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Current Events, Journal, Tips and Tricks

Home Schooling in California

My face when I think about having young kids now

Way back in the long, long ago, I had little ones (who have miraculously become wonderful adults). For various reasons, I chose to home school some of them (that sounds like I had 1,000 children. No, I had three and home schooled 2 of them for a time). I would like to share my experiences and resources (there are probably better ones now, since everything has changed). It doesn’t have to be as Mad Max as it used to be.

First: if you choose to truly home school your children (not just choose distance learning through an established school or school district), you must officially become a private school. There are no exceptions. However, just because you are a private school does not mean you are free from the state of California’s control. There are basic requirements for who can participate in your school, what information must be accessible to the state if they show up at your door, what basics need to be taught, etc. However, at the time of the writing of this article, students are not required to have immunizations for entry if they attend a home-based private school or an independent study program with no classroom-based instruction. Due to the nature of executive orders, this could change any time. Be sure to check the Department of Education’s Immunization Requirements page.

I would suggest you become a member of the Home School Association of California. They were immensely helpful when I began (and the internet was young) and used to offer a fantastic CD of ready-made school forms to keep you more organized (I do not know if they still do that). Here is their quick guide to home schooling:

https://www.hsc.org/quickguide

Second: Before you embark on this journey, decide how you are going to teach your children. The state of California’s Department of Education has some basic requirements listed on their website, per grade: Education Code for Private Schools and Schooling at Home.

Kindergarten through 6th Grade
7th Grade through 12th Grade

As you can see, these are very general, wide-ranging areas of study. So, what is required to obtain a high school diploma? Not as much (or as many credits) as you think. Here is the breakdown of state requirements, plus UC and CSU requirements for freshman admission: Graduation Requirements.

Graduation and Freshman Enrollment Requirements
neon signage
Photo by Ivan Bertolazzi on Pexels.com

Third: Now that you can see how minimal California’s education requirements are, it’s time for the hardest part for me: how to teach to your child. This is immensely beneficial for life: how many times have you tried to teach your child (or help them with homework) and nothing you tried worked? We all learn differently. I learn differently than my children and it made it difficult for me to connect with them. If I had the online resources there are now, I would have been a much more effective teacher and my children would have been much happier being home schooled.

Here are some wonderful articles about how to discover your (and your child’s) learning styles and how to connect with material:

Here are both parts of podcast from “Focus on the Family.” While they are a Christian foundation, these episodes are wonderfully educational.

teacher talking to the class
Photo by Max Fischer on Pexels.com

Fourth: Now it is time to develop your curriculum. Exactly what (and how) are you going to teach your children? This is all up to you.

  • If you want physical books, go to thrift stores. You cannot beat $.25 to $1 for a book!
  • Do you want videos or audio books? YouTube, Vimeo, or Odysee are fantastic options along with various podcast options.
  • Are you looking for projects for you children to do? What do you do around the house?
    • Cooking, baking, or canning/fermenting are wonderful for not only Home Economics but Math and Chemistry.
    • Geometry, basic Math AND the essential skill of reading a tape measure (it’s surprising just how many people cannot read a tape measure) can be building a dog house.
    • Science is replacing a light fixture or installing a solar charged light fixture outside.
    • Biology could be incubating some eggs and breaking them open once per week to compare the changes throughout the incubation cycle.

Here are some more wonderful suggestions:

Fifth: Be patient with yourself and your child. Neither one of you will ever be perfect. There will be fantastic days and there will be horrible days. If you accept this from the beginning, this will give the both of you the freedom to find your groove. I wish you and your child the best of luck, love, and success during this new phase in your lives.

And here are two resources for high school students/parents that I did not have a specific place for. I do not know if I wholeheartedly support the main organization, these are handy:

Current Events, Goals, Journal

To Learn, You Must Do

It’s rare when I am surprised by anything I read online. The last time I was truly shocked about anything in the public domain was when Trump won the Presidential election. Watching the election night coverage (yes, we watched all night) was true “shock and awe.” That was the best reality show we have ever watched and the reactions were priceless (and gloriously genuine). Virtually no one expected that outcome, especially me. I didn’t vote for Clinton or Trump. I can’t stand any of the Clintons but figured Hillary was going to win no matter who she was running against. See? “Shock and Awe.”

Most of the online election aftermath has caused my eyes to roll way too much. Both sides, with their diehard supporters who never really paid attention to what their candidates actually believed, just irritate me. As much as I love the MAGAs’ dread when they realize Trump isn’t the ultraconservative they assumed he was, I really loathe those Hillary supporters who assumed, because I did not support her (and definitely did not support Obama), that I was a Trump supporter. I knew some of these people for over 20 years, yet they lashed out at me like I had suggested someone needed to start drowning puppies. They chose to ignore the fact that I had never supported any of the chosen Republican candidates that ran against Obama in both elections. All logic and reason left their overly emotional brains and (from what I have seen) has never returned.

This has never been more evident than what has actually surprised me online: they are scared and talking about arming themselves and either advocating for (or anticipating) a civil war. I have even read some hoping for a military coup. It feels like a really bad episode of the Twilight Zone since this is the same talk I saw from ultra-conservatives when Obama was elected to office except then, the “fight” was to preserve the Constitution and now the “fight” is to dismantle it (despite the calls to arm themselves). They just aren’t thinking this through. Why would they want to give up control of their lives (and their right to protect their lives) to the very people they are protesting against?

This is new territory for me. I knew what to ignore when Obama was first elected as mostly grandstanding (or in my off-line words, idiots being keyboard commandos) but I don’t know this new crop of people. I am not sure how serious they are or are they just typing all of that to make others think they are serious.What I do know is there are too many people within society who do not understand that just because they think (or say) something doesn’t mean they will always win. These people also do not understand that with every loss, there is a lesson that can be learned if they are willing to remove emotion from the equation.

I do know that, outside of the anti-Trump groups, I have noticed an uptick in worry and a desire to begin preparing for … something. I am not sure exactly what the impetus to prepare is. I do not think it really matters. Whether people are preparing for some sort of civil war, civil unrest, disruption in the food chain, nuclear war, natural disasters, or any other imagined scenario, the path toward independence and security is the same:

To Learn Must Do

You can have all the books in the world but if you have never grown a tomato plant, you will never be able to grow all the fruits and vegetables you need to sustain your family. This also applies to splitting your own firewood or baking bread (you know, actually cooking) or sewing a shirt or repairing your appliances or any number of skills you think you will need to survive any of the disastrous scenarios people can imagine.

This also goes for life in general (which was the original intention of this post). If all you do is read books without putting into practice what you read, you have learned nothing. Online marketing, SEO optimization, building your email list, writing (and publishing) a book, improving your health, losing weight, increasing your strength … none of the knowledge you acquire from any book, course, or video will do you any good if you don’t physically DO anything!

So, where do you begin? Go through everything you have learned over the course of the last year and figure out what one activity you can do today, right now. Choose just one. Then tomorrow, choose another. Slowly build up until you are practicing what you were taught (and learning what will work and what won’t). Not everything you have been taught will lead you to your ultimate goal (or end up working the way you intended). So, you set aside those things that are not working for you and move onto another activity.

The most important thing to know is you cannot control everything. You will not get everything you think you want (or things will not go the way you have planned). This is called life. You either embrace that fact or you will end up just spinning around in circles, blaming others for life not going the way you intended.

Even if you believe that the climate changing is caused by humans, what can you really do about that? Can you, personally, eliminate all excess carbon emissions from the planet, allowing your tomatoes to grow better this year? No, and even if you could, what would happen if the climate didn’t change back? What if all the scientists who support human caused climate change are proven wrong? What would you do with your life then?

We all need to focus on what we can personally change: our sphere of influence. Plant a tree, get your yard equipment serviced so it burns fuel more efficiently, stop using so many weed killers or bug sprays, pick up the garbage on your street (then the next street, then your entire neighborhood), dig up your lawn and plant food, vote for a city councilperson who embraces your way of thinking, etc. These are the types of acts that will ultimately change the world, not blocking traffic or hiding in your house waiting for the end of the world.