Runningmom80 Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 edited to remove personal info 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted July 11, 2015 Share Posted July 11, 2015 Thank you for sharing. I often wonder if things would be different if he was the only child. But it's okay. I wanted 2 other children. :) As WMA mentioned, I do have a toddler as well. I haven't mentioned him much re homeschooling because my husband watched him while I schooled last year. We own a business and my husband has a flexible schedule. I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle the toddler and manage to get school done. I know others manage, but I'm just not that competent. Next year, Ronen will go to preschool 2 days/week. My husband will watch him the other 2 days. I won't really have to manage two kids in our homeschool until Ronen is five or six, depending on when we start K. By that point, Sacha will be nine or ten, at which point, I imagine that he will be more independent (relatively). If you have 3 kids, that is a much more challenging homeschool situation. Thankfully, there are experienced moms of many here who graciously share their tips. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 First of all, my oldest is almost 9, so take my advice accordingly! Many others have more experience here…. And now it's time for bed here, too. :) Thank you for sharing. You actually sound like me and your son sounds like my son. :) at one point in time I did tell him that it was the law. I said other stuff too, but it's good to know that someone else said the samw thing. :) I'm on my phone and I can't seem to see all,of your answers, so I'll try to remember all of your points. LoF is too expensive for us. Thank you for the suggestion though. I do skip a,lesson every now and then. Thank you for pointing out the COVD issue. I don't think he hasxa,problem because when he does read he can. He doesn't complain about his eyes or rub them. The other day when we were at toys r us, I told him if he started to read on his own, that we would get him minecraft. We don't usually reward like this, but I know if he just started to read that he'll love it and take off. He loves it when we read to him the dk and kingfisher's encyclopedias, the way we work, and any other encyclopedias. So, since then he got a reader and has been (on his,own) reading it out loud. It's the same one, but hey its a start. I hope I don't regret making that deal. But I'm thinking hopefully one time couldn't hurt. He really really wants that game. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 My parents, aunts and cousins had many questions raising me. I have many questions raising my kids that they can give their perspective/opinions but not solutions. Don't worry about the what ifs or what could have beens, just get enough rest and forge ahead. By the time we are grandparents, there will still be questions to ponder about our kids. I still remember my aunts telling my dad that kids don't come with instruction manuals so don't follow those child rearing books to the letter :lol: My dad is the only worrywart in the extended family. Many of us in my extended family never make use of all our natural abilities. What is full potential and does every child need to reach it to be happy? Are we "bad" parents if our kids aren't able to reach their full potential in all their natural abilities? I don't know the answers to that but I don't expect to. I have friends who major in child psychology at college. They are having a rough ride as parents too. lol Yes, this has been on my mind lately that he won't meet his full potential because I'm busy raising 2 other kids. However, I keep telling myself that I do have 2 other kids and they are here for a reason. I should be happy with that. And I am. :) I know that he has plenty of time to reach his full potential, and that it's up to him to do it too. I just worry that spending about 3 hours every afternoon in the car is not helping any. I have to spend about 3 hours on most afternoons so my youngest can take a nap or we have to be out of the house because my dh has a phone conference. And yes, when she naps we do some lessons. Mostly sotw, sassafras twins and/or herb fairies. Or I read to them. I have to do something to include my other dd. So, no math lessons. Thank you for mentioning that your friends are having a rough time too. Not that I'm happy with that, but I've wondered if I had majored in child psychology if things would be different. My dh majored in psychology and it has help. But yeah, we as parents don't know everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 Every family is different, but we never took the attitude that dd's ahead, so we won't push. (I'm using push to mean encouraging her to stretch her boundaries and leave her comfort zone.) At that age we did school 4 days a week. Often that included 2 long days and 2 shorter ones. We followed the recommendations in The Well-Trained Mind pretty closely in the early years, although often using alternative books and resources. It took time. Sometimes lots of it. Maybe it wouldn't for others, but the way we approached it amounted to at least a few hours a day. I expected a lot out of her in the early years. Different child, I would have done things differently. No question. I was teaching the child I had, with the personality I had. On top of TWTM, we did many of Charlotte Mason's recommendations. The two approaches may seem at odds with one another in some ways, but it worked well for us. Absolutely. We have had a routine going almost her whole life. Not a strict schedule, but more of a flow to the day. Circle time was an important part of the early years. Having a circle of two doesn't diminish the magic... ;) What we didn't have was a TV. For that I am grateful. There are so many hours during the day. So very many.... I see no problem having a young child do some desk work and some other "school" work. What that looks like and how much is the right amount will vary from child to child. Even spending 3 or 4 hours doing "school work", there were still hours stretching before us to play. Even those 3-4 hours often felt like play for this particular child. I strongly recommend keeping your eyes on the child. I treasure the memories of the "work" of those early years. As we transition into high school, I can look back now and see the interplay of nature/nurture in the teen she has become. Listen to others, listen to yourself, listen to the child. Thank you for sharing. I sometimes wish we didn't have the tv. But sometimes grateful too. lol My youngest can be fussy and I'm not sure how to deal with that. She's too heavy for me to hold and I don't want to bother dh whose working. Playing with her sometimes work, but sometimes doesn't. :) We do a mix of classical and CM too. Yes, I will try to listen to them. That's really good advice. Sometimes I can be so clueless though. Like rapture_dad said that doing CWP a year behind for an advanced kid may be boring for him. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 Maybe he's just bored of phonics? If he's already reading easy readers, maybe just practice reading for a while, and sneak in the phonics as he needs it? Yes, I forgot to mention that we don't do pp anymore. He does read from readers and reading pathways. Although we haven't done reading pathways in a couple of months. I started buddy reading magic tree house with him a couple of weeks ago. Not sure what happened.......I think I started right before we had to go on a trip for dh's work. I'll probably pick that up again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 Just wanted to make sure you know that the person you quoted in that post (SeaConquest) has more than one child. I didn't know if you were relating the comment to her post or if it was just a general comment. I wanted to clarify, just in case you thought she only had one. :) Yes, thank you for pointing that out. I did only think she had one. But it had been on my mind lately anyhow. But I shouldn't question. He's a very sociable person, so I'm glad we had our 2nd child soon after him. They are like best friends and social skills are important too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 Now that I'm thinking about it, I think I actually did CWP a semester behind rather than a year behind. SM actually does spiral somewhat year to year, meaning that concepts are revisited and expanded upon in a fairly predictable order on a yearly cycle. Doing CWP a semester behind kept the prior semester's work more fresh. My problem was that my son would get bored *and* he needed review in order to remember anything. It was very difficult to balance those two issues without running into disgruntlement. Thanks for letting me know that SM is somewhat spiral. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 My dh travels too and we go with him most times. :) I actually love to travel. I think that's one reason why I'm worried. I'm not really a detailed oriented person. Ever watched a tv show called Friends? I used to be like Phoebe. Then I had kids, and I'm slowly becoming like Monica. lol I may be wrestling with myself. Yes, I felt like we jumped around a lot this past year. But I thought I was okay with it since it's just kindergarten. I don't know if I want to be like that for this next year. My son is 6 and I still play the videos where he's a baby. lol I do miss those times too. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 As WMA mentioned, I do have a toddler as well. I haven't mentioned him much re homeschooling because my husband watched him while I schooled last year. We own a business and my husband has a flexible schedule. I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle the toddler and manage to get school done. I know others manage, but I'm just not that competent. Next year, Ronen will go to preschool 2 days/week. My husband will watch him the other 2 days. I won't really have to manage two kids in our homeschool until Ronen is five or six, depending on when we start K. By that point, Sacha will be nine or ten, at which point, I imagine that he will be more independent (relatively). If you have 3 kids, that is a much more challenging homeschool situation. Thankfully, there are experienced moms of many here who graciously share their tips. Thank you for clarifying. Sorry for the misunderstanding! :) I bet you'll be fine homeschooling 2 at a time. Just like me. I'm confident and never have any questions. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 Arcadia, I watched the video you linked. I didn't realize it was a video. I just wanted to drool over the room again. lol He's good at building. No wonder he's an architect. :) Thanks again. I'm going to show this to my children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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