Thursday, September 6, 2012

Home School Revisited

After doing lots of thinking and talking with family, I've realized that I don't have to have a strict school schedule for Joseph, which is what I had planned. I don't think Joseph is ready for something like that anyways. As I get more pregnant, I because less able to do something that strict. I have a tendency to go either too far or not enough; I'm terrible at balance. I've always felt like I either have to follow a very strict schedule for things and then I burn myself out and do nothing at all until I've recovered. I think that working on home school is going to be the same for me. I need to find the proper balance for me and my kids. Joseph has forgotten a lot of the stuff that he knew, so he isn't even ready for the program that I had planned. That lets me know that we need to take some time to review and work on the basics again. I think I'll just take time to help him remember his basics, but do it in a way that will be enjoyable for him. Today we played Go Fish! with alphabet cards. It was good seeing that he at least remembers his uppercase letters. Next week, we will start review lowercase. He also did a page in his tracing workbook. His lines aren't as neat as they were and he's forgotten a bit about how to hold the pencil properly, but he's slowly getting better. We also had fun playing Uno and he's good with knowing his numbers. I think I'll just gather a lot of fun ideas for reviewing things and getting him ready for higher level stuff. I'm glad I didn't go out and spend money on a phonics primer and handwriting workbook because it's definitely not time for those. I think we'll review through the end of this year and then see where we are. That will also give me time to get through this pregnancy and have time to get used to another little one in the family.

2 comments:

  1. I am bad at balancing things too. I think it runs in the family... I am not a big believer in homeschooling though because it takes a lot of constant daily work and dedication, and those are things that I am not great at and I don't want to have my faults negatively effect something as important as Athena's education. I would rather help Athena with school stuff on the side, but not have to teach her all of it on my own. For me, that is too much pressure. But, I am also a single mother and will probably be a single mother for a super long time, so that makes my situation different and a little more difficult since after school I won't be able to be a stay at home mom. I would say work on things a little bit, but don't try to really start the homeschooling thing now. Your life is going to totally change once the new baby comes. I would say start working on it for real once the baby is a few months old and you've started to get the hang of having 3 small children...

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  2. I struggle with balance too. Honestly, I think we all do. But, I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with Samantha about the homeschool thing. My opinion is that it CAN be a lot of work, but it doesn't HAVE to be. :) Little things every day add up to big things. ("Small and simple things...") Joseph will surprise you in how much he picks up even when you don't feel like you're doing school. Just talk to him, play with him. Take opportunities to point out things that might interest him. I have so much more I'd love to add, so you should text me! Do you still have my number? Message me on facebook or email me. I really would love to chat with you, especially about hoomeschooling!

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