Well....

[SimpleMom]

I've made the choice and I'm going to Homeschool!!! Yay! Super excited....super scared LOL

I'm going to add on more K-ready stuff and geography type things now. I've been doing mostly pre-k things up to now.

Any advice( from any of you who do this with daycare) on what works/doesn't work due to Daycare things would be great!

Thanks!!

[Michael]

That's great. This site has been very helpful for us: http://www.k12.com

[SilverSabre25]

i'm in the early stages of doing this with my dd (prek stuff right nw) and honestly I have to say that lapbooks are awesome!! They are easy to scale to each child's level and you can do them with the dcks too if you want.

Also, doing school doing naptime

[AmyLeigh]

Yahoo!!! Welcome to the team!!!happyfacehappyfacehappyface


If you need advice, support, a place to gain LOTS of information from mom's who have BTDT, check out The Homeschool Lounge. There are people from all over the homeschool spectrum there.

[Cat Herder]

That's great. This site has been very helpful for us: http://www.k12.com

That is what I did, too. K12 was really great. The kids were VERY advanced when they went back to brick and mortar for junior high/high school.

Check to see if your State has a Virtual Academy. If so it will be at no charge to you.

Study Island is a godsend, too. happyface

[Michael]

That is what I did, too. K12 was really great. The kids were VERY advanced when they went back to brick and mortar for junior high/high school.

Check to see if your State has a Virtual Academy. If so it will be at no charge to you.

Study Island is a godsend, too. happyface

We homeschooled up to college. Tutors

[Cat Herder]

We homeschooled up to college. Tutors

I am soooo jealous!!!

The tutors around here charge between $50-$85 an hour.

I barely make more than that for 50 hours of care for one child...with 6 kids, max allowed.

K12 Virtual Academy made it possible fo us to get a jump start though.

[frgsonmysox]

We homeschooled for a few years. It's a lot of work, but so worth it. Look into lap books and work boxes. They were amazingly helpful for my children.

[AnneCordelia]

I was homeschooled! It was awesome! WTG!

[erinalexmom]

My daughter is in a charter school. She goes to "school" two days a week. Then does the rest on-line. One piece of advice I have is, do as much as you can during naptime. Also, if you can colaborate with other homeschoolers in your area

By the way Michael, my daughters charter school is a k12 school love it!

[cheerfuldom]

we are starting homeschooling next year too. pre K and K. we also have a university model school in our town so homeschooled kids can go and take just the courses they need and the parents do the rest at home. a great option once kids get into advanced math and such. we also have homeschool groups that do PE together and such.

[themoorethemerrier]

WHOO HOO!!! It's soooo fun! And it's easy once you find your groove.

Right now my girls are "K", 1st and 2nd. We are child-led "free rangers". I have a scope and sequence that I loosely follow. If I think one of them isn't reaching a specific goal I know that they are able to hit, I sneak in a few learning games.

My Kindy girl uses Rod and Staff workbooks, which were inexpensive and very helpful for practicing all the skills needed for the following years.

My older girls get in writing skills (write letters to family members, thank you notes, stories, etc) during our table project time.

We follow their interests, and include anyone with piqued interest in our study. Lately it's been about where babies come from but we've found appropriate resources to help explain how babies are created, how they grow in utero, how they "get out" and how to take care of them after they are born. I was rewarded with lots of pictures of a mommy getting an ultrasound, babies in the womb, and even a fetal snowman with umbilical cord. ::

I have two all-age story times, one at each snack time. Bible stories in the morning and usually a Dr. Suess in the afternoon.

We practice counting and mathematics with basic things like hopscotch, counting in 2s, 5s, 10s with bunny hops, treasure finds and in general those stone beads. I do practice the addition, subtraction and multiplication tables by rote and then have speed drills.

The only time it's difficult to juggle the day care with homeschooling is when it comes time for my girls to read out loud. There are a few too many yelling toddlers for them to concentrate. I choose during nap, after dc hours or bed time.

The biggest thing here is to make it fun and take advantage of every teachable moment! Can't wait to hear updates about your adventure!

[SimpleMom]

socialization

How do you gals configure friendships for the kiddos when homeschooling? That's my biggest "challenge" right now. We are doing amazing with skills and such! She does seem to miss playing with kids her age through the day. Her dc pal just entered K, and so isn't here any longer

[MrsSteinel'sHouse]

We homeschool. We use Seton (www.setonhome.org) I like it because it is complete and my kids graduate with a diploma. Dd is a junior in college now. Ds is in 10th. Homeschooling gives us a lot of flexability to travel to competitions for him. He is a competitive shooter. He got to shoot in the Jr Olympics this past summer.
Daycare and hsing. when they are little it is easy.. naptime. The upper elem require a little more time management. The nice thing is you can explain for 15 min or so go back to the littles and check in later. I always kept a list of items they could work on if I wasn't available, spelling, items to read etc.

[Michael]

How do you gals configure friendships for the kiddos when homeschooling? That's my biggest "challenge" right now. We are doing amazing with skills and such! She does seem to miss playing with kids her age through the day. Her dc pal just entered K, and so isn't here any longer

When we go out we try to makes friends with those that are our children's age. You have to be provactive and selective. Also do a search for homeschool groups in your area. If there are none it maybe a good time to start one and let others know about it.