Can I have some practical tips?

[ServingGod]

I am 100% settled on hs'ing now...there isnt a struggle with that anymore.
BUT I have figured out areas I need to get a handle on in order to hs my dc successfully.
(fyi, we are not unschoolers, and I feel led to give my dc a classical education)

#1 Routine/schedule....I have one...Im terrible at follow through.
#2 I dont really have a long attention span...and neither does my eldest. I get distracted by things that seem like they would be more fun, and slack off.
#3 Sometimes I have a hard time communicating things....more like the translation gets mixed up between my head and mouth. :shifty So when explaining concepts I can get a bit lost. :/
#4 I feel like I live in a 3 ring circus and need to bring more order to my dc who are very active.

Im not trying to re-create a school environment, I let them wiggle and stuff while I read, when doing drills we usually toss a ball back and forth....but its hard for us to get focused and get things done.

This was our phonics lesson today...
5yo takes off running and goes upstairs to play pirates the second he saw the phonics book.

6yo gets captured by me, sits down, and is looking at pirate catalog. I tell him he needs to look at the book. He says he is. I take the catalog away, and ask for his attention.

I tell him the sound...point to the pictures, he decides he needs to sit at the OTHER end of the couch where he cant see. I tell him he needs to sit next to me so he can see.

Then we go to write our letters...Aa, he knows how to do this. So for capital A he writes BIG huge sloppy A's all over his page...I tell him I know he can do better, so try again on this new paper. Goes on for 10 minutes till he realizes mom is not budging till he writes proper a's and isnt goofy.

Then we did some math and both boys were just being silly the whole time, and while their worksheets were right, I dont know if they learned anything.

Question....if I just stay firm and enforce follow through and doing the best the can...will there be results?? I always tend to expect instant results, and its hard for me to see the baby steps happening.

I think schedule is the biggest thing....I just cant seem to get myself to stay with it. :shrug

[icesmom3]

This might not help but is there any way you could incoperate pirates into the phonics lesson.....seriously. Sit down and read stories on pirates, make pirate stew, come up with words that pirates use and study the phonics in that aspect. Make swords and write words on them and every time you swing the sword you have to spell the word. Make a map and have a treasure hunt.... It will capture their interest and be fun and they wont realize that they are learning!

[joandsarah77]

I was going to sugest the same thing. At 5 and 6 they are being normal boistrous boys and you need to capture there interest a bit more. So if they are learning letter sounds then have them collect the letters on tresure island and add it to the tresure chest. Play walk the plank. Read the letter/word/number/answer the sum and take a step back, get it wrong and you take a step forward towards the end of the plank! A pice of cardboard or a drawn plank outside on concret would do. Lol they will probably want to get them wrong just to walk the plank! So you can always make corect answers for forward and incorect for going back. Then let them know that after writing the page of 'A's properly or whatever it is you will play a game. maybe use a clear jar with play money or silver alfoil coins or something as treasure. When they do a lesson with out being silly you drop one in the jar. maybe 10 coins = something fun.

[Savmom]

I agree with the pp's. I also would try some file folder games for phonics/math/science. Join the yahoo group that has TONS of awesome file folder games (free). DS LOVED ff games when he was your dc's age. They are colorful, fit their interest, easy to make and store (I keep the pieces in ziplocs) and they are learning and don't even know it ;) . You will have to join (free) and make sure you set your account to "Individual email" because some of the files are sent as attachments.

Here's the link to the ff group

FF (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/File_Folder_Game_Printables/)

Oh and here's one for makinglearningfun for prek-2nd grade

MLF (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/makinglearningfun/?yguid=260441595)

I have more sites with cool ideas for youngers, but I gotta run to the store. I'll post more later.

:hug

[ArmsOfLove]

oh yes, the more fun and relevant they see the learning the better you will do with them :tu

I also like curriculums that either have an instructional dvd (like Math U See--that we both watch together :tu) or you read the instructions. Once I am sure I understand it I can free form it or add to the lesson, but if it's a new thing then I like to make sure it's explained correctly and thoroughly :)

[AdrienneQW]

This might not help but is there any way you could incoperate pirates into the phonics lesson.....

It would certainly work for the letter ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!

:shifty

[Savmom]

This might not help but is there any way you could incoperate pirates into the phonics lesson.....

It would certainly work for the letter ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!

:shifty


:laughtears

[musicmommy]

You've gotten some wonderful ideas. I also incorporate the boys' interest in their learning. I've also seen a huge difference in what I could expect from my oldest when he was 6 and now that he is 7. He is able to be a lot more focused on things now.

As far as the schedule goes, there are some that are strict schedulers and others that have a general plan. I've found that just having a general idea of our days works for us. I know that we do math and spelling in the morning and history and science in the afternoons. I also have a list of what the kids need to cover during the day and then let them pick an order to do it in. I've even found with my 7 yo that he likes having his planner for the week that lays out all of his assignments. That won't work for my 5 yo because then he feels overwhelmed.

I have some things I do to stay organized. That's been a key for us. If I'm not organized then I just let stuff slide. I have a folder for each day of the week in which I put all worksheets or things we need and then each child also has their own little folder where I put all there stuff each day. I usually include some special game or coloring page that they look forward to.

We do more of the classical education here in our house too! I think we are the minority on this board, but I still feel the love. :heart I'm only a year ahead of you with my oldest but feel free to bounce questions and ideas.

[Joanne]

Question....if I just stay firm and enforce follow through and doing the best the can...will there be results??

:yes :)

There will be. My oldest boy is now 12 and has been doing a reasonable (IMO) amount of sit down work for ...... a few years? now.

I used to worry tremendously about my lack of discipline on a routine/schedule and my children's lack of sit down, sustained formal school work.

It turned out to be a non issue. My youngest, with whom I did the least (read: none) amound of formal work in the early years is the furthest along compared to his siblings at the same age.

[CelticJourney]

Your boys are still very young and still learning by doing. The pirate theme is good - they travel you know, so there is geography :)

One thing I do is to read to younger children while they eat. So that gives you two shots at getting some reading done (three if you enlist dh at dinner like I did). tip - have the food ready and on the table and the book open when you call them so you can maximize your time.

Do anything that requires concentration when dh gets home or on weekends when you can sit down with them one-on-one without interruption.

Maybe set a timer - sometimes if they know there is a quick end in sight, they will compromise (sometimes they try to 'play through' - it's worth a shot). Or a 'do five good 'a's and them you can play for five minutes and then finish the rest. :shrug

[booboo]

I like the pirate theme idea too. You could build a unit study around that - geography (where are we traveling today?) math (calculating miles - add this to the math anyway), science (fish, weather - hurricanes!), history (Vikings and what happened to them, past pirates) and well the movies! (Pirates of the Caribbean! arrgghh!) :duck

Be consistent, keep at it and yeah they'll get you're serious. Don't give up! In the beginning it's always hard. :there2

[Firebird Rising]

Arrrgh...

I feel a pirate school coming on. Maties, we've got some rough phonics to sail through, but there'll be gold at the other side. :laughtears

Oh what fun. I can't wait to start school with DS.

Jen D.