From Our Forum a Reader Asks:
I am new to homeschooling my son, and I am involved with some local homeschooling groups. But, I am having some troubles with ideas on how to keep a schedule for my son and what to do with him during the day sometimes. Do you think it is better to have a planned and scheduled cirriculum, just keep his days busy with stuff – crafts, reading, projects – and ditch a play by play schedule, or do you have any other more ecclectic ideas?
Coming from one who was homeschooled all her life, and is now in college i hope i can be of some help.
ABEKA is one of the best programs out there. Instead of getting their entire ciriculum what my parents did is selected the books of the cores that was needed. Math every year and english. Add projects and lessons in history as well. Add the other things in in lessons and programs that don’t last all year long. Keep their interest. WHat my mom did and does with my younger siblings is assign them 2 lessons of math a day and a certain amount of pages a day. since 1st grade is a lower grade you’ll have to do a lot of i with him, but once he gets a little older you cn assign the AMOUNT Of work then ceck it when he’s done. he will have the incentive to do it with in a couple of hours and then he is free to do the fun stuff. Don’t over load you’r self and don’t over load your son. You’ll get frustrated.
ABEKA is great because its very self explanitory, there are no questions, it walks you through every thing better than any cericulum i’ve ever seen.
I would agree with one of the above. ABEKA is good. BJUP (bob jones university press) is good too. Saxon math is very good but doesn’t always look good on the page.
Kids thrive on a schedule. They do seem too like it much better when they know when they are expected to do what. I personally think this is the way to go. But of course there will always be exceptions. That is the benefit to homeschooling. You can drop everything and do what you want sometimes. Nothing is write or wrong just remember to try something different if it isn’t working. Good luck!
Well, First how you home school is entirely up to you. I would probably recommend a schedule though, and Saxon publishing math and phonics are the best curriculum I think.
Having a schedule is easiest on you both. It keeps you organized and it helps him to have a routine. He doesn’t need to be busy all day, but at least 3 or 4 hours (actually, depends on what the homeschooling regulations are in your state). Contact me if you’d like..I’d be glad to help with any other questions you have! God bless.
You really need to choose a curriculum (I recommend Abeka), set a schedule and stick to it. If you don’t, you will be one of the people who makes others think that homeschoolers don’t get the education they need. It can’t be all fun and games.
abc , reading and math
sounding out words, addition and subtraction
so often have them sound out the words that they see on the street. If they can’t pronounce the word (no pressure)their learning. atleast have them spell it out. (ex: mc donalds, wal-mart) the words on signs.For math use money or candy.Children tend to only learn what they like. This may seem to much for a first grader but when home schooling is a case the state wants the kid to know more than a child that went to a district shool. So if you find your self not having anything to do go to the library and get a book called “what my 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade child should know”. Always try to keep your child atleast one grade smarter then he/she grade level.
Perhaps some lessons on spelling and grammar would be beneficial to both of you. I agree that a scheduled curriculum would be best.
Ok, so my 2 cents are a flexible schedule I think is a must. If you do not have a road map of where you want to go then you will end up no where. Another words be willing to throw out school for the day if everyone is sick or Dr. appointments etc, but have some sort of schedule to follow so you know what you are doing on a day to day basis.
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