IsabelC Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Tomorrow is my girls' last day of school! :party: I am really looking forward to having all my kids learning without school once more. School has not been a super positive experience for my daughters, so I hope this will be a change for the better. I've been thinking about a few different ideas for schedules, subjects and curriculum resources, but now I have a burning question. What is going to be the best way to get back to home education? Should we begin with a full program including everything I'd like to do, knowing that I can easily cut back after a while if need be? This would get them straight into good habits and avoid them getting the idea that leaving school equals having a holiday. Or should we 'deschool' by starting with minimal formal schoolwork and then gradually work up to the amount I'd like them to be doing? This might be more fun and get their brains fresher since they have been sick lately and are still quite tired. Or maybe do lots of 'school at home' but focus on really fun stuff so that we keep up the momentum but they still get a refreshing break from the book work? I don't want to weigh them down with work and make them dislike home school, but I do feel that I should maybe push them a bit, because they have been learning very little in their school classes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 First you start with a party, because you can. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 Excellent idea :) And yes, we already have a plan for Day 1 to be Not Back to School Day: we are going to spend all day swimming and relaxing around the BBQ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3 Only Children Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I would start with your last two options. Deschool time is definitely needed as they adjust. Doing something fun that they are interested in is what homeschooling is all about! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I would start with the non-negotiable subjects, whatever they might be for you (when we started w dd in fifth, those subjects were math, English, science, history). And then add in another subject every few days or even every week, until you are up to a full schedule. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Well, I would go with your gut. For myself, I could not finish a school year (of any kind) and start the next one without a break. I need the break, and I think my kids need it too. But that might not be the vibe in your home right now. On the other hand, if I had nothing else giving us a bit of structure (i.e. summer swim, etc.) then I would consider everyone meeting for a read aloud, moving on to a math lesson and then requiring X minutes of free-reading time. Then I would add other subjects whenever I felt ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 You start with a lesser amount of work and build up. BUT You start with higher expectations and firmness of rules and then ease off, as appropriate. So...you may start with just math for a week. But, by golly, those numbers better be printed neatly and if there are any sloppy errors, the entire problem is reworked until it's correct. I learned this from a very wise and very beloved by his students teacher. You can always ease up on your level of strictness as the weeks progress but it's darn hard to become strict after you've been lenient. The kids buck against that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 OP, you have school holidays now, right? (Aussie, I believe) Enjoy your holiday, but discuss your plans and expectations with the girls (and your ds) several times before you actually begin school. "We're going to have breakfast and get ready for the day, do A and B, take a break to play outside, do C, have lunch..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted September 26, 2014 Author Share Posted September 26, 2014 I really like the idea of beginning with only a small amount of school work but still having a high expectation that they have to do their best with it. Yes, they technically 'should' be on school holidays for two weeks. However I know that Ms. 6 is going to be unhappy if she has to practice music and the others don't have to do anything but their chores. And I am too mean to let her off piano and violin for two weeks (because she practices reasonably happily as long as we're in a routine, but if we stopped for a while she would resist starting again). So I might have Mr. 11 and Ms. 9 work on a good chunk of math daily before they can play. Ms. 6 can do math as well but I can just give her one page, which will only take her a few minutes to do. And of course lots of reading aloud, outside activities and other stuff they enjoy. Then after the holidays we will ramp up with Language Arts and start moving towards the actual schedule I want to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 I would do a fun deschool for at least a few weeks. Like only the fun school stuff - field trips, documentaries all day, art time, science experiments, a great read aloud to kick everything off, logic puzzles, etc. And I'd use that time to talk to them too about what they want and what will make homeschooling again work for them. Then I would add in a subject at a time and make it work right before really starting to push. I get what you're saying about wanting to really start big, but I think just doing can be momentum and it doesn't have to be challenging pushing work to build that. Instead, I'd focus on getting your routine down and starting on a high note for at least about a month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Could the older ones do assigned reading while the younger one practises? It seems unfair to you all to miss the holidays - my kids have found the winter term hard. Or music appreciation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted September 27, 2014 Author Share Posted September 27, 2014 Hmmm, maybe I should force strongly encourage the bigger kids to practice their instruments as well... It's not like we'd get loads of schoolwork done next week in any case, because I just found out that Ms. 9 has a spot in holiday horse riding, which means she'll be up there for three days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmtzc2009 Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 I know I am in the minority but I regret deschooling my ds. I don't think he benefited from it and he had left PS under some pretty stressful circumstances. Once ds had seen what deschooling looked like he had no interest and was rather frustrated when it was time to ramp up our schooling. Looking back I can see with my kids that they thrive with structure and consistency. In our case it would have been better to jump in to full school and if I needed to scale something back I would have. I can't speak for what's best for your child and deschooling may be the best option. It just wasn't in our case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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