Help!? Frazzled and Worried

[Millie]

We have recently decided to homeschool our kids. While I thought we were ready and have been thinking of it for several years, the moment is upon us (my kids last day in ps is tomorrow) and I am worried that I truly am not prepared and my kids wont stay interested. Any help or guidance from those of you who have been in this for a while? Right now the unknown really has me worried.

[Claire]

I was nervous anticipating the first day of school too! When the day finally arrived, we all breathed a sigh of relief around here (dh, dd and me). It was *wonderful* being at home!

Are you aware that most children benefit from some "de-schooling" time to transition? I can't remember the rule of thumb for sure, but I think it is to allow one week of decompression time for every year the child has attended school. It allows the child to de-stress. During this time you would do lots of "fun" homeschooling activities but not jump into heavy academics right away. Since you mention having multiple children, I would plan to transition into homeschooling one child at a time starting with the youngest. So, for example, if you have a 1st grader and a 3rd grader, I would start working with the 1st grader during the first or second week and not add in the 3rd grader until the 3rd week.

I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how easy it becomes. If there are activities you and your children can do together to de-stress (trip to science museum, trip to library, nature walks, whatever is available in your area), you might want to start those sooner rather than later.

[sdWTMer]

Welcome to the world of homeschooling!! Don't worry like Claire said, I would unschool for a while just to let them decompress. I think that that is smart advice.

[Cadam]

what ages are your kids? Have you decided on curriculum or schooling methods or any of that? I agree that most kids will need to sort of detox. The rule of thumb I heard was one month for each year in ps but it probably depends on who you talk to.

At least spend a couple of weeks doing field trips and fun learning activities. What had you planned to do and why don't you think you are ready? Like anything new there is a learning curve but eventually you get into a rhythm.

[Unicorn]

As the others have said, take some time to detox, but I would only do that for a week or two. After that start off slow, and before you begin, go over what you will be doing. Show them their books, talk abut what is going to be expected from them, etc.

When I pulled my dc out of ps almost 2 years ago- we had most of the summer off, and started our school in late July. The first thing we did was watch some videos on oceans, looked at some books on same, and then took a "field trip" to the beach for 3 days! :D Okay, that was our vacation, and I cheated a little, but you get the idea.

Also, don't try to do a full day's schedule the first week or two- just start with the basics and add other stuff in slowly.

Welcome to the biggest adventure you will ever have!

[Lux Et Veritas Academy]

I would detox a little and then enter slowly adding a subject at a time. It can seem overwhelming for both of you. Make sure that you schedule in time for yourself. This will be the best move you ever made.;)

[Millie]

Thanks for all of the sound advice. I am pretty nervous given the fact this feels like such a monumental task, but we have been reading and researching for some time so hopefully I can do a good job. I guess it seems scary now that we are actually at the point where it is going to happen. I like hearing that a short breather is okay to do, I felt almost like I needed to make the transfer seamless, which only added to the stress.

As someone asked, here is what we have going on:

dd9
LA- K12 LA5
Math - K12 Math 5
Spelling - Spelling Workout E/F
History - SOTW 1 & KingFisher History
Science - K12 Science 3
Latin - Minumus 1
Penmanship - Practice Lines and Zaner-Bloser Cursive
Poetry - Various Memory and Classical
Geography - Kingfisher Geography
Music - Various Appreciation

ds6
LA - Riggs Writing & Spelling Road to Reading and Thinking
Math - K12 Math 1
History - SOTW 1
Science - K12 Science 1
Latin - Minimus 1
Penmanship - Zaner-Bloser
Spelling - Spelling Workout A/B
Music - Various Appreciation

I'm glad to see so much online support, it really is comforting. Thanks again for all your input.

[Cadam]

Your choices look great. Don't doubt yourself. You taught them to tie their shoes and ride their bikes... you can teach them this too.:)