beginning UMS and have questions for veteran homeschoolers (Full Version)

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TXAGGIE -> beginning UMS and have questions for veteran homeschoolers (7/17/2008 3:26:57 PM)

Hi. My dd will be starting kindergarten this year at a University Model School. She will attend classes twice a week and I will home school her with all material provided by our school the remainder of the week. My questions are below. I'd love any input. Thanks!

1. How do you incorporate younger children into some of the "school day"? I have a toddler and have planned for the bulk of our studies to occur during his nap but there are some things I think he could sit through with my dd. How do you include them?

2. How is your day setup? I'm not sure how structured I need to be. I will have deadlines given to us by her teacher but would still like an idea of how your day begins, what you do throughout the day as well.

3. Should I follow the routine of the teacher to some extent? For instance, if she starts with journaling and calendar time, should I do the same in the morning or deliberately do things different?


I'm sure there are a lot more questions that I just don't know to ask so ANY words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!

Starla



shadowspring -> RE: beginning UMS and have questions for veteran homeschoolers (7/18/2008 4:14:19 PM)

1. How do you incorporate younger children into some of the "school day"? I have a toddler and have planned for the bulk of our studies to occur during his nap but there are some things I think he could sit through with my dd. How do you include them?

I would just put out Duplos and other toys and let the toddler play in the same room that the studying is happening. If he's interested he'll come and check it out. And you would be surprised at how much he will learn while seemingly ignoring you and making his own play.

2. How is your day setup? I'm not sure how structured I need to be. I will have deadlines given to us by her teacher but would still like an idea of how your day begins, what you do throughout the day as well.

Every family is different. In your situation, I would probably stick to a schedule that is compatible with her school outside the home: get up, get dressed, eat breakfast at the same time.

3. Should I follow the routine of the teacher to some extent? For instance, if she starts with journaling and calendar time, should I do the same in the morning or deliberately do things different?

I would ask what the teacher would prefer, since she is really the one in charge of your school. It's more like you are doing home work, and expecting your daughter to fit into the school routine the rest of the week, so I would do it the way the teacher expects it to be done.



sen10tious -> RE: beginning UMS and have questions for veteran homeschoolers (7/19/2008 10:38:41 PM)

I just googled University-Model Schools. 'University-Model SchoolŪ ' is a registered trademark name, and is technically a subset of a private school, and not homeschooling. (But I won't tell the mods. [;)])

A UMS is about half the cost of a private school and parents are facilitators in their child's schooling. The website explained it this way: UMS students attend classes only half the traditional number of hours. The secret is the higher degree of parental involvement that is systematically integrated into the professional academic instruction. UMS seeks to blend the best of home with the best of traditional education.

Given that explanation, I agree with all of shadowspring's answers and cannot add anything to #1 or #3.
For #2, I'd add that, for the parts of UMS that are most like homeschooling, the structure is somewhat determined by the method in use. If you will be doing a lot of worksheets or journaling, the time it takes to do those are predictable and can be scheduled for a regular time of day when your child is rested enough to concentrate, but not so wound up he/she cannot focus. If you are doing more discovery-type projects or free reading, your schedule will need to be a bit more flexible.
A lot of it will be common sense to see what fits best.



TXAGGIE -> RE: beginning UMS and have questions for veteran homeschoolers (7/20/2008 3:57:23 PM)

Thank you both for your replies. I knew I would not get many as many people aren't familiar with UMS or don't agree that it is a form of home schooling. Again, thanks for your replies, they were helpful.



cynthia -> RE: beginning UMS and have questions for veteran homeschoolers (7/20/2008 4:05:49 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: TXAGGIE

Thank you both for your replies. I knew I would not get many as many people aren't familiar with UMS or don't agree that it is a form of home schooling. Again, thanks for your replies, they were helpful.

If it is government program, by the public school, it is not homeschooling. It is public schooling. It's not a matter of agreeing or not. It is a matter of definition. There is not judgment or attitude involved. It's just not homeschooling if it's public schooling.

Is IMS a public school program done at home?



shadowspring -> RE: beginning UMS and have questions for veteran homeschoolers (7/21/2008 11:05:51 AM)

quote:

many people aren't familiar with UMS


I know I had never heard of it! [:D]



cynthia -> RE: beginning UMS and have questions for veteran homeschoolers (7/21/2008 11:17:55 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: shadowspring

quote:

many people aren't familiar with UMS


I know I had never heard of it! [:D]

Neither had I. The OP sent me a pm with some information. Apprently it is a homeschool program run through a private school. Some of the instruction is done by a teacher from the school, but the bulk is done by the parents. At least that's what I got out of it, but I could be wrong.



sen10tious -> RE: beginning UMS and have questions for veteran homeschoolers (7/21/2008 11:18:45 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: cynthia

Is IMS a public school program done at home?

It is UMS. U stands for University. It is not public school; it is private school. Focus on the Family did a thing on it and it sounded more like an Uber-Umbrella school, but the parents don't get to choose the curriculum, so there is not the autonomy of "purist" homeschooling.



cynthia -> RE: beginning UMS and have questions for veteran homeschoolers (7/21/2008 11:19:58 AM)

Here's a link. I have not looked through the site, so for those interested, you can check it out further.



shadowspring -> RE: beginning UMS and have questions for veteran homeschoolers (7/21/2008 1:13:03 PM)

Oh, well if it's a private school familiar with home schooling and expecting every child's home days to be a bit different, I don't suppose it matter whether or not you stick to your teacher's classroom schedule when you are at home.[&:]

For some kids structure is very important, for others not so much. You know your student best, TXAggie ![;)]



TXAGGIE -> RE: beginning UMS and have questions for veteran homeschoolers (7/21/2008 1:38:49 PM)

Again, thank you ladies for your replies. I realized later that I might not have clarified what UMS is. The program is a Christian based program that started in the 1990's. The program is designed in a way that students get experience in a classroom setting for a few days a week (block scheduling similar to a college setup). The school does provide the curriculum, however all UMS schools do not use the same curriculum. So, if lucky (we have 3 UMS schools within driving distance to us), we can in a way "choose" the curriculum by choosing the school that provides what we're looking for. The school our dd will be attending uses a mixture of the Classical Christian Education approach and Charlotte Mason approach to teaching. This was exciting for us since both approaches were intriguing to me when considering the home schooling option. The parents on VERY involved. As the student becomes a more independent learner the parental role shifts from sole "teacher" to teacher/overseer (for lack of a better word).

The main reason I posted on this site was to get an idea of how true home schoolers design their days. Though I do not have the opportunity to choose curriculum, I do have the opportunity to design our days. As a former 1st grade teacher, I think I tend to lean towards an orderly day similar to how I ran my classroom but after speaking to many home schooling moms, one comment that surfaced frequently was a true classroom approach may not be best for my dd. Understanding that, I was interested in seeing the varieties of ways you design your days.

Again, thank you 2 ladies for replying. Your insight is helpful.



cindybode -> RE: beginning UMS and have questions for veteran homeschoolers (7/21/2008 6:05:39 PM)

The short answer is . . . do what works. [:)]

You will probably start with a schedule similar to what she's doing in school. You will probably throw that out at some point. Rinse and repeat. [;)] If you're like me, you'll try it 10 different ways before you settle into something that really works.

If the school's plan works for you, there's no reason not to do it. In other words, don't mess with the schedule just because you can. If the school's day starts with journaling, and your daughter does well journaling in the morning, then there's no reason to rock the boat. However, if your daughter is more of a night owl who struggles to form a coherent thought before noon, journaling might work best later in the day.

You'll eventually settle into a routine that works for you. Don't be afraid to change it whenever it's not working anymore, and that will happen. Mine changes seasonally. You just learn to go with the flow.



shadowspring -> RE: beginning UMS and have questions for veteran homeschoolers (7/22/2008 9:05:22 AM)

Guess what I saw yesterday, driving way out in the sticks taking my son to football practice?

A rural Baptist church with a sign that declared "University Model school opening this fall".

I felt so smarty-ful that I now knew what that meant.....[sm=sidesmile.gif]



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