Woo Hoo... I think we're really going to do it this year!!!

[Serenyd]

Home-schooling! Yeah! Finally got the hubby and the g-parents on board. I will be teaching my 7 yr old and almost 3 yr old. Any tips on teaching high energy boys?

[urchin_grey]

Congrats! We used to be neighbors! I'm originally from Vidalia.

No advice on the high energy part though, my little one has always been abnormally chill.

[inky leeuhhh]

my only advice would be to teach in spurts. i have a high energy girl, and she can sit a max of twenty minutes at a time. for us, it seems like just enough time to get one project or lesson done before she needs to get up and hop around. she's 6.5. i wouldn't worry too much about "curriculum" or anything for your youngest at this point either.

[sbgrace]

Yay!!

Three year olds just need to play and be read to. I wouldn't do anything academic there. i might gather up boxes of some interesting things for the three year old to do while you work with the older in short bursts. They would be special only for those time stuff--whether a set of cars in a box, some rice to dig in in another, playdough in a third, trains in a fourth, stickers in a fifth or whatever would appeal. Then when the baby naps you can pull out the Monday box or whatever for the three year old and take 15 minutes for math with the 7 year old for example.

If they like to be read to Five in a Row might be a good choice (I've not used it but heard good things).

Short active lessons work well for the active boys here who are 6.5. Heart of Dakota (which has Christian content so not for everyone's liking in that respect), RightStart math, Handwriting without Tears, and phonogram based reading programs have been the ticket here because all are short burst type of quality learning.

[Serenyd]

Originally Posted by urchin_grey

Congrats! We used to be neighbors! I'm originally from Vidalia.

No advice on the high energy part though, my little one has always been abnormally chill.

Hey, that's cool, I have 2 friends I met on Mothering.com who live in Vidalia. Not too many crunchy folk around here!

[Serenyd]

Originally Posted by sbgrace

Yay!!

Three year olds just need to play and be read to. I wouldn't do anything academic there. i might gather up boxes of some interesting things for the three year old to do while you work with the older in short bursts. They would be special only for those time stuff--whether a set of cars in a box, some rice to dig in in another, playdough in a third, trains in a fourth, stickers in a fifth or whatever would appeal. Then when the baby naps you can pull out the Monday box or whatever for the three year old and take 15 minutes for math with the 7 year old for example.

If they like to be read to Five in a Row might be a good choice (I've not used it but heard good things).

Short active lessons work well for the active boys here who are 6.5. Heart of Dakota (which has Christian content so not for everyone's liking in that respect), RightStart math, Handwriting without Tears, and phonogram based reading programs have been the ticket here because all are short burst type of quality learning.

Short bursts - yep that would be perfect for him, and me too, w/ my short attention span! I tend to get bored super quickly if it's not a subject that really interests me.

Do they have math without tears? That's what I need! Also not looking forward to teaching phonics, hated it as a a kid. I had a book called Phonics are Fun ... and I can remember scribbling "NOT" on the cover between are and Fun, lol.

[sbgrace]

Originally Posted by Serenyd

Short bursts - yep that would be perfect for him, and me too, w/ my short attention span! I tend to get bored super quickly if it's not a subject that really interests me.

Do they have math without tears? That's what I need! Also not looking forward to teaching phonics, hated it as a a kid. I had a book called Phonics are Fun ... and I can remember scribbling "NOT" on the cover between are and Fun, lol.

Phonics can be fun! Really it can. My boys are absolutely loving learning to read. I don't know where he already is in that area but some people use All About Spelling with an already reading child to shore up holes in phonics knowledge. I've heard all good things about it and you can do it in short increments I believe.

RightStart math is pretty tearless. You can read reviews on HomeschoolReviews.com and that sight helped me a lot in selecting curriculum. I'm doing some things in MEP math right now because it's free and different. I've heard good things about McRuffy too if you're looking for something less conceptual.

Have fun making those decisions!

[urchin_grey]

Originally Posted by Serenyd

Hey, that's cool, I have 2 friends I met on Mothering.com who live in Vidalia. Not too many crunchy folk around here!

Is one of them Susannah??

Not too many crunchy folks around here either though. Now, if you go into the city, its different. I don't get weird looks there. But in the 'burbs, I turn heads just for babywearing. And I think I've nearly caused a few heart attacks after telling them we homeschool. I live in a very "pre-k at 3" area.

Originally Posted by Serenyd

Short bursts - yep that would be perfect for him, and me too, w/ my short attention span! I tend to get bored super quickly if it's not a subject that really interests me.

Do they have math without tears? That's what I need! Also not looking forward to teaching phonics, hated it as a a kid. I had a book called Phonics are Fun ... and I can remember scribbling "NOT" on the cover between are and Fun, lol.

If you're okay with computer games, we've had a LOT of success with Starfall.com and Readingeggs.com. Bram turned 5 in May and just started reading and spelling about a week ago. He's been typing words in notepad as he sounds them out or he'll type the first letter of something and ask me how to spell the rest. Its a good alternative if your LO still struggles with writing or just isn't interested yet. I think that's what was holding Bram back. He has a condition that affects his speech and fine motor skills, so he only has enough patience for 2-3 minutes of writing practice at a time. Yet he'll sit on notepad for an hour just spelling words.

[phathui5]

I have high energy kids. Homeschooling them can take a lot of patience, but it's definitely worth it. I think they thrive more at home than they would have in a classroom setting.

[zjande]

Hi former DDCer!

As for crazy-energetic little boys, I love giving them "silly breaks". Every so often, you can just announce to the kids that it's "silly break time!" or singing break, exercise break, or whatever you'd like to call it. At that moment everybody jumps up & acts silly, sings, exercises, or otherwise spazzes out completely to release energy. Do that for 3 minutes or whatever they need, then back to "sit down time" in which they will hopefully be calmer after releasing some energy.