Melissa:
Wow! Congratulations on a big decision! Home schooling is very do-able and can be a lot of fun. I hope you are able to enjoy the experience -- no matter how long you do it for.
Yes, I was nervous when I started, but that was way back in the late 80's when most people would ask me if it was even legal. You would never get those kinds of questions now. And I luckily started when my oldest was just 5 so she had nothing to compare my teaching to. That was nice.
I'll try to give you some advice and answer your questions at the same time. I also need to let you know that I'm not currently homeschooling and haven't for 3 years. Homeschooling is certainly not the cure-all for children and sometimes it isn't a very good fit. I found that to be true for my son, Crawford (now 12 years old and going into 7th grade). He didn't love being home alone (since he's so much younger than his siblings) and he was constantly negotiating his assignments with me -- it was exhausting. He was never mean-spirited about it, just challenging. On top of that, I feel (after 15 years of homeschooling I think I can say this with some authority) that as a boy gets older, homeschool doesn't work as well. I think a growing boy needs some serious structure and competition in his life. I think homeschooling keeps him too much in a woman's soft world. Unless you have a dad who is home most of the time with his work (farmer, writer whatever) the home environment allows a boy to be pretty lazy. That's just what I have seen with my own son and many other boys over the years. Just a thought.
1. I figured out what the subjects were that needed to be covered each year for each child and then did some research and shopping (online is good) and decided what I wanted to teach that year. Each year was different. I tried to stick with the same math program though from year to year so that something didn't fall between the cracks. For lower level math I used A Beka Math out of that christian school in Pensicola, Florida. I felt like they were fun looking, not too long assignments, but kept up a steady pace. I love Saxon math as kids get older, but I think in the young grades they are dull and overwhelming.
2. The subjects I worked with were: math, grammar, spelling, reading, history, PE (usually dance lessons or a sports team), science & health. I used quite a bit of A Beka stuff over the years and usually liked them. I ignored the weird christian stuff printed at the bottom of some pages :) I preferred to do my own history though. I liked picking out some part of history, making a timeline for the wall and then getting little kids books at the library to read out loud with the kids. We figured out various art projects, activities and field trips to do based on the history subjects. Reading and History were by far my favorite subjects to do! I would definitely have out loud reading every day with your kids. As they got older (and of course, you are dealing with a boy and a girl also) I had different books with each child that we read out loud so that their needs were met. Some books I read to them while they colored or just laid on the couch, other times I got two identical copies and we would alternate who read a page. Whatever felt right at the time. Listening to someone reading is EXTREMELY valuable for children. Almost more important than reading to themselves.
3. I tried to make their schooling a combo of structure and non-structure. For instance, we always got up, made beds, got completely dressed and had breakfast before we started school. Each of the kids had a weekly schedule to follow and mark off. But they could tackle each subject when they wanted to. I only listed WHAT needed to be done, not when. We did try to be done by noon, but as they got older that was difficult, because they had so much to do. But it was a goal. We also usually took Fridays off. Just because we could :) We'd go do something fun most of the time. It was a good day to fit in a field trip, a trip to the library or lunch at McDonalds. I did want to make sure my kids thought their life was somehow better than those other kids who were at school. This helped.
4. Eventually I joined with some other families who had children the same ages as mine and we meet 2xs per week to do history and science together for a couple of hours. We figured out at the beginning of the year what subjects within those 2 areas we wanted to cover and then we divvied up the jobs. When we had 4 moms involved we rotated the moms so that half of us got the week off each week. Wow, was that great! My kids LOVED THIS!!! Some of their happiest memories are from this group. In the beginning we used a curriculum called KONOS that you can probably find on line that is set up for this kind of thing.
5. I tried to stick with activities and subjects that interested me. Otherwise I got bored or overwhelmed and didn't want to do it. Not good. I used homeschool to learn many things that I felt I didn't understand very well. Things that I'd either missed in school or was just too young back then to understand. It made me enjoy the whole experience a lot more. I also tried to be realistic about what I could really do. It's easy to get overwhelmed. So, take it easy. Take the occasional day off. Not too often, but sometimes. It needs to be YOUR choice, not your kids or they'll always be begging for one. Have a "Reading Day" or a Let's go the Park Day or something like that. Or "Mom needs to really get the laundry finished" day. :)
6. I home schooled one year at a time. I was willing to send them to school if I felt it was a better situation for any given child. My girls never went to school until 9th grade. Crawford, however, went to school in 2nd grade and then again full time in 4th grade. LIke I said earlier, I could tell it just wasn't working for him. His public schooling has been exceptional for the most part. I'm very satisfied he's where he is. I wouldn't even consider bringing him home now. Nor would he want me to.
I hope these thoughts help. Get a couple of books on home schooling and start making up your schedules and buying your stuff. You'll love it!! Some days I still miss it.
Carole
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