Letting school be "easy" for a time - I'm not the only one, right?

[blondeviolin]

Abby's curriculum is all at a point where she finishes it rather quickly without much difficulty. She's the type of child that would be happy to do be doing things at grade level and not complain once that it is way too easy or boring. There really is no struggle or challenge in any of the work she's currently doing. Nobody is complaining or getting bored from the work. She's engaged with it, but she's definitely capable of more advanced work.

 

BUT...

• She's already advanced. Not as advanced as some on this board, but when I compare her to her peers locally? WHOAH. At 6.5, she is doing what most third and fourth graders do here... well, except for writing lousy book reports.
  
• The weather here is starting to turn nice some days. I can send the kids outside at times and they are there for HOURS. I love they has so much down time and really value the time they have playing and using their imagination and being OUTSIDE.
  
• If I increase the difficulty (which I really feel she could handle), it means an upset in the routine.
  
• I have four little kids with another on the way. I'm busy, okay? :p
  

I don't plan on it being like this all the time. Eventually she will be challenged again.

 

Am I the only one that allows for things to be easy/not challenging for a time? :blush:

[quark]

Should I say it? OK I will. She's 6! :laugh: Don't worry and be happy! :laugh:

And congratulations about the one in the oven!

 

I just saw that you have your preschooler doing What Your Preschooler Needs to Know and that brings back memories. We used the What your K-er and What your 1st Grader books some days when kiddo was 5 and 6 for the exact reason...to keep things easy for a while, just kick back, read, do simple things and enjoy the sunshine. Have fun!

[poiema]

Yes, send the poor child outside! We are having lousy weather here so I am mostly speaking out of cabin fever. But to answer your question - yes, we have some long school days and some relaxed days. The relaxed days are what makes homeschooling so worth it for us (that and about a dozen other reasons). What kid in PS can take the day off (or a half day) to go to the park, or have a Drop Everything And Read day? We can - and still be ahead! :hurray:

[Dmmetler]

Go for it-send them outside and call it "Nature study" (my DD is turning over every single rock, hoping to find a newly hatched baby snake to adopt. I just hope she finds a garter or rat snake, not a copperhead). Give them sidewalk chalk and call it "Art"-etc.

 

Actually, I sort of set my school year up this way-it starts getting hot here in June, and usually by the time the first couple of weeks of PS being out have passed, her friends are occupied in day camps and summer programs. So, we start our school year in Mid Summer, and begin winding down in Spring-by then, DD has usually finished a decent chunk of material (this is the first year that we didn't start all new books by January), and it's a good time to go to the Zoo, Botanic gardens, and just generally play outside. When it starts getting hot, we begin schooling in the afternoon when it's the hottest, saving outside time (and sleeping late) for mornings and evenings (and evenings are usually when other kids are available to play). There are a few weeks of summer camp or VBS where DD doesn't have any "real" school, as she puts it-but from my POV, those experiences are pretty valuable in and of themselves, especially given that she's so far accelerated academically.

 

And I will say-I've been down with a bug the last couple of days, and I'm not sure DD needs me. She's been carefully recording what she does and putting on my computer so I can put it on her log, and she's been doing a lot of World Ed games practice, watching Netflix videos (mostly Jeff Corwin and Cyberchase), reading SOTW, and checking off the assignments for her Athena's class. I'm starting to wonder if she needs me at all!

[boscopup]

I think it's fine! If she's not wanting more challenge, no sense in killing yourself to give it to her! I also let the kids relax and play more when the weather is nice. This is why we start our school year in the summer - so we can have those nice fall and spring days off to spend time outside!

 

DS1 is usually done shortly after lunch, and he's in 3rd grade. I *am* expecting more from him this year, but not every subject is super challenging. Some subjects are fairly easy. My 6 year old K'er is done in under an hour. He is not needing a challenge yet (reading is a challenge for him as it is). He could probably easily be accelerated into Singapore 2A by now, but I'm going at a slightly fast but reasonable pace for him. He finds it easy and fun. It's all good. :) If he were bored, I'd speed it up more, but right now, it's making him feel confident, and that's what he needs at this point in time.

 

But yeah, at 6 for DS1, I was just *starting* to increase the challenge for him. School took about 1.5 hours (including science and history), and he had tons and tons of play time. I also had a toddler in the house, so I wasn't doing as much read aloud stuff as I do now. You'll be FINE. She's only 6! :D

[MissKNG]

 

Am I the only one that allows for things to be easy/not challenging for a time? :blush:

 

 

At 6.5, I think you will be fine.

[Mélie]

You're not the only one! My younger son is in public kindergarten and having lots of fun cutting, pasting and learning about the letter T. :p At home, he's doing some math and spelling, but at a much slower pace than he's capable of. My older son likes to be challenged in math and has recently become pretty interested in science, but everything else is "easy" for him.

 

I'm so jealous of your weather! I'm afraid of my kids getting stuck in snow drifts when I send them out to play in the backyard. :glare:

[Runningmom80]

I posted something like this a couple of weeks ago. We are doing the same thing, i also have a 6 year old, maybe it's the age. :)

 

It just feels right to slow it down a little, so I'm going with it.

[chicagoshannon]

If it were nice here I'd be doing the same thing! It's good to give little brains a rest for a bit sometimes. I've found if we take it easy for a bit it gives dd's brain time to mature more which makes the more challenging things easier to handle.

 

I can't wait for nice weather!

[MissKNG]

I also let things become "easy" when I start getting burned out myself and just want a bit of a break.

[Greenmama2]

Yes, DD's formal school time (1-1.5 hours each am) is "easy". Still somewhat accelerated (most curric we use at this time is aroun 3rd grade level for a 6.75 yr old, some higher and then there's SSL which makes her laugh because it is so easy but she loves it) but definitely easy. This is partly because the main reason we do formal sit down school is for behaviour management. We started as unschoolers & I still feel that the majority of DD's learning comes from her own explorations, it's just that she functions better and is much easier to live with if she gets that time each day. She uses that time more as a space in which she practices and solidifies what she she has already learnt.

[Kathy G]

You are NOT the only one! We do this too. NO real rhyme or reason, just when we need breaks. DD 7 math for the next week or two consists of a little multiplicatio and division book we bought. Not a true curriculum, bu tshe wanted to do it. I figure if they are far ahead let them have breaks. I have never been one to push my kids and so when they want a break I usually do it.

[acurtis75]

We've been in a relaxed/easy mode since summer. At first I was stressing about it but I think she's learning just as much and we'll pick up the pace in a few months. We are years ahead in every subject and life has dictated a need for me to have a slower pace for a while (multiple trips out of town since June, closed on and moved in to a new house in September, family visiting in Nov/Dec and i'm 35 weeks pregnant).

 

In the meantime she has started doing sotw and science on her own because on a relaxed schedule we never get to it and she was tired of waiting for me. Dd turns 8 in 2 weeks and I'm starting to notice more focus and independence on her part. Up to this point she is great at everything but could really take or leave all schoolwork (especially math). She loves to read but just wasn't very motivated to do anything else other than play.

 

Lately, she seems to be establishing some goals for herself and pursuing them. For example, she told me she would like to hurry up and finish her mus zeta book because pre-algebra looks more interesting and dh has been teaching her to type. She has been voluntarily practicing daily. He told her to type the sentence 5 times a day but she has started doing it as many times as she needs to to beat her previous best time. This is big progress because she normally gets frustrated with anything that's not super easy.

 

I guess I said all that to agree that easy school isn't a bad thing occasionally to give them time to develop some self-led interests.

[Kathy G]

I guess I said all that to agree that easy school isn't a bad thing occasionally to give them time to develop some self-led interests.

 

 

:iagree: Yes- that has been how it works here too!