Homeschooling question: am I going to regret 3R focus? (sorry, long)

[kalanamak]

I keep wondering if I should ask this. What I'm doing "feels right", but I am new to this.

 

Kiddo was moderately slow in learning to read, and is not reading up to the level even I was (I was a slow reader) at this age. He has also had a tendency to be math-whiz one day, and lost at sea the next.

 

So, we did a lot of science, read-alouds, field trips, art sessions, long music listening times, much sports, cards, puzzles, you name it. I mean, you can only flog a subject so long if the nickle isn't dropping.

 

About 5 months ago, his grammar understanding picked up. So did his reading/decoding. I spent more time on language arts and less on art and history. Now his spelling and math are getting more consistently good. HE can suddenly voice things I've been stressing for, oh, 5 years, like "if I pronounce the word carefully, it is easy to spell".

 

So, I've been pressing on with spelling, grammar, reading, WWE, and math about 6 days a week, and letting other things go. It is hard concentrating on these core subjects, and he and I are both ready for a break at the end of the sit-down work.

 

As long as we are happy and progressing, should I keep the focus on the 3 Rs, given they are so important? He is a little ahead (timeline-wise) for spelling and grammar and math, behind in WWE and reading, but all are moving forward at an accelerating pace. If his mind is deepening, is it okay for almost all of history, e.g., for months to be nothing but field trips and some scattered late night read alouds (along with me mentioning things regularly when they come up)? I feel okay about dropping the Latin for a year, and cutting back on brain teasers to "whenever I think of it", and we tend to do big science days once a month, now (although I mention science at the drop of a hat, when we see opportunities, and he is good at science).

 

AT first I thought it was a short stretch, but I looked at the calendar, and we are 5 months into this LA and math sprint. I'm sure this has hit other people. What did you do? What did you regret?

[catz]

To me it sounds like you're doing a good job following you're child's readiness level. :001_smile:

 

For some balance, I would just suggest prioritizing your read alouds a little more. For my kids, I try to have a historical or literature based and a science based read aloud going all the time. Even if we only have 5-10 minutes to read of each a day. It feeds discussion and keeps those areas open to us. And then we often use field trips and outside classes to cover those areas. We also listen to SOTW on CD in the car. Big science day once a month is awesome - we might use that. I find we really do need at least half a day committed to dig into a big hands on project.

 

I've also used summer camps to fill holes. My daughter just took a history camp and my son just did a theater camp after finishing a engineering/robotics camp. That's another thing you could look at for next summer if you feel you have some holes to be filled.

[ChristusG]

The three R's are the biggest foundation for what he'll use in later years. I'm having to do the same with DD7. She is having a really hard time learning to read. So we spent the last part of last school year and the summer focusing mostly on the three R's. And I've finally seen progress! History, science, etc....all that repeats itself through the years, learning more in depth things each time. I think he has plenty of time to go through those things. He needs firm foundations in the three R's because those don't really repeat themselves....but they do build on themselves to higher levels.