First Day of Homeschooling
I got up early this morning and prepared some worksheets and activities for my son to do on his first day of REAL yet "unofficial" homeschool. After reading and searching, I still had no idea where to start but after today's experience I think I now have an idea of how I want to approach this based on how my son learns and my original thought/plans of child led learning.
Obviously a child will not be interested in learning so much if he is coerced into doing it especially at 9am in the morning when he or she would rather (what my 5 year old son normally does) be watching cartoons.
At first when I introduced a packet of worksheets about starting school/personal life/favorites,etc. our son was excited. He even got up early as well as ate breakfast early. By the time we got to the 4th worksheet and an hour later, he wasn't so enthusiastic anymore. I think it was the subject that we were dealing with. I realized that if I force worksheets upon him that he is not interested in then he is going to be bored quickly. That is exactly what happened. He kept asking when he was going to be done. Of course he completed all that was asked of him and we also read 2 books within the two hour time frame I had set up for us to start with. But that's not really the road I want go down... I want him to truly enjoy what he is doing and learn when he doesn't even think he's learning. I know this isn't going to be true at all times but I want it to be the best experience it can be.
I read a quote on another homeschooling mom's blog that I came across this morning while searching for some information and support and I think it sums up our morning experience perfectly.
"Learning can only happen when a child is interested. If he’s not interested it’s like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it eating.” –Anonymous
Since I dont know where the quote came from originally I want to give credit to the blog I got it from here, Throwing Marshmallows.
Anyway, I'm just glad my original thoughts on child-led learning have been reinforced and that is where I want to go with homeschooling. My son is currently very interested in the body/anatomy, sea creatures, food, Spongebob, planets, and all things Arthur so we are going to start with one of those subjects and incorporate all necessary subjects into that topic. I've found some great resources online but I'd like to see a better sea creatures homeschool lesson plan for kindergarten age children. If anyone knows of any plans or sites for free, I'd love to hear about them. I've seen some good looking plans but they are, in my opinion, expensive& too strict, especially for kindergarten age children. I guess I should learn to create the plans on my own so we can do whatever we want anytime we want. Does anyone else do that?
Again, from my last post, I'd also like to hear from other homeschooling moms on what works for you.
>Go to the Mom blog Homepage
I got up early this morning and prepared some worksheets and activities for my son to do on his first day of REAL yet "unofficial" homeschool. After reading and searching, I still had no idea where to start but after today's experience I think I now have an idea of how I want to approach this based on how my son learns and my original thought/plans of child led learning.
Obviously a child will not be interested in learning so much if he is coerced into doing it especially at 9am in the morning when he or she would rather (what my 5 year old son normally does) be watching cartoons.
At first when I introduced a packet of worksheets about starting school/personal life/favorites,etc. our son was excited. He even got up early as well as ate breakfast early. By the time we got to the 4th worksheet and an hour later, he wasn't so enthusiastic anymore. I think it was the subject that we were dealing with. I realized that if I force worksheets upon him that he is not interested in then he is going to be bored quickly. That is exactly what happened. He kept asking when he was going to be done. Of course he completed all that was asked of him and we also read 2 books within the two hour time frame I had set up for us to start with. But that's not really the road I want go down... I want him to truly enjoy what he is doing and learn when he doesn't even think he's learning. I know this isn't going to be true at all times but I want it to be the best experience it can be.
I read a quote on another homeschooling mom's blog that I came across this morning while searching for some information and support and I think it sums up our morning experience perfectly.
"Learning can only happen when a child is interested. If he’s not interested it’s like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it eating.” –Anonymous
Since I dont know where the quote came from originally I want to give credit to the blog I got it from here, Throwing Marshmallows.
Anyway, I'm just glad my original thoughts on child-led learning have been reinforced and that is where I want to go with homeschooling. My son is currently very interested in the body/anatomy, sea creatures, food, Spongebob, planets, and all things Arthur so we are going to start with one of those subjects and incorporate all necessary subjects into that topic. I've found some great resources online but I'd like to see a better sea creatures homeschool lesson plan for kindergarten age children. If anyone knows of any plans or sites for free, I'd love to hear about them. I've seen some good looking plans but they are, in my opinion, expensive& too strict, especially for kindergarten age children. I guess I should learn to create the plans on my own so we can do whatever we want anytime we want. Does anyone else do that?
Again, from my last post, I'd also like to hear from other homeschooling moms on what works for you. >Go to the Mom blog Homepage
Obviously a child will not be interested in learning so much if he is coerced into doing it especially at 9am in the morning when he or she would rather (what my 5 year old son normally does) be watching cartoons.
At first when I introduced a packet of worksheets about starting school/personal life/favorites,etc. our son was excited. He even got up early as well as ate breakfast early. By the time we got to the 4th worksheet and an hour later, he wasn't so enthusiastic anymore. I think it was the subject that we were dealing with. I realized that if I force worksheets upon him that he is not interested in then he is going to be bored quickly. That is exactly what happened. He kept asking when he was going to be done. Of course he completed all that was asked of him and we also read 2 books within the two hour time frame I had set up for us to start with. But that's not really the road I want go down... I want him to truly enjoy what he is doing and learn when he doesn't even think he's learning. I know this isn't going to be true at all times but I want it to be the best experience it can be.
I read a quote on another homeschooling mom's blog that I came across this morning while searching for some information and support and I think it sums up our morning experience perfectly.
"Learning can only happen when a child is interested. If he’s not interested it’s like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it eating.” –Anonymous
Since I dont know where the quote came from originally I want to give credit to the blog I got it from here, Throwing Marshmallows.
Anyway, I'm just glad my original thoughts on child-led learning have been reinforced and that is where I want to go with homeschooling. My son is currently very interested in the body/anatomy, sea creatures, food, Spongebob, planets, and all things Arthur so we are going to start with one of those subjects and incorporate all necessary subjects into that topic. I've found some great resources online but I'd like to see a better sea creatures homeschool lesson plan for kindergarten age children. If anyone knows of any plans or sites for free, I'd love to hear about them. I've seen some good looking plans but they are, in my opinion, expensive& too strict, especially for kindergarten age children. I guess I should learn to create the plans on my own so we can do whatever we want anytime we want. Does anyone else do that?
Again, from my last post, I'd also like to hear from other homeschooling moms on what works for you. >Go to the Mom blog Homepage
7 Comments:
Unfortunately, I'm no help in this area, but it is something I'm interested in. We haven't decided about homeschooling with Julia.
There is a mom on my blogroll her name is Ruth. Here's her site:
http://pattonfamilymusings.blogspot.com
I know she homeschools her children.
I started homeschool my daughter in September. I did purchase a curriculum,(it was $190) but we don't do all the assigments. We work three times a week with phonics, math, science, history and bible study, and art. I make sure that we only work for one hour a day, or we take a long break in between. If you think about how a kindergarden class works they're not sitting in one spot for one or two hours at a time. Sometimes to make things more fun for her I let her use a marker or crayons instead of a pencil for her work.
Hi Heather, I will not be purchasing a curriculum at all unless I see my son showing difficulty in some things later on. I would wait until atleast 2nd grade. I have found so many great things online plus with the child directed learning there is less structure and if I purchased a curriculum we would not be able to do what subject he chose. Right now he's into sea creatures and I'm going to do let him do that until he gets tired of it even if it means sticking with this it for a month or more. I'm just going to incorporate math, science, spelling & reading into it sort of like Montessori.
Him sitting down and doing worksheets for longer than an hour just wont work for him or me at this age. My only concern is the laws of our state at this point. I'm trying to find more resources on unschooling for ky specifically. Thanks for your comment. It is appreciated very much.
Welcome to the world of homeschooling! You are in for a great ride! And as you are finding, it will probably take a little while for you to find what works for you both. That is part of the beauty of homeschooling. The key is to just keep an eye on your son... he will let you know if it is working or not. And don't be afraid to trust your instincts and change things if they are not working.
Glad that you liked my blog. Stop by any time!
I used to work for a family who homeschooled. I think your doing a great thing for your kids.
I cant wait to follow this journey with you. My baby is three and I hope to homeschool her in a couple years.
I don't believe homeschooling is for every kid or parent, but when it works it's truly wonderful! I wish you all the best with it!
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