Totally clueless about afterschooling, please help

[IsabelC]

Well, a few years ago I thought afterschooling was a strange and slightly crazy idea, and now here I am thinking about embarking on it when the new school year starts here in February...

 

We have reluctantly made the decision to send the children to school for a year, although at this stage we're hoping to bring them home again for 2014.

 

None of them have done school before, so I'm expecting it will take a bit of adjusting and they may find it tiring at first. I don't want to spend hours and hours afterschooling, as they will need their downtime, outside play time etc to decompress from school. But I can see I'm going to need to do some stuff with them at home.

 

Ds9 with Aspergers is going to be beginning fourth grade on a part time basis, so I expect the school will give us a certain amount of work for him to do when he's not there. Dd7 will be in second grade full time, but I will need to continue with her remedial reading course because her issues are unusual and the school isn't set up to do the stuff she needs. Dd4 is starting Australian kindergarten, which is a play based curriculum 3 days per week. They don't do any meaty literacy work, so I will need to continue with her reading and writing to make sure she keeps moving along. Probably same with math.

 

I would love to keep going with ambling through SOTW because the school history curriculum isn't anything like that, and there are heaps of other things that would be nice to do too. But I don't want to have them at school all day and then attempt to do a day of homeschool on top of that! lol

 

So how do you figure out what to do for afterschooling?

Clearly the literacy is important, since it's almost impossible to succeed in school with literacy deficits. But what else is a must?

How much time is appropriate to spend on afterschooling?

Do you have your children do school homework as well? (I haven't yetfound out our school's homework policy, but I was thinking that if they just get given random busywork for the sake of it, I might want to veto that and use the time for the afterschooling instead.)

 

I am very stressed about so many aspects of school, and have no idea how to even start with afterschooling.

 

Oh, and is it better to give them a few weeks to settle into school before starting so it's less of a shock for them? Or is it preferable to afterschool from day 1 so they know what to expect from the outset?

[Uff Da!]

nm

[kchara]

:lurk5: Subbing in on this one. We just made the decision to put our kids in school next semester. They're in 6th, 4th, and K. We've found a good school, but it's not Classical, and I want to continue the history cycle, too.

[IsabelC]

Thanks so much for the blog link - I have only had a quick look but I can see there's a ton of info on there.

[Lori D.]

My sister and I attended very average public schools throughout. In retrospect, I realize my mom in a way "afterschooled" us. It consisted of:

 

- very limited TV (computers and hand-held electronics did not exist at that time)

- reading aloud tons of great books (20-30 minutes at bedtime)

- playing educational games with us (afternoons, summers)

- word games/associations (while driving)

- field trips -- i.e., going interesting places (summers)

- making things/projects (summers)

- workbooks -- usually fun activity books/critical thinking puzzles, and an occasional "summer bridge" type of workbook, or a science topics workbook (summers, and also before we started 1st grade)

 

 

Your children are young; I would suggest that the afterschooling activities that would be most effective and long-lasting would be, in this order:

 

1. read aloud (and/or books on tape) a LOT

2. drastically limit or virtually eliminate electronics and screens

3. encourage imaginative play and doing lots of things together (cooking, hiking or just exploring in your neighborhood, building/making (kits, cardboard box constructions, Legos, wood projects), tinkering, etc.)

4. play all types of games a lot (weekly family game night)

5. a wide variety of critical thinking puzzles and activities

6. take trips and see places -- museums, historic sites, cultural events, etc.

 

 

Doing specific curriculum types of things can be added as needed. SOTW could be one of two concurrent read alouds, and the SOTW Activity Guide could be a resource for a weekly fun weekend or evening projects in lieu of TV and electronics.

 

Just a few thoughts! And... BEST of luck in your afterschooling adventures! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Roadrunner]

We are increasingly finding it difficult to afterschool (so we are going to pull them out next year).

If they are only going to be at home for one year, I would just make sure they are reading good books and keeping up with math. We LOVE SOTW, but we aren't able to do it fully. My son just reads though a chapter a week and we talk about it. I wish we had time for activity guides and lap books. Right now math and reading take priority and get done. We had such an excellent start in French, but we simply can't devote enough time since we started piano.

If I were you, I would identify my kids weak spots and enhance those areas. The rest is reading (literature, science books, history books).

[Alessandra]

I afterschooled -- it was quite easy when dc were young, but it gets difficult as they get older and have more homework, activities.

 

First, think about afterschooling not just a s learning, but as habits -- it might include limited electronics, read alouds, games, trips, as other posters have mentioned. Try not to drop whatever you are doing, because it can be hard to get back on course, if, for example, you cut back on read alouds and dc watch videos (even educational ones).

 

Second, don't overload dc with extra work,. They are kids, after all and need unstructured play time. So, even though you may think games and read alouds are 'fun,' dc still need time to dream & dawdle.

 

Third, think about how you can make afterschooling child centered -- less like more schooling and more like unschooling. By unschooling, I don't mean a wild free for all, but rather something that dc choose to do themselves (with guidance and hints from parents, lol). For example, my ds liked timed math drills (really) when he was in 3rd grade -- his idea of fun. My dd liked (and still likes) to write. I try to find each child's strengths/interests and see how they could fit into afterschooling -- sounds like a simple idea, but it actually takes quite a bit of effort (at least for me).

 

You probably already know that you can choose to supplement where subjects are weak (you mentioned history) and/or build on some of dc's school curriculum/assignments. Pretty straightforward, but it can be hard to resist the impulse to do everything (BTDT). Also, many afterschoolers choose fun materials (as pp described) -- videos, games, etc -- so the afterschool will not be too much like school.

[Guest kcenders]

My DD attends one CTY class every school year. We chose her subject to be reading since literacy is such an important developmental step at this age (8). We find that this curriculum fits well with our busy lifestyle (assignments are due weekly) and she can dovetail her CTY books into her public school classes.

[jennynd]

I after school DS for 2.5 yrs now and DD for about 1 yr. we mainly focus on math/reading/science.

For DS who is 3rd grade.

Math, 4 days a week. Including sat and Sunday. 45-60 mins a day.

Science. 1 day a week

Reading 30 mins/day 4 days a week.

 

Ds's school homework is extremely easy and usually take him under 5 mins to finish. I don't know how it gonna work once he hit middle or high school

 

For dd who is preK.

Math 3 days/week. 15 mins a day

Reading- every other day before bed time for about 15 mins.

 

 

[aly9712]

My daughters ( ages 8,4) are up "before schooling" about an hour in the mornings.

Dd8 does EPGY math/language and Achieve 3000 ( science or history based articles w/questions).

Sometimes I may leave 2-3 sentences on the white board to diagramm (MCT 4 level analysis).

In the evenings she rotates between a youth writing club & mathnasium.

At any given time she has her own reserch projects going on in her room. I believe there may be 4 different types of mold growing in her windowsill and she's researching/ illustrating the evolution of the trilobites.

The great thing about after schooling is that you can provide additional support or/and have child led explorations.

 

Dd4 is working on the 3 r's. She does a lot on the iPad for math and reading games. She focuses a lot on her

Cursive & pencil gip ( we are Montessori- curve first). I have her record herself reading sight words, etc. She's using a bunch of math manipulatives. Our main reading guide is OPGTR.

 

Dd3 is using developing the early learner books & iPad preschool apps.

 

I should mention their school does not give homework, which allows us to focus on what ever we want.

[nd293]

I'm finding it helpful to take a long term view on homeschooling: we're not trying to complete grade level work, we're just progressing at our own speed towards long term goals that provide a personal answer to the question of "What is 'educated'?" We use pockets of time where they are available - before school, on the drive to and from school, after school, at the dinner table, at bedtime. We try to make it fun, or at least not 'schoolish' - Life of Fred, SOTW and lots of historical fiction as read alouds and assigned reading, iPad games such as Stack the Countries or handwriting apps, board games and puzzles etc. It's also helpful to be realistic about how much you can achieve in the limited time available. I found reading "The Core" helpful - it essentially offers a pared down approach to classical education in comparison with "The Well-Trained Mind". We're also at a homework-free school, and that certainly helps with after schooling.

[Twilight Woods]

 

My youngest just recently went back to school during the day .....yes I use it as "daycare" b/c I once again needed to go back to work fulltime. She is also receiving special services b/c of her Aspergers.

 

So how do you figure out what to do for afterschooling?

We focus on what is improtant to us. For it is Math/Reading. She has Aspergers and is doing above grade level work in everything accept reading.

 

 

Clearly the literacy is important, since it's almost impossible to succeed in school with literacy deficits. But what else is a must?

Math is important for us as well.

 

How much time is appropriate to spend on afterschooling?

When she arrives home from school I let her play for about an hour UNLESS she wants to get to it. We typically do not do any work until after dinner. She is in 1st grade so there is not much homework. She typically brings home 1 math sheet and she is required to read for 20mins a day for schoolwork. Our total time with her school work and additional stuff I add is about 30mins-not including her reading. I Break her reading up in 5-10min chuncks throughout the night b/c she has a hard time sitting for that.

 

Do you have your children do school homework as well? (I haven't yetfound out our school's homework policy, but I was thinking that if they just get given random busywork for the sake of it, I might want to veto that and use the time for the afterschooling instead.)

 

I do require her to do her homework. The math for her is review and typically "busywork" for her but it's what she spent the day doing so I do reinforce that. The math sheet takes her less than 5 mins to complete.

 

If she is still in school for 3rd grade and up I will have to adjust thing to fit accordingly. Given she is doing "above grade level" math at home it may not be an issue unless they meet her at her ability at school when she is older.

 

 

Here is our schedule:

 

4pm-arrive home-play

5pm-eat dinner, clean up

6pm-homework. We do her School math sheet first. We have just finished Saxon Math 1 [in 4months] and will be starting Saxon 2 as soon as it arrives :) . We go over the 5 spelling words she is required to know for school then we do WWW1 and SWS&V1 [will be moving onto 2 soon in both of these]. We do WWE1/FLL1 3 days a week and we do Saxon on the weekends and days off school.

 

We are typically done with everything by 645-7. I also adjust this to her. There are some days where she isn't feeling it so I will drop all the extra stuff except Math. Reading is done at bedtime usually unless she asks to read before then.

 

It seems like a lot but it really isnt. I think you will have to look at your particular situation and what will work for you and your children.

 

My oldest has always been Public schooled and granted she is in 6th grade so I do not have time to give her extra stuff b/c she already has a full load with what she is doing. I only require Math to be done on days off and during breaks [winter, summer etc.- I typically use the summer bridge books with her]

 

HTH.

[Alessandra]

My daughters ( ages 8,4) are up "before schooling" about an hour in the mornings.

Dd8 does EPGY math/language and Achieve 3000 ( science or history based articles w/questions).

 

 

Can you tell me what you think of Achieve3000? I have read about it, but I am not sure what I think. A number of schools around here are beginning to use it -- one attraction is that the Achieve300 format is like the format on the new PARCC achievement tests.

 

[i presume you get access to Achieve3000 through your school????]

[aly9712]

(on planning period now)- just so folks don't think that I'm neglecting my class while responding here :)

I think Achieve is great. It gives the students a lexile comprehension test when they first log on to establish a benchmark. I think people always make the mistake of thinking that just because they're kids are reading higher level books they are on that reading level- big mistake. I have several kids who can read books, tell me about them but fail when it comes to the higher level comprehension questions (multiple choice style). Anyway, it's all non-fiction and the articles are all from the Associated Press. They take a current article and write it on 12 different reading levels. Each article comes with it's own set of vocabulary and 8-9 comprehension questions. Some are multiple choice, some are graphic organizers, some are graphic sequencing, etc. The students also have a math question related (you can adjust the math level seperately) that's related to the article. The reporting alone is very valuable.

Anyway, I think it's a great program and is very individualized but still allows for whole class discussions. If I get a chance I'll try to attach two different level sample articles w/questions so you can see what I mean.

[CritterMom]

Wow, this is great information! Like the original poster, I'm going to be sending DD back to public school next year (for a number of reasons). I had never paid much attention to the things that I read about afterschooling, but this sure gives me some great ideas!! Thanks! :grouphug:

[Alessandra]

(on planning period now)- just so folks don't think that I'm neglecting my class while responding here :)

I think Achieve is great. It gives the students a lexile comprehension test when they first log on to establish a benchmark. I think people always make the mistake of thinking that just because they're kids are reading higher level books they are on that reading level- big mistake. I have several kids who can read books, tell me about them but fail when it comes to the higher level comprehension questions (multiple choice style). Anyway, it's all non-fiction and the articles are all from the Associated Press. They take a current article and write it on 12 different reading levels. Each article comes with it's own set of vocabulary and 8-9 comprehension questions. Some are multiple choice, some are graphic organizers, some are graphic sequencing, etc. The students also have a math question related (you can adjust the math level seperately) that's related to the article. The reporting alone is very valuable.

Anyway, I think it's a great program and is very individualized but still allows for whole class discussions. If I get a chance I'll try to attach two different level sample articles w/questions so you can see what I mean.

 

Schools here rave about Achieve3000. I was a bit put off by the website -- too self-congratulatory, research seemed to be done in-house.... Also, I am wondering if the most attractive feature of the program is that it has good automatic reporting/tracking, plus effective differentiation for multiple students -- features that I do not need.

 

But I am trying for a month (free). I see some things I don't like, but I would be interested in your opinion, because I want to like A3000. So, here are the things that I find problematic:

 

-- You can't highlight, underline, annotate as you read, unless I've missed something. And underlining, etc is a strategy I like to teach. The printing (from a Mac) was a disaster, as all the formatting codes showed up.

 

-- The comp questions have to be answered in order. I teach the strategy of skipping over a hard question and returning to it later.

 

-- If you want to look at the passage while answering, you have to toggle back and forth, don't you? I would love to see the screen split, so that you could easily look at passage and questions together.

 

The first passage we read was one on Thomas Edison's sound recordings ("Before there were iPods"). I chose level 4b -- there is no placement test in the demo. Dd answered all the questions correctly, without help from me, but she did not really understand (make a picture of) the passage. Nor did I. (And we have visited Edison's house/museum!) The passage had been heavily edited to make it simpler, and it came out very disjointed. (It was clearer when we went to the tab on the right and found additional text.)

 

Obviously, the most important consideration is the quality of the text at various levels, as in above paragraph.

 

So, I guess I'm asking if these are things you get used to. I'm willing to buy a license for a year IF we'd use it. But I'm wondering if I should go with some good comprehension books and assessment materials -- I have a RR order ready to go. Adding: dd is above grade level in decoding, etc, but below in comprehension (as per professional testing).

 

BTW, I completely agree with what you said above (bolded).

[aly9712]

I don't believe I would make that invest for a single child. I think a big selling point for schools is that several students can read the same article but written at different levels. It does become more difficult at the lower levels (say a K reading level) to be rewritten at the same calibur as my middle school students articles which range from about a 3rd grade level through 7th. We can discuss the articles. I also always do a bit of prework- so for the article you references, we watch a youtube video and listened to the Mary Has a Little Lamb recording by Edison. These are all done before they even read it. I've also created additional template worksheets they do vocabulary study and writing exercises.

You are able to have both the article and questions open at the same time. I do print out a number of articles for students who I know need to highlight, etc. We also use a comprehension series called "STARS- Strategies to Achieve Reading Success" and the STARS extensions in reading series. They tie in well with Achieve because they specifically focus in on 12 strategies which cover all the types of questions asked within the Achieve.

The articles are all from the Associated Press. You could also choose to do "units" and a series of articles will be recommended with resources.

I'm not sure if you'll need all the reporting features. I do like that the levels increase individually based on their performance over time and it even will tell you how your student is performing on specific common core or standard of learning strands and how likely they would be to pass it. It will also show you the weak areas (this week we're struggling with Making Inferences) so I've been able to pull additional articles that are question heavy in that category. Again, not sure if I'd pay for it individually. You could find resources online (worksheets). The data/reporting collection, and having multiple students be able to read the same piece of writing at a level challenging for them is the biggie for me.

 

lunch break about over- back to work I go.

 

PS- no printing issues on my Dell. I will often have my daughter do hers on the Ipad, which also works.

[Alessandra]

I don't believe I would make that invest for a single child. I think a big selling point for schools is that several students can read the same article but written at different levels.

 

You are articulating what I was thinking. The multi-student advantages disappear when you only have one!

 

It does become more difficult at the lower levels (say a K reading level) to be rewritten at the same calibur as my middle school students articles which range from about a 3rd grade level through 7th. We can discuss the articles. I also always do a bit of prework- so for the article you references, we watch a youtube video and listened to the Mary Has a Little Lamb recording by Edison. These are all done before they even read it. I've also created additional template worksheets they do vocabulary study and writing exercises.

 

Wow, that is amazing, and it sounds like a great way to use the program. We have other areas in which we combine video + activities + reading, that an additional 'project' like this might be too much for us. But I am impressed with what you are doing.

 

You are able to have both the article and questions open at the same time. I do print out a number of articles for students who I know need to highlight, etc.

 

OK.

 

We also use a comprehension series called "STARS- Strategies to Achieve Reading Success" and the STARS extensions in reading series. They tie in well with Achieve because they specifically focus in on 12 strategies which cover all the types of questions asked within the Achieve.

The articles are all from the Associated Press. You could also choose to do "units" and a series of articles will be recommended with resources.

I'm not sure if you'll need all the reporting features. I do like that the levels increase individually based on their performance over time and it even will tell you how your student is performing on specific common core or standard of learning strands and how likely they would be to pass it. It will also show you the weak areas (this week we're struggling with Making Inferences) so I've been able to pull additional articles that are question heavy in that category. Again, not sure if I'd pay for it individually. You could find resources online (worksheets). The data/reporting collection, and having multiple students be able to read the same piece of writing at a level challenging for them is the biggie for me.

 

Thank you for bolded above, and for trying to pix my family. I think you may be right!

 

lunch break about over- back to work I go.

 

PS- no printing issues on my Dell. I will often have my daughter do hers on the Ipad, which also works.

 

 

Thank you for your detailed reply. I am so glad you saw this, as not many here use the Achieve3000 program, at least that I know of.

 

The STARS looks excellent. I like explicit -- we use 6+1 Traits for writing, for example. I already ordered a 'Reading Grade Placement Test' published by Curriculum Associates -- from RR, as I didn't see it of CA website. Plus a Reading Comprehension (Ervin) book from EPS.

 

http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/products/details.cfm?series=600m

 

But I am going to keep STARS in mind -- how nice that single copies can be ordered .

[IsabelC]

Thanks for the good advice people.

 

We're starting to get into a bit of a rhythm, but it's hard. I guess I'm so used to not doing school that I'm finding it difficult just to fit things in around such a big time commitment I mean seriously, how on earth do 'normal' people actually have time to do school and do life as well? :D

 

Our week day goes about like this:

6am - Get up, spend half an hour dragging kids out of bed because they haven't gotten used to the earlier start yet. This morning Mr.9 only rose when I threatened to pour cold water on him.

Kids make beds, put dirty clothes in laundry, get breakfast ready, eat, wash and do teeth, chores, get into uniforms and pack schoolbags.

8.30am - drop off at school

3.30-4pm depending on how much dawdling happens on the walk home - kids arrive home, unpack, change and have after school snack.

4 - 6pm - afterschooling time, homework if applicable, and free play

Then it's into dinner, reading aloud and bedtime.

 

So not a lot of time for the afterschooling, considering that the kids all need one on one time.

I suppose I could imitate m3luvbugs and replace the afternoon snack with an earlier dinner time, but then they'd hardly ever get dinner with their daddy.

 

We already have very limited screen time - the elder two might watch TV 1 or 2 hours a week some weeks, and other weeks not at all, and they pretty much only watch stuff like nature documentaries and adaptations of books we've read. They sometime have an hour or two of math games or similar which would be instead of TV, so it would be very rare for them to get more than a couple of hours screen time per week.

 

Field trips I will need to plan better for. I've turned into a snob from years of only going to museums etc when the normal kids are in school, so it's a bit of a shock to have to visit places when they're fully of other families!

 

Read alouds we do a ton - we'll generally have a family novel plus an individual novel for each of the older kids on the go at once, plus 10-30 shorter library books (at least half educational) per week. Plus whatever non education things the kids pick (pony books and Enid Blyton, mainly!) We do reading/phonics practice daily with the girls.

 

I have already been given to understand that we're on our own as far as reading is concerned. I went to speak with Ms.7's teacher about her reading problems, and how the readers they are giving her are counterproductive. She basically informed me that although my daughter is about 2 years behind on reading, she'll probably improve in her own time, and I shouldn't be concerned because she isn't actually the worst in the class!! Yep, that's our quality Australian public schooling...

I think I'm going to have to just stress less and treat this year as a gap year. Just assume that school = day care and be pleasantly surprised about what they do learn.

[Alessandra]

Dd7 will be in second grade full time, but I will need to continue with her remedial reading course because her issues are unusual and the school isn't set up to do the stuff she needs. Dd4 is starting Australian kindergarten, which is a play based curriculum 3 days per week. They don't do any meaty literacy work, so I will need to continue with her reading and writing to make sure she keeps moving along. Probably same with math.

 

Do you post on the Learning Challenges board here -- perhaps someone might have ideas about how to help your dd7.

 

 

I have already been given to understand that we're on our own as far as reading is concerned. I went to speak with Ms.7's teacher about her reading problems, and how the readers they are giving her are counterproductive. She basically informed me that although my daughter is about 2 years behind on reading, she'll probably improve in her own time, and I shouldn't be concerned because she isn't actually the worst in the class!! Yep, that's our quality Australian public schooling...

I think I'm going to have to just stress less and treat this year as a gap year. Just assume that school = day care and be pleasantly surprised about what they do learn.

 

This is interesting -- I was wondering how your dd7 who is entering 2nd grade could be two years behind in reading when K is mainly play-based. From my point of view (I am in the U.S.), I am a little envious! Play-based K classes have all but disappeared here, because of testing pressure. I have heard many people argur that a play-based environment for K is developmentally appropriate. Just my point of view from halfway around the world -- a bit of envy. Your teacher's comment about not being overly concerned may come from that philosophy of letting young children develop slowly, as differences can even out later. (Unless the school is not acknowledging real learning issues.)

 

One other thing jumped out at me while I was reading your post, "school = day care." Whether that is true or not, I would hope that your perception doesn't filter down to your dc too much. IMO, it's important, if you are afterschooling, to be as positive as possible about dc's schools. In other words, it can be better for kids to think that you are not afterschooling them because they have just wasted a day in school, but because you want to give them extra help, or teach them more, or do fun projects, or just because you love that way of spending time with them.

 

BTW, I think your schedule sounds very nice -- keep the family dinner!!!

[mom2lydia]

For my dd7 and in second grade a play method works well with some worksheets as well. I read to her every morning as she gets dressed and if I'm home for bedtime at bedtime as well. I have an inconsistent work schedule though and with a strict bedtime of lights out at 8:30 in bed by 8 if we read together I'm not always home for bedtime and she won't let anyone else read to her. It's a special thing for us I guess. If she is having trouble w/ math I give her some extra worksheets, depending on her mood anywhere from 1 to as many as she wants. She loves to write letters and stories so that reinforces grammar and handwritting. She even has taken to writing in a journal pretty regularly. She does a lot of learning games on the computer, her favorite is abcya.com It's for K-5 or 6 and has several different skills to work on and is fun for her. We play games and do puzzles as a family games usually are strategy or math skill games like battleship, clue, monopoly, yahtzee etc. She also likes to make up her own games with their own rules and creates them from scratch. I'm a firm believer in kids learning through their natural environments and play as much as possible. We also do drills in the car of word problems, math facts, word associations, or games where we look for words that start with different letters on a long trip to see who can complete the alphabet the fastest. we spend about 30-45min reading every morning as she gets ready for school and then probably that long doing other things during the afternoon/evening. Bedtime story is 30-60min depending on what time she goes to bed. So in all I guess we spend about 1-2hrs of structured afterschooling but we do things all the time that are learning activities. Even things we watch on tv I make into critical thinking or we read a book then watch the movie and compare/contrast them. It all depends on what you want to accomplish and how you want to do it and what works for your family and personalities.

[IsabelC]

This is interesting -- I was wondering how your dd7 who is entering 2nd grade could be two years behind in reading when K is mainly play-based.

Sorry, I think the terminology might have been confusing. Where I live, 'kinder' is what you'd call preschool - a part time learn-to-socialize year. So our progression goes Kinder (age 4) - Prep - Grade 1, Grade 2 etc. I guess what we call Prep is what you'd call Kinder. (I know. It's stupid. It would be easier if we all had the same terms!)

 

One other thing jumped out at me while I was reading your post, "school = day care." Whether that is true or not, I would hope that your perception doesn't filter down to your dc too much. IMO, it's important, if you are afterschooling, to be as positive as possible about dc's schools. In other words, it can be better for kids to think that you are not afterschooling them because they have just wasted a day in school, but because you want to give them extra help, or teach them more, or do fun projects, or just because you love that way of spending time with them.

Actually that's a very good point. Thank you! I will definitely have to keep an eye on this. Dh already told me off for saying something disrespectful about one of the teachers before the kids were quite out of earshot. (I was sorely provoked. The teacher ought to know at least as much about literacy as I do! But it's not on to dis the teacher until the kids are asleep.)

[Alessandra]

Sorry, I think the terminology might have been confusing. Where I live, 'kinder' is what you'd call preschool - a part time learn-to-socialize year. So our progression goes Kinder (age 4) - Prep - Grade 1, Grade 2 etc. I guess what we call Prep is what you'd call Kinder. (I know. It's stupid. It would be easier if we all had the same terms!)

 

Oh, I see. U.S. kindergarten is Australian Prep. I had no idea. I try to follow threads about schooling in different countries. I always learn a lot at WTM -- thanks for explaining.

 

Actually that's a very good point. Thank you! I will definitely have to keep an eye on this. Dh already told me off for saying something disrespectful about one of the teachers before the kids were quite out of earshot. (I was sorely provoked. The teacher ought to know at least as much about literacy as I do! But it's not on to dis the teacher until the kids are asleep.)

 

 

Waiting till they are asleep sounds good. And speaking in a low voice, lol.

[IsabelC]

Actually, I'm pretty sure that in some states of Australia the progressions is prep-kind-1st grade etc and sometimes they have Foundation instead. We're not even consistent across Australia LOL.

[Twilight Woods]

Thanks for the good advice people.

 

We're starting to get into a bit of a rhythm, but it's hard. I guess I'm so used to not doing school that I'm finding it difficult just to fit things in around such a big time commitment I mean seriously, how on earth do 'normal' people actually have time to do school and do life as well? :D

 

Our week day goes about like this:

6am - Get up, spend half an hour dragging kids out of bed because they haven't gotten used to the earlier start yet. This morning Mr.9 only rose when I threatened to pour cold water on him.

Kids make beds, put dirty clothes in laundry, get breakfast ready, eat, wash and do teeth, chores, get into uniforms and pack schoolbags.

8.30am - drop off at school

3.30-4pm depending on how much dawdling happens on the walk home - kids arrive home, unpack, change and have after school snack.

4 - 6pm - afterschooling time, homework if applicable, and free play

Then it's into dinner, reading aloud and bedtime.

 

So not a lot of time for the afterschooling, considering that the kids all need one on one time.

I suppose I could imitate m3luvbugs and replace the afternoon snack with an earlier dinner time, but then they'd hardly ever get dinner with their daddy.

 

We already have very limited screen time - the elder two might watch TV 1 or 2 hours a week some weeks, and other weeks not at all, and they pretty much only watch stuff like nature documentaries and adaptations of books we've read. They sometime have an hour or two of math games or similar which would be instead of TV, so it would be very rare for them to get more than a couple of hours screen time per week.

 

Field trips I will need to plan better for. I've turned into a snob from years of only going to museums etc when the normal kids are in school, so it's a bit of a shock to have to visit places when they're fully of other families!

 

Read alouds we do a ton - we'll generally have a family novel plus an individual novel for each of the older kids on the go at once, plus 10-30 shorter library books (at least half educational) per week. Plus whatever non education things the kids pick (pony books and Enid Blyton, mainly!) We do reading/phonics practice daily with the girls.

 

I have already been given to understand that we're on our own as far as reading is concerned. I went to speak with Ms.7's teacher about her reading problems, and how the readers they are giving her are counterproductive. She basically informed me that although my daughter is about 2 years behind on reading, she'll probably improve in her own time, and I shouldn't be concerned because she isn't actually the worst in the class!! Yep, that's our quality Australian public schooling...

I think I'm going to have to just stress less and treat this year as a gap year. Just assume that school = day care and be pleasantly surprised about what they do learn.

 

 

The kids do not eat dinner with Dad. He gets home late most nights so they would DIE if they had to wait to eat. BUT when dad gets home they usually join him at the table [i eat with him] and talk about our day etc etc so it amounts to some good quality time together. I found with all the stuff we do there is not a lot of time for screen time. I try to limit it [i am just starting to read Simplicity Parenting] and use it as an reward or "bonus" b/c I would prefer them to not watch it. As I said before there are days where doing the "extra stuff" is hard. My 7 y/o needs the challenge b/c school isn't doing it for her.... I am counting down the days till we can just homeschool without me working.... :)