| Author | |
VanessaVH
Forum Pro
Joined: July 26 2008
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 224
|
| Posted: Aug 19 2011 at 2:53pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
I just need a little hand holding here. Will I be putting my (just turned) 6yo at a disadvantage by not starting 1st grade in Sept?? He spends his days right now playing outside and building tons with blocks, drawing, painting and otherwise creating.
The reading out loud is very little right now, it seems like every time I try to read the baby (2 months) starts screaming. I have a ton of canning to do right now, and family vacation in a few weeks and a wedding shower for my sister at my house the beginning of October. I kinda just want to not open the box of school books till after then.... But what if that will put him at a disadvantage for the rest of his life? I want to give him the tools he needs for whatever God has planned for him, and I worry that I am not doing enough, but there are only so many hours in a day to take care of 4 boys, laundry, cook, clean, business paper work..
__________________
Wife to Mark, Mommy to 4 boys:Luke '05, Eric '07, Nicholas '09 Nathaniel '11
http://butterflyandbullfrogs.blogspot.com/
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
kristinannie
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 27 2011
Location: West Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1363
|
| Posted: Aug 19 2011 at 3:04pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
We school year round here so I obviously don't care about a "normal" schedule. However, I don't see how he will be disadvantaged for life! It sounds like you have a lot on your plate. I would wait until October to open the boxes and start then. If you have to go into June to finish up...no big deal! If you don't completely finish...no big deal!!! He is only 6.
Honestly, we homeschooled over the summer because we want to take lots of time off when the weather is gorgeous in the fall and the spring. We are also planning on taking the entire month of December off of formal schooling.
The best thing about homeschooling is that you can make it work for your family. He will learn a lot more when he has a relaxed Mommy that can focus on teaching him. Just take a deep breath, pray and forgive yourself! You aren't doing anything wrong! HUGS! 
__________________
John Paul 8.5
Meredith Rose 7
Dominic Michael 4.5
Katherine Elizabeth 8 months
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
joann10
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 10 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3493
|
| Posted: Aug 19 2011 at 3:33pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
kristinannie wrote:
| We school year round here so I obviously don't care. HUGS! |
|
|
I have to agree with this. We have begun schooling now so we can take time off during the gorgeous autumn.
Also, as to ruining a six year olds future, we have done very little with our youngest learners from the time we started homeschooling and they have done wonderfully...we have even unschooled two of the kids who later became the valedictorians of their classes in a privale Catholic high school.
Enjoy this time without worrying about schoolwork....there will be plenty of time to catch up in the cold winter months.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
leanne maree
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 25 2008
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 508
|
| Posted: Aug 20 2011 at 12:24am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I would definitely agree with both these ladies..
it will probably be better, especially as you seem like you have a busy time ahead anyway.
When you begin, he will be ready as well
__________________
God is Love
Leanne
Loving wife to Dermot and Adoring mother to Louise, Kristie, Kieran & Brid
http://leannemaree.blogspot.com/
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: Aug 20 2011 at 11:29am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Even without schooling year round, a month here or there is really not going to make that much difference in the long run. Here in OR children aren't even required to be in school until age 7 at the start of the school year. And I know my grammy talked about how she didn't go to school in the winter even when she was 7 because she was too small to make the walk through the snow/cold.
Be very careful not to measure yourself against what the schools say they do vs what is actually done. You'll get more done in half the time with your 6 yr old than the schools will get done in the full year anyway.
Maybe you'd feel better if you got some "help" in the form of audio books for instance.. then you can hold and comfort the baby while everyone is listening to the books. You don't have to manage to hold the book and read and deal with the baby. Or use them in the car on your trip. Or at night softly playing for the boys to go to sleep to.
And remember that *play* is the work of a child. It's one of the best things they can be doing at these young ages.
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Bridget
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Michigan
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2198
|
| Posted: Aug 20 2011 at 12:20pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Family life, the good stuff, the hard work and the troubles, are important parts of our children's formation. Try to include their help as much as possible, but all that wonderful play time he is having is great for his education too. At this age less formal learning time is fine. 
__________________
God Bless,
Bridget, happily married to Kevin, mom to 8 on earth and a small army in heaven
Our Magnum Opus
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
ekbell
Forum All-Star
Joined: May 22 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 747
|
| Posted: Aug 20 2011 at 4:26pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
If you think about it the ages that children schooled outside the home start formally schooling can differ by almost a year simply due to the month of their birth.
A policy that states that a child will be enrolled in grade one the calendar year they turn six (a fairly normal policy) will result in children being between five years and nine months old to six years and nine months old. Most studies have shown that, if anything, it's the younger children who are at a disadvantage under these policies although not a large one.
So if your son has just turned six then you have nine months before he could be considered a late starter if you go by customary age guidelines. And there's nothing magical about a September start after all, it's just when most of the haying is done - if you wait until your busy season is over, you'll just be following the spirit of the origins of school year 
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Chris V
Forum All-Star
Joined: Dec 03 2009
Location: Washington
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1598
|
| Posted: Aug 22 2011 at 10:21am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Give yourself that much needed time! I am in a very similar situation with my family this year - meaning, I just don't have the time to devote to anything formal with my "first-grader". We are building our own house right now, in the midst of getting our current house ready to be put on the market, all the while trying not to over-exert myself with my pregnancy with twins (which is so easy to do this go-around). I was really feeling guilty and so, so overwhelmed with all of life's happenings, and realized that I can make sure that she (and the rest of my younger children) still have enriching lives with all of what is happening with our lives. I really believe that adding any *formal* learning time will actually only take away with our time together during this very busy season of life, and add to the stress that we are all feeling with these big changes in life.
Your son will be fine, just fine
__________________
Chris
Happy Wife with my Happy Life
Mama to My Five Girls ('04~'07~'09~'11~'11) 
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
mariB
Forum All-Star
Joined: Dec 20 2006
Location: Vermont
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3815
|
| Posted: Aug 23 2011 at 6:35am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Give yourself time! Especially since your child is 6. I started one of our kids at 6. I thought he was too young at 5..late bloomer. He ended up moving up and doing 9th and 10th grade work in 8th grade. TIME is on your side.
BTW...I still get worried about this kind of thing even after all these years of homeschooling. I have friends ask me when are you starting school. Right now...we've been doing a few things over the summer and I don't even know when we'll start this fall!
__________________
marib-Mother to 22ds,21ds,18ds,15dd,11dd and wife to an amazing man for 23 years
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4 lads mom
Forum All-Star
Joined: Sept 26 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1944
|
| Posted: Aug 24 2011 at 7:31am | IP Logged
|
|
|
What your six year old is doing right now sounds like a big part of “school” for a six year old!! , at least in our house.....My son that is 18 now, traveled all over this summer showing a movie at film festivals and such that he independently made...I’ll tell you a tiny secret....he didn’t do much of formal “school” until 8th grade...seriously. He scored really high on his SAT and has several colleges very interested in him. Relax...relax....breath....enjoy what sounds like a FANTASTIC Fall!!!  There will be plenty of time to do “school” when there is five feet of snow out our window this winter! 
__________________
Mom of four brave lads and one sweet lassie
Scenes From This and That
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Elena
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 13 2006
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 592
|
| Posted: Aug 25 2011 at 12:38pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
When my oldest was ready to start homeschooling, my brand new baby got sick and had to be in the hospital for a week. Needless to say that set our homeschooling back about a month.
My oldest is now 22, working as an EMT and going to paramedic school - so I guess he got over it!
The "baby" however is now 16 and very grumpy - don't think that had anything to do with it though!
__________________
Elena
Wife to Peter, mom of many!
My Domestic Church
One Day at a Time
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
knowloveserve
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 31 2007
Location: Washington
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 759
|
| Posted: Aug 25 2011 at 4:57pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I think parents can do very little to "ruin" a child academically for the first decade of their lives or so.
Relax. Let real life teach the lessons right now. And I second the audio books if your guilt just won't part from you...
__________________
Ellie
The Bleeding Pelican
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
VanessaVH
Forum Pro
Joined: July 26 2008
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 224
|
| Posted: Aug 26 2011 at 2:21pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thank you ladies for the advice and encouragement! It is much appreciated. It helps to hear of other children turning out fine with out a lot of book work. I guess what was/is bothering me more than the exact day that we start on, is the fact that I am not sure when October rolls around that there won't be more reasons not to do much seat work.....
I was home-schooled, and it was much more of an "unschooled" environment. Not bad, but disorganized, and I feel like I could have accomplished more if I had been challenged more. I have vowed to do better, and so far am failing miserably at being more organized and focused. I think I might be projecting my expectations for the structure that I lacked on the plans for my family and they just don't work!
And I would ten times rather be out doing field trips and home-school co-op and visits with grandparents than home regularly doing Math etc. But then I hear the other mothers talking about their children being at this or that level in Math, Reading etc and I am sure I am doing it all wrong...
Ellie: I will have to look into audio books, I don't know why that didn't occur to me before 
__________________
Wife to Mark, Mommy to 4 boys:Luke '05, Eric '07, Nicholas '09 Nathaniel '11
http://butterflyandbullfrogs.blogspot.com/
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
VanessaVH
Forum Pro
Joined: July 26 2008
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 224
|
| Posted: Nov 07 2011 at 11:32am | IP Logged
|
|
|
We are slowly easing into Level 1A of Mater Amabilis
I have about 1 hour 4 days a week to do school with him. The 5th day is co-op where he has music, art (lots of religion in the art class) and gym. He also is attending Catechisis of the Good Shepherd 1 1/2 hrs a week.
I have started the Phonics program from Memoria Press, which we both love so far. We are also doing 2 pages a day in Math U See (about 5 problems) which he also really likes. We are memorizing Rosary prayers and the Pledge of Allegiance. After those three things we read from the Tall Tales book, kind of as a reward. I am checking out books on tape to listen to during quiet time.
I think I can/should add one more meaty thing. I might let religion slide since he is getting some of that elsewhere, so I was thinking either all history than switch to geography, or alternating the two.
Question 1: Is this a good plan?
Question 2: I am really stuck on what I am supposed to be doing for Narration at this level. There are quite a few things marked for narrating in the syllabus. Am I supposed to be writing down the narrations for each of these subjects? Or just from one or two, or not write them at all?
Question 3: How much do I read in say "This Country of Ours" before I stop and ask for a narration. A few paragraphs, a page, a chapter?
__________________
Wife to Mark, Mommy to 4 boys:Luke '05, Eric '07, Nicholas '09 Nathaniel '11
http://butterflyandbullfrogs.blogspot.com/
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
SallyT
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 08 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2489
|
| Posted: Nov 07 2011 at 2:36pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
1. What you're doing sounds fantastic, especially if you're both enjoying it. I don't know that you would necessarily need another meaty thing -- maybe just another read-aloud slot (I like to read to my kids at lunch) with a rotating cycle of literature, nature reading, historical fiction, etc? This is my reading rotation for my 7- and 9yos (2nd and 3rd grades respectively -- I didn't start kindergarten with my 9yo until he was 6), so you can see how we manage to work in a lot of subject matter in the course of a 2-week cycle. I don't require narrations for everything, just here and there and mostly in history and science/nature. My main aim is to offer food for thought.
2. I think I'd keep narration very simple and informal at this stage. I haven't written down very many narrations, but then I'm not much of a CM purist . . . generally it's enough for me that my younger-elementary kids can tell me the gist of what they've heard, or can draw an illustration. But I'm not very good at this part of things, so that's not really advice, per se.
3. I do think, however, that for narration at this stage you think in terms of paragraphs.
Sally
__________________
Castle in the Sea
Abandon Hopefully
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Willa
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Location: California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3881
|
| Posted: Nov 10 2011 at 6:34pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I'm not Michele or Kathryn, but the purpose of Charlotte Mason narrations is not to have them recorded, but just to give the child a lot of experience in verbal composition which is a precursor to written composition. Written composition isn't supposed to start until about age 10. Verbal expression is a much more fundamental ability than written expression -- it's important to speak well before you can write well, and people have much more need to speak well in normal life than to write well
Before age 10, if you like to write down some narrations in order to keep a record or because the child really likes to have that link to writing, it's fine, but not at all a requirement. You will still get the benefits of Charlotte Mason style narration by just listening to the narrations.
__________________
AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Claire F
Forum Pro
Joined: Sept 14 2011
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 272
|
| Posted: Nov 11 2011 at 12:37am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I agree, I don't think you need to write down narrations. I haven't been. I just ask him to "tell me about what we read," or something similar. Or sometimes I'll ask some open ended questions to get him thinking, if he doesn't say much or says he doesn't remember.
I stick with a few paragraphs at a time for narrations at this point. I'm sure I'll do longer selections as he gets older and more practiced. For now, he does better if I keep it short. I'll pause at natural places and let him tell me about what we just read. Anymore, he'll often put his hand up and show me he's ready to start, even if I wasn't necessarily going to stop there, LOL. And sometimes I don't ask him to narrate the whole chapter or story - I might pause and ask him to tell me about the first 2 or 3 sections, and then simply finish reading the rest without any more narrations.
We've also enjoyed doing illustrated 'narrations' of some things, particularly some fables and poetry. I'll sometimes ask him to draw a scene from a story and then tell me about what is happening in his picture. That breaks up the routine of read, narrate, read, narrate, etc.
__________________
Claire
Mom to DS 12/04, DS 5/07, DD 8/09
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: *Update with more questions at bottom*
