I'm sure I'm not the only one who will be working AND homeschooling, so can anyone give me some pointers on what helps them not be so frazzled through the school year? I'm trying to get my daughter caught up to where public school thinks she should be before she starts public school in 2015-2016 school year. I've never worked and homeschooled at the same time so I'm a bit on edge about the whole thing, but I NEED to help hubby out right now. Thanks!!
My advice....don't worry about being judged by the school. Go ahead and put her in school if she's willing to give it a try. I was completely convinced I was throwing Elle to the wolves when I let her start public school in eighth grade. She'd been unschooled...so had never had tests, due dates, structure of any kind. She read at a high school level, but some of her math was iffy, her spelling was ghastly, and she had quite a few traditional skills gaps that I tried to address in a hurry. (not sure how effective this was!) I shouldn't have worried. She did wonderfully. Kinda hit the ground running. We were really surprised. She had a tricky start figuring it all out, but worked really hard and got all A's. You might have the same experience. Even if she has a hard first year, with some struggle...it might be better than spending too much time alone. That's tough on a young girl. I worked 20 hours a week the whole time I homeschooled. Took my daughter to work twelve hours a week, and her dad was home with her on his day off while I worked eight. I was very lucky that I had my retired father in law around, and that my daughter was welcome at my workplace. Not quite sure how I'd have managed it without his help, and my mom who also took my daughter on work days sometimes.
Crock pot meals! Coming home and not having to think about dinner the minute you walk in the door is SUCH a help! And Crazy is right. Your daughter will do much better than you think. I thought I had failed Faythe completely (I can still give you a LONG list of all the things I've "missed"!), but she did VERY well on her ACT test, so I guess I didn't do that badly!
Jackie...you're going to laugh at me saying this.....but the ACT is hardly a measurement of whether you've "failed" your kid. Some kids are born academics. Some are artists. Some are tradespeople. Some are a combination of all of the above. The ACT is a measurement of chosen set of academic skill sets...that's it. More to life and learning...than this one particular set of skills. Raising a happy, loved kid, who has support and encouragement no matter what career path they choose...is the best any of us can hope to do as parents. And academically....Faythe's 26 is outstanding. Would get her considered by Ohio State and a lot of other excellent schools. Of course you didn't do badly...you did terrific! Best of all, your kids know they're loved and have a solid foundation of support and encouragement. In the grande spectrum of happiness...that part counts so much more than anyone admits.
I know, but some serious concerns about Faythe academically, that the stuff I taught her she never really learned, that she only had half of the information, etc. So her score really did help me realize I did better than I thought. I know she'd be considered by OSU, but that's not an option for us. Living in the area, I have a rather low opinion of them. Their biggest concerns are money and football, not their students. But thanks, I appreciate it!
I'm REALLY starting to feel like I need to put her back in NOW. I just don't know how I would be able to work AND homeschool her, but she WOULD be welcomed at my workplace. It's the Boys and Girls Club after all. LOL! I was going to put her in Abeka Video Academy this year, but I'm not so sure it's a great choice with money issues right now. But, I REALLY don't think she's going to make it in 5th grade with the skills she has now. I'm thinking that maybe I should keep her home this year and just work on math, reading, Writing, And English skills. No science or History, full time anyway. Maybe just get the basics down and push hard to get her ready to go back next year. I don't know if it's like this in every state, but in Texas you HAVE to pass those stupid standardized tests to be promoted onto the next grade. 5th grade is a big one and she would have to pass it to even be placed in 6th grade from homeschool. 8th grade is another big one. The other grades in between look at classroom scores if the tests are not passed and the kids have possible summer school. 2 out of 3 of my kids who have returned to public school had to attend summer school because they didn't pass the tests. And they also have to retest this next week in order to get credit to graduate.. It's INSANE!! I HATE all the hoops that the kids have to jump through just to get through school these days. And our school is NOT homeschool friendly. I had to FIGHT to get my son into school last year. It was almost 2 weeks into the school year before they allowed him to go back. And then they put him in classes like hotel/restaurant management. I was FURIOUS!! We got him out of those classes but it was a very trying time and that principal of the high school is a JERK. Told us that Texas looks upon homeschooling the same as if we were not even educating our kids. Which is BULL. So I'm really apprehensive about sending this one back for at least another year. I know she won't be going to high school right off the bat, but that just put a really bad taste in my mouth for the way they treat homeschoolers here. That and the fact that my kids were kicked out of the football game because they were homeschooled. I'll rehash that story if you don't recall it. GRRRRR. It was NOT pretty.. On the flip side, my 13 year old had almost straight A's this year. Her first year back since 1st grade So I didn't do too bad of a job.. I'll always wonder how much better she would have done had I not been so relaxed with homeschooling. We took a LOT of time off and didn't do nearly as much work as we should have. But she's fine. Works her behind off and has a TON of friends. You know how these "unsocialized" homeschool kids are.. LOL!!
Sounds to me as if most of the problems is with the administration's prejudices against homeschooling. I've no doubt she'll do excellent on the test!
This is what boggles my mind... Public school teachers have a percentage of kids who are average or below average, and even some who are failing....and they just chalk it up to students having different abilities. They encourage them, but don't obsess about it, or see it as a personal failure as a teacher. A home school mom will beat herself up over her kid having ANY skill gap or academic mediocrity. Somehow, she finds a way to personally blame herself for anything less than "above average". Some of us even beat ourselves up over anything less than gifted abilities....and it's really kinda...crazy....and probably really unhealthy. LOL! We really need to knock off the self abuse, folks. (myself included, I've been there and done it...decided any difficulty my daughter had was squarely on me. And it's a really silly way to look at it!) Kids are just different! They're allowed to be. It's normal and ok for different kids to move at different speeds and have different natural talents. It's normal and ok for them to struggle sometimes. Adversity is opportunity. There are serious character lessons and self esteem/confidence to be gained in working hard independently to overcome an obstacle. (sometimes helicopter moms forget this). We should spend more time keeping track of all the stuff we got right, than the few times we dropped the ball!
I work full time graveyard, homeschool my two teens and have a two yr old. Husband is a stay at home dad and does all of the errands and grocery shopping, which helps tremendously. I come home at 7:30am, get my toddler up, fed, bathed and dressed. The boys are fairly independent, but I have to make sure they get their chores and school work done. I help when needed and grade papers when they are finished. I go to bed about 2pm and hubby takes over. Daughter is down for a nap til 3 or 4pm and down for the night at 7:30pm. So I only miss about 3-4 hrs of her day. Its not always easy, but it is doable. There have also been numerous times when we take a week day off and do school on Saturday because I am just too tired. I HAVE to work since my kids like to eat every day, so working graveyard is the best shift for our family.
I work from home, Tues - Fri from 8am to 5pm as a help desk analyst. My kids are 13 and 11 years old. My number one recommendation is ORGANIZATION! You can't skip lesson planning when you are working, or your kids will be skipping school! I am working this summer at writing down our lesson plans for the entire school year! Yes, we will miss some days and then my plans will be off....but then I know where we need to go to catch up. I write their grades right in the lesson planner, and when I have time I record them onto a more official grade book. I print out a menu each month - breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then on Sundays I do my grocery shopping off the menu for the week. The night before I pre-cook what I can for the next day. My kids have a lesson planner and we've highlighted the things they can (and should) do on their own. I plan to be away from work during a few 30 minute periods during the day, and I do my teaching then. Some of their curriculum is on DVD or through a co-op, so my involvement with those classes is minimal. I read our history books to my kids at bedtime (some say they are too old to read to, but I don't think so and they love it!) If you are working from home, or will be with your kids during the day, I suggest giving yourself a schedule too. From 9-10 and 1-2, for example, schedule yourself for homeschooling and DON'T be tempted to work during that time! I've tried many approaches, from super flexible to super scheduled and find that having a very strict schedule works best for me and assures I don't skip anything in my work, or with my school.
When DS was at home, I was working full time with an hour commute each way, as a public school social worker. I left lesson plans for him, but it seldom got done. DH was "home" with his own shop, and he was supposed to help oversee the lessons mornings and take DS to the shop with him afternoons, but that didn't happen much either. So after I left at 7am and got home about 5pm, DS and I did lessons. Afternoons, evenings, Saturdays, sometimes Sunday afternoons, summer breaks, and school holidays. It was extremely irregular. And we never did get as done as I wanted to get him. But we were very glad that this big husky teenager was at home with his dad when dad had his big accident. DS took over at home when his dad got home (after 15 weeks in hospital) - he cooked, cleaned (after a fashion), did laundry, and was big enough and strong enough that he could help his dad get in and out of bed to the wheelchair, and help him with bathing and personals. He learned a lot, but none of it out of books. When DH was able to get around on his own, DS decided to go take his GED, passed on the first try, and went on to culinary school. Was it traditional homeschool? Not by a long shot! Was it what I had envisioned? Not even close! But it was "good enough", and sometimes "good enough" is good enough.
WOW Lindina! That's one amazing kid you have!! Situations have changed since I first posted this and I'm going to HAVE to work... We are going to be keeping lyndsey home for at least one more year, possibly 2. We've discussed and discussed and it's going to happen. We will just fit in school when we can.
Since Dad's going to be home, can he help oversee lessons you leave plans for (just see that she does it)? Help with a math problem? Not that he'd take over all the teaching and stuff, but a little here and there?
