Afterschooling Roll Call

[prairiebird]

I will join this thread as this will be my situation for a while (or perminently for my older ones possibly.)

 

I have ds 11 with some special needs that will be in 5th (mainstreamed). He went to K and 1st in public school.

 

ds 9 will be in 4th, he's been in K public school.

 

dd 7 will be in 2nd.

 

dd 5 is starting K. She can read basic readers and do addition and subtraction, so I guess it'll just be fun time for her. maybe they'll surprise me at this school though and have an accelerated program for her.

 

The last district we were at told me they can't give accelerated work for students that are ahead because then they wouldn't have anything to do in the next grade. So the kids sat there and drew pictures for 7 hours basically. This is a new area though, so we'll see.

[Mosaicmind]

I guess I will be afterschooling this year. We will use a virtual charter school this year and I will be afterschooling in Bible, science, history, art, foreign language, and maybe some music. Until this year I have homeschooled all of the kids almost totally. One of our kids is in public highschool and the others have tried out public school here and there.

 

I never thought that I would consider this as afterschooling because the kids won't be leaving the house to go to school, yet they will be doing public school via a virtual charter school. We will be using an academy that uses the K12 curriculum and I have heard it's very good, so I am excited.

[Kathleen.]

I started teaching reading with my 7yo just after she turned 4. Then I added SM and ETC and just kept going with whatever caught her attention. Tomorrow is her first day in second grade. We did a little bit over the summer in addition to her school assignments to be turned in tomorrow. We'll start afterschooling again. My 7yo attends a great private school, but I feel like I don't know what's going on with her education unless we do school at home together. I would feel a loss if I didn't know this very big part of their life.

 

My 5yo starts half day Kindergarten on Monday. She hated preschool so we did a homeschool co-op last year which she loved. We did plenty of things at home so she's at a comfortable point when she starts school. It will be a difficult transition for her (and me) so we'll take it one step at a time.

For both: We started AAS (love it so far) this summer and will continue with it. We'll continue with SM, Song School Latin, Miquon, McGuffey Readers and other books, Mind Benders, Write Source, ETC, prehistory/SOTW, MPH science, the Presidents, different geography books, Wordly Wise 3000

Only for 7yo: Shurley English, continue with her writing journal

Only for 5yo: HOP-K, OPGTR

We only do this a little at a time during the school year. I'll see how to work this out with my 5yo so she's not too overwhelmed. I try not to schedule, but I definitely make a list for the week of what I hope to do with them. Sometimes we do it, sometimes not...life takes over.

[5ray2006]

We are back to afterschooling for the upcoming school year. Our children are 10,7, and 5 yo. Our curriculum is in my siggy. We've gone back and forth between homeschooling and afterschooling since our oldest was in PreK. He doesn't like homeschooling, I work full-time (currently out on maternity leave), and we just have too much going on as a family. Dh and I have agreed to put the kids back in school. The older two kids are going back to public school and my dd is in a kinder program at a small Christian school. I'm looking forward to this school year.

OK, dh and I changed our mind. We will continue homeschooling for this school year. I'm relieved. I think I was ready to send them off to school b/c of the newborn. Things have settled down and we're ready to kick off the new year on Sept. 1st-the day my daughter starts school. I wish you all well this school year with afterschooling.

[Jyniffrec]

I enrolled my 7 year old dd and my 10 year old ds yesterday. I realized that it was the only way to survive the year and to give everyone what they needed. I am surprisingly content with my decision as I am a serious homeschooler. The school is new construction and the folks I met seem to be fairly enlightened and didn't bat an eye at the fact that we homeschool. This was a very different experience than the last school we used. What a relief!

 

I plan to continue to use Math Mammoth and Miquon for both children as dd is ahead and ds is behind in this area. I will also continue to use ETC and Sonlight Cores 3 and K (sorry, change is hard for me, I have no idea what the letters are!).

 

This will clear the way for me to continue homeschooling my middle schooler and beginning more seriously with my preschooler who is rather precocious and does not fit a youngest child mold very well. She needs a lot of time and attention.

 

I am cautiously optomistic, but ya'll will have to bear with me as I had terrible experiences in ps as a child (being shut up in closets and such). This is why it surprises me that I am optimistic about dc's school. ;)

[sleepymommy]

Adding myself to the roll call!:seeya:

[tlittlef]

I will be afterschooling DD6 who is entering first grade. Our focus right now is primarily SM, Phonics and of course lots of reading.

 

DD3 is eager to work on her own "homework", so we are working on Kumon workbooks.

[CherylG]

It has been awhile since we have had a roll call here.

 

How old are your afterschooled kids?

Have you homeschooled as well?

Is there anything else you would like to share?

 

This is my first year of afterschooling. We homeschooled for 18 years, graduating two from our home school high school. Now, our 17 year old and 14 year old are going to the same public high school as a junior and freshman respectively.

 

It has only been two weeks, but they have grown closer to each other through this experience and they are very appreciative of all that I have done/am doing for them.

 

I have afterschooled other children as a tutor for years, so I have quit that job to stay home and help my own children after school.

 

At this point, my help is more organizational support than anything else. I also have been helping with test/quiz studying and essay writing. Love being a support...enjoy them no matter what you are doing with them...the time goes quickly.

 

Cheryl

[Slipper]

Hi! I just wanted to introduce myself. We have three girls and plan on after-schooling this year and homeschooling two of them next year. Our children are aged 11 (5th grade and profoundly autistic), 10 (4th grade and gifted) and 6 (1st grade). Our 10 and 6 yr old both have medical conditions which cause significant absences. Our 10 yr old has a 504 Plan and our youngest always ends up at the doctor or ER so thankfully, no truancy problems although I am always biting my nails when they are out sick.

 

My biggest concerns are with our school district. They are over-worked, under-staffed, under-funded and struggling to reach and pull kids up to state standards. I think they (overall) do an admirable job, but my kids are usually left in a corner reading a book because they already know the material. They do have a gifted program but it's only 2 hours a week and is not overly impressive. My daughter is also in the school's GEMS (Girls Engaged in Math and Science) program. Neither has met yet this year and we are in week 5. My 4th grader decided to do an outside project on space, including a poster, report and fact cards to take in. She said that she was bored and wanted to do something. I'm lucky that her teacher is very supportive of student-initiated work. I am confident that her teacher will assign her some extra projects if the gifted program/GEMS won't fill enough of her time. She literally inhales information and exhales homework and projects effortlessly and looks for more.

 

My first grader unfortunately has a sub teacher since her regular teacher won't be back from maternity leave for another few weeks. She was scared to death on 'Meet the Teacher' night when we were all told that if our kids couldn't read to a certain level or do math at a certain level, the child would FAIL the 1st grade. While I can appreciate upholding educational standards, it was a horrible night to state this (and then leave the next day for maternity leave). The sub is floundering (but nice). My daughter has a doctor's note to allow bathroom privileges and water at her desk. The sub refused both and I had to talk with the principal and remind her of my daughter's medical condition.

 

While my gifted 4th grader is reviewing single digit multiplication and my 1st grader has yet to be assigned a reading level (though she's started reading simple chapter books), we started working at home to give them some instruction. We are going to be using MathUSee (as soon as all the items are in stock!), Handwriting Without Tears, Time Travelers New World Explorers (okay, that's just for fun!) and we read, read, read a lot anyway.

 

I'm not trying to be critical of the school system at all. They are doing the best they can. It's just not the right fit for my kids.

[mchel210]

HI...I afterschool my kiddos as well! I have my 10 yo in 5th grade, 8 yo in 3rd and 15 yo in 10th. My kids are in school for different reasons...but I do my best to work with them when we have time.

 

My girls went back about 3 years ago and my son went back last year.

 

My son and middle child do Lials math with me after school and I havent had time to fit in anything else. My little one does Abeka Math but she hates doing extra work! She is involved in Softball and that takes up her free time so when she is off...she doesnt want to do anything! I get it. I try not to push them too much. I spend time with them when they have writing assignments. My girls use IEW for writing and that is a huge improvement from the school's writing tools.

[Storm Bay]

Okay, I am now afterschooling my middle dd. Right now all we're doing is piano lessons (I'm a piano teacher) and some RS Spanish (she starts Hon Span 1 next semester). We're also going to do prep work for a trial run at the PSAT. This dd, 13, is not a stellar test taker but is very motivated to excel, so wants to get lots of practice taking tests. And here am I helping her, and one of the reasons I kept her home was to avoid taking the state mandated test and to avoid teaching to the test.

 

I also have one I'm still homeschooling and another who is in ps and doesn't want any afterschooling (she's 16).

[Storm Bay]

I afterschool my four kids. (Well, after reading the other thread, since I don't use a bunch of ready-made curricula, I guess according to some, I really don't afterschool.)

 

DS 16 is going into his junior year in high school. His afterschooling this year will be working with a college prep tutor on SAT, ACT, and scholarship applications, computer science with DH (who is a software designer), cooking, The One Year Adventure Novel, and art.

 

DS 10 is going into fifth grade. His afterschooling this year will be Singapore Math, US History (started Young People's History of the US this week), lit, and art.

 

DD6 is going into first grade. Her afterschooling this year will be Singapore Math, Story of the World, lit, and art.

 

DS4 is doing transitional kindergarten this year. We will work on reading and basic math.

 

We are pretty relaxed about afterschooling--no big schedules, etc. It is simply a way of life--filling in the crack of time between school, soccer, art, robotics, etc.

You are using some of the same things we used in homeschooling, so how could it not be afterschooling? I think that afterschooling is education done at home that you oversee that enriches and/or augments your child's education. It means different things to different people, whether it's helping a child with special needs, ensuring that a child learns despite poor materials and teaching methods in a school, adding a subject not taught in school, music study (making sure your child practices properly every day is no mean feat, based on what I've seen with my kids and with my students), etc. Many homeschoolers outsource nearly everything and still call themselves homeschoolers, so I would say that of course you're afterschooling.

[keptwoman]

We are 3/4 of the way through our school year.

J has been homeschooled for 3 years and is now at a select entry public high school. We don't afterschool him, except to nag him to do his homework. He now regrets leaving homeschool to go to highschool, but decisions made must be stuck with sometimes.

C is homeschooled, but will be going back to school next year to allow me to study, I doubt I will afterschool him except to support him in what he is doing at school and extend if required. I expect that he will be home again after a couple of years.

M has been homeschooled up until 3 weeks ago. I'm afterschooling her. I hope to homeschool her again one day, but I suspect she will thrive at school.

[SweetPea]

Homeschooled my oldest for 2 years and private school last year.

 

DS(4th) and DS (1st) afterschoolingto keep challenged and fill in any gaps. Public school because I work during school hours and couldn't homeschool anymore.

 

Always a homeschooler at heart! My ds says we have been and will always be the dc primary teachers. He helps tons and I love it!

[HistoryMom]

I'm joining the AS ranks, as of three weeks from now. I had been HSing DD7, but we've just decided to have her join DS5 at the year-round magnet. We'll afterschool them both in reading (classics), math (Khan, LoF), critical thinking (TBD), and various unit studies (science, history, etc.).

[skyday]

We are also afterschooling for the first time. I homeschooled dd8 for 2 years and this year I had to return to work so we have her and ds5 in a private school. We are using First Language Lessons for the WTM for dd and Singapore Math 2A and 2B for her. For ds, we are just using Singapore Math Essentials (I think that's the name) and lots and lots of read alouds for both!

[mama2bandg]

I am brand new to this board and to afterschooling! DS1 is in public K (half days) and DS2 is homeschooled for nursery school. My mom is homeschooling DS2 (while DS1 is in public K). We plan using many of the resources on various pre-K homeschooling blogs. My mom does a variety of homeschool/afterschool lessons in the afternoons with both DS1 and DS2, and I afterschool both boys. We are working with reading and phonics (BFIAR, FIAR, Hooked on Phonics), math (Right Start Math), science (various sources for activities and labs) and history (Story of the World). I am a public high school science teacher.

Edited September 20, 2011 by mama2bandg
additional info

[Sneezyone]

I've read here for a long time and started working with my kids over the summer but I'm juuuust now ready to come out of hiding and say hello.

 

I'm Sneezy (literally it seems), Mother of Mouse (3) and Munch (6). Up until last year, I worked full time and my kiddos attended private schools. This summer, however, DH and I moved our brood to a large urban area where I SAH. So now my first grader is in public school and my little one is stuck with me...all day. :D

 

This school year (Sept-June), I'm using Earlybird Math A and Starfall with Mouse plus some homegrown science activities and art projects. With Munch(kin) we're using Primary Math 1B/2A and Explode the Code online. We usually spend an hour a day on "school" for both kids (although sometimes the little one weasles out). We also stay busy with gymnastics, swimming and horseback riding after school and on weekends.

 

We probably should homeschool full time for both kids but DD would really miss the school environment. So, there you have it...It's nice to meet everyone! I look forward to sharing and learning with you.

[Laura Corin]

It has been awhile since we have had a roll call here.

 

How old are your afterschooled kids? 11 and 14

Have you homeschooled as well? Yes, for seven years.

Is there anything else you would like to share? We afterschool Chinese. Hobbes has a tutor; Calvin and I are working independently. Calvin actually does most of his work whilst at school - he has completed the biology that his classmates are doing in school this year, so he has three class periods a week to work on his Chinese. Oh, and I force them to read decent literature (of their choice) during the summer holidays.

 

Laura