Last September I started home schooling my eldest son. It was more of a trial run than anything else. I didn’t really know what I was doing and just going through worksheets was super boring for him but he loved the learning videos from preschool prep and watching educational shows on PBS is always a favorite.
This year I decided to do things differently. I found the Abeka program last year and had liked the principles behind the program. Plus the program had a great track record and had been around since the 1960’s (I think). So I bought the complete student and parent set. When the materials came, my son was super excited to get started. He loved all the colorful materials. “We had this at my school!” he exclaimed…. lol the 3 weeks he was actually in a preschool (to be honest I’m surprised he even remembered).
We actually started our school year last month. I live in a state that is very home school friendly and provides 5 different options for homeschooling, even a “hybrid”of sorts between homeschooling and public schooling. My hope is to be completed with Kindergarten by February. My husband and I are expecting our third child mid-Feb. and I am not particularly thrilled about homeschooling with a newborn and a 2 year old. But that’s the beauty of homeschooling, you can be flexible. If we don’t get it done, we’ll just complete the year with everyone else in May.
We have completed almost 30 lessons so far. A typical school year has 170 lessons. Abeka can be a little repetitive, they do this so the student learns the content thoroughly. For young children, I think this helps build confidence and my son doesn’t seem to mind too much. Plus I don’t mind skipping through/shortening some of the repetition if my son knows the content backwards and forwards already. He certainly is mastering the short sounds of the vowels and letter blends(B,L,M,N,T so far with the vowels) , which I believe will give him a strong foundation for reading.
Have we had a few struggles? Yep, a couple. Today he made a stink about completing school outside in the shade. “It’s too hot! (it wasn’t) I’ll get sweaty (he didn’t)! I’ll be too distracted outside (he wasn’t). If we do school outside I’m just gonna scream!!!! (nice try buddy; he didn’t scream at all).” Another day, He decided to write all over the table with his pencil, which earned him some corner time. He had a choice to complete corner time immediately or after school was over. He hates corner time and tried to throw a fit and claimed he wasn’t doing corner time or finishing school for the day. At which I replied, “no problem, we’ll just finish it first tomorrow before we move on with the new day.” He fussed a little more but ultimately decided he would do corner time now so he could finish school and then watch his show because he knows the corner time will eventually get done one way or another so he can either make things fun or not fun. Plus he was only going to get to watch his second show for the day after he completed school (which He knew before we started school for the day) and he really wanted his second show. Most days go smoothly for school but there are also those days, just like any other that have a few bumps in the road.
The most important thing is consistency. If you, as the parent are consistent then it makes everything so much easier for the kids. Not just in homeschooling but consistency in parenting, especially when it comes to boundaries. Boundaries are the key to thriving, boundaries in relationships both professional and personal, boundaries in the workplace amongst coworkers, departments, and job descriptions, boundaries in the car, boundaries between governments whether local, state, or federal, boundaries, boundaries, boundaries. However, boundaries are only as good as often as they are enforced (consistency). I’ve spent the last 5 years setting and reinforcing firm but loving boundaries with my son and that is what makes homeschooling a smooth and mostly enjoyable process. And if I am enjoying the time spent teaching him, he is also enjoying it.
So here is what homeschooling Kindergarten is looking like for us this year: We have fun in the morning as much as we can. We will walk to the local park, play in the back yard, hangout with friends or go on a “Field trip” (zoo, children’s museum, the ‘farm’) etc… Then we have lunch. I put the youngest to bed for his afternoon nap and when I am done we start school. Mostly we have school at the kitchen table, we’ve had class at grandma’s house at a picnic table outside before, as well as, at a desk chair in our backyard. We generally finish the lesson around 60-90 minutes, depending on the mood, and then we are “done” for the day. I use the term “done” in reference to formal schooling but there are all types of learning and teaching moments that happen throughout the day. We have a small square foot garden in the yard that we frequent daily, we look at bugs outside, and the boys have lots of unstructured playtime inside and out. He gets two shows a day, which are generally educational cartoons on PBS, Prime, or Rightnow media. With the occasional Zerby Derby, Leap frog, or Rescue bots on the Roku Kids and Family Channel.
So am I concerned my son is missing out by not going to public or private school? Nope, not at all. He gets to be more active than if he was sitting at a desk all day. He still gets interaction with other kids his age or around his age… sometimes older kids too. Plus he gets one on one attention when it comes to learning that can be tailored to him, that’s more than what he would get in a “regular” school.
I’m sure we will have some ups and downs this school year (I don’t know any teacher who doesn’t) but I am confident we will be just fine. I don’t know how long I will home school but for now this works for use. Do I look down on those who choose not to home school? No! Not at all! Do I think more highly of those who chose to home school? Nope, not one bit. We, parents as a collective whole, all have to decide what is best for our families given the unique circumstances we are in. I can’t decided that for anyone but my own children and no one else can decided that for mine. So whatever you have decided for your children this year, do it joyfully and with full confidence that it’s all going to be okay.
The Ruby Blossom 