if you homeschool...

[gardenmommy]

For those of you with older homeschooled children, how long did you keep working before your baby was born? What did you do after the birth, and how did you deal with people asking about "school"?

I have a 3rd grader and a 5 yr. old in K. We are fairly structured, just because it helps *me* to have an idea of what we're doing. However, we're not extremely strict about hours and whatnot. I just have an idea of what I want to see my kids learning wrt to math, english, science, etc. How they acquire that within their own preferences is something I'm flexible about.

My initial plan was to work until about 2 weeks prior to my due date, then let my 5 yr. old just play (that's what they do best at that age, anyway, and does it really matter if she's not doing something formal? IMO, no.). I wanted my 3rd grader to continue with math, reading, and art, for various reasons.

I guess I'm just looking for some different experiences from homeschooling moms. I don't feel locked into anything, but don't really want my children sitting around watching movies endlessly while I am not up to working with them or going to the library or whatever.

I have good support from my Dh and immediate family for taking a nice break from structured schoolwork, but still have to deal with in-laws and other nosy people about why we're not doing anything when other children are getting a "proper education" in "normal school".

[MizLiz]

We've been homeschooling ds for three years now and will officially start dd in the fall... this year has been very slack as I worked full-time for 6 months and am having my baby tomorrow.

We plan on starting to "catch up" in a month or so (depending on how conducive it will be to do this!) with some of the material that we didn't cover these past few months. I'm not sure if you follow along the school year with your work schedule, but you can always work into the summer if your routine is thrown off when the baby first comes.

If people ask how you're managing to teach your child, you can always assure them that you are all doing well, thanks for asking... even if you are not getting a certain number of workbook hours done each day (and do be easy on yourself right after you've given birth!), your kids are learning tons by watching and helping you with their new sibling. After having had my son in regular school for three years, I found that what he learned overall was minimal compared to what he has picked up on outside of school, even when we are 'slacking'. Be confident in your decisions for your own family; don't let others make you doubt yourself.

[frenchie]

We're in the begining stages of hs....and we already catch lots of slack from family and strangers. My son if 4 for cripes sake!!! I always get the "is he in school yet" question. To strangers, I usually answer a simple no....then I get the raised eyebrow. From family, who already KNOW what we're doing, I still get the "is he in school yet" question. It drives me insane. "Well, you NEED to make sure he gets socialized"...I swear, if I hear that statement one more time, I'm going to go postal.
At any rate...it might be in your best interest to get your older one some grade appropriate workbooks from the bookstore, and have him do a couple "chapters" a day. Since he can read I'm sure, he can read the instructions himself. Whatever he can't do, have him wait until your DH gets home from work. Perhaps your family that IS supportive of the hsing can help out a little and take him to the library and on a couple of "fieldtrips". My husband is going to be doing that for me while he's off of work (3 weeks!!). We're lucky enough to have a few science centers local, lots of libraries and other fun educational places.

[Drummer's Wife]

we more or less unschool so the last few weeks haven't been too different. We have been getting out less though as I just started driving again yesterday (c-section) and I feel busy with the three younger boys so I know my dd has been getting less one-on-one time. I am really glad we aren't following a structured curriculum at this point cause we would be soooo behind. But that is totally understandable and your family should realize what a busy time this is. This could be like their spring break if it makes your in-laws feel better.

We are slowly getting back to normal life though, dd and I find weird times to do "school" type stuff. Like last night at 12:15 am she asked me to print her some addition and subtraction worksheets and I helped her with those (she did over 200 problems!) and then we stayed up even later making bar graphs and it was a lot of fun, we're tired today but it is worth it.

[gardenmommy]

Ok, well, thank you for posting. It is reassuring to hear others are doing something similar to what I've sort of loosely planned.

See, I do have curriculum, and I like it, because it helps me stay focussed and cover material that in my pregnant, scatterbrained state I'd probably miss. However, I don't feel chained to it. We're about halfway through it, and I'd planned to take off about 2-3 months from that after the birth. I can't say that we unschool, but we certainly aren't extremely structured, either. We have enough that we all know what will happen next, but that's about it. I can't see us really sticking to our current routine with a new baby, though, at least not for several months.

I'm not concerned at all about my younger child not doing "anything" for that time, as I feel like she's right at, or ahead of the game, for her age/level. My older child, though, I know is behind in math, so I'd planned for him to keep working on that through the summer. I want him to keep reading, too, because I'd hate for him to lose any ground in that (it was quite a challenge for him to learn to read!).

My Dh works from home, and is always more than happy to take the children out for lunch and a trip to the library, so I'm not terribly worried about that. I'm not sure about field trips, though, as we live a ways out from anything worthwhile visiting, and my other supportive family is pretty busy. Still, it is a suggestion worth considering...

I am not worried about taking a break; I know I just CAN'T do everything with a newborn. I have low expectations for myself postpartum. I think that making sure everyone has clean clothes, food to eat, a story and a hug is adequate, iykwim! Anything else that gets done is a bonus. My Dh is super supportive of me, and would rather I take a nap with the baby than spend the baby's nap time cleaning the house.

Thank you for your ideas. I'm always happy to hear more, and will take them all into consideration.

[jbpoetmom]

My kids are in school now but we're homeschooling next "school year". I just wanted to say that all you mamas who have newborns and are homeschooling now should be applauded - WOW!

Please give yourselves and your kids the break you need and don't worry. Schools take breaks - lots of them - so can you! Plus, your kids will be learning so much about newborns (and themselves) - you can call it a "project" or a "unit" on anatomy or LIFE.

Good luck!

[jbpoetmom]

Ideas . . .

Originally Posted by gardenmommy

Thank you for your ideas. I'm always happy to hear more, and will take them all into consideration.

Again, I'm not homeschooling yet but I've taught third grade for a few years (I'm teaching fifth this year). Here's some things I'd try with my 7 year old, maybe I'll start this summer! Taking a break would be my first priority, but these ideas would be fun and could be very independent:
~keep a journal/write a picture book about new baby experiences
~read books that include a character who has a new baby in the family, write responses making connections
~read to or even perform (act out, puppets) books for the baby!
~science - anatomy of a baby: research questions, observational drawings, write up findings - make a poster, timeline, etc.
~social studies - famous babies or how babies live around the world
~math - collect data on how often or how much baby eats, sleeps, etc. - graph data
Thanks for getting me thinking about homeschooling with a baby in the house - I'm excited now!

[hanno]

Originally Posted by jbpoetmom

Again, I'm not homeschooling yet but I've taught third grade for a few years (I'm teaching fifth this year). Here's some things I'd try with my 7 year old, maybe I'll start this summer! Taking a break would be my first priority, but these ideas would be fun and could be very independent:
~keep a journal/write a picture book about new baby experiences
~read books that include a character who has a new baby in the family, write responses making connections
~read to or even perform (act out, puppets) books for the baby!
~science - anatomy of a baby: research questions, observational drawings, write up findings - make a poster, timeline, etc.
~social studies - famous babies or how babies live around the world
~math - collect data on how often or how much baby eats, sleeps, etc. - graph data
Thanks for getting me thinking about homeschooling with a baby in the house - I'm excited now!

Those are some awesome ideas!

[jbpoetmom]

Thanks hanno!!! Actually doing them with three will be the hard part . . .

[gardenmommy]

Yes, that's my problem! Getting my ideas into action with 3 (soon to be 4) seems to be the hard part.

We had a "biology/human anatomy/science" lesson today that involved watching birth videos online. Everyone was most interested, and of course, it prompted the debate again about whether this one is a boy or girl.

I like the journaling ideas, except that it is like pulling teeth to get my 8 yr. old to write. He is extremely smart, can tell awesome stories orally, has very good analytical skills, and can problem solve with the best, but just has trouble getting his ideas from his head out through his pencil. He would be less than thrilled with the idea of writing about the baby. I may make it a part of our summer work anyway, and let him write letters to his grandparents about the new baby. Hmmmm....

jbpoetmom: good luck on your journey into homeschooling. It's a challenge and a lot of fun all at the same time.

[jbpoetmom]

I love the letter writing to grandma idea gardenmommy! Kids love to send and especially recieve letters - great motivation . . . helping students get motivated to write is so tricky.

My daughter is most motivated by illustrating her writing - that's her big payoff!

Thanks and good luck with FOUR!

[gardenmommy]

Originally Posted by jbpoetmom

I love the letter writing to grandma idea gardenmommy! Kids love to send and especially recieve letters - great motivation . . . helping students get motivated to write is so tricky.

My daughter is most motivated by illustrating her writing - that's her big payoff!

Thanks and good luck with FOUR!

Now see, I wish some of that would rub off on my Ds! He HATES illustrating anything. He is just not into the right-brained type of activities like that. Now, give him something he can solve, figure out, strategize, or whatever, and he's as happy as a clam. He's always trying to solve my problems (pity his future wife, who is just looking for a listening ear, not a solution!).

And thank you! I think 4 is going to be interesting. I'm looking forward to having a nice break from schoolwork, enjoying some nice weather, and just hanging out with my family for awhile.