Homeschool Hop #8

Well, I just realized today that a new post had been started by Kylie over at Our Worldwide Classroom for the Homeschool Hop.

There is no theme this week, just a chance to hop around, meet other homeschool bloggers, maybe get to know them all over again as it has been a while since the last Homeschool Hop theme. Which, as I look back now, I realize I missed. The theme on March 23rd had been "state requirements." In Pennsylvania we do not have to be "official" until the girls turn 8 years old. Which is nice, seeing as after that the requirements are quite strict from what I have been able to gather. I don't know the laws that well yet. I figured I would start worrying about it more when the girls reach kindergarten age. I thought maybe I would start keeping records at that point so I could get in the habit of it before having to be stressed about it.

I mean in Pa, we need to keep a portfolio, which is to include records and materials. We need to log what we read and provide samples of work. We also need to have the girls take standardized tests in grades 3, 5 and 8. And have a written evaluation done yearly. In elementary school, these are the courses we must include:

English, to include spelling, reading, and writing; arithmetic; science;
geography; history of the United States and Pennsylvania; civics; safety
education, including regular and continuous instruction in the dangers and
prevention of fires; health and physiology; physical education; music; and
art.

Of course I have been looking into unschooling, which at first glance looked impossible in Pa. However, there are plenty of people who do unschool in Pa. I guess it is just a matter of knowing how to look at what you are doing in daily life and being able to see how to word it to fit the requirements. I love the concept of unschooling, but I don't think I have it in me to pursue it. And definitely not to the extreme. I know we will be eclectic and possibly relaxed. I spent quite a bit of time a couple of weeks ago reading up on unschooling again as Good Morning America had done a piece on a Radical Unschooling family which had brought about a lot of negative responses. Granted, GMA did a terrible editing job and made the family look like they did nothing and there was extreme bias against unschooling. I started reading my book I got with my Christmas money, "Christian Unschooling" by Teri J Brown. I wanted to see if unschooling could really be an option for a Christian. Most of the info I find about unschoolers are from a radical perspective and they are definitely secular. (Not that I am saying that all radical unschoolers are secular, it's just what I have been able to find and I would love to find some unschoolers who are Christian so I can learn more).