Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Marchman on 4th mo. 10, 2009 at 2:18pm

I haven't heard of one or one in the works, but I would be curious to hear any news as well. How would a Quaker cyber school work? Would the distinctives of a Friends' education come through online? As homeschoolers, I would love to have a connection (real or virtual) with a supportive Friends school.

Jennifer Marchman

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Marchman on 4th mo. 11, 2009 at 7:56pm

Hi Tom,

I would be interested in pursuing this. Contact me if you ever decide to consolidate resources and I'll see what I can do to help. Enki Education fits our needs very closely and is a great foundation, but I would really like to bring a Spirit-focus into all our days (which Enki would be very flexible for).

Jennifer Marchman

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Marchman on 4th mo. 12, 2009 at 12:21am

Hi Tom,

Much like Hystery said: "I'd love to have access at least to bibliographies of books and other resources that can help my children become the loving adults I know they can be. I want them to learn Friends' history and about our beliefs and how we are working to manifest them. I also would love to have access to the expertise and experience of educators who can guide me when I get stuck or overwhelmed."

Also, I'm wanting to really live our faith daily. By Spirit-focus, I mean that I would like to approach homeschooling and our daily life with a focus on being led by the Spirit in all things, but in a way that is understandable for children and refrains from being moralistic or contrived or hypocritical... if that makes any sense I can try to explain more if you need me to.

Questions I have (for our family) are: how to incorporate a daily family worship practice, when and how to introduce and study the Bible (from a Friends' perspective, of course) and when and how to study other religions comparatively. I'm actively looking for ways to foster non-violence and non-resistance through story and daily choices and modeling. I'd generally just love guidance on teaching Friends' history, faith and practice to my children.

Will be glad to talk more...

Jennifer

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Marchman on 4th mo. 17, 2009 at 1:00pm

I agree! Very exciting! I have two sons, 6.5yo and 4yo, and one daughter who just turned a year, so we are very much just starting out on this journey.
Jennifer

Permalink Reply by MJ on 4th mo. 17, 2009 at 9:02pm

This is just wonderful, thank you Tom, and all else, who have helped with this. My boys are ages 5 and 6.

Blessings to all,
MJ

Permalink Reply by Kristen McLewin on 5th mo. 20, 2009 at 10:49am

I am a WA state certificated teacher currently teaching for WAVA, a K12 curriculum, public online school. I'd love to be involved with discussions about what a virtual Friends school might offer to families.

Permalink Reply by Kristen McLewin on 6th mo. 1, 2009 at 3:22am

Hystery,

WAVA is Washington Virtual Academies (http://www.wava.org), a public virtual school for WA state students. We provide K12 curriculum, certificated teacher-parent partnership, and accountability and support for families schooling at home. It's a great fit for families who want to homeschool, but need some outside structure or want additional support.

Permalink Reply by Richard B. Miller on 6th mo. 3, 2009 at 2:15pm

We are just finishing up homeschooling. Our youngest heads off to Guilford College in the Fall. If anyone is interested I just spend most of last year developing web-based critical thinking instructional units. I've taught critical thinking at the college level for nearly thirty years and I think the material I've put together would work for high school or even smart middle school kids. I developed this for my University but with the current budget crisis it looks like they won't be using it in the near future. I do want to see it used so I'd be willing to make it available to Quaker homeschoolers.

Permalink Reply by Richard B. Miller on 6th mo. 4, 2009 at 8:49am

Tom,

Do you think we could just post a link to my critical thinking materials on virtualfriendsschool.org?

Richard

Permalink Reply by Jan Lyn Lewis on 6th mo. 24, 2009 at 10:04pm

Greetings to All,

I recently learned of this site and was pleased to find this topic being discussed amongst Friends. I am a speech/language specialist that came home to educate my children and have just completed our eighth year. My daughters have been home educated from the start and my oldest son I schooled from grade 5-9 and he just graduated from the public highschool here this June. We placed him there as I am dealing with some chronic illness and felt we needed help in the upper grades and are not able to afford a Quaker Education or any of the numerous private schools in our area.

It is our desire to continue homeschooling our daughters after our experience, especially encountered at the highschool level of public school. We began this journey due to some health problems our son was experiencing and it was going to simply be a one year experiment. Out of that grew a freedom and a great love of an educational lifestyle that afforded us so much more time together, the ability to individualize instruction and move beyond the classroom as well as teaching our children values. The past few years, I have been attempting to bring some Quaker ways to our days.

I'm very intrigued by this idea of a Quaker virtual school or even just lists of resources or book lists. We were very literature based learners using a combination of Charlotte Mason and Classical Education, but find now I must be very flexible due to my illness and some voice difficulties. I hope to continue, but know that I will need assistance to do so as my daughters get older. They will be starting grades 4 and 8 this September. I'd love to join in any on-going conversation and am wondering if any of you have children around this age range.

In Friendship,
Jan Lyn

Permalink Reply by Jan Lyn Lewis on 6th mo. 26, 2009 at 11:52am

Thanks for your thoughts, Tom. I'd be very willing to do that when you or the group decides upon the most appropriate place. I'm curious as well as to how many children we are discussing and ages at this point. Just the connection to others teaching around the same age students is helpful in itself. I'm excited about the entire idea and am going to try to look for the book and pamphlet that you mentioned to Jennifer in the discussion earlier on.

In Friendship,
Jan Lyn

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Marchman on 6th mo. 26, 2009 at 3:14pm

I'd be willing to do that as well when the time comes.
Jennifer Marchman

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