Can I start a week or two later than planned & still be o.k.???

[Joyfullyblessed]

Goodness, I am sitting here supposed to be all excited that school is starting up tomorrow again. Instead, I am feeling very overwhelmed and near tears. :crying: I have not been able to get everything planned out the way I would like.

 

My son is going into first grade and this is only our second year homeschooling. Kindergarten went fine and never really bothered me, but for some reason 1st grade is really scaring me. Why???? I don't really know. :confused:

 

Would it be terrible for me to just say that we will start back on August 23rd or Sept. 6th instead???

 

I am just feeling like a bit of a failure right now for not getting things together as I should have earlier. :sad: I know everything will be fine and work out, but I just don't feel ready or excited to begin school tomorrow as planned.

 

Ugh. What would you do? Should I just put on my big girl pants and proceed as planned or simply adjust my school year by a week or two?

 

Thanks for the advice in advance. It is greatly appreciated. Everyone have a wonderful day!

[Gwenhwyfar]

adjust my school year by a week or two?

 

 

That. :)

 

He's only in 1st grade - you aren't on a deadline for college entry here or anything. ;)

 

Most homeschooling families that I know IRL don't even start until early/mid September, with the exception of a couple who go year-round.

 

It's okay to wait. Pinky swear. :D

[imhim]

Of course you can delay. He is just first grade! really, how badly can you mess up??

 

But if you don't want to delay, start slowly with just some of the subjects. Later on you can add more.

 

Most of all, do not freak out!! Enjoy it!

[coffeegal]

 

Would it be terrible for me to just say that we will start back on August 23rd or Sept. 6th instead???

 

 

Many public schools won't start up until August 23rd or Sept. 6th, so don't feel guilty about a later start. :001_smile: One alternative, start in this week with your 'fun' subject and hold off on the others while you finish planning. You don't have to jump into the deep-end, wading into the new year is perfectly acceptable also. ;)

[H_Household]

That is the beauty of homeschooling.....you make the schedule. We started early this year but we're taking a vacation in Sept and Oct.....so start when you want....you'll get it done.

Don't worry....it will be fine!

[eclipse]

You can start whenever you want! You could wait until January if you felt like it :). However, if your son knows you were planning to start and is excited about it, you might do what a pp suggested - start with some especially fun stuff for the next couple of weeks - art if he's a crafty kid, lots of read alouds, math games, field trips to museums or zoos nearby, park days with local homeschool groups, etc.

[Quiver0f10]

 

But if you don't want to delay, start slowly with just some of the subjects. Later on you can add more.

 

This is what we always do. We start with only a few subjects, then add in a new one every few days or so until we are up and running.

[justasque]

Start slow. That way, you can see how things are going, and adjust accordingly. I usually start math first, as that's the one where I really want to finish a certain amount of material by the end of the year. Add the rest a bit at a time.

 

Make sure to throw in some fun "back to school" (or "not back to school") events. We go to a local history/crafts/etc. festival every year, a curriculum sale & picnic, get together with hsing friends, etc. We also taper back gradually at the end of the year.

 

Plus, for a first grader much of what you're doing can be less formal anyway - you read bedtime stories, have playdates, play with LEGO, play board games, watch library videos, do sports, and so on, most of which you've probably been doing all summer long.

[Tiberia]

Take the pressure off of yourself. Do something fun with him and call it school. Take some time to get/feel more organized, but remember that he doesn't know or care how organized you are. You'll be fine; relax and enjoy the journey.

[FriedClams]

Start slow. That way, you can see how things are going, and adjust accordingly. I usually start math first, as that's the one where I really want to finish a certain amount of material by the end of the year. Add the rest a bit at a time.

 

Make sure to throw in some fun "back to school" (or "not back to school") events. We go to a local history/crafts/etc. festival every year, a curriculum sale & picnic, get together with hsing friends, etc. We also taper back gradually at the end of the year.

 

Plus, for a first grader much of what you're doing can be less formal anyway - you read bedtime stories, have playdates, play with LEGO, play board games, watch library videos, do sports, and so on, most of which you've probably been doing all summer long.

 

That's what I would suggest. Even if the only "school" you do it math and lots of read alouds - in two weeks you'll have a bunch of math and some read alouds done - not nothing. No, first grade does not need to be intense and hard core - but I have found with the younger crowd that a little every day is key. Lighten up on yourself, do some math and a few stories. Look on the map where the stories were. Bake together and work on fractions. Watch the Magic School Bus. Have fun.

[Hedgehogs4]

Goodness, I am sitting here supposed to be all excited that school is starting up tomorrow again. Instead, I am feeling very overwhelmed and near tears. :crying: I have not been able to get everything planned out the way I would like.

 

My son is going into first grade and this is only our second year homeschooling. Kindergarten went fine and never really bothered me, but for some reason 1st grade is really scaring me. Why???? I don't really know. :confused:

 

Would it be terrible for me to just say that we will start back on August 23rd or Sept. 6th instead???

 

I am just feeling like a bit of a failure right now for not getting things together as I should have earlier. :sad: I know everything will be fine and work out, but I just don't feel ready or excited to begin school tomorrow as planned.

 

Ugh. What would you do? Should I just put on my big girl pants and proceed as planned or simply adjust my school year by a week or two?

 

Thanks for the advice in advance. It is greatly appreciated. Everyone have a wonderful day!

 

 

my response is...(please hear the good-natured, somewhat experienced, affectionate intent here)

 

"oh, good grief!" really. first grade is not that much different than kindergarten and a week or two or a whole month is not that much different than a day at this point. take a deeeeeeep breath. plan your heart out....your first grader will be excited for the extra time to play. in fact...don't plan too much. you'll stress out your kid and yourself. just enjoy rolling into the next stage of learning. maybe plan a couple of weeks or something. take it easy. it won't be long and we won't be able to ignore the fact that it's time to teach them latin and research papers and how to engage with the similarities between the fall of Rome and the current state of the U.S. it's one plus one at this point. enjoy the simplicity.

[Joyfullyblessed]

Thanks to everyone for their kind and encouraging words. I am breathing easier now. I am going to do "light" schooling for the next couple of weeks and then go full force after Labor day.

 

I do believe that, as suggested, it will help me to finish planning, get more organized, and ease into schooling while still getting something accomplished.

 

I think looking at everything so much almost made it seem to "grow" bigger and bigger. Today I was supposed to get everything finished and I couldn't even bring myself to look at it at all.

 

I guess I just needed to step away from it for a bit. I cleared my table of ALL the school stuff and that even helped. We will begin school tomorrow as planned, but on at a much slower pace than originally thought.

 

Thanks so much again!!! I really needed to hear the words of encouragement from other homeschool moms. Everyone have a wonderful week ahead. : )

[Paintedlady]

Our public schools start back in about a week or so, but we're not starting until after Labor Day. No big deal. Start when you're ready. :grouphug:

[Tracy]

I agree with what everyone else is saying. It is no big deal to start later. But knowing me, I would feel guilty about it, no matter what everyone else was saying. So I would ease into it. I would try to start with just one program. Something like handwriting plus read-alouds each day. Then each week, I would add in 1-2 more things until we were doing everything.

 

I actually am doing this a little on accident this year. I wanted to complete the first 2 units of TOG by Thanksgiving, so we started in July. It was so nice to start with just that and handwriting. I chose some real teacher-intensive stuff for first grade, and everything is different from last year. By starting just 2 programs before all the others made me realize that this is a good way to go when your entire program is new.

 

Incidentally, my dh is a teacher, and his first year teaching was just so hard. It got a lot better after that first year, because he was not teaching all new curricula anymore. That is what we do to ourselves every time we choose all new curricula. But we have adaptations available to us that school teachers do not have.

[Stellalarella]

Of course you can delay. He is just first grade! really, how badly can you mess up??

 

But if you don't want to delay, start slowly with just some of the subjects. Later on you can add more.

 

Most of all, do not freak out!! Enjoy it!

 

:iagree: Just pick ONE thing you can do for the first week. Just do one thing and then add.

 

I started homeschooling all my kids this year. I started out gradually and this week, the fifth week, I am adding in some additional subjects and starting to grade the older kids' work.

The thing that I found with my young child was that she FORGOT her letters over the summer-and her numbers. We spent the first couple weeks just reviewing those very basic things.

 

Blessings to you

[ReneTL]

I'm in the same boat - my house is a wreck, tomorrow is my birthday and I haven't finished scheduling a fraction of the things I wanted to do. I know this isn't much consolation for finishing curriculum, but for the benefit of keeping track for the state, the next week or two is going to count as "practical life"! I'm putting my girls to work and counting it towards instructional days.

 

Good Luck!

Rene

[EKS]

Start when you feel ready. If that is September 6th, so be it. You'll be fine!

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Adjust your plans as needed--guilt free.

 

You can always run later in to the year or borrow days from a vacation somewhere if you need the time.

 

Just make sure you still have any attendance needs for your local district reporting under control.

[NanceXToo]

Of course it wouldn't be terrible!

 

My plan is always to start school after Labor Day, and to just enjoy the summer!

 

Last year, we started 4th grade the day after Labor Day, did a 36 week Oak Meadow curriculum (though we did consolidate the final two weeks, which were mostly review), and still finished in May. We'll be doing the same this year. It's fine! :)

[DawnM]

I have a 1st grader this year. He is getting a MUCH DIFFERENT education than my oldest did in 1st grade. :lol: I am far more relaxed.

 

We do school 4 days per week usually. That is all I am doing. I can cover 5 days of school easily in those 4 days and I am sure we do more reading and math than they do in the PS even though they spend far more time on it.

 

Dawn