I am only HSing my 6 yr old right now. She has 3 older brothers that go to public school, as well as 2 younger sisters home with me who are 4 & almost 2. I am struggling each day to figure out what we should be doing, and am scared that she isn't learning what she should. I remember what the boys were doing in 1st grade, and I think that DD should be doing the same. I am the *WORST* planner. I really do suck at it. I don't know what I should be doing with DD & when. Usually I'll just ask her what she wants to do today, and she'll say math, science, or just reading. So then I'll get our books/supplies for that out, and do the next lesson in it if I think it would interest her, or I'll skip to one that will, and then do that lesson. I'll also help her find extra things on that topic as well, like online games, books (if we have them), and arts & crafts. She also has 2 penpals that she just started writing to. What else should I be doing?? DD HATES and fights with me if I say we'll do x amount of work in these subjects on x days. But I feel like that *I* need it spelled out for me, or I don't think I'm doing enough. I also wish DH was more supportive as well. I feel like he's "letting" me HS her until I screw up. It took a bit of convincing him to do it in the first place, and now I feel like I have a LOT of pressure on my shoulders to *prove* myself & DD to DH, that in fact we *are* doing "school" stuff, and that DD is learning. I do have to say that he was VERY impressed at how fast DD learned to read. She's been reading well for months now, but I don't take credit for "teaching" her. We used the first 3 books of Explode the Code, and then she was reading. I also have to say that DD is VERY headstrong & stubborn, just like her mom , and we are constantly butting heads and arguing about her cleaning her room, picking up her toys, and just listening to me in general. I feel like I don't get much respect in this house, and this doesn't help. DD#2 is starting to act out the way her sister does, and it's driving me nuts! OK, this might be more about me than HSing, so if it belongs somewhere else, I apologize!!
Can you find the school's website and look for 'curriculum timetables, benchmarks, outcomes, timelines, or anything that might tell you what to do by when? At least you'd have an idea of what to do.
That would be good, but how would I plan out a year's worth of lessons? How do you make a good lesson? I really need help with this part of it.
I'm not the best planner in the world either and I've forced myself not to get crazy when I hear my friend say "Oh I just sat down for 2 hours and planned out assignments for the next 2 weeks", I've tried that and let's just say I am not my friend. It just doesn't work for me, my personality, I don't know what defect I have that I can't do that but I can't. Here's what I CAN do: Every year I print out the scope and sequence for the school my son would go to if he was still in public school (this year it's 6th grade) I go through and see what he already knows and what they are going to teach the ps kids this year. I use it to calm any fears I have that my son isn't on track with other 6th graders. He's already learned a lot of what they are going to teach in ps and IMHO a lot of what they are going to teach is "twaddle" and I'm not going to waste our time on it. Next, what I do is, since I'm a relaxed/eclectic type of homeschooler and don't use a specific curriculum I get down to the heard, tedious, but sometimes fun business of getting online and finding books and materials that I think my son would enjoy....oh yea I also ask him! he's a big help on this now that he's older and he does have very strong likes/dislikes. This, for us, is just a continuous process and I am slowly (thanks goodness) getting the public school mindset out of my brain - My son was in public school for 4 years, I was in public (catholic) school for 12 so it's deeply ingrained that there is only one way to learn. I think your daughter might be trying to tell you something? Just my .02 but homeschooling needs to be about her needs (not exclusively of course). I have an acquaintance who gives assignments to her kid like she is a dictator and makes them finish no matter what -if they're crying that just makes her more stubborn - she will make them finish assignments that she knows they hate. I am not comparing you to her just provide that for an example...learning should be enjoyable, challenging, inspiring but never a thing that casues strife in the house.
It sounds like you could make yourself a flexible schedule. Maybe you could write down the things you hope to get accomplished in one week. For example: Read through one easy reader Do one science experiment and be able to answer one question about it. Do three math pages and play one math game. Go to library. Do three pages of handwriting practice. Do one social studies/history activity and be able to answer a question about it. Those are just examples, I don't know where your daughter is, but that would give you a bare-bones schedule, and you could always add to it if she wants. But just tell yourself, "At least these things." Another thing you could do: If you want her to get through a certain workbook, like a handwriting book, go through and count the pages, and decide how much she would need to do in a week to get it done by the end of your school year. Then you have a flexible schedule. You can still skip pages if desired, but you will know approximately where you are all year. I definitely would not write things down day by day, since you've already said your daughter is more resistant to that. But it might help you to have a weekly checklist or schedule so that you feel a bit more organized. Just don't show it to your daughter! About the behavior: I have a stubborn one and I find that it is best to choose my battles, but I have to win the ones I choose. Right now bedtime is the battle we are fighting. I let her make a lot of choices on her own, but I am being really firm about bedtime rules. If I did this with every issue, all day long, things would be out of control. Since it is only one thing, I'm able to handle it.
Thank you, that helps a lot! I didn't see a scope & sequence from our district, just "Learner Outcomes" that summarizes what is taught in each subject. I just went over it, and DD knows about 75% of it already, so I must be doing something right. Now I need to make some sort of plan.
I don't know how much great advice I have to give, but I feel the same way you do....(especially the part where you talked about convincing your husband and the pressure) Another poster gave you some good advice about finding a school's benchmarks or some state standards for your daughters grade. That might help guide you. It helps me. I recently found a few surrounding area schools' websites to look at and it helped me see what we need to cover. Here is another website that might help you. www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum I hope this helps in some way.
That helps a lot too, thank you! I pick my battles as well. Seems like she battles with me over everything some days.
It's amazing what kids learn especially at age 6 and such! They learn while seeming to do nothing... LOL Something to take a look at would be Ambleside online - lessons are laid out for you and you read and listen to classics and such. It's amazing what the kids learn from that!! My daughter loves it and I think gets more out of it than my son does. I am so NOT a planner - LOL. I take it week by week. And I try to work from other schedules - kinda what is done this week and then next week etc. I am trying to throw in some fun stuff as well like the units from school express both of my kids have fun with those.
I am an awful planner, and we take a very eclectic approach to things. I don't remember from page 1 if you gave your DDs age, but my two oldest are 7 and almost-6, and both are big readers. So we utilize the library significantly. I'll browse by subject and grab a ton of books in what we are studying this month. We do a kind of overarching unit study that I let the kids pick, and then weave the math and such in. I give them a ton of books to pick from, and they read constantly and learn a lot. Mind you, I lean towards unschooling myself, especially at the under-8 age, AND my kids are big readers, so this works for us. It's not so much structured as providing lots of learning opportunities on a budget. I have been picking up some bios and some math puzzle books, as well. Then we implement math into our discussions and activities. We also pick up various crafting and experiment books and I let them pick out an experment or two to work on each week.
Oh yeah, my kids LOVE reading, and I try to use as many resources there as I can. I guess I just need a bit of reassurance that I'm doing OK with DD. Thanks for the help! I appreciate all of the advice!
hmmm...sounds to me like this is the perfect case of child prefers one method and parent prefers another. I guess you need to decide who's opinion is more important, your or hers. Personally - if that is her style - you can't really change it. You can try but most of us do the homeschool thing because we want to tailor school to our kids, not the other way around. How about you keep track of what she likes to do on what days and try to find a pattern. It's not going to do anything for her - but she's not the one who needs the structure - that is you. Then maybe that pattern will help you "plan" your weeks.
Oh, you don't need a year's worth of lessons all at once! Let's say that for 2 weeks in December, the school your child would attend is doing double digit addition with regrouping. Once you know that, you can either dig online for math worksheets on that, or go to the library and try to get a math book and copy the pages on that. All you have to do is show how to regroup ten ones into one ten, then do a few problems together. Once you feel like your child gets it, you give the sheets. It can go like this for any subject, really. Then you know your child is getting what they need and staying at least even with their peers.
I have also made kind of a game. How could this count for school? The boys like to figure out what "catagory" stuff goes in. MY favorite is home ec. (them cleaning stuff.) Thier favorite is Science. (playing outside) or PE (playing outside) or Computer Science (playing video games). It isn't of course all we do, but it gets them in the mindset that it doesn't have to look like schoolwork to be learning.
