homeschoolers -- help!

[smartyjones]

we're in the process of moving and find ourselves in limbo and making the least worst decisions as opposed to the best decisions. trying to make the best of it, but it's still a terrible time to sell a house.

 

at any rate. . . ds8 and ds6 did not return to montessori school they had been in -- ds6 bad experience in the end, next teacher would have been head-to-head battle; both would have been in same class for 1/2 day = not good for either( i do realize the irony that now they're together all the time); ds8 capping out socially b/c getting very small peer group. we've always known we'd need to move at some time b/c not good schools. so -- here we are with short-term (?!) homeschooling.

 

actually, i think it's good for ds6, pandas, b/c of trouble last year most likely resulting from focus trouble. ds8 has always done extremely well in school and socially.

 

ds6, although doing better than herx issues of summer, is having troubles with focus. he can do well if i am right with him, working with him. he does great with reading by self and some other activities if he is engaged. it is often troublesome to get him engaged if he's not into it w/o constant interaction from me. i don't think i'd find this so difficult if it were just he and i. as an example -- i think he doesn't have the correct filters -- the other day at the park, he's playing a loud, raucous game on the play equipment with others. one girl, from quite some ways away, tells her mom she has to pee. her mom, closer to ds than the girl but still a ways, says, 'okay, you have to pee.'. i'd think the ones playing wouldn't have registered this and maybe noticed they were gone at some point and wondered where they were. ds, as continuing to run, sings out -- 'you have to pee, okay, pee like a bee." it's just an example of how i think everything and anything flows through his mind.

 

ds8 is used to environment with many kids doing many different things -- constant buzz of activity and noise. he does well with focus and can pull in and out -- such as working on something, pausing to laugh and sing that ridiculous mcdonalds fish song, then back to work. however, ds6 can't. so then, i have to deal with the fish song , with ds totally off track.

 

i'm trying to make the best of this for them, have it be somewhat fun (certainly not ds8's ideal) and don't want to send him off to be by himself all the time. i do realize he can't have an adult's perspective on how he gets ds6 so off-track. i've tried to explain, he seems to somewhat get it -- but not really enough.

 

any advice? thanks.

Edited September 28, 2010 by smartyjones

[matis_mom]

I think what you are experiencing is totally normal, especially when you start homeschooling. I've been homeschooling for 9 years now, and still have problems with people singing to themselves and getting others side-tracked. Just be creative as to how you use your time and don't try to do things with both kids at once, not yet anyway. You can start with the younger one, while the older one reads in his room (or somewhere other than where you are), then you can give the 6yo something to work on while you work with your 8yo. Then maybe you can all go for a walk, then have a snack, and then repeat, half hour each.

 

For the 6yo especially, keep it short and simple. Like 15 to 20 tops per subject. If he can't focus, have him run up and down the stairs, get a glass of water, crawl around, etc.

 

I don't have much time right now but pm me if you have more specific questions.

[SarahJane]

I'm homeschooling ds6 (undx'd PANDAS) right now due to major school issues in kindergarten (strep hit in late Dec/behaviors in Feb). We were also waitlisted at Montessori but since we just had a 2nd bout of strep, not paying for private school is probably a good thing. I think part of being a new homeschooling parent is unschooling yourself. For example, I've been kind of a stickler about starting at 9am so we could get done...mad if he's not in our school room. BUT, he's been sick. BUT I didn't know he was sick for a few weeks--asymptomatic strep for a few weeks with onset of behavior changes to finally clue me in, aren't I lucky?). Today, we started later & it was great...am actually gonna adopt a later start time for a while & work back to 9am or so. We accomplished A LOT in just a fraction of the time it would have taken if I'd forced him out of bed & to the room at 9am. He's pretty good at focusing on school stuff tho'...of course, any distractions just affect him since he's an only child. I did find today that a "bribe" to watch an educational DVD when all the work was done was a great motivator & any time he got off track I'd tell him that was gonna be that much longer before he got to watch the DVD. Maybe something like that could work. I'm not sure what state you're in & how regulated you are (or that it matters if this is a short-term solution), but just realize that just about anything can be school & present the lessons in ways he can do them. If you have to do math verbally vs. worksheets, that's okay. Or if you want to spend a whole day at the park for recess, that's okay. It's your school. You could also have a Plan B lessons available when focus is an issue (day of art, cool science experiments, easy field trip, or Wii for recess to teach various skills depending on the game). Think about what kids do when there's a substitute...hardly anything. Every day doesn't have to be jampacked with learning because that's NOT what they get in "real" school (tho' Montessori may be different). It just feels like it should be that way when you're at home. Having the Montessori background may make having the lessons be fun & hands-on easier for you. I am still using an eclectic method vs. buying a cirriculum. I've been doing a lot of work to assess where he actually is in subjects so I can teach him new things. There's so much stuff out there & as long as he can do what he's supposed to be able to do, then that's okay.

[EAMom]

Hi everyone (slightly off topic),

I'm not homeschooling, but am trying out Mathnasium (per Peglem's recommendation) for math help/tutoring.

 

While I was researching, I found out that homeschoolers also use Mathnasium (some use it so they don't have to home school math, I suspect others use it in addition to math at home). Here's a link. http://www.homeschoolmath.net/curriculum_reviews/mathnasium.php

Edited September 29, 2010 by EAMom