Two years in one

[duboisa]

My 7 y/o, that i pulled out of school in jan. was in his second year of kindergarden, still didnt know all his letters, letter sounds, or count to 20.. he is better now after a couple of months of being at home, but i havent pushed much, b/c he was so frusterated he didnt ( still doesnt sometimes) want to do ANYTHING that has to do with learning. he is a smart kid, is it possible for me to catch him up and do 1st and 2nd grade in one year? or is that pushing too hard. I dont know if he has some kind of LD but he was speech delayed ( he had a trach for a year), and didnt start talking until age 3 to amount to much. He has been in the hopsital alot and I am sure that affects things too.

I think that we arent going to really "take a break" this summer, we are going to work through, but I am doing more fun reading and fun stuff that really heavy learning. My 12 year old is struggling too. I find out something new each day, he should know that doesnt know. ( why oh Why didnt i homeschool from the beginning). He HATES to read...

I have got to find some way to get my kids excited about learning, b/d it drives me NUTS when they wont do ANYTHING at all.

OK.. I through venting.. now.. WHEW.. its been a hard day!!!

angie

[Dianna]

My 7 y/o, that i pulled out of school in jan. was in his second year of kindergarden, still didnt know all his letters, letter sounds, or count to 20.. he is better now after a couple of months of being at home, but i havent pushed much, b/c he was so frusterated he didnt ( still doesnt sometimes) want to do ANYTHING that has to do with learning. he is a smart kid, is it possible for me to catch him up and do 1st and 2nd grade in one year? or is that pushing too hard. I dont know if he has some kind of LD but he was speech delayed ( he had a trach for a year), and didnt start talking until age 3 to amount to much. He has been in the hopsital alot and I am sure that affects things too.

I think that we arent going to really "take a break" this summer, we are going to work through, but I am doing more fun reading and fun stuff that really heavy learning. My 12 year old is struggling too. I find out something new each day, he should know that doesnt know. ( why oh Why didnt i homeschool from the beginning). He HATES to read...

I have got to find some way to get my kids excited about learning, b/d it drives me NUTS when they wont do ANYTHING at all.

OK.. I through venting.. now.. WHEW.. its been a hard day!!!

angie

Angie, I can feel your worry and frustration coming through. If you feel comfortable, I would highly recommend going into "unschooling" mode for the rest of the year (and through the summer since you want to work straight through). Do you know much about relaxed learning/unschooling? If not, visit here and read through the articles: http://unschooling.com/

Also, when teaching your children, I would recommend that you don't focus on grade levels. Just focus on learning one skill at a time. Let your younger one watch PBS programs that focus on phonics and reading. Try to find a fun way to introduce letter sounds and number concepts. Since he seems to learn differently, it may take him longer to learn these concepts than other children, but you're not in a race. It will come in time, and the beauty of homeschooling is that you have that time.

With your 12-year-old, just work from where he's at and keep moving forward. Don't dwell on grade level, focus on learning and building on what he already knows. If you wouldn't mind telling us what things he's having trouble with, maybe we could make more specific suggestions.

Warmly,
Dianna

[duboisa]

i guess one of the main problems for me is that my WHOLE FAMILY thinks I have left the farm complelely.. they think that I am doing my children a disservice and yada yada yada.. now my hubby, he is great, 100% supportive. so i am trying not to buy into the hype from them.

My 12 year old, is having a hard time grasping math concepts. he makes lots of careless mistakes or basic math mistakes. His handwriting is atrocious, i can barely read it. He hates to write in cursive, ok he hates to write at all. I cant think of one thing he is really interested in learing about. NOT ONE.

My 7 year old is about the same, totally turned off by the whole school thing.

On the unschooling thing.. I am not sure how to start that.. how do you start ? if i leave them to theri devices, NOTHING would get done at all.. What about proof of learning? What about the lesson plans i have to keep and all that??? How will I know what to do and all that????

[duboisa]

Ok.. well here is the whole other thing, which i have forgotten to mention up until now. I work full time 1130am-8pm.. now i work from home, so my kids are here with me and i do have time in there to talk to them or help them with a problem, but i do work..

[Dianna]

i guess one of the main problems for me is that my WHOLE FAMILY thinks I have left the farm complelely

For advice about dealing with family, see my FAQ page and scroll down to the Anti-Homeschooling section: http://www.carolinahomeschooler.com/faq.htm

My 12 year old, is having a hard time grasping math concepts. he makes lots of careless mistakes or basic math mistakes. His handwriting is atrocious, i can barely read it. He hates to write in cursive, ok he hates to write at all. I cant think of one thing he is really interested in learing about. NOT ONE.

Consider the Key-to series for math. It explains things in a simple way and builds confidence in math. I linked to samples in the Middle School Math post, so reread that one for the link. For handwriting, let him take a break for a while and just type. Maybe a break from it is what he needs most. Children your son's age who've been in public school that long often need time to deschool. They're so used to being told what to do, that they honestly have no clue what their true interests are anymore. Doesn't your son have any interests? I'm not talking just about typical schoolish subjects - I'm talking about motocycles, cars, wrestling, anything? Work from whatever his interests are. Let him really get into them as much as he wants without trying to make it into something schoolish and see if that doesn't help. Same advice with your 7-year-old.

On the unschooling thing.. I am not sure how to start that.. how do you start ? if i leave them to theri devices, NOTHING would get done at all.. What about proof of learning? What about the lesson plans i have to keep and all that??? How will I know what to do and all that????

Read though my FAQs for information about documenting learning that's relaxed, student-led. You're not required to keep lesson plans. You're required to keep a plan book, diary, or other record; a diary (or journal) works better for unschooling. The difference between a journal and lesson plans is described in my FAQs. "Proof of learning" is documented in your porfolio and suggestions for that are described in my FAQs, too.

Read through that and let me know if you have any other questions.

Warmly,
Dianna

[Dianna]

Ok.. well here is the whole other thing, which i have forgotten to mention up until now. I work full time 1130am-8pm.. now i work from home, so my kids are here with me and i do have time in there to talk to them or help them with a problem, but i do work..

I've always worked either full-time or part-time from home (mostly) while I've homeschooled my children. Just work your homeschooling around your schedule. You don't have to keep traditional 8:00 am to 3:00 pm school hours, and you can also homeschool on weekends, summers, etc.

Dianna

[reedross]

My 12 year old, is having a hard time grasping math concepts. he makes lots of careless mistakes or basic math mistakes. His handwriting is atrocious, i can barely read it. He hates to write in cursive, ok he hates to write at all. I cant think of one thing he is really interested in learing about. NOT ONE.



This may be nothing! But I have a 12 year old that I JUST LEARNED has dysgraphia. His handwriting has always been horrible, he cannot punctuate or spell........... he cannot multitask.......... and is utterly disorganized. All this time, I thought the child was just lazy! So - just be sure that there is not an 'underlying' cause for 'hating school'!!! :0)

- April C

[MamaSweetie2]

Angie,

I had been going through that with my 12 yo dd. (homeschooled since grade 2) Is it the age? I posted a question in the Homeschooling Day by Day forum, it is on page 2 of the thread listings, titled : How to motivate an unmotivated 12 yo girl. Dianna gave me some wonderful advice. Maybe some of it can help you also.

My dd recently enjoyed reading a historical fiction book (The Bronze Bow) and just recently has taken an interest in improving her handwriting. She actually asked me to buy her a cursive handwriting book and she practices it with out being told!

She was the same way..hated reading (still not a big fan, but when it is something she is interested in that helps a lot!) and she hated writing and was atrocious in her cursive.

Perhaps you might pick a book of interest to him, like a Hardy Boys or maybe read that new novel "Hoot" that is coming out as a movie it is about Middle School kids. That could give way to conversation about differences in the book and the movie (nothing structured, make it conversational and informal) Anyway, do it as a read-a-loud. Everyone snuggle on the couch or in your bed and you read it to him, include your other child too. I have a 5 yo that enjoyed listening to me read the Because of Winn Dixie book.

I agree with Dianna to just take it slow...keeping moving forward and don't get stressed about "grade levels" so much of elementary and middle is repetitious.

With your little one, perhaps you can do a letter of the day or week. Make the letter out of pretzel dough and that can be his afternoon snack. Maybe ask him to count or help you count how many cans of veggies are in the pantry for you while you are making a grocery list, or how many apples are in the fridge. You can sneak learning into anything for little ones. Just be creative!

Hope this helps in some way. Remember you are not alone and you are doing a great things for your kids! :-)

[duboisa]

What is dysgraphia???

[duboisa]

Thanks for the advice. It is nice to have found a place, wherre there people that care!!! I think we will be fine.

Dianna, btw , i ordered that math book last night. I think that will probably do us until 9th grade the way it sounds!! at least until he is ready for algebra. thanks..