me.  I’m half writing this blog today so that I have a clear record of what I’m researching, and the other half of my just wants to share the information with everyone else.

 

Alright, so, I’ve reached out for advice on homeschooling an academically gifted middle schooler.  There is nothing wrong with his middle school experience per se, but I’m very upset that test prep has already begun (and state testing is “just cuz” this year with no academic placement value) and the school is so large that they run it too much like a prison.  Basically, too much stomping on creativity and more abolishing critical thinking for the sake of memorizing facts.

These are the curriculums, websites, principles, and other ideas I was given, with Astrix tally marks to indicate how many people recommended the same thing:

 

• Interest Based Homeschooling *****
• Switched on Schoolhouse
• No Curriculum (use library, trips, teacher supply stores, etc) ****
• Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool *****
• Unschooling **********
• Project Based Homeschooling
• Radical Unschooling
• Delight Direct
• Abeka
• Homeschool Groups/Co Ops **
• Acellus
• Charlotte Mason
• Schoolhouse Teachers
• Gifted Homeschoolers Forum*
• Art of Problem Solving
• Moving Beyond the Page
• Royal Fireworks Press
• Hoagies
• Ambleside Online **
• Thrift Books
• Time4Learning
• Well Trained Mind Forum
• The Potters School
• Kahn Academy
• Lawrence Virtual School
• CD Rom Curriculums
• What Your _ Grader Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch Jr.
• Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.com
• hiphomeschoolmoms.com/category/curricula
• G.A. Henty Books
• Robinson Curriculum (public domain from age)
• Timber Noodle
• Board/Card Games (Trivial Pursuit, Kiokus, Monopoly, Scrabble, etc)

 

These are in no particular order, and some of these may overlap and be the same thing – like I said, I’m trying to sort out all the answers I’ve been given to start my research.

I also asked for feedback on online schools like Connections Academy and K12.  I got some mixed reviews where people either loved it or hated it – however, the bulk response was that these schools were not a good fit if you are unhappy with the quality of public education or the constant test prep issues.

Birthday Parties are Getting Crazy

Remember when a party was huge if the parents hired a clown?  Yeah, it’s been a while since that was an impressive feat.  These days you need two bounce houses (one for older kids and one for younger kids), catering, ten Disney princess impersonators, pinatas, and a dove releasing ceremony to have a bare-minimum party in your house.  I’m not sure when this became the standard, but it happened somewhere between my last birthday party and my son’s first one.

I can’t speak for everyone, but, I am DONE looking at Pintrest and becoming overly-obsessed with recreating these marvelous party themes and homemade treats.  That’s right, it’s official, this year I have vowed not to compete in the crazy, over-the-top birthday party contest.  It just isn’t worth the time, hassle, or money for the sake of spoiling your children and showing off to your social circles.  I mean, why does a child need performers, bouncy houses, and an entire damned petting zoo in their backyard to celebrate?

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you must not be a parent (or must have had your kids grow up a while ago).  Here is an example of a crazy birthday party that I pulled from a Google search.  Someone used a projector, screen, and a dozen or so moving boxes to create their own drive in.  Who has this kind of time on their hands?!

Now, I’ll admit I have no idea what this all cost to set up, but I know moving boxes are not cheep.  Actually, they are so expensive, in the 12+ times I’ve moved I have gone dumpster diving to get boxes rather than pay top dollar for future trash.  But, of course, you can’t get used boxes for this kind of a project or else you’d have a continuity issue (not to mention the embarrassment if the other parents found out that you stuck their kid in a USED box – *gasp!* – the horror!).

I know we all do these kinds of parties as a labor of love, but the time and expense these parties take to produce are getting ridiculous.  And, lets be honest, moms don’t do this so much for their own child, they do it to present an image to the community.  Mom wants to impress the other kids, thereby impressing the other parents, and earning a title of “super mom,” “awesome mom,” “cool mom,” or what have you.  A lot of the party escalation is just people wanting to show off.

And, for the less-crafty among us, it doesn’t have to be a home party to get ridiculous either.  If you don’t want to have all the chaos in your own home, almost any public venue will be happy to take your money to provide a space for your party.  There are entire businesses that are simply big rooms filled with inflatable bounce houses, there are gymnastic studios that throw parties, county swimming pools, dojos, museums, zoos, bowling alleys, movie theatres, malls, and, of course, Chuck E. Cheese, the originator of the “spend more” party.  For a while, even Justice – the little girls clothing store – was having birthday parties, and more and more businesses, like Michael’s, are trying to get in on this newer big business.

I understand all this from the side of the businesses, because it’s quick and easy money for doing not-so-much work.  $200 for an hour and a half of rental fees is money in the till.  And, I understand the parents’ side of not wanting a dozen screaming kids puking on their furniture.  But, what I don’t understand is why birthday parties are becoming such giant events.  Honestly, when we lived in Texas, every kid’s birthday was like a circus or a prom had come to town, and it all seems overly-decadent for a kid turning two or eight or twelve.

What happened to the party where you had cake and ice cream, watched a movie, and played some games with your friends?  Why are we teaching our children that their birthday’s are these insane, expensive events that take months to plan and hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to produce?  Isn’t that just adding to the entitlement problem in today’s youth?

I know I’ve been guilty of trying to keep up with the Jones’ parties myself, but this year, and for all the years to follow, I hope, I am signing off of Pintrest and going back to the K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) mantra.  🙂

Much Ado About Outgrown Clothes

As moms, we get to pick and choose our moments.  One of my emotional moments is getting rid of certain articles of clothing after my kids have outgrown it.  I don’t get attached to every shirt, but I have been known to get overly attached to some of them – especially if it has a character on it that I am quite partial too.  For example, I usually keep Ariel, the Little Mermaid, shirts, because I was 5 when I saw that movie and it will always have a piece of my heart.  So, when a really cute Ariel shirt is about to hit the outgrown pile, I will stash it away somewhere to keep.

But 90% of my kids’ clothing ends up leaving the house completely (eventually). 

Now, I know a lot of moms go round and round with the options for getting rid of clothing, so here are some thoughts and notes I have on the subject.  This will probably be helpful to no one, but maybe it will be an interesting read all the same.  Who knows!

Unwearable Items

• Trash it.  I personally do not throw our outgrown clothes in the trash.  Some people do, that’s their business, but, even if a shirt is falling apart, I’ll:
• Downgrade torn up clothing to a car washing rag.  As long as the article of clothing can function in some useful way, I’ll keep it around.
• Pet bedding.  Again, for torn up clothes I might either give them straight to the cat to lay on, or I might stuff the clothes in an old pillow case and sew it shut for the dogs.

Still in Good Shape Items

• Yard sell it.  I never do this myself, but some people love shop yard sales, and other people might clear out your entire collection of clothing that you want to get rid of.
• Ebay it.  This mostly works best on more expensive clothing – like items with college logos or upscale, name-brand outfits.  But, you can also bundle a decent sized lot of clothes together and clear out a closet that way.  Watch out for eBay and Paypal fees, though, as well as shipping charges, because those are easy ways to lose money by selling online.
• Donate it.  There are donation centers and bins all over the places these days; some places will even come to your house to pick things up.  But, giver beware, many items end up getting trashed by places like Goodwill or the Salvation Army (who, last I checked, would put anything like cribs, walkers, strollers, bathtubs, etc straight into the dumpster).  So, if it is a good item and you don’t want to see it trashed, you may think twice about where you donate.  Also be aware, some charities will take donations, but all they do is turn around and sell the items you give the charity for less than pennies on the dollar to major thrift stores.  So, if you donate a drum set that sell in the thrift store for $200.00, the charity you are trying to help might have gotten around $0.00003 for that item (yes, a far off fraction of a penny).  If that bothers you, carefully examine where your donations end up.
• Up Cycle It!!!  Saving the best for last – when I get a “must keep” shirt from one of my kids, I try to find a way to make the shirt into something more than just a t-shirt in a storage box that will never see the light of day again.  I will cut, stuff, and sew to make pillows, blankets, even curtains out of old shirts.  Here is a sample of what many people do with their old sorority shirts:

(I found this in a Google image search, no idea who actually made it).

 

Now, my final piece of advice on clothing is for the mom who hates letting go of the cute, little clothes their kids have grown out of.  If I find myself feeling particularly emotional about the clothes (really, it’s the memory of the kids in the clothes that I get overwhelmed about, but the memory gets assigned to the shirt, like it’s a bookmark of that time period), I will box them up and put them in the attic for six months to a year.  Once these clothes are out of the regular laundry rotation and you have time to get them out-of-sight-out-of-mind, then it’s much easier to go through the clothes and get rid of most, if not all, of them.  After you get used to the item being gone, and it’s not something that you’ve been lovingly folding and seeing your child wearing every week for a year, it’s not so bad to see it go.  Repeat as necessary, and your personal mileage my vary, but, as a huge pack rat myself, that method really helps me clean house.  Luckily, my kids are older now so they outgrow clothes ever 2-4 years instead of every three months, but that’s the cleaning trick I’ve used for ten years to fell okay with clothes letting go.