Anonymous wrote:I would not hesitate. Not for a minute.

And don't look at any of the kids who missed first grade (or preschool) due to the pandemic and are a mess academically and socially. Somehow your DC will be different.

Go for it! Get a copy of The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. So many good recommendations for a rigorous plan. You may not ever want to return to “regular” school!

I would not hesitate. Not for a minute.

Once your child has finished All About Reading level one, you can add All About Spelling.

Anonymous wrote:It will be fine. Contact your local school district to see what kind of documentation you need. Good luck!

Don’t ask the school what’s required. They often don’t know what the rules actually are. You don’t need to ask them for permission. Look up your state’s laws, follow them, and go have fun!

Make sure you look up your state’s homeschooling laws regarding notice of intent, record-keeping, testing, etc. None of it is hard, but you want to make sure you’re following the rules.

DO IT. (But make sure you actually homeschool him/her. Taking a year off is not okay.)

Suggestions:

Reading skills: All About Reading (online assessment available to determine level)

Handwriting: Zaner-Bloser

Grammar: First Language Lessons (available on welltrainedmind.com)

Literature: Choose things she enjoys. There are many lists available online that offer great suggestions.

Math:
- Right Start Mathematics (My favorite, but the manipulatives kit is not small. Not ideal if you will move from place to place often.)
OR
- Singapore Math (I think Singapore Primary is better than Dimensions, but you can compare on their website)
OR
- 1st Grade Math with Confidence by Kate Snow

History:
- Level 1: Ancient Civilizations by Build Your Library (this also includes good selections for literature)
OR
- Core Knowledge (Becoming more common in public schools. It’s… fine.)

Science:
- Blossom and Root Level 1 Science
OR
- Pick up a copy of Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (more work putting together on your part)

Add a bit of art, music, and PE.

So much time is wasted in school (getting in line, recovering from disruptions, waiting for the teacher to finally get to your child’s group…). All of this can be done in 2 hrs a day or less. ELA and math should be daily, but the others don’t have to be (public school kids get - what - 30 minutes of science a week, if lucky?). If you put in the work, your kid will be SO much better off than if they were in most schools (public OR private).

Go live your life. A teaching degree is important when one needs to manage 25 squirmy elementary students, but teaching your own kids one-on-one? You’ll be great.

Check out the forum on welltrainedmind.com or Homeschool Together Podcast for more tips. There are tons of secular homeschool resources these days. It’s not what it used to be.

No, this would be the best time to homeschool!

It depends a lot on your daughter and you:what type of homeschooling you’re planning to do, what curriculum you’ll use, how you are as a teacher, how your daughter responds to the way you teach.

I have 1 kid who I homeschooled for k due to covid and I feel he also would’ve probably done absolutely fine w homeschooling in 1st too bc he is advanced both academically and socially and he is an independent worker/learner…he does well w doing assignments on his own and understands most concepts quickly. He listens to me and follows directions. Now I have another child who is currently in 1st grade and I don’t think she’d do as well w it. She needs more guidance and an experienced teacher and solid curriculum I think. She’s very smart but she’s just not as attuned to the typical school environment and (this is a big thing) she doesn’t do as well w me as a teacher…she just doesn’t seem to listen as much to me as she would to an actual teacher. I feel like she and I would really struggle if I tried to homeschool her. And I dont think she’d learn as much. She needs a more structured environment and is not much of a “self starter” like my oldest.

go for it!!!! It will be a great experience for all of you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you would have to actually home school her...present some kind of curriculum to the school system. You can not just keep her out at 6. I am sure there is something you can buy or subscribe to. Otherwise...go for it!

If they were staying home I would agree with you, but as they plan to be traveling it won't be clear which school district would even care.

Few countries are as tolerant of homeschooling as the US. OP may get in serious legal trouble by keeping her kids out of school in another country.

Yeah, that’s not how it works. She wouldn’t be a permanent resident. Those rules wouldn’t apply.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it would be fine but I also think that potentially she'd start 2nd grade behind peers. That's not the end of the world and what she'd gain in life experience and family time could absolutely be worth it. But I'll just note my DD learned a ton in 1st grade and I don't think I would have been capable of keeping up with that curriculum had I been homeschooling her. There are a lot of building blocks that get put in place in 1st with regards to reading and math. She learned a lot of grammar (parts of speech, sentence construction) and her writing vastly improved. In math there were all these techniques I had no idea they taught but I know understand lead to much better math literacy. Stuff like the "take from ten" technique or visualizing large additions problems using sets of ten, as well as introducing multiplication concepts. It was cool to learn about how she was introduced to these concepts and work on them with her at home, but I do not think I would have been able to cover as much ground as she did in 1st grade at home.

So just keep in mind that even if you can keep her generally on grade level, she may need some help getting up to speed when you return if she misses some of this stuff which they then build on in later grades.

+1 to this. You need a real curriculum and probably and hour or two a day really focused on academics to keep up. Now, that can ebb and flow, as travel permits, but I would think that's what you need to keep her up. Definitely look into some homeschool curriculums, you won't be able to just "keep on learning" you'll need some structure.

For first grade, you do not need a “real curriculum”. Go on amazon.com and buy a workbook for math, reading, writing, spelling, and maybe one on geography and early science. The workbooks are set up so that they can do a page a day. Buy some chapter books or early readers, depending on their reading level. Don’t forget to purchase a few more when you’re in English-speaking countries.

Anonymous wrote:Sounds terrible. There is no way to homeschool the older child without getting distracted by the 3yo? And don’t say afternoon nap bc children learn best in the morning.

Just stay put, keep things stable for the kids, and enjoy unemployment/SAH life.

This is not true, the three-year-old could play/color for 20-30 minutes while you do some reading instruction. The math lessons will take 5-10 minutes of instruction, and then they can work independently. Some of us have young children that are able to play independently.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Now is the best time to do it! Just keep on top of reading and math (and really in math, all they learn in first is basic addition and subtraction, coins, and some charting/graphing).

Very much not my experience! I guess it depends on your school's curriculum.

In the DC area this is “basically” the curriculum. Of course, there are a few more things like patterns, and an introduction to fractions - but anyone can teach those concepts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It will be fine. Contact your local school district to see what kind of documentation you need. Good luck!

Current school district is irrelevant, as they will not be living there while abroad. Similarly, no foreign government really cares what an American (i.e., foreign to country of residence) does for one year with a child that age. There is no need for documentation to return to the US and enroll in a US public school, especially in lower elementary.

True, as long as the family is claiming to be only tourists. Which means they have to follow the 90/180 rule for the entire Schengen area. If they are trying to claim some other status, then they may want to look a little deeper. Homeschooling is illegal in a lot of Europe and heavily regulated where it is legal.