Blending homeschooling with babysitting/daycare

[SingleMomof1]

Hi everyone! I’m looking for some support and advice for a working homeschool mom! Next year I am planning to work at least 2 days likely 3 per week, and will send my DD to a “school” (aka daycare!) where the kids teach themselves using the ACE/PACEs curriculum which I do NOT want her to use (For obvious reasons!). The school/daycare doesn’t care if she uses another curriculum as long as it’s independent. The kids do Spanish/PE/recess then have a couple blocks of an hour each they have to do their independent work. I think this will work really well with our math curriculum (which is Saxon) because there are oral lessons and worksheets, so we will stack up oral lessons and hands on learning our home days and more worksheets the “school” days. For the language arts and other subjects I don’t think this structure is as ideal however. She will only be in 2nd grade by age next fall, and will be a young 7. Anyone have any ideas of curriculum that could be oral/teacher intensive a couple days a week and independent for a little one the other days? Specifically reading & writing, Latin, science, history, geography etc. Anything that could be meaningful to her alone, not just busy work. Thanks in advance!!!

[Wheres Toto]

Can she read?   I'd probably just send the math and some books to read on her "school" days.  Could be history, science, geography reading or just books you would like her to read. 

[Lori D.]

You might look around to see if there is a university model or hybrid school option in your area. That is set up so that the student attends the school 2-3 days per week, and receives actual teaching from a teacher who is the primary instructor (plus there is an administration for grades/transcripts, etc.), and then the student is home for the other days of the week, and the parent oversees the homework and does any tutoring needed to complete the work sent home.

If this daycare is the best option for your family at this time, and if your child is okay with workbooks and traditional seat work, you might send her with workbooks, some supplemental seatwork, and fun extras to do during each of her 1 hour blocks of independent work. Send it all in a 3-ring binder with that day's checklist of what to do in each hour of independent time, with boxes that she can check off as she goes. However, worksheets and seat work will only be successful IF your DD can read the directions on worksheets (or you go over them quickly in the morning before dropping her off AND she has a good memory). Otherwise, she's apt to feel very anxious or frustrated with academic work sent with her and no guidance or mentoring to get her through it.

Note: JMO, and meaning this very gently -- It is unrealistic to expect that you are going to find academic work that a 7yo can successfully do completely on her own for several 1-hour blocks of time for the 2-3 days a week she will be at the daycare. She is 7yo. She is just beginning to read. She has a short attention span. That is all typical and normal of a 7yo. She is in the stage of every subject needing a lot of guidance, mentoring, and direct teaching.

The good news is that when you homeschool, with you at the child's side, the average 2nd grader can complete all the core academic work in about 1.5 - 2 hours a day. You can go longer on the days you are home, do a shorter/lighter evening session on the days you work, and then what DD does at daycare can be busywork, fun fluff, and supplement, and no harm done.

Enrichment ideas to send to daycare with DD:

- Reading = books to read that are at-reading level and also slightly below-reading level
- Read Aloud = a cheap/indestructible device + headphones for listening to audiobooks as read-alouds
- Math supplement = 1-2 pages from Complete Book of Time & Money; pattern blocks + task cards or activity cards; geoboard + downloaded/printed activities; etc.
- Handwriting = a page from a handwriting workbook
- Spelling = a page to practice beginning words (Soaring with Spelling -- I'd start with level 1, so she has plenty of success working solo)
- Phonics = a page from a phonics workbook (Explode the Code; MCP plaid phonics...)
- History = coloring page + crayons or colored pencils;
- Geography = magnetic puzzle; sticker book; 
- Logic/Critical Thinking = mazes; dot-to-dot puzzles; very simple word searches and crosswords; simple ken-ken and sudoko puzzles; visual puzzles; hidden picture puzzles; Tangoes; Rush Hour Jr.;  etc.
- Art/Crafts = Big Yellow Drawing Book; Dover little stained glass coloring books + markers; Creating Line Designs + colored pencils; Ed Emberly Fun Print Drawing Book + washable paint; package of pompoms, google eyes, felt, etc. to make critters; package of chenille stems (pipe cleaners); a big pad of newsprint paper and pencils or colored pencils or crayons or markers for free drawing; stickers + stamps and stamp pad and paper for creating with; etc.

Check your local Dollar store for possible coloring books, paint-with-water books, sticker books, and other supplements at a low price.

I personally would save Writing, Math, and Latin for doing all at home -- you can do a "power hour" in the evening on the days you work to do a brief "keeping up" with the Math and Latin (20 minutes each) and then 20 minutes of a read-aloud or other together-time activity.

And Writing does NOT even need to start until grade 3-4 (age 9-ish). Same with Spelling and Grammar (often better to wait until a bit older with more brain development to start formal work on those 3 LA areas).  Or, if she's ready for some Writing, just do a tiny bit of Writing on your days at home -- use ideas from Peggy Kay's Games for Writing to keep it fun and light, or have her write 1-2 sentences in answer to a fun prompt.

I would also save Geography workbooks and most Geography reading books for at home -- most are going to require strong reading of the info/directions, and if she doesn't have an adult to ask for help during her independent hour, then there's a high liklihood of frustration.

Sorry you will have to juggle work, single-parenting, and homeschooling! Wishing you all the very best! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Lori D.

[wendyroo]

In your shoes, I would stick to the basics while she is at daycare: math, reading, copywork and narration (if she is ready)...and I would look for ways to make them do double/triple duty. 

For example, I often have my kids do bilingual copywork.  They are all learning Spanish, so I will have them copy a Spanish sentence, and then the English translation.  I can make it even more meaningful by using a copywork sentence related to our science, history or literature.  And I can add a bit of grammar and spelling by jotting quick notes on the copywork drawing their attention to key features such as a capitalized city name or a doubled consonant at the end of a word.  Right there they have practiced handwriting, grammar, spelling, Spanish and a content subject (history, science or literature).

I would make sure your daughter has plenty of time to read each day.  I would keep her stocked with a selection of books: literature, nonfiction, biographies, poetry, etc.  If she is ready to do some simple written narration, I would get her a Primary Journal and let her draw a picture from her reading and write as much or as little as she wants about it.  If she is comfortable with it, on her home days, you could pull a sentence from one of her narrations to revise and edit.  You could help her fix grammar issues and add an adjective or additional details to stretch her sentence.  OTOH, if she seems distressed by critiques of her writing, then I would quickly abandon that, and instead just glance through her narrations to see what writing concepts would be beneficial to introduce.

At my house, we have always schooled six days a week, so if I were to work 3 days, that would still leave 3 days at home.  IMO, formally covering spelling, Latin and geography three days a week with a 7 year old is plenty.  I don't cover Latin at all with my young elementary kids (or with my older kids for that matter), and geography is only covered lightly through our Story of the World mapwork (and of course using maps and globes on a day to day basis to navigate and look up places we read and hear about).

Wendy

[BusyMom5]

I agree Saxon math would work well in this situation.  As for LA, look at Soaring with Spelling and possibly Growing with Grammar for a worksheet based program.  I'd also send assigned reading and a copywork page.

[Lori D.]

Just circling back to this thread to focus on that this is a 7yo who will need to have several one-hour blocks of independent work to do 2-3x/week -- day she is at the daycare, interspersed with the Spanish, PE and recess times.

What academic work is developmentally appropriate and realistic for a 7yo to be able to do completely on their own (no adult mentor/teacher available) for a full hour? And then a second hour later in that same day? And then possibly a third hour later on in that same day?

Also to take into consideration -- how strong/weak is the child at reading and writing. An advanced reader will do great with lots of books that cover different subjects, while a 7yo who is just barely starting to read beginning/"step 1" books will have far fewer reading options. A child who doesn't mind holding a pencil and who already likes to write as an activity in her spare time will do fine with work that requires a lot of writing, but a child who hates writing, is not clicking with writing, or for whom the physical act of writing is painful or exhausting is not going to be a good match for a lot of seat work that requires writing.

JMO: the typical 7yo has far fewer academic things she/he can do completely solo, and realistically can do only a small amount of work pages/writing per day, and developmentally still needs a large amount of exploratory play, discovery and experimentation, puzzle-solving for learning. That's why my suggestion would be to plan for roughly 4 different activities for each 1-hour of independent work, so roughly 10-20 minutes per activity, and planning to balance small amount of holding pencil/writing and worksheets with other types of learning in each hour.

Example:

hour #1
- math #1 =  math worksheet
- reading #1 = read from her books
- handwriting/copywork = 2-3 sentences, or page from workbook
- hands-on exploration #1

hour #2
- math #2 = math manipulative and task cards or activity print outs
- reading #2 = read from her books
- spelling = page from a workbook
- phonics = page from a workbook
- hands-on exploration #2

hour #3
- math #3 = math facts practice
- reading #3 = read from her books -- or -- listen to audio book
- draw/write about her reading -- ala Wendyroo's suggestion above
- hands-on exploration #3 
 

Ideas for hands-on exploration -- use a wide variety of things so you can cycle through them to keep them "fresh". For example: use one item from each category below for the one week, and then replace with something else from that category for the next week. The idea is to keep explorations fresh.

#1 hands-on exploration ideas - can be more "brain" heavy first thing in the morning while the student is fresh
- Logic/Critical Thinking = mazes; very simple word searches and crosswords; simple ken-ken and sudoko puzzles; visual puzzles; hidden picture puzzles; Tangoes; Rush Hour Jr.;  etc.
- hand coordination puzzles = Creating Line Designs+ colored pencils;  dot to dot puzzles; paint-with-water activity book; coloring book; sticker book

#2 hands-on exploration ideas - a good time for a little variety, with supplements that support other subjects:
- History = coloring page + crayons/colored pencils; sticker book, activity kit -- example: Ancient Egyptian hieroglyph kit
- Geography = Usborne Around the World Mazes; Usborne Maps Activity Pad; jigsaw puzzle of US or World
- Science = kit with not too many pieces that can be done completely solo
- Art = Art Through the Ages Seek and Find; Big Yellow Drawing Book; ;Ed Emberly Fun Print Drawing Book + washable paint or markers; a big pad of newsprint paper and pencils or colored pencils or crayons or markers for free drawing

#3 hands-on exploration ideas - at this point in the day, student is tired and "done" academically, so keep these fun/light/personal-interest-based
- solo games/activities = Tangoes; Rush Hour Jr; Laser Maze or Gravity Maze or Circuit Maze; Katamino
- just for fun = sticker book; coloring book; paint-with water book; activity book; Dover little stained glass coloring books + markers
- hand craft = in a ziplock, all the supplies + project started at home easily finished without needing help -- hand-sewing; embroidery on burlap; loom weaving; crochet project; pony-bead craft
- arts/crafts project = paint by number kit; package of pompoms, google eyes, felt, etc. to make critters; package of chenille stems (pipe cleaners) just to explore with; stickers + stamping markers + paper for creating with; air dry modeling clay; etc.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Lori D.

[wendyroo]

14 minutes ago, Lori D. said:

Also to take into consideration -- how strong/weak is the child at reading and writing. 

My response in this thread was partly based on the OP's other thread where she discussed her daughter's reading and spelling.  In that other thread, she described her daughter as "reading around late 2nd grade early 3rd level, very fluently aloud".

For my kids, that level has been a real turning point where they could comfortably read a lot of nonfiction: picture books, meatier "easy readers", and beginning chapter books.  Their choices of fiction also opened up: longer picture books, series of chapter books like A-Z Mysteries, some higher quality literature like My Father's Dragon and Fantastic Mr. Fox, joke books, poetry, etc.

[Lori D.]

7 hours ago, wendyroo said:

My response in this thread was partly based on the OP's other thread where she discussed her daughter's reading and spelling.  In that other thread, she described her daughter as "reading around late 2nd grade early 3rd level, very fluently aloud".

For my kids, that level has been a real turning point where they could comfortably read a lot of nonfiction: picture books, meatier "easy readers", and beginning chapter books.  Their choices of fiction also opened up: longer picture books, series of chapter books like A-Z Mysteries, some higher quality literature like My Father's Dragon and Fantastic Mr. Fox, joke books, poetry, etc.

I do agree that if the student is reading with fluency, she will be able to do more reading as part of her at-daycare work. But up to 3 hours of solo school work 3x/week is a LOT of time to fill with just books and a few worksheets for a 7yo. Also, working with the hands is great for fine motor skill development, as well developing certain types of problem-solving (depending on what activity is). And a lot of the supplemental activities are great for developing out-of-the-box thinking, critical thinking, and "problem attack" skills. I like to encourage "whole child" development. 😉 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Lori D.

[Momto6inIN]

I agree with Lori D.

To give you an idea of what is appropriate, here is what my DD8 is currently doing by herself:

Reflex Math for facts practice

Read from chapter books - lit, science, and/or history

Handwriting practice

Writing original sentences using a spelling words list

Random math worksheets that practice skills already learned from one on one time with me

Drawing/sketching/coloring

Typing words and sentences and short stories from her imagination

Building Thinking Skills and Mind Benders logic puzzles (she is *just* starting these at age 8 - and frequently she gets confused/frustrated and needs help)

That's it. Everything else she really needs an adult to help her with. There's really no good way to come up with 3 hours worth of worthwhile age appropriate on her own seatwork a day.

Can she bring stuff to just play??? Honestly my DD would get more out of a few hours of playing Legos quietly with a friend a couple days a week than she would if I tried to find busywork for her to do for that amount of time.

[kiwik]

Are there any other alternatives to this school?  I just worry that while they say it is OK to do her own thing not the first time some kid notices they are doing something that looks more fun they will change their mind.  I know may ACE schools use cubicles but they don't have doors from what I have heard and little kids are curious.