Old School

We home schooled for eleven years.  In the mid 80's this was not so common.  You might say that the support group of like-minded mama's that I 'hung out' with, were a bit pioneery.  We forged ahead, knowing that our choice to school or 'unschool' was novel and not accepted by the mainstream.  Most of us were drawn to homeschooling for that very reason.  We saw schooling in the traditional sense, contradictory to the pattern of home life that our kids experienced for the first five or so years of their lives.  The reasons for homeschooling were as varied as our children and within our support group, we had them all.  We had hippies, wanting to teach their children the holistic way, we had religious zealots that believed that schools were of the devil and we had moms that just could not say good bye to their children.  The experience was varied yet helpful in all the different ways represented.  We learned which way we didn't want to go as well as the many positive suggestions.  We helped each other with curriculum ideas, (not too much to choose from back then) and shared ideas and materials.  Some of the most memorable books to my kids were the Old School books that I would buy at garage sales, like the ones pictured here. We loved the illustrations and the references to things long ago.  The books were simple yet clear.  Of course, we moved on to more comprehensive books in the upper grades, but these early years books were fun and historical at the same time. The gentler dialogue of another time intrigued me as well as the children.  Some times it was funny but mostly it was endearing....

Keep your eyes open for school books like these....A good viewpoint for your children, in school or home schooled.....