Homeschooling in the summer is not nearly as easy as I thought it would be. I (stupidly) assumed that we would just take a few weeks off here and there, but otherwise it would be just like a normal schedule. Its not. Not at all!
People want to do things in the summer. Things that interrupt my school schedule! For example, the country decided to have a big ol’ birthday party for itself. Other kids aren’t in school and want to play. Family wants us to go swimming with them. People are inviting us to cook-outs. The park is begging us to come and visit.
I’m getting a little worried that it will always be this way. That life will be full of constant interruptions and I won’t be strong enough to say “No. Now is not a good time.” I worry that my son won’t get as much time in the “classroom” as he needs, because I have a really bad habit of saying that we can always finish our work up after dinner. And then after dinner something else comes up or I’m just to worn out to even think about teaching math.
If homeschooling is going to work, and work well, I am going to need to be more disciplined. So far we have been doing school four days a week, and its working out well. However, in the fall I would like to go to a five day schedule. Can it happen? Is life going to get in the way too often?
[tags]kids, parents, children, home school, holidays, breaks, interruptions, discipline, schedule[/tags]
Photo graciously provided by creativity+, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved
4 responses so far ↓
homeschool curriculum // Jul 21, 2007 at 7:30 am
Karly - Maybe you are being a bit too hard on yourself. Do your best to schedule your activities a week in advance & stick to the schedule. Its Okay to allow for some extra downtime in the summer months!
MeMo's Mama // Jul 21, 2007 at 8:10 am
It’s been very interesting to share your journey, rewards and challenges of homeschooling so far! Our daughter is only one, but I would love to school her at home when she is ready. Thanks for sharing and good luck!
Nan // Jul 21, 2007 at 10:10 am
How about doing your homeschooling “serious stuff” first thing in the morning? Have a strict routine which includes breakfast etc, that will be over by, say, 10.00 or whatever, and then if the day falls into whatever the season brings it will be o.k. EVERYTHING is educational, anyway! You don’t want your kids to miss out on spring gardening, summer fun, fall harvesting or winter fort engineering, just because it’s not math!
Leslie // Jul 23, 2007 at 12:25 pm
I think Nan had a great idea. Get the structured stuff out of the way, then let life happen and use those “teachable moments.” So what if you’re at a cookout or the park? If Eeyore notices a funky bug or is playing on the swings - those are some great opportunities for an on the spot biology or physics lesson. You can always follow it up with book work later with, “Hey, let’s read about that bug you found,” or “You are smaller than me. Who do you think can swing higher? Faster?” Let’s tie two different weights to two strings and test it out.”
You’re doing great. Keep it up.
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