About Amida

Amida is the mom to three darn kids. She used to stress about state standards and test scores but has since come to her senses and enjoys blogging about her family's journey into unschooling.

10 homeschooling stereotypes (& their rebuttals)

by on March 20, 2013
in methods & philosophies · 47 Comments

classroomWritten by contributor Amida of Journey into Unschooling

So you’re thinking about homeschooling. Here are a few basic items you need to get started:

  • A designated school room, where you gather to teach the kids their lessons every day.
  • A schedule, obviously, so you know which topics to cover every day.
  • A curriculum, so you know what to teach them every day.
  • A degree, preferably in education, so you are qualified to teach them every day.

Got everything? Good. Let’s get started…

This seems to be the general idea of what goes on in our house daily. I probably thought the same when I first researched homeschooling, and while it may hold true for some, this type of environment and structure doesn’t work for us.

Since I get asked a lot about our personal experience, mostly on the hows and whys, I thought I’d share some of the most common homeschooling stereotypes I’ve come across along with my rebuttals.
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TV will rot your brains

by on February 6, 2013
in a mom's education · 59 Comments

he-man

Written by contributor Amida of Journey into Unschooling

I grew up on a lot of TV. The first show I remember ever watching was a cartoon called Xiao Tian Tian. I had lived with a lot of other kids and every dinner, we’d all grab our bowls of rice, leave our families, and gather around the tiny screen to watch. I don’t recall a single dish I ate, but can still hear the theme song in my head…

We got our first TV set when I was around five. It had turn dials, rabbit ears, and no remote control. The first show that came on was Wile E. Coyote trying to catch his Road Runner.
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Amida’s homeschool day in the life (with a 2-, 6-, 11-, and 14-year-old)

by on January 2, 2013
in organization · 4 Comments

Contributor Amida writes for Journey into Unschooling

Homeschoolers as a whole, I think, are quite fascinated about other homeschoolers, specifically their schedules. I know I am. “What are you doing for school?” is one of the most frequently asked questions among my friends.

The answer, of course, depends on many factors — time of the year, grade level, and energy level. For the most part, we work around a cycle of accumulating school work and not really doing school.

Our schedule is very loose and mostly made up as we go. The only constants are the extracurricular or otherwise outside classes, so almost everything else gets scheduled around them. As such, our days will differ depending on the day of the week.

Usually, my kids work best without distraction, so when there is an afternoon class, we try to squeeze in some schoolwork before then, when their minds are focused and alert.

For the most part, we have three typical schedules, depending on the time of the outside classes. On a busy day, we do something like this:
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So, how do you homeschool?

by on November 21, 2012
in methods & philosophies · 7 Comments

Written by contributor Amida of Journey into Unschooling.

“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.”

~Galileo Galilei

When people first find out that I homeschool my children, their first response is inevitably, “Wow — That’s great!” followed closely by, “How do you do it?”

They wonder if there is a set schedule with a set curriculum. To them, “homeschool” translates to “school at home”. They comment on how hard it must be to keep four kids under control or even hint at my brilliance for being able to “teach” them everything they need to know.

Usually, I just shrug it off and say it’s not really anything extraordinary. It’s all we know and very much just a part of our lives. If anything,  I find the act of getting kids to and from school and extracurricular activities, in addition to making sure they complete all their homework everyday to be an amazing feat all its own.
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Finding your inner calm

by on October 17, 2012
in a mom's education · 14 Comments

Contributor Amida writes for Journey Into Unschooling.

A note from Jamie: Subscribe to this blog and get my new ebook, Secrets of a Successful Homeschool Mom FREE! Head here for details.

After almost a decade of use, we finally chucked our old phones and upgraded to a new cordless set. It is nothing exceptional save for one new feature: the intercom. We live in a two story house and had spent many a time yelling up and down the stairs to whomever is on the other level.

Now, with this new phone, I jokingly remind the kids that, rather than screaming for someone to turn on the printer or come to dinner or what have you, they ought to find their “intercom” and speak calmly and in a more tolerable volume.

The funny thing is this little joke has leaked into other areas of our lives and has become a sort of motto: don’t stress, find your inner calm.
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A beginner’s guide to scheduling the homeschool

by on September 12, 2012
in organization · 22 Comments

Contributor Amida blogs at Journey into Unschooling

I have a confession to make — contrary to my inclination towards freestyle homeschooling, I love making schedules. For someone who also tries to keep the line between learning and schooling thin, I can spend hours on the computer, making up tables and lists for a running agenda of what I’d like to get done (or more specifically, what I’d like the kids to get done).

I have a Master List, with a year’s worth of work, broken down into assignments to be done and chapters to be completed within specific weeks, and soon, you can have one, too.

To start off, it helps to do a little brainstorming of exactly what you want accomplished.
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