Kindergarten

[sleepies]

My son is in public school kindergarten.

I would like to work with him at home too.

He goes from 7:30 - 3:00 to school.

I don't want to overdo teaching, but I want to Homeschool in addition to their school.

My question: How long do you think I could spend "teaching" him handwriting, numbers, etc?

Afraid of burning him out, or not doing enough.

[momma2mingbu]

Originally Posted by sleepies

My son is in public school kindergarten.

I would like to work with him at home too.

He goes from 7:30 - 3:00 to school.

I don't want to overdo teaching, but I want to Homeschool in addition to their school.

My question: How long do you think I could spend "teaching" him handwriting, numbers, etc?

Afraid of burning him out, or not doing enough.

I think you should follow his lead. See what he is interested in working on outside of school. Work with him until you notice he is no longer interested or he says he wants to stop. Keep in mind that he might have homework. My son did in KG but this year my daughter is in KG and does not get homework.

[oregongirlie]

Read aloud to him -- tons of books.

[mammastar2]

Wow, that is a long day for kindergarten!!

I second the reading to him suggestion. Maybe also some fun activities, like doing letters or numbers with shaving foam or playdough, if you like. However, if this schedule is new to him, it's going to be pretty overwhelming, and just having the chance to be a kid out of school hours is just as important to his ability to learn and thrive as still more work on letters and numbers, which he will probably get in school.

[aniT]

Originally Posted by sleepies

He goes from 7:30 - 3:00 to school.

That is longer than my 8th grader goes to school!!!!! WTH?

[Twocoolboys]

I have always supplemented my ds's public school education with lots and lots of reading at home. And, trips to museums and other interesting things. I also do more hands-on science experiments and things like that. I don't think supplemental "work" has to be seat work. Like a pp said, follow his lead. If he has an interest in something, get some books out of the library about it, make models, etc. I think it's a great opportunity to show the FUN side of learning!

[wildmonkeys]

My oldest child is in 1rst grade. We don't work much on the handwriting math stuff because I figure he spends lots of time on that at school. We do lots of reading together and read lots of nonfiction...right now he is really into American Historical figures (Abe Lincoln, Betsy Ross, MLK) We also read lots of story books that include artwork (there are a few series that center around Van Gogh, Matisse, Degas, etc.) He also likes to cook and do different nature things...like find different types of leaves or look up birds & insects that we see to find out what kind they are and we love to go to art/science museums.

As for numbers and basics...last year he did like to play sight word Bingo and now he likes to do word finds and Mad Libs...he also likes lots of card games where he ends up doing math without even knowing it, but I try to not start him on anything too pencil & paper.

I would focus on doing stuff that is really different from what they do at school --- make sure he is having fun learning a broad range of things that interest him so he doesn't get the impression that school is the only place you learn.

Good luck - I hope he has a good kinder experience.

BJ
Barney & Ben

[LunaMom]

Wow, that is a very long day for a kindergartener. Does the school day really start at 7:30???

Honestly, I would just let him do his lessons in school and see how it goes. I imagine it's only a week into the term, right? He'll be learning all his letters and numbers and pre-reading skills at school, so why give more lessons at home? Better to just be involved and know what he's learning so you can reinforce it at home - you know, if the letter of the week is B, challenge him to find ten things in the house that start with the letter B, that sort of thing.

[bdavis337]

My son goes 7:30-2pm, kindergarten. He has absolutely no interest in doing "fun activity stuff" now that he's in "real school". find out from your child's teacher what they're focusing on right now, and supplement w/stuff outside that realm so he doesn't get frustrated.

[bellflower]

I second the suggestions. I think they get enough seatwork at school. I wanted to homeschool too but can't, so the way I 'm looking at it and the way I'm telling my daughter is that we still ARE homeschooling, we just get to do the most fun parts of it...like going to museums, reading whatever she wants to read, following her interests, going on hikes, exploring nature, identifying bugs, whatever it is she is interested in doing. All day long they're forced to pretty much study what someone else wants them to, I've decided I'm going to do my best to keep her interests up and keep her a self-directed, interested learner. I just read a great book about this same idea Guerilla Learning...How to give your child a real education with or without school. It was really good for public school families that are interested in or would like to be homeschooling.