summer homeschool

[joyfulheart]

I convinced my DH to let me homeschool over the summer as a trial to decide about next school year. If they do well, I get to keep them home. Or at least my oldest.

I have everything for Bigger for my 8 year old.

BUT, I need to do something for my son entering 1st grade. He will be 6 2/3 years old. He is a perfect match for Beyond, but I just cannot afford a program for just the summer. DH REALLY wants him in PS next year.

I may have to do Bigger with both boys, and just keep his math and handwriting more age-appropriate. And grammar.

I think I'll just do a Kinder workbook for my 5 year old, because I cannot afford any more Teacher Manuals and books and he really needs Little Hearts. We'll reinforce with library as much as possible.

So am I crazy for trying to prove to DH that homeschool is the best? I cant figure out any other way to show it CAN work.

So frustrated here.

[Tansy]

This message may contain content that has been know to Upset women please proceed with caution.
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Well I'm a big believer in submission to authority. If your Husband says PS then you put your sweet dear ones in PS. ( I know you are saying WHAT!!!! This isn't the answer I was looking for.)

God may be trying to drive you to your knees and so you can have a deeper relationship with him. I have found God is the best advocate for me in all these things. If I don't like it I appeal to a higher authority and Ask the God of the Universe into the situation. No matter how big or small. Arguments to convince are just that Arguments.

Here is a silly example of how God is the best one to change a mans mind. I use this example because this was the first time I stopped arguing Really showed respect for my DH and Asked God to deal with it.

My dd won a gift certificate to "Jack in the box" She really wanted to go use it. It was made out to her and couldn't be used without lying being involved. But when I showed it to My husband he remembered all those kids dying and getting sick all those years ago. He said "No you are not going to use that. You may not take her." I was a bit upset and DD was so Disappointed. But I said "ok Honi, and to dd I said Daddy said No and that is final." and I prayed to God That DD wouldn't be hurt or upset, and that God would find away for us to make it up to DD. I did not mention it again or let DD mope about it.

Well lo an behold 3 days later were driving home and a commercial comes on radio for "Jack in the box" Hubby says wow that sounds so good... hey there is one on the next block want to go?" (You could have knocked me over with a feather!!!!!!!!.)

So we went and he was so surprised DD had a gift certificate to the place. So DD was able to treat him! AND THEN he remembered saying we would never go to Jack in the box! And took it with good grace.

I have many more examples Of God moving for the best. So My advice to you is respect him smile, and Ask God to do what is best for your family.
I assure you it is a great place to be I would not spend anytime worrying over it or being frustrated, but I would spend plenty of time praying.

[silly]

I have *no* expertise on combining, etc for the kids, but wanted to give you support. Basically, what I'm trying to do is "prove" to my dh that homeschooling will be the best match for my kids. He's given me kindergarten for Erik, with the option to re-assess them and decide whether he'll do 1st grade in ps or not.

He is already impressed with all the work we've done and how well they're doing, and it's only been a week.

What, specifically, is your dh concerned with? My husband wants them to learn, and is also worried about the socialization aspect. Also, my oldest has speech delays (he was evaluated for aphasia) and he feels that he might do better in school.

I plan on doing many activities with them, and am looking at the local homeschooler's groups, for socialization opportunities. Personally, I'd rather them spend time with kids of many different ages, etc, since that's what it's like "in the real world." Besides the fact that I've got three kids, so they're learning about being social every day.

[water2wine]

Well Since he is agreed to letting you try for the summer and you have Bigger, why not. Worst case is that you figure out that public school will be the deal and your kids are just smarter and have gotten a mini Christian World view. Perhaps if they do go to ps you could after school them a bit if dh agrees.

If your youngest is Beyond ready the Bigger has the Emerging Readers schedule in there. Would that be a level that would work? I think all but the Early Reader Bible should be available to you at the library and so you could get by with for now just purchasing The Early Reader Bible. It is the one used all the way through lesson 10.

If your dc is beyond that then I would look at the books in 2/3 DITHR and see if you can find the lower level books in the Library and just work your way up the levels having him read aloud much of it to you and ask him to Narrate what he read as you go. Then I would use the spelling words in Bigger that fit him in the appendix. You can find McGuffy's Readers to read online that would be another alternative for reading and copywork, the one below first or at first would work (they are advanced).


For Math an alternative would be to buy half (ie 1A) the year Singapore just the student book (about $9) and skipping the TM if you feel confident. If not another alternative that is very in expensive and a little advanced is Liberty Mathematics Level A. It is super easy, you do not really need the teacher manual (although it is cheap I never use it) the whole year would cost $10. You could use some of Carries ideas for math application in Bigger on your younger child's level. To me that looks like in some cases it would be easy to do. If you had to do Math for free there are several online places that offer free worksheets and you could try to copy Carries application to Math at a lower level.

So it could be done for maybe under $25 to free depending on how you did it. That could be a trial run or maybe worst case a boost for ps. If it were me as long as trying was not hurting anything I would go for it. I did this with pulling one of my dc mid year for a month to see myself and it was obvious for us hsing was the way to go.

[kerby]

Go for it! Do what you can over the summer, answer dh's questions, and address his concerns w/out being "pushy" or coming across harshly. Help him be at ease w/ these possible changes. BUT ... I also agree w/ Tansy in that you should do all you can w/in what dh says. This will show him that you respect him and what he says, as well as showing your dc this exact thing. He does have the ultimate authority and God will honor both of you for following His will.

Back to your post. I would focus on what you have and do the most w/ your oldest. Do some things w/ your younger dc but keep it easy on yourself. Don't get all "gung-ho" and overwhelm yourself to the point of deterring dh. It is still summer, after all, and your dc will want to play and have fun. You also don't want them to get too bogged down right away so that they don't want to stay home. How will that help?

Trust me, I truly understand how hard this can be, and sometimes even disappointing. I know that my dh has taken a much longer time to understand a lot of the differences that come w/ hsing. He was, and still is to some extent, a very strong advocate of "school-at-home". It has taken a while for him to see the bigger picture and to understand that they will still learn.

Dh may need the time to process it all and to actually see how it will work. Sending your dc to ps may be hard but God will still be there - for you and them.

(Just a little side-note: I just wanted to share something w/ you, like Tansy, about the Lord working on the hearts of our dhs. I have always wanted to adopt but dh was adamantly opposed to it. He MIGHT have considered it if we weren't able to have our own. I was always shocked by this and even going as far as disbelief. We were able to have our own and I had just dropped it. My heart has still yearned for more dc, and to adopt from lots of different places. Then, recently, dh has started talking about adopting. I can't believe it!!! God is doing some serious work on his heart!)


God is the ultimate authority and He will help you do all you can for your dc. Leave your heart in His hands and follow His leading. Enjoy this summer w/ your dc and all that you can instill in them. They won't forget it either.

HTH
K

[SandKsmama]

Ya know, I've been there as well. I had a little longer than the summer:-) - my husband gave me one school year, and that was IT...he was pretty adamantly anti-homeschooling. So I gave the time that I had to the Lord, and just started praying and doing my very best with homeschooling the kids. I did NOT complain to my husband when I was frustrated about homeschooling - I really tried to find other homeschooling moms to talk to that stuff about, b/c at that point dh really did not understand and he would have taken it as "well, this is too hard, you need to put her back in school-building school."

As the time approached in that first school year to make the decision to register our oldest 2 kids for school, or keep homeschooling, dh decided that we would homeschool another year. I did give him some "facts and figures", as far as how much it would cost, how well the kids had done and what they learned, etc., but otherwise I didn't try to "convince" him. He still wasn't *totally* on board with homeschooling, but he was starting to see the good things about it. By the end of that second year of homeschooling, he had completely changed. He is now my biggest cheerleader - he even took off work last May to come to the homeschooling conference with me.

All that to say, if you had told me even 4 years ago, that my husband would be so PRO-homeschooling now, I would have laughed at you. But God can do anything, even change a stubborn husband's heart. Keep praying, and do your best this summer. Who knows what will happen?

Amanda

[joyfulheart]

Oh, ya'll are awesome gals! You have to know how much I appreciate ya'll!

The advice is spot-on exactly what I needed to hear, and soooo true!

I HAVE put it into God's hands, and will let God do the work, both at school and at home.

The summer school is actually a great solution for a need we have. My son's learning disabilities involve retention also. Every time he misses more than a week of school, he LOSES information. Last summer break put him 3 months behind when school did start back up.

So, after talking to my husband about our options-- putting him in summer school in a special ed situation (and not a good one-- it's kinda a bad summer school), OR doing a homeschool program to keep him from losing information. And to get him ahead on some things we KNOW will be a problem in 3rd grade. (more multiplication nightmares ahead!)

DH agreed that it needed to be done. And he thinks it will be long enough for me to figure out how much time it takes up.

He actually said he's convinced that I'm busy enough, and that adding homeschooling to the equation, will only make the home and family suffer.

I talked to my son about this, and he WANTS to homeschool soo badly. He loves PS, but he is frustrated they wont address his learning disabilities. He WANTS to learn, but all they do is accommodation and NO remediation.

So thanks for your advice, and your prayers and your friendship!

Dana

[joyfulheart]

OOOH!

ANother BLESSING!

someone offered to sell me their beyond for my 2nd son.

AND-- because my older son (using Bigger) is a struggling reader, I just noticed that beyond and bigger both use the same book lists!

So this is VERY doable together!

[kerby]

Oh, this is wonderful! It will help you sooo much that ds is wanting to do this, too. And, even if you end up just schooling him in the fall, it is a start. What a blessing that someone was able to bestow. See, God is providing even now!

K

[kfrench]

My husband wanted me to send my kids to PS after I had homeschooled from k on. They are 2nd and 3rd. I was stressed with active needed 3 year old so after fighting him on it and feeling betrayed by him I sent them. It has been up and down but i feel like I have learned alot about my kids and I am trusting that God will lead him to wantin them homeschooled if that is what God wants. Strangely enough he wants me to homeschool my 3 year old for a few years. So I am doing LHTH with him. It has been a year of growth for me and my kids. I am learning to submit to my husband and that sometimes being pasive and not so passionate sometimes give my husband an opening to change his mind without loosing face so to say. I have one girl that wants to continue PS and one that really wants to come back home. The same could be said a year ago about the same kids. Their preferences haven't changed. They ended up being behind at school and have been getting some testing done for learning disabilities etc. So It has been humbling and eye opening. I feel like I now know much better what my kids need if they come home and I have been far more equiped to help them with their learning issues because of 4 years of homeschooling. I still feel like homeschooling is where God has called me and I still want them to be home with me but I have come to accept the way things are and to try to make the best of them. I volunteer weekly at the girls school in each of their classes and that has really helped me to be more comfortable with their school and their teachers and friends. One has an ok teacher and the other a great teacher. But my dd has learned more responsibility and organization and study skills which were the only things I thought she might get from PS. If it turns out they want to continue the special ed I will bring the kids home. Because they miss stuff in their regular class but are still responsible for knowing it and have to stay in recess to do the extra work and also don't get 'taught' it. Realy irks me when my daughters is suppose to study for a planets test from a copied worksheet for info she was never give and never learned. Seems really pointless to me and I am ready to go get some books at the library and teach her myself in a way she will remember it.
Well I do still have my 3 y.o. and perhaps God knew that he needed this time with mommy and that the girls needed their learning issues uncovered and delt with in a way I could not do on my own at home.

Kris