Is it better for kids to go to an inferior school or receive inferior homeschooling?

[Garga]

And with all that said, my house stays only moderately clean. Some people manage to have a clean house and homeschool and do other things, but I'm low energy and I just don't have it in me to be super clean. I wouldn't be terribly ashamed for anyone to come into the house, but that's only because over 9 years of homeschooling I've learned to let go of the expectations that my house is clean and I've learned that I'm not morally superior if my house is spotless, nor morally inferior if it's dusty with piles of clutter.

 

Now that the kids are a little older, I use the summers to declutter and "spring" clean. I send them to visit with friends a few times a week and get caught up on decluttering and organizing. You might not be able to do that yet, but life will start to run smoother as they get a little older.

 

My point to posting this is so you know that not all of us have spotless homes and kids sitting with clasped hands at their desks for hours a day. :).

 

I've posted this in the past: https://dustylizard.wordpress.com. It's a link to pictures of my play/homeschool room. Yes, it's always that cluttered/messy. However, there is no food in there rotting and the litter box by the door is cleaned twice a day, plus the area around the box is swept twice a day.

 

It's ok if the house is messy, as long as it's not a health hazard.

Edited May 26, 2016 by Garga

[FO4UR]

I think your days sound full and wonderful for young children.

 

Easy ways to beef up:  Audiobooks. More starfall.com (starfall is great...use it to its fullest), SchoolHouse Rocks videos on youtube.

 

Teach the older two to play board games together.  There is a lot of critical thinking, not to mention math, in most games.  Start with checkers.

 

Teach the older two to do things like playdoh and watercolor paints at an assigned table.  Get it out, play, put it away, wipe the table.  Teach them the entire process so you can simply tell them "Go play with the playdough while I put the toddler down for a nap."

 

All of the old childhood games that get pushed aside for modern Kindergarten have purpose.  Do those things.  Their pretend play is vital!  I'd keep them home simply for that.  If you can feed them audiobooks (from the library and listen during rest time or in the car), that will keep their pretend play advancing.  Jump rope. Skipping.  Riding bikes.  Building with blocks.  Swinging. Monkey bars. Cut & Paste.  Those things all build needed skills.

 

You have a LOT of good stuff going already. 

 

 

And, :iagree:  about prioritizing your health.  If you are low-income, seeing a doctor about it might be a sick joke. :grouphug:   Have you tried varying your diet?  Getting more water?  Is the toddler keeping you up at night?  Is it stress?  Honestly, a mother of a 7, 5, and 2yo is supposed to be exhausted by 4pm.  Some of that is normal.  Give yourself the grace to do what you can do, and be strategic with your energy.  If it doesn't really matter, don't do it. 
 

[KungFuPanda]

I'm all for low-key academics for the K-2 set, but if finding time to even read daily is a struggle, I'd worry about having enough energy to homeschool. Even in mediocre schools, the kids will do several subjects in a day. Those lessons add up over time. If you're never sure if school can happen on any given day, you might want to evaluate if you're actually homeschooling, or just not sending them to school.

 

Now, it could be a season. That toddler could outgrow the tornado phase and life could calm down. It might be fine. However, if you're finding reasons to skip school more days than you're actually doing it, the kids might get a better education at school and come home to a less frazzled mom. At these ages, it's not THAT critical, but as the oldest approaches double digits the household will need to become organized enough to actually do the work regularly or the kids will fall behind their schooled peers. Kids do Algebra in middle school now. The groundwork for that doesn't happen accidentally. I don't want to scare the OP, but homeschooling not a responsibility to be taken on, then given a lower priority than laundry EVERY day.

[Starr]

Just start with the oldest one this year and let the younger ones tag along when they want to. Everyone down for rest time in the afternoon! Soon enough your toddler will be a preschooler and things will change. Or send them to school for a year until the youngest grows up a little. But sending kids to school takes evening work getting ready for the next day...

Edited May 26, 2016 by Starr

[vonfirmath]

Interesting. I know I said it once already, but I do think Times Tales is very helpful. We watched part 1 last week and part 2 today. Ds has already learned several times tables. They don't cover every mult. fact, but a good few up to 9. The list of which facts are covered is on their website.

 

I'll take a look at it.

 

He's REALLY good with his 9s. He figured out the 9 * x = (x-1)*10 + (9-x)  rule intuitively and always gets those.

[Colleen in NS]

My point to posting this is so you know that not all of us have spotless homes and kids sitting with clasped hands at their desks for hours a day. :).

 

I've posted this in the past: https://dustylizard.wordpress.com. It's a link to pictures of my play/homeschool room. Yes, it's always that cluttered/messy. However, there is no food in there rotting and the litter box by the door is cleaned twice a day, plus the area around the box is swept twice a day.

 

Now THAT is homeschool and family life REALITY!  Awesome photos!!

 

[Janeway]

I would pick inferior home schooling.

 

But seriously, how bad can home schooling be? All else fails, let them read a book. They will get more out of reading a book at home than being at a bad brick and mortar school. There is more to school that just the final test scores. But even so, why spend the entire day, wasting away in a bad school? At least at home, a child can read, watch educational TV. Heck, my children have been binging on this Great Courses Plus ever since we got it. My children have probably learned more this week than they would have in a year at a public school. 

[Trilliums]

When my kids were younger I had A Lot(!!!) of self doubt over our homeschooling. I felt pressure to do more school type work. Over time my views on education in general changed and I finally got over clinging to worksheets and text books as the magical solution.

 

I'd go to the the library regularly and bring home books on all kinds of subjects. There are so many great science and math books geared at younger kids now! If read to the kids every single day though. Read read read. If they are fidgety, let them play with play dough or pipe cleaners of something. But keep on reading. Read short books and long books. It can be very soothing for all. Also audio books as others have mentioned. Don't feel bad though if some books just aren't big hits.

[pinkmint]

When I try to sit down and read  book to the older 2, they are good at sitting still and listening usually... it's just the toddler, he screeches and grabs at the book. 

 

He has his favorite board books like Dr Seuss but sometimes the older kids need something more. 

 

So as far as audiobooks... what do people use? I tried Libravox, which is free, and they have a lot of narrators that speak with accents or unclear speech that is hard to understand for my kids. I looked in to Audible which is probably very good but I was confused about the membership fees and if I'm understanding it right it's ridiculously expensive for what you actually get. I did check my local library's audiobook selection and it's very sparse. 

 

Do the Scholastic story videos count? We've seen those before and my kids will sometimes tolerate them. 

[vonfirmath]

Do you have a Kindle/Kindle stories? I have been able to buy the accompanying audio (From Audible.com) for a Book I have on my Kindle very cheap.  Sometimes I got those Kindle books free in the first place.  For example, Audible.com has 4 versions of Five Little Peppers and How they grew, at various prices. Three of them are only $2.99 if you first buy the Kindle book linked from audible.com (Currently 99 cents).  (And your Audible.com account is to your Kindle account-- this is why I dropped my old user ID Audible.com account and tied them together finally.)  Go to a book you are interested in on Audible.com and it will let you know if there is a discount available like that.

 

Does your library have access to Overdrive? That is where I download most of my library audiobooks, rather than finding them on CDs in their physical location.  You can even download them to a desktop computer and listen there (not sure if you can burn to a CD or not to listen elsewhere)

 

AudioBook SYNC: http://www.audiobooksync.com/ is currently going on. You can download two free audiobooks every week all summer to listen to.  NOte: The books chosen are geared to teenagers.

 

 

 

[Trilliums]

Can you find a special thing for toddler to keep them occupied? Blakey or stuffed animal that needs to be tended to?

 

We checked out books on cd from library. Lots and lots and lots of them! Does your library use overdrive for digitally checking out audio books?

[Random]

When I try to sit down and read  book to the older 2, they are good at sitting still and listening usually... it's just the toddler, he screeches and grabs at the book. 

 

 

I'm so glad we are out of this phase!  I was irritated beyond reasonable measures when my younger kids did this while I tried to read aloud!  All that to say, that phase will pass.  Sooner or later, you'll make it through a book.  Don't fret if that doesn't happen while you have the 2 yr old around.

 

I had a pack-n-play with a few toys that I'd use for my toddler during read aloud time.

 

Some of our favorite resources for free audio:

http://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/series/the_chronicles_of_narnia

Our public library/Overdrive or we borrow the CDs and MP3s

http://www.loyalbooks.com/

The Audible app sometimes has discounts & free book offers

[Alessandra]

It depends a bit? If you mean inferior academically that's not such a big deal for me, but if it's inferior in the sense that bullying isn't in check and social situation is really nasty I'd go with home over school any day. Unless the home situation is really really nasty like abusive.

 

That said I totally get as a mum needing a mental health break and it doesn't have to be a forever decision. Also if you aren't planning more babies the toddler stage is short and life gets easier again. My youngest is four now and it's getting easier.

I agree with this. It sounds as though you have not visited the school yet? If there is still time to do so, you might want to pay a visit, so that you can make the most informed decision possible.

[KungFuPanda]

Have you considered nursery school for the toddler? That might give you the break and silence you need to do a few activities with your older kids. You can do amazing things in just two focused hours a day. I think an enriching, vibrant preschool environment is just a completely different thing than a good elementary school environment. Juggling those needs in one home IS tricky especially if the wild child won't nap.

 

If you can get the toddler to nap, you could do math and phonics during the nap, then push read-alouds to the older kids' bedtime when the little one is already down. If you don't have a natural instinct for incorporating learning objectives into regular life, it might be easier to cover your bases with a simple curriculum.

 

You can do it creatively, but you can't just not do it.

[FO4UR]

Talk to the children's librarian.  If they know they have patrons looking for children's audiobooks, they just might order more.

 

Meanwhile, pester them with inter-library loans for audiobooks.

 

 

Being low-income means that many of the suggestions you might get here won't work for you.  Audible is expensive proportionately when you are pulling from grocery money instead of vacation money.  I understand completely!  Preschool is a great idea, but costs even more than audible.  You'd probably not qualify for Headstart if you aren't working, unless your 2yo has some significant developmental delays.  You could check on that though.  I'm not sure about all of the rules, but I know they will prioritize spots for mothers who work outside the home. 

 

Thankfully, being 2yo is a temporary condition. :svengo:

 

 

Some ideas to try:

 

Go outside in the backyard or to a local park.  Read to one of the older children while the other plays with the 2yo.  Every 15 minutes switch between older kids.

 

If you can find a plastic pool cheap, make that the 2yo's "Special Spot."  He can have finger paint if he stays in the pool.  He can have play doh if he stays in the pool.  He can use (washable) markers on paper if he stays in the pool.  He can rip up construction paper and glue them all over if he stays in the pool.  You get the idea....messy, sensory stuff...if he stays in the pool.  You can take the pool to the backyard and hose it down.  The bathtub might work for this too.  You can sit just outside the bathroom with the door open and read.

 

Put 2yo to bed at 8pm.  Read for 30min before putting the others to bed.  (Put dh in charge of the 2yo's bedtime routine and maybe you can get a good hour.)  If your dh has time, maybe it would work well if you could build an evening routine where you and he switch doing things with older kids/2yo.  He plays a game with older two while you take 2yo on a stroller ride. You read to older two while he puts 2yo to bed.  Or something similar.  Divide and conquer.

 

 

[Haiku]

We get 95% of our audiobooks through Overdrive. Even cruddy libraries tend to have good audiobook selections on Overdrive because they join a network. If your library's Overdrive selection is not good, I'll give you one of my library card numbers to use. I have 8 of them!!

 

Can you read to your kids while your toddler naps? Can you read to your kids while your toddler plays in the bathtub? Can you read to your kids while your toddler is having a snack in the highchair? Or after the toddler goes to bed at night?