New and possibly in need of a reality check

[birdiesbows]

I am the mom of five kids, ages 1 to 9. Currently, our three daughters (ages 5, 7, and 9) are in Christian schools. Our two youngest are rambunctious boys, ages 1 and 2.

 

Our 7 year old is a straight A student but hates school and is losing her love of learning. They are using the Abeka curriculum in their school and spending hours a day sitting in their desks doing "seatwork". I am assuming that Abeka requires a lot of worksheets and she is plain bored since most of the work is old news to her. Their solution has been to place her in a small room with Switched on Schoolhouse which she also now dislikes saying it is too hard.

 

So... we are seriously considering homeschooling her starting in January. I read The Well Trained Mind over the summer and it struck a chord with me. This is how I want our children educated. There is no way to achieve a classical education with the schools in our rural area. In fact, the term "classical education" is a foreign term even to most of hte local homeschoolers.

 

My thought is to follow the curriculum established by WTM. But, my quandary is that I am anticipating the other girls to be homeschooled starting in Sept. If I start SOTW in Jan. then I will need to repeat it again in the fall to keep the girls on the same schedule. On the other hand, what structure should I use for this one child if I am not using SOTW?

 

I am also concerned about having one child at home while her sisters are in school. How does that work? Are there feelings of jealousy? FWIW, all of the girls want to be home but for various reasons, I am keeping the other two in school.

 

What would you do given the situation? I hate to admit it but I am somewhat using the six months with our 7 yo as a "trial period" to see if I am up to challenge of homeschooling.

[Ellie]

Welcome.:)

 

Your story is the exact reason that many people starting homeschooling in the first place.

 

Here's a thought:

 

Take your 7yo out of school during Christmas break. Don't do anything too formal with her (frankly, she'll need down time to recover from the school). Don't send her sisters back in the fall. So SOTW with all of them.

 

See how easy that is? :D

 

Homeschooling tends to be contagious--your other dc will *probably* want to catch it, too. I know that there are people who have some in school and some at home, but it's more common to have them all home. It can be very difficult for *you* to have to keep up with the school's schedule when there are homeschooling things that come up.

[mathmom]

I absolutely agree!

 

Maybe you could do some geography with her between now and September? I pulled my kids out of school around this time last year. Peanut was not a strong reader, and I wanted to do history with the big girls together. So we took the year to do Trail Guide to World Geography. Now they both have an overall understanding of how the world looks today and Peanut is reading well enough to get more out of history.

[Hedgehog]

I am the mom of five kids, ages 1 to 9. Currently, our three daughters (ages 5, 7, and 9) are in Christian schools. Our two youngest are rambunctious boys, ages 1 and 2.

 

Our 7 year old is a straight A student but hates school and is losing her love of learning. They are using the Abeka curriculum in their school and spending hours a day sitting in their desks doing "seatwork". I am assuming that Abeka requires a lot of worksheets and she is plain bored since most of the work is old news to her. Their solution has been to place her in a small room with Switched on Schoolhouse which she also now dislikes saying it is too hard.

 

So... we are seriously considering homeschooling her starting in January. I read The Well Trained Mind over the summer and it struck a chord with me. This is how I want our children educated. There is no way to achieve a classical education with the schools in our rural area. In fact, the term "classical education" is a foreign term even to most of hte local homeschoolers.

 

My thought is to follow the curriculum established by WTM. But, my quandary is that I am anticipating the other girls to be homeschooled starting in Sept. If I start SOTW in Jan. then I will need to repeat it again in the fall to keep the girls on the same schedule. On the other hand, what structure should I use for this one child if I am not using SOTW?

 

I am also concerned about having one child at home while her sisters are in school. How does that work? Are there feelings of jealousy? FWIW, all of the girls want to be home but for various reasons, I am keeping the other two in school.

 

What would you do given the situation? I hate to admit it but I am somewhat using the six months with our 7 yo as a "trial period" to see if I am up to challenge of homeschooling.

 

 

I'm sorry your 7yo is not liking school. Good on you for considering pulling her out.

 

My suggestion is similar to Ellie's. Take your dd out of school at Christmas, and let her de-school for a few months. She needs time to get out of the institution mindset. Let her play, and read if she wants. I'd say anything up to 6 months for this.

 

Sometime in early summer, start back into the 3Rs and find out where she's at. You can use the intervening time to research what programs are available and choose some to try. Get the basics going steady, and then see how you feel about pulling your other 2 dc out to join her. If you do, they may also need a little time to de-school, but they can all start SOTW together when you're ready.

 

If it doesn't work out, and you decide to send your 7yo back to school, don't sweat the fact that you've taken a break. I can almost guarantee you that it will have helped her, just having some time out.

 

HTH some.

 

Blessings

Hedgehog

[Verity]

My situation was somewhat similar to yours in that I pulled one child out of public school before deciding to pull them all out. My oldest was struggling in 4th grade with organization and social issues, so I made the call to pull him out in the middle of October, but left his younger brother in 1st grade at the same school. He mainly used the rest of the year to decompress and it was greatly needed after dealing with bullying at school. The following year I pulled out my middle son and homeschooled both together for 2nd and 5th. This year we are on 3rd and 6th grades and the youngest is starting some light pre-k.

Try it and see how it works, especially with a younger student she won't be much "behind" if you decide to put her back in school outside the home and it sounds like she could really use a break. I would try to just make sure she has *fun* things to do at home that are also educational. Read some books with/to her, do coloring and art (if she likes those things), make crafts or cook foods that tie into the books that you read, let her explore the public library and find things (childrens books and movies) that interest her. Enjoy the time together while you continue researching how to do this.

 

Good luck!

[persephone43]

:bigear:

6 months seems like a lot of deschooling time to me. But maybe I am wrong. I will be following this thread because I too am pulling my son out after Christmas following 4 years of ps disasters. He hates reading, cant spell or write or really articulate his thoughts at all...even out loud. He really hates school period. All this and he did the 1st grade twice to "catch up". He never caught up and is still way behind his classmates. (no learning disability...just disinterested in learning.) Think we will be taking more of a Charlotte Mason approach but honestly, we were planning on jumping right in...now Im wondering if I need to let him have more time to decompress. Hmmm...

Edited December 1, 2010 by persephone43
sorry...didnt mean to hijack thread...carry on :)

[birdiesbows]

Thanks for the responses and please keep them coming :). I appreciate all of the viewpoints.

 

I too am a little concerned about the recommendation for six months of unschooling. I do not want to teach my daughter the lesson that if she complains about school, she gets to come home and have fun with Mommy while her sisters have to play by the rules and go to school. Maybe if she was my only child, I would feel differently but given the fact that my daughters are very competitive with each other, I feel like they all have to be held to the same standards. Plus, I feel like this is a trial period for both of us.... me to see if I can actually do this and do it well; for my daughter, to see if this the right decision for her and if she will learn in this environment. I think jumping in right away would serve us both.

[lisabees]

Welcome. I, too, did the same thing. My third is coming home in January - he cannot wait. He's 11. We are doing World Cultures; maybe that would work for you? Your dd is a great age for Galloping by the Globe and FIAR. For science, there are some great hands-on programs (REAL by Pandia Press, Elemental Science, Guest Hollow's Life Science etc). Or you can do nature study. For language, use WWE and FLL.

 

http://www.geomatters.com/products/details.asp?ID=75

 

http://fiarhq.com/fiveinarow.info/index.html

 

Enjoy! You must be excited (and nervous).

Edited December 2, 2010 by lisabees

[Ellie]

:bigear:

6 months seems like a lot of deschooling time to me. But maybe I am wrong. I will be following this thread because I too am pulling my son out after Christmas following 4 years of ps disasters. He hates reading, cant spell or write or really articulate his thoughts at all...even out loud. He really hates school period. All this and he did the 1st grade twice to "catch up". He never caught up and is still way behind his classmates. (no learning disability...just disinterested in learning.) Think we will be taking more of a Charlotte Mason approach but honestly, we were planning on jumping right in...now Im wondering if I need to let him have more time to decompress. Hmmm...

Dr. Moore said it could take up to 18 months to undo what the schools had done. He was right in my situation: It was 18 months before my dd was her real self again (took her out during Easter vacation of first grade, from a school that used all ABeka).

 

It isn't a hard-and-fast rule. I have heard of some people who jumped right in and it worked fine for them, but for myself, I thought the time spent in recovery, not to mention the reformation of relationships that had been dismantled because of dd's being gone for so many hours every day, was worth it.

 

Rule of thumb: play it by ear. :)

[persephone43]

Who is Dr. Moore?

[Tress]

Rule of thumb: play it by ear. :)

 

:iagree:

 

And if you decide you really want to do history, why not spend time on American history....I imagine you can find lots of fun 'Little House' stuff to do. Then you can start SOTW with all your children at the same time.

[Mom0012]

Thanks for the responses and please keep them coming :). I appreciate all of the viewpoints.

 

I too am a little concerned about the recommendation for six months of unschooling. I do not want to teach my daughter the lesson that if she complains about school, she gets to come home and have fun with Mommy while her sisters have to play by the rules and go to school. Maybe if she was my only child, I would feel differently but given the fact that my daughters are very competitive with each other, I feel like they all have to be held to the same standards. Plus, I feel like this is a trial period for both of us.... me to see if I can actually do this and do it well; for my daughter, to see if this the right decision for her and if she will learn in this environment. I think jumping in right away would serve us both.

 

You could always start SOTW with your daughter in January if that's something you think would be enjoyable for you both. Just make sure to get the audiobook and then your other two can listen to it in the car or while they are quietly playing/drawing during the summer. That way they won't be "behind". Of course, it depends on the child, but my son loved SOTW so much that he must have listened to the first 3 volumes at least 10 times.

 

Lisa

[persephone43]

You could always start SOTW with your daughter in January if that's something you think would be enjoyable for you both. Just make sure to get the audiobook and then your other two can listen to it in the car or while they are quietly playing/drawing during the summer. That way they won't be "behind". Of course, it depends on the child, but my son loved SOTW so much that he must have listened to the first 3 volumes at least 10 times.

 

Lisa

 

:iagree: *I* have read/listened to them several times and so has my dd. They never get old and I always seem to find some new rabbit trail to follow afterwards!!

[robsiew]

Thanks for the responses and please keep them coming :). I appreciate all of the viewpoints.

 

I too am a little concerned about the recommendation for six months of unschooling. I do not want to teach my daughter the lesson that if she complains about school, she gets to come home and have fun with Mommy while her sisters have to play by the rules and go to school. Maybe if she was my only child, I would feel differently but given the fact that my daughters are very competitive with each other, I feel like they all have to be held to the same standards. Plus, I feel like this is a trial period for both of us.... me to see if I can actually do this and do it well; for my daughter, to see if this the right decision for her and if she will learn in this environment. I think jumping in right away would serve us both.

 

Personally, I'd take only a couple weeks to "decompress", however you don't have to quit everything. During this time I'd have my child visit the library and choose some great books to read, I would also have an idea of what math I want to use and start doing some assessments (most curriculum have these online even) to see where to place her. I'd also do some sort of writing... for a 7 year old copywork would serve just fine. Maybe copy some poems or something along that line.

 

As you get into a routine you could add in some geography if you wanted to. Even just getting a good atlas (We use National Geographic's Young Explorer's) would serve the purpose. She could choose a continent and learn about the landforms, animals, way of life, etc.

 

In the mean time, I would figure out how you want to do reading, writing and math in the "long run". Once you decide on a math you can add that in right away. Then I would start researching grammar, spelling and science. (You already know you want to do SOTW so that's done for history).

 

I think you'll have a good idea after that. Also... keep in mind... it is not easy to start homeschooling. There are adjustments to be made both on the child's end as well as the parent's end. It takes time for both to adjust and fall into a pattern. Even if you and your dd7 fall into a pattern over this next year, adding in your other dd will take adjustment too. I just want to gently warn you not to expect you'll have it "all down" by the fall. Despite the "adjustment" period, homeschooling is so rewarding. We are now in our third year and it's the first year I've really felt we're in a groove. The kids are adjusted, I am and we have a good pattern to life. There are always challenging elements, but really.... it's a good life! I hope you are able to clearly know whether this adventure is for your family or not. :D

[2_girls_mommy]

I agree with waiting on SOTW until you have all 3 at home. Start with your math at home for now using WTM recs. Continue phonics if she is still doing that. I don't know if Abeka is done with phonics in 1st or 2nd? If she hasn't completed that, then I would keep it up. Do copywork and poetry and lots of library books for reading (as opposed to Abeka's reading workbooks) Pick some themes for units of things to study until you start with allof them together next year. Which science are you going to start them all in together next year? Once you figure out which one you are going to cover next year, you can pick one of the other topics to study for the rest of this year. Have her start a science notebook and a history notebook for what you do study this year, so she gets used to the idea. All the while keep it fun, so she is excited about hsing, even though you know you will probably be ramping it up next year when you start full force with all of them. Take the year for yourself to really decide on next year's stuff. But enjoy this year. Take lots of field trips to museums and the zoo and places. Find a hsing group that you can join together.

 

I

[ChandlerMom]

Thanks for the responses and please keep them coming :). I appreciate all of the viewpoints.

 

I too am a little concerned about the recommendation for six months of unschooling. I do not want to teach my daughter the lesson that if she complains about school, she gets to come home and have fun with Mommy while her sisters have to play by the rules and go to school. Maybe if she was my only child, I would feel differently but given the fact that my daughters are very competitive with each other, I feel like they all have to be held to the same standards. Plus, I feel like this is a trial period for both of us.... me to see if I can actually do this and do it well; for my daughter, to see if this the right decision for her and if she will learn in this environment. I think jumping in right away would serve us both.

 

I had th same thoughts reading this thread! I'd worry about sending the message that HSing is going to be all play time. I find it's easier to relax as you go rather than tighten the rules, kwim?

 

Another option might be to use Christmas break to decompress AND build the foundation for picking up HSing in Jan. During that time, discuss what she likes and doesn't like about school. Discuss your expectations. At 7yo she's old enough to voice an opinion and young enough to understand you'll be the one deciding. I'd be honest with all your dc's that this is a trial run. Then approach it like you would a starting Ker -- work a bit each day and work up to a "real" curriculum.

 

I guess I'd say start Jan expecting to do "learning" but not necessarily "lessons". Have a list of books she can read, or you can read together and discuss them. At 7yo a lot of math is learning/practicing math facts, so do a few worksheets and practice together each day. For writing how about she agrees to write 2 postcards each week and journal a page a day? As things interest her, go to the library and find book she can read on them. Do crafts for art. Play mad libs for grammar. Maybe get one of those "grade level" workbooks to work in.

 

All these are just ideas. I think the point is to think about why you are homeschooling and what you want to accomplish long-term and short-term. First thing is probably re-igniting her fire for learning AND getting her used to a new routine (and you too!) or learning at home. The *content* of the learning isn't as important.

 

Meanwhile think about what type of curriculum programs you want to use. There's no reason you have to switch over all at once to new curriculum, either! Maybe she's ready to start a math curriculum first, just start it when/where she's ready (don't worry about "grade level").

 

If it goes well, you might consider pulling you rother DDs mid-term. Of after-school make sure to do projects with them or (for the 9yo) start talking to her about expectations for HSing, etc. If you start working science or art projects in, consider doing them on the weekend so all the kids can join in. Get the 9yo doing mad libs with the 7yo, then they can read it as a performance for the 5yo.

 

Enjoy, relax. And you might just find that the jealousies/rivalries diminish once they are HSing together. Also, don't underestimate your impact: I was the youngest, so I have ZERO tolerance for sib rivalries and my kids "get that". They are the best of friends, play Wii games co-op, and if you ask them, know their job is to be each others best cheerleaders. It is heart warming to hear my 5yo tell her 2yo brother that he "is the best baby EVER!" And hearing them playing together saying, "good job!" Socialization begins at home, and in our family society "kind" and "supportive" are the rule. ;)

[blakereese]

I also recently took my 7 year old out of ps. So I know what you are feeling right now, and the uncertainty, doubts, etc.

 

I do agree that she will need some decompression time. It may not be six months, but definitely more than a couple of weeks. This will be a huge change for her. She may be excited and happy about it one minute, and angry and unsure about it the next. Every child is different, and so there is no one way (or time) to start teaching a child that was in the classroom environment. Just watch her for cues. Back off a bit if she needs it, follow her interest and excitement on a certain topic, use every day situations to teach. Let her sleep in or take a nap if she seems overstimulated. Read and read and read and read out loud to her.

 

I wouldn't make any curriculum choices right away. It is so easy to get caught up in all of the choices available and making quick (costly) decisions. Give it some time. Learn where she is at with each subject so you know what level to buy. Find her strengths and weaknesses. Figure out how she learns, or what techniques she responds to. Read reviews or posts here about the various curricula and learn what would be the best fit for you and your DD.

 

I think you will find that this will be very rewarding, and you will want to have the other girls home, too. :) We've only been at it a couple of months, and planned to just take it a year at a time...now I can't imagine sending my DS back to ps. In just a short time I have seen the benefits of one-on-one attention. You will be amazed at what your daughter will learn when you aren't really trying. Even if you were unstructured for many months, she would be just fine. :)

[walkermamaof4]

one idea i have is to begin a nature study with her by studying one evergreen in your yard each day or week or whatever. it is SO much fun! buy you and her sketch books and watercolors and sketch branches and watercolor them. We are very not artistic and this has brought joy to our days.

 

Also, buy Linguistic Approach to Poetry Memorization and memorize some poems with her. That is a super way to get her brain cells geared up for learning, plus it will make her so proud of her accomplishments!

 

Study an artist, print out their works from the amblesideonline website, and enjoy them.

 

listen to music together. Sing the same hymn every day for a month and talk about the words.

 

And my final suggestion is to google Sentence Family and do it with her. My kids loved this over the summer. THey asked to do it. When we finished, they asked to do it again. The drawing was so fun. They learned. We sang the parts of speech song.

 

Watch youtubes of schoolhouse rock too. Create a playlist there of them and have a blast. This is how we learned conjunctions and interjections, alongside Sentence Family.

 

You can have SO much fun while not killing her.

 

Math mammoth too has been a huge blessing here. My kids love it. My 7 y.o. can do it almost unaided! He can do amazing things in his head with numbers now. Math is now still work, but they honestly like it.

 

Our house has become a place where school is fun. We school all day, but we enjoy it. There isn't a subject we don't like now that we've switched to things this forum says they love!

 

Have fun!

edited to say - see the post about the Burgess animal cards? Well, you can listen to the Burgess Animal Book for free on librivox.org and you can print the cards on cardstock and add one to a line with clothespins or to your wall or wherever each time you listen to a chapter. We had so much fun coloring the coloring pages that are free online for the Burgess Bird Book as we listened to it on librivox and we printed the art prints of the birds. We learned all of the birds in our yard. My kids LOVE nature now! so since I saw the post that the Animal Cards are available, I had to edit my post to suggest that too!

Edited December 2, 2010 by walkermamaof4
addition

[Mrs.W]

I took my older two out of Christian school at the semester too (4 years ago). My homeschool mentor advised me to save SOTW until the fall and I was so glad I did. I had a hard enough time getting them both settled in their individual subjects that I would have just felt like a failure if I had attempted history too (we also waited on Latin and science until the fall). Starting homeschooling in the middle of a school year had it's own special challenges (ex. - Do I start her at the beginning of the math and grammar books and risk her getting bored or do I just guess at what she might have covered in school.), so it was nice to ease into those other subjects.

 

But if you're really determined to have a full load, I agree with the suggestions to spend some time on geography. We are loving My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures, but it would be hard to fit that into half a school year. Maybe Galloping the Globe?

 

Best wishes on whatever you decide.

[Little Nyssa]

FWIW, my DS6 enjoys hearing SOTW chapters over again. If you dip into SOTW now, it doesn't mean DD would necessarily dislike doing it again in the fall with the other kids.

[TheAutumnOak]

I would just wait until September to do SOTW with all of them...Just eliminate history for now...

 

I am new, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but that is what I would do...

[Lori D.]

One other thing I would recommend you do during your trial period, esp. since you are new to homeschooling and have 2 younger ones, is to find a homeschool group to join in your area, or at least see if there are a few other homeschoolers you could get together with twice a month; having support as you take this big step can make all the difference between "just surviving" and "really flying" with homeschooling.

 

Homeschool groups can help you get:

- some great one-on-one mentoring from other moms

- ideas on how to implement homeschooling

- a "play time" for the little ones if other moms have little ones

- find some homeschooling friends for your school-aged children

- discover opportunities for group activities such as field trips, PE, co-op classes

- find like-minded families, or others who use a similar curriculum so you can encourage one another and even make your own "mini co-op"

 

To find a group, you can start by using the search option at these websites (and do try all of them, because not every website lists every group); you can also try a google search for your state: "Homeschool groups in ____", or even try one for your city!

 

Homeschool World

Homeschool.com

Homefires

Local HS

Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)

 

BTW, the HSLDA website also has an extensive collection of very helpful articles on everything from "You Can Homeschool" to "Early Years", from "High School Years" to "Struggling Learners" check out the list of general categories in the right-hand column on their home page.

 

 

Finally, one other terrific free resource to help you get started by getting organized is the Donna Young website. This is the site index, listing all the articles and downloadable planners and organizers available. I suggest starting with section "IV. Homeschool Help"; clicking on different topics under that heading will take you to articles and links to downloadable schedulers, planners, organizers, lists, etc.

 

 

Welcome to homeschooling -- come on in, the water's fine! :) And BEST of luck as you begin your new adventure! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Aubrey]

I've never taken kids out of school, but I am a really intense person, & I understand having trouble w/ the idea of 6mos of "nothing." I thought I might be a voice from the opposite end of the spectrum, so you'll have some other options to think about if that helps, lol.

 

First, I'm a die-hard hs'er, so my first choice would be to pull them all out at once, but I understand there are reasons that sometimes doesn't work.

 

In the meantime, "nothing" can look like a lot of different things. I imagine a kid needing to decompress from school would enjoy a lot of free reading, a lot of nature walk type things, & a lot, lot, lot of talking to mom.

 

So instead of looking at it as a lot of nothing (which I don't think is exactly what Ellie meant anyway), what if you think about taking dd to museums, zoos, nature walks, etc., & just talking about what you see? Be leisurely about it so you can kind-of follow her interests, but be there to inform & direct those interests. Try things together. Cook. Read about recipes around the world or different kinds of ingredients. Grow your own herbs.

 

All of this is educational & interesting to a bored child, so it's not nothing, but there's no pressure of finishing a worksheet or a textbook by a certain date. That will likely come soon enough. If you start SOTW in the fall after doing a few mos of the above type activities, perhaps she will approach these stories w/ the same sense of exploration & curiosity instead of associating SOTW w/ a classroom textbook.

 

Fwiw, I was that kid who needed to come home, who was bored w/ Abeka, ACE, & ps, at different times, & whatever you do--thank you from her grown-up self for bringing her home. :001_smile:

[Bootsie]

We pulled our fifth grader out of ps in May with less than one month to go in ths school year. His older sister finished the school year at the ps and then entered a private hgih school. Our ds left ps with mixed feelings. He wanted to experience his fifth grade "graduation" with his friends, but a number of things would have made that a miserable situation. For no reason of his own, he felt like he was weird or evenbeing kicked out of school. finishing the school year at home raised a number of issues: his ds was still in school so we didn't want jealousy, his friends were basically doing nothing for the rest of the year at school and he knew that--so he didn't see the pont in doing work at home and thought he was being punished, we felt we had to make a point that homeschooling was serious so he would be prepared in the fall, we were concerned about truant officers showing up, etc.

 

The entire situation worked out better than we thought. Luckily, he was ahead and we didn't need to worry about keeping up with particlar academic subjects. We did math problems calculating how long it would take to drive on summer vacation, studying the geography of where we were going, letting him explore some topics that he thought were interesting, etc. A lot of the time was spent with us trying to figure out exactly where he was academically and what was going to work well in the fall.

 

In retrospect, it took a lot longer for him to recover from some of his experiences than we thought. we are glad we had the summer as a buffer. we had not realized just how much his intellectual curiosity had been beaten down until we have seen it return over the fall.

 

Now we keep him on his older sister's privat schhol schedule rather than the local public school schedule. the only time we have run into problems have been times when she has been home sick and he has wasnted to take asick day also.

[LauraQ]

There is no need to start SOTW 2nd semester, and your instincts are spot-on that you will want to keep all the kids in the same time period at the same time rather than have one in Middle Ages and another 2 in Ancients!

 

Instead, you can do pretty much anything you want for the rest of this year!

 

You could allow your daughter to have one semester to unschool--find out what SHE wants to learn about, and let her lead you. This will give both of you time to adjust to being home together, and give you time to plan for next fall, while using this as a trial-run. You can introduce her to various products you'd like to try and see what fits your style best.

 

You could do a rapid one-year read-through of a one-volume work, such as Hillyer's Child's History of the World (which I think is even MORE enjoyable of a read, but is not as long or detailed, and has major issues if you get the original instead of the modern edited version).

 

You could do a year of geography using an Usborne book or two, the internet and the library to read around the world. Do lots of map work, let her play on Seterra (freeware you can download online), and maybe use Audio Memory Geography Songs as well. You can include your other 2 school-aged children in this geography adventure after school, and then they will *all* get so much more out of history studies, starting with the Ancients, all together next year. Then your 7 year old can *ease* into other subjects such as English/Grammar, Math, etc.

 

I'll give you the advice that I give to *all* new Homeschoolers looking for advice: When you pull your child from school, do not do ANY formal schooling for at least the first month or two. Instead, get to know each other--you haven't been together all day in a long time, and it will take some adjustments. Instead, just hang out, snuggle up on the couch and read to her, cook together, do special favors and projects for the family members who aren't at home. Start trying to figure out how to keep the youngest two boys busy so you guys can get work done when the time comes. Best to tackle that issue now than to wait until you're trying to get through a touch math lesson to realize things are out of control!

 

When you do start formal schooling, start with only one subject, maybe two if they are closely related (such as history and literature, or even art & science for very young children). Do just that one subject for at least a month, and only then can you add just ONE more subject. Do just those two for another 2-4 weeks before adding in another subject. Add the important subjects first, the "elective" stuff like art & latin last. When you have enough work to fill 8a-3p, as long as you have at least all the core subjects incorporated, stop adding subjects. Art, music, latin, dance, art history, theatre, greek, etc. are all very important, but we have to be realistic and only do one or two each year if that is all we can actually handle, and trust ourselves to get to other very important extras in other years while we let the first ones fall by the wayside for a time.

 

It is SO TEMPTING to start everything all at once because, well, you read this fabulous book (WTM) that describes a FULL school day, and you've bought all these AMAZING resources that are all glossy and new with that new book smell and you can't wait to get into ALL of them RIGHT NOW! Hold fast to that zeal, and the anticipation you create through a slower start will help it burn longer and more steadily, and will give you guys a stronger, sturdier foundation in your first year.

[Ellie]

I had th same thoughts reading this thread! I'd worry about sending the message that HSing is going to be all play time. I find it's easier to relax as you go rather than tighten the rules, kwim? ;)

But it might also (probably will) send the message that learning happens all the time, not just in a place called "school," which is more likely the case. :-)

[Sahamamama]

My thought is to follow the curriculum established by WTM. But, my quandary is that I am anticipating the other girls to be homeschooled starting in Sept. If I start SOTW in Jan. then I will need to repeat it again in the fall to keep the girls on the same schedule. On the other hand, what structure should I use for this one child if I am not using SOTW?

 

FWIW, I would keep her home through Christmas, send the other girls back in January, and give your middle daughter a few more weeks "off" from "school." Otherwise, you (and she) might be tempted to try to make your home-school look and function like a school-school. But it's different. ;)

 

Throughout her recovery time, make a rule: During the day, no TV. She can read, do crafts, write Christmas thank you notes, help you with chores, cook, bake, play with her little brothers, cut out paper snowflakes, listen to audio books, play a board game, write the grocery shopping list, learn to sew a bean bag, snuggle up with you when the boys are napping, then take her own afternoon nap! It will be a gift that you give this small, burnt-out child, time to let her batteries recharge.

 

In February, begin with the basics. You have only two main subjects for second grade -- (1) Math; and (2) English, which can include phonics, spelling, handwriting (begin cursive?), copywork, dictation, grammar, narration, memory work & recitation, and plenty of reading practice (her to you) and read alouds (you to her).

 

If I pulled a second grader out mid-year, and was planning on starting WTM with three students the following year, I wouldn't begin the history cycle at all. Why not wait a year, and start on Ancients when your other girls come home? IMO, you don't need to do any formal history with a second grader, but geography and biography are nice categories to add to the Read Aloud stack.

 

Instead of formally starting a history cycle, you could have a daily Read Aloud Time filled with wonderful picture books, chapter books, science books, children's poetry, Bible stories, and stories from American history. You could read biographies about Leif Erickson, Christopher Columbus, Squanto, Pocahontas, Ben Franklin, George Washington, Johnny Appleseed, Abraham Lincoln, and Buffalo Bill. Here's an example of great biographies for second graders. Can you find any of these in your library? HTH.

[MelanieM]

I too am a little concerned about the recommendation for six months of unschooling. I do not want to teach my daughter the lesson that if she complains about school, she gets to come home and have fun with Mommy while her sisters have to play by the rules and go to school. Maybe if she was my only child, I would feel differently but given the fact that my daughters are very competitive with each other, I feel like they all have to be held to the same standards.

 

Regardless of what you decide on for curriculum, decompression time, etc. I think you might want to consider a conversation with your girls about how different it will be for the child at home. Because even if you do a formal 'school at home' approach with your 7yo right off the hop, she's going to have a whole lot more fun with Mommy just by virtue of how much less time that will take at home than it does in school. Sorry if I'm commenting on something that you've already considered and discussed, but this came to mind when I read your comment about competition and thought it better to mention just in case. :)

 

Love the recommendations to read, read, read and keep things simple and exploratory. Actually, I think that's a great approach for that age regardless of whether or not you're deschooling or have always homeschooled!

 

I think it's great that you're giving this a try, and I bet you'll have a blast together! That is such a great age, and I feel truly blessed every day to get to spend so much time with my own girl (who just turned 8!).

 

Best of luck to you!

[Farrar]

I had th same thoughts reading this thread! I'd worry about sending the message that HSing is going to be all play time. I find it's easier to relax as you go rather than tighten the rules, kwim?

 

 

But if you're trying to send the message that homeschool does not = school, then being too strict at the start could be detrimental.

 

Others sort of said it, but my understanding of deschooling is not that it's unschooling. It may look like unschooling for some families, but in others, it may not. You could do a big unit study instead, for example. And I think there's something in really talking to kids and setting up long term expectations ahead of time. As in, you can make it clear that both you and your dd are in an adjustment period that will end at a specific time after which you'll be doing more formal learning.

[joyfulmomSDG]

Don't know if this has been mentioned but would your daughter do well to keep a core concrete course such as math with Abeka to help ease the transition? Then maybe you could experiment more with history or science in a classical style. Oh, and no question keep all of them in the same history time-period if you can. There are several wonderful resources for teaching multiple levels in the same cycle of history.

 

Also, if you haven't already I would request several catalogs from the main curriculum companies you see here on the board, and check your library to see if they have any of the resources you may be interested in purchasing. Thankfully, ours carries many of them including SOTW! It was a huge help to hold the book in my hand before buying/committing.

 

FWIW, we too came from a private school using Abeka (granted it wasn't a mid-year change) and went on a homeschool curriculum roller-coaster for the first 2 years or so. I knew nothing but Abeka-type programs. The adjustment time is very real for both mom and child, but it seems like you just have to just jump in and start. I was terrified at first. I didn't feel comfortable at all until I really understood that the goal wasn't to duplicate the school system at home.

 

It is wonderful that you have this board as a resource so early in your journey! We are in our 6th year and I am still tweaking curriculum and finding great advice here...

[ThreeBlessings]

FWIW, I would keep her home through Christmas, send the other girls back in January, and give your middle daughter a few more weeks "off" from "school." Otherwise, you (and she) might be tempted to try to make your home-school look and function like a school-school. But it's different. ;)

 

Throughout her recovery time, make a rule: During the day, no TV. She can read, do crafts, write Christmas thank you notes, help you with chores, cook, bake, play with her little brothers, cut out paper snowflakes, listen to audio books, play a board game, write the grocery shopping list, learn to sew a bean bag, snuggle up with you when the boys are napping, then take her own afternoon nap! It will be a gift that you give this small, burnt-out child, time to let her batteries recharge.

 

In February, begin with the basics. You have only two main subjects for second grade -- (1) Math; and (2) English, which can include phonics, spelling, handwriting (begin cursive?), copywork, dictation, grammar, narration, memory work & recitation, and plenty of reading practice (her to you) and read alouds (you to her).

 

If I pulled a second grader out mid-year, and was planning on starting WTM with three students the following year, I wouldn't begin the history cycle at all. Why not wait a year, and start on Ancients when your other girls come home? IMO, you don't need to do any formal history with a second grader, but geography and biography are nice categories to add to the Read Aloud stack.

 

Instead of formally starting a history cycle, you could have a daily Read Aloud Time filled with wonderful picture books, chapter books, science books, children's poetry, Bible stories, and stories from American history. You could read biographies about Leif Erickson, Christopher Columbus, Squanto, Pocahontas, Ben Franklin, George Washington, Johnny Appleseed, Abraham Lincoln, and Buffalo Bill. Here's an example of great biographies for second graders. Can you find any of these in your library? HTH.

 

I love this post and couldn't have said it better myself! :) I recommend hands on Math with manipulatives, math games, and possibly Miquon and/or Singapore Math. Keep lessons short and sweet when you find out where she is at and what curriculum you'd like to use. Some suggestions would be Sequential Spelling, Simply Grammar, and Writing With Ease 1. I couldn't agree more with loads of reading aloud and encouraging no TV or other noneducational screen time during the other girl's school hours. There are so many things that are fun to do that provide learning and other beneficial things.

Edited December 4, 2010 by ThreeBlessings

[ClassicalTwins]

I am not a seasoned hs'er, but I pulled my boys out midway through K, and it took nearly a year to get them to even sit and listen to a read aloud...something they loved before going to school in the first place.

 

So, I would play it by ear and let her lead you. I doubt you can expect to have rays of sunshine and rainbows if you jump right back in with seat work that she currently hates.

 

It is amazing how they react once removed from a situation like school they are not enjoying. Take your time, no one is going to get behind and just enjoy having a happy kid...

 

Do field trips, watch education DVD's and shows, read, read and just try to get into a flow....then when summer comes, jump in, remembering your other children are going to need to decompress :)

[Sahamamama]

Hey! You have twins? We have twins (+ one older)! All girls, aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh! Lots of coloring and high-pitched shrieking and pink around here.

 

:willy_nilly::willy_nilly::Angel_anim:

[ClassicalTwins]

Hey! You have twins? We have twins (+ one older)! All girls, aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh! Lots of coloring and high-pitched shrieking and pink around here.

 

:willy_nilly::willy_nilly::Angel_anim:

 

 

 

God bless you...I am very lucky to have BOYS!!:lol:

[Sun]

I took my older two out of Christian school at the semester too (4 years ago). My homeschool mentor advised me to save SOTW until the fall and I was so glad I did. I had a hard enough time getting them both settled in their individual subjects that I would have just felt like a failure if I had attempted history too (we also waited on Latin and science until the fall). Starting homeschooling in the middle of a school year had it's own special challenges (ex. - Do I start her at the beginning of the math and grammar books and risk her getting bored or do I just guess at what she might have covered in school.), so it was nice to ease into those other subjects.

...

 

:iagree: Argsmommy took the words out of my mouth. When starting out homeschooling, it really took a lot longer to get in the "groove" of it than I expected. I had this elaborate schedule with all the subjects marked out, and it turned out that we could not get through half of it in the beginning. We backed off, and I started slowly adding new subjects in. At first we were pretty much only doing math, writing, and spelling, and over several months we got better at getting things done and knowing how long to plan for, and we gradually added more subjects in.

 

HSing really is a big adjustment for both of you. It really will not hurt your daughter at all to go half a year without history. After all, you said that most of what she does at school now she already knows, so if she learns some new things with you in that half year, then she'll be ahead of where she would have been if she'd stayed at school.

 

Good luck and have fun!

[justamouse]

In retrospect, it took a lot longer for him to recover from some of his experiences than we thought. we are glad we had the summer as a buffer. we had not realized just how much his intellectual curiosity had been beaten down until we have seen it return over the fall.

.

 

I've never taken kids out of school, but I am a really intense person, & I understand having trouble w/ the idea of 6mos of "nothing." I thought I might be a voice from the opposite end of the spectrum, so you'll have some other options to think about if that helps, lol.

 

First, I'm a die-hard hs'er, so my first choice would be to pull them all out at once, but I understand there are reasons that sometimes doesn't work.

 

In the meantime, "nothing" can look like a lot of different things. I imagine a kid needing to decompress from school would enjoy a lot of free reading, a lot of nature walk type things, & a lot, lot, lot of talking to mom.

 

So instead of looking at it as a lot of nothing (which I don't think is exactly what Ellie meant anyway), what if you think about taking dd to museums, zoos, nature walks, etc., & just talking about what you see? Be leisurely about it so you can kind-of follow her interests, but be there to inform & direct those interests. Try things together. Cook. Read about recipes around the world or different kinds of ingredients. Grow your own herbs.

 

All of this is educational & interesting to a bored child, so it's not nothing, but there's no pressure of finishing a worksheet or a textbook by a certain date. That will likely come soon enough. If you start SOTW in the fall after doing a few mos of the above type activities, perhaps she will approach these stories w/ the same sense of exploration & curiosity instead of associating SOTW w/ a classroom textbook.

 

Fwiw, I was that kid who needed to come home, who was bored w/ Abeka, ACE, & ps, at different times, & whatever you do--thank you from her grown-up self for bringing her home. :001_smile:

 

 

:iagree::iagree:

 

You're hearing some very wise words from very seasoned homeschoolers.

 

If you listen to one thing they say, listen to the decompression time.

 

Here's the thing. You are now going to be responsible for your children's education and it weighs heavy. Their future is in your hands. It's a scary, scary responsibility. And then you find what they're lacking and the cool stuff you want to do and before you realize it, you have every fifteen minutes scheduled off on your day planner and you're burnt out in a month.

 

This is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

Do what Aubrey said. Kick back, read some good books, take long walks, take longer naps and have lots of good talks. Visit the library. Do some nature studies. Get some field guides and identify the birds that land on your feeder. Draw them. Get out a magnifying glass and look at some feathers. Answer every question.:001_smile: Have fun, then start SOTW later, in the fall with all of them.

 

You'll never regret taking the time off, you will regret burning all of you and then having to start all over. I did it to my now 19 yo. I pulled him out, gave him no time off and gave him a full schedule of TWTM. He had been bullied, been scoring low (he's gifted) been utterly traumatized by school when I pulled him out. I didn't relieve that, I added to it. I utterly destroyed his schooling career. I operated out of fear and in the end, my worst fears came true. He went back to ps in 10th, and dropped out the day he turned 18. Don't make that mistake. Reign in the fear that you will ruin their education by taking the time off and let them decompress. Learn eachother.

 

And, it's a wonderful, incredible frustrating tear inducing journey that is worth every minute. Welcome.