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Pulling son from school...


Tsutsie
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deschooling for him while you research. It is very tempting to skip this. I did, and I really wish I hadn't. Giving the child some time to adjust to being home and get school further removed is great.

 

Projects, field trips, local science museum and the library. Maybe find a class like drama or something so he can meet some other homeschooled kids.

 

Then, don't buy and start everything at once. Do lots of reading. Aloud and on his own. Then just find your math program. Pick it, and start teaching it. This will teach you so much about your teaching style and your son's learning style. It will make picking out the rest of the curriculum easier.

 

Breath, he is only 8 and you have a lot of time to figure this out.

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that depends on a lot of things.

 

  • what is the law in your state? will you need to provide some sort of end-of-year proof of progress? if so you may need to prepare for that
  • why are you pulling him? is he bored? falling behind? getting bullied? different reasons would point different directions.
  • what do you want to accomplish in your homeschooling?

 

 

you might want to just deschool, read a lot of good books together and go to a lot of museums; you may want to work hard on phonics and handwriting; you may want to get time4learning for an easy all-in-one on the computer to 'cover the bases' while you make a better plan for next year. there is no one answer

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I would just stick with the three Rs for a few weeks at least. Do some de-schooling but do lots of reading and some math and just a little bit of easy free writing. I agree with the PP the laws in your state may have a different opinion on what your options are. Plus the reasons you are pulling him will play a role as well

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I agree, deschool. Take this time to begin good habits and establish daiily "at home" routines. You will not regret it! Having good habits and routines down will be a huge advantage for you when you do officially start school. Does he have a workbook style math (where he writes in it) at school? Can you keep that and just finish the book with him. Add in reading books from the library and let him pick some history and science topics to study. Museums, library, park days, etc. I would totally just enjoy having him home and begin something structured for your next "school year" whenever you choose for that to begin.

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I'm almost certain that my DS8 will not be going back to school after the Spring Break.

 

What to do with him for the remainder of the year?

 

Nothin'. :D

 

The "year" doesn't end until December 31, you know. :D

 

Unless your state laws require you to do something to prove something to someone, I say just take him out and live life. You will have to learn new daily habits (in the morning you just...get up...) and you'll develop a whole new relationship, because really and truly, y'all are not used to being together all day long--even on weekends, you all have a little voice in the back of your heads that says "Just wait until Monday..."

 

Play it by ear. First learn to be together, then gently add in whatever seems right.

 

And congratulations!!!! :hurray:

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Deschool, but keep requiring some reading, writing, and math. If you stop all formal learning activities completely, it makes starting up again harder. Don't rush out and buy curriculum; explore the Hive before committing to a particular philosophy or curriculum provider.

 

Ask your son what he wants to learn. If he doesn't know, make suggestions. Dinosaurs, volcanoes, hurricanes, outer space: science topics lend a wealth of rabbit trails to explore. Go to the library and talk to the librarian. Teach your son to look up interests on the library catalog. Watch videos; have the child narrate a summary and write it down a sentence. Go to museums and park days, and enjoy your child.

 

I pulled my son around the same age. I skipped deschooling at first, which was a bad idea. There were behaviors and attitudes that needed adjustment, for both myself and my kids. My son had to adjust to my learning expectations and a different, less-regimented day. My daily experience had to change. I used to rush to get done with school as soon as possible so I could have MY time back; I quickly learned to find pockets in the day to run errands and decompress.

 

Above all, good luck.

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When we started, the first thing I bought was math book, then a grammar book, then a Latin book. We already had several broken but overlapping sets of encyclopedias and lots of Bible study resources. We used the library a lot. I had some spelling and math software for our Windows 95 computer, that was not hooked up to the internet.

 

I absolutely did NOT de-school, but I didn't have much curricula either. I just taught from a lot of hardcopy reference books, trade books and videos.

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When we pulled DS out of public school mid-year, I had the same question. He was fifth grade and having a really bad time a school. I ended up just buying a math workbook for him and spending the rest of the year letting him pick great non fiction books from the library to read. He read and read, we worked gently on his writing (big problem area) and did some math each day.

 

It was the best thing we could have done for him. He still remembers tons of history and science from the things he read during those months,

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