My six year old started Kindergarten this year and we’ve decided to continue the home school route. I’ll tell you now that I am not the most organized person to begin with, but we felt that it was in my son’s best interest to home school. I enrolled him in Florida Virtual School so that there is a flexible schedule that I can work with and they provide all the curriculum. That also means that I didn’t have to pay for the curriculum which is a definite plus.
One thing we did need was a desk. I didn’t want him to have to sit at the kitchen table for his lessons, so we went to Habitat for Humanity to look around. Turns out, we were able to buy a “new to us” desk for only $8 and my son was thrilled. He got excited when we picked out his school supplies at the store and set up his desk just the way he wanted. I think it’s important to let the children make their own decisions when they can and where his pencil holder sits or which drawer is assigned to which subject doesn’t matter to me so much as it does him. Giving him just that little bit of courage to make a decision on his own will be beneficial in the long run.
I’m still the one teaching, but we have lessons each day and he has what they call a “home room teacher” who holds an online lesson once a week for the kids to interact with each other and with her. We started in mid-August and I’m loving the school and the opportunities that it’s given my son to learn what he wants to learn, in addition to what is required to learn.
It’s still early, but my son loves the online learning process and responds well to the videos and lessons. I’ve found that he needs a break in between lessons and his favorite break is reading or learning something new on Discovery Education. Those breaks are where he’s learning, but doesn’t realize it. Other breaks may include a game of charades or a bike ride – something to expel the energy he has stored. It clears his head so that he’s ready to move to the next subject.
We’ve found some creative ways to teach writing our numbers and letters, as well as some other resourceful ways to throw in teaching without actually teaching. I’m going to be starting a new category here on Family, Love and Other Stuff so that I can share my home schooling journey with you. Some things that work, some things no so much. 😉
