Hello, Our son just turned 5. I have been doing some light homeschooling with him for over a year. Maybe 20 minutes per day. What I have found is that he is usually pretty resistant and never really focuses. He just does not enjoy himself at all. I realize that I need to do more research and improve my technique...not to mention spending some money on prop's and other teaching tools to try to mix it up a little for him. My question now though, is what can I expect for a time commitment every day for my son now that he is in kindergarten? My mother is a public school teacher and has pulled up some curriculum for kindergarten aged kids and it is pretty diverse. I was actually a little surprised by how much they learn in public school at this age. I also found that my son may be a bit behind... It seems like there would be a decent amount of time spent on planning, research, preparation, etc...in addition to the actual lessons. Not to mention that I have a hard time getting him to pay any kind of attention for more than 20 min or so. I have thought about breaking it up into three or four 20 min session throughout the day? I have a developing business, and am wondering if I will even have the time to commit so that my son does not get short changed with his education? My wife works full time, so cannot really assist, although she does help sometimes. So how much of time commitment is it per day? thanks,
I think I should add... My wife is dead set on homeschooling. She has a sister in tx who homeschooled both her kids and they both turned out incredibly well. One is enrolled at dartmouth now with about a 75% ride. However, my concern is that I'm not going to be a stay at home mom or dad on this like her sister was. I've got two businesses that are developing and it is looking like it might get busy here down the road.... hence my question about time commitment. My first priority is my son. His education and development are what I care about most. I want him to have diverse experiences, and to be exposed to as much as possible, during these development years. My wife and I have argued some over all this, and I'm just looking for some other opinions on the matter. Does anyone here homeschool AND run a business? Is it possible to juggle both effectively and still have hair by the end of the day? thx
His attention span is totally normal. Even in public school kindergartners don't usually work more than 20 min at a time without some type of break. What kind of things are you doing with him?
Agreed. His attention span is absolutely normal. The idea of braking the sit down things into 15 to 20 minute chunks. Also, there are some fun computer things out there that will teach him without him really realizing...our fav in kinder is www.starfall.com . Not sure on math, but hopefully someone will be able to help, I'm too far removed from kinder! Also, read read read to him, when and as much as you can!!!! About anything and everything that interests him. Young children learn a lot through play, so surround him with opportunities to play.
I was going to say, invite him to play with you. Count stuff. Just show him things you use throughout the day - the calendar, the clock (analog), just talk to him throughout the day about whatever you do. If you go somewhere, talk about what you see - look for opportunities to talk about stuff. A trip to the grocery store can include all kinds of "lessons", if you're willing to take the time. How many is a dozen? Nutrition. Where do bananas come from? Mangoes? Tomatoes? How do you spell "peas"? How much is a pound? Talk about all of it - not all at once, of course. You can do math, health/science, geography... Before you go, talk about money, teach him coins, count their value, give him some and allow him to buy something for himself. On the way anywhere, talk about directions, traffic safety, places you pass and what goes on there, jobs of people you see (police, fire, street maintenance, mail - whatever you see). Directions you drive, the weather, trees blooming or shedding or whatever, and how they make oxygen for us to breathe and we make carbon dioxide for them. When you're doing laundry, talk about how two of something (socks) is a pair. Talk about big/middle/little, or long/middle/short. When folding you can talk about fractions (folding a towel in half, thirds, quarters, whatever). Sorting. Measuring (detergent). When you're cooking, talk about nutrition, health, measuring. Let him help. Making cookies is a great way to talk about math! Fractions, measurements. And make up little "problems" for him to figure out - like, if each of us gets two cookies after lunch, how many cookies would that be? When you're playing, count stuff when you're getting them out, and when you're picking up and when putting away. Put things in a line and ask him what's first, second, third (and other ordinal words). Talk about "in between", including numbers (what's between 3 and 5?), what comes "before" and "after", what's "more" and "less" or "fewer". Play with a deck of cards and do these, too. Cards are good for matching, sorting, and putting in order. Play with playdoh. Heck, find a recipe online and (help him) make your own. Make letters and numbers as well as lions and tigers and bears, and bowls - talk about how long ago people made their own bowls and pots and such, and make some. Tell him all you know about ancient people - that's "history". And then every now and then, for about 15 minutes, teach him how to color, cut, and paste, and how to write his name, alphabet, numbers. The thing is, to readreadread, talktalktalk, playplayplay. And every now and then do something on paper. Educational videos can be helpful at times, too.
The short answer is - he learns all day long, but "kindy" work at the table can be adjusted to fit his attention span. Ten minutes here, fifteen there, maybe twenty some other time...
Time commitment varies. But there's a bigger question here....Your commitment and interest. Sounds a little bit like your wife has made the decision to home school...and has left you holding the bag. That's not a terrific situation to find yourself in...if you're not the type of person who truly enjoys teaching and doesn't really embrace the idea of home school. (not everyone does, and not everyone has the temperament or interest to really enjoy it...and that's ok!) You're talking about wanting a time estimate on how long home schooling takes...and also talking about your wife working. Here's a legitimate tough question: While you're working on your business, and your wife is away at work...who is spending time with your son? What is he doing? Is he alone, ignored, bored, sitting in front of the TV all day...or is he interacting with someone or some sort of activity that is stimulating? Is your business flexible enough to drop everything several times a day to redirect him, to help him figure out an activity, to read to him, sing songs, go outside and play? Being an effective home schooler is not about buying the right "props" or finding the right curriculum. It's about enjoying and treasuring the time with your kids...and being naturally drawn to enriching every day with lots of extras and creative approaches they don't get at regular school. If you're finding that's not your thing....you might want to rethink it. Not all home school kids turn out great. And not all public school kids turn out horrible. Every family is different. People do it all different ways with tremendous success. Some people do some home school and some regular school. Some people home school K-12. Each way you approach education has different challenges and different rewards. The key is figuring out what works best for your family. If you like and enjoy home schooling your son, and just feel a little insecure about whether you're doing it right...you're not alone. Everyone feels a little insecure at first. Particularly if you have a mom who is a public school teacher...you might be getting pressure from two directions. Try not to be influenced by either direction. Be true to yourself. In your heart, you know what's best for your son. Be his champion, and support the option you truly believe will work best for your family. We're a hybrid family. We home schooled K-7th and LOVED it. My daughter went to public school 8th-12th and we could not have been happier with her experience. This fall, she's going to a top university (U of M) 80% financed through grants and scholarships. What we did worked great for our family. There's more than one way to do it. Find your way. Have a heart to heart with your wife. Good luck!
wanted to add... I did work while I homeschooled. But my workplace was physically attached to my inlaw's home. My father in law was retired and enjoyed spending the time with my daughter, he would read to her and listen to her read, take her on nature walks, do experiments, etc. And she could always come over to my place of work and hang out...everyone was flexible. I worked 20 hours a week, but my full day was my husband's day off....so my daughter really only went to work with me about 12 hours per week. I really don't think it would have worked without my father in law. He didn't do her school work with her, exactly, but he was there to play with, to talk to, to watch nature videos with. She had good supervision and a break from me. He was also inclined to do a lot of fun science things with her, and read her really bad science fiction and westerns. LOL. He loved horses, and really enjoyed watching her hunt seat riding lessons, too.
Short answer...as much as he's willing to spend! Some kids need more "play", and others are quite willing (and wanting!!!) to sit and be more "academic" at that age.
