A tentative plan for the girls
So, I went and visited my sister in law, the home-schooling maven yesterday, and after chatting with her a bit, I think I know what I want to do. I need to chat it over with Orion after we all get home, but I think it's a good plan. And you all can cash in your opinions too. ;)
This summer, I'm going to stop sitting for the two neighbor kids (which is a whole different post that I won't get into right now) and give home-schooling a shot during the summer. I figure that if I can't hack it before I have a newborn, I sure as heck can't afterward, so now would be the time to figure it out. Plus, I think the girls could use the help to retain what they've already learned. I'd focus mostly on reading and writing, with a bit of addition and Spanish (at the girls' request!).
In the fall, I'd like to re-enroll them in kindergarten as was suggested, but work with them on more first-grade type curriculum in the morning. Orion disagrees - he thinks that if I do homeschooling stuff in the summer then they should be ready for 1st grade, no question. Maybe that'd be true if the problem was academic, but it's not, and no matter how hard I work with the girls over the summer, it's not going to magically make them stop being spacy or whatever. And if their problem is that they do well with one on one attention but lose focus in a classroom setting, then how on earth could I even determine that?
Cyndy told me that homeschooling is not just doing public school at home. It doesn't work. It has to be much more flexible and individualized for it to even work. That's fine if the end goal is simply your kids' education, but if the goal is to get them back into public school, then it's not the solution.
Anyway, I think the combo of half day kindergarten and couple hours of homeschooling is the best option because it leaves us open to choosing either homeschooling or public school at the end of the year. I mean, I'm sure that we could switch back and forth if we felt so inclined, but the combo would get them used to the prospect of either, making it a smoother transition. At least, that's how it works out in my mind. I'm interested to hear other opinions.
This summer, I'm going to stop sitting for the two neighbor kids (which is a whole different post that I won't get into right now) and give home-schooling a shot during the summer. I figure that if I can't hack it before I have a newborn, I sure as heck can't afterward, so now would be the time to figure it out. Plus, I think the girls could use the help to retain what they've already learned. I'd focus mostly on reading and writing, with a bit of addition and Spanish (at the girls' request!).
In the fall, I'd like to re-enroll them in kindergarten as was suggested, but work with them on more first-grade type curriculum in the morning. Orion disagrees - he thinks that if I do homeschooling stuff in the summer then they should be ready for 1st grade, no question. Maybe that'd be true if the problem was academic, but it's not, and no matter how hard I work with the girls over the summer, it's not going to magically make them stop being spacy or whatever. And if their problem is that they do well with one on one attention but lose focus in a classroom setting, then how on earth could I even determine that?
Cyndy told me that homeschooling is not just doing public school at home. It doesn't work. It has to be much more flexible and individualized for it to even work. That's fine if the end goal is simply your kids' education, but if the goal is to get them back into public school, then it's not the solution.
Anyway, I think the combo of half day kindergarten and couple hours of homeschooling is the best option because it leaves us open to choosing either homeschooling or public school at the end of the year. I mean, I'm sure that we could switch back and forth if we felt so inclined, but the combo would get them used to the prospect of either, making it a smoother transition. At least, that's how it works out in my mind. I'm interested to hear other opinions.