How easy/hard is it to homeschool a Kindergartener?

Question

I am a mom of 4, (3 boys ages 13,11,7 and 1 girl aged 9) have homeschooled my 2 older boys before, but put them back into public school to go to college for elem educ course. I am back at homeschooling again, this time all 4 are being done. My kindergartener has dev delay prob and this is actually the 2nd time around for him in K. My hubby and I dont think I can do any worse than the school system. They let him wet his pants because they just ignore him and dont pay any attention to him. I dont have any prob with understanding him. Any ideas would be appreciative. Im not putting my kids through the public school system again. They are just gonna be stuck with me. They wanted this to happen. I just wanted the college to help me.

Answer 1

Kindergarten up to grade 3 are my favorite grades to homeschool.   They are so much fun.  

You can sit and cuddle, read books, colour pictures, etc and do more then any school system can do.   "Five in a Row" is a wonderful program to look into.  :)   I love it for that age.

I homeschool 3 kids. My youngest has a learning disability and the greatest thing is that you can take it as slow as you need to in order for them to "get it".    You can move ahead on what they know and work on what they need to work on.

Good luck

Answer 2

I homeschool my daughter, if you look through yahoo groups you might be able to find a field trip group for your area

Answer 3

Homeschooling a Kindergartener is fun!  My son's K year took no more than 1 hour per day.  The rest was reading, projects, field trips, etc.  My son says he never wants to go to school, lol!

Here is some information on homeschooling methods:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

We used a traditional textbook program for math and phonics, and just read fun books and did projects on our own.

Here are some traditional curriculum providers:

http://www.abeka.com

http://www.bjupress.com

http://www.aop.com

http://www.aceministries.com

http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com

I think Alpha Omega and ACE move at a bit slower pace.  I have also heard great things about Math U See for math, and Explode the Code for Phonics.

http://www.espbooks.com

http://www.mathusee.com

Some complete K programs that I like are:

http://www.winterpromise.com

http://www.fiarhq.com/

http://www.mfwbooks.com/

Answer 4

You've got some great ages wot work with! You can accomplish many of the studies together, using a unit study approach and tailoring the reading material for each age/ability.

At the kindergarten level, I would focus on reading out loud to the child (include the older children - take turns reading out loud to the younger ones who are not yet independent readers). You might also get a mathematics text for the kindergartener to work through. I would also include age appropriate games - Candyland, Monopoly Junior, Scrabble Junior, etc. (Again, these are things you can do as a family!).

Here is a good unit study site:  http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8259/uni...

Finally, do not be discouraged if you feel like you "don't know everything" that the kids need to learn. Even a fully trained certified teacher does not know everything for their grade level! The smart parent/teacher knows how to look for resources and ask for help! Our biggest task as a homeschool parent is to guide our children and provide resources for them. I would seek out local homeschool groups and also join some online email lists for support.

Home Education Magazine is one of my favorite resources: http://www.homeedmag.com/ . They offer many online communities for sharing among homeschoolers.

Answer 5

Good for you to take the initiative and get your child on the right track!

First of all try to just relax... you are already teaching him everyday. I recommend that you first contact the home school legal defense association in your area. The web site is http://www.hslda.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1  

A short video also explaining the benefits of HSLDA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJR68NPO3...

They will be able to give you info on any laws in your area, give you real support and maybe put you in contact with a home school group in your area. A simple on-line search should also get you contact info for other home schooling in your area. By getting together with other parents and children on this wild, wonderful journey of home education you and your son will get great support from people who are also "in the trenches"!

Every child is different and you may end up testing out a few different teaching curriculum's or methods before finding the one or combo that works best for your special learner.

I personally like the classical method best and your sons age is the best time to start this centuries old method that has been proved over and over. A couple of web sites to get you started on researching if this may be a good way for you is...

http://www.issuesetc.org/resource/archiv...

http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/i

In the end what works for one household may not be your sons best fit so in the beginning you just have to give yourself some slack as you two piece together what is best for y'all. No one knows or loves your children better than you and your husband so already you are in the lead! Good luck and I bet in no time you will see great improvement in your sons learning, self esteem and increased joy!

some good videos I like on homeschooling...

"you can homeschool video 1"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvhiuVNaC...

"you can homeschool video 2"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR2NCpdMD...

"...part 3"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Mu3TpHix...

one more video with great statistics on homeschoolinga nd why parents who homeschool love it!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQQyP9WXK...