Homeschooling Epiphanies (What is Working for you?)

[Jean in Newcastle]

I learn so much from your discoveries. What is working for you in your homeschool?

 

What is working for us this year:

 

1. I just discovered this this morning. Dd7 is doing Singapore 3A. I've always held her hand (so to speak) on her word problems. This morning I explained to her that I would let her try to figure them out for 5 minutes on her own. She started to get that teary look and I explained that her head would not explode and start rolling down the hall in 5 minutes (I got a smile for that one). I sat next to her and asked her to read the problem aloud. I then asked her to draw a picture - the usual Singapore math bar picture to show the problem. Then I set the timer for 5 minutes so that she knew that I would come back and work with her when it went off.

 

The first problem she did wrong. She subtracted instead of added. But the timer had not gone off and so she took the time to look at the picture and realized that her answer needed to be bigger, not smaller. So she (on her own!) redid the problem by adding instead. The timer went off before she was done but I asked her at that moment if she wanted me to come back and help or if she wanted another minute on her own. She asked me to give her another minute.

 

She did 5 word problems this way. The other problems she did faster than the 5 minutes I allotted her.

 

2. Not schoolwork related but chore related. I have been battling with ds12 over his cat's litter box all year. I finally realized (duh!) that I needed to make it a chore priority for him. I parcelled out some (but not all) of his other chores to dd7 (who was thrilled to be old enough to do them) and I made cleaning the cat litter box and sweeping the bathroom floor afterwards to be his main chore. Our relationship is so much better!

[HayesW]

1. My kids do not have to sit perfectly still and listen with rapt attention while I read. They can COLOR or DRAW or WRITE or GASP play with blocks or cars. I can read to them now!

 

2. There are few sounds sweeter than the hand and footfalls of a crawling baby moving down my hallway!

[lionfamily1999]

1. I CAN teach math :p I do not need to spend a small fortune to do so.

 

2. Three years old is the worst age ever.

[MIch elle]

:D

[olan719]

My homeschooling epiphany has been "KISS" for Kindergarten. :D

 

I started the year off with a rigorous schedule with all the subjects covered. I burnt out quickly, and came back to the WTM method. We are focusing on the 3 Rs, and throwing in read alouds and Bible as we feel like it.

 

Since we started focusing on reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic, we have been loving our days and the kids have really taken off in their learning. I never knew teaching my kids to read would be so exciting!

[Daisy]

Honestly, the only epiphany I've had today is that when Mommy tries to teach school without coffee it's a really, really bad thing.

[gardening momma]

2. Three years old is the worst age ever.

1. I hope so, because dd just turned 4! :D

 

2. If I pull out all of the books or materials I want to do with dd6 for the day, and let her pick the order we do them in, they all get done. If I only pull out one at a time, we don't get nearly as much done. (ETA: she likes to pick the one on the bottom and work her way up the stack that way. So I can arrange the stack backwards to fit my priorities!)

Edited November 3, 2009 by gardening momma

[BikeBookBread]

My homeschooling epiphany has been "KISS" for Kindergarten. :D

 

I started the year off with a rigorous schedule with all the subjects covered. I burnt out quickly, and came back to the WTM method. We are focusing on the 3 Rs, and throwing in read alouds and Bible as we feel like it.

 

Since we started focusing on reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic, we have been loving our days and the kids have really taken off in their learning. I never knew teaching my kids to read would be so exciting!

 

I COULD'VE WRITTEN THIS!! I started out Kinder with the most ridiculous ideas of what Kinder was going to be. I have whittled it down to the essence of simplicity: teaching PDG how to read, write, a exposing her to beginning math concepts. We take lots of trips to the library and read those books along with Bible lessons, lots of coloring with a few art projects thrown in here and there...mostly, they shadow me and life is so much nicer!

Edited November 3, 2009 by BikeBookBread
typo

[Crissy]

My recent epiphany was not positive.

 

My teenager does not know how to study.

 

All those years that we homeschooled were filled with hours of reading and wonderful discussion. Now he's in high school and trying to tackle a number of things on his own. Last night he finally asked me to help him with one last study session before a big test he's taking today. I was rather surpised at his lack of organization and his confused approach to studying.

 

I feel like I've failed him.

[Penelope]

When ds7 starts to get silly, he needs a break. Not when we are done with a subject, but right then! There is no point in me trying to go on and getting more frustrated with him, when we can all take a break for 10 minutes and then do better. Why am I so hardheaded that it took me 2 months to figure this out, when I seemed to know this during K and first grade.

 

A kitchen timer can be fun and motivating--for schoolwork, or for cleaning, or even mom's computer time. :)

 

Seven years old is still pretty young.

[joannqn]

I returned to something that I tried and loved last year, but when my trial ran out on a program to make it happen, I quit. I have the program again now and life is good.

 

I use a program called School Bells. Every 30 minutes between 9am and 3:30pm, a bell rings on my computer. I schedule work to fit into each 30 minute time slot. Most subjects take less than 30 minutes to complete and some very short subjects get put together in the same slot. I write the schedule on edge of the white board each morning, having the kids do different things at different times as needed so I can have one-on-one time to teach. I have a very routine oriented kid who loves knowing what he's suppose to do when. I have a rather fast working kid who loves that she can finish her work before the bell rings and have free time until the next bell rings. She also knows that sloppy work has to be redone so she's not speeding through it too fast. I don't schedule every subject every day; I work around our outside activities so Monday and Tuesday are always half days with a 30 minute break in the middle. On our full days, I also schedule two 30 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch. The kids love this system; they do their work without any argument when the bell rings.

 

Chores are also on the schedule. :001_smile:

 

The kids feel like they are doing less work because they get a few minutes of free time nearly every half hour in addition to the scheduled breaks. They are actually getting more accomplished now than before I started using the program again.

 

DH says they are going to start salivating soon. :lol:

 

Oh, and you can program it to ring anytime you want as many times during the day as you want. You can even program different schedules for each day and use different sounds for different things.

[elegantlion]

My recent epiphany was not positive.

 

My teenager does not know how to study.

 

All those years that we homeschooled were filled with hours of reading and wonderful discussion. Now he's in high school and trying to tackle a number of things on his own. Last night he finally asked me to help him with one last study session before a big test he's taking today. I was rather surpised at his lack of organization and his confused approach to studying.

 

I feel like I've failed him.

 

:grouphug:

 

My epiphany for this week has been that "going at the student's pace" may mean slower than you think.

 

I've also realized that just because a curriculum is designed to be completed in one year doesn't mean it can't be done slower or even faster.

 

Another lesson I've learned is that my child's giftings may come in an area completely different than what I thought and I need to be flexible enough to nuture them even if I have to put more planning into them.

 

Last thing is that you CAN have a productive school year only doing school 4 days a week. We've had something every week so far that has messed with our schedule. We're still getting stuff done.

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

I use a program called School Bells.

 

Oh, I need that program! Where is it?

[JennW in SoCal]

My recent epiphany was not positive.

 

My teenager does not know how to study.

 

All those years that we homeschooled were filled with hours of reading and wonderful discussion. Now he's in high school and trying to tackle a number of things on his own. Last night he finally asked me to help him with one last study session before a big test he's taking today. I was rather surpised at his lack of organization and his confused approach to studying.

 

I feel like I've failed him.

 

You aren't alone, Crissy! I had the same epiphany a couple of weeks ago.

 

My high schooler writes well, is always thinking and analyzing stuff, loves to learn, but can't study and memorize material out of a biology text to save his life. And he is such a perfectionist that it is devastating for him. We're working on the study and textbook skills this year while moving along with content. All the activities and work sheets he does shows he is learning and understands the material, but the chapter tests are not reflecting this at all.

 

*sigh*

[Excelsior! Academy]

Honestly, the only epiphany I've had today is that when Mommy tries to teach school without coffee it's a really, really bad thing.

 

:iagree: Same here! :lol::D

 

We actually have, "Everyone stop what you are doing and help Mommy find her coffee," breaks. Regularly. (Apparently, coffee does not help with memory.)

[emeraldjoy]

If I spend a little one on one time with each child before the bulk of school work starts everything goes much, much, much more smoothly.

This is especially true for the 3 almost 4 year old.

and

The grammar stage should be about 99.5% fun!

 

e

[Garga]

If I spend a little one on one time with each child before the bulk of school work starts everything goes much, much, much more smoothly.

 

e

 

:iagree::iagree: 1. As soon as the kids wake up, as soon as we're done breakfast and often (often often!) throughout the day, I have snuggle time. It lasts for as long as they want to sit next to me. (They're usually ready to get up anywhere between 2-10 minutes.) This puts us all on the same team and the day is much (much much!) more pleasant. I have to force myself to do this at the times when I want to get impatient or frustrated, but it's soooo worth it. It immediately calms everyone and we can solve whatever we're frustrated about without resorting to punishments or time outs or lectures or whatever.

 

2. If I get up an hour before the kids and if we start schooling at 8:00, it takes us about 4 hours and 15 minutes to homeschool. If we start at 10:00, it takes us 6.5 hours to homeschool. I really don't know why, but it plays out this way time and time again in my house.

 

3. Contrary to what I thought, if I let my ds7 play or draw while I read his lessons to him (the ones above his reading level) he can NOT pay attention. For the first time, I've made him sit next to me with no toy to hold and he has to follow my finger across the page. He can narrate back to me and retain the information much better this way. When I forget this and let him play, I have to re-read the entire lesson. (not fun.)

 

4. I have no self-control when it comes to chocolate Halloween candy. (not really a homeschool epiphany, but is still true...)

[joannqn]

Oh, I need that program! Where is it?

 

You can find it here. There is a 30 day free trial you can download. If you decide you like it, you can buy the activation key for $49. It's a single guy who created the programs he sells (vs. a larger company).

 

ETA: I don't have any kind of affiliate agreement with him so there's no incentives for me telling people about the program.

Edited November 4, 2009 by joannqn

[gardening momma]

My high schooler writes well, is always thinking and analyzing stuff, loves to learn, but can't study and memorize material out of a biology text to save his life. And he is such a perfectionist that it is devastating for him. We're working on the study and textbook skills this year while moving along with content. All the activities and work sheets he does shows he is learning and understands the material, but the chapter tests are not reflecting this at all.

In high school one of my favorite ways to study for a test was a method one of my science teachers showed us. Take a piece of lined notebook paper and fold it in half lengthwise. Open it back up and on the left hand side, write a question and on the right hand side of the fold, write the answer. For example, "What are the four types of ..." or "What is a ...." Number the questions and answers to match each other--1. (question) | 1. (answer). Skip a line and write question #2, and so on. Use the front and back of the paper and additional sheets of paper as needed.

 

Study by folding the paper in half so you can only see the questions. Read the question to yourself, try to answer, and then turn the paper over to see if you answered correctly.

 

ETA: just looking through the text and my notes for questions and answers and making the study guide helped me learn the material. Then I could quiz myself and see what I really remembered.

[nukeswife]

I had one today that kind of threw me for a minute.

 

My kids like real wooden pencils.

 

I'd been killing myself trying to find mechanical or liquid graphite ones they would like and all this time they would have preferred a basic Ticonderoga Tri-Write all along.

[Stacy in NJ]

We run three mornings per week but were having a difficult time getting motived in the morning, particularly when the weather is cool or rainy.

 

Instead, now, we're running in the afternoons on the days we don't have outside activites.

[johnandtinagilbert]

1. ds12 has hated math forever. This year, we switched to R&S math (I thought it would be so boring) and LoF and not only is he averaging an A, he is acing tests and working completely independently. If only I would have left Singapore (for him) years ago. It really is important to use materials that work for them...so worth it!

 

2. My dd is an average student. I always thought she was a bit smarter than average. It's okay, I just need to remember that. I think I was expecting too much and she needs some continued training before I release her to so much independent study.

 

3. My 2 little ones are lazy if I let them be.

 

4. Sticking to our schedule makes us all much more productive.

 

5. The phone is my enemy.

 

6. I love the Phonics Road, TOG, and Noeo. They make my life a happier one!

 

7. One cup of coffee makes me a better person in the early morning...just one cup!

[kalanamak]

 

2. Three years old is the worst age ever.

 

:iagree:

 

Mine:

1. I can repeat math instructions indefinitely without going mad.

2. Apply the seat of child's pants to the seat of child's chair regularly, but for proscribed times.

3. Like a dog, do the important training after a good, long run.

4. No interruptions means NO interruptions.

5. A doctor's child can give heart stopping symptoms ("I had to get up to pee 5 times last night, I'm so thirsty, and I'm tired, can I rest?) to get out of math. Stop this nonsense by threatening a blood test.*

 

*This was Sunday, and I was frightened enough to get out my old urine dipsticks, and then so worried they were out of date, I ACTUALLY BOUGHT GLUCOSE TABLETS and pulverized them and added them to his urine to make sure they were still "active". Sucrose does not set off the dip stick: here was his lesson on -OH moieties. Once threatened with a blood test, the trips from the desk to the bathroom stopped and he assured me he would not have to get up to pee that night.

[WTMCassandra]

5. A doctor's child can give heart stopping symptoms ("I had to get up to pee 5 times last night, I'm so thirsty, and I'm tired, can I rest?) to get out of math. Stop this nonsense by threatening a blood test.*

 

*This was Sunday, and I was frightened enough to get out my old urine dipsticks, and then so worried they were out of date, I ACTUALLY BOUGHT GLUCOSE TABLETS and pulverized them and added them to his urine to make sure they were still "active". Sucrose does not set off the dip stick: here was his lesson on -OH moieties. Once threatened with a blood test, the trips from the desk to the bathroom stopped and he assured me he would not have to get up to pee that night.

 

:lol::lol::lol:

 

Oh, my. That's hilarious. Not that you were scared--that he was THAT inventive.

[Catherine]

He's 16, and when I reached a point last year when I could not longer teach him pre-calculus, I started looking for a tutor-then I realized he was making faster progress, and doing better on the assessments, when he just taught himself from the book. This year he's moved on from our homeschool for an online calculus class and it's largely self-taught-and he is doing wonderfully.

[Marylou]

 

www.mathletics.com kids fight to do math first!

[joannqn]

www.mathletics.com kids fight to do math first!

 

How high up do you think mathletics goes? My son learned about it at our homeschool conference and tried it out there. He wanted to get a membership but I didn't get around to it. Do you know if it includes prealgebra and algebra, in addition to all of the arithmetic?

Edited November 4, 2009 by joannqn

[CactusPair]

1. starting the day w/ a fiction read-aloud is energizing and builds trust

 

2. doing a little bit each day is a valuable, worthy accomplishment

 

3. the way i teach in the moment--on the fly and tuned into the individual student's need -- matters more than having the ideal curriculum or the loftiest educational approach

[HayesW]

Today's revelation

There are too many books, good, bad, award winning, mediocre, long, short, classics, new classics, and so much more. I decided instead of compiling a list, I would just decide which book to read to the kids and READ IT!

[TravelingChris]

Even after 15 years of doing this, I still have to tweak.

 

THe main revelation is one I first had years ago, even smart kids get stuck in places. Move on and come back if you can. My son's was addressing envelopes. My first daughter had a few math ones including right now. My youngest had writing issues that are getting resolved currently. I have decided that she isn't going to write about literature right now, only concrete subjects. I am waiting until she is older to have her do literature writing.

[elegantlion]

Oh, I have another I wanted to share. We do four days of similar schedule and the fifth day is our art/science/logic/catch up day. Last year I made the odd day on Friday and it worked great. This year our weeks have been messed up due to illness or something almost every week. It usually happens on Friday. So I moved our odd day to Wednesday and it has worked out great. It's a nice break in the schedule, Wednesdays usually run smoothly and if something crops up on Friday we won't have missed an entire week of art/science/logic.

[Dobela]

1. My main epiphany is that sometimes hiring someone else to teach a subject is best for our family. Yes, it is a financial stretch for us but now I am cheerleader instead of frustrated leader and it has changed our family in a positive way for that very difficult subject. This includes my acknowledging that I am not the most qualified to teach all subjects all the time. It also means that I am not spending more money trying out yet another curriculum trying to find the magic one (after trying 4 different ones before) and discovering that was wasted money. It also means that I am more rested because I am not staying up til the wee hours trying to adapt the material I already have (that isn't working) into something that might work.

 

2. Getting grandparents to realize they can't call several times a day to share something funny with the grandkids is harder than it sounds. But once it happens the interruption free days are amazing and so much more productive.

 

3. Getting out with other moms (and no kids) is food for the soul. Especially when we make it a point to NOT discuss homeschool related topics.

 

4. Sometimes my son is more productive after we spend the afternoon at the park with friends than he is if we just stay home.

 

5. Mother's Day Out is a good thing once a week for the 2 year old. It keeps us all sane LOL.

[katemary63]

He's 16, and when I reached a point last year when I could not longer teach him pre-calculus, I started looking for a tutor-then I realized he was making faster progress, and doing better on the assessments, when he just taught himself from the book. This year he's moved on from our homeschool for an online calculus class and it's largely self-taught-and he is doing wonderfully.

 

My DD18 did this too. She taught herself Algebra 2 and Geometry completely on her own - NO help from me - and then went on to a CC College Algebra class for senior year and aced it.

[katemary63]

School is from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EVERY DAY NO MATTER WHAT, except Thursday when we have riding lessons and co-op classes. But M,T,W and F... No Dr.'s appointments, no co-op classes, no nothin...after that, we can fit other stuff in, but this is set in stone.

[thowell]

School is from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EVERY DAY NO MATTER WHAT, except Thursday when we have riding lessons and co-op classes. But M,T,W and F... No Dr.'s appointments, no co-op classes, no nothin...after that, we can fit other stuff in, but this is set in stone.

 

:iagree: wish I had come to this sooner.

[johnandtinagilbert]

School is from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. EVERY DAY NO MATTER WHAT, except Thursday when we have riding lessons and co-op classes. But M,T,W and F... No Dr.'s appointments, no co-op classes, no nothin...after that, we can fit other stuff in, but this is set in stone.

 

:iagree: wish I had come to this sooner.

 

I remember the first "informational meeting" I went to during a local hs convention. The speaker was a long time home schooler who seemed ever so rigid and heck bent on keeping the ringer off the phone during school hours. I thought she was a big, fat, meanie pants.

 

Yeah. Maybe b/c I was working only in lower elementary. When we actually hit 4th grade and higher....yeah, the no interruption zone makes a huge difference.

 

I'm not the Schedule-Nazi, but it really does help if I prioritize our learning hours. Makes a much less chaotic environment.

[runamuk]

A walk after math is essential.

 

My daughter works better if I'm not in the room, but my son needs me to be close by.

 

An early start to the day means a shorter day - we get more accomplished during the morning.

 

It's okay to stop for a bit and do something else when things get frustrating.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Oh, I have another I wanted to share. We do four days of similar schedule and the fifth day is our art/science/logic/catch up day. Last year I made the odd day on Friday and it worked great. This year our weeks have been messed up due to illness or something almost every week. It usually happens on Friday. So I moved our odd day to Wednesday and it has worked out great. It's a nice break in the schedule, Wednesdays usually run smoothly and if something crops up on Friday we won't have missed an entire week of art/science/logic.

 

We do variation on this. It's not every week but every once in a while (at least once or twice a month) we have a "dot your i's and cross your t's" day. It is a day when we do not progress further in our scheduled subjects but finish putting together that report that is missing just a cover, or sit down and do that internet research that we've been meaning to get to, or finish up a few things that were just too long and involved to get done in the time allotted. It is still a school day but it feels like a break at the same time because we're not doing our usual schedule and because of these little odds and ends can be quite interesting.

[lionfamily1999]

1. I hope so, because dd just turned 4! :D

Somehow I forgot this... now that Luke is 3 it's all coming back to me.

:iagree:

 

Mine:

1. I can repeat math instructions indefinitely without going mad.

2. Apply the seat of child's pants to the seat of child's chair regularly, but for proscribed times.

3. Like a dog, do the important training after a good, long run.

4. No interruptions means NO interruptions.

5. A doctor's child can give heart stopping symptoms ("I had to get up to pee 5 times last night, I'm so thirsty, and I'm tired, can I rest?) to get out of math. Stop this nonsense by threatening a blood test.*

 

*This was Sunday, and I was frightened enough to get out my old urine dipsticks, and then so worried they were out of date, I ACTUALLY BOUGHT GLUCOSE TABLETS and pulverized them and added them to his urine to make sure they were still "active". Sucrose does not set off the dip stick: here was his lesson on -OH moieties. Once threatened with a blood test, the trips from the desk to the bathroom stopped and he assured me he would not have to get up to pee that night.

I've gotten very firm when folks just HAVE to come visit, or really just HAVE to talk to me RIGHT NOW. Incredibly, I haven't missed anything terribly important by cutting them off and telling to come back later :p

 

Oh, and :lol: @ your story

Today's revelation

There are too many books, good, bad, award winning, mediocre, long, short, classics, new classics, and so much more. I decided instead of compiling a list, I would just decide which book to read to the kids and READ IT!

:iagree::iagree::iagree: (that means I agree emphatically ;) )

[Marylou]

How high up do you think mathletics goes? My son learned about it at our homeschool conference and tried it out there. He wanted to get a membership but I didn't get around to it. Do you know if it includes prealgebra and algebra, in addition to all of the arithmetic?

 

 

I will check it out and get back to you. My girls are in 4th grade. I'm pretty sure I saw some algebra stuff on there.

[TXMary2]

Ever since we started Sonlight I have been trying to make my son conform to the SL style schedule of the whole week on one sheet of paper. He has whined about it forever. Finally, yesterday I caved and realized that even though it is more work for me, he just doesn't want the whole week on one page and he dislikes the columns and hunting elsewhere for instructions. So, now I am giving him a daily list which in reality takes me about 10 minutes to type up. He's already happier.

[jazzyfizzle]

 

2. Getting grandparents to realize they can't call several times a day to share something funny with the grandkids is harder than it sounds. But once it happens the interruption free days are amazing and so much more productive.

 

 

 

 

I know how difficult this can make things (from friends calling here during the day) but, oh how I would wish for my parents to call my kids. Ever. :crying:

[NavyWifeandMommy]

My children NEED schedules and dont do the go with the flow like mom does.

I can teach my children to read, my biggest fear was that I'd have a 7 year and still not reading. He's 5 and reading simple words/sentences.

[emeraldjoy]

I like this thread so much I am going to answer again just to bump it.

Piano counts as school.

So does cooking, cleaning, and helping with younger siblings.

e

[melmichigan]

You can find it here. There is a 30 day free trial you can download. If you decide you like it, you can buy the activation key for $49. It's a single guy who created the programs he sells (vs. a larger company).

 

ETA: I don't have any kind of affiliate agreement with him so there's no incentives for me telling people about the program.

 

 

If you email and mention you want it for your home use and that you HS they will send you a code for a 40% discount. :)

[johnandtinagilbert]

Not like its really an epiphany, but a timely reminder....I set the tone for our household. I can so tell I have been a chore slacker! My kids are trying to do halfway work all over the house! I must be acting rather global! I have too many projects started. I may need to have Monday be a dotting and crossing day. We haven't had one in a while!

[MOM24WONDERS]

My biggest epiphany this year was to just let my oldest be who HE was academically. I love literature based curriculum (we are avid Sonlighters :) ) - but my son did not love it. He hated it. So, I finally (duh) gave it to God - and asked him which way to turn...His answer? Textbooks. Well, technically textbooks, but really SOS...like a textbook on the computer. He doesn't do it for everything, but for most and our life is soooo much better. The girls are happy to be doing SL and he is happy to be NOT doing SL.

 

So, I guess my biggest epiphany was to stop listening to all of the critics about what is best/worst and to just go with what works. It might be the "best", but only if it works for your child/family. The best can easily be the worst!