Is there a way to try homeschooling in the summer?

[My2CrazyGirls]

My girls are in public school. I was thinking about taking some time this summer to see if I could possibly handle homeschooling. I don't know where to start as far as programs and materials are concerned. Maybe I would do just one subject to start and see how it goes, say math or language arts. Should I look into online programs or find a homeschool book store (I heard there is one around)?

DD 9 will be going into 4th grade, she is in advanced classes at school. She is a challenge because she has Aspergers and is very inflexible and refuses to do work!

DD 7 is going into 2nd grade and she has learning challenges, especially in math. She also has visual spatial problems (she has a terrible time drawing for instance).

Where should I start? I know there are a lot of homeschoolers here

 

[NinaBella]

My girls are in public school. I was thinking about taking some time this summer to see if I could possibly handle homeschooling. I don't know where to start as far as programs and materials are concerned. Maybe I would do just one subject to start and see how it goes, say math or language arts. Should I look into online programs or find a homeschool book store (I heard there is one around)?

DD 9 will be going into 4th grade, she is in advanced classes at school. She is a challenge because she has Aspergers and is very inflexible and refuses to do work!

DD 7 is going into 2nd grade and she has learning challenges, especially in math. She also has visual spatial problems (she has a terrible time drawing for instance).

Where should I start? I know there are a lot of homeschoolers here

Many of my friends who homeschool are a club/group that support each other. I would try searching for a group near you and set up a coffee date to discuss your options and get their insight. What I find great about my friend's group is they also help teach each other's kids. One lives on a farm and has different groups over.

My cousin has her Master's in education and was the dean of a private school. She quit working to home school her kids when they were in Kindergarten and third grade because of issues the older child was having in school. The younger turned 18 last week and loved being home schooled. She was in a surf club in the mornings (they live near a beach) and raises horses. She never considered going back to a traditional school because she liked the flexibility of home schooling. Her older brother did go back to the public high school in 9th grade because he wanted to play school sports.

Another option to home schooling is virtual school. Florida Virtual School is awesome and you have a teacher that keeps in contact with the child. You can take one course for enrichment or a full semester's worth of classes. It's easier on parents because they do not have to "teach" their child but will only assist when needed as their course teacher is always available.

 

[olwyngdh]

I would pick a subject/topic that they like and go with that as a "special summer project." Take a look at the stuff on currclick.com and see what sparks your andd their interest. I didn't intend to school year round when we started, but it turns out that is what works best for our family and we can take days or weeks off whenever we want/need them and do a lot of field trips.

 

[Tpiejg]

In my state, NH, there is very good homeschooling coalition. I would try googling homeschooling in your state and see what you find. Also I used Rainbow Resources, it is a huge homeschooling bookstore online that has individual subjects or whole curriculums. I also used Alpha Omega. they have both books or CDs for all subjects. They are a religious based homeschooling bookstore. my son liked the CDs for history and i liked them because they kept track of all the grades for you in a very organized way. they were very easy to use. Good luck, i loved homeschooling!

 

[Mommaof3]

I homeschooled my 3 children----all grown now. I am a teacher with public school experience. My oldest is very intelligent and has Aspergers, also. I encourage you to find a local homeschool group for support. There is lots of info on the internet. You can teach it yourself, form groups to group teach, you can fall under the umbrella of Bob Jones etc, you can do lessons through the computer, or on DVD, or any combination. I really like that you are thinking about going into it easy. Yes, pick a subject or topic to study for the summer. Get to know how your children learn and what they need for a good learning environment. It will help you pick what and how to do it in the fall. Don't think you have to recreate school at home. The point is to learn in a systematic way. Learn what your state requires and set up an easy way for you to follow the rules. Think outside the box so your child's needs are meet. Be happy and spread a joy for learning. Relax and take a deep breath. I hope it all works out for you and your children. Melissa

 

[Mommaof3]

I see on the other thread where you asked about cost. Honestly, you can spend a modest amount up to thousands. My child special needs child was very successful with low cost, home things. For example, to help her learn to read, her favorite practices were painting letters on butcher paper taped to the garage wall. She picked a paint color, squirted it into a muffin tin and practice started. She took spelling tests by writing in dry jello in a 9x13 pan. Once I checked the word, she shook the pan and we did another. If it's a pretty day, chalk on the driveway was for her. She had a dymo lettering machine and printed that way. Let them take pictures and make albums of anything. That is what I mean by thinking outside the box. Read to them all the great books. Go on field trips and see and touch and smell all those things you studied. Catch worms and butterflies. Look at ditch water under a microscope and draw what you see. Sing the multiplication tables while driving to the store. Let them plan supper, make a grocery list, look for coupons, and shop on a budget. Make them figure what percent off the sale is. Teach them Latin and Greek roots. They will come in handy for everything down the road. There is a fun go fish style card game called "Rummy Roots" to practice roots. I could go on forever! Melissa

 

[ChitownFamily]

I can understand wanting to "try it out" but since it's their summer too, I would really go for more hands on learning. I think this is a great site for hands on learning. I don't homeschool, but saw this mother/daughter duo speak at a conference. I pull their math resources frequently for my kids when they are struggling at school. http://guiltfreehomeschooling.org
I also think, for a trial period, Five in a Row is a gentle intro to homeschool. It's a literature based curriculum where you read the book 5 days in the week. All you need is the manual. Get the books from library. I love exposing my kids to the older books like: Ferdinand, mike mulligan etc. there are tons of blogs with more five in a row activities.
http://fiveinarow.com

Five in a row vs beyond five in a row: Classic stories like Ping, make way for ducklings, etc vs longer books: boxcar children, Sarah plain & tall.
We've "rowed" a couple books each summer for fun. We modify the program to fit our needs. For summer: read 1-2 times, take a trip related to story (aquarium etc) make a food from the story, color a flag from the country in the story. Find it on the map.

 

[crisi]

What grades are they in? And how self motivated are they?

For disciplinary reasons, my son ended up being homeschooled this year. But he's a ninth grader, so 1) we needed more rigor than elementary school and 2) he was pretty capable of doing his own work - I didn't need to learn in order to teach (although I did). Some subjects its important to have a curriculum - math is probably the most important throughout school. For other subjects - you can follow their interests until high school.

In elementary school there are a ton of workbooks you can just pick up at Barnes and Noble or somewhere. To see if they can handle homeschool structure, have them do an hour (or two) of worksheets every day - make one day math day and one day reading day...etc. Then do an "enrichment" activity every Friday - if you are in a city, a trip to a museum, a historic site, a movie (we watched lots of movies).

Some subjects are harder to teach than others - its hard to self learn a foreign language and if you don't speak one, it can be really difficult. Also the homeschool materials for foreign language seem weak - I never found good ones. MOST kids don't get through math without help, and will need the theory - if you don't understand math yourself, it will be hard for them to be successful - not impossible, but harder when they say "Mom, I don't get this."

Since we homeschooled with an eye of one year and back to public school, I tried to stay close to the curriculum he would have had at his school - and some of it for a non-teacher was hard - I don't know how to grade an English paper - I can do grammar and sentence structure - but what is an appropriate level of deconstruction and thought for a ninth grader? (I can't compare him to what my daughter writes, she's at a college level in eighth grade in her ability to deconstruct). If your kids are young, I'd really think through the whole plan through high school and into college. Make sure you understand when they qualify for PSEO, how you are going to get them higher math (if you aren't capable of teaching it) and a foreign language (assuming you don't speak one).

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Thank you for the replies so far. At the very least I want DD7 to understand the 1st grade math concepts this summer. She is going into 2nd grade and she cannot answer what is 4+3 without manipulatives, a number line, or her fingers after an entire 1st grade year at a top elementary school. I would also like her to pick a topic of interest to explore this summer to develop a love of learning.

As for my DD 9 with Aspergers, I want to find ways she is most comfortable learning. She is very bright but inflexible. I am going to let her pick a subject/topic of her choice (it will most likely be science related) and figure out a way she would most like to learn about it (that will be the hard part...figuring out how to make it exciting and not seem like work!)

I have real concerns about public school education, especially middle school and high school. The schools here are top notch, yet girls are cutting themselves and drugs at parties are the norm. There is also immense pressure on kids to perform well. Then there is the whole Common Core thing that MD has embraced and I do not embrace!

I feel like I have 2 years (if that) to figure out what is best for DD9. I have read about so many aspergers kids and adults that said school was torture for them. And kids with social issues don't need to be socialized by a bunch of rude, snotty, overachieving, cutting, druggie, bullying peers. Ok, that is worse case....there are good kids out there. But with each passing year they become more clique-ish and less accepting.

 

[ChitownFamily]

Thank you for the replies so far. At the very least I want DD7 to understand the 1st grade math concepts this summer. She is going into 2nd grade and she cannot answer what is 4+3 without manipulatives, a number line, or her fingers after an entire 1st grade year at a top elementary school. I would also like her to pick a topic of interest to explore this summer to develop a love of learning.

As for my DD 9 with Aspergers, I want to find ways she is most comfortable learning. She is very bright but inflexible. I am going to let her pick a subject/topic of her choice (it will most likely be science related) and figure out a way she would most like to learn about it (that will be the hard part...figuring out how to make it exciting and not seem like work!)

I have real concerns about public school education, especially middle school and high school. The schools here are top notch, yet girls are cutting themselves and drugs at parties are the norm. There is also immense pressure on kids to perform well. Then there is the whole Common Core thing that MD has embraced and I do not embrace!

I feel like I have 2 years (if that) to figure out what is best for DD9. I have read about so many aspergers kids and adults that said school was torture for them. And kids with social issues don't need to be socialized by a bunch of rude, snotty, overachieving, cutting, druggie, bullying peers. Ok, that is worse case....there are good kids out there. But with each passing year they become more clique-ish and less accepting.

My 2cents: way too high of expectations for math. Your goal will be met by the end of 2nd grade. What does the teacher say when you address this specific concern?
Your second thought, I adore! Love igniting curiosity & a love of learning in my kids! It comes from working in early childhood, for me.

I think the best aspect of homeschooling vs school is never having to do workbook work! Sitting school age kids with a workbook for an hour everyday in summer (or really anytime) sounds dreadful! But families educate in many different ways

Eta: maybe something like this would appeal to you: adventure boxes http://blogshewrote.org/2013/04/15/adventure-box-themes/

 

[crisi]

Since you are talking specifically about middle school and high school, if I were you, I wouldn't spend the summer seeing if the kids can handle it, I'd spend the summer seeing if you can handle it. Get yourself an Algebra textbook - in Minnesota kids are required to complete Algebra II, so that would be the highest level you'd teach if you were here. Can you do the math well enough to teach it? To get into most colleges, two years of a foreign language are required - how are you going to get it? There are lots of ways other than the local high school - from homeschool coops to language camps, but they vary a lot in their cost and ability to get your student ready for a competency test - as well as their availability will vary a lot region to region. We did some "physics for poets" this year in alignment with the high school curriculum (9th grade physics doesn't have the math - physics as a Senior has the math) - physics labs are pretty easy - biology and chemistry lab work is harder at home - you can get a fetal pig to dissect at home, but do you want to and are you prepared to teach it? Find out what resources are available - secondary enrollment in college, coops (around here, most of the coops are Christian, there isn't a secular coop with high school students that I could find - and we aren't Christian). Research your state laws on what you need to do and what you need to teach. Knowing it will change in the next ten years, find out what they teach in high school so that if your kids need to go back you can get them back in as smoothly as possible (and there are lots of reasons they might need to go back - if you need to have two incomes).

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Since you are talking specifically about middle school and high school, if I were you, I wouldn't spend the summer seeing if the kids can handle it, I'd spend the summer seeing if you can handle it. Get yourself an Algebra textbook - in Minnesota kids are required to complete Algebra II, so that would be the highest level you'd teach if you were here. Can you do the math well enough to teach it? To get into most colleges, two years of a foreign language are required - how are you going to get it? There are lots of ways other than the local high school - from homeschool coops to language camps, but they vary a lot in their cost and ability to get your student ready for a competency test - as well as their availability will vary a lot region to region. We did some "physics for poets" this year in alignment with the high school curriculum (9th grade physics doesn't have the math - physics as a Senior has the math) - physics labs are pretty easy - biology and chemistry lab work is harder at home - you can get a fetal pig to dissect at home, but do you want to and are you prepared to teach it? Find out what resources are available - secondary enrollment in college, coops (around here, most of the coops are Christian, there isn't a secular coop with high school students that I could find - and we aren't Christian). Research your state laws on what you need to do and what you need to teach. Knowing it will change in the next ten years, find out what they teach in high school so that if your kids need to go back you can get them back in as smoothly as possible (and there are lots of reasons they might need to go back - if you need to have two incomes).

It would definitely be to see how I can handle it...as in handling being w the girls 24/7 and seeing if they will listen to me, especially the 9 year old. I never thought about not handling the curriculum. I am college educated, I have a Masters Degree. Sure I would have to relearn some things I have not done in years (like trig) but to my knowledge lots of homeschoolers do not have college degrees and they educate their children just fine. As for foreign language, I am sure something like using Rosetta Stone is better than HS Spanish. I took Spanish from 7th to 10th grade and 1 year in college and I cant speak Spanish at all! And yes I received A's in those classes.

 

[crisi]

It would definitely be to see how I can handle it...as in handling being w the girls 24/7 and seeing if they will listen to me, especially the 9 year old. I never thought about not handling the curriculum. I am college educated, I have a Masters Degree. Sure I would have to relearn some things I have not done in years (like trig) but to my knowledge lots of homeschoolers do not have college degrees and they educate their children just fine. As for foreign language, I am sure something like using Rosetta Stone is better than HS Spanish. I took Spanish from 7th to 10th grade and 1 year in college and I cant speak Spanish at all! And yes I received A's in those classes.

It sounds like you will do fine - but honestly, a LOT of homeschoolers don't do fine because they don't have the skills. Spend some time with real homeschoolers (instead of people talking about the perfection you get on the internet) and you'll discover a lot of people like my sister in law - who didn't manage to get her son through high school not because she didn't try or didn't have an education herself - but because he's a special needs kid and it took her a long time to figure out how to meet his needs. (He finished his GED at 22 - through the public school system). Lots of those kids aren't the ones you hear about doing great on college acceptance, because they don't go to college and never take the SAT or ACT - and because parents self report - you tend to hear successes and not failures. Teaching something is different than knowing it - I was a statistician for a while, and teaching Algebra is not easy. I went the Rosetta Stone route and it didn't work well at all - its taught for conversational Spanish for adults, which is a whole different thing than being able to pass a test for fluency for college. And since you aren't accredited, they will need to test (where the public school they probably won't). We ended up dropping Spanish and doing two years of math in a year.

Since you need to think long term, here is what I would ask yourself.

Do you want a curriculum or are you going to teach freestyle? Both have advantages and disadvantages - a curriculum can be modified to be more freestyle but gives you something to work from.

The two extremes are probably unschooling at one end and a classical education at the other - but it isn't really a continuum.

What's your educational philosophy. I like worksheets, it gives me a measurement system. As someone said up above, that sounds like hell to them, but I had a kid who was homeschooled for discipline - we needed structure and a measurement system. He was also reintegrating into public school, so we needed to cover a certain amount of material in a certain amount of time. My daughter's friend is homeschooled, but is very autodiadatic - her mother doesn't need to do much than get her to the library. She'll reintegrate for high school because they can't give her the Science at home she needs - but she's already tested far above grade level for Math and English. That's a very different kid than mine. (My daughter would be far easier to homeschool - I'd just need to keep her pointed at a target so she didn't lose herself in reading and actually keep up with Math - but she'll self teach).

What are your state regulations - ours aren't much and are pretty easy to get through.

If you want a curriculum, do you want secular or Christian (there might be other religious curriculum out there, but most of them are Christian).

What is the availability of coop learning that matches your educational philosophy. My daughter's friend was pulled from her homeschool coop since it was not an improvement over the bullying situation that she was pulled from public school for (she's a strange kid).

What are your backup plans - if Rosetta Stone doesn't work for you. If you need to go back to work because your husband gets ill or loses his job or leaves you. If they get to high school and you discover that you can't adequately cover high school level material at home.

How responsive are your kids to you - I have a friend who tried to homeschool her daughter - it wasn't the best situation since her daughter and her at that point were in the middle of a head butting contest. She was far more responsive to teachers than to mom (middle school can be like that).

I loved homeschooling, it was a great year and I'm really glad I did it - but I got cornered into it - and there were a lot of mistakes I made because I didn't get the opportunity you have to think it through.

 

[Nayan]

100% with what crisi said. I homeschooled my son all the way through and I'd be lying if I said it was a breeze. It's a lot of work.

 

[3princes+1princess]

I plan on homeschooling next year, and I have a 7th grader (auditory processing issues), a 4th grader (gifted), and a 1st grader. I also have a 10th grader, but he will continue in the public school.

I plan on doing as many 'field trips' as I can this summer, and really see what the kids learn. I really want to incorporate more hands on learning like this in the year, and I love spending time with my kids this way.

I am not sure where you live, but I plan to dual enroll my kids to the school district. They are very pro homeschooling here in Iowa and the schools are willing to work with you. I will send my grade schoolers to school for music and art and the gifted time for my 4th grader. I will send my middle schooler for social studies, PE and tech. They can go to these as they please, do NOT receive grades (which will make my life a lot easier with testing with my special needs kid).

I also plan on joining a homeschooling group which there is a lot around here.

I honestly figure having one foot in public school and one foot in homeschooling, I can test the waters. Then I can continue the way I am doing it the following year, put them back at public school, or totally keep them at home.

I can't wait!!

 

[Mommaof3]

It would definitely be to see how I can handle it...as in handling being w the girls 24/7 and seeing if they will listen to me, especially the 9 year old. I never thought about not handling the curriculum. I am college educated, I have a Masters Degree. Sure I would have to relearn some things I have not done in years (like trig) but to my knowledge lots of homeschoolers do not have college degrees and they educate their children just fine. As for foreign language, I am sure something like using Rosetta Stone is better than HS Spanish. I took Spanish from 7th to 10th grade and 1 year in college and I cant speak Spanish at all! And yes I received A's in those classes.

It is hard to educate your children at home. I spent 17 years teaching my children at home and 14 years teaching in public and private schools. It was my life and it was hard at times. But I am glad I did it and I miss it at times. It was a good decision for our family. A million things can happen in the years to come whether your children are at home or at school. You cannot plan for all of the possibilities today. Try to have a big, general plan together, but take it one year at a time. Regroup in the summer and make changes as needed. Since you understand the demands of a college education, you know what to shoot for if you and your children have that as a goal. If you cannot figure out how to teach something or cannot provide the information yourself, look for someone or some other way to get it to your child. You can cross each bridge as you get to it. We used traditional textbooks and I taught the lessons, we used DvD's under an umbrella school, we went to classes at a coop, had a private tutor, took classes at our local college and took speech at our public school. We did what worked in each situation. I had no real idea exactly where the road would end when I started, but I desired for each child to attend college. One child has refused to go to college, one has graduated with a degree in accounting and is about to start his MBA, and the third will finish his senior year in college after completing his training in the Marines. They find their way. I am glad we traveled the journey that we did. They are glad also, all of them! Melissa

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

I loved homeschooling, it was a great year and I'm really glad I did it - but I got cornered into it - and there were a lot of mistakes I made because I didn't get the opportunity you have to think it through.

That is what I don't want to happen. I don't want to get cornered into it and have no idea what I am doing. I have no intention of homeschooling either child next year. I do feel though that depending on how social things go with DD9 we may need to make a change at some point, and I don't want to have no plan.

For the summer though, I am looking into Math U See for my DD7. She will be left in the dust in 2nd grade if she cannot add single digits in her head quickly. They have already moved on to adding 2 digit numbers!

And for my DD9, I want to explore how she best learns. So she told me science is her favorite subject, specifically animals (furry animals...cats mostly but others as well) so I am going to look for some different biology materials. Any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I would keep it low key. My own homeschool children are ready for a summer break. We will have some summer coursework, but much lighter than their normal loads.

If you wish to try it and want to avoid difficulties, I would keep it simple. I would explore unit studies followed by field trips.

For example, we live in Northern Virginia with LOTS of history within 1 to 4 hours of our home. The homes of Madison, Washington, and Jefferson can be done as day trips. We live near where the a Civil War started and an overnight would get us to Williamsburg and Yorktown. Not to mention our proximity to DC.

Find out what is around you and develop a "syllabus" around that. Your kids, who may be ready for that summer break, may be more open to that form of summer enrichment.

You could get the Summer bridge workbooks to practice their math skills.

Whatever you do, just don't overdo it. It will be so easy to over do and then turn yourself off of the idea.

Our summer will be spent with math and writing and Latin and field
trips.


Some homeschoolers school year round, but summer (or winter depending on the climate) are lighter loads to accommodate seasonal outdoor activities.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

That is what I don't want to happen. I don't want to get cornered into it and have no idea what I am doing. I have no intention of homeschooling either child next year. I do feel though that depending on how social things go with DD9 we may need to make a change at some point, and I don't want to have no plan.

For the summer though, I am looking into Math U See for my DD7. She will be left in the dust in 2nd grade if she cannot add single digits in her head quickly. They have already moved on to adding 2 digit numbers!

And for my DD9, I want to explore how she best learns. So she told me science is her favorite subject, specifically animals (furry animals...cats mostly but others as well) so I am going to look for some different biology materials. Any suggestions are appreciated!

Gentle suggestion--we use Math U See and love if. Great for understanding concept. Very lacking in drill work to cement instant recall. She will understand it better, but it may not facilitate a more instant recall.

Also--Alpha is all addition and Beta is all subtraction. This often is in conflict with how math is presented in other curriculums. I would review the table of contents on the website just so you are familiar with what is included in the levels.

It would be important to know of she understands what she is supposed to do with adding or it is just a fact memorization issue.

 

[TwoMisfits]

If your intent is to re-enroll both children in the fall, I really wouldn't plan anything too "book learning" for the summer. Both kids probably need the break from the day in, day out long hours of regular school and are looking forward to having fun. Play time, outdoor time, creative time, and simple boredom (aka unscheduled) time are highly underrated, but highly valuable, especially for young kids.

So, if you want to get a Math skill trained or another skill tackled, I would do it on a "fun" only path - find a rainy day video game/app that makes the learning drill secondary (but allows the repetition to ingrain the facts). If you want a "unit" study, ask the kids if they could learn about anything, especially something they know they wouldn't learn about in school, what would it be and how would they learn it...and go from there. I had a child interested in cats and dogs and we had a heckuva unit study, visiting the local animal shelter, organizing a K-9 demo field trip, writing to the guide dogs site and getting a comic book and personal letter back, meeting a read-to-me dog, watching animal pet safety videos, reading lots of fun books, etc (and finally adopting a cat from the animal shelter). It may not be what you think is important to learn, but encouraging a child to follow a path to what they want to know will encourage them to do more of the same in the future (and you might learn something along the way - I sure know a ton of stuff now about cats and dogs!