Remember late elementary school, when summer vacation was just the best thing you could imagine? You were old enough to play with your friends without parental supervision, but not yet old enough to work every day of your vacation?
I never thought I'd look forward to summer vacation again the way I did when I was that age. Then we started homeschooling.
There are many wonderful things about teaching your own child to read, write, and explore the world around them. And there are many challenges, especially when all that learning has to take place before the first surgery or meeting of the day.
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| (Second) first day of Grade 1 |
Dominic and I just re-started first grade, after about a 5-6 week "summer vacation." This year, we're very grateful for a couple of changes. First, we purchased the entire elementary school homeschool curriculum from our good friends and former neighbors who recently moved the the US. I'm still exploring all the resources they left for us.
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| Our "school corner" |
Second, Dominic is "going to school" for about an hour three days a week with our neighbors. This may not seem like much, but even that time with other kids is really helpful in practicing classroom etiquette and seeing how other kids get along in a classroom.
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| Dominic takes art class with Miss Kelsey and Miss Nancy once a week |
And last, we're embracing the fact that summer vacation is great. We love having a break. And we'll probably take more frequent breaks this year, for all our sakes.
I'm here eating breakfast, taking a moment before heading to school and thought I'd read this again. One of the best pieces of advice I received when I started homeschooling was to accept that you can't teach your child everything. It's impossible. Once you accept that, it takes a lot of the pressure off. Along with that advice came another suggestion: simply teach your child the basics and above all else, to love learning. I think you are amazing, homeschooling while also working full-time! Take those breaks and don't stress about it. Dominic's a great kid who's learning what he needs to learn.
ReplyDeleteThanks Aunt Tania!!
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