Considering homeschooling for K but still really nervous. Any good experiences to share?
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Anonymous
22:48 here. In addition to the materials I mentioned, you should look into the Spectrum series for reading, language, and math on Amazon. Also. There are some great supplemental materials to use to mix things up for that age as well. Shoot me an email at 052805@gmail.com and I can give you more info and resources to prepare. |
Anonymous
We organize our schedule around meals.  A typical day would be wake up, breakfast, workbook work, small snack, outing, lunch, read aloud, small snack, free play, chores, dinner, etc. This is our standard schedule but we usually don't follow it exactly due to lots of playdates and other outside activities. There are lots of homeschool Dads these days; I see them around a lot!!! The academics will be easy at this stage, so just take lots of time to get out there and enjoy everything in a leisurely uncrowded way while the other kids are stuck in their schools.
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Anonymous
How much time a day do you do academics? A planned day seems wis...looking at the approximate amount of time to budget. |
Anonymous
| From preK to 2nd I'd say they do 2 workbook pages in math and 2 in handwriting/spelling per day. So that's 20 mins, tops. We cover a lot with our read-alouds, including some science, history, and the like. Then we also do a hand-on activity to reinforce, plus we have tons of manipulatives and building toys (all that private school tuition we're not spending buys a lot of goodies!). It sounds complicated now that I type it, but there's so much info out there, and things just seem to flow naturally a lot of the time, so it's really easy to organize. |
Anonymous
Do you match the books up with the school's public curriculum? For example, if kindergarteners learn about Johnny Appleseed in school, do you get books on him or it the exact match up not that impt? |
Anonymous
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I think one is only "homsechooling" when their kids are beyond 1st grade.
It's Kindergarten. You can actually wait until the month before 1st grade if they are going to go to school in 1st and teach them all they need to know. You don't even need a month really. The curriculum will repeat in 1st and part way through second. |
Anonymous
But how can you go over handwriting, math concepts, writing, reading, learning about some famous Americans, etc...in under a month? I'm just trying to see before I commit to do this if it is simple or more complex than I'm thinking it may be... |
Anonymous
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"Do you match the books up with the school's public curriculum? For example, if kindergarteners learn about Johnny Appleseed in school, do you get books on him or it the exact match up not that impt? "
If you are thinking of sending them to school, it might be a good idea, but we don't do that. We go through history in order from the ancients to modern time over a period of years using Story of the World as a spine. For science we mainly follow their interests. |
Anonymous
| I'd say if you spend less than an hour a day going over letter sounds, then doing Bob Books or the like, plus any math workbook at this age, you'll have your bases covered. If you want to do famous Americans, there are tons of books from the library to read aloud to them. If you want to send them to school, at that point you can figure out where they need to be and quickly catch them up (or review things if they're way ahead). Otherwise, you can really go at your own pace. It really doesn't take that long at this age. I've found that people who do lots of planning and work at the younger ages tend to burn out and send the kids to school more quickly than those who take a more relaxed view. |
Anonymous
| Ok...I'm just on the fence...he's already reading to himself and I wasn't sure if the school would provide more to push that skill forward or keep him with others who can't read at all. If I homeschool would I push him or keep him at a kindergarten pace? |
Anonymous
It's pretty easy actually. Handwriting would be the only thing it might take a child longer to master. It needs consistent work and good guidance. Handwriting without Tears. Math concepts for K include fully grasping numbers up to 10, shape identification including intro of 3D shapes, maybe some very basic addition, introduction of numbers up to 100. Reading concepts understanding that all letters have a sound and what that sound is, recognizing all letters, reading a basic list of sight words - I think it's 25 of them? Famous Americans - introduced through book reading and maybe some follow up art when relevant holidays occur. There is no need for kids to master the info, it's an intro But I know, your kid is a genius and can already multiply right? Yep, now that my kid is in 3rd, like I heard so many people say before, the number of kids who are truly genius is almost non existent. Also the same concepts repeat in the first 2 years of curriculum as children mature they are able to process and use the information not just memorize facts which is what many of the "gifted" K students have done. I will never forget my friend bragging about her kids advanced Math skills before K. We get in an elevator and her mom tells her to push the number "20" and her kid can't identify 20. Of course she can't bc she only knew the number in the context of preK workbooks - that is the number in sequential order presented in the same format over and over. The kid couldn't extrapolate the info to real life and that's true for many kids that age still. Kindergarten will also include learning to be part of a group, working with others, how to be social including how to introduce yourself, to other kids without an adult hovering by. It gives kids some independence. |
Anonymous
| So all this concern again is about all the other "SLOW" children in this area compared to yours just because your child can decode? I've got a secret for you - the other children in this area are not slow compared to yours and decoding does not show your child is smarter than anyone else's. |
Anonymous
You are missing my point. I was simply asking if I homeschool, would I simply keep at the kindergarten pace or push forward on things like retelling, summarizing, connections, etc. I did not mean to I ply he is a genius or advanced. Tons of kids go into kindergarten reading... I'm asking purely from what my responsibilities would be perspective. My friend's child is pulled out a few time ps a week to work on other reading concepts by another teacher...so I would think I'd have to work o other things too...my other friend, however has a reader and isn't pulled at all. Just trying to get what kind of a commitment is have to do...or should do. Lighten up, people. It is a legitimate question. |
Anonymous
| You will get a lot of defensive responses on this topic and on the DCUM forum. For many of the parents on this forum, they are working or SAHMs who are tired and doing a lot to just survive so the thought of homeschooling or doing activities in that realm is unthinkable/exhausting. Kudos to you for thinking about this and focusing on your child's education. No matter what, we as parents have to be involved with their education homeschooled or not. The public and private schools cannot and should not be solely relied upon. That is the way it has been in the past and is even more so the case today. Sad, but true. |
Anonymous
| OP, do you have a good relationship with your child? |