Some parents decide to give home schooling a practice run during the summer months. I think this is a great idea! I know that I just couldn’t picture how this whole “home school” thing was going to work. I pulled my son out for the last 2 months of 2nd grade while my 4th grader finished out the year. I wanted a practice run too.
If you are going to give it a shot, I would try…
1. Home school for no more than 3 hours a day (one hour of this will be #4)
2. Only tell your kids if they will be excited-for older kids just tell them they are going to be doing some math over the summer.
3. Pick up some inexpensive math workooks at Walmart or Costco and work in them daily for at least 30 minutes or use the ALEKs math online-one month free trial
4. Require one hour of free reading (or at least work up to this) This is on their bed, in their room, quiet reading of their choice. Read a book out loud to them too no matter how old they are.
5. Help your kids start a blog. If you are concerned about who might read them, make their settings private. Encourage them to write daily on their blogs.
6. Plan at least 1 educational fieldtrip a week-just don’t tell them its educational.
7. Teach them some life skills; laundry, cooking, car maintenance….
8. Visit the public library once a week and checkout a bunch of good books and videos around your house all the time. For some good book choices, try the Sonlight catalog for suggestions.
9. Plan some kind of event for the last day of the month…. Art show at your home featuring their projects, a carnival for the nighborhood kids, cooking dinner for grandparents.
10. Write it down. Write down everything you have done that involves learning. By documenting all of your time, you will become more aware of how much your children are learning and it will help you decide if you want to introduce a formal curriculum in the fall or stay with an eclectic home school style.
Practice Run Home Schooling
Some parents decide to give home schooling a practice run during the summer months. I think this is a great idea! I know that I just couldn’t picture how this whole “home school” thing was going to work. I pulled my son out for the last 2 months of 2nd grade while my 4th grader finished out the year. I wanted a practice run too.
If you are going to give it a shot, I would try…
1. Home school for no more than 3 hours a day (one hour of this will be #4)
2. Only tell your kids if they will be excited-for older kids just tell them they are going to be doing some math over the summer.
3. Pick up some inexpensive math workooks at Walmart or Costco and work in them daily for at least 30 minutes or use the ALEKs math online-one month free trial
4. Require one hour of free reading (or at least work up to this) This is on their bed, in their room, quiet reading of their choice. Read a book out loud to them too no matter how old they are.
5. Help your kids start a blog. If you are concerned about who might read them, make their settings private. Encourage them to write daily on their blogs.
6. Plan at least 1 educational fieldtrip a week-just don’t tell them its educational.
7. Teach them some life skills; laundry, cooking, car maintenance….
8. Visit the public library once a week and checkout a bunch of good books and videos around your house all the time. For some good book choices, try the Sonlight catalog for suggestions.
9. Plan some kind of event for the last day of the month…. Art show at your home featuring their projects, a carnival for the nighborhood kids, cooking dinner for grandparents.