A Beginner has questions

[Nursingnaturalmom]

I *think* I am going to keep my 6 year old home next year. I have some questions though.

I am looking at doing the A Beka curriculum. But I don't want to do "school" all day long. I would like to be done with the academics by lunch time. Is this a realistic expectation? Can I take a curriculum and shorten it?? Will my dd fall "behind??"
Also, If I do only academics in the morning, I am assuming that I won't cover all subjects everyday, right?? Is this okay?? I am hoping to leave the afternoon for play and other activities. My DD still learns a lot from play.

Any other tips for a beginner??

And finally what does HSIng look like at your house?? And anything you would do differently that first year??

[phathui5]

You can definately be done with academics by lunchtime. A 6 year old does not need an entire day of sit down work, especially when it's one on one. Keep in mind that part of the reason school takes so many hours is that it's one teacher with 20-30 kids. The teacher has to make sure that each kid "gets it." There are distractions. You can have 5-10 kids an hour having to go to the bathroom.

I remember reading somewhere that in a school setting, each kid gets about three minutes of individual attention a day. So don't worry about time, you'll be fine.

[Fieryfly]

Have you had a chance to look through the homeschool guides for Abeka? I peeked in one at a park day recently and I believe that their recommended daily schedule begins aroun 8:30am and ends around 12:30pm(this was from a K or 2nd grade book).

Many homeschoolers come to realize that they do not need to be a slave to a curriculum. Adjust it to fit your needs rather than trying to change your family to fit the curriculum.

As you begin homeschooling you may find that your child may grasp some concepts quickly, enabling them to move on to the next assignment quicker, while they may also need more time to study another. I also discovered that my child had already learned some concepts on their own before they were introduced in their workbooks and activities, so we could quickly skim them over and move on.

[Brenoi]

Don't forget to enjoy what you're doing

As for your schedule, it is totally doable.

What does hs look like in my house - a mess. I can't even pick a typical day out. We get up when our body tells us so. Dd is usually up first (except for dh who is already out the door to work). She is usually on the computer playing a game (Oregon Trail, Carmen SanDiego, or such). When Ds gets up he usually joins her. I get up, shower, and get breakfast for everyone (three days a week we head to work and they have lessons to take care of there). At 9:00 or so I try to go over something or like last week we tried to finish up our projects for share night. They work for a while and go out and ride their bikes or play. They come back in for lunch and reading / writing time which sometimes turns into rest time. Later we might head out to the library. The kids might watch some tv. If I have something else to go over with them I try their attention about 3 o'clock or so. We might also get a few postcards written for our postcard exchange. In the evening we are usually running for Scouts, Baseball, theater group. If I have something to review with Ds, I may try it before bed. Dd usually is off doing her own stuff - reading for our reading group, writing a letter, playing the computer, working on Scouting stuff or such.

This is somewhat of a fictious day because everyday is so different and what we are are trying to accomplish changes too. Sometime math is intergrated with cooking, or writing with making a birthday cards. Sometimes reading includes grocery shopping, or social studies includes a field trip. It all depends. Sometimes everything I have planned goes out the window because I see a white animal out in the woods and we track it to find out what it is.

HS is all what you make of it. Hope you enjoy.

[Nursingnaturalmom]

Since I am new to HSing and so is my DD I was actually looking into a curriculum just to kind of being a guide for our first year. However, I have seen some math and language art programs that seem neat too. There is an overwhelming amount of information out there. I just felt that for our first year, I needed some sort of guide while I am figuring out what is going to work for Alexis and what won't. We have a toddler and an infant in the house too, so its going to be interesting. I do think she needs a bit of structure though. We are also looking into some HS groups and Co ops.

My heart is telling me that I am want to somewhere in between Homeschooling and unschooling. Though I am still sould searching and curriculum and method searching to know what that really means
I do know that I WILL NOT be able to sit down for hours and hours a day (like bringing "SCHOOL" home) because I have 2 other kids and I don't have the patience for that and she doesn't have the attention for that.