There are some things going on at my son's school right now, some are old and I've asked about them here before and some are new and deeply concerning, so DH and I have decided to pull him out now. My question is since I don't have next year's curriculum ordered yet, do you think it would be ok to just do a few free worksheets and read for a while. And could I still count it as him completing 1st grade? I'm pretty certain that the school isn't going to give him credit for the year even though there are less than 9 weeks left in the year.
We had a similar situation last year when we pulled our two youngest out of a "Christian" school. They were in 8th and 9th grades last year but the headmistress said that they had completed enough that, as far as she was concerned, they had successfully completed their courses. Since they were getting bored and we could see that we were in a for LONG summer if we didn't do something, she put some courses on our laptop for them to work on until it was a little closer to summer break. This worked great for us. Since your's is only in the first grade and it's not really a matter of credits, I would think that worksheets, reading, field trips (to the grocery store, zoo, post office, etc.) would be appropriate for for him. We'll be praying for you!
I would, Birbitt! There are tons of things on the net, so I would think you could find plenty to do, online or printed out, that would review and extend his skills and be fun at the same time. I don't see why you couldn't "count him" as finishing first grade -- shoot, you can call him starting second right now, if you want, or in June, or in Sept.! It's your school! Both of you should relax and Enjoy!!!
Yes. Just give him worksheets, etc., for the rest of the year. You might want to take a look at his math book before you pull him, just to get an idea of what they need to cover yet. That will give you a direction with your worksheets. Pick some interesting themes for you to do this spring...bugs, trees, etc., and go with them. Maybe do some lapbooking with them. Then I'd cout that as having completed first grade, and order what you want for the fall.
Don't worry, he is young. I would just have fun with him and maybe cover some basics and I would consider him done with first grade. The only reason I wouldn't would be if he wasn't getting the stuff at that level. But, homeschooling isn't as concerned with levels.
good advice from everyone above. I agree that at his age a few weeks shouldn't matter. there's too much good free stuff online and at the library to not be able to do at least some learning.
I was in a similar situation about a month ago(1st grade as well). We basically read and get free math and phonics online. I also found a free online curriculum (through this website) that is doing science and geography. I have not bought anything new for this year. I am concentrating on what to get for next.
Honestly.. I would pull him and spend the rest of the year deschooling him. I would drop the thought of grades and pick things for next year that are a tad challenging at his level (so while you are deschooling you can try to gauge where he is without school.. so read books with him and play games and let him and yourself decompress from the school thing).
I agree - light or life until fallish. Check out SchoolExpress - they have a weekly newsletter that has a link to a freebie unit with worksheets, etc. every week. There's always free additional sheets and tons to do on that site. And don't forget HomeschoolFreebieOfTheDay - that stuff isn't generally usable curriculum, but it's often fun and educational ebooks, mp3's, or all kinds of other things. Tons of stuff, a new freebie every weekday. Another idea is a "complete curriculum" type workbook from WalMart or Sam's or wherever. Just something to keep busy, and might help you guage levels for him in all subjects for the fall.
Check with your local library, ours has audio books on cd, all kinds of science and other videos, books of course! free color and worksheets. ect. You can also go to walmart and buy a workbook for 1st grade. I would keep a journal detailing what you are doing, if someone complains that you pulled him out and he isn't doing anything, you can prove otherwise.
I figured I'd do for him like I do for his brother and keep a detailed reading list, as well as keep all his written work. (I keep all work for 2 years, so this summer I'll do through and only keep the best of their kinder/pre-k work) Then I know if anyone questions it I can prove we did something. I just wasn't sure if it'd be different pulling him from school, than starting out homeschooling. I kinda figured I'd just do light stuff with him or let him help "teach" his brother, or even work alongside his brother in some areas. I guess I'm just nervous to pull him out and have someone standing at my door questioning me or threatening to force my children to school.
I forget where you are, what are your laws like? I know here in PA, even highly regulated, I never had issues when I pulled my oldest out. Ok well the school tried to pull some "we would like to talk with you and we 'need' to see your diploma" crap which they had no right to... but I did play along with them to a point just to butter my bread. I would totally reccomend a good long deschooling though... he has had a rough year there, it's going to take a lot for him to get back what has been removed from him, and starting throwing worksheets at him probably won't get him to where you want him to be.
I'm in Arizona and our laws are pretty lenient, but I wasn't sure how the law would apply to actually pulling a child out mid-year especially from a private Christian School.
I would enjoy the time doing some lapbooks or units that he is interested in. By lapbooking you can pretty much cover all your subjects. Read the book, write the information for the lapbook, illustrate it, etc. Then you also have something to show for the time you are working with him.
We are letting our son finish out in public school this year (kindergarten) and will homeschool next year (1st garde). I've done 6 years of research on homeschooling and went to homeschool meeting just last night where the discussion topic was curriculum and we've pretty much decided we're not going to use curriculum at all until he gets older, somewhere between 4th-6th grades. We plan on using unschooling to an extent but there will be some structured/planned work as well. There are so many free resources online for elementary school kids we just decided to utilize them and our local library. And many people I have talked to do this and it seems to work well for most people. The only real "curriculum" we plan on buying this year is something for phonics/reading. Everything else will be free resources and looser. I find the hard thing for me to do in my planning for next year is letting go of the public school way of thinking. I mean I'm not homeschooling because I think public school is doing a great job, so why would I try to emulate they way they teach? But, being raised in the public school system myself, it is all I have experience with, so I find myself struggling with this like daily right now. I think if I go out and buy a lot of curriculum what am I really doing so different? If we have to follow a book and a plan, how is that better for my child than sending him to public school. And I try to keep in mind, many places/people say the biggest mistake homeschoolers make starting out is buying too much curriculum. Now, you can take all I say with a grain of salt as I haven't pulled my child from public school yet, but that is my 2 cents and what I am dealing with right now.
I am in the exact same place! I don't want to waste a lot of money on curriculum, but I feel that I "need" a lot of it because that's what you use in school.
Today was his last day in school, tomorrow I'll collect his things from the classroom and then I'll just be reading lots of books with him and doing things he asks me to do. If he wants some math pages I'll give it to him, if he just wants to do some math drills then we'll do that, I am just going to work on getting my son back! Thanks everyone!
Good for you and yours!! I am so excited about homescholing I want to yank mine out LOL but we aren't facing anything traumatic or anything that HAS to be addressed immediately, so I think it's best to leave him in for the rest of the year, as he's looking forward to some things coming up like a filed trip and such, and I don't want him to miss those things and be bitter about me yanking him out. I'm so jealous you are getting yours home with you now! LOL Enjoy it! This is a great time/age to be spending all the time you can with your son! I can't WAIT until I get mine home with me!
