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8yo dd cracks me up. (She's setting up a "proper" school room.)


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We've been schooling at the kitchen table. This morning she was complaining about school. I asked her what she wants to be different. She said she wants me to write on a blackboard while she sits in a chair with a clipboard. She also wants me to put math problems on the board so I can call on her to come up and write the correct answer. The 6yo is going to be in class with her because no one has a class with just one child.  She dragged the IKEA chalkboard/whiteboard easel down to the basement along with some folding chairs. We still need to find some chalk (the whiteboard is unacceptable).

She has also informed me that she is currently unhappy with her math program (CLE), but she also dislikes Math Mammoth. I've printed out some MEP pages and I'll be sure to write some problems on the board. ;)

Do you kids do stuff like this? I spent the morning schooling on the couch between 2yo ds and 10yo dd because that's where they both wanted to be. Not my 8yo, though. Things have to be "proper."  :lol:

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I totally identify with that :). I could see my childhood self doing that had I been homeschooled. I was so thrilled when my 5th grade teacher let me pick through his book discard pile at the year's end. I grabbed several math books and assigned myself lessons all summer, which I completed at my desk in my room each morning after breakfast.

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My 10 year old DD has never been to school, but still plays school with her dolls.   She sits them in rows, at "desks," in her room, and stands at the front of the room lecturing.  She even administers tests.   It cracks me up, and I know she doesn't have too many years left to play like this, so I encourage it.   But I have no idea where she gets her ideas about what "real school" is actually like.

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She's never been to school, either. The closest has been co-op classes.

 

Our class was a success. I had a fake teacher name (Mrs. McGillicuddy). She and her sister also had different names. We did a lesson of MEP math and then we did a lesson of English (Aesop). They got stickers after completing their pages. Dd8 found it all immensely satisfying.

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When ds was 8, he wasn't enjoying math very much. I'm not sure who came up with the solution, but we ended up moving math class into our guest bedroom. It has a big open floor where we set up a whiteboard. Ds would bounce on an exercise ball and I would write on the whiteboard. I think we did math in there for at least two years. We should probably have called it our math room, rather than our guest room, since it got a lot more math use than guest use!

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For a while, my daughter liked to leave the house in the morning to "walk to school." She liked me to call on different kids. (She answered for all of them.)

 

This reminds me of something else we did. Ds hated when I asked him direct questions, so instead I would say to the empty room, "Does anybody have any ideas about what we could do?" Whenever I asked that way, he would fall over himself to answer first. I don't know if he thought the cat might beat him to an answer or what. :lol:

 

I had nearly forgotten all of this. It seems very long ago!

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I used to ask random kids to answer.  I would use different voices for them.  They were all naughty or clueless kids that dd had to help out.  She was the teacher's pet.   ;)   The naughty ones were the most fun because they would throw chalk at me or would do some crazy stunt that of course would require them being sent to the principal's office.  And yes, we did get our work done!  

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When I was six, the teachers went on strike so my mom and her friend decided we should do school at home. My mom, bless her heart, set us up in a neat little row, posted a picture of the queen and a map on the living room wall, rang a bell at exactly nine, and got us to stand up and sing "The Maple Leaf Forever" and "God Save the Queen' (she didn't know O Canada, which had actually been the anthem for like 20 years). Anyway, after that she was stuck, so we sat there, waiting for a while, and then we had recess :-}. 

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At that age I did the "walk to school" thing. Put on my coat. Walked around the block. Came in for "school." Someone gave my mom a teacher's planner, which she gave to me to use for fun, and I set up my school desk (a castoff single desk with a lid that lifted up. I love it) and filled in fake names on the seating chart. I do believe I gave myself a new name, as well. 

 

It made the day feel more interesting....until a math problem popped my bubble by actually requiring effort. :D

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This morning DD8 added a backpack as a requirement for "going to school" in the basement. The 2yo saw, so he found a backpack, too. And marched off with her. In only his underwear (potty training).  :tongue_smilie: 

She and her sister have different names today. They are made up and I had a hard time remembering them when calling up them for answers. The 6yo said I should call on other students, too, so our class has expanded to include invisible kids.

 

I wonder how long this game will last....

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These stories are so fun.  This reminds me of how my dd's and their homeschooled friends used to love to play school.  My dd's went so far as to print up worksheets into workbooks for friends.  One of her friends didn't do spelling at home, so when my dd gave her a spelling test, she asked her mother if they could start using a spelling curriculum.  I know this because her mother emailed me for a recommendation, lol!  

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Mine does something similar!  I'm glad it isn't just her.

 

She thinks the best part of going to school would be recess.  My DH got all wound up when I told him that; he said they don't do recess after about 2nd grade and that her ideas of "school" come from antiquated books! 

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Take advantage while you can. My dd taught her younger brother his letter sounds and how to write them when they were 5yo and 4yo.  She liked to play school too.  I let her have a set of the ETC primer books to use on her student.

 

That's genius. I'll have to pick up some workbooks for them.

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Mine does something similar! I'm glad it isn't just her.

 

She thinks the best part of going to school would be recess. My DH got all wound up when I told him that; he said they don't do recess after about 2nd grade and that her ideas of "school" come from antiquated books!

Tell dh that in NZ kids mostly get a 20 minute break mid morning and an hour at lunch until at least the equivalent of 7th grade. I think high school is s bit more random because of scheduling but the still get breaks. I get breaks at work as an adult to come to think of it. Morning tea is very similar to the morning break I had as a kid.

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This morning DD8 added a backpack as a requirement for "going to school" in the basement. The 2yo saw, so he found a backpack, too. And marched off with her. In only his underwear (potty training).  :tongue_smilie: 

 

She and her sister have different names today. They are made up and I had a hard time remembering them when calling up them for answers. The 6yo said I should call on other students, too, so our class has expanded to include invisible kids.

 

I wonder how long this game will last....

 

You might have to use name tags.  :D

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Today's escalation is that they are now insisting on school uniforms: plaid skirts with matching ties and white collared shirts.

 

We will go to the fabric store to pick out 2-3 different plaids. I will teach them how to sew simple skirts.

 

They must have sneaked on to the Lands' End website from the description!  Either that or you have neighbors whose children attend a private school.

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Today's escalation is that they are now insisting on school uniforms: plaid skirts with matching ties and white collared shirts.

 

We will go to the fabric store to pick out 2-3 different plaids. I will teach them how to sew simple skirts.

 

So cute!  Next thing you know, they'll want to be boarded, lol!  You'll have to have them try on a sorting hat to see which house they will join.  

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So cute! Next thing you know, they'll want to be boarded, lol! You'll have to have them try on a sorting hat to see which house they will join.

This morning when thy requested uniforms, I suggest they use the Harry Potter dress-up robes. They didn't go for it.

 

They are now running around in plaid skirts, polo shirts, and matching plaid ties. :)

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