A local homeschool organization hosted SALT magazine publishers, Jim and Cindy McDermott. They are a married homeschooling couple with 12 children. Here is a recap of the talk…
They have 12 children, ages ranging from 10 months to 20 years. They currently live in Missouri, but I don’t think they were always there.
Benefits of homeschool:
-Guide your own child’s education
-Taylor it to their needs
-Slow down/Speed up as needed
-Time to be a family
The standards we impose on our children must be the same standards we impose on ourselves.
Daily individual Bible reading is a priority. The family keeps a chart on the regrigerator and each person documents reading 1 to 4 chapters a day. By the time the child graduates from high school s/he will have read the Bible many times; thus a solid foundation. Daily Bible reading is to be used as a standard for decision making.
Discipline
No means no; be consistent
Use a balance when you say ‘no’ (don’t be overbearing)
Make it age appropriate
Do not micro manage your children
When you discipline, be cautious when determining their motives. Your assumption may be incorrect.
They advocate corporal punishment when they want them to understand the severity of the sin. (violence, lying, etc.) Needs to hurt enough to change their behavior. Balance with love versus kindness (You can be kind, but not love. Love means you care for that child so much that you are willing to teach them right from wrong.)
Establish consistent rules and consequences.
They do not believe in the "I will give you a lollipop if…" approach, because:
-God gave you authority as a parent. This undermines that authority. (No negotiations, begging, or pleading.) They need to learn to respect your authority.
-Don’t do this for their own safety. (ex. What if they are about to run in front of a car. You yell, "stop!" If they are used to bargaining with you, their brain will not automatically tell the body to stop and may lose that precious second needed. They need to respond immediately.)
-Can have a negative effect on older children/adults (ex. sense of entitlement)
Discipleship
Discipling our children is most important. Make it an important part of your day; everyday. Our faith is who we are and it should permeate through everything we do and say.
Instill good spiritual habits in our children. Spiritual habits- practical and done routinely will bring them closer to God.
How: Set an example for them. Let them see you raeding the Bible daily, even when you are tired or in a bad mood.
-talk to them about it becasue we value our relationship with God.
-Help them get into their own habit.
We are responsible before God to train up our children in His ways.
Socialization
Any participation in a social setting.
Desensitization=susceptible to evil. It is our goal to raise responsible, Christian adults.
Train up your child. The trainer needs to be the one who spends the most time and the one who is more spiritually mature.
Go to the scriptures to make all you decisions.
How they homeschool with little time or money:
-Both parents work
-Both parents homeschool
-They eliminated preK and Kindergarden
-They graduate their children at the age of 16 (The oldest graduated
with a degree in Computer Science at 19.5, the second oldest is
finishing his last semester in college with an accounting degree, the
third child just graduated high school and is looking at options).
-Sometimes they push things back when needed (it is easier to teach a
6 year old than a 4 year old. It is easier to teach grammar to a 10
year old versus a six year old who is learning to read.)
-Focus on reading.
-Book reports on everything. (Targets grammar, composition, penmanship). Don’t stress too much until high school.
-Be aware of each child’s "bent" and target their academics based on
where they are headed.
-Very little lecturing; if your child is a fluent reader, they can
read more in 50 minutes than you can lecture, and you save the prep
time of you reading the same book, and preparing the lecture.
-No textbooks until algebra (they use Saxon)
Math:
1st grade: only addition
2nd grade: Only subtraction
3rd grade: only multiplication
4th grade: Only division
5th and 6th grade: fractions, decimals, negatives
7th-10th: Algebra
-teaching one new concept a day is confusing. Wait until a skill is
mastered before moving on. Wait until they are intellectually ready
to take on a new skill.
The McDermotts advocate support groups. They believe that there is
no challenge that can’t be solved if the parent wants to homeschool
and has the support of other homeschool parents.
Choosing a user friendly curriculum:
-Are there too many problems? Figure out if the problems are
applicable and serving a purpose, or busywork.
-Are they age appropriate (why introduce fractions to a first grader
if they have not mastered addition and subtraction?)
-Curriculum is just a tool. Do not feel obligated to use it in its
entirety.
-Other resources-activities, internet, videos
-Choose carefully for crafts and labs. You don’t want to lose sight
of what you want to accomplish.
-Be careful of a curriculum that steps up every year. Slow down if needed. Don;t advance just to keep up with the curriculum. Make sure the concept is mastered before moving on.
For elementary and middle school-all curriculum comes from the library
For high school-Some textbooks are introduced
Do not try to conform to someone elses homeschool routine.
Group teaching- create the one room school room with multiple ages.
You can teach science, social studies, art, and P.E. in this format.
Enlist older children to help younger ones with reading and answering
questions.
Toddlers:
-Older kids can help keep younger ones occupied when you have to work
one one one with another.
-Structure your day around their schedule-class during napt time, etc.
-Teach toddler to respect school and wait their turn.
-Instead of decreasing the needs of the toddler, decrease the needs
of the older children. Toddlers are not a hindrance nor an
interrruption. Work to create a balance.
High School:
-Negative socialization in the public school system. Most of what is
learned in high school is not what will help in the real world. (The
traits that make a person ‘most popular’ are not necessarily the
traits that will help in the work world. Build character, not
popularity)
-They purchase used curriculum and keep it pretty traditional
-You as the teacher will re-learn with your student.
-If your kids can learn it, you can teach it.
-Hire a tutor, or get help if there is an interest that your child
has that you don’t (advanced courses, computers, etc.)
Transcripts
-They wrote what the course was and worked as a couple to decide on
the grade at the end.
-Both college kids were accepted the all the colleges they applied
for (about four each, private Christian and public state schools).
-Their second child was told he needed to take a GED test to be
accepted to his school of choice. Instead, he enrolled in a
community college for one semester and transferred.
-Take practice ACT and SAT tests at the library.
The family chose to keep their kids living at home during the college
years.
If the child is not clear about college or what direction to go after
high school, the McDermotts encourage to keep them productive through
an internship, mission trip, another year of high school, etc.)
Dating
They are against dating, saying that in the Bible, Paul commanded Timothy to treat the younger sisters with absolute purity. This is underminded in the dating process.
People who date increase the opportunity for immoral action.
There is no Bible passage that says "no dating", but the results are "yucky" (per Jim :). He feels the same about the public school system.
When it is time to look for a spouse:
-young women should look for the man she wants as the head of her household.
-young men should look for a companion, partner, and someone who is instrumental in how his children turn out.
The world views in order of preference: looks, charm, competence, character
God views in order of preference: character, competence, charm, looks
Homeschooling can be hard, challenging, tiring, and totally worth it. God can take our meager efforts and fill in the gaps. Support each other and don’t fall through the cracks.