I'm considering homeschooling my 7yr old second grade daughter. She is advanced and is getting bored and losing her love for school and learning both. She needs at least 10hrs of sleep a day in order to be in a good mood for the day and not needing a nap in the afternoon. She has always loved to learn and go to school, but after moving school districts this year everything changed. I have a meeting w/ the teacher after school tomorrow, however I am pretty sure I already know how that will turn out from our interactions we've had already this year. The teacher has decided without looking at anything in my child's records or looking at anything other than what she feels is the right answer that my child is not advanced and is struggling. When I have asked my daughter about things that the teacher has mentioned she tells me exactly what is going on and why she is giving the performance on work she does. It's preschool/kindergarten work, the whole class was counting together and she was losing track of her place and doesn't like to perform with others(she doesn't like to do oral group activities because you are supposed to talk one at a time), the classroom is too noisy for her to concentrate, there is no purpose, they already did the same thing 4 times this week. She does have some sensory overload issues and this teacher is hitting on all of them. My daughter is struggling to make friends, something that has never in her life happened, and the teacher won't even let her check out a chapter book in the library which she's been reading since kindergarten. Anyway sorry to ramble on. I am considering homeschooling to reinstill the love for learning she has had for as long as I can remember. I'm considering unit studies or lapbooks, but don't really understand the lapbooks. We plan to use the library and lots of free online things as well as some workbooks and books we have at the house already. Has anyone else used any of these type things? Have you switched from public school to homeschool after teh start of a school year? What issues did you run into to? I live in IN and have already done all the research on what to do to homeschool legally in our state and how to withdraw her. Just looking for any advice to make our transition smoother. Thanks
Welcome! I don't personally use lapbooks, but many here do, so I'll let them comment on how to do that and where to find resources. You should have no problem pulling her out of school, though, as long as you follow state law. Just withdraw her as you would when going to a new public school, and be sure to ask for a copy of her records, too. My 6 y/o son is advanced, but also has (documented) sensory issues and was recently diagnosed with Asperger's. He doesn't do well in a chaotic environment, but he's a completely different person in a small group or individual setting. I don't think class size is necessarily the issue for most struggling students. Years ago, everyone was lumped into one classroom (K-12) with one teacher, but each was given individualized instruction. Each was allowed to learn as quickly or as slowly as necessary, and teachers weren't teaching a test, they were teaching students. There was more discipline and control in the classroom, too with far less distraction (from wall decorations to unruly students).
Welcome! It sounds like you are making a wise decision for your daughter. I know all too well about sensory overload issues. I personally like unit studies and theme-based studies. I hear that Amanda Bennett unit studies are good. I think a unit study combined with a good math program are all you need to get started.
Thanks. I think my biggest thing holding me back is fear and not having the support of family or even SO on this. I know in my heart it is the best for my daughter but not having support makes it a bit more difficult to plunge in I think. That and my not so organized self but I know I can do it even if I'm not the most organized just scared
Family members don't matter at all, but not having the support of your SO will make it hard. Can you compromise on a "trial run"? I love unit studies and lapbooks. A fabulous and FREE resource is Homeschool Share. The site has both unit studies and lapbooks for almost anything you can think of!
You can do this! If it's best for your daughter that's all that matters really. I pulled my oldest out in 1st grade and do not regret it at all. I suggest finding a homeschool group/co-op for support. I pull a lot together myself for my kids.. We do use some unit studies. If you have any specific things your daughter/you want to study I'm sure I'll have some suggestions! :wink: Personally, I think you should start with Math and Language Arts and go from there after a couple months. I can offer some suggestions if I have a better idea of what your looking for..
I didn't pull out midyear but I'm def a diy with free resources gal. PreK and K also made my son lose his love of learning. So for the past 2 years we unschooled. We pretty much did unit studies, notebooking and lapbooking on areas of interest for my sons. Here are some of our favorite free resources http://gapeachhomeschool.yolasite.com/unit-studies.php Here is a good video to show you how to make a lapbook. http://youtu.be/3VZmnefF7LA
You will definitely need to talk to your S/O. Try and reach some sort of compromise. If he is not on board, it can derail you. My husband was not thrilled with the idea of homsechooling when we started out, so I took him to a homsechool conference. Since then, he is on board all the way, and even wants me to H/S all the way through highschool (which I am not sure of!). So, maybe he just needs some education to understand what homeschooling is all about. Good luck!
I also read your introduction post....welcome! I wonder if you'd be interested in Moving Beyond the Page? http://www.movingbeyondthepage.com/
I pulled my dd (then 7 yo, 2nd grade) out 2 1/2 months after school started. She has inattentional ADD so a noisy, busy classroom was difficult for her but she was also advanced, reading chapter books at home. THe teachers/librarians wouldn't let her check out the books she wanted, etc. She needed accomodations in the classroom but the teacher insisted that, since she was performing at grade level, she didn't need accomodations or advanced work. After meetings with the teachers, adminstrators, etc. I finally decided to pull her from ps and teach her myself. As far as your SO, let him watch how well she learns at home and how much she is enjoying learning (as mentioned before as a trial run). THat may bring him around. THe best advice I received when I pulled my kids from ps was to "de-school" the kids before I started a structured school setting. IOW, spend some time letting them learn in a relaxed atmoshere, pursuing what they were interested in so that they will leave ps behind and realize that home school is not school at home. NOt with a curriculum but with books, games, activities. For example, when I started hs'ing my kids, I started a massive lego project on my dining room table (my youngest lovest to build things). Legos are creative and promote problem solving. We also visited museums, took nature walks, collected specimens, watched documentaries, a lot of cooking and trying new recipes, started a musical instrument, started a journal or a novel, you get the idea. I didn't start on a structured schedule with curriculum until January, almost 2 months after I started homeschooling. I was able to observe what she was interested in and what her learning style was and then I coupled that with my teaching style. BTW, if you run across a used dissecting microscope, it is pretty handy for the finds on the nature walks. This would almost always spark "I wonder if..." and lead to research on the internet. Good luck. Kim
