Do you School at home? Why or Why not? Pros and cons for newbies!

Well, as we are just starting out, we don't really have any idea what we are doing.

Because I am lazy, we use textbooks.
Because I am cheap, we use textbooks people have given us... so far.
exception: I bought Saxon math...but am thinking I might try Teaching Textbooks next year. and I just bought MOH...cuz ds doesn't like the T4L history, (and it is boring for me too and I LIKE history)

We have a set time for school, but I bribe him in educational activities..."it will count for school." at other times. I don't have set times for a particular subjects. Here is a list of what we need to do today, what do you want to start with?

We do some grades, but for "report cards" I plan to have it be more about effort and interest. (and for dad)
Any quizes that are done on the computer, I put into homeschool tracker as grades. Other things (bible) will get a participation grade.
(I think :roll

ds finds he likes to use the laptop best, so he can lay on the bed. So that works for us. I pretty much make him use the desktop for typing.

 

My 8 yo seems to do well when we are like school at home. My younger two are better with the whenever. Currently it's hardto have a set schedule since I am not currenlty living in my house. I need structure just like my daughter. Once I am home I am hoping to do lessons from 9-2:30. The kids start school at 9 and are usally home at 3:30

 

I do not think this makes you cheap or lazy!
This is how a lot of people homeschool even if they are eclectic. There is nothing wrong with textbooks. They can easily be manipulated to do what you want them to do.

 

Last year we did most of our work in the kitchen but not always, and were pretty relaxed about everything.

This year we are more or less doing "school at home." I commandeered the dining room, made a bulletin board out of one wall, put a vinyl tablecloth on the table, and we do 90% of our work in there. Our younger daughter is in our public school's Pre-K program, so dd7 was very excited about having a "school room" kinda like dd5's. I have a sign on the wall which I change every day with a list of the subjects we are going to do that day. I let dd7 pick the order in which we do them.

We are using a combination of workbooks and textbooks with a little bit of unit study/lapbooking thrown in for seasoning. Dd7 needs the structure and the routine of doing everything at more or less the same time and in the same place. She likes doing workbooks and sit down work, so the "school" style fits her well. I'm a workbook kind of girl, too, so although the KONOS-style of unit studies with lots of creative additions is very attractive to me and I suspect would be very fun for Joy, I know I would be totally stressed out if I had to make it all happen myself. My blood pressure rises immediately when I have to try to cut a piece of paper relatively straight.... Paper crafts 'R NOT us!! Maybe I can find a co-op sort of group someday with creative moms who love that kind of stuff, but don't like the math and science... I can do math and science.

But I digress... badly... LOL

We start school at 10:30 to 11ish and finish at about 2:30 with a break for lunch sometime in the middle. So far it is working great.

 

We have been doing the 1/2 school 1/2 none schoolish thing. We get up he gets to watch PBS for an hour or so and eats. Then its onto some book work. I explain or read what we are going to be working on and I give him options of how he wants to show me he knows and understands what I'm teaching at that time. Be it drawing a picture or showing me by writing it out or what not. We will be using text book soon as they get here, I had to order them. I think they will be more of a guide for me than for him. I need the guide since I am also working and don't have much time for figuring out the lesson plans each day. I may have to figure out a new idea here soon and it may turn into more of a 'school day' thing then it is now. We are still working out the bugs. :?

 

Thanks, TeacherMom, for starting this thread! I love reading how everyone chooses to approach hs!

 

Teacher Mom, you and TeacherMom are playing tricks on my eyes with your similar user names! LOL LOL

 

Oh, I know! Sorry! It's my fault. She had it first, obviously.

I'm trying to pick a new user name that I like. Until then, everyone's going to be doing double-takes!

 

As a "seasoned" one week hs veteran, so far I've been making a daily list for each kid of what they need to accomplish. About half of it is stuff we do all together. They like to be able to cross things off their lists. I also let them pick the order in which they do it (unless it's something that has to happen at a certain time). They each number their papers in the morning during breakfast without any prompting from me. I've discovered I have much less resistence that way. They both want the Bible reading for the day first. DD chooses piano practice after the reading. DS chooses math. He chooses piano practice as the very last thing on the list. LOL!

As a side note, we started using MOH this week on Monday, and so far I don't like it at all. It sounds so preachy to me. We just got it in last week so I didn't have time to review it before we started using it. I am going to try to read ahead this weekend to see if it gets better. If it doesn't, I will be looking for something else.

 

As a bit of a newbie myself I would have to say that as I understand it we school at home for a few subjects...like math and a bit of phonics....everything else we do a bit of this and a bit of that and it's probably nothing like what they are doing in schools. I know our handwriting is nothing like the schools teach, since I'm sure that letter writing and such is not part of ps curriculum. The history we are using now came from the public school but we do it nothing like it says to...I make it more fun and I know for a fact that we do more arts and crafts than the ps.

 

I do not home school at home with my kids as I think they will get bored and miss making friends at a real school.

 

Hannah, my kids make friends whereever they go, plus have friends at church and co op.
They could never get bored and to quote my son while telling my inlaws about several cities that he knew by sight ..."That is because I home school, and the best thing about homeschool is that the learning never ends.. if you want to know about something you just look it up and study it! "
This from a boy who has had all his years homeschooling. He has tons of friends and is a very out going individual and very rarely says the words most kids say in summer "I'm Bored!"
There is always something to do, whether it is playing a board game or studying or watching a show about sharks, there is always something!

 

I do understand the not wanting to put the time and effort into making it fun though, I have my days too.
As for the sending your child out to make friends, I would think on that one cause who do you want your kids to have as friends? My ds17 went out for highschool, he came home one day telling me how he decided it was time to leave his friends house when they took out the vodka! Smart boy, since they were all underage and un supervised!
He homeschooled up to highschool, so I know I instilled the proper values in him and the boldness to speak his mind.
he changed schools this year to have better teacher and better kids to hang with. Another thing he learned is that he has a choice where and what he learns.
Just a side note , don't get the idea that you can't home school, you just may be the one who will turn in the to the best home school mom of all!
( Hope I didn't sound pushy, just a bit defensive when it comes to homeschooling.. I think my kids are the most normal kids I know haha!)

 

TMom, I may be wrong. From reading this post, I do not think this person homeschools. So if they do not, then clearly they do not understand how homeschooling works.

hannah123wild, do you homeschool or are you a troll?

 

not sure, but smells trollish to me... please forgive me if I'm wrong. I checked the other posts from this person and I'm still scratching my head here.

 

Me too. I am not sure.

 

We school at home. We follow a basic schedule. I have found that dgs needs the structure of knowing what is going on and when and dgd just loves doing school period! I do allow longer recess and lunch breaks than I did the first couple of years because we all seem to need it that way. The kiddos need time to play and I need time to rest sometimes or do some housework. And I actually have a school building! We built last year, it took us about 9 months to get it completed. We built it on skids so it is considered a portable building(no permit necessary for a portable building). I wish I could show pics but I guess I can't post things like that yet? Oh, well....

 

I think that is so awesome. Around here we need to get a permit in order to build a play house.:|

 

My dh's aunt and uncle lived in California for years and they used to tell us how they were taxed on everything they planted on their place. Outrageous!

 

We very much do a structured school environment. We tackle subjects each day and tend to follow a routine. But we do school 24/7....as in if the kids ask something after 'school hours' then it tends to be a full learning discussion. This is gross, but dh hit a bird and it got stuck in his car a few months ago... well it turned into a huge learning experience. We examined the bird's beak (which tells us what type of food he eats), his claws, how his wings fold, how his feather's work, etc. It was cool! But I find that we do that with everything! As a teacher I'm never really off duty. I've heard some parents in public just tell their kids something quick and untruthful to answer them and I get angry....why lie to them, if you don't know say I don't know....now let's go look it up!