Im homeschooling my 5 year old. Any tips on getting started? I also have a young infant.?

Question

Im homeschooling my 5 year old. Any tips on getting started? I also have a young infant.?

Answer 1

Good for you ! Try googling "waldorf education" for an interesting and brilliant way to homeschool your children stress free... they have a home school program too and lots of great ideas. Good luck.

Answer 2

http://www.syvum.com/members/

Answer 3

GET A LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Answer 4

I am so happy for you! Learning at home has made all of the difference for my kids to be calmer, happier, and let them follow their own interests instead of the crowd's. That being said, I would say I would have done some things differently, and that's all the advice I can give, after homeschooling for 12 years.

    I would have lowered my expectations for how much we could/should get done in a day/month/year. I would have worked on subjects in shorter bursts (one mom said she only offers subjects in 10 min increments to cut down on daydreaming). The most important thing I did right was to use a program, but the thing I did wrong was to not realize it was the wrong program for us. As my username says, now they learn at home in a cyber program, and we are much more relaxed (I have come to face the fact we have ADD). So, I have learned along with my children, who are all home today, and we are enjoying the hot cocoa that is sort of a symbol of homeschoolers. Good Luck!

P.S. You will probably wonder why I didn't mention housework. That will always be there, but that sweet baby will grow up too quickly. I have 5 kids, but no more infants- I sure wish I did.

Answer 5

You shouldn't they are to young.  Just be at home with them grow as  family and maybe do some letters and numbers.  You will okay with that. Read a small childern book everyday.....

Answer 6

they are little sponges at that age.  There are loads of games that aid learning as well as being fun.  dont get too caught up in trying to raise a genius, just stick to the basics, numbers, colors, ABC.  

you can worry about the genius stuff next year lol

Real says: "Don't home school your children . Children benefit more from interactions with other children and wide view points. Maybe it is your goal to bring up your child with a very small point of view and no socialization. It is my view that home schooling just propagates prejudice and narrow points of view"

  

talk about a narrow point of view.  stick to pizza dude.

Answer 7

Read to your child,color,play many learning games, go on field trips, and this is very important have play dates with other home school families for the inter action with other kids. Get together with other moms and have arts and crafts time. Or play math games. It is very important believe me. I home-schooled my children for 8 years and they missed out on much needed social skills. Make it fun! And be sure the kids get plentyof kid on kid fun. And mom eeds to have mom time too if not you wil burn out!

Answer 8

yes. start them with some tapes  of spanish  algebra  and  world war 2  =-P

Answer 9

Don't home school your children . Children benefit more from interactions with other children and wide view points. Maybe it is your goal to bring up your child with a very small point of view and no socialization. It is my view that home schooling just propagates prejudice and narrow points of view.

Answer 10

I was pulled out of public school at 9. I could read as much as your 5 year old can. With the one on one contact I excelled rapidly. By 10 or 11 I was reading "to kill a mockingbird"," The pearl", and "Of mice and men". I believe homeschooling is the best. The McGraw Hill books are the best for young children and as they get older Thompson Peterson. Also, make sure your kids do get interaction with other kids, like the park, scouts, brownies, and other group activities. Best of luck

Answer 11

At first it will be hard, and it will be frustrating, but over time you both will get into a routine and it will be much easier. I remember teaching my now 9 year old when he was 5, I was so frustrated when he couldn't memorize the alphabet or write letters, but I started getting more patient with him and eventually he learned and is a pretty smart kid now, although you will always run i ton some difficult times.

Good luck.

Answer 12

Dont pay any attention to the uneducated responses by one or more of the people who responded. Homeschooling is very good for kids and provides children with an excelent learning experience. People who say otherwise are only denying the facts statistics lead us to. My advise for now is to read as much as possible about it. A good place to start is by following the link below. The link is to a website I have created to help people interested in homeschooling find the information they need. It is far from finished, so add it to favorites and check back often for updates.

Answer 13

I started homeschooling when my oldest was 5.  It was an awesome experience.  You're going to have a great time.

Basically, with a child that young it depends on his level of readiness.  If he is ready to read and do a little formal work, I would choose a simple phonics and math curriculum and use that for no more than 30 minutes a day.  You could do that during the baby's naptime.

The rest of our time would be spent reading, playing, doing chores, running errands, doing projects, going on field trips, etc.

If he is not yet ready for formal work, here's some info on preschool activities:

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

Here's some general homeschooling info:

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

Answer 14

The baby's nap times would be ideal times to really work one on one with your five year old. Use this time to sit down and read to him/her. Reading is the basis of so much and for me I cannot stress enough how great it is to read to your child.

Work with the very basics - letters and numbers. These are the two biggest things. There are so many educational games out there that work with letters and numbers.

Try www.pbskids.org, www.starfall.com, and www.enchantedlearning.com . There is also a few great tv shows that are quite educational. Word World on PBS is one of them. Just record on your VCR so that you can have plenty to show him/her. Use eduacational tapes and games a lot - especially when it is a busy time for you (i.e. feeding the baby).

During the nap times go ahead and work one on one with things like trace/write the letter A.

Car rides are the best with early learning. Teach the alphabet s ong, counting, etc. while driving. We used to play the "What sound do I make game?". Where I'd say "I'm a cow. What sound do I make?" and my daughter would say "Moo". Then as she got older it was counting by 1, then 5s, etc. Teaching them fun car games like that is an easy way to learn and as they get older it can be more difficult "Spell the name of our state".

Do a yahoogroup search for local homeschool groups. Try searcing for homeschool support and your city name. That will help you find lots of wonderful resources!!!

GOOD LUCK! ENJOY!

Answer 15

At that age I'd recommend making learning a game. Keep educational toys and materials within reach and spend very little time on desk work. Have a wonderful time with your children. Model the attitude you want them to have toward learning.

Ignore the ignorant and misinformed who are all out to save children from their parents. Their biases are often based on fear of what they don't know, prejudice and unhappy homes as children. Their ideas of the "real world" and mine are quite different. You will notice that they also disregard the question and use every chance to assert their disapproval of homeschool. One wonders if they realize that their behavior fits the definition of "narrow minded".