Home School Itinerary

Question: you are going to work with your kids when they aren't at school, so at night and on the weekends?

Question: when do they get to be kids and play?

I ask the second question because I think as a society we are pushing our children too much, ignoring that everything around us is educational. Taking your kids to parks, the zoo, etc. even having them cook dinner, is real education, in the sense that it is applied and applicable. Workbooks, desk work? Totally removed from reality.

So, if you are interested in working with your kids at home, take them somewhere fun! Have them help cook dinner, and while they help teach them about measurements, rising agents, reactions between ingredients, etc.

Sure, help them with their home work, but then PLAY. The best educational philosophies begin and end with PLAY --not busy work in workbooks or on the computer. Curiosity is the key to any educational activity that is worthwhile, and play tends to spark, inspire and maintain the active engagement necessary for learning to take place.

Your question was hard to follow. Are you going to continue to have your daughters go to public school and you also want to add to their schooling experience? Or are you exclusively going to start home schooling? The answer to this question should dramatically change any answers you receive.

For your younger child, Starfall.com is a great and high interest reading website. There is also a website called Mathletics. You have to pay to get access (our school paid for an account for each child). It is good for math practice. There is also a spelling website that has ties to the math one. We have not used this one yet but I am considering paying for it.

I know that there are many homebased websites that provide full curriculums for each grade level. If you google Home schooling, I am sure that they will show up. You can also talk to your school district office about their home schooling options. They can probably connect you with a group.

If you are just adding to their education but keeping them in a traditional classroom, consider adding to their education by taking them to museums and other learning experiences such as art lessons that seem to be disappearing from the public school scene. The public schools in my area, do not have P.E. in the younger grades. If we did not attend our private school that does have p.e. I would definitely add sports to their afternoons.

Please continue to read to both girls. Even your older one needs to hear you read. You can give her access to harder concepts by reading to her even if she is above grade level.

When we come home from school, we immediately tackle homework after a light snack. I find if I let them play first, it is a larger struggle to get them back to the table. Each girl should be able to do their homework by themselves at this point so you can make dinner and then you should take some time to go over their answers.

Good luck, I am an educator that never really understood how hard parents have it until I was a parent. I am now completely against homework because there is so much more meaningful activities you can give your child. But of course, you have to have the resources to provide all these extra things. Frusterating to want to give your kids so much.........

My kids are older now - but have both been very sucessful in school and the teachers have told me that parental involvement is key to success. Once the kids were home from school it was their time for a snack and to play with friends. I have always worked full time out of the home but my husband has a flex schedule so a few days a week he was there to greet them or home shortly after. Unwinding time was always right after school to give them a break. At dinner we always sat down and talked about what happened in school that day. From when they were in Kindegarten through High School. As soon as dinner was over I sat down with both kids and went through notes from teachers - graded homework - and homework they had for the night- subject by subject - just to keep me in the loop. As they got older it wasn't as easy to do - but I still tried. Kids like praise on a job well done no matter how old they get. Then I would post on a calendar deadlines for projects, etc.. so we all knew what was coming up. In elementary school there really isn't a lot of homework. Spelling words were a big thing as was outside reading and Math. We went to the public library at least once every three weeks. My daughter is now 13 and still asks me to take her. Once the kids get in Jr high (MS) the homework is more involved as are social activities so keeping a set time aside to work on homework is still key. Teaching kids organizational skills at a young age is so important too. My son never really grasped that and still struggles as he is going away to college how he is going to remember everything. Be prepared it happens to every parent - kids are going to forget homework at school. we have made many trips to friends houses to borrow books or back to school if it was still unlocked to get stuff out of lockers. Our school system has a parent portal so I can log on at any time and see every class and every assignment that is graded or coming up. It helps me know what to expect before the kids even tell me. Plus our schools website is fillled with parent resources from books to other websites. I think just caring and be a daily part of what your child is doing will make all the difference in the world. As my kids got older they passed me up in what I learned. I never had to take physics or calculus so I wasn't always able to help them with problems but I still encouraged them and let them know I was there to do anything I could to help. Many times that was driving them to school early to meet with a teacher or pick them up later after school so they could participate in a study group. It is a lot of work - especially if you work out side of the home too - but well worth it. I have friends and family members who are teachers or work in schools and tell me there are so many parents out there that just don't care and have no clue what the teachers name even is. Some subjects will come easily to your child and there will probably be something they struggle with. As you learn what those are you will know that you have to set more time aside for certain areas and spend only a few minutes on other areas. The schools used to say 10 minutes per grade for homework. So first grade might have 10 minutes and 6th grade would be an hour. Good Luck.

Hi Cherie,
I guess I'm a little confused by your question. Are you saying you want to keep your girls in ps and then also homeschool them after that? Wow. That's a lot for them to do. When you homeschool, you can get a lot more done in a shorter period of time because it is one-on-one tutoring. When they get it, you just move on. If not, you stay there until they do. And, homeschooled kids don't have "homework" to do in the evenings. They just do it while they are on that subject. The reason they have homework from ps is because there just isn't enough time for them to do it after the teacher has taught the lesson and tried to get everyone up to speed on a subject. They have to take at least twice as long to get the same amount of work accomplished. How long we spend on each day/subject depends so much on the day and on the subject. But, also on the child. Some days they are diligent and attentive. Other days not so much. :) Just like the rest of us. For dinner, we just work together during the day to get that accomplished.

Well, if you're doing full homeschooling then I would estimate 2 hours of "seatwork" for your 2nd grader and 3-4 hours of "seatwork" for your 6th grader.

What I mean by seatwork is sitting down and doing worksheets, reading, etc. The rest of homeschooling is done in the world and also includes art, dancing, PE, music, science experiments, outings, cooking etc.

If your kids are going to remain in public school then I think sitting down with them and helping them with their homework is more than enough. The rest of their time should be spent being kids!

Good for you!! I also do enrichment with my girls and use the abeka curriculum. They have a website and sell books and vdv/vhs for more helpful instruction. I give my girls seatwork on days when there is no homework, or on the weekends after breakfast---only one hour and it's plaenty and worth it!!
I also take them to museums, art exhibits, broadway shows and opera/orchestra performances whether they are professional or done by college students. NYC is a cultural mecca.