Am home schooling my 6 year old at 2nd grade level. How do I start?

Question

I am an American living in Ghana. My 2 older boys have recently been admitted to a very good school, but my little girl is on the waiting list. They all just transferred from another school that was getting too expensive, and the commute time was terrible.

Alexandra is 6-1/2 and supposed to start 2nd grade. I've been using her older brother's old books for some guidance, and purchased the actual public school curriculum for the grade level.

So, how's it done? I don't know that I'm doing it right. We do say 1-1/2 hours of math, then later 1-1/2 hours of language arts, etc. Is there a lesson plan template or something I can follow? Help please.

Barb

Answer 1

First of all there is no right way to do it. You have to see what works. What is her learning style? Does she need to see it? read it? Then visual pictures,videos and text will work. Does she need to hear you read it? Does she learn best with a song or rhyme? How about audio CD's? Is she a doer? Does she have to do it to understand it? Hands on? You might need some manipulatives and games.Check out Rainbow Resounce online.They have lots of materials.

Second ,one on one takes less time than a class of 15-30 kids. She may get a lesson within 15 minutes and be done with it. When my kids were 7 we focused on reading and math,phonics and nature science. My 7 yr old does history with her brothers,but they did not do it when they were younger. They are certainly not behind in any way.She also does french. Each of her lessons are about 15 minutes each,LA,french,math,history and science. She does two or three then takes a thirty minute break,then finishes the other two or three lessons.We are usually done before lunch.

Answer 2

There's no wrong way to do it! You find what works best for your family, and do it that way...the only reasons schools do it a certain way is that they have to coordinate the educations of everyone in that school, as well as those of people who will be coming to school and those who will be moving on to other schools, etc.

When we were doing school at home, it took us less than two hours a day, and we were still finished in four months. I was homeschooling five kids, one of whom was profoundly disabled and with whom the schools had failed to teach even the basics.

I think that's the scariest thing for new homeschooling parents, to feel like you're not doing anything right, but really, that's the school's brainwashing you are hearing! We just use our family's natural routine, and slipped book work in at naturally quiet times. At that age, just allow for lots of playtime, helping around the house with chores, and visiting with friends and neighbors. You have such an opportunity, you are LIVING what other American children are just reading about. That's wonderful!

Answer 3

That is an awfully long time to sit down and do busy work. They don't even spend that much time on each subject in school. Not even highschool or college classes are that long. I suggest you try going on what suits your daughter. There is not a specific timeline or amount of time you need to spend on each subject. Most homeschoolers get thru all their studies for the day in about 3-4 hours depending on the age. Spending that much time is sure to burn out your daughter and squelch any love of learning that she does have. I suggest mixing it up. Do a math worksheet and then allow her to move on to something fun like art or something that she is interested in and then move onto the next subject and so forth. I have heard that this works well with a lot of children and that is what they do in the school systems too.

Answer 4

Ur doing it right on the school lever an 1-1/2 hr is about right follow the math and speech a little play time in between lunch spelling her a,b,c,a little of each subject,s, not all in the same day though,a regular older kids day is 7hr to 71/2 keep her only 4 hrs about and i thimk u,ll do ok

Answer 5

1. Make a list of all the subjects they are being taught at school.

2. Use encyclopaedias. Picture and colours with text generally make an interestin read.

3. Do you have a PC at home? Then I suggest the following CD-ROMS available at the Discovery Store. Look in the kids category.

http://shopping.discovery.com/

4. http://www.homeschool.com/articles/advic...