Home education/schooling

[canadabear]

Hello everyone.. :wave:

i know it is a bit early, but when you think about it LO is learning at home already

OH and I plan on travelling a lot and home schooling just makes more sense to our lifestyle.
I am not sure how we will go about it yet.. we don't really want to follow a strict curriculum, but also want to provide LO with educational opportunities that will enable him to do what he wants in life.. including University/College if he wants.

I am actually concerned more about turning everything into..lesson time.. yuck.

Because we travel a lot between Europe, Canada and Thailand.. I am not sure about having a lot of teaching equipment with us. Workbooks are great, some art supplies, books, music/singing etc.. and possibly able to pick things up where ever we are. Also, I am sure there will be resources online, but that will probably be more as he gets older.

Just SO excited to join you all :flowers;

 

[marley2580]

Welcome :wave:

 

[ClairHawkins]

Hello again everyone I havent been on for a while as we have been so busy. After my 8 yo came home and said " I really hate school, Please can I be home schooled too from NOW" we withdrew him and 7 yo sister too so I now home school 12, 8 and 7 yo it has been fantastic they have changed so much especially ds 8 he is so much more confident! I just have a little question I have a 11 month old and after we started homeschooling I decided I would like him to have a sibling close in age as I worried about him being lonely LOL we got twins!!!! Due in october I am Planning to keep up with our routine during the summer so that we can have a little time "off" when the babies come I just wanted to know if anyone else does this? atm we do english math science 3 mornings a week my older daughter does history they all study the piano, they also go to karate 3 times a week cheerleading (girls) the rest of the time they are working on subjects that they enjoy eg art, sewing calligraphy pottery gardening baking that type of thing. I really think they are doing enough "formal" schooling, what age did you introduce formal geography history etc with younger children?

Oh and hope you are all well and Happy!!!!!

 

[marley2580]

sounds like you're doing really well

 

[mamaofthree]

Hello again everyone I havent been on for a while as we have been so busy. After my 8 yo came home and said " I really hate school, Please can I be home schooled too from NOW" we withdrew him and 7 yo sister too so I now home school 12, 8 and 7 yo it has been fantastic they have changed so much especially ds 8 he is so much more confident! I just have a little question I have a 11 month old and after we started homeschooling I decided I would like him to have a sibling close in age as I worried about him being lonely LOL we got twins!!!! Due in october I am Planning to keep up with our routine during the summer so that we can have a little time "off" when the babies come I just wanted to know if anyone else does this? atm we do english math science 3 mornings a week my older daughter does history they all study the piano, they also go to karate 3 times a week cheerleading (girls) the rest of the time they are working on subjects that they enjoy eg art, sewing calligraphy pottery gardening baking that type of thing. I really think they are doing enough "formal" schooling, what age did you introduce formal geography history etc with younger children?

Oh and hope you are all well and Happy!!!!!

I am home Educating mY 6,4, (2&15month old) and have started introducing a history timeline this week. We are looking at ww2 from the childrens perspective at the mo just to get him interested./ We have started looking at toys from the past. Christmas in the past, and during times of war. Local history I just add in as we go along, and through trips to various museums. I was considering starting to look at rivers, and water treatment/rainfall etc..as a bit of geography, but havent started anything formal, and probably won't for a year or so. I 'll just take their lead i guess. Has anyone had a child who is difficult to engage? My 6year old hates reading&writing. He is capable but just refuses to do it! He is read to alot, and loves Roald dahl. Any tips re how to get him going would be fab ladies.

xxxx

 

[marley2580]

My Kaya is really resisting reading but I've decided that it's time that she learns. At the moment we're learning one word a day, she gets to pick the word we learn but she has to learn it. My brother really resisted as well (he is dyslexic) and that's what my mum had to do - be really firm and say 'you will learn this'. That said, there's a lot of home educators that choose to wait until the child expresses a desire to learn. It's just what you're comfortable with I suppose.

I haven't really introduced much in a formal way as I'm quite child led, but I am starting to get some more factual books from the library to go over. Last night we flicked through a book about the rainforest - it was a bit too detailed to hold her interest so I gave her the abridged version lol. Am going to get some first encyclopaedias from the book people next week though.

 

[Tanikit]

I started my DD reading very very early - showing her words when she was a year old, but I never expected anything from her - I just showed her and told her what they said. By 3 she was reading beginner readers and at 3.5 I started some phonics with her. Since she turned 4 I just do a short amount of shared reading wit her at bed time before she has her own story time - she reads a sentence and I read a sentence. Its more of a routine than anything so she doesn't resist it. I let her choose the book we read from a set of five that I offer her (some easy and some at a more challenging level for her)

My DD didn't like writing when we just practiced letters so I switched to teaching a word a day - if you do this you may find that he learns to read too and you can even teach phonics this way if you pick the right words. I taught her letter formation and then helped her write the word by telling her what strokes to make - she now can write words by herself with me spelling them for her and we have moved to writing a sentence a day. Start small if there is reluctance, tell him he just has to finish one word and then you will play with him or give him some juice or whatever works for him. Be consistent and have a routine.

What have you been using for reading and what does he know so far? Its hard to suggest anything if not sure where he is.

My DD is very young so we just read books. Sometimes I ask her what she wants to learn about and then see what I can teach her about it - the other day she asked to learn about "Smarties" cause then "we can buy some and eat them." I was at first a bit doubtful about what she could learn but actually we had fun and she and I learnt a lot - we learnt about artificial and natural colourants and what they use to make the natural colours now, what countries Smarties are made in, we learnt to use our senses to examine things (and kept the taste sense til last) We weighed boxed of smarties and guessed which weighed more and the same, we did colours with her baby sister, we did some math counting out smarties and we even studied the history of Smarties care of Wikipedia and discussed hexagonal cylinders. Who would have thought! I must ask my daughter for more ideas - and because she thought of it she paid a lot of attention and really concentrated on what we were doing.

 

[mamaofthree]

Thanks both. We read Osborne first readers, and the leap frog phonics series split into long vowels, short vowels, etc... We also have Jolly phonics workbooks which he flies through. I read all sorts to them, but they especially love Roald Dahl. He can read fairly well, but sometimes we regress, and i find him sounding out simple words such as 'did'. Progress is a bit hit and miss tbh.He just hates it, and gets really stressed. I find he sometimes still gets b,d m,w h,n confused also. I guess I am a little concerned there is a reason for his extreme dislike for reading&writing. Otherwise he's extremely bright, and has the most incredible memory for facts,and numbers. I will monitor the situation over the next year. It's just hard when his 4 year old sister his fast approaching him. I like the idea of a new word a day though. will put this into practise today.

xxxx

 

[ClairHawkins]

Hello again everyone I havent been on for a while as we have been so busy. After my 8 yo came home and said " I really hate school, Please can I be home schooled too from NOW" we withdrew him and 7 yo sister too so I now home school 12, 8 and 7 yo it has been fantastic they have changed so much especially ds 8 he is so much more confident! I just have a little question I have a 11 month old and after we started homeschooling I decided I would like him to have a sibling close in age as I worried about him being lonely LOL we got twins!!!! Due in october I am Planning to keep up with our routine during the summer so that we can have a little time "off" when the babies come I just wanted to know if anyone else does this? atm we do english math science 3 mornings a week my older daughter does history they all study the piano, they also go to karate 3 times a week cheerleading (girls) the rest of the time they are working on subjects that they enjoy eg art, sewing calligraphy pottery gardening baking that type of thing. I really think they are doing enough "formal" schooling, what age did you introduce formal geography history etc with younger children?

Oh and hope you are all well and Happy!!!!!

I am home Educating mY 6,4, (2&15month old) and have started introducing a history timeline this week. We are looking at ww2 from the childrens perspective at the mo just to get him interested./ We have started looking at toys from the past. Christmas in the past, and during times of war. Local history I just add in as we go along, and through trips to various museums. I was considering starting to look at rivers, and water treatment/rainfall etc..as a bit of geography, but havent started anything formal, and probably won't for a year or so. I 'll just take their lead i guess. Has anyone had a child who is difficult to engage? My 6year old hates reading&writing. He is capable but just refuses to do it! He is read to alot, and loves Roald dahl. Any tips re how to get him going would be fab ladies.

xxxx

Thanks That is a good idea for starting basic history!!!

I think my boys prefered reading more factual books than reading book i ended up buying them whatever they were interested in they really seemed to like joke books they arn't great reading material but I always think reading is reading!!

 

[mamaofthree]

^^^ I agree. Reading is reading. I wouldn't be bothered if it was comics so long as it sparked an interest. Has anyone used maths u see series? Looks quite good. Maths isn't my strongest area, and so I would feel happier following a 'curriculum' of sorts which includes a teacher handbook/lesson guide. Just wondered if any of you ladies as heard of or are using this system.xxx

 

[marley2580]

One of the ways my mum got my brother to read was to use comics - the beano and the dandy were particular favourites.

 

[mamaofthree]

think i might try this idea. will let you know how it goes. thanks all xxx

 

[Tanikit]

I have heard of Math U See though have not used it - it is a mastery programme so you do addition until they are really confident in it then subtraction - that means that you can appear to be behind in maths at certain points because you are sticking to one type of equation, but if you stick it out and do it all the way through then you will be fine.

I am using Horizons K and Singapore 1 with my DD at the moment and also MEP maths which is free online and is more problem solving based which my DD likes a lot. We do not do them all everyday - most days we do two of them and some days only one and cycle through them - my DD likes changing things a lot and gets bored if we keep doing the same thing.

 

[mamaofthree]

I'm also considering Miquon&singapore...A few friends I know use them, and get on brilliantly, plus miquon is a tad cheaper if i'm honest. Thanks for the info Tnikit, really helpful xx

 

[marley2580]

I'm needing some encouraging words ladies. The closer Kaya gets to school age the more I start doubting whether or not I'm doing the right thing by choosing home ed. I know my main reasons for wanting to do it, but I still find myself wondering if I'm cut out for doing it. Will my children ever learn to read? Will they really learn all that they need to know? Will I be able to handle being with them all day every day without killing them?

 

[mamaofthree]

Marley,I hear you. I'm sure many parents feel like this in the early stages...but what Ive heard is that you gain confidence in your abilities and styles as time goes along. My down fall is trying to rush things along ie cram in reading maths, and everything at once...and i get stressed with the children, and yes I end up shouting. All I do know is that you should follow your heart, and everything else should fall into place. If it doesn't there are ALWAYS other options (but thats unlikely to happen) With regards to being cut out, do you attend a home Ed group yet? have you sourced any activity centres/places of interest for home educators ? Are you most worried about LO having a circle of friends, because if so finding a group could be invaluable imo. It sounds like you are doing a great job from what I have been reading, and it is perfectly normal to doubt yourself in order to ensure you are doing the right thing for your baby.xxxx

 

[marley2580]

thanks mamaofthree. I am involved with a home ed group but there aren't really any younger kids that attend, so I'm limited in the activities I can take them to. I'm not too worried about the friends aspect as my kids go to a lot of other activities and are starting to make friends. It's more the worry that I tend to take the easiest path and can be quite lazy, and I worry I'll neglect their education and they won't do as well as they could do.

 

[mamaofthree]

Now I feel I'm too structured with them! We do 3hours a day which includes maths reading/spelling activities then an hour of art/music lessons (I play flute, albeit not brilliantly lol) then after lunch is for craft/free play park etc...I think alot of people worry they are not doing enough, and it's difficult to measure what they are learning, but I guess once you get them reading and writing you can set them project on subjects of their choice and leave the ground work to them I.e set them loose in the library If you are concerned right a list of things you want to acheive each day/week and whether it was acheived. In my opinion a happy, enthusiasticchild is of far greater importances than solely academics. In time you may find a routine that works for you all. I'm having difficulties keeping the little ones entertained I must say! the house is soooo noisy too, but then I guess a school is also. xxxxx

 

[freckleonear]

I'm needing some encouraging words ladies. The closer Kaya gets to school age the more I start doubting whether or not I'm doing the right thing by choosing home ed. I know my main reasons for wanting to do it, but I still find myself wondering if I'm cut out for doing it. Will my children ever learn to read? Will they really learn all that they need to know? Will I be able to handle being with them all day every day without killing them?

The way I look at it (Aaron would be due to start in September too), 4 is very young to start school so it doesn't matter if they miss the first year or two. Just take it a year (or a term!) at a time, and if it's not working for you then school is always an option later on. I'm quite a lazy person sometimes, but when I look back over the last year and see what they've learnt it's incredible! As for learning all that they need to know, I think as long as they love learning and learn how to learn for themselves, then that's more important than facts and figures.

 

[Tanikit]

My DD is also fast approaching school age - she is due to start grade R (kindergarten) in January. We have her booked in a school and will need to accept/decline the position sometime in the next month or two. The trouble is here that getting them back into a good school if we do decide to start homeschooling could be very difficult and putting her into school could be a bad decision since she is now incredibly advanced having been homeschooled up til now.

If you are starting school concentrate on the 3Rs - reading first, then handwriting and math and forget the rest of it til you have those in a good routine and are making progress - then you can add in whatever you like. Make sure you are reading plenty to your children and they will learn a lot. Just doing very short sessions per day will teach far more than you realise - it is more consistency that is important and working a little bit each day rather than long sessions once a week.