What are you doing with social studies this semester? My daughter is in sixth grade, but for some reason we got things all turned around. We were supposed to cover the Revolutionary War in fourth grade. Of course, we got side-tracked and we did other things. Besides, I don’t think my 4th grader was ready for the Revolutionary War, and all of the people, politics, and battles associated with it.

So, we did other things that I thought were of more interest to her in social studies. We did geography, and government and current events. We studied other cultures, and we studied other time periods. One particular favorite was the medieval period. We played social studies games online. We cut out maps, and reassembled them. And we moved to fifth grade.

In fifth grade, I looked at the hundreds of lessons on the Civil War (ok, so I exaggerate!) and so we did alternative social studies again. Maybe it is because we live in the South, but I have never enjoyed studying the Civil War period. History is written by the victors, after all. I have to put aside my own dislike for that historical period and play catch up. I decided it was time to buckle down and do the Civil War period. After all, it was scheduled for 5th grade, we are doing 6th grade, and it is just a place that needs to be checked off of my list of things my daughter needs to do.

The only problem is that I also think that my daughter should be exposed to the building of a nation, the Revolutionary War, before we study tearing a nation apart, the Civil War. So now in our homeschool social studies, we are studying the Revolutionary War. I was surprised to find that my daughter gets the politics, and understands the implications of declaring independence from the mother country. She can speak eloquently about the events that lead to revolution.

I think that by putting off the study of the Revolution for 2 years has allowed my daughter to gain some knowledge of our country today that are helping her understand the history. I am actually looking forward to finishing the Revolutionary War and moving on to study the Civil War.

I guess I have said all of this to explain that sometimes it is better to do what your child is interested in at the time, and even rearrange the order that he learns things in. By being flexible and changing the study of the historical timeline, my daughter is better able to understand those historical periods on a deeper level. This flexibility is one of the best things about homeschooling. Don’t be afraid to utilize that flexibility to your child’s best advantage!

Many families begin homeschooling their children after Christmas break. For whatever reason, January is almost as popular for starting to homeschool as September. This is probably because parents have decided that whatever the trials and tribulations of their child’s existence in public school, they just can’t take the drama of public schooling anymore.
So they spend some portion of the Christmas holidays looking for curriculum to homeschool their children with. And they work out the details on how to homeschool legally. Parents get their paperwork in order with the state, and county, and notify the schools.
January begins with a bang as parents and children jump right into homeschooling. By the end of January, some families are already second guessing their decision to homeschool.
One of the reasons for this is the fact that some families forget to allow for a de-schooling period. This is a time when children must deprogram from the way things are done in school. They have to have a chance to learn to love learning again. When parents forget to allow this time the children begin homeschooling still soured from their traditional school experiences. Often this means that the children simply can’t see another way of learning, and are not willing to try.
A second reason some families are second guessing their decision to homeschool is because they do not have the necessary support structure to homeschool. Families new to homeschooling need more than a plan for the curriculum. They need to have other homeschool resources lined up. This can be something like Vocabulary and Spelling City, or other supplemental sites on the internet.
Families need to find homeschool support groups, or co-ops, not only for the social interaction it provides for the students but for the encouragement and experience the other members of those groups can share with the new homeschooling parents.
Mainly, I just wanted to let you know that it is not unusual to find that the first months of homeschooling are sometimes discouraging. You are not alone in homeschooling, or in having difficulty adjusting to the new challenges that occur with the switch from traditional school to homeschool. Keep looking for resources, whether those are supplemental web sites, or support groups. Remember to take it easy, and that homeschool doesn’t have to take as long or look like traditional school. Remember to take some field trips, and to let both you and your kids relax. It will all work out, just give it a little time!

My daughter has no problems at all with reading. She reads above her level, has great reading comprehension, and truly seems to enjoy reading. And for all of that I am extremely grateful!
One of her best friends, who is also homeschooled, is on the opposite end of that spectrum. He struggles with dyslexia, and has a great deal of trouble processing the written word. The interesting thing is that they were discussing a piece of age appropriate literature the last time they were together.
One child reads flawlessly, the other can barely read at all, and yet, they were having a discussion about the newest Riordan novel. How can this be?
Well, the thing that has an effect on both children is the fact that they are homeschooled. Because of this, each has a curriculum that is tailor-made for them. My child has her issues, but I can give her the book and have her read it at her leisure. The other child does not read well, and certainly not for leisure. His mother adapts his curriculum to highlight his strengths and adapt to his weaknesses.
In this particular case, she read the book to him. He has great memory retention when the book is read to him, and so he can discuss the intricacies of the book, though he never picked it up to read on his own. And rather than just make this for the child with dyslexia, reading books out loud, for the whole family has become one of those wonderful shared experiences for them.
It is part of their daily routine. Every evening they gather together, all on the sofas or in one of their bedrooms, and they read together. I think it is a wonderful adaptation for a family with a child who reads poorly, for whatever reason. Just because the child doesn’t or can’t read doesn’t mean that the child’s brain is not hungry for knowledge. Reading should not be limited only to those who can pick up the book and read it, but to all who want to explore new worlds and gain new knowledge.
One other thing to consider might be audio books. There are many of them available at the library, and through sites on the internet. Some sites are specifically for visually impaired people, but many are flexible in who they allow to utilize their audio libraries.
Consider adapting your child’s curriculum so that they excel, even if their reading comprehension is not the best. The pay-off might not come until years later. But in shared experiences and family togetherness, it can pay off immediately!

I have been pushing my daughter rather hard in language Arts and in social studies this week. 

The reason we are pushing hard in language arts is not because she is behind, or because she is not doing well.  I just want her to finish sixth grade langauge arts in the  next couple of months because I know that she needs to do some additional work on antonyms and synomyms.  I already have some antonym games  and some additional synonym practice exercises lined up.  I want her to review these two things because I need her to take some standardized tests over the summer, and I am going to get her to systematically review some of the high points of grammar between the time she finishes sixth grade language arts and the time she takes the tests. 

I’m pretty sure that she will do well on these language arts subjects.  She learns these things pretty fast, and usually retains them, so the practice is just extra.

The social studies, well, that is a different story.  You see, I let social studies go in an order that is different than that prescribed by most standards based curriculum.  We took the opportunity to study things that came up, rather than sticking to the order that our curriculum said to study things in.  Now, while we are not really behind, because we have covered a lot of information, and I’m comfortable with what my daughter knows, we have not covered the things I think she might see on a standardized test designed for sixth graders.

So, long story short, we have to go backwards.  My sixth grader has to go back to fourth grade social studies and cover the Revolutionary War, and back to fifth grade social studies and cover the Civil War.  The chapters are so long, and part of the reason that I allowed us to do other social studies besides those listed in the scope and sequence for 4th and 5th grade is because I looked at the long chapters and was overwhelmed.

I really feel bad, because I got overwhelmed by the amount of material presented, I didn’t make my daughter learn that information in a timely manner.  Now we have to play catch up. 

It won’t be all that bad, and I don’t have set dates for the standardized tests yet, so we have some flexibility.  My curriculum doesn’t have a seperate 8th grade social studies, hmm, maybe I can catch us up over the course 7th grade and 8th grade.  I wonder, can I put off standardized testing that long?  That is certainly worth thinking about.  I guess I also need to remember that one of the reasons I homeschool is because of the flexibility.  Maybe we won’t be having standardized tests this coming summer after all!

Well, the new year is under way. I am looking at the things we did last semester. I’m pretty sure we didn’t do enough. How can that be? We work almost every day at school.

Ok, so sometimes our school days are not long enough. But when I look back at the stuff we have done, I have a box full of stuff. Maybe I am expecting too much. I know that the homeschool curriculum we utilize is adequate. The reality is, our homeschool curriculum presents more material than my daughter would be exposed to in public school.

And the weird thing is, I feel the need to make my daughter do all of the material presented. Am I out to prove that she is smart enough to cover all of the material in one year, even though it is more than she would learn in public school?

I don’t know. Her homeschool portfolio is quite adequately filled with both curriculum material and extra-curricular material.

What I do know is that I want the best possible education I can present to her. I don’t ever want her to look back and say, wow, I wish I had had this thing or that thing in homeschool.

Here is the thing I have to decide. Do I continue to push her to do more and more work? Do I back off and let her coast at the same level her public school peers would be at? How do decide what is enough material for each grade? If I can just find the happy middle ground, excellent education without overwhelming her, then I will be happy.

So, this week, this is my quandary, how hard to I push? My daughter is not a self starter, so I must push some, but how much is enough?

I’d love to hear any comments!