razzles
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Posts posted by razzles
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Thanks for sharing!
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So out of curiosity Murphy101 - what did you end up doing and any thoughts to share? I didn't notice this was a zombie thread and was reading it with interest today!
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If money was no object I'd pay someone to do all the housework and cooking, as well as someone to play with my toddlers while I focussed on homeschooling my oldest. I'm not sure if I'd spend any more on homeschooling curriculum, but I would have the time and energy to do more hands on projects and science experiments.
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My question would be, how are your kids feeling about this? If by the end of this length of day they are completely depleted, then regardless of what others may do, it's too much for your family. Cranky kids and mum by the end of every school day isn't going to create a love of learning. If however you all feel like you can manage this load of work without breaking down by the end of the day then go for it. That would be my starting point for deciding if it's too much. It depends on your reasons for homeschooling and your expectations of your kids at their current ages.
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A subscription to EEME would be just right for this age.
This looks fab! Going to check it out tonight :)
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Wow thanks for all the great replies. Sorry I didn't answer sooner, we were on the red-eye from Montreal to Amsterdam...still recovering! [emoji51][emoji42]
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Yes we love it too!
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I do wonder about the amount laid out in the schedule. We started 1A in her first year of full time "school". Here that was primary 1, there it was like K-4 because of her birthday. We then did 1B in P2/K and will be doing 2A for P3/1st grade. If we were in the US it's possible I could have pushed her to start K earlier and therefore she'd be starting 2nd grade now, but I wouldn't be likely to do that.
We have always taken from Aug-April to finish the book, which considering that she's technically ahead (I think 2A is like a USA 3rd grade level) it's just fine, but it does puzzle me when I try to plan out the year- there's no way we're fitting both books in to one year.
I have a friend with a child born a few days before my daughter. They started 1B last year after the summer, the same time as us, and at their natural pace they finished the book around Easter too, same as us.
I can't imagine trying to fit it all in a year and do it well. I try to remind myself that's not what's important though! Just makes planning a little more vague.
I do wonder if maybe as she gets older the pace will increase since we started a quite a young age (which I didn't realise at first, I figured P1 was like first grade or K, not K-4).
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I'm going to use it for the days my daughter is at home while my husband works from home and I'm at college. We'll do our regular science lessons on one of the days I'm home and then she'll do an extra mystery science unit next to my husband. I was delighted to find the trial in time!
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Sorry that this is a slight tangent, but what is the usual follow on from Singapore Primary? We are only on 2A but hope to stick with it through the elementary years. Have always wondered what comes next though.
OP, would you maybe find that taking some time to do some review from the Extra Practice and Intensive Practice (from 4 and 5 AB) books would help? Maybe the next few months before going into 6A?
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I've really enjoyed the HIG and found it very helpful when my daughter was struggling with a few units last year, and handy on a day-to-day basis. I wouldn't spend more on the teachers guide if the HIG is available. I've not used it, but the HIG has helped with any extra explanation we've needed and the resources at the back have been more than adequate (mental maths, number charts etc).
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Thanks for this!
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I just had a really sweet chat with my almost 7 year old about what she would like to do more of this following year. I have most of our curriculum loosely planned for the following year but it was great to hear her own goals and preferences. She even asked to read a story to her baby brother each night to practice her reading [emoji7]
Anyway, one thing she asked about was to learn more about how things are made- houses, cars, bridges etc. And to learn how to make more things- like tracks in minecraft with logic buttons (I have no idea! Her older, male, cousin is into this).
We already have a pretty full schedule and I don't want to kill her interest by scheduling in this subject, but I'd love to have more resources on hand to encourage her.
What would your recommendations be to encourage these creative/engineering type interests early on?
I'm thinking that my husband can help her with some minecraft on their "date nights" or her days doing homeschool with him. We already do Lego but maybe it would be helpful to give her some time without the little ones around to interrupt her. I've seen sets that have special moving parts, so that could be an idea.
What have your kids enjoyed?
Thanks in advance :)
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I disagree. A husbands job has an ending point, some moment where he leaves the office. When he gets home, he is a full time on-the-clock father.
A mother's job never stops, unless dad is on the job. You can farm it out but you can't farm out parenting, only child care.
My previous post was aimed at this one.
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So by your statement are you saying you think that any amount of childcare is not acceptable? If not, what is your definition of it being ok?
When I am at college my oldest is with her dad and my two youngest are at playschool or with a known relative. Yes, these are not parents, but neither are the leaders of the girl guides, swimming lessons or other activities my kids are involved in. Neither would they be if they were in a public school with a teacher.
Do you have a strict belief that public school is bad for all kids because their teacher is not their parent? Or does the benefit of education outweigh the relationship? If so, what about the benefits my kids receive from the play time at nursery and a mother that feels more balanced? Wouldn't that be worth some hours with someone that is not their parent?
Is it unacceptable to hire a babysitter so we can both go out to do something, just because this is not parenting, but "farming out childcare"? Where is the line?
How is it different if my husband took on a part time degree?
When I finish my college time away from the home, I come home and am full-time mum again, just as my husband is in dad mode when he finishes work.
I don't see how this is different for a mum or dad. Is this because I am already a stay at home parent and so I should stay one? Or is this because mums are inherently the one who never gets a break? If I have a husband that is equally involved with my kids when he is it home, should I still be the one whose "job never stops"?
Am I not allowed to stop a bit and go do something else that benefits me and my family in different ways?
You said you disagree but you stated something that is only true if I am at home full time (a mothers job never stops unless dad steps in). The way I read it, you actually back up what regenetrude said- that people here are more insistent on traditional roles. I'd like to know what you meant by your statement and why you assume my job never stops but my husbands does.
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And that hour and a half falls into non-work hours, just so that's clear. His day starts with an online call about that day and then he carries on from there.
His employers are also aware of the situation and are the ones to authorise his work from home on those two days so he can be there to supervise my daughter. So while I agree that it wouldn't make sense to risk the main breadwinners salary, that's not what is happening here.
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The OP said her dh is in project management, so I'm guessing that his job is similar to my dh's in the sense that it is not boxed in to standard working hours only - if he falls behind for whatever reason, including doing non-work stuff on a weekday, he can work in the evening or on the weekend. He does full-time work but it does not have to fit into 9 to 5, Monday through Friday.
Meetings and conference calls are generally scheduled ahead of time, but if one comes up suddenly, most working parents just make do. They ask grandma to babysit, or they bring the kid along with some coloring books, or whatever. Even when I was in an office 20+ years ago, kids in the workplace were just not that unusual. Sometimes it was due to being called in unexpectedly, sometimes it was just because it was teacher record day at school.
Lots of jobs are like this, and lots of 6-yr-olds are perfectly capable of keeping themselves occupied for fairly long stretches at a time so mom and/or dad can get some work done. I used to write part-time for the newspaper, and my kids were hauled along to many an interview from preschool onward. They had some fun experiences and met lots of interesting people. I get that working with some 6-yr-olds in tow would be impossible, but that simply isn't true for everyone.
Yes, exactly this. My husbands job is as you described, plus I think people missed the part where I said he'd have an hour and a half between me leaving with the younger kids and his first regular (online) meeting of the day.
If something came up with his work, not only do I have people as back ups, but I am also able to leave college, watch my lecture online, get my assignments and communicate with my tutor via the student portal. And my other younger two would still be at nursery.
There's lots of what ifs, but none of them make me think it's not worth even trying.
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Thanks for the replies guys. I'm currently writing on my phone so I can't quote all the individual bits but here are my comments...
Katilac- I have 6 hours of classes, total, each week. 3 hour class for one module, 3 hour on the other. Most likely different days. Thanks for the advice on scheduling, I'm definitely going to mix it up with some breaks etc.
Regenetrude- thanks for your comments. I can really relate to your comments. I feel like starting this is a step towards keeping me mentally healthy so that I CAN survive homeschooling three kids until they are finished high school.
Sewingmama-I agree with your comments about making sure my homeschool doesn't suffer, which is why I posted here. It's hard to predict how the seasons of our homeschool will change but I'm quite happy with the plan that my husband and I have come up with. It'll take some tweaking but I feel like it'll actually benefit my daughter to have both of us actively involved like this. My husband is really excited to get involved. We realised he'll actually have about an hour and a half after I take the littles to nursery to do homeschool, before he has to start work. In my opinion that is PLENTY of time to cover the essentials with a 6 year old and have the rest of the morning for art, music, history or science projects.
And yes, that sense of being able to stand on my own two feet should it come to it, is something I don't think should be seen as trivial.
Thanks everyone for the replies, and the acknowledgement that it's not an awful selfish thing to do to my family. Someone that PM'd me mentioned the fact that if I'd come on here asking for advice on my husband taking on part time study on top of his full time job I probably would have received very different comments. I have been pondering that since then.
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If you look in the link in my siggie, you'll find lists of Horrible Histories sorted by SOTW chapter.
For something a bit more high brow. :p
Lol, thanks Rosie, I'll check that out. I'm sure my husband would enjoy that as much as the kids!
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I have been sent several PM's about this thread, one of which sent me a link to this. While I came to the conclusion on my own, this video almost perfectly describes what it is that has driven me. It's a great watch regardless of your opinion on my decision, I think. Enjoy!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ztbqQniZyDA
Happy2BaMom and Incognito, thanks for your replies. And yes I have the STOW activity guide for this year. I treated us to it this year since I was anticipating going to Uni, so wouldn't have the same time to plan all of our own activities...it looks great! I wish I'd bought it last year and saved myself the hassle. I haven't got the audio book but hope to buy it. I also found a great blog that lists different documentaries and bbc shows related to each chapter of SOTW so I'm excited to dip in and out of those.
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I haven't read the thread very well but a few thoughts for now. Probably going to be a bit scattered but I want to post something and time for bed.
I don't think you can plan for what things will look like far in the future, I would think about your first year maybe first semester.
I would make dh responsible for some subjects from the start. Personally I would pick things that are typically done a couple of times a week. Science, history , art? Obviously as she gets older pick an online subject he is in charge of.....raspberry pi? Put him in charge and don't second guess him. Also have him do a read aloud. Chapter a day when he is on. Bonding and special for all.
I would do something like the suitcase a pp mentioned since dd and dh will have the house to themselves for the first year. I set up stations which you could do on your wayout the door if your prepare your stuff in advance and rotate. Maybe six tasks on the sitting room carpet plus an artsy type thing if dd can be left alone with little supervision while she creates. I set out things like a jigsaw puzzle, cards with words that I made to create a sentence or two, tangram puzzle (picture or two with the blocks), whatever you can think of. Things like building a pyramid out of duplo are fun to go with history. Paper doll historical figures maybe. This is the time for the creative stuff. Thinkfun brand games might perfect for this time. When daddy day is done they go away.
All I can think of right now. I do think it can work. One of my good friends has kept a traditional career going while home eding 4 on a two day a week plus late night schedule. Her dh or mil covered one day when kids were little so she could be on site and she worked at home another day with dh in house. Lots oflate nights.
Thanks for the ideas!
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Hi everyone, I am interested in hearing about your favourite online resources for supplementary learning.
My daughter is almost 7 and I'm looking for fun games that use reading/spelling or maths skills.
We are also doing Middle Ages and Earth/Space this next year if you know of any related games.
So far some of our favourites have been www.teachyourmonstertoread.com and of course Starfall, although she is getting a little old for this one.
Please share your faves :)
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I just want to say that it is doable. Hard, but doable. I only have one at home to school and she's a preschooler and a 2.5yo son. I'm currently working on my masters degree and take 6 credits per semester. Each class is 8 weeks long, so I only have one class at a time, but 2 per semester. I also do my classes online and it is a lot of reading and online discussion.
I would kill for 2 full days of childcare. Maybe I'll move to Scotland! My kids are with me 24/7 with the exception of the 4.5yo going to a program for 3hrs a day 4 days a week. I also babysit a 1.5yo 3 days a week and another 2.5yo one day a week c
I typically so school between 8pm and 2am. It's hectic and busy and stressful, but I get it done and do well. I also do less than the recommended amount of time for each class.
It requires a lot of discipline and lowering of standards. My house is messier and my kids get more screen time during My finals week than I'd prefer. I realized that I couldn't do everything 100%. I had to lower my expectations and standards. I use breaks to reorganize and deep clean the house before a class starts again.
I agree with others suggestions on what to do with school. Give your daughter a lighter load. Do the bare necessities and anything else you get in is extra.
Thanks for your support. I think I will look more into the supplemental games etc she can do on the days my husband is home. He is very keen on doing history with her this year and possibly some science in as well. I think Sadie had good ideas about that. While I LOVE doing the project stuff, it would be best to schedule this for the days she is with dad in case his work means they can do less without any harm done. Then reading together and supplemental games. On my days I will do more of the strenuous work, one-on-one (well as much as I can be with the other two around!) and new skill teaching.
Do you have any tips for college studying? Resources etc? I found this site that touched on some good ideas, so I am sure there must be some more great resources out there. https://howtostudyincollege.com/time/
Good literature selections to tie in with earth science?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
I'm also looking for books in this theme but just dropped in to recommend "Journey to the River Sea". It's about a young girl and her adventure to the Amazon. So far we are really enjoying it. It also has a ton of great reviews on goodreads.
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