Okay, so I'm not really "new" but my last log in was 12/2009! We stopped homeschooling, but I miss it so much and of course, I have a few questions. My 5 year old son, has been in K for this school year. The teacher has recommended that he probably repeats K. Honestly, I think it's crazy and that he just isn't getting enough time. I was told at his 4 year check up that he "probably has some ADHD..." I thought, "he's a boy, a 4 yr. old and we've been at this appointment already for 2 hours." (because his baby brother had an earlier appt.) Anyway, I don't think it's necessary to repeat K, because I'm going to work MORE with him. He is somewhat difficult, and the teacher has 3 or 4 other kids just like him on the same learning level, but behavior they act out more than my son. I'm not just saying that because he's my son. I help in the class every week. :lol: I would love to completely hs my 5 and 8 year old, but right now, I can't convince the hubs since we failed miserably the first time around. My question is this, Do you yank your 5 yr old out of school and finish off the school year/summer hs'ing, or do you finish out the school year while supplementing at home? At this point I'm not entirely sure what to do, but I do feel more towards that he needs a lot more one on one time, especially with me. Parents are the best, right!? Thanks for any input! I've missed you all!
Hi, Codi, and welcome back! Since you don't have dh on board with homeschooling again (yet), I'd say maybe it's best to let your K'er finish out the year and do lots of supplementing at home from now all through the summer to get ready for first grade. Repeating is seldom the best answer - while tutoring is more often the right response. I really feel parents are the best, because no one knows the child like the parent. Is he a "young 5", or one of the youngest in his class? Because sometimes, repeating K (if you have to repeat, K would be the place to do it, IMO, not first or second) gives that additional year for maturity. If there were such a thing as a Transitional K where you live, for kids who have done K but just aren't quite ready for 1st, that would be my choice, rather than repeat the same-old-same-old K because he may be bored with stuff he's already done, and then act out of boredom...
Hi I would supplement for the rest of this year unless he is miserable. See if there is an improvement by the end of the school year. Repeating the grade seems silly at his age unless he has learned nothing at all. And yes too often boys are diagnosed early on with ADHD although some have it certainly not all. Go with your gut on that one. I found my son has matured so much in the past few years that PS wouldn't have given him that. I see him interract with the neighbor boy who was in his PS class and his behaviour deteriorates. So I KNOW that he wouldn't be better off in school. I hope you can get hubby on board. Your kids are so young I am not sure if you meant you failed with them before homeschooling? If so I can't see that as little kids are very young to be learning. They need time to mature to really get into the learning. Take heart it will come with time.
Thanks guys! He is a younger 5 , his birthday is at the end of May. It's funny that so many kids can be "diagnosed" as ADHD and it's just because they're a kid...shocking! what I meant by me "failing" with hs, is that I wasn't consistent enough, we definitely played more than anything, with only having school 1-2 times a week. Since I wasn't consistent, I had the expectation that my son had to do the work, when, in reality, he wasn't used to it and would rather play. Basically, my teaching approach was all wrong. I am going to just supplement for now and see where that takes us in the next month or two. We're just going to take one day at a time.
Codi, at his age at that time, mostly playing was just what you should have been doing! Not pushing academics for him to be reading and doing math before K age... So if that's what you consider "failure" it wasn't at all. And the one who is now 8 shouldn't have been doing much more than that, either. I really hope you get a chance to homeschool again!
Thanks Lindina! Looking back now, I realize that. Everything is easier to look back on and know what you would have done! Lol we also chose the k-12 curriculum, and it was actually quite strict! So I didn't research enough, and then the consistency wasn't there. Since k-12 isn't actually hs, it's still through the ps, and you have a "teacher" to answer to, and you had to login all the days. Basically every step of the way seemed like it was watched. Instead of changing the curriculum, I got frustrated and told myself I can't do it anymore. I will be able to hs again, even If it's just supplementing!
Hi Codi! I didn't meet you the first time around since I joined more recently, but welcome back! Your story is so eerily similar to ours that it gives me goosebumps. I, also, tutored dd the end of K and over the summer. And she was caught up. Until 1st grade started, and the same problems surfaced multiplied. Her confidence had been shattered and was oozing over into everything else. It has taken me months to build that back up, but books still terrify her. And she still doesn't understand why her teacher thought she was stupid- and no amount of explaining that the teaching style and her learning style didn't mesh, and that her teacher didn't understand that, will bring that back. She's left with this image of a sweet, caring adult who thought she was dumb. I want to share that even though I had gotten her caught up with tutoring, when the same flawed teaching started again in 1st grade, she again couldn't learn it. I can tell you to build a house. I can even pour the basement for you and teach you to read a blueprint (tutoring). But if you don't know how to saw, nail, screw, etc, you aren't going to build one. And if I tell you how, but I'm speaking mandarin chinese, you STILL aren't going to get it. Of course, ymmv. Our school believed sight words were the answer. They DID teach the alphabet, of course, but that was in addition. They were fervent believers in the Dolch word lists. In math, they wouldn't let the kids count on their fingers (when I asked they told me yes but BOTH of my kids said they didn't), and didn't provide manipulatives either. To be honest, our ps was all about pushing kids into remedial programs... 5 out of 15 kids in dd's K class were in remedial, one child was in something stronger, and they wanted dd in remedial as well (which would have been 7/15... nearly half!). Not all schools are that lousy.
