Anyone homeschooling Older Children?

[Hopesmommy]

I started hsing my 5th and 1st grader this year. I'm wanting to do eclectic/classical. I'm afraid that changing learning methods may be difficult for my older son, but I'm certainly not going to stick with how they were teaching in public school.

Any advice for me?

[moominmamma]

If fifth grade is "older" then yeah. I have a 10th grader who's partly homeschooled, an 8th grader and a 6th grader who are completely homeschooled, and my youngest who is 1st grade by age but working at a 4th grade level, also at home.

Advice for a new homeschooler? Deschool for a good long while, exploring the freedom and flexibility inherent in homeschooling. Allow your approach to gradually evolve out of deschooling, rather than choosing a method at the outset. Don't spend a lot of money on curriculum in the first 6 months, because your ideas about it will almost certainly change.

Miranda

[californiajenn]

Homeschooling with a 5th grader here.

[SagMom]

Originally Posted by Hopesmommy

Any advice for me?

Start with their strengths and interests -- everything is connected, so if they have the time to joyfully become engrossed in whatever topic interests them, they will learn what they need to.

Don't buy anything that you can rent, borrow, make, get for free off of the internet or substitute with what you already have.

We've found it much more valuable to pay for experiences rather than things.

Goals and plans are fine, but don't forget that all we really have is right now--treasure the day to day and especially the relationships--they're much more important than memorizing 8x7.

[Lisa1970]

I went heavy on the math and spelling and handwriting and grammar, but then let the rest all fall in place. Sort of a discovery type program.

[kathymuggle]

I have a 14, 11 and 7 year old.

The only think I would add to the excellent advice above is to find way to keep any friendships they made in school alive. It may mean being proactive in inviting people over. If possible, I would find a HS group - yes, for friendships - but more for them to realise that other kids do HS and they are not oddballs or odd man out.

[Laark]

'Older' kids here, too

I also have 'older' kids. DD is 12 and DS is 10.5.

I think you've received great advice above. I found we didn't get into the nitty-gritty of bookwork until the kids were about grade 6 level. Until then, it was lots of reading and interest based stuff with a sidedish of short term schoolish things. We'd throw in a semester of fairly regular French, for example. Or sign up for a series of natural science classes at the local conservation area.

If you're interested in a Classical style, you might introduce a subject area like History with Story of the World. It's story based - perfect read aloud - with additional materials if you wish. You could start with regular read alouds and see where it takes you. Your children might enjoy the map work that goes with each chapter. That might take you off into geography direction. You might choose to do some of the art or cooking activities suggested if your kids enjoy that kind of thing. If schoolish things are a stumbling block, you could easily leave out the suggested Q & A and narration portions of the lessons until such time as your kids are more open to that kind of activity.

However, as suggested above, I would be tempted to deschool for a good period of time before you try on a schoolish-produce work environment at home. In the meantime, enjoy your kids and be inspired by them. Read lots. Write letters and email to family members. Live at the library. Get to know your local museum. Attend the local science fair, art shows, etc.

[zjande]

I have a home school grad & a 6th grader. The first things that come to my mind have been mentioned- deschooling for awhile so that both you & your son can discover his interests & learning style, and, get thee to your nearest home school group for friendships & fun!