Homeschooling - day in the life.

[Wildsky]

If any of you homeschoolers could post how you organise your day I'd appreciate it.
I don't homeschool my kids but have been thinking about it for a long long time.
If you could post the kids ages that would help me. My son is in 5th grade and my daughter K

If you could just run down a little something like:
8am - wake and breakfast
8:30- reading for 6 year old/math for 10 year old
9:00 - science

etc. etc.
thank you!

 

[Wildsky]

Thought I'd add here another question.
Does anyone homeschool in a tiny town, where all the other kids go to regular school?

I've been thinking on and off for years about homeschooling my kids, its either one reason or another that sets me off all over again - this time its the H1N1 shots being handed out on Thursday (I don't vaccinate) anyway, I'm just worried my kids will miss out on playing with their friends, school here is a very long day for all. they start at 8am and I pick them up at 3:30pm.
I do work, part time from home, I'm sure I could do this, its just difficult to jump in and DO IT. my kids enjoy school, they have a blast with all their friends, an dI'd hate to put an end to that, with not much time after school to find a friend to play with.

 

[Myga]

Right now, my little friends are still young (2 and 4), so we only do an hour or three a day.
I usually give the two year old something distracting while go through mixed work books with the 4 year old. After the four year old is tired of my attentions, then I can start with the basics with the two year old.
I have this order because my four year old is less patient than the two year old.

We usually start after lunch and work until they're both losing interest. I'm aiming towards a solid 6-8 hours eventually... just make sure you never leave it off on a bad note.

We're in a pretty small town, too, and for socialization we have DH's massive amount of siblings, my friends' kids, and eventually I hope for Scouts and 4H.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

DH HSs our 7 year old daughter, in a town with a population of 1000. He doesn't have a time schedule, as we find it better to let DD guide the timing, as long as she isn't dilly-daddling.
Here is what he says a normal day is like:
1. Let DD wake up on here own, usually she's up by 7:30
2. Eat breakfast
3. a. She reviews her spelling words for the week & if she feels comfortable doing so, moves to the next set of words
3. b. While she is doing this, DH does some housework or reads in the same room
4. After reviewal, she brings them to dad & gets "tested"
5. Any missed words are marked for the afternoon
6. After spelling, a "big" subject gets covered. He alternates daily between science, language, reading, social studies/civics and math.
7. Once she has a good grasp of what she is learning, he moves on to computer/typing.
All of the above typically happens before 12 noon-1pm, when they go to the library & check out a book of the week & download worksheets via the internet. They stay until about 1 or 1:30
8. After they get back home, DD has free play time, she can read, go outside, her choice.
9. At 2:45, they leave to pick up DS (he attends an out of district school with an awesome special ed program)
10. When they all get home, it's snack & play time.
11. When I get home, around 5:30, it's homework time for both kids. Usually takes 15-30 minutes. He does his school work, she reviews her missed spelling words.
12. After homework, supper & visit time
13. After supper, we all sit around & play games or read.
On the weekends, we cover home type skills, cooking, building, lawn/garden care, automotive care, using dryer or hanging clothes out & also go visiting friends.

If the weather is nice, sometimes the kids will want to go to the park after DS gets picked up, they get a little socialization there, some at the library & DS is of course in school with other kids. DD seems to enjoy the company of adults over kids, unless she is at the aforementioned park.

 

[big brown horse]

Noobie, that sounds so pleasant. I often wondered how the day is spent in the life of a homeschooler.

 

[Wildsky]

Thank you!!! Very much.

I'm still kinda perched on the fence, its so difficult to make a decision. :/

I know my kids would be great being homeschooled, both love to work on stuff thats got nothing to do with what they're learning in school.
My DD is teaching herself cursive, she's 6 and in Kindergarten, the other kids are still learning to write there basic letters and she's moving herself on.

I just really feel they're being held back by having to follow a set curriculum, with a specific set out work for each day.. I'm guessing both my kids are frustrated with it!

 

[old fashioned]

Almost sounds like your having the problem with school more than your kids. Have you talked with them about this and how do they truly feel about school vs homeschool? Are they really frustrated with it? Do they feel held back?
Are they struggling with the work? Have you spoke with their teachers about maybe putting them in advanced classes? I don't mean to sound judgemental or condemning, just asking ?'s

I too have been on the fence about HS for my boys ages 10 (5th) and 8 (3rd). But my concern is more because they don't like school and have struggled with the way the schools teach (?) the subjects and of course the peer pressure they are exposed too. Around here atleast, the schools seem to hurry the kids thru several ways of doing one thing with the hope of one way sinking in. It's confusing to me and to my kids cause they aren't spending enough time on any one way for the kids to get a good grasp of the subject. Mostly this is math-instead of just doing multiplication/division the old long way, they are also doing "algorithim" and "lattice" methods and who knows what else. I have trouble helping them with the required homework because I don't understand what or how it's supposed to be done. And I think my kids have learned more "bad behaviors" from the other kids in the school than any taught subjects.
My fears in pulling them out are more about
1. if I would be disciplined enough to keep at it on a daily basis without getting lazy about it. We've tried practicing during winter and summer breaks and always start out great, but after a few days or weeks, things happen, interruptions, unexpected company, etc and next thing we know "schooling" is lost by the wayside.
2. what if they learned beyond what I could teach them? Yes I'd be learning right along with them, but I'm sure at some point they would need more than what I'd be able to give.
3. my 10 year old wants so much to be in the army and I understand you have to have a High School Diploma now days, GED's are no longer accepted.
Homeschooling is a very big decision and major responsibility for our childrens futures. And only we as the parents can truly answer for that. I know I've asked myself a thousand times "what is really best for them? not just now, but for their future?" Atleast for now, they are still in school and I help them with homework with the idea of helping them help themselves, with a few "home projects" on the side to spice things up a bit and get them excited about learning.
Best of luck with whatever you decide.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

That is the exact reason we took DD out of school. She was learning all sorts of things (from the kids) that I didn't want her taught. She can also learn much faster with dad at home, at her own pace, instead of being held back & pushed forward depending on the rest of the kids in the class. As dad comes across a subject, like pronouns, he goes ahead and teaches her everything he can about it. Instead of just doing the very basic stuff for her grade level, he went into high school level, teaching her demonstrative, imperative, nomative, objective forms, etc.

Once your kids get older, you can let them guide the learning. You don't have to teach everything to your kids yourself. They can volunteer at places to learn things, take starter courses at community colleges, take night classes.

Old fashioned, why would your child need a GED? Is that a mandate by the state? In Mississippi, we can issue our own diploma, within a set of guidelines. We do have to keep records, just as the schools do. Also, we are going to have her take a placement exam next year to see where she stands

Here's an article from the army about homeschoolers, I think you will see that they are becoming much more friendly to homeschoolers, because they see that it is effective
http://www.goarmy.com/homeschool/index.jsp

 

[lorihadams]

You can also see if there are any local homeschooling groups that you could trade services with. If there is someone that is really good with a subject that you aren't then you could offer to do something in exchange with them teaching your children particular lessons. Our local library has science lessons for homeschoolers once a month for like 2-3 hrs. We also have a local school supply store that is going to start offering classes in various subjects from experts for homeschoolers.

My kids are 2 and 4 and most of the time we play a lot. I throw in some workbook stuff occasionally but most of the time we just do some role playing, looking at videos on the internet from good sites like discovery.com and national geographic, we play educational games on the computer at least 2-3 days a week, we do rhyming and reading aloud daily, we also have vocabulary words that we spell and sound out. We have regular repetition of the alphabet, shapes, weather, telling time, opposites, and reasoning questions. I ask lots of questions when I read aloud that make them think, especially about feelings. We do watch tv, lots of PBS, discovery channel, and national geographic.

My son is very interested in science and animals and how things work. My 2 yr old DD is very interested in cooking and measuring and counting things. We practice sorting and I plan on introducing charts and bar graphing soon as a way for my son to keep track of his toys. We play outside a lot and they help with the animals. We frequent the library and park and have regular play dates with friends that have children similarly aged but they enjoy playing with all the neighborhood children too and they are much older. I have started to introduce money and they are learning what the coin names are and learning to shop with their own money.

Right now we are not on a schedule, we kind of go with the flow. I try to incorporate as much learning through play as possible at this age.

 

[Wildsky]

Almost sounds like your having the problem with school more than your kids. Have you talked with them about this and how do they truly feel about school vs homeschool? Are they really frustrated with it? Do they feel held back?
Are they struggling with the work? Have you spoke with their teachers about maybe putting them in advanced classes? I don't mean to sound judgemental or condemning, just asking ?'s

The love school, at recess. :/
My daughter is only in K, but doing work at home for 1st and 2nd grade, she's bored in class except when they're playing or baking cookies and things like that.
My son seems to be losing his enthusiasm, he used to LOVE reading, he plowed through all the Harry Potter books, one he got last year for Christmas was finished in 4 days. However in school they HAVE to read certain books, and I've noticed he's not reading them, he just doesn't like them and that is ruining his love of reading.

I too have been on the fence about HS for my boys ages 10 (5th) and 8 (3rd). But my concern is more because they don't like school and have struggled with the way the schools teach (?) the subjects and of course the peer pressure they are exposed too. Around here atleast, the schools seem to hurry the kids thru several ways of doing one thing with the hope of one way sinking in. It's confusing to me and to my kids cause they aren't spending enough time on any one way for the kids to get a good grasp of the subject. Mostly this is math-instead of just doing multiplication/division the old long way, they are also doing "algorithim" and "lattice" methods and who knows what else. I have trouble helping them with the required homework because I don't understand what or how it's supposed to be done. And I think my kids have learned more "bad behaviors" from the other kids in the school than any taught subjects.
My fears in pulling them out are more about
1. if I would be disciplined enough to keep at it on a daily basis without getting lazy about it. We've tried practicing during winter and summer breaks and always start out great, but after a few days or weeks, things happen, interruptions, unexpected company, etc and next thing we know "schooling" is lost by the wayside.
2. what if they learned beyond what I could teach them? Yes I'd be learning right along with them, but I'm sure at some point they would need more than what I'd be able to give.

I'm sure my son will outsmart me really soon, he's very bright, at the same time he'd be able to learn these things on his own if it made sense to him, if he could read up about math problems and things like that he'd soon pick it up - I don't think there would be a lot of "teaching" as such, I think guiding is more the correct term.

3. my 10 year old wants so much to be in the army and I understand you have to have a High School Diploma now days, GED's are no longer accepted.
Homeschooling is a very big decision and major responsibility for our childrens futures. And only we as the parents can truly answer for that. I know I've asked myself a thousand times "what is really best for them? not just now, but for their future?"

I don't think you could really stop a child from learning, from what I've seen in my own kids they're constantly moving forward, asking questions etc... there are so many opertunities to "guide" the child to learning more, like planning a grocery shopping trip. how to get to the store, how much gas will we use, how much things cost and how much can we buy? REAL life stuff that goes a long way.