Jon's Homeschool Resources
Table of Contents
| This site is divided into five sections | |
| Files | FAQ's and Essays |
| Talk | Online Discussion and Support Groups |
| Web Pages | Online Reference Information |
| Miscellaneous | Off-Topic Stuff |
| Vendors | Ads help support this site |
| Files | top |
| FAQ's and Essays | |
The "Frequently Asked Question file" is a popular Internet convention. If you are new to homeschooling you probably have lots of questions. What's more, chances are that these are the same questions that others have asked before you. Looking at these FAQ files can save you time; provide reassurance that others have been where you are now and thrived; and prevent others from spending their time answering the same questions time and again. New homeschooler's handbooks, somewhat incongruously lumped together with reading lists. Interesting interviews with education mavericks, This is where you'll find homeschooling handbooks, essays both thoughtful and humorous, reading lists, and other homeschooling documents.
| Talk | top |
| Online Discussion and Support Groups | |
Internet mailing lists are where you find a sense of online community: Since it's a bit harder to subscribe to a mailing list than to start reading a news group, people tend to feel that they've made a bit of a commitment to a mailing list, that they belong. This makes them a bit less likely to 'flame' and a bit more likely to go out of their way to answer questions. Some of these mailing lists are more specialized than others, but all are devoted to homeschooling. Usenet "news groups" are sort of like bathroom walls: Post your thoughts for all to see, and come back later to find 27 clueless replies and, perhaps, one insightful comment. Here are several news groups for homeschool discussions. Web discussion boards have the same "threaded" discussion structure as news groups but none of their propogation delay. They generally suffer from poor user interfaces and from low visibility, but the discussions can stay online for a long time - it's the only medium around where you can pick up a months-old discussion and have everyone else able to see all the context. Online 'chat' has an immediacy that appeals to some people: What you type is seen immediately by everyone else 'on the same channel' or 'in the same room'. This lets you ask questions and get immediate answers. Of course, the drawbacks of this realtime interaction are that people don't think as carefully about what they say, and that you are only talking to the people who happen to be in chat with you at the moment. You've lost the freedom from time zones and the ability to reflect that are usually online communication's greatest advantages.
| Web Pages | top |
| Online Reference Information | |
For many people, this is the most important part of my page: the lists of local support groups; online versions of various groups' pamphlets; and lists of pointers to all sorts of other online homeschooling resources. National homeschooling organizations. My lists of homeschoolers' home pages, including a list sorted by zip code to help you find homeschoolers near you.
| Miscellaneous | top |
| Off-Topic Stuff | |
Most of this page is full of "meta-data": No information about what you and your kids might want to learn about, but lots of information about how to (legally) do it. This section, on the other hand, is where you'll find pages about things you and your kids might actually study: Logic, space, dinosaurs, history, and so on. For some of us whose kids have never been to an institutional school, the notion of "starting to homeschool" is slightly funny: We've been homeschooling since birth, and don't teach reading and arithmetic all that much differently than we 'taught' walking and talking. This section is full of gentle, respectful advice for the youngest homeschoolers. Many homeschoolers find the Montessori philosophy appealing.
| Vendors | top |
| Ads help support this site | |
Various homeschooling products.
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Part of
Jon's
Homeschool Resources.
Copyright © 1994..2002
Jon Shemitz
<jon@midnightbeach.com> |
 |
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