Hi. A newbie homeschooler, AO user, and forum member as well as a member of the Facebook group just chiming in.
I found AO on FB first. I'm a big social media person. Twitter, snapchat, Instagram, whatever ... I do it all, though much like tools in other realms I use different ones for different things. Use the right tool for the right job. I barely check email anymore. None of my cohort use it. We all communicate via these other platforms. Though to be honest, I'm typically among the older ones in my circle. It is chaotic but after you get over the learning curve that comes with anything new you find your way.
I was super reluctant to join this forum. Partly, I just didn't want to devote any more online time to another outlet, so the group is an extension of something I already do. Partly because the FB group has a more anonymous nature, allowing me to dip in and out while still meeting my needs.
What made me change my mind and come over here were a couple of factors. First, I really needed to figure out how to get deeper. For example, I'm having a lot of trouble reading the volumes of Home Education. I saw this as a place to get into the meat of this work. But I had to decide that for myself. I have to find teachers and co-learners and avail myself of them. If a person hasn't figured that out yet (for whatever reason) then FB is good enough.
Second, I really like the convenience of FB and the immediate ability to browse links to articles, blog posts, and pictures really helps me figure out "on the spot" problems. I actually can search the group very well. However, it also creates on the spot problems that I think are managed better here. By this I mean drama. I can't tell you how many times I've thought about walking away from Charlotte Mason because the knee jerk reaction to posts allow people to say things they wouldn't ordinarily say. Especially the constant negativity around defining AO and CM. Here people measure their words, go slow, and think about what and how to communicate. If something really isn't CM there isn't bullying here, just teaching. I believe the strict moderating policies here allow for more freedom. I can stay out of chit-chat and not fight about Bible translations or screen time policies.
Third is that I don't have other homeschool friends doing CM or AO in real life. My area is a really neat homeschool community but there seem to be two major emphases. There are the school-at-home families who either do the online public charters because they have children with sports or arts careers. Or there is the unschooling and loose eclectic community, which is huge here and include a wide variety of religious and non-religious families. People here don't do classical, they don't do CM, and most think I'm nuts for forcing my kids to go this route. I put out feelers for others who might want to learn more and there was a ton of enthusiasm over nature studies but nobody wanted to do any sort of reading or discussion. So I came here. Somebody on the FB group posted about the book groups. I came to make friends and read.
So, I guess I just want to say that I wouldn't have come to the forums if I hadn't joined the FB group first. Both places serve.
I found AO on FB first. I'm a big social media person. Twitter, snapchat, Instagram, whatever ... I do it all, though much like tools in other realms I use different ones for different things. Use the right tool for the right job. I barely check email anymore. None of my cohort use it. We all communicate via these other platforms. Though to be honest, I'm typically among the older ones in my circle. It is chaotic but after you get over the learning curve that comes with anything new you find your way.
I was super reluctant to join this forum. Partly, I just didn't want to devote any more online time to another outlet, so the group is an extension of something I already do. Partly because the FB group has a more anonymous nature, allowing me to dip in and out while still meeting my needs.
What made me change my mind and come over here were a couple of factors. First, I really needed to figure out how to get deeper. For example, I'm having a lot of trouble reading the volumes of Home Education. I saw this as a place to get into the meat of this work. But I had to decide that for myself. I have to find teachers and co-learners and avail myself of them. If a person hasn't figured that out yet (for whatever reason) then FB is good enough.
Second, I really like the convenience of FB and the immediate ability to browse links to articles, blog posts, and pictures really helps me figure out "on the spot" problems. I actually can search the group very well. However, it also creates on the spot problems that I think are managed better here. By this I mean drama. I can't tell you how many times I've thought about walking away from Charlotte Mason because the knee jerk reaction to posts allow people to say things they wouldn't ordinarily say. Especially the constant negativity around defining AO and CM. Here people measure their words, go slow, and think about what and how to communicate. If something really isn't CM there isn't bullying here, just teaching. I believe the strict moderating policies here allow for more freedom. I can stay out of chit-chat and not fight about Bible translations or screen time policies.
Third is that I don't have other homeschool friends doing CM or AO in real life. My area is a really neat homeschool community but there seem to be two major emphases. There are the school-at-home families who either do the online public charters because they have children with sports or arts careers. Or there is the unschooling and loose eclectic community, which is huge here and include a wide variety of religious and non-religious families. People here don't do classical, they don't do CM, and most think I'm nuts for forcing my kids to go this route. I put out feelers for others who might want to learn more and there was a ton of enthusiasm over nature studies but nobody wanted to do any sort of reading or discussion. So I came here. Somebody on the FB group posted about the book groups. I came to make friends and read.
So, I guess I just want to say that I wouldn't have come to the forums if I hadn't joined the FB group first. Both places serve.
~ Bev ~ DD1 (age 10) Year 5 ~ DD2 (age 8) Year 3 ~