Help for a friend please ladies!

[3babiesmommy]

I was talking to a friend today who is expecting her 4th child. This is her first year homeschooling. The baby is due in September, and she is thinking about putting the oldest 2 (who will be in K and 2nd) in PS next year for fear that she will be overwhelmed with having a newborn and homeschooling. Her other little one is 3. She doesn't want to put them in school, but she doesn't really have any ideas about how to make it work. We talked about the fact that because they are so young, everything will be fine. She agreed, but still isn't sure what to use. I have some ideas for her, but I wanted to pose the question here: if you had to teach K and 2nd in the simplest, low teacher prep, semi-independent if possible, what would you use??? Thanks in advance!!

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I have will have a K'er next year. I am going to teach him to read using Itchys Alphabet Phonics (that is not low teacher prep) and www.starfall.com tell her to check starfall out because that can do it with out another phonics program. My son LOVES that and we have started that already. Tell her to go to www.worldbook.com and look at the typical course of study for the k'er. She can do math with the K just going through the day (folding laundry to introduce fractions, putting groceries away addition and subtraction, stuff like that).

 

The second grader can be taught when the new baby is sleeping. That will help her ease into it. (Good thing they do sleep alot in the beginning!) SOTW for history (a read aloud, can be done while feeding baby, or as a bedtime story) and that can be for both school aged kids. Science at that age is mainly discovery at that age. again go to www.worldbook.com to see what a 2nd grader has to know and she can do alot with the public library! Lots of read alouds, simple experiments. Rod and Staff has very good language arts that promotes independence and it is very affordable. Abeka math is semi self explanatory (atleast my daughter whizzed through it as if it were and got mostly correct answers) There are a lot of online math drill games. 2nd grade is alot of drilling facts, time (can be done easily anytime.) & measurment. Example. What time is it now? WHat time will it be in 30 minutes. What time would it be if the minute hand was on the 9 and the hour hand just before the 2?

 

Tell her not to panic. Babies sleep alot at first, and slowly less and less and she will be able to slowly adapt. It wont be instant panic hard times. And the great thing about homeschooling is you do it on YOUR time. She doesnt have to school from 9am til 3pm. If its easier at night do it then! And it doenst take 6 hours at those grades either! Give her a big :grouphug: and tell her to relax!!!!

Edited March 20, 2010 by wy_kid_wrangler04

[rafiki]

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[Klothos]

Tell her that there are many families with 6+ kids who manage to homeschool while taking care of infants and young children, so if there is a will, there is a way. I know a family with twelve children that homeschools without a single boxed curriculum. In reality, it isn't going to be as impossible as it might seem to her at this moment! If she keeps them out of public school, the worst possible scenerio is that her children spend more time unschooling than being classically eduacted; while we believe a classical education is the best we can give our children, even an unschooling education is vastly better than a public school education. Hands down.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

unschooling education is vastly better than a public school education. Hands down.

 

 

That is it in a nutshell. ANY homeschool education is soooo much better than any public school education.

[rdolphingirl]

I would stick with the 3 "R's" for the 2nd grader, and I can see from your sig that you already know about CLE. For a 2nd grader who can read well it can be done mostly independent. For K I think I would just read a lot, that can be done WITH the new baby. Also the 2nd grader can read to the K'er. Other then that for K my boys have all done the R&S ABC series, very easy and low key. They are simple books that lay a good foundation for basics without requiring ANY prep work, and only take a few minutes per page to complete.

Unless the law in your state requires more at a K level I would encourage your friend to relax about it. As a couple other people have already mentioned unschooling is still MUCH better (at that age for SURE) then any public school experience.

 

HTH!

[NancyNellen]

Homeschooling with a newborn, in my opinion, is oodles and oodles easier than homeschooling with a 1-2 year old. They sleep so much, they don't move from where you put them, and they require no discipline. :-)

 

With those ages she could easily get school done while the baby is sleeping. Lots of read-alouds, a simple phonics program for her K-er (I have only ever used Phonics Pathways - simple, quick, no frills, effective), SOTW, etc.

 

When my oldest was in 2nd I had a 1st grader, a Pre-K'er, and a 1 year old. Yes, it was chaotic. But we certainly managed - the kids even managed to learn and have fun. So, it was a success :-)

[EKS]

even an unschooling education is vastly better than a public school education. Hands down.

 

Not necessarily--however, at those ages she could easily make up for any deficiencies that come about next fall/winter.

 

If she wants to continue schooling somewhat, I'd focus on the 3 Rs (maintenance if not advancement) and then catch up with everything when she is less overwhelmed.

[hophr5]

This has been my first whole year homeschooling and I can understand her frustration and fears! I have five kiddos, made up of a freshman, 1st grader and 3 in Kindergarten. www.starfall.com is wonderful. My 1st grader is reading well above level and we used mainly this with the worksheets you can print from their site. My biggest thing to overcome was my own expectations of my children and myself. There are days that are crazy and I am not sure we learn anything, but there are also days when it "clicks" and the kids do more in that one day than they would in a week at PS. Find the way that works for your family, the beauty of homeschool is she can teach what she feels is important at any time on any day of the week. Sorry for the long winded answer, but I just had a "mommy breakdown" myself and went through the same questions and fears!! Good luck!!

[TKDmom]

I did that last year. I started homeschooling my 2nd grader about the time I found out I was pregnant. I think it way harder to be pregnant than to have a newborn. :D But that's just me. I know it's just the opposite for some people. When dd was a newborn, we got a lot done while she dozed all morning.

 

I have really been enjoying Sonlight for history. I would probably use either Core K or 1 with her age dc. I've also used SOTW (while I was pregnant) with no prep. I didn't like it all that much, but I've realized that I hated everything that we used during that time. There's nothing like associating a book with queasiness to make you hate it. ;) I think I would have liked SOTW if I had started it 6 months earlier.

 

There are lots of great math programs out there that are open and go. We use Singapore, but I'd imagine that MUS or Miquon would also be great.

 

For LA, I'd use FLL (at different levels) for both, and start WWE for the older one. The WWE workbooks are great for giving you ideas of literature to read together as well. She could also pick whatever handwriting appealed to her. I'm feeling disillusioned with the phonics programs I've tried, so I have no advice there.

 

Remember, if you're homeschooling, you can get up and get started whenever you're ready. In ps, you're on someone else's schedule. I don't think I could have loaded all 4 dc into the car twice a day for school right after having a baby. It would have worn me out.

[....]

I have 4 kids and one was a baby during homeschooling - we moved, our house was on the market and I also was a single parent for 8 months.

 

It can be done!!! :D My advice would be to do something like CLE that year. My 2nd grader is almost completely on her own with CLE and my 1st grader does CLE Reading right now on his own (mostly).

 

The baby will sleep a LOT. The hardest part will be when the baby's 1-2 years old. :tongue_smilie: We get most of our schooling done while our toddler takes a nap.

 

Wish your friend the Best of Luck!! She can do it! :auto:

[JudoMom]

I was talking to a friend today who is expecting her 4th child. This is her first year homeschooling. The baby is due in September, and she is thinking about putting the oldest 2 (who will be in K and 2nd) in PS next year for fear that she will be overwhelmed with having a newborn and homeschooling. Her other little one is 3. She doesn't want to put them in school, but she doesn't really have any ideas about how to make it work. We talked about the fact that because they are so young, everything will be fine. She agreed, but still isn't sure what to use. I have some ideas for her, but I wanted to pose the question here: if you had to teach K and 2nd in the simplest, low teacher prep, semi-independent if possible, what would you use??? Thanks in advance!!

 

I'd focus on the basics.

 

When I was in that situation, math was done (nearly) every day. I liked Saxon because it was scripted and I didn't have to think.

 

Read something daily and/or give a phonics lesson. Phonics Pathways can be done in 5-15 minutes.

 

Penmanship practice daily.

 

Anything else is gravy.

 

Listen to the SOTW cds and other good books on CD. Provide paper and crayons and colored pencils and let them have at it. Get stacks of books from the library.

 

It can be done, if she wants to do it. It won't look like a "real" school day, but it can be done.

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

Homeschooling with a newborn, in my opinion, is oodles and oodles easier than homeschooling with a 1-2 year old. They sleep so much, they don't move from where you put them, and they require no discipline. :-)

 

With those ages she could easily get school done while the baby is sleeping. Lots of read-alouds, a simple phonics program for her K-er

 

 

:iagree: This totally! I have a 23 month old, this year is much tougher than when she was little. I used a front pack and carried her whever I went. I also agree with the mama who said if she really wants to homeschool she will make it work. My first year homeschooling I found out I was expecting in August. I was so sick, on bedrest, most of that year. My oldest was in 2nd grade and we did what we could. He is not behind now in any way, she can catch him up later.