Sep. 12, 2008 - HELP ME!!!
Hello Homeschooling world
I have been a homeschooler for exactly 9 days now and I am already feeling a bit lost. I am not an authority on anything and I am here to find some help and support. I have no idea what my approach is. I don't know if I am "charlotte Mason" or "an unschooler" or "textbook" really I have no clue. I am simply trying to do as the Lord called me. I have had my children in public school for the last couple years and we made the decision to pull them out this year. I have no problem with the public school, we actually had a great experience. I simply missed my kids. By the time they got home, had a snack, did homework, ate dinner, took showers, it was time for bed. I didn't know these kids anymore. We had lost the connection we had when they were small and I couldn't help but think that this is not what God had in mind for the family. I have 4 boys ages 9, 7, 5, and 1 and a step-daughter that visits on weekends. I am currently homeschooling 3rd grade, 2nd grade, and my most challenging Kindergarten. I love the time I get to spend with them. Each morning I am greeted by them as the wait for the "plan" for the day. The problem lies in that I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I AM DOING!!!! I have purchased material and so we have books to do, but I know this is not it. We finish those in about 2 hours and then what? My kindergartner is definitely a special needs learner and he won't even sit in front of a book for a minute. I need some thing that will work for him that won't cost me a ton of money but will engage a very high energy 5.5 year old and teach him to love and fear the Lord and learning to read and write would be great too. So I am here for help. Give me your ideas, your encouragement, your suggestions. I am all ears!
Comments
Sep. 12, 2008 - <em>Untitled Comment</em>
Posted by 2boysmom
Welcome to homeschooling! You've just started a journey that is a great blessing. First I want to say - take a deep breath and relax! If you are as panicked as you sound, you are in danger of giving up before you even get started.
My advice to you is to evaluate yourself first. You need to know what kind of teacher you are. Do you want to be creative and do alot of hands on activities? Are you a very structured person? Then you might need to go with a structured routine versus unschooling or relaxed schooling. Once you figure out what your style is, then think about each child and what it's going to take to teach them. Do they learn more by hearing, seeing or doing? Each one may be different. You can combine subjects like reading aloud, history, art, science, and then have each on an individual plan for the cores like math, handwriting, etc. I would suggest you let your older two do their math, and lang. arts. independently while the kinder is working with you on learning to read. 100 Easy Lessons to Teach Your Child to Read is an excellent tool. It only costs about $20 and it only takes about 20 min. per day. This could be your main book with him, and then just let him draw, color, learn to spell some of the words in the reading book, and listen in to the subjects you're doing with the older boys. If you are having any discipline problems with your little one or the older, you can do some character studies and really concentrate on the areas that need work.
As for it only taking a few hours, this is normal for those ages. You're thinking of ps where they spend all day going to the library, lunch, playground, etc. You don't have to school all day. Especially with boys. Have a very productive morning and leave the afternoons for play time, field trips, special projects, etc.
You need to find a support group at least for your first year. This is important for YOU. Everything will be easier if you have like-minded people to bounce ideas off of.
Read books from the library on Homeschooling. This is a continuous learning experience for all of us. Even after 11 years of hs, I still read books that speak of my particular situation ( I have one in highschool and a 4th grader). Consider it your Continuing Education courses. Read, Read, Read!
But - most of all - enjoy your boys. You've started at a great age. They are old enough to learn, yet still young enough for ya'll to have fun exploring, taking walks, going on field trips, and just playing together. The elementary years are precious when homeschooling.
I hope some of this helps you. You really have chosen what's best. Just relax, get organized, and enjoy the blessings!
Edited by 2boysmom on Sep. 12, 2008 at 7:44 AM
Sep. 16, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by momanna98
Well, I ditto the other commenter. I don't think I ever heard someone complain that school wasn't taking long enough! hehe... How about in the afternoon start doing a nature study? Boys will LOVE that. http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/ Might be a good place to start, but also could get overwhelming, so be careful.
I'm also reading a book called Wild Days. That has some neat ideas. Good Luck!
Sep. 18, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
Wow 2boysmom covered things really well.I agree with her. You are going to do great, and so are your kids.For your younger one, I would get a few books from Walmart. They have great ones real cheap for young kids.This will help him feel part of the group, and to get used to doing seatwork.
Definitely do science and history the same , you will really thank us for this advice later on. You may want to start with a few unit studies while you decide on a curriculum. There are lots of free ones out there. One good one for young kids is stepbystepthemepage.com..they have a small lesson, crafts, and songs for each leson.You migt also look into lapbooking, it is great for young kids and they retain so much.homeschoolshare has some great free ones.
A few hors a day is all it should be taking. We do our bookwork in the morning, and then do arts, crafts,science projects, etc after lunch. That still leaves tons of free time.
One thing that helps, is to look at random blogs and get a feel for what others are doing and how.You wil notice that no 2 are the same, yet all the kids are learning.
Also, don't be surprised if you end up changing curricolom. I can't think of any family that stayed with the same one.
The first year, I believe us Moms learn more than the kids as we go along.
Glad to have you here. Leena
Sep. 18, 2008 - Welcome
Posted by ghomeschool
Welcome to the HSing world. I think the angels sing when someone begins to homeschool! LOL I know your experience will be just absolutely awesome. Just remember to relax and take it one day at at time with an eye toward the future. It is OK to mess things up. You can still recover. It is OK to do school at home while you are discovering who you are and who your children really are. Then they will grow and change and you will have to start over. OK not really start over, but they do grow and change and what works well this year may not work next year. Get your feet wet this year by trying new things. Give nature study a try. Dabble a bit in lapbooking. Go to a homeschool conference in your area. Check out homeschoolreview.com for other's input on curriculum. I found an awesome curriculum that way that I wish I would have done from the start. You might want to check it out. They have a huge support group and even have training seminars. It is called Spell to Write and Read. It teaches spelling that doesn't have all the exceptions and from that children learn to read or read better. It also incorporates handwriting and english and amazingly enough Logic! Wow. That is our main curriculum this year for my dd9 and active ds6.
Mostly, though, you just need to know yur kids and yourself, take it slow with lots of prayer. Each year you do this you will grow right along with you students and you will get better at it. However, you will never be perfect. None of us are. So, just keep on plugging along and you will do fine. Feel free to stop by my blog anytime. www.ghomeschool.blogspot.com
Kim
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