Momof3 Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 How many of you are afterschooling...but you really wish you could be hs yr dc? *sigh* We're most likely putting ds (5 in June) in k5 this fall... He's very bright (I'd say verbally 'gifted', mathematically bright). He reads at a 3rd to 4th grade level (devours books), and we're forging our way through the middle of Saxon Math 1. We do SOTW (mostly for fun b/c he loves history stories), and some very at-our-own-pace science... He just really enjoys learning (okay, most days). :) The school is excellent all around... I'm just really going to miss teaching him - and I am concerned that he's going to be bored to tears sitting through the alphabet sounds, shapes & colors, etc. His class is small, so the teacher will most likely be able to give him plenty of attention. My plan is to afterschool as much as I can/should to keep him learning... We'll definitely do reading (I usually have him read to me 15 min/day), and some math? Would you do anything else? Do you ever send stuff for yr dc to work on at school? Yes, I know he needs plenty of time for play... I'm really clueless abt how this afterschooling stuff works. And...maybe I'm just looking for some sympathy. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwikate Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 I would secretly love to homeschool one or all of mine, but they absolutely love school! I totally understand about missing teaching them though. We have a great school, and I do some afterschooling, although I try to limit that as it is mostly about what I want to teach them rather than a need they have. I have had to work hard to balance that out. As for the boredom, I found that my girls are willing to cope with a bit of that as they enjoy all the other stuff so much, especially the social side of school. We have worked closely with the school where needed to get some individualised programming for one daughter. The happiness I get from having happy, enthusiastic, motivated learners has to make up for the loss I feel at not being able to do it all myself :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 How many of you are afterschooling...but you really wish you could be hs yr dc? *sigh* We're most likely putting ds (5 in June) in k5 this fall... He's very bright (I'd say verbally 'gifted', mathematically bright). He reads at a 3rd to 4th grade level (devours books), and we're forging our way through the middle of Saxon Math 1. We do SOTW (mostly for fun b/c he loves history stories), and some very at-our-own-pace science... He just really enjoys learning (okay, most days). :) Me! My long term goal is to get my husband a job, work a couple of years to make sure its stable. Then come home and convince him to let me homeschool. (He's dubious right now but not outright Negative. So I think he's convinceable.) I'm hoping to be there by the time DD is K. And maybe stuff will happen between now and then that will make the convincing easier! In the meantime, though. I did fine in public schools with involved parents. Not the BEST I could have been. But fine. And we are staying involved in DS's education and doing as much as we can in the evenings and weekends as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La Texican Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Yes, but in our small town going to school and joining the boys and girls club t-ball, soccor, and basketball is really the main chance to join the other kids in the community. Academically, going to school is harmful to my kid. But I think it does give him entertainment. He has gotten a couple of bad notes, but overall the school staff says my kid's a good kid. I ask periodically. I say he can go to school as long as he behaves and mostly wants to go. He tried one time to tell me he couldn't read, after he's been reading fluently, because he learned the other kids can't read. I told him to read me a book then and there or he wasn't going to do anything else until he did. I also started afterschooing after he had gone to school for half a year and was forgetting how to write. I sent him to school well able to write anything quickly as long as you told him how to spell it. After four months in school he forgot how to write many of his letters. I 'bout went through the roof. Now we afterschool a couple times a week. I read The Well Trained Mind. He has a history notebook where I read from The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History, he narrates back to me a summary, I write it down, he illustrates it. He has a reading notebook where he summarizes some of the books he reads, I write it down. I copy one of the sentences out of the book. He copies that sentence on the book report. My laptop is broken, but once it's fixed he'll be back on Khan Academy. I might sound, or even be over invested.. but why would he lose ground by going to school everyday? It challenging to figure out what is best when you only want to do what's best for your family. FWIW my son said he likes going to school and he wished I was his teacher there at school. Aww Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 I would like to have the option of home schooling. I was totally miserable at school and I hate the thought that is he stops liking it I will have to tell him there is no choice as I have to work and I can't afford to pay someone to watch him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Kate Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 Yes! I worked and homeschooled my Ds from K - 2nd. I work part-time, but its the kind of pt job where most people assumed I was full-time and I did a lot of work outside of my scheduled work hours. This year, with my dd starting K, I knew I couldn't school two kids and work. So my kids are in school! Thankfully things are looking good with dh's job, so the possibility of me quitting my job in the future is out there. However my kids love their school, so that would be a challenge. We'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trying my best Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 I was just like you when i sent me son to K. Now he is in 1st grade and doing just fine. Here is our story: at meet the teacher night i was still unsure how my such a gifted boy will do in K level. He was a good fluent reader, he was writing good, natural speller, could spell big words orally, doing 4 digits adition and subtraction with twice borrowing and such..At meet the teacher night i was thinking "what are we doing here??" couple of months back: at K registration (and with mandatory visit with principal), i made a list of DS's skills and gave it to her so that she could give it to his future K teacher so she could be prepared for him. Thinking if I was a teacher i would LOVE to know all info about kids levels. So turned out she indeed gave my list to his teacher and his teacher was keeping it entire year and refering to it all year. So in meet the teacher night, she told me she reviewed the list and was looking forward having him. I asked her what would be her plans for him. She said that for reading she will get kids of the same levels in their own groups and will supervice the groups (they ended it up with several groups and my son had about 4 other kids who could read well in his group). She also said for writing time - there is really no limit since its all being creative with your thoughts on paper. She said Math would be a chalange since she never dealed with that as a teacher. I told her i could bring book he is working on (addition and subtraction drills for 3 graders) - she LOVED the idea. I gave her his book later on and she used it. They also tested him for gifted program in K (they made exeptoin for him since they dont do it till 1st grade. He passed. He started going once a week for full day to his gifted program and loved it. Your child will be just fine in public K. I would sugest to make a list and make sure his teacher gets it before school starts, She will apreciate this. School is academic learning AND social learning. My son exceed expectation on learning field but below expectation for focusing and just settling down. I dont think what he does (not focusing) is because he MIGHT be bored - he is not bored - he reads apropriate books, he writes stories... maybe in math he is bored. I think its maturity problem that he is not focusing. If all this learning would be new information to him I swear he would have exact same ettitude. He likes to be funny and spantanious and it gets him in trouble lol... no matter if he knows information they teach or not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La Texican Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 I wished too hard. I told the hubby that I just always wanted to homeschool. Instead of going away the feeling's only getting stronger. I think I'll homeschool starting next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 I am mixed. Dd is in a charter school that has some classical type elements. On one hand I am relieved I don't have to do everything on my own especially as the kids get older. On the other hand now that I have been working with my kids and considered homeschooling I get more critical about things and how they are taught. Dd's school although rigorous does not differentiate. Her school uses WRTR and she been ahead of what they are working on. Sometimes I wish the instruction was at her level rather then what the class is working on. I do stuff with her at home but next year when she is in full time school it will be harder to do. I feel like I haven't had a chance to work on her with math because I was trying to give her stuff to do at her reading level and so math got neglected. I do enjoy teaching my kids and still do. I can handle teaching reading and basic math but teaching older kids is a little scary to me. I miss having all instruction at their level but in some ways I enjoy having them going to school and having the pressure off and giving them enrichment. I'm still open to homeschooling if it doesn't work out or homeschooling my younger two if they don't do good at the school dd is in. There are parts of afterschooling I like and part of me would like homeschooling too. My main reasons for wanting to homeschool were for academics and social reasons. I like the academics at the charter and the parents are really involved and it is a good group of kids but I wish I could go a little farther. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Mousie Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 If I knew then what I know now, and if I didn't have to work, and if I could have a do-over, I'd be homeschooling. Alas, it just isn't going to be. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 Well now I do. My ds6 is claiming he hates school and it is boring and ds3 is saying "I just want to stay home with you mummy". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 So it turns out dd is having a hard time in math and in some of the other subjects they are teaching but she is doing great in reading and spelling. I have spent more time working on her with reading and spelling. Maybe she is better off at home if I am going to be needing to go over this stuff with her anyway. Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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