Home schooling recommendations please.

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Reluctant Watchman
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Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Reluctant Watchman »

Hi, I just finished reading the entire thread on what excuses people have for not home schooling, so I wanted to create this thread asking for home schooling suggestions, since that thread was nearly void of any such recommendations.

Please share with us your home schooling recommendations and maybe just a little bit about why you support or like the program.

Thanks in advance!!

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Fred
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Fred »

Free download from Hillsdale College.
https://k12.hillsdale.edu/

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Reluctant Watchman
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Reluctant Watchman »

One recommendation we are looking at: https://classicalconversations.com/

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Reluctant Watchman
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Reluctant Watchman »

My SIL is doing this program, K-8, 9-12 is in the works, but a few years away:

https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/

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Reluctant Watchman
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Reluctant Watchman »

Any good home schooling programs w/ a master class in conspiracy theories?

Maybe I’ll have to supplement a 30-60 min. study time on LDSFF as part of their education. :)

The BoM is a pretty good primer as well.

karend77
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by karend77 »

https://beastacademy.com/ Advanced Math for Elementary school Here's a review for it https://kateshomeschoolmath.com/beast-a ... ious-kids/ My grandkids love it

Ado
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Ado »

I used the good and the beautiful preschool and then kindergarten program when my son was in 1st grade. It's fine, though a little too "fluff" for me, and it skipped around a lot, never focusing on one thing for very long. But I think it's good for preschool and Kindergarten levels. (I'm using their Pre-K book with my daughter right now). It's also probably the most affordable homeschool curriculum out there. I just wanted something more solid after that. I am now teaching 1st grade to my son with this: memoriapress.com
Memoria Press is a classical christian approach to teaching. It uses the concept of the trivium to teach kids according to their developmental stages. Those stages are grammar (age 4-11, soaking in facts and memorizing), logic (age 11-14, beginning to ask the why and how of the facts they've learned), and rhetoric ( age 14-18, learning to use their knowledge). The point is to teach them how to think, not what to think. I like it a lot and just purchased their Kindergarten curriculum for my daughter to do next school year, and 2nd grade for my son. (They emailed and warned their prices were going up in March because of inflation, so I ordered early). I wouldn't necessarily call it a rigorous curriculum, but it's definitely solid and way more challenging for him (and for me) than any other curriculum I have looked at. It's a lot of flash cards, drills, repetition, recitation, and timed math facts. There's also a lot of reading and memorizing of poetry and scripture verses. He is also learning to write in cursive, and I've been pretty tough on him about his penmanship. There were a lot of tears and a lot of angry outbursts for a while. A common complaint was: "This is too hard! Why do I have to do it again and again?" In spite of his efforts to fight me on it, we stuck with it. I am glad we did because lately he has begun to express excitement that he doesn't have to count on his fingers or in his head anymore to solve math problems (something a lot of adults probably can't say for themselves sadly). He doesn't panic when I ask him to point out the consonant blends and vowel teams in his spelling words. Things are beginning to settle into his memory. He is reading at a 4th grade level and can answer reading comprehension questions with complete written sentences. There is less whining and less frustration because he's reaping the fruits of his efforts. He's starting to trust the process now. His confidence in his ability to learn something new through repetition and practice has grown. It's so rewarding to experience that with him, because I was getting discouraged and really doubted my ability to do this for a while. He's definitely got some serious ADHD and I wondered if I was pushing him too hard, expecting too much, or needed to try something else. Incredibly though, his concentration has improved. It makes me a bit sad that I didn't get the same kind of individualized help and encouragement when I was a young, undiagnosed ADHD kid myself. We are both learning that we can do hard things.

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Baurak Ale
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Baurak Ale »

My 6th, 4th, 1st, and kindergartner all switched to the Good and the Beautiful this year. We love it! If you’re willing to print your own materials, the cost can be very low, but the printed materials are of a high quality should you opt for that. Lots of videos to go with the lessons too. Owned by Mormons but made nondenominationally for any Christian. My wife likes their curriculum materials too for her aid. We’ve done a couple others and we like this the best so far.

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Seed Starter
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Seed Starter »

Our family is part of a co-op that utilizes the "Well-Educated Heart" philosophy as part of our home school program:
https://www.librariesofhope.com/2-change-heart

One beautiful and unique aspect of WEH is that it empowers mothers to be greater teachers to their children and encourages mothers to support one another other through their Mothers of Influence groups. I'm sure the founder is LDS and I'm sure she understands some of the deep troubles facing our world. We also use portions of The Good and the Beautiful but less so for the arts. It's fine but not as inspiring as WEH IMO.

I feel prompted to caution new home school families about relying too heavily on a curriculum for everything. There are so many resources to help children learn. I would encourage you to come up with at least part of the program or better yet, let your child help. I think sometimes curriculum is such a big deal to some because they lack confidence or they want to put on a good show for parents and friends. Nobody wants to look like they just kicked the system to the curb without a perfect plan. Perhaps I'm ranting a little. You do what's best for your family.

I particularly like project learning where the child helps set a goal and they learn math, reading, or science out of necessity rather than teaching those subjects while telling the child they will need this one day. I realize we can't always do this but when it happens this way it's a beautiful thing. My 10-year-old son runs track and field and cross-country of his own accord. I think he's closing in on running 40 miles so far this year. Sometimes we go to the local high school track to practice. I bought him a measuring wheel to map out different courses around the neighborhood. The wheel measures feet but how many feet are in a mile and btw how many meters are in a mile?

What do the terms aerobic and anaerobic mean and how do they apply to running fast? What is the distance on the inside of a high school track vs the outside? He was given a running watch for Christmas and now he analyzes his running stats and then journals about it (writing). He needs to have a good understanding of pacing in miles and meters. Last month he asked me how he's going to run NCAA track if he learns at home. We have a plan for that. He is an encyclopedia of track and field history. He learns about diet and nutrition which causes him to eat differently. He's very careful with money because he has to pay for half of his 5k entry fees. When he gets screen time he watches running videos. He says he's going to the Olympics one day. We haven't discussed that organization yet... He taught an impromptu class about running the other day when a few boys from co-op expressed some interest. I'm not telling you all this to brag. I'm trying to show how starting with a child's passion can lead him or her to chase knowledge rather than run from it. I'm sure my children have "gaps" in their education and so do I. Perhaps one day we'll all be at grade level.

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Fred
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Fred »

Reluctant Watchman wrote: February 6th, 2023, 8:51 pm Any good home schooling programs w/ a master class in conspiracy theories?

Maybe I’ll have to supplement a 30-60 min. study time on LDSFF as part of their education. :)

The BoM is a pretty good primer as well.
Hillsdale College takes zero government funding. They stand firmly on the Constitution, and the premise that God inspired it. Thousands use the k-12 curriculum. And it is free. Why settle for second best? You should use it even if in conjunction with something else.

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Reluctant Watchman
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Reluctant Watchman »

Fred wrote: February 7th, 2023, 2:47 am
Reluctant Watchman wrote: February 6th, 2023, 8:51 pm Any good home schooling programs w/ a master class in conspiracy theories?

Maybe I’ll have to supplement a 30-60 min. study time on LDSFF as part of their education. :)

The BoM is a pretty good primer as well.
Hillsdale College takes zero government funding. They stand firmly on the Constitution, and the premise that God inspired it. Thousands use the k-12 curriculum. And it is free. Why settle for second best? You should use it even if in conjunction with something else.
I reviewed the material and it definitely looked like something I’d like to supplement their studies with. Thanks for sharing that resource.

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iWriteStuff
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by iWriteStuff »

Reluctant Watchman wrote: February 6th, 2023, 8:38 pm My SIL is doing this program, K-8, 9-12 is in the works, but a few years away:

https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/
We did this program during the insanity of covid and school mask mandates. When they got back to public school, our kids were ahead.

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Theveilofforgetting
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Theveilofforgetting »

We unschool so no programs officially. If you live in an area unlike mine you may be able to access co-ops and home-schooling groups.

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Seed Starter
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Seed Starter »

Fred wrote: February 7th, 2023, 2:47 am
Reluctant Watchman wrote: February 6th, 2023, 8:51 pm Any good home schooling programs w/ a master class in conspiracy theories?

Maybe I’ll have to supplement a 30-60 min. study time on LDSFF as part of their education. :)

The BoM is a pretty good primer as well.
Hillsdale College takes zero government funding. They stand firmly on the Constitution, and the premise that God inspired it. Thousands use the k-12 curriculum. And it is free. Why settle for second best? You should use it even if in conjunction with something else.
I love their stand on not taking public funds. I've even sent them a few bucks. They are a trusted educational resource.

CuriousThinker
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by CuriousThinker »

My biggest suggestions would be to read Holt and Gatto. Connor Boyack's homeschool book is great too. You will feel much more empowered. I love The Well-Educated Heart and her Libraries of Hope website. So much awesomeness. Life of Fred is good and so is Teaching Textbooks for math. Read. Read. Then read some more to your kids. That will be the catalyst. Especially the classics. No one curriculum works for every child so be ready for a lot of prayer and trial and error. Library cards and museum/zoo memberships will become your best friend. You can have a homeschool full of love and learning with minimal expense.

CuriousThinker
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by CuriousThinker »

Reluctant Watchman wrote: February 6th, 2023, 8:37 pm One recommendation we are looking at: https://classicalconversations.com/
I hear great things, but it is pretty pricey. At least it was when I looked into it about 6 years ago.

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harakim
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by harakim »

Reluctant Watchman wrote: February 6th, 2023, 7:01 pm Hi, I just finished reading the entire thread on what excuses people have for not home schooling, so I wanted to create this thread asking for home schooling suggestions, since that thread was nearly void of any such recommendations.

Please share with us your home schooling recommendations and maybe just a little bit about why you support or like the program.

Thanks in advance!!
My Basic Theory of Homeschool

I keep academic homeschool simple. There are four things that form the foundation for almost any academic field of study:
1. Math
2. Reading
3. A love of learning
4. Confidence

Also important are:
5. Kind Communication
6. Physical Ability

If you teach those 6 things, you can consider yourself successful.

Beyond that, they will tell you what they want to learn. Then you just support them, teach or learn with them, and provide them resources. I looked into homeschool programs and found most of them wanting, however the beautiful program above seemed a cut above.

How I teach those things

What you for sure don't want to do is just do whatever they do at school, but at home. To give them confidence, whenever you start with something, start with a win. Start with something they will succeed at.

1. Math - the number one thing here is for them to not have to count on their hands. I have always been good at applied math. That was built on a foundation of not counting on my hands or having to think about computing basic multiplication, addition or etc. I use a program of worksheets starting with 0+0 and moving on to 1+0, 1+1, 2+0, etc, up to 10x10. When they can do however many I choose in a minute or two, then I move them to the next level (eg 25 problems in a minute.) If they have to do an average of 10 single digit multiplications per algebra problem (double digit would be 4 single digits added together...) and they do 30 problems a day for 180 days, then shaving 1 second off that calculation will save 15 hours. More than that, it lets them focus on the new problem instead of breaking their concentration constantly. The worksheets take 1-4 minutes a day depending on if you give them 1 or 2 minutes and if you have them do 1 or 2 worksheets. You read that right: 1-4 minutes a day to build their fundamentals over a couple years. I do have to make it clear that you can and perhaps should teach them what adding means, but I would not teach them how to add by figuring it out unless they specifically ask for it or have lots of trouble. All the common core and slow thinking will ruin it for them. You can come back later and explain the how once they have that short circuit in their brain.
Once I'm done with that, I blow through algebra and polynomials, formulas/application and on to calculus. I actually have never gotten past that as my oldest is in public school, but I would start over and go through everything in more detail. It's more motivating to know why you need to do something than just to do it. By moving fast and doing only easy problems, they get a chance to be successful and not be scared of any of the concepts. They don't need to know how it works, just that it works and why they might want to do it. Then come back and they'll be interested in the details of how it works and you can do the side quests.

2. Reading - If you can read, then you can teach your child to read with Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons. Tracing letters independent of the book is also good practice early on. This is the one time when I would say you should probably push them a little. It's up to you, but I think the faster they go through this, the more impressive it will be to them that they can read. Look at a lesson further in the book and say "Can you believe you'll be able to read this story?" They will probably say they don't believe it. Tell them you are sure they will be able to. When they do finally read that story, remind them that they thought they couldn't do it and it will motivate them. Reading is one of the best ways to instill confidence in them. Always say you believe in them and motivate them with intrinsic rewards/natural rewards as much as you can. Each time you reward with extrinsic rewards, it will greatly distract from their perception of the intrinsic rewards and can even kill their love of learning. Once they can read (after 100 easy lessons), have them read books. If the books have hard words, you can make flash cards. If you just do this, they will learn to spell and write naturally. It will be almost effortless to teach them in a few years. In the mean time, you better be real good at reading their crazy-spelled words and encouraging them as much as possible. :D

3. Don't kill their love of learning by forcing them to learn or by forcing them to stick to a curriculum they hate. Don't make them stick with stuff in the early stages. Later on, when they consider themself a learner, you can push them more. Make sure if you force them to stay up all night, it's for something that will impress them for the rest of their life. The learning they do will reward them with just the learning they did. The love of learning will ensure they continue learning for the rest of their life. If you drop one day but save one minute of love of learning, that will pay them 1 minute/days * 365 days/year * about 80 years = 500 hours of learning. This is kind of like a deck building game or a strategy game where you are balancing having power today vs building for later, but the timeline is far, far longer. I imagine I can explain this better if it doesn't make sense.

4. Confidence - Always start with a victory. I start my worksheets at 0+0. All the answers are 0. Each day, only one new problems comes in (some days: no new problems.) If they finish a reading lesson, I congratulate them on how smart they are and how I knew they could do it. I encourage them to encourage others in the same way so they don't get an inflated ego. If they do something very impressive, I let them know.

5. Kind Communication - You can do this any way you want, but the goal is that your children are kind, patient and willing to communicate about how they feel and ask how other people are feeling, etc. This does not mean just reading the scriptures, although that can be a part of it. If you read the scriptures and they don't really understand why, then you'll lose. If you plant the seed of the scriptures from a young age and later their friends tell them they were just brainwashed, they might believe it. The world is practically waiting to destroy the testimonies of our children. They need to have kindness written on their heart.

6. Physical Ability - This includes sports, dexterity, music or anything to do with the body. This body is what is going to filter their experiences of the world for them and how they will put their values back out into the world. It's important! If you live rural, just give your kids time to play outside and an inspired toy or tool now and then and they will take care of this. If you're in the city, then you probably have to enroll them in sports. You know your kids. Every kid has a body with some unique ability that you can help them develop.

Last Words
School is extremely inefficient. You have one teacher and 20-40 students, a quarter of home are actively trying to prevent the teacher from teaching and a quarter of whom do not believe they can learn. It is so easy to compete with that. And a lot of the stuff they teach is actually not very important or is taught at a time when it doesn't make a lot of sense instead of when it is picked up almost naturally just by being a member of society.

When people mention that my homeschool curriculum is missing a bunch of stuff, I ask the same thing: What do you remember from elementary, middle and high school? We delve into that a minute and then I ask: and how long would it take you or a tutor to teach that to your high-school-aged child?? I don't think I've ever gotten a response of more than 2 years. So if you totally screw up for the first 11 years, you'll still probably make it. If you want to build your own confidence, get a GED prep manual and you can see how little they actually expect you to learn coming out of high school.

It's better to build a sustainable practice than try and race for perfection. Don't kill their love of learning. I obviously teach more than the six skills I outlined above and will continue to develop more curriculum but it didn't start with a full curriculum - I barely covered the basics. You will have specific guidance and skills that will help you teach your children. You will give them things that they could never get from a public or private school, even at a place like Eton. You will be able to go faster or slower or deviate based on what they want. At the same time you'll build your family and replace the values of materialism, nihilism and sexuality with appreciation, responsibility and meaningful relationships.

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harakim
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by harakim »

Seed Starter wrote: February 6th, 2023, 11:59 pm I feel prompted to caution new home school families about relying too heavily on a curriculum for everything. There are so many resources to help children learn. I would encourage you to come up with at least part of the program or better yet, let your child help. I think sometimes curriculum is such a big deal to some because they lack confidence or they want to put on a good show for parents and friends. Nobody wants to look like they just kicked the system to the curb without a perfect plan. Perhaps I'm ranting a little. You do what's best for your family.
I totally agree!
(I also agree with the rest of your post. It's spot on.)


Don't start with a curriculum. Start with what you want them to learn and cut stuff out until it hurts a little! Then get that up and running. That's sustainable. Whatever else sounds like fun to teach them or that you think they'd love: have fun building a curriculum around that! Don't stress and don't rush. Get curriculums to support what you need, instead of whatever they're selling. Maybe you like math curriculum A and you want to use The Great Courses for history and puzzles* from ebay for geography. Don't get trapped in one curriculum. Curate it the way you want!

One time, I thought about what I would pay for a good education for my kids. Then I sat down and wrote down everything I wanted them to learn and broke it down into activities that I wanted them to do. Then I made a price list based on how important they were, starting at the top level and breaking it down into the actual activities. For a while, I was paying my son and some neighbors to read books. It turned out to be like 3 dollars a book or something for 100 books. He already liked to read, but I knew he would use the money wisely anyway. The other kids were blown away that reading books was that important to our family and that was a message I was glad to send.

*For geography, I used to do puzzles with my daughter. By 18 months, she could put a US puzzle together and knew the names of basically every state. Now, a stranger may not have recognized those names, but they were consistent and unique and often sounded like the state's actual name. :D
We used to race. I would get one with less pieces for her and more pieces for me. Then we traded my puzzle to her and her puzzle to my younger son. I got a cardboard puzzle (much slower than wood.) Then I got another puzzle with less pieces and tried to do it with my eyes closed. You would be surprised how educational that was. Later we had 2 or three people on one puzzle and they'd race against me on another puzzle. They had to learn how to work together.
We would try to do the puzzle in one breath. We would try to do it in two breaths. We would try to do it in 5 breaths with our eyes closed. The kids would request the puzzle races (also memory) when given the option of whatever they wanted to do. It can be fun. Try and beat your best time.
You can get other geography puzzles.
Memory was a great one too. My daughter and wife would practice and she could legit beat me. We always liked to count how many matches you got in the "clean up". Once I had a really bad game and she was actually letting me win. I said something to her to tease her and she had a 14 match clean up!
The last thing I'll mention is that I realized she didn't really get the concept the states were real places. I took her outside and said "California is that way" and various things. And after 2 or 3 times, it just clicked. I asked her where Florida was. Right! I asked her where Maine was. Close enough! She got it! And she has always had an excellent sense of direction since then.

This was practically on a whim, was extremely cheap and extremely enjoyable. Don't fret about home school. If you care, you want to have fun, and you're willing to put some energy into it, you'll do amazingly.

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Seed Starter
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Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Seed Starter »

harakim wrote: February 7th, 2023, 9:58 pm
Reluctant Watchman wrote: February 6th, 2023, 7:01 pm Hi, I just finished reading the entire thread on what excuses people have for not home schooling, so I wanted to create this thread asking for home schooling suggestions, since that thread was nearly void of any such recommendations.

Please share with us your home schooling recommendations and maybe just a little bit about why you support or like the program.

Thanks in advance!!
My Basic Theory of Homeschool

I keep academic homeschool simple. There are four things that form the foundation for almost any academic field of study:
1. Math
2. Reading
3. A love of learning
4. Confidence

Also important are:
5. Kind Communication
6. Physical Ability

If you teach those 6 things, you can consider yourself successful.

Beyond that, they will tell you what they want to learn. Then you just support them, teach or learn with them, and provide them resources. I looked into homeschool programs and found most of them wanting, however the beautiful program above seemed a cut above.

How I teach those things

What you for sure don't want to do is just do whatever they do at school, but at home. To give them confidence, whenever you start with something, start with a win. Start with something they will succeed at.

1. Math - the number one thing here is for them to not have to count on their hands. I have always been good at applied math. That was built on a foundation of not counting on my hands or having to think about computing basic multiplication, addition or etc. I use a program of worksheets starting with 0+0 and moving on to 1+0, 1+1, 2+0, etc, up to 10x10. When they can do however many I choose in a minute or two, then I move them to the next level (eg 25 problems in a minute.) If they have to do an average of 10 single digit multiplications per algebra problem (double digit would be 4 single digits added together...) and they do 30 problems a day for 180 days, then shaving 1 second off that calculation will save 15 hours. More than that, it lets them focus on the new problem instead of breaking their concentration constantly. The worksheets take 1-4 minutes a day depending on if you give them 1 or 2 minutes and if you have them do 1 or 2 worksheets. You read that right: 1-4 minutes a day to build their fundamentals over a couple years. I do have to make it clear that you can and perhaps should teach them what adding means, but I would not teach them how to add by figuring it out unless they specifically ask for it or have lots of trouble. All the common core and slow thinking will ruin it for them. You can come back later and explain the how once they have that short circuit in their brain.
Once I'm done with that, I blow through algebra and polynomials, formulas/application and on to calculus. I actually have never gotten past that as my oldest is in public school, but I would start over and go through everything in more detail. It's more motivating to know why you need to do something than just to do it. By moving fast and doing only easy problems, they get a chance to be successful and not be scared of any of the concepts. They don't need to know how it works, just that it works and why they might want to do it. Then come back and they'll be interested in the details of how it works and you can do the side quests.

2. Reading - If you can read, then you can teach your child to read with Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons. Tracing letters independent of the book is also good practice early on. This is the one time when I would say you should probably push them a little. It's up to you, but I think the faster they go through this, the more impressive it will be to them that they can read. Look at a lesson further in the book and say "Can you believe you'll be able to read this story?" They will probably say they don't believe it. Tell them you are sure they will be able to. When they do finally read that story, remind them that they thought they couldn't do it and it will motivate them. Reading is one of the best ways to instill confidence in them. Always say you believe in them and motivate them with intrinsic rewards/natural rewards as much as you can. Each time you reward with extrinsic rewards, it will greatly distract from their perception of the intrinsic rewards and can even kill their love of learning. Once they can read (after 100 easy lessons), have them read books. If the books have hard words, you can make flash cards. If you just do this, they will learn to spell and write naturally. It will be almost effortless to teach them in a few years. In the mean time, you better be real good at reading their crazy-spelled words and encouraging them as much as possible. :D

3. Don't kill their love of learning by forcing them to learn or by forcing them to stick to a curriculum they hate. Don't make them stick with stuff in the early stages. Later on, when they consider themself a learner, you can push them more. Make sure if you force them to stay up all night, it's for something that will impress them for the rest of their life. The learning they do will reward them with just the learning they did. The love of learning will ensure they continue learning for the rest of their life. If you drop one day but save one minute of love of learning, that will pay them 1 minute/days * 365 days/year * about 80 years = 500 hours of learning. This is kind of like a deck building game or a strategy game where you are balancing having power today vs building for later, but the timeline is far, far longer. I imagine I can explain this better if it doesn't make sense.

4. Confidence - Always start with a victory. I start my worksheets at 0+0. All the answers are 0. Each day, only one new problems comes in (some days: no new problems.) If they finish a reading lesson, I congratulate them on how smart they are and how I knew they could do it. I encourage them to encourage others in the same way so they don't get an inflated ego. If they do something very impressive, I let them know.

5. Kind Communication - You can do this any way you want, but the goal is that your children are kind, patient and willing to communicate about how they feel and ask how other people are feeling, etc. This does not mean just reading the scriptures, although that can be a part of it. If you read the scriptures and they don't really understand why, then you'll lose. If you plant the seed of the scriptures from a young age and later their friends tell them they were just brainwashed, they might believe it. The world is practically waiting to destroy the testimonies of our children. They need to have kindness written on their heart.

6. Physical Ability - This includes sports, dexterity, music or anything to do with the body. This body is what is going to filter their experiences of the world for them and how they will put their values back out into the world. It's important! If you live rural, just give your kids time to play outside and an inspired toy or tool now and then and they will take care of this. If you're in the city, then you probably have to enroll them in sports. You know your kids. Every kid has a body with some unique ability that you can help them develop.

Last Words
School is extremely inefficient. You have one teacher and 20-40 students, a quarter of home are actively trying to prevent the teacher from teaching and a quarter of whom do not believe they can learn. It is so easy to compete with that. And a lot of the stuff they teach is actually not very important or is taught at a time when it doesn't make a lot of sense instead of when it is picked up almost naturally just by being a member of society.

When people mention that my homeschool curriculum is missing a bunch of stuff, I ask the same thing: What do you remember from elementary, middle and high school? We delve into that a minute and then I ask: and how long would it take you or a tutor to teach that to your high-school-aged child?? I don't think I've ever gotten a response of more than 2 years. So if you totally screw up for the first 11 years, you'll still probably make it. If you want to build your own confidence, get a GED prep manual and you can see how little they actually expect you to learn coming out of high school.

It's better to build a sustainable practice than try and race for perfection. Don't kill their love of learning. I obviously teach more than the six skills I outlined above and will continue to develop more curriculum but it didn't start with a full curriculum - I barely covered the basics. You will have specific guidance and skills that will help you teach your children. You will give them things that they could never get from a public or private school, even at a place like Eton. You will be able to go faster or slower or deviate based on what they want. At the same time you'll build your family and replace the values of materialism, nihilism and sexuality with appreciation, responsibility and meaningful relationships.
Great stuff here! 100 Easy Lessons is a game-changer. AND THIS---> What do you remember from elementary, middle and high school? I have to laugh when some people tell me public school is way better than home school and then remind me that there is no way public school taught me well enough to pass that information on to my children. I guess I'm just missing the teaching magic (crowd management) skills to teach 4-5 kids at my kitchen table. The teaching pros I was exposed to threw packets and tests on my desk. That was teaching. I had a few good teachers but mostly not.

I love what you said about the love of learning. It took me a long time to get mine back. I'm curious about your situation. I assume you are a Father. Are you your children's main teacher or do you share teaching duties with your wife? I help my wife but she is the main academic teacher. I think more Fathers need to get involved. They have a lot to offer but I feel like they could be more involved in many families.

Light Seeker
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Posts: 422

Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Light Seeker »

Reluctant Watchman wrote: February 6th, 2023, 7:01 pm Hi, I just finished reading the entire thread on what excuses people have for not home schooling, so I wanted to create this thread asking for home schooling suggestions, since that thread was nearly void of any such recommendations.

Please share with us your home schooling recommendations and maybe just a little bit about why you support or like the program.

Thanks in advance!!
https://tjed.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52GHpjqo5rI

This is the method we use. I would be happy to answer any questions about implementation.

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harakim
captain of 1,000
Posts: 2819
Location: Salt Lake Megalopolis

Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by harakim »

Seed Starter wrote: February 8th, 2023, 3:19 pm
harakim wrote: February 7th, 2023, 9:58 pm
Reluctant Watchman wrote: February 6th, 2023, 7:01 pm Hi, I just finished reading the entire thread on what excuses people have for not home schooling, so I wanted to create this thread asking for home schooling suggestions, since that thread was nearly void of any such recommendations.

Please share with us your home schooling recommendations and maybe just a little bit about why you support or like the program.

Thanks in advance!!
My Basic Theory of Homeschool

I keep academic homeschool simple. There are four things that form the foundation for almost any academic field of study:
1. Math
2. Reading
3. A love of learning
4. Confidence

Also important are:
5. Kind Communication
6. Physical Ability

If you teach those 6 things, you can consider yourself successful.

Beyond that, they will tell you what they want to learn. Then you just support them, teach or learn with them, and provide them resources. I looked into homeschool programs and found most of them wanting, however the beautiful program above seemed a cut above.

How I teach those things

What you for sure don't want to do is just do whatever they do at school, but at home. To give them confidence, whenever you start with something, start with a win. Start with something they will succeed at.

1. Math - the number one thing here is for them to not have to count on their hands. I have always been good at applied math. That was built on a foundation of not counting on my hands or having to think about computing basic multiplication, addition or etc. I use a program of worksheets starting with 0+0 and moving on to 1+0, 1+1, 2+0, etc, up to 10x10. When they can do however many I choose in a minute or two, then I move them to the next level (eg 25 problems in a minute.) If they have to do an average of 10 single digit multiplications per algebra problem (double digit would be 4 single digits added together...) and they do 30 problems a day for 180 days, then shaving 1 second off that calculation will save 15 hours. More than that, it lets them focus on the new problem instead of breaking their concentration constantly. The worksheets take 1-4 minutes a day depending on if you give them 1 or 2 minutes and if you have them do 1 or 2 worksheets. You read that right: 1-4 minutes a day to build their fundamentals over a couple years. I do have to make it clear that you can and perhaps should teach them what adding means, but I would not teach them how to add by figuring it out unless they specifically ask for it or have lots of trouble. All the common core and slow thinking will ruin it for them. You can come back later and explain the how once they have that short circuit in their brain.
Once I'm done with that, I blow through algebra and polynomials, formulas/application and on to calculus. I actually have never gotten past that as my oldest is in public school, but I would start over and go through everything in more detail. It's more motivating to know why you need to do something than just to do it. By moving fast and doing only easy problems, they get a chance to be successful and not be scared of any of the concepts. They don't need to know how it works, just that it works and why they might want to do it. Then come back and they'll be interested in the details of how it works and you can do the side quests.

2. Reading - If you can read, then you can teach your child to read with Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons. Tracing letters independent of the book is also good practice early on. This is the one time when I would say you should probably push them a little. It's up to you, but I think the faster they go through this, the more impressive it will be to them that they can read. Look at a lesson further in the book and say "Can you believe you'll be able to read this story?" They will probably say they don't believe it. Tell them you are sure they will be able to. When they do finally read that story, remind them that they thought they couldn't do it and it will motivate them. Reading is one of the best ways to instill confidence in them. Always say you believe in them and motivate them with intrinsic rewards/natural rewards as much as you can. Each time you reward with extrinsic rewards, it will greatly distract from their perception of the intrinsic rewards and can even kill their love of learning. Once they can read (after 100 easy lessons), have them read books. If the books have hard words, you can make flash cards. If you just do this, they will learn to spell and write naturally. It will be almost effortless to teach them in a few years. In the mean time, you better be real good at reading their crazy-spelled words and encouraging them as much as possible. :D

3. Don't kill their love of learning by forcing them to learn or by forcing them to stick to a curriculum they hate. Don't make them stick with stuff in the early stages. Later on, when they consider themself a learner, you can push them more. Make sure if you force them to stay up all night, it's for something that will impress them for the rest of their life. The learning they do will reward them with just the learning they did. The love of learning will ensure they continue learning for the rest of their life. If you drop one day but save one minute of love of learning, that will pay them 1 minute/days * 365 days/year * about 80 years = 500 hours of learning. This is kind of like a deck building game or a strategy game where you are balancing having power today vs building for later, but the timeline is far, far longer. I imagine I can explain this better if it doesn't make sense.

4. Confidence - Always start with a victory. I start my worksheets at 0+0. All the answers are 0. Each day, only one new problems comes in (some days: no new problems.) If they finish a reading lesson, I congratulate them on how smart they are and how I knew they could do it. I encourage them to encourage others in the same way so they don't get an inflated ego. If they do something very impressive, I let them know.

5. Kind Communication - You can do this any way you want, but the goal is that your children are kind, patient and willing to communicate about how they feel and ask how other people are feeling, etc. This does not mean just reading the scriptures, although that can be a part of it. If you read the scriptures and they don't really understand why, then you'll lose. If you plant the seed of the scriptures from a young age and later their friends tell them they were just brainwashed, they might believe it. The world is practically waiting to destroy the testimonies of our children. They need to have kindness written on their heart.

6. Physical Ability - This includes sports, dexterity, music or anything to do with the body. This body is what is going to filter their experiences of the world for them and how they will put their values back out into the world. It's important! If you live rural, just give your kids time to play outside and an inspired toy or tool now and then and they will take care of this. If you're in the city, then you probably have to enroll them in sports. You know your kids. Every kid has a body with some unique ability that you can help them develop.

Last Words
School is extremely inefficient. You have one teacher and 20-40 students, a quarter of home are actively trying to prevent the teacher from teaching and a quarter of whom do not believe they can learn. It is so easy to compete with that. And a lot of the stuff they teach is actually not very important or is taught at a time when it doesn't make a lot of sense instead of when it is picked up almost naturally just by being a member of society.

When people mention that my homeschool curriculum is missing a bunch of stuff, I ask the same thing: What do you remember from elementary, middle and high school? We delve into that a minute and then I ask: and how long would it take you or a tutor to teach that to your high-school-aged child?? I don't think I've ever gotten a response of more than 2 years. So if you totally screw up for the first 11 years, you'll still probably make it. If you want to build your own confidence, get a GED prep manual and you can see how little they actually expect you to learn coming out of high school.

It's better to build a sustainable practice than try and race for perfection. Don't kill their love of learning. I obviously teach more than the six skills I outlined above and will continue to develop more curriculum but it didn't start with a full curriculum - I barely covered the basics. You will have specific guidance and skills that will help you teach your children. You will give them things that they could never get from a public or private school, even at a place like Eton. You will be able to go faster or slower or deviate based on what they want. At the same time you'll build your family and replace the values of materialism, nihilism and sexuality with appreciation, responsibility and meaningful relationships.
Great stuff here! 100 Easy Lessons is a game-changer. AND THIS---> What do you remember from elementary, middle and high school? I have to laugh when some people tell me public school is way better than home school and then remind me that there is no way public school taught me well enough to pass that information on to my children. I guess I'm just missing the teaching magic (crowd management) skills to teach 4-5 kids at my kitchen table. The teaching pros I was exposed to threw packets and tests on my desk. That was teaching. I had a few good teachers but mostly not.

I love what you said about the love of learning. It took me a long time to get mine back. I'm curious about your situation. I assume you are a Father. Are you your children's main teacher or do you share teaching duties with your wife? I help my wife but she is the main academic teacher. I think more Fathers need to get involved. They have a lot to offer but I feel like they could be more involved in many families.
I am a father and my wife is the main home school teacher. I design the core curriculum and find the materials and classes, but my wife is the primary teacher by a long shot. I hope one day to be more consistently involved, but right now I have many things that need my attention.

I think fathers should get more involved, but I don't think that's a homeschool issue. When fathers realize what is at stake for their children, they get involved. I think the children who were supported in what they needed - but who were not taught to appreciate or realize that support existed - have a problem with this. I think workaholics and people with something to prove have that issue. And I think people who grew up around only bad parenting are unaware of the difference good parenting can make. People need exposure to bad parenting and its outcomes and only then will they pay enough attention to the good parenting. However, even if you don't see good parenting, you can pretty much figure it out if you're motivated. It's a huge problem and I don't really know how to make a difference there, although I hope to one day.

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mudflap
captain of 1,000
Posts: 3225
Location: The South
Contact:

Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by mudflap »

Reluctant Watchman wrote: February 6th, 2023, 8:37 pm One recommendation we are looking at: https://classicalconversations.com/
interesting. especially:
you are equipped with resources and training to teach your children not what to learn, but how to learn.

this is the way.

my students(1) used to say, "why do we have to learn so much math?"

And I would say, "I'm not teaching you math, I'm teaching you how to think. Math is just the vehicle I'm using to get you to think. "

(1) I was a high school math teacher (one of my degrees is in math, with a teaching minor).

We homeschooled for a few years while we were curing our daughters autism. But then my wife's health problems ended up getting worse to the point we could no longer handle it, along with trying to finish the cabin, so we had to enroll her, where she quickly rose to the top of her class, lol. Can't wait to leave this sorry excuse for a school system. The one by the cabin is full of good Christian folks and they really care about their kids. I used to work as a student teacher in that school district and the difference is night and day between that one and the one we are in now.

We have some red lines set up that if the school system crosses them, we'll pull her out. Meanwhile, I'm my daughter's piano teacher. And technology advisor (we run linux on all our personal computers). And outdoors trainer. And we do arts and crafts (drawing, building, origami....would LOVE her to get into knitting; she just found out about friendship bracelets - maybe that will be our catalyst....). My wife is an excellent cake maker, seamstress, artist, and singer, so she's got all that covered.

I like programs that give you the goals up front ("by the end of this course, the student will be able to......"), and then spells out chapters or sections that cover each of the goals, along with some kind of timeline that you can loosely follow. I don't necessarily agree with a daily "here's what to do". I'd rather them provide a framework to operate within, and let me see how my student is progressing.

Tests that evaluate and show you where their weaknesses are can be helpful as well.

And a system that keeps track of their time would be nice - our state has a requirement that you keep a daily log of when the student was "in school", but no one I know has ever been audited.

Allison
captain of 1,000
Posts: 2410

Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Allison »

This curriculum is affiliated with the John Birch Society. It didn’t exist while we were homeschooling. Perhaps helpful for those who prefer more of a classroom experience, at home.

https://fpeusa.org/

User avatar
Seed Starter
captain of 1,000
Posts: 1444
Contact:

Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Seed Starter »

Allison wrote: February 9th, 2023, 8:28 pm This curriculum is affiliated with the John Birch Society. It didn’t exist while we were homeschooling. Perhaps helpful for those who prefer more of a classroom experience, at home.

https://fpeusa.org/
Interesting. Good to know.

User avatar
Seed Starter
captain of 1,000
Posts: 1444
Contact:

Re: Home schooling recommendations please.

Post by Seed Starter »

harakim wrote: February 9th, 2023, 7:29 pm
Seed Starter wrote: February 8th, 2023, 3:19 pm
harakim wrote: February 7th, 2023, 9:58 pm
Reluctant Watchman wrote: February 6th, 2023, 7:01 pm Hi, I just finished reading the entire thread on what excuses people have for not home schooling, so I wanted to create this thread asking for home schooling suggestions, since that thread was nearly void of any such recommendations.

Please share with us your home schooling recommendations and maybe just a little bit about why you support or like the program.

Thanks in advance!!
My Basic Theory of Homeschool

I keep academic homeschool simple. There are four things that form the foundation for almost any academic field of study:
1. Math
2. Reading
3. A love of learning
4. Confidence

Also important are:
5. Kind Communication
6. Physical Ability

If you teach those 6 things, you can consider yourself successful.

Beyond that, they will tell you what they want to learn. Then you just support them, teach or learn with them, and provide them resources. I looked into homeschool programs and found most of them wanting, however the beautiful program above seemed a cut above.

How I teach those things

What you for sure don't want to do is just do whatever they do at school, but at home. To give them confidence, whenever you start with something, start with a win. Start with something they will succeed at.

1. Math - the number one thing here is for them to not have to count on their hands. I have always been good at applied math. That was built on a foundation of not counting on my hands or having to think about computing basic multiplication, addition or etc. I use a program of worksheets starting with 0+0 and moving on to 1+0, 1+1, 2+0, etc, up to 10x10. When they can do however many I choose in a minute or two, then I move them to the next level (eg 25 problems in a minute.) If they have to do an average of 10 single digit multiplications per algebra problem (double digit would be 4 single digits added together...) and they do 30 problems a day for 180 days, then shaving 1 second off that calculation will save 15 hours. More than that, it lets them focus on the new problem instead of breaking their concentration constantly. The worksheets take 1-4 minutes a day depending on if you give them 1 or 2 minutes and if you have them do 1 or 2 worksheets. You read that right: 1-4 minutes a day to build their fundamentals over a couple years. I do have to make it clear that you can and perhaps should teach them what adding means, but I would not teach them how to add by figuring it out unless they specifically ask for it or have lots of trouble. All the common core and slow thinking will ruin it for them. You can come back later and explain the how once they have that short circuit in their brain.
Once I'm done with that, I blow through algebra and polynomials, formulas/application and on to calculus. I actually have never gotten past that as my oldest is in public school, but I would start over and go through everything in more detail. It's more motivating to know why you need to do something than just to do it. By moving fast and doing only easy problems, they get a chance to be successful and not be scared of any of the concepts. They don't need to know how it works, just that it works and why they might want to do it. Then come back and they'll be interested in the details of how it works and you can do the side quests.

2. Reading - If you can read, then you can teach your child to read with Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons. Tracing letters independent of the book is also good practice early on. This is the one time when I would say you should probably push them a little. It's up to you, but I think the faster they go through this, the more impressive it will be to them that they can read. Look at a lesson further in the book and say "Can you believe you'll be able to read this story?" They will probably say they don't believe it. Tell them you are sure they will be able to. When they do finally read that story, remind them that they thought they couldn't do it and it will motivate them. Reading is one of the best ways to instill confidence in them. Always say you believe in them and motivate them with intrinsic rewards/natural rewards as much as you can. Each time you reward with extrinsic rewards, it will greatly distract from their perception of the intrinsic rewards and can even kill their love of learning. Once they can read (after 100 easy lessons), have them read books. If the books have hard words, you can make flash cards. If you just do this, they will learn to spell and write naturally. It will be almost effortless to teach them in a few years. In the mean time, you better be real good at reading their crazy-spelled words and encouraging them as much as possible. :D

3. Don't kill their love of learning by forcing them to learn or by forcing them to stick to a curriculum they hate. Don't make them stick with stuff in the early stages. Later on, when they consider themself a learner, you can push them more. Make sure if you force them to stay up all night, it's for something that will impress them for the rest of their life. The learning they do will reward them with just the learning they did. The love of learning will ensure they continue learning for the rest of their life. If you drop one day but save one minute of love of learning, that will pay them 1 minute/days * 365 days/year * about 80 years = 500 hours of learning. This is kind of like a deck building game or a strategy game where you are balancing having power today vs building for later, but the timeline is far, far longer. I imagine I can explain this better if it doesn't make sense.

4. Confidence - Always start with a victory. I start my worksheets at 0+0. All the answers are 0. Each day, only one new problems comes in (some days: no new problems.) If they finish a reading lesson, I congratulate them on how smart they are and how I knew they could do it. I encourage them to encourage others in the same way so they don't get an inflated ego. If they do something very impressive, I let them know.

5. Kind Communication - You can do this any way you want, but the goal is that your children are kind, patient and willing to communicate about how they feel and ask how other people are feeling, etc. This does not mean just reading the scriptures, although that can be a part of it. If you read the scriptures and they don't really understand why, then you'll lose. If you plant the seed of the scriptures from a young age and later their friends tell them they were just brainwashed, they might believe it. The world is practically waiting to destroy the testimonies of our children. They need to have kindness written on their heart.

6. Physical Ability - This includes sports, dexterity, music or anything to do with the body. This body is what is going to filter their experiences of the world for them and how they will put their values back out into the world. It's important! If you live rural, just give your kids time to play outside and an inspired toy or tool now and then and they will take care of this. If you're in the city, then you probably have to enroll them in sports. You know your kids. Every kid has a body with some unique ability that you can help them develop.

Last Words
School is extremely inefficient. You have one teacher and 20-40 students, a quarter of home are actively trying to prevent the teacher from teaching and a quarter of whom do not believe they can learn. It is so easy to compete with that. And a lot of the stuff they teach is actually not very important or is taught at a time when it doesn't make a lot of sense instead of when it is picked up almost naturally just by being a member of society.

When people mention that my homeschool curriculum is missing a bunch of stuff, I ask the same thing: What do you remember from elementary, middle and high school? We delve into that a minute and then I ask: and how long would it take you or a tutor to teach that to your high-school-aged child?? I don't think I've ever gotten a response of more than 2 years. So if you totally screw up for the first 11 years, you'll still probably make it. If you want to build your own confidence, get a GED prep manual and you can see how little they actually expect you to learn coming out of high school.

It's better to build a sustainable practice than try and race for perfection. Don't kill their love of learning. I obviously teach more than the six skills I outlined above and will continue to develop more curriculum but it didn't start with a full curriculum - I barely covered the basics. You will have specific guidance and skills that will help you teach your children. You will give them things that they could never get from a public or private school, even at a place like Eton. You will be able to go faster or slower or deviate based on what they want. At the same time you'll build your family and replace the values of materialism, nihilism and sexuality with appreciation, responsibility and meaningful relationships.
Great stuff here! 100 Easy Lessons is a game-changer. AND THIS---> What do you remember from elementary, middle and high school? I have to laugh when some people tell me public school is way better than home school and then remind me that there is no way public school taught me well enough to pass that information on to my children. I guess I'm just missing the teaching magic (crowd management) skills to teach 4-5 kids at my kitchen table. The teaching pros I was exposed to threw packets and tests on my desk. That was teaching. I had a few good teachers but mostly not.

I love what you said about the love of learning. It took me a long time to get mine back. I'm curious about your situation. I assume you are a Father. Are you your children's main teacher or do you share teaching duties with your wife? I help my wife but she is the main academic teacher. I think more Fathers need to get involved. They have a lot to offer but I feel like they could be more involved in many families.
I am a father and my wife is the main home school teacher. I design the core curriculum and find the materials and classes, but my wife is the primary teacher by a long shot. I hope one day to be more consistently involved, but right now I have many things that need my attention.

I think fathers should get more involved, but I don't think that's a homeschool issue. When fathers realize what is at stake for their children, they get involved. I think the children who were supported in what they needed - but who were not taught to appreciate or realize that support existed - have a problem with this. I think workaholics and people with something to prove have that issue. And I think people who grew up around only bad parenting are unaware of the difference good parenting can make. People need exposure to bad parenting and its outcomes and only then will they pay enough attention to the good parenting. However, even if you don't see good parenting, you can pretty much figure it out if you're motivated. It's a huge problem and I don't really know how to make a difference there, although I hope to one day.
People need exposure to bad parenting and its outcomes and only then will they pay enough attention to the good parenting. However, even if you don't see good parenting, you can pretty much figure it out if you're motivated. It's a huge problem and I don't really know how to make a difference there, although I hope to one day.

I agree completely. I've written and published a book to help convince them. I have a couple of things to change on the free web edition but I will share it here soon. I hope others on the forum will help me share it.

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