Hi all,
I've been reading tons of threads here, doing searches, following links, etc. I'm in yahoogroups for my local area and yet, still, I'm at a loss where to begin.
I have a 5 yr old boy who is far more interested in screeching, running, jumping and going hog wild than doing school work. Except when he suddenly goes on "workbook benders." Then, for several days at a time, all he wants to do, all day, is do "schoolwork" as he calls it.
He knows his letters and letter sounds (but gets them mixed up when we do a few at a time), numbers to ten and sporadically past ten, he knows LOTS of science and nature things because we follow his lead and actively learn stuff as he asks about it. His vocabularly is enormous and conceptually, he asks advanced questions. He is very independent when he wants to be, very cautious, hates to be wrong, and incredibly social, wanting to share his every move with us. (Err, demanding to share his every move!) He adores being read to, but has no interest in learning to read at this point. Yet, I see how he is frustrated by not reading. I feel like if we could get past the mental block on learning it, he would breeze right through. But, like everything else he has learned, he says, "Not yet." Maybe he'll just say, "Now I read." like he did with potty learning one day, like walking, like riding his bike, etc.
DS has a very defiant nature (gee, I think he got that from me!) and yesterday, when I asked him to sound out a word (cat) from letters we made from clay, he rested his face so hard into his hands that his face was scrunched up, looked like it was the end of the world and when I asked, "I thought we were having fun!?" he said, drearily, "It's not fun for ME!"
I didn't push the matter, but put up the modeling clay and said it was for our homeschool projects, so if he didn't want to do it, he didn't need the clay. Yeah, I know....way to go. I SO shouldn't have said that. 
I've read about ODD and SPD and such and he doesn't seem to fit those at all. Just a spirited kid with a defiant streak.
We are atheists and not interested in converting any religious curriculum to our needs. We travel a lot, often on no notice. We have an interest in unschooling but feel overwhelmed at the practicality of it. DS is both go with the flow AND likes a schedule. We live rurally, and aren't locals, so we don't know many people and his pool of friends is practically nonexistant. He is enrolled in gymnastics weekly and dance class during the school year. But, those are obviously structured times, not social play time. Houston is the nearest city and it's an hour+ to everything, though I'm willing to drive.
I have a liking of some things Waldorfy, but Houston doesn't exactly have seasons ANYTHING like the Waldorf model. We have HOT! and we have wet. That's it. No discernable seasons, so following that closely is impossible. I'm not a baker, but willing to try once in a while. Constant baking, though, is not for me. I also am unsure about not doing math, etc., as DS really likes math.
I just have no idea where to begin the path that's right for us. After DS's defiant explosion yesterday, DH and I seriously discussed enrolling him in K. But, our school is such a rural, religious, white-bread disaster, I shudder to think of it. On the other hand, he is such an intense child, 24/7, that I, selfishly, would relish the break from him. (If you've read Raising Your Spirited Child, he absolutely fits into their extrovert category.)
Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'm feeling so lost right now.
I've been reading tons of threads here, doing searches, following links, etc. I'm in yahoogroups for my local area and yet, still, I'm at a loss where to begin.
I have a 5 yr old boy who is far more interested in screeching, running, jumping and going hog wild than doing school work. Except when he suddenly goes on "workbook benders." Then, for several days at a time, all he wants to do, all day, is do "schoolwork" as he calls it.
He knows his letters and letter sounds (but gets them mixed up when we do a few at a time), numbers to ten and sporadically past ten, he knows LOTS of science and nature things because we follow his lead and actively learn stuff as he asks about it. His vocabularly is enormous and conceptually, he asks advanced questions. He is very independent when he wants to be, very cautious, hates to be wrong, and incredibly social, wanting to share his every move with us. (Err, demanding to share his every move!) He adores being read to, but has no interest in learning to read at this point. Yet, I see how he is frustrated by not reading. I feel like if we could get past the mental block on learning it, he would breeze right through. But, like everything else he has learned, he says, "Not yet." Maybe he'll just say, "Now I read." like he did with potty learning one day, like walking, like riding his bike, etc.
DS has a very defiant nature (gee, I think he got that from me!) and yesterday, when I asked him to sound out a word (cat) from letters we made from clay, he rested his face so hard into his hands that his face was scrunched up, looked like it was the end of the world and when I asked, "I thought we were having fun!?" he said, drearily, "It's not fun for ME!"
I didn't push the matter, but put up the modeling clay and said it was for our homeschool projects, so if he didn't want to do it, he didn't need the clay. Yeah, I know....way to go. I SO shouldn't have said that. I've read about ODD and SPD and such and he doesn't seem to fit those at all. Just a spirited kid with a defiant streak.We are atheists and not interested in converting any religious curriculum to our needs. We travel a lot, often on no notice. We have an interest in unschooling but feel overwhelmed at the practicality of it. DS is both go with the flow AND likes a schedule. We live rurally, and aren't locals, so we don't know many people and his pool of friends is practically nonexistant. He is enrolled in gymnastics weekly and dance class during the school year. But, those are obviously structured times, not social play time. Houston is the nearest city and it's an hour+ to everything, though I'm willing to drive.
I have a liking of some things Waldorfy, but Houston doesn't exactly have seasons ANYTHING like the Waldorf model. We have HOT! and we have wet. That's it. No discernable seasons, so following that closely is impossible. I'm not a baker, but willing to try once in a while. Constant baking, though, is not for me. I also am unsure about not doing math, etc., as DS really likes math.
I just have no idea where to begin the path that's right for us. After DS's defiant explosion yesterday, DH and I seriously discussed enrolling him in K. But, our school is such a rural, religious, white-bread disaster, I shudder to think of it. On the other hand, he is such an intense child, 24/7, that I, selfishly, would relish the break from him.
(If you've read Raising Your Spirited Child, he absolutely fits into their extrovert category.)Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'm feeling so lost right now.
It's been a rough day, and this just made me laugh.
And he's awfully young for things like the sounding out of words being initiated by someone else. You can have a schedule and rhythm for your days without it having anything to do with numbers and letters - a time he can count on, in between mostly playing, to be read to, regular meal times, clean up times, nature walk times, baking or cooking times, game times, music time, etc. Paying attention to nature and doing science activities are a part of getting acquainted with the world, but the 3Rs can easily wait until there's more of a need for them. - Lillian
Follow Mothering