Getting the newbie jitters early

[kiloyd]

Now that it is getting closer and we will soon have to decide about school next year for DS, I'm getting nervous about hsing. I've wanted to hs for a long time, but DH is not sure.

I just started doing Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Thought it would be something for us to do and give me some clue as to what hsing might be like. I'm not doing the writing part, just the reading part, he's is perfect at it, but with the first two lessons he wanted to quit before we were finished and the lessons are only 5-10 min. long! I thought "if we can't do this, how will I hs?". But then the next lesson after that, he wanted to go on and do another one.

I also had a friend who hs's ask if I was more strong willed then DS and I dont' think I am. She thinks I need to be more strong willed than him to hs. What do you think?

Thanks,
katherine

[akmyilee]

It sounds like you are really committed to helping your child learn, but I think you might be getting some wrong information about homeschooling (part of the idea is that you teach your children a love of learning then you don't have to force them into doing schoolwork).....now I am not REALLY homeschooling yet, I am sure some of the other ladies will have some more experienced ideas for you. But my ds is 4 and we aren't really getting too "serious" about homeschooling at this point.

Even if you child goes to pre-k or k they are not going to spend more than 5 or 10 minutes doing one activity and defiantly not that long doing seat work. I am not totally sold on the unschooling thing for the long term but that is the thought that I am using at this young age. He like to do worksheets sometimes or play games with the letter flashcards, but we don't focus on it and I defiantly don't require it.

But mostly he sees me writing my grocery list and he goes and get his note book and pencil and wants to write. So I write a letter on the sheet and he copies it. Or we get a big pile of toys and we organize them into categories and then talk about which ones are smaller, bigger, colors, same or different, what is different about them. Stuff like that.

I guess what I am saying is to follow his lead and don't worry about what other people say you "should" be getting done.

HTH

[cobluegirl]

I agree with pp. Also..that book might not be the book for you. Try not to get frustrated. It will come. Some kids do better to wait on reading till they are 7 or so too. I would just focus on teaching him things as you are doing them. Like helping in the kitchen or laundry etc...

[kiloyd]

Thanks, yeah we do baking almost weekly and he helps with some house chores.

Guess I'm just thinking that I will have to convince DH and what if I do fail. That's a stupid question, like I could fail teaching my son his alphabet! He already knows most of it and lots of numbers.

I kinda' like the idea of unschooling now and in the early years. But I also read The Well Trained Mind and liked that too.

As it is getting closer I'm getting nervous, i should just be excited, right? :)

[blessedmomof4]

How old is he? I'm guessing 4 or 5.

You sound a lot like me when I was first starting out. My dh was very skeptical and I had to prove to him that HS would work. But at the same time, I was pushing my dd WAY too much!! I tried doing lessons with her (even used 100 EZ Lessons for a while). All it did was make us both frustrated.

What worked was just having fun and taking advantage of the teachable moments. I took what SHE was interested in and we learned about that. We started there and I read more, tried one curriculum (KONOS), then switched to another (Classical/WTM). This is our 3rd year to HS and just this year I feel like we have found what works for our family. My dh has never questioned the decision any more. :tu

I also had a friend who hs's ask if I was more strong willed then DS and I dont' think I am. She thinks I need to be more strong willed than him to hs. What do you think?
Doesn't sound like GD to me. ;) My first reaction is that she's had her fair share of power struggles w/ her child(ren) and has found that being the "bad guy" works.

[kiloyd]

Thanks Heather,

yes, my friend who said that about strong willed is not GD. So okay, i won't listen to what she said.

We are going to a playtime with a hs group on Thursday, I'm excited. And DS (he'll be 5 in June) starts T-ball tomorrow. That should make DH happy. He just doesn't get it that DS deosn't need to be around other kids every day, a couple times a week is fine.

I just keep thinking why would I send him to kindergarten for 6 hours a day when what he needs to learn I can teach him in less than an hour a day.

I'm sure I'll be posting here a lot. :)