Part Time Homeschooling

Discuss unschooling, eclectic, the unit study approach, or any other "unusual" homeschooling method.

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LadyClovenhoof
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Joined: Fri Mar 22, 2019 8:15 pm

Part Time Homeschooling

Postby LadyClovenhoof » Fri Mar 22, 2019 9:00 pm

What I'm looking for at the moment is affirmation, advice, and encouragement. About two years ago, I had to return to work full time for financial reasons. Up to that point we had been enjoying the full time homeschool lifestyle. I had originally hoped to continue, but was forced to send my kids to school as the only affordable source of babysitting since I was unable to garner the amount support from my husband and our parents that was needed. While I couldn't fault them not feeling up to the task of regular babysitting, I do have to admit to feeling rather prickly about their assertions that, "it would be too much, I couldn't possibly handle it." At this point I have to chastise myself as it took me almost a year to deal with the anger, frustration, and depression that came from this and I failed my children miserably during this period. This new year, after watching my children make little to no academic progress and receive none of the exposure to the wonders of science, history, arts, and knowledge they had prior, I finally found the conviction to reintroduce homeschool to our home. Now, however, I'm am finding myself struggling to fit the joy and wonders of learning into the scant hours stolen from between work, school, and activity schedules while still keeping the freedom of play and exploration time that young children need. I've done my best to pare down our previous workload to accomodate this. At the moment, I'm attempting a minimalist curriculum of core subjects mostly in workbook form and one secondary unit study in either history, science, or fine arts over one to two weeks that includes elements of all. While they generally seem excited, I worry about spending too much of our limited free time pushing more school on them. Any words of wisdom you can share would be greatly appreciated.

markmark
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Joined: Wed May 13, 2020 2:43 am

Re: Part Time Homeschooling

Postby markmark » Thu Dec 02, 2021 3:43 am

Though this is an old thread, I'm responding anyway since I was in the situation a while back. Having watched my sister transition to homeschooling my nephew fulltime, I can relate to your concerns. One of the first things you could do is figure out what type of schedule fits a child. Sometimes kids work best when their whole day isn't planned ahead for them, whereas other kids need a well-defined plan, including scheduled break time, nap time, and playtime. Figuring this out takes some time but it's worth the wait. The ideal schedule is something that allows kids to freewheel it while also having non-negotiables. That way, there is spontaneity and structure. Also identify the resources you'd like to use to supplement prescribed coursework. There are plenty of options out there. A simple internet search will do. Personal recommendations would be Wikipedia and bartleby. Wikipedia is often underappreciated, but if used well, it's one of the best resources. Britannica is also a good option.


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