newbie here, couple questions

[NicaG]

Hi, I'm considering homeschooling my ds for kindergarten--we may be relocating this fall, and I don't want ds to have to attend 3+ schools for kindergarten while we move into a rental, buy a house, etc. This is all new for me, hadn't really considered homeschooling until now.

Anyway, I'm just beginning my curriculum research, but I have a couple of general questions:

I have an almost-2-yr-old daughter, what does she do while ds and I do school?

This is a more difficult question....are there kinds of kids who do not benefit (or learn from) homeschooling? My ds is a great kid, but he has been extremely resistant to casual work on phonics, won't do workbooks with me at home, often claims he knows things (like how to swim) and won't take any friendly instruction from dh and me, won't really participate in home routines and chores (too boring). I am worried that ds would just pooh-pooh my attempts at homeschooling him. He has responded very well to his 2+ years of preschool. Maybe this is a larger discipline issue on my part. Anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks!

[cappuccinosmom]

For your older child....he sounds very much like my middle son, who's close to the same age. 6 months ago we were doing maximum 15 minutes of school, and that was with him bouncing up and down, running circles around the table, etc, while we did it. His was slower in developing fine motor skills than his brothers, so his frustration contributed to his refusal to focus on school. I kept at it but didn't push him very hard, and he gradually got more and more intrested in school, as he had more successes and improved with fine motor skills. For kindergarten, there really should be no pressure on you or on him. It's a great time for exploring, figuring out his learning style, and having a lot of fun.

For the two year old--my younger ones just kind of wander. Play with their toys, do a little practice with cutting and gluing, do a puzzle, etc. Whatever they want.

[SundayCrepes]

Have you considered unschooling? It's allowing your child to follow their interests and knowing they will learn what they need to learn and will learn it deeper because it means something to them. There's a whole sub-forum on unschooling. Your son sounds like my son and I think unschooling is a perfect match.

[sewchris2642]

Kindergarten took about 15-20 minutes a day, max, for us. Usually in the morning. Joy liked workbooks so that is what I bought for her. And sometimes would chose to work in them at nap time for her quiet time. Erica and Angela prefered more hands on activities. Instead of matching pictures in a workbook, they matched socks, Legos, playing cards, anything around the house that could be sorted and matched. We also made patterns with dyed pasta, buttons, beads. Counted everything. Made letters out of playdough. Made letter and color books by cutting out magazine pictures and gluing them on paper. We had a collection of egg cartons (both cardboard and foam), foam trays, pipe cleaners, dyed pasta of various shapes, beads and buttons, thread and yarn, pie tins, rocks, sand/dirt, leaves, crayon pieces, crayons, colored pencils, paper (plain, lined, and colored), markers, wipe off board, sidewalk chalk, paint, brushes (for paint and to use outside with water), magazines for cutting, scissors, fabric scraps,