Wow, its working.

[Cat]

I started hsing with some doubts. What about socialization? Would I be a good enough teacher? Would I actually teach my dd3, or would I get lazy and do nothing? I retain some of those doubts, and probably always will, because I am rarely sure of or confident in myself.

But so far its working.

She's begun to read. I don't have a structured reading program. I let her play Starfall whenever she wants, and I read to her sometimes (not as often or as regularly as the experts say). Lately she's been interested in how letters sound and reciting words that start with the letter Z. Last week she saw the word "off" on our microwave and identified it correctly, but we figured that was just a lucky guess. Today while playing in the kitchen she correctly read or recognized the words on, off, and dry.

I do worry about the lack of contact with other kids. She does see some in her activities, but its not the same. On the other hand, she's sweet, usually polite, kind and reasonably good at sharing. In contrast her friend J has been in daycare and now preschool since he was a baby. He stinks at sharing. He's mean. He does not want to play with other kids or have other kids play with him. I'm sure not all kids in care are like that (I went to play school 5 mornings a week and I wasn't), but the difference between them is striking. The only way J's benefitted that I can see is that he's mostly potty trained whereas dd, who has no peer pressure, isn't at all.

So, cool. :)

[Faol-chù]

I'm so glad you gave it a try, and things are working out for you...:)

(Be prepared for the doubt monster to come stalking again, though...It seems to happen in cycles...:)))


I
I do worry about the lack of contact with other kids. She does see some in her activities, but its not the same. On the other hand, she's sweet, usually polite, kind and reasonably good at sharing. In contrast her friend J has been in daycare and now preschool since he was a baby. He stinks at sharing. He's mean. He does not want to play with other kids or have other kids play with him. I'm sure not all kids in care are like that (I went to play school 5 mornings a week and I wasn't), but the difference between them is striking. The only way J's benefitted that I can see is that he's mostly potty trained whereas dd, who has no peer pressure, isn't at all.

So, cool. :)

Don't worry, she'll be potty trained by the time she's got a job...:)

You will probably worry about the contact she has with other kids, until she's done with school...PERIOD.

If she was in school, you would be worrying about the contact she's having with kids...as in wondering how you feel about her being in there with quite a few who have a mean streak from the get-go, as well as worrying about what bad habits she's picking up from some others.

I don't think it's necessarily a natural state of affairs to have a bunch of little kids herded together, teaching each other how to behave. I think that young children need more time with adults who care about them to learn the PROPER (hopefully) way to behave.

Anyhow, that's my 2 cents...:)

Glad things are working out for you!

[Ceres]

Its such a great experience to see you CAN do it and it isnt even as hard as you thought it would be. Faol is right though, the doubt monster will return, it always does. Its too bad the school system doesnt question its own methods and ability to teach as often as homeschooling parents do - perhaps schools would be more successful..... :lol:

[Lyrien]

I homeshcool one of my children and soon, both of them. And I will have to second (or is it third) the comment on the doubt monster. He comes around here every few days; we're forever shooing him off.

Don't worry about the socialization, be thankful for what she will not be learning. Have you searched for a local homeschool group? It took us about 9 months before we found one that was a good fit, but it's well worth it. If you can find a good one, there are many, many opportunities for socialization and some much needed mommy sanity breaks.

I wish the best for you, this journey has been the most rewarding experience of my life.

[Cat]

There are no truly local groups. I've joined several that I'd need to travel some to get to, most of which I have no clue how to get there as I don't drive. Most of our socializing is done ad hoc on the playground or with kids she meets in various activities.

However, you are right that its good she isn't getting the negative part of school socialization.

[GEBS]

I am so absolutely frustrated with homeschooling.

My son started late because of my exhusband's inability to decide if he agreed to trying homeschooling. He has to make everything difficult. So we got started almost a month into the school year. Because of that my son has been behind the entire time he's been enrolled. We are only about a week behind but it's still frustrating. Every day when we log in to check assignment we have a big notice about our overdue assignements. I feel like we're trying to rush through the assignments just to get them completed instead of actually learning the material. I don't like that. I don't want to do that.

My son has always been an honor student. Being behind is difficult for him. It's difficult for me too. I feel like we're not doing enough even though we spend several hours a day doing work. He even works Saturday to get caught up. I know that part of the reason we're not getting caught up is that if he scores poorly on an assignment we redo the lesson. I want him to retain the material.

In addition to that is the social aspect. He's really missing that. The school does have a lot of organized activities but they're all pretty far from us. He has not been able to attend any of them. He is unhappy. He doesn't have friends here. We moved here in the Spring. He was hoping to meet kids his age in school. And then we decided on homeschooling so he still has not met anyone.

mol's son will be here with us soon. Our boys are only a year apart so I'm sure that will help. Trey will be attending traditional school and that is making my son want to stop homeschooling even more. He wants to go to school with Trey. I dont' know what to do. I love that we spend our days together. He loves that too. I love teaching him. He's learning. I love that I can get a better read on which areas he needs extra attention. I love so much about homeschooling. But I don't think we're going to continue.

I'm so confused. I want my son to be happy. Right now all he can talk about is making friends. He doesn't want to be behind anymore. He's getting pressure from his father about the overdue assignments.
The stress is making him miserable.

*sigh*

I don't know why I even typed all of this. I guess I'm just frustrated. Sorry for venting. _inabox_

[Semele]

Gebs,
I can definately feel and understand your stress in this situation. I have struggled with the same feelings regarding Trey's education myself without ever having attempted the homeschooling. We considered it and were leaning that way, but I knew it wouldn't work for various reasons, mostly my inability to not push him harder than necessary. Trey is not an honor student, though he could be. Our focus has been on the social aspect with him and it has paid off..he is a social honor student, if you grade on improvement overall.

I had wondered how your homeschooling was going, though I didn't feel I had the right to ask. If Brando goes back to public school, it will be like a break for him..lol! And you. But seriously, you could still work together in the evenings and it would probably be more beneficial because instead of playing catch up you can studying what intrigues the mind and holds it captive. Maybe it is supposed to be like this. Imagine him off at school hanging with his friends, getting the basics and you home enjoying the day, gathering info for the evenings laid back "lesson" which can include all kinds of fun exhibits and field trips etc.

[Cat]

GEBS,

Don't be sorry!!

I don't know what state you are in, but I'm told that some allow HS kids to join in school extracurriculars like sports. There are also youth clubs in many towns, not to mention music classes, choirs, art classes, yoga classes, little league, soccer teams, etc., etc.. Many museums have HS classes. There are a lot of ways he could meet other kids.

Depending on where you are, you don't have to use someone else's assignments and structure either. I'd hate to be behind on assignments too, but the beauty of hsing is that you don't have to care what anyone else says (except your state).

Anyway, I don't mean to pressure you. You know what's best for your situation. I just wanted to say that hsing doesn't have to be that way.

[GEBS]

Unfortunately for what we're doing we do have an assignment structure we have to follow. It's considered an online charter school instead of a homeschool. I guess that makes a difference. I thought it was better when researching. I guess I was wrong. I didn't expect so much pressure on the dues dates, especially considering we started late in the year.

Sem, we figured we'd take time when the boys get home from school to review everything they did that day and then assign them reading and review time afterwards. I guess we can still be very involved with their schooling that way. It's just going to be different. If nothing else, this has given us the chance to learn different ways to help kids when they have an issue. It's also helped to learn to identify the issues sooner.

I'm glad we had this experience. I wish we could continue. I just can't keep Brando under this stress. I know that what Brando is lacking socially will change when Trey gets here. If I could count on the school easing up on the deadlines I might reconsider changing Bran's school.

[Semele]

I know Trey is going to benefit from it tremendously as that has been severely lacking around here lately. We are doing good to get his routine assignments done and occassionally a few pages from Animal Farm though I am not too sure how much of it he is actually comprehending.

Its clear how much Trey misses his Dad and I feel it plays a lot into his behavior issues, along with all the changes due to my health etc. A big concern for me with the decision to let him try living there was messing with the flow of things for you guys. I know how hard you have worked getting to the point where you are and like I said, I wanted to ask but didn't feel I had the right. It sounds like it will work out great for everyone. I really like the idea of Trey having Brando around at school etc.

[GEBS]

A big concern for me with the decision to let him try living there was messing with the flow of things for you guys. I know how hard you have worked getting to the point where you are


Changing the flow for us isn't a problem. The kids are most important to us. I know that it will be a big change but we're looking forward to it. Right now we don't even get out of bed until 8:30. Getting up early will be the hardest part :)

Brandon is looking forward to having Trey here. And we are looking forward to being with Trey too. I hope that spending time with his dad will help Trey with what he's going through.

We've got a ton of books that Brando has read in their room. I'm sure Brando can pick a couple that Trey would probably enjoy. Maybe if Brando is suggesting them he would be interested in reading them. When he was here before the only thing I could get him to read was Metroid stories online. Maybe if Brando is the one suggesting it he would have more interest. He seems to respond well to Brando.

[Lyrien]

GEBS,

We are in a virtual academy as well. My husband had some reservations about homeschooling and the accountability of the virtual school made him more comfortable. However, now that we are a semester into it, I hate it. We've already made the decision to ditch it next year, if not sooner.

Don't think that the way you are doing this is the only way to homeschool. If it's frustrating you or your child, drop it. You will only be doing harm by staying in that program.

My daughter's biggest complain was that she had no interaction with other kids, to the point where she wanted to go back to public school just to sit with kids around her. Her words, not mine. I finally went on a hardcore search for a local homeschool group that wasn't church pushy so that my daughter had some other kids around. I lucked out, and now she's much happier.

I guess if you take anything from my post take this: Homeschool is what you make of it, if what you are doing isn't working; make something different.

Good luck

[Ceres]

GEBS,


I guess if you take anything from my post take this: Homeschool is what you make of it, if what you are doing isn't working; make something different.

Good luck

Fantastic advice! The goal is well educated children who love learning so much they do it because they want to, for the rest of their lives.