I use curriculum as a loose guideline. We don't always do all of it, we don't always finish it, but we pretty much stick to how much and when. There is also a series of books entiled "What your ___ grader needs to know" that might help.

But honestly, I teach several grades at a time and science and history more just follow a generic elementary course while math and language arts follow more of the exact grade level, but even on that I'm flexible. My 7th grader is only halfway through 6th grade math, but I'd rather him not rush but understand.

If you do what you love and then do what you really don't like in a way you can love it, you'll be fine. For example, I had a friend whose son was WAY WAY into horses, so he set up a paper ranch. He had to figure out income, vet bills, expenses, etc to keep his ranch going. He had to be able to write out instructions about the horses and sales ads. He also had to figure out bloodlines and breeding histories and origins. This was his school for a year. No complaints, cause it was his horses and that was his THING. Ya know?

Oh, and I personally block schedule- 2 days a week for science, 3 for history, 5 for math (cause it takes us longer!), 5 for language arts (cause that one's fun and pretty varied anyway).

-Kristi

 

hi hula,

just wanted to say I'm right here with you. Hs'ing my 4th grade ds for the first year also. I feel like you do. I'm also very excited. there's so many options for us. I'll just see how the days take us. But I like the idea of planning of what subjects will be covered each day, just have to fit in that mold.

have fun! we can do this!!

 

Maybe you could just pick times that will feel good for both of you for various things, and work up a little weekly plan that might have science activities on certain afternoons, reading at certain times, whatever...and just do as much as he's interested in. And keep referring to it for reminders if you start to feel as if you're floundering - but being flexible and changing plans for spontaneous things that come up is important too. It tends to work itself out. Don't let anyone tell you he should be putting in any set amount of time on anything - learning just doesn't work that way - it's a very unique personal experience for everyone. If you just keep things happenin', which it sounds as if you do, he'll do just fine.

You might want to read a bit - not because anyone out there has "the answers," but because there are books that provide a lot of input from a lot of people who've already explored the territory. Here's a good one:

The First Year of Homeschooling Your Child: Your Complete Guide to Getting Off to the Right Start, by Linda Dobson. It has input from lots of homeschooling families. I got a chuckle just now when I looked at the Amazon reviews and found one by someone complaining that "not everyone is into unschooling." The book isn't about unschooling at all, and Linda Dobson doesn't particularly think of herself as an unschooler at all - it's simply a collection of comments from lots of different families who have already been homeschooling for a while. But people who have been homeschooling for a while simply tend to have let go of more traditional school models and are thinking more in terms of facilitating learning than of duplicating a school model. Here's an excerpt: Top 10 Gems - "What I wish someone would have told me during my first year of homeschooling."

I might add that I moved into unschooling once we'd been at it for a while and I realized it didn't need to be done the way I'd assumed - so I know it's possible for an awful lot to be learned and inspired without a schedule even if you're not unschooling.

Lillian

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by logcabinmomma Oh, and I personally block schedule- 2 days a week for science, 3 for history, 5 for math (cause it takes us longer!), 5 for language arts (cause that one's fun and pretty varied anyway).

Thanks. That's probably the kind of thing I'll do, and that even sounds about the same as I was thinking.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lizann hi hula, just wanted to say I'm right here with you. Hs'ing my 4th grade ds for the first year also. I feel like you do. I'm also very excited. there's so many options for us. I'll just see how the days take us. But I like the idea of planning of what subjects will be covered each day, just have to fit in that mold. have fun! we can do this!!

Good luck to us!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lillian J Maybe you could just pick times that will feel good for both of you for various things, and work up a little weekly plan that might have science activities on certain afternoons, reading at certain times, whatever...and just do as much as he's interested in. And keep referring to it for reminders if you start to feel as if you're floundering - but being flexible and changing plans for spontaneous things that come up is important too. It tends to work itself out. Don't let anyone tell you he should be putting in any set amount of time on anything - learning just doesn't work that way - it's a very unique personal experience for everyone. If you just keep things happenin', which it sounds as if you do, he'll do just fine. You might want to read a bit - not because anyone out there has "the answers," but because there are books that provide a lot of input from a lot of people who've already explored the territory. Here's a good one: The First Year of Homeschooling Your Child: Your Complete Guide to Getting Off to the Right Start, by Linda Dobson. It has input from lots of homeschooling families. I got a chuckle just now when I looked at the Amazon reviews and found one by someone complaining that "not everyone is into unschooling." The book isn't about unschooling at all, and Linda Dobson doesn't particularly think of herself as an unschooler at all - it's simply a collection of comments from lots of different families who have already been homeschooling for a while. But people who have been homeschooling for a while simply tend to have let go of more traditional school models and are thinking more in terms of facilitating learning than of duplicating a school model. Here's an excerpt: Top 10 Gems - "What I wish someone would have told me during my first year of homeschooling." I might add that I moved into unschooling once we'd been at it for a while and I realized it didn't need to be done the way I'd assumed - so I know it's possible for an awful lot to be learned and inspired without a schedule even if you're not unschooling. Lillian

Thanks, Lillian. That book is actually the first homeschooling book that I picked up from the library a month or so ago. I didn't read it cover-to-cover, but I did flip through and it really helped.

I have a feeling we're more suited for unschooling, too - to a certain degree anyway. But first I have to get comfortable with homeschooling!

It seems like it would be easier to figure it all out if you start with a younger grade, because then you're not doing so much and you can gradually add things over the years. Jumping in at 4th grade is a bit overwhelming. Though, like I said, I think I'm a natural homeschooler anyway, so it shouldn't be too hard. It's just getting all the logistics worked out.

And while DH is very supportive, I know that he's going to want to know "what we did" every day. I'm trying to educate him on how testing isn't important, not to push DS into learning, etc. Sometimes he gets it, sometimes he doesn't. (Then again, sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't.

)