Join me for a look at some fun Waldorf (and not so Waldorf) curriculum and supplies. Also lets think about child-led learning and unschooling. Be brave and do what works for your family! And let's not forget that the Cicadas are coming.
You're absolutely right. I think we fall into the trap, maybe because of our own insecurities as homeschool parents, that if we just find the right curriculum, we'll be fine. But the more you homeschool, the more you realize the success of your homeschool has nothing to do with your curriculum!
Off the beaten path has been something with which I have slowly become more comfortable. Although I do use curriculum ( and love it ) I am whole heartedly about a (very) gentle approach. Thank you for sharing and happy to have sub’d to your channel!
Omg I am so on this path right now. I have chills. Our thinking is so similar about unschooling/Waldorf-inspired. I can’t wait to watch your video on how you integrated them both.
As an unschool grad who’s now waldorf homeschooling, I would VERY much like to see that video also!! Especially since most of what I see tells me they are antithetical to each other. But I feel like there must be some way to integrate.
Thank you so much for sharing and for your insights! I took so much from what you said and it’s definitely making me evaluate my plans for the upcoming school year! As a new RU-vid family and a relatively new homeschooling mom, videos like these truly inspire me!
Thank you Devin! I am relatively new to homeschooling and RU-vid too (we started last year, much like you!) I am so happy that this video helped you, I thought, if I can help just one person with this video, then it is worth making. I love it when we can all share ideas, experiences and insights with each other. I hadn't ever heard of book outlet, definitely going to check it out. Parker is the cutest, he had me smiling the whole time!
I hope this is ok to ask. I wonder how kids that don't have a rigorous homeschool education do with end of year testing. Do you test your kids to see where they are and what their achievements for the year are? I understand that testing doesn't show everything kids know but some people live where it's required. Any child that wants to attend higher education will be tested as well so I wonder how well the child led, no pressure approach works. Edited to add: I'm gonna leave my question up but you addressed it. Please update on how it goes with the assessment next year. Seriously, put in your phone, if you don't mind, to remind you because I'm dying to know how they do...
Good question. I am totally new to this, and so I can't really tell you how it will work. Sometimes a wave of panic hits me as I think "oh no! they aren't being taught X,Y,Z! They aren't going to know everything they need to know!" I have to take a deep breath and remember to trust my kids and trust myself to follow my instincts about what learning environment is best for them. Our state requires either end-of-year testing OR a homeschool review (which is a certified educator coming into the home and making sure the kids were taught what they were suppose to be taught.) We are going to go with the evaluation rather than the testing. I will definitely make a video about how the end-of year evaluation goes next year! I have recently been listening to Andrew Pudewa's podcasts. He talks a lot about testing. I like his point of view; testing tests what you don't know rather than what you do know. Here is a quote from him "Now we, as home-schoolers, have some options that other parents don’t have. We can, of course, do “school” at home, obediently following our worksheets and nicely administering our end-of-chapter multiple-choice tests. Or, if we can see outside the box of our own conditioning, choose to do something radically different. We can, right now, make the decision to care more about what our children do know, rather that being worried about what they don’t know. We can determine to draw out real thinking, rather than programming our students with the “correct” textbook responses. We can, if we have the courage, “just say no” to multiple-choice tests, and the whole mentality that goes with it. No, you won’t “cover all the bases.” Your children won’t know everything they’re “supposed to.” They will learn different things than what the other fifth graders are learning, but they may very well learn better how to think, and to know that they know what they know."
