Hello, new to site.

[renmew]

I've been lurking for a week or two, but I finally decided to register and go legit.

I teach 2nd grade at a private school in Burbank, CA, and am very interested in afterschooling my kids. The oldest, my stepson, is 11 and an extremely poor student. He always has been and although this school year has been better, I'm still worried about his academic future.

My other son is 7 and is repeating 1st grade for behavioral reasons. He is PDD-NOS and takes meds that work really well for him. He took to reading like nobody's business, but I'd like to work on his writing and math.

My two girls (2 and 4) are not in school yet, but I've just purchased Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for the 4 year old. She's interested and seems to have the early reading skills down.


So, question... When do you all have TIME to afterschool? The older one needs so much, but at this point takes the entire afternoon/evening just for his homework. And, temporarily, I don't have him during the weekends, so... ? What would be appropriate time wise for the first grader? He gets his homework done in about 20 minutes, so there is time.

[fairytalemama]

I do about 20 minutes or less with my 5 year old per day. It varies from day to day what we work on. Our main focus is teaching her to read so we usually do a lesson from The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise. This generally takes 10-15 minutes. If she's interested and we have time, we'll also do one page of writing practice in her workbook (we have Getty Dubay A) or play a Rightstart math game (she loves Go to the Dump, which teaches addition facts for the sum of 10).

At this point, I would start working with the 7 year old first since from your post he seems to need the most help. Start slow and see what time of day works best for you and him to work for a short period. Maybe before school might work?

Good luck and welcome to the boards.

[Cadam]

It really depends on what they need. Have you been able to asses your oldest to find out why he struggles so much? I wonder if you can work out a deal with his teachers to switch out work for him. For example, if you find that his major problem is a lack of phonics and you decided to use ElizabethB's nonsense words and All About Spelling to remediate this would they excuse him from Spelling and Reading homework on the promise that you will be working with him afterschool.

If his problems are something like dysgraphia you could act as scribe for him so that he can get the work done sooner, or get permission for him to type assignments... That kind of thing.

For the other kids, well, you have to decide what is lacking and focus on that.

My dd really struggles with spelling so we do that at home. It's not much at the moment, although we do more during breaks and the Summer.

Dd excels at maths so we do those here at home about 3 times a week for as long as seems reasonable on a given day. I am not a super structured afterschooler.

I hope this doesn't offend, but private school teachers aren't known for their fabulous salaries. School and daycare for four kids isn't cheep either. Have you really sat down and ran the numbers to figure out how much you profit from working, including the nicer clothes, extra car, gas, eating out more, extra trips to the dr. and all of that? Some people have found that they break even or even save money by staying home and homeschooling. It is entirely dependent on your situation though so this may not apply at all.

btw, I am a full time mom to my step-son too. There are a few of us here that homeschool our bonus kids.

[renmew]

[QUOTE=Cadam;2298194]It really depends on what they need. Have you been able to asses your oldest to find out why he struggles so much? I wonder if you can work out a deal with his teachers to switch out work for him. For example, if you find that his major problem is a lack of phonics and you decided to use ElizabethB's nonsense words and All About Spelling to remediate this would they excuse him from Spelling and Reading homework on the promise that you will be working with him afterschool. ]

Yes, his biggest problems are spelling and writing. They always have been. I didn't get him until 2nd grade (after he repeated 1st) and his mom did a horrendous job. He does not focus in school AT ALL, despite ADHD meds, and works super slowly. I feel like we're running out of time.


[I hope this doesn't offend, but private school teachers aren't known for their fabulous salaries. School and daycare for four kids isn't cheep either. Have you really sat down and ran the numbers to figure out how much you profit from working, including the nicer clothes, extra car, gas, eating out more, extra trips to the dr. and all of that? Some people have found that they break even or even save money by staying home and homeschooling. It is entirely dependent on your situation though so this may not apply at all.]

Unfortunately, I have always been the major (usually only) breadwinner and only provider of benefits for the family. I've very recently left Dh to live with the kids at my mom's house so I can get us back on track financially, which has been really hard to do with my limited salary. Thankfully, my principal is beyond great and only charges me $50 per kid per month.

If I didn't have to work, I'm pretty sure I would be homeschooling, as our experiences with public and private schools have not been great. For now, though, we'll just keep doing our best.

Thank you for all the advice. :)

[MIch elle]

Dc usually don't mind afterschooling IF you don't make them write. Play educational games - Rat-A-Tat Cat for fun all ages but helps with adding; and other fun games. Math Games by Peggy Kaye is an excellent book for all types of math games. Geography puzzles are fun to do as a family.

During supper, I read aloud the Bible and review SOTW flashcards that we used when we home schooled. This is a family activity so we are all learning together.

Make afterschooling short and fun and your dc will gain a lot if done everyday!

[Heigh Ho]

Quite a lot can be accomplished during summer, breaks, and weekends. If you teach concepts on those days, the skill practice can be done when time permits during the week.

30 minutes is good for the first grader, split evenly between phonics/spelling and math. It's easier to have a set time so the household routine flows smoothly. If he's tired, skip it.

For your 4 year old, check out starfall.com. Perhaps she access this at daycare?

The rest comes through the family routine and the choices made in how free time is used. Read aloud nightly. Play games. Tell stories. Solve puzzles. Make lego or block creations. Have tea parties. Garden. Help someone worse off. Prepare meals. Write letters. Make lists. Have dinner conversations.

With the 11 yr old, I'd be looking at his school to help via testing and an academic intervention program on top of an appropriate placement. Additionally, I'd get him involved in intense physical activity. Somehow, 2 hrs of exercise in the p.m. is just so helpful with a young lad...clears the mind. I used MegaWords to remediate my (at the time) 10 yr old's spelling...went fast since he was interested and had no trouble learning. MegaWords is specifically designed for remediating older children - you might be able to get it through the school. It's a 'just the facts' approach with practice. Consider getting him involved in gaming....maybe his school has a game club?...this helps with reading and writing in a nonformal way as there is extensive communication involved.

[HappyCamper]

As they get older, it is so though to find time to do anything other than homework during the week. Maybe the 7 and 4 year old could afterschool 20-30 minutes during the weekdays and a little more on the weekends. It sounds like the best way to help your oldest son would be through modifying his homework with his teachers. For us the Daily Language books, which are super quick, has helped. My oldest also has lots of homework, so we afterschool about 3 hours on Saturday mornings (including piano and clarinet practice) for my 8 and 10 year old. The 8 year old doesn't have much homework, so during the week she also does just one page of Math-U-See, one page Daily Language, 10 minutes of typing practice, and piano practice. My 10 year old has so much homework, he just has time for piano, clarinet, and his homework during the school week.