Home School: Month 1

This past December AH and I decided that the best educational environment for Mr. B would take place at home.  It was a discussion we have been having for years but when you know it is right you make it a reality. Mr. B finished out the month and following winter break he and I started his "new school" at home through our school district home school partnership program. 

Week 1:  I was a total mess.  The curriculum we ordered hadn't arrived and I wasn't sure how to teach him each day.  I had many conversations with the teacher who runs the home school program and she was able to help me find a structure that would work for us without the formal workbooks. 

Week 2:  Now we are rolling.  We have a schedule that seemed to be working each day.  Expectations are clear but I'm noticing that not all computer work time is being used properly.  Must keep an eye on that.

Week 3:  Still learning and growing but I am monitoring all computer time to make sure Mr. B stays on track.  He's not so happy with this but I am.  We are using Khan Academy to teach and reinforce grade appropriate math skills.  I really love their "coach" option that allows me to send specific skills to my "student" to work on.  I also love how it tracks the usage of time and even breaks it out into "video vs. skills practice" so I know if he's really working or just pretending to watch videos.  Learned this week that Mr. B never fully picked up how to do division in 4th grade!  I was so shocked, but it reinforced my belief that we made the right decision to move his education home.  He picked up division quickly and he loves his new accomplishments.

Week 4:  Curriculum arrived!  Now what do I do?  This first week was an adjustment in learning how to use the teacher's manual with his books.  Lots of reading and a little bit of planning but it's coming along. 

Week 5:  We are catching our stride.  Fewer tears and more celebrations.  He's loving it and even told me he likes having more time with just me each day.  It has really helped strengthen our relationship. 

Cons of homeschool: 

• You have to be home.  My time has now become his time and I am still working on finding my new normal for my own activities.  Some activities I have dropped and for others I am making adjustments, such as being much faster at doing them (like grocery shopping). 
• You have to have strategies for dealing with a frustrated child.  We have our rough moments when learning is hard.  I appreciate all those wonderful friends who have demonstrated great parenting techniques that I am now using during some of these hard moments.
• There has to be structure.  It can be very easy to just have a "field trip" but it can't be every day.  Kids need structure.  I need structure.  This isn't the case for all homeschool families but it is for mine. 

Pros of homeschool:

• I am home more.  This has meant I cook more (healthier meals for everyone), household chores are getting done with more regularity, and I am spending less money because I am not running to town several days a week.
• I'm my child's greatest influence again.  I really love this.  5th grade through middle school, I have heard, are the worst for kids.  Somehow they get exposed to the worst things you don't want your child exposed to, by the most uninformed or experienced non-experts (their peers).  I like being the person who he spends the majority of his day with - the person he comes to to ask about those growing up questions.
• I can now see how he is learning and I can ensure that each concept is well understood and executed before we move on to the next step.  We were finding that in public school he was getting 4 out of 20 problems right on a test or worksheet (nobody notified us until the end of semester) and then the class would move on but Mr. B hadn't learned the previous step.  No more!  Some skills he picks up right away, others we spend days practicing until I see that he has mastered it. 
• Learning is so much faster with 1:1 time.  There are no distractions, I can see right away if he is understanding the principle of it or if I need to tweak how I am teaching it to help him understand.  It's all good.

I am sure there are more items for each list but these are the most obvious that immediately come to my mind.  I am really really loving having him home.  He is great to have around more, he is such a sweet boy, and I love our reconnection now that I have an extra 6.5 hours with him each day.