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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Does Anyone Home School???
Michael 02:04 PM 01-10-2011
Oops, I somehow deleted this thread while trying to merge a similar post. I am going to copy what was originally posted by copying it here.

Michael

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WyoDaycareMom
Daycare Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 125


Does Anyone Home School???
I posted this on the off topic board as well, so please excuse the double post! I am curious if anyone home schools and if they do, why they decided to do it, how you work schooling your own children while taking care of other peoples little ones, how old your children are, and how it's working for you.
I am considering this for my youngest daughter who is in 4th grade. She has struggled through school, she doesn't get horrible grades, but she doesn't grasp things the way they try to teach her. When we have shown her concepts at home, if she does them at school she is told that isn't the "right way" to do it. In my opinion if it makes her understand it, it is the right way!
I mainly worry about the lack of social interaction if we go this route. We aren't a church family, so there isn't that interaction, and obviously I can't get out during the day for activities. Very conflicted right now!
This got longer then I intended, so bottom line, if you do, why, and how's it working for you with daycare??

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SilverSabre25
Daycare.com Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Ohio
Posts: 813



I am strongly considering homeschooling my DD. She's newly 3, so I have only 3 years to make the decision, lol.

Obviously, I haven't done it, but I can see where homeschooling, especially an older child, can/will be very compatible with doing daycare. You don't HAVE to do school all at once, sitting at a desk, you upfront lecturing and the child listening. You can look into things like workboxes, where you set up a box of all the work the child needs to complete for the day and she does it on her own time and largely without your help. If she needs something explained, you can do it before breakfast, during nap, during dinner, before bed...whenever she learns best. You do what works for you and for her.

Social stuff: there's lots she can do that would be evening activities--Girl Scouts, music lessons, sports teams, etc. You might be able to find homeschooling support groups in your area and contact them to see if anyone would be able to pick up your DD and take her to various of the homeschool programs that might be offered by rec centers, museums, or metro parks in your area.

I don't know if when you say you're not church people you mean that you're not particularly religious at all--if so, then the biggest hurdle you're likely to face if finding secular support and secular curricula. I've been looking into it and it's HARD to find both. Most of the highest rated homeschool curricula seem to be religious, in publisher if not in material.

It does sound like she might benefit greatly from homeschooling. I was able to "play the game" in school (meaning do it their way) so I did very well, but "the right way" was NOT always the way that I understood things best. The great thing about homeschooling is that you can try it over the summer and see if it works for her and for you, and if it doesn't, you're not out anything.

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KEG123
Where Children Grow
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Illinois
Posts: 141



My son is 2 and I plan to homeschool also. I figure, since he is young enough we can include the dcks andstill be ok. Once he gets older it might be harder to make specific school time, perhaps nap time and after hours. Remember, they don't have to be on a m-f 8-3 schedule like they are at school.

And I will also be pursuing a secular approach.

We'll try to do sports, boyscouts, whatever he finds interest in, really.

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QualiTcare
Daycare.com Moderator
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 940



in TN you only have to do 4 hours per day, 180 days per year. that's nothing.

i'm considering doing it once i get a steady job nursing - and i don't think it would be hard at all even with me working 3 to 4 days per week 12 hours per day. i already spend 4 hours a day getting them ready for school, driving to school, doing homework, etc.

and yeah they definitely have plenty of activities going on at night like gymnastics, karate, basketball.

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laundrymom
Daycare.com Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 481



I did my oldest in 2nd grade. He just needed a boost to catch up. Then for third he returned to public. I let him sleep in, did reading and worksheets during morning, then at nap we did one on one lessons.

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daysofelijah
Daycare.com Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 102



I home school my 6 and 7 year old boys (Kindergarten and 2nd grade.)

As far as the social aspect, they are both active in sports, we do football with the youth football league in the fall and wrestling with the youth wrestling program int he winter. We are part of a home school co-op that meets 2 Fridays a month and offers classes for the kids. Either my mom comes and watches the daycare kids, or I take the day off for those. We also are sporadic church-goers so they enjoy Sunday school when we do go.

Schoolwork there is no time requirement in MN. I have a school room set up immediately next to my playroom so I can supervise both rooms. If I don't have too many daycare kids the boys can usually focus and get their work done by lunchtime. The days I have alot of daycare kids we end up doing work during naptime, because they get too distracted by all the chaos.

In the past we have also done time4learning (online hs lessons) when I couldn't keep up with the boys schoolwork and daycare, but so far we are doing pretty well at staying the course this year.

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katie
Daycare.com Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Jacksonville
Posts: 97



I have been homeschooling for 6 years. I have a 4th grader, 2nd, prek and baby. I have a dcg who is 3, one once a week who is 2 and a baby that is 8 mo. I will tell you that sometimes it is very hard to do both. Sometimes it's great. When the babies are needy it's hard to do 4th grade work and deal with preschoolers. The girl that is my daughter's age, it's great. They do the school together. They are also old enough to play right next to is in the living room so that I can see them and they are not bothering the older kids. We usually get most done by lunch, but I do reserve the 2 hours at nap to get much done with the older kids without distraction. You have to do what works for you schedule-wise and don't try to stay with a traditional schedule. It may look very different from a regular school day but that's okay! Good luck

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Michael
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Palm Springs, Moorpark, Laguna Beach CA, Ocean Ridge, FL
Posts: 825



We homeschooled our children after placing our son in a gifted school and then a Montessori. We just feel he wasn't getting the care and attention he needed so we pulled him and homeschooled. There are online programs like http://k12.com and we also used tutors when he progressed beyond what we could offer. The same for our daughter who is now 11. Every state has differing requirements for homeschooling and there are many states that frown upon it. Suggest you join HSLDA-Home School Legal Defense Association http://www.hslda.org/

They have a state by state break down on what each state's position is: http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp

Personally I think homeschooling, if you can sacrifice the time, is a great solution for your children.

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VanessaEO
Daycare.com Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 8



I run a daycare and I'm homeschooling my son, Kindergarten age.

I do some of his schoolwork with all the daycare kids. I do the language arts - basically reading aloud and asking questions for comprehension. I do history, which is basically the same.

Our art/coloring projects match our lang. arts & history lessons.

I do math one-on-one with him - I started the school year doing the work with everyone, but honestly the other 4-5 year olds can't keep up.

I also do phonics one-on-one because he's struggling and I want to provide him with extra assistance.

I use the curriculum through K12. "Public schooling at home" You can find out more through k12.com

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Keri'sKids
New Daycare.com Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: California
Posts: 4



I don't home school but my DC kids are schooled here. My 4 yr olds finish 1st grade at about 4 1/2 and by the time they start K they are well into 2nd grade level. We all love the program, it is actually fun!

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marniewon
Daycare.com Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Michigan
Posts: 527



I homeschool my children, graduated my step-daughter (hs'ing her only her senior year) and graduated my dd (hs'ing her her last two years). My sons are 14 and 16 and this is our 4th year with them being homeschooled. At this point, they do have some independent work, and if we have group work, or they need help with something, we use naptime or after dc hours to do that.

Everyone worries about socialization, but exactly what kind of socialization are they really getting in public school? For my kids, it wasn't the kind that I wanted. In 3rd grade my ds was being threatened daily by a little brat. The teacher would do nothing about it and even yelled at me for bringing up the issue in front of my son. The principal wouldn't do anything either. I even called the police and they went and talked to this little brat, and that didn't have any effect either. Ultimately I pulled them when the teachers weren't helping him. 2 years in a row he had to go to summer school. So at the start of the 3rd year, I talked to his teacher ahead of time, told them what he was weak in, and asked for daily progress reports and to let me know asap if he started to get behind, and I would work on things at home. Well, come November, first p/t conference, and he's failing both subjects that I told them he was weak in!! At the same time, my older boy was in middle school. He was an honor roll student all through elementary school, but was failing most of his classes in middle school. To make things worse, his teacher (for 3 of his classes) had no business teaching. He berated and belittled the children (my son included) and then had the nerve to tell me what a bright child I had and how he encourages my son to do better.

They were in 4th and 6th grade when we started homeschooling.

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Michael 02:05 PM 01-10-2011
We always get the "how do they socialize" thing. They are actually more sociable. Many public schools are a terrible place for children. They learn terrible habits. Our children do not curse and are very polite. Public school can make a child inhibited if they do not fit in or not a cog in the wheel. I went on a on a field trip once and watched as one big child bullied the others and all the teacher could say was "isn't it fascinating watching the pecking order".
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momofsix 08:16 AM 01-11-2011
I homeschooled our daughters for 9 years, starting whem our oldest was in 5th grade. When she went to take her ACT I was way more nervous then she was-and she did really well! Our youngest has never been homeschooled, I stopped when she was ready for k, and our other girls started school in 1, 5, 6 and 7. The only reason I stopped was b/c I needed open heart surgery, and there was no way I could keep up schooling them
I really miss it, and I do regret that I stopped. My girls go to a very small private school, and I still don't like the things they pick up there. I also never had ANY of the normal teenage girl issues with our oldest, and I think homeschooling is a huge part of the reason why. I think if you have the opportunity and the patience to do it-go for it. You will never regret it!
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