How do you "stay ahead" of your kids?

[creekmom]

I honestly never dreamed I'd homeschool past 1st grade.... Here I am (four years later) and actually considering the possibility of never putting the dc in school. I think the hardest part for me is trying to "stay ahead" of what they're learning. Even though my oldest is just in 5th grade, I'm still "relearning" American history, and Chemistry, and trying to find the time to read the novels before he does, etc. How do I do this and do it well???

[StartingOver]

I have always read with my children. They read aloud some, I read aloud some, depending on the difficulty of the book. With my older three, I tried to combine them in as much as possible. Like doing history, science and literature together. Just asking more of the older, and less of the younger. Allowing your older child to work with the youngers can sometimes buy you some time too.

 

Homeschooling is a full time job here, chores are adding in, so they aren't forgotten LOL.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Ds12 is ahead of me in some things: math and science specifically. Just today we had to google a math term. I knew enough to tell what to google! It has not affected his studies though - he is able to learn and to progress without me knowing everything. I am still well ahead of him in the humanities.

[Aubrey]

Well...my oldest is only in 3rd g, so I may feel really dumb for saying this in a few yrs, but...I don't. I mean, the curric we're using presents SO much info that I just never learned in school, that that would be a big job.

 

I'm learning alongside them, directing them, preparing in the sense of lesson planning & pulling books that go along w/ what we're reading, but I don't try to have the answers to their potential questions all ready.

 

Some of that, though, may be because I can rely on dh. He's a hist major, so he's got most of those questions covered, & he loved science enough that he considered a science major, so for now, he's got most of that covered, too. I mean, I teach hist & science, but I ask dh if the kids & I encounter something we've still got questions about.

 

Beyond that...I expect math will be the same. When they catch up to me, I'll learn along side them. I had 9hrs at the college level, so hopefully I'll be able to hang w/ them a while longer. ;)

 

If I thought I had to stay *ahead* of them, though, I think it would feel like drowning. But maybe I'm just enough ahead of them--the reading level of their material, etc.--to think that now, & when I'm *really* learning along w/ them--say in jr high or highschool--I'll have to eat my words. :001_huh: :lol:

[Karen in CO]

I read a lot during the summer. Insomnia helps too. :)

 

After pulling my ds through highschool, I now always advise young homeschool parents to quit stressing and obsessing about what K program to use and worrying which is the best first grade science program and start relearning all those things you are hoping to teach your dc in highschool (and middle school).

 

One of the best parts of highschool homeschool is being able to have wonderful conversations about the great books and great ideas with your children. When my son discovered Socrates and the Allegory of the Cave, he thought it was the most amazing and original idea he had ever encountered. He became enchanted with the ideas of the great philosophers. Six months before his amazing discovery, I was sweating philosophy and saying mean things about Socrates.

[Ginevra]

I have to do this with Math. It's just something I realize I must do if I'm going to continue hsing upper grades. It's good anyway, because I don't find it difficult to learn, just difficult to require it of myself continuously. We continue Math through the summer, so I don't even get catch-up time then.

 

Latin is similar, although I can also do more of the Latin along with ds.

 

I'm also putting books on my reading list that I wouldn't be doing if not for anticipating that it will be coming and I want to be on top of my game.

[Cindyg]

I'm sure this will be a different answer -- but this is why I use HomeSat. I get expert teachers in each subject. I don't have to be the expert. Nor do I have to lay out each lesson. And yet I get my child at home, and I'm still in charge of his education.

[Carrie12345]

My 11yo has left me in the dust when it comes to Latin, so I completely depend on the answer book. For the rest, I mostly learn along side the kids, including the 6 and 7yos when it comes to some things (like history).

 

I know the high school years will be a challenge, but I figure I'll only have to keep up with the oldest, since I'll have covered everything with him before the younger ones get there!

[dragons in the flower bed]

How do I do this and do it well??? [/img][/right]

 

Read. Read more. Read more. Listen to audiobooks when your hands aren't free. Put them on your MP3 player, though, so the kids can't hear them and catch up to you.

[Ester Maria]

I have an excellent memory. No idea why, but I simply REMEMBER most of things I studied in life, especially content which interested me. I suppose one of the reasons is that I received a really good education and I retained a LOT of what we studied, and the other one that in my life after school I somehow stayed in contact with most of the fields, even as an amateur, via friends, my husband, etc., so I somehow never completely stepped out of math or science thinking patterns, even though I professionally got into humanities/language. I find it really easy to remember, broaden or deepen what I know, or at least get by until I catch it up again. So it hasn't really been an issue, regarding basic middle/high school stuff.

 

The problems have arised with the younger one being very, very interested in maths and sciences, as well as gifted, who stepped out of that frame, and her I can't follow any longer there. I go with her through the basics, for her extra interests she gets a tutor or a dad whom she's nagging to take her to lab with him (DH is a scientist) :D

The older one seems to think out of middle/high school frame in the fields that are "my" fields, so it hasn't been an issue with her so far, since even when she steps out, I can follow it if it's in Italian or classics or philosophy, for example.

[elegantlion]

I read a lot during the summer. Insomnia helps too. :)

 

After pulling my ds through highschool, I now always advise young homeschool parents to quit stressing and obsessing about what K program to use and worrying which is the best first grade science program and start relearning all those things you are hoping to teach your dc in highschool (and middle school).

 

 

 

:iagree:about the insomnia part. My ds is in 6th and last year I started sending myself through the high school recs for LCC. My goal was to finish 9th grade suggestions while he was 5th, 10th in 6th, etc. :glare:I'm behind but I continue to chip away day-by-day.

 

I consider myself a student of our school and budget for my own self-ed materials. I'm enjoying school so much more the second time around. :D

[choirfarm]

How many children do you have? If you have one or two, then you MIGHT be able to, but any more. You can't. Period. I really miss when I was just teaching my two oldest. I spent all my free time reading and learning and loved it. It was fun!! But now I have a 9th, 7th, and 2nd...and I can't. I would love to learn, but I am barely keeping my head above water. It isn't fun anymore. I'm trying to learn, but to be honest I don't want to anymore. I just can't keep up. I'm getting so far behind them. It is frustrating.

 

Christine

[LibraryLover]

I read a ton, so it helps. But thankfully, I can slack on some stuff as dh can pick up the other stuff. (Gen-U-ine scientist and math feakageek).

[Mrs Mungo]

I honestly never dreamed I'd homeschool past 1st grade.... Here I am (four years later) and actually considering the possibility of never putting the dc in school. I think the hardest part for me is trying to "stay ahead" of what they're learning. Even though my oldest is just in 5th grade, I'm still "relearning" American history, and Chemistry, and trying to find the time to read the novels before he does, etc. How do I do this and do it well???

 

 

 

 

 

I don't always stay ahead. I frequently learn right along with them! Being an insomniac bookaholic helps with the reading bit.

[Rosie_0801]

I've only got tots but I'm focusing my self ed more on skills than content. So this year I'll be studying grammar when the curriculum arrives, and have started WEM for reading analysis.

 

Rosie

[MangoMama]

My ds is in 6th and last year I started sending myself through the high school recs for LCC. My goal was to finish 9th grade suggestions while he was 5th, 10th in 6th, etc. :glare:I'm behind but I continue to chip away day-by-day.

 

I consider myself a student of our school and budget for my own self-ed materials.I'm enjoying school so much more the second time around. :D

So true! I always say that I learn right along with them, but I think I'm going to practice saying that I am a student of our school. :D And I'm enjoying myself so much more, as well! And everything I am learning is actually sticking this time around. I love it!

[laughing lioness]

Teach groups of kids. I've taught writing and lit frequently, along with other classes and I learn so much by teaching- especially a group. For some reason, when I have the added pressure of presenting and grading, I "perform" better- kwim.

I also keep reading. Confirmed bibliophile here. And not usually brain candy. And I write. Cause writing makes thinking more exact.

I also actively create situations of learning so that we can utilize others expertise (co-ops, class-days), etc.

Edited February 13, 2010 by laughing lioness

[abreakfromlife]

One way I do it is for non-fiction books, I'll get books out of the kids section that are maybe junior-highish; it gives me the facts with a little bit of background, but it's a quick read...it helps fill in the gaps of my memory and then I can answer the kids questions as they go through their books. Another thing I try to do is read an adult book on the topic we're going to learn; hopefully I can do it before we get to it. Like I read the John Adams biography, a cool book called 1492 or something like that, before I did early America, a biography of Napoleon, etc....

[KidsHappen]

My kids are dragging me kicking and screaming. Honestly the high schoolers have surpassed me and are now teaching me things. I can't wait until we reach the stage where they read to me. :D

[laughing lioness]

:iagree:Amen sistah! My older kids know more stuff than I do about a LOT of things- grammar, different languages, tea, etiquette, geography, on and on and on. I think once you get to a certain point you want them to pass you up- a "standing on your shoulders" kinda thang.

[Peela]

I dont stay ahead. I've never read more than a few books ahead of them- except the ones I read in highschool or for my own interest over the years.

I love homeschooling for the 2nd education I get- filling in all the gaps. It does seem a shame though that I dont have any younger ones coming up behind to benefit from all I have learned- I have mostly learned alongside my kids, and when I get out of my depth, either they go ahead on their own or I send them to a class or another teacher, or we find a different curriculum!

For me, it's more important that I relax and enjoy the journey alongside my kids, as well as have time for some of my own interests and to clean the house and cook meals, than to learn it all ahead of them, which I am not motivated to do and which would stress me out, timewise. However, I did receive a reasonable education myself including a little Latin, and I can remember a lot of Algebra, and I am not too intimidated by writing...so I feel confident to wing it with them. Science was the main area I felt unable to motivate them and get it together, and a science class has filled that gap for us.

[Laura Corin]

I don't stay ahead - I learn alongside. It's lots of fun, although it's getting harder as Calvin gets older.

 

Laura

[Susan in KY]

trying to find the time to read the novels before he does, etc. How do I do this and do it well???

 

 

 

 

 

 

My kids read so much, there's no way I can stay ahead of them. They can easily go through 2 books a day--each. All I can do is skim, pray, and discuss EVERYTHING! It's part of them becoming responsible for their own education, and I think it's a good thing ultimately. Just keep those lines of communication open, and try to be more of a guide than a teacher.

 

On an encouraging note, I have seen my dc make wise choices with what they choose to look at and read based on the foundation I laid up to now, and on some level, you just have to make the leap into the deep end. It's not so scary once you're in. :tongue_smilie:

[TravelingChris]

Well I am on my second and third, so I have already done this once. But some things I did was learn along side with them, like particularly with history. Other things, were mainly subjects I learned a long time ago and needed a quick refresher. I don't necessarily read everything they read.

[creekmom]

Thanks so much for the great advice. I guess I have mixed feelings about homeschooling. Part of me just wants to bake cookies and clean house- KWIM? :001_smile: