It has been over a month now since we decided to homeschool Big Brother and things have a sort of pendulum to them. If you had asked me how things were going the first week or two I would have said great. If you had asked me how things were going about two weeks ago I would have said everything is a mess and I have no idea how I am going to do this. And now - well, we aren't getting much done this week.
Last week we were really getting somewhere. We had broken through the wall we were hitting. See, I have this issue, I am scared out of my mind that he will never learn to read. It is the biggest thing that worries me about homeschooling. So, last week when we started to make progress I was thrilled. Big Brother even wrote a sentence - all on his own. The first one - The cat sat. And then The cat sat on a can. Now I realize that is not all that complex of a sentence or anything but it sure did impress me. And it meant we were on the track - the track towards reading. We went and bought him a bunch of easy reader books for while we are gone. He was really excited that he was doing it - he felt confident and smart (which of course, he is).
But this week is crazy - this week is taken up with getting ready to go. We have barely found any time to sit down and do any work. We have been super busy - a combination of social things and trips to pick up random things that we need to pack, doctor appointments, oh and I have to get the oil changed in my car tomorrow. So, yeah at the moment we are not getting much school work done. I am doing my absolute best to practice his reading throughout the day. Point out words as we are reading or as we are looking at things. And encouraging him to keep trying. He knows that we are taking a little break from school work because of how busy we are this week. He understands and so I am okay with it. And so is he.
In an unrelated but still somehow part of this he has been having me make him small (four boxes of four) sudoku puzzles. And he is amazingly good at them. It is so funny. I am not sure exactly what "school" lesson it is but it certainly is excercising his brain.
And so I feel pretty good about homeschooling. I think we are fairly successful at it. Big Brother does seem to be learning. Learning more than he was in school even. I also feeling like we are still in the learning phase. Both of us - he is learning everything and I am learning how best to teach him.
Last week we were really getting somewhere. We had broken through the wall we were hitting. See, I have this issue, I am scared out of my mind that he will never learn to read. It is the biggest thing that worries me about homeschooling. So, last week when we started to make progress I was thrilled. Big Brother even wrote a sentence - all on his own. The first one - The cat sat. And then The cat sat on a can. Now I realize that is not all that complex of a sentence or anything but it sure did impress me. And it meant we were on the track - the track towards reading. We went and bought him a bunch of easy reader books for while we are gone. He was really excited that he was doing it - he felt confident and smart (which of course, he is).
But this week is crazy - this week is taken up with getting ready to go. We have barely found any time to sit down and do any work. We have been super busy - a combination of social things and trips to pick up random things that we need to pack, doctor appointments, oh and I have to get the oil changed in my car tomorrow. So, yeah at the moment we are not getting much school work done. I am doing my absolute best to practice his reading throughout the day. Point out words as we are reading or as we are looking at things. And encouraging him to keep trying. He knows that we are taking a little break from school work because of how busy we are this week. He understands and so I am okay with it. And so is he.
In an unrelated but still somehow part of this he has been having me make him small (four boxes of four) sudoku puzzles. And he is amazingly good at them. It is so funny. I am not sure exactly what "school" lesson it is but it certainly is excercising his brain.
And so I feel pretty good about homeschooling. I think we are fairly successful at it. Big Brother does seem to be learning. Learning more than he was in school even. I also feeling like we are still in the learning phase. Both of us - he is learning everything and I am learning how best to teach him.
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4 Thoughtful Thoughts so far. What do you think?
I am sure you are doing great! Is sentences are awesome too! He sounds like he is ready to begin reading soon! Also, don't sweat the weeks you don't get as much formal learning done, every experience is a learning experience. Plus he is young, you don't need 8 hours a day to teach a 5 or 6 year old.
Toni
wow, im so glad for you :)
I think with homeschooling, sometimes you feel like you are getting lots done and sometimes a week goes by and you feel like nothing got done. I think it tends to balance out. And I think even in those week that "nothing" gets done, they are still learning; your son learned about the importance of caring for your health and maintaining your vehicle, at the very least :o)
Really, this is going to be such a learning experience for him! I'm sure he is going to just soak in the knowledge, and probably these memories will stick for life.
My family subscribed to the "life is learning" philosophy (Really, get and read "Home School Burnout" by Raymond Moore--it's AMAZING!). We had comparatively little workbook/textbook learning (although I LOVED reading all kinds of other books) and lots of life.
My reading story is my that mother bought an entire first grade curriculum when I was 6. I plopped down on the floor with the first reader fresh from the box and read it cover to cover right there. My mother was shocked and hadn't realized that all of the letter stuff and sounding out street signs was giving me all the preparation I needed to learn to read. All three of her boys, though, didn't take off reading until they were ready. They COULD read earlier, but things really started clicking for them when they were around 8 or 9 or so. Don't stress. He's a little boy. Feed his interests (if he likes planes, get him books with pictures of planes--even at a higher reading level--and help him make paper planes, read about how planes work, read history stories about planes, etc.) and let him lead in his education. It can ignite a fire towards loving learning forever.
Oh, and like Happy Housewife said, don't let him burn out. A lot of school is just busy work. At his age, even an hour of "school" a day is more than enough. In high school, I still probably only needed around 3 hours or so a day to get what I needed done.
Enjoy your trip!
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Thanks for your kind words! I love hearing from you.