HOMESCHOOLING: When the world is your classroom

Ruth Hartunian-Alumbaugh with her husband and children.

Today we launch a regular column in which Ruth Hartunian-Alumbaugh and her children Jonathan and Rosemary give us an inside look at homeschooling.

I have been invited by the editor of Mansfield Today! to share with interested readers my life perspectives on homeschooling my two children. They also will share this column with me as we offer insights and real-life peeks into education at home.

We welcome your comments!

What is "Back-to-School" like when you homeschool?

Ah, yet another year to homeschool my children; to mold my children’s lives, give them enriched educational opportunities, hands-on experiences, times of growth and development, intriguing classroom experiences tailor-made just for them, to take them to enviable educational opportunities, to conquer academics in ways no one has ever pondered before!

As lofty as this all sounds, the reality of homeschooling life, and fall preparation for another year, sounds more like this:

I am frantically scouring catalogs, Internet sites and resources I hear of from friends to find the perfect educational materials for my children.

I leave no stone unturned, just in case I missed something somewhere!

I spend days throughout the summer tearing out articles, printing information from Web sites, and pondering how I will be prepared for another fall.

I am reorganizing and reformatting our daily lesson plans.

I am culling through the mountains of our personal materials stash to figure out what to get rid of and what to keep.

I am reconfiguring and cleaning the desks, moving furniture, and clearing more space for my answer keys and teaching resources.

And the kids are painfully going through their accumulated “treasures” that have piled up during last year to make room for this year’s books and supplies.

I am reorganizing shelves, materials, art supplies, cupboards, educational DVDs, and making sure all I need is at my fingertips.

When you homeschool, your entire home becomes a place of learning.

Weaving it all together.

I am considering the Connecticut State requirements as I go.

I am also making sure my husband is a part of the schedule, teaching topics where he has greater strengths.

I am supplementing the kids’ education with training opportunities at homes and local businesses.

I am also considering new guidelines and responsibility sheets to help the kids stay on track.

And I am considering their learning styles when I make choices.

I am raising the bar of expectation and I am praying like crazy! So much to do. So much responsibility.

Preparing seems to happen daily, in reality, not just a month prior to classes starting.

We like pencil boxes, too.

Like other parents getting ready for the start of the school year, I did enter into a bit of a buying rush recently when I purchased folders, notebooks and printer cartridges. But generally, our costs are minimal. And we recycle as much as we can.

The kids have their own businesses (baking and yard/lawn care) and contribute to their horseback riding classes and Kung Fu gear for the fall.

Rosemary bought her own backpack on wheels, more for traveling than for school.

The big plus of homeschooling - time with your children

In essence, I guess I am really prioritizing our most precious commodity on behalf of my family, which is time.

I am looking at the big picture of days, needs, desires - and putting it all together so we have rest, order, academics, life-skill lessons (more on that another time), domestic excellence (another time, too!), and have fun doing all this.

There is an important rhythm that needs to be established in the fall that is very different than the summer months.

Home schooling is a challenge. Preparing for another year seems like a daunting task. But I hope that the time I spend investing in my children’s education will reap benefits for our family’s present, and future - as well as for the future of our nation…really!

Ruth Hartunian-Alumbaugh is a Registered/Board Certified Music Therapist who loves her home and refuge in Willimantic, as well as her husband, Jon, who is the kindest, most generous and awesome Mercedes Benz shop foreman on the planet. She delights in her two children and the guests she hosts from all around the world. She teaches piano and plays keyboard professionally for special events, loves to cook, bake, read inspiring books, and watch the world wake up early in the morning. She has been homeschooling her children since their conception.

Jonathan's Homeschool Blog

Dear Reader, my name is Jonathan.

I live in Willimantic and I am a home-schooler. My "assignment" today is to tell you 10 "pros" and "cons" of home-schooling.

1. (pro) My mom is my teacher.

2. (con) My mom is my teacher.

3. (pro) I often do not have to get up as early as I would if I went to public school.

4. (con) I have to do school through the summer to help me remember what I learned the last year (usually I do some sort of "Math Challenge" where I have to get a certain amount of my math book done by the end of the summer).

5. (pro) I can go to school in my pajamas!!!

6. (con) I don't get to see my friends as often as I would be able to if I went to the same school as they did (but pretty much all of my friends are homeschooled, so that's a moot point).

7. (pro) We do a lot of community stuff that a lot of kids do not do on a regular basis. My mom is involved in numerous community programs (one example is that she did a lot of work in the Willimantic "Chocolate Fest").

Jonathan is a really cool, 13-year-old guy who likes people and electronics. He has his own lawn care business.

Rosemary's Homeschool Blog

I like the new school year for four reasons:

1. I really like fall and winter.

2. I have a schedule.

3. I love my mom as my teacher.

4. There is no violence... but if you think my big brother throwing pencils is violent, then that's another story!

Rosemary Alumbaugh is 10 years old and has her own baking business. She boasts that she can bake anything. She enjoys horseback riding, caring for/loving small children, playing her guitar, riding her bike and serving others.

Posted Aug. 22, 2008