First year homeschooling my boys?

Question

Hi This is my first year homeschooling my two boys. My oldest is 9 and my youngest is 5. In my state I don't have to legally start teaching the youngest until he turns 7, but my husband and I have decided to go ahead and start him. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to keep it relaxed and fun, or if anyone wanted to share what worked for them?

Answer 1

My son finished the 8th grade in public school with straight F's and went from that to straight A's and B's being home schooled. Online charter schools are considered the same as public schooling. My son graduated an online charter school and now attends University of Dayton ( a private university ) with scholarships.

Home schooling can work for some. The student needs to be self disciplined enough to do the work and care. Generally less work is involved with an online charter school than in a regular public school. You are also able to work at your own pace. k12 will customize your curriculum and make sure you are where you need to be.

This is the school my other children are now attending,

http://www2.k12.com/getk12/index.html......

Depending on where you live they may be a help, if not, there are online charter schools all over.

They will provide you with the computer, printer, supplies and books that you need as well as teachers and academic advisors. This is the same as a public school but ONLINE at home. They will also help you with any state required testing that you may need. There are teachers to help you as well by email and phone,

If you choose not to use a virtual school , yes you can still purchase k12 products. http://v7.k12.com/independence.html........

Here is another link that may be of some help to you as well

http://www.shambles.net/pages/school/vsc...

If you need anything else feel free to email me

Answer 2

For science look for different things that would interest your son(s) and then teach him(them) about the object. For math Use candy, marshmallows, chocolate chips, they will love that.

Answer 3

Hi, I also home school my son. This is our second year, he is also nine. What I found that worked for us is to do one subject each day and then we take a field trip either on Monday or Friday. We go to all sorts of companies, museums, parks, monuments,ect..! I have found that public offices (police, mayor, fire department) are wonderful for giving tours, all you have to do is call in advance and explain your situation. The reason we only study one subject a day is because I found that he became distracted and bored (confused) with too much information at once. The only thing we practice daily is math, writing and spelling which are easily incorporated without them even realizing it. Also I found that he enjoyed long term projects as well, for example this year we are studying the states, we requested the free visitor guides and maps, we read these and find the places on the map, then each week we will cut a small version on the state around its capital and we are going to make a mural on his school room wall. Good luck and have fun.

Answer 4

My 9 yo uses ACE WWW.schooloftomorrow.com We started by trying to figure out how she learns best. Last year we tried Sonlight www.sonlight.com and it didn't work for her but it was a great program. So we tried a different approach. She also plays a bit a www.coolmath.com

For the 5yo we got very basic books, and he plays a lot at www.starfall.com a phonics site.

We like to go to the park to do school work and to get siblings out of the eldest hair. We do field trips as often as possible. And we don't allow everything school to take over our lives. By that I mean if it doesn't all get done everyday we don't stress out over it. You have to keep it relaxed and fun by doing what your kids enjoy.

We call housework life skills and sorting dishes or cooking math. We call doing laundry math science and reading (sorting, chemical reactions, and reading wash tags)! You just have to figure out what works for you and how to keep it fun while keeping up with your home. That has been the biggest challenge for me.

Answer 5

Currently, I homeschool my 7-year old son; I began last year when he was 6.  I loved reading classic literature to him from the "What Your ___ Grader Needs to Know" books, teaching reading via a free interactive website, starfall.com; reading the Bible; making up new praise/worship songs; going on field trips, etc.  We once went to see the "Charlotte's Web" movie after reading children's summaries of "Charlotte's Web" that we found on the internet.

He also participated in the Kraft Great Kids Reading Program via our neighborhood library, along with numerous other activities.  We had a fun homeschooling year and plan to have an even more fun one this year.

Answer 6

I'm homeschooling my 5-year old and I have found that talking about things and interacting with him on adult everyday knowledge is one of the strongest assets I have. He gets to meet people of all ages and is not confined to the small knowledge area of kids his age. Find some simple grade k or grade 1 workbooks (these can be found cheap at a dollar store.) Then take it easy do a page or two while your 9 year old is doing his work. Use tangeable objects whenever possiable. And enjoy him being a child and discovering new things.

Answer 7

Have you ever tried K'Nex educational kits?  My son loved that when he was 10.    We used the amusement park set to cover his science, social and english that year.   It was a lot of fun!

Answer 8

We unschool, so I follow their lead, and I have my house setup to be kid friendly (Montessori), and I strew (which basically means I put things out that I think will be interesting to them.  We do not do "school at home" or regular daily seatwork.  Instead, we "play" and learn and read lots and learn as we go, I do lots of internet searches when they say they are interested in a topic (or they ask, "what is" something).  We do a lot of outdoor exploring, and we just make it fun, while still learning.  I have a daughter 7, and boys 9, 5, and 2.

Enjoy!

Answer 9

www.k12.com