Name: Great Homeschool Conventions (Columbus)
Start: 2025-04-24T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-04-26T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Columbus, OH

Tagged: kindergarten, pacing, planning, scheduling, structure

This topic has 2 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 2 months ago by JenniferM.

Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

Author
Posts
September 12, 2012 at 5:50 am
Charis
Member
Hi! I’m brand new to homeschooling and would love to try CM. I read that lessons should be short, and that it’s better to end the lesson before the child loses interest. I’m wondering if I should be structuring a formal “lesson time” each morning, or simply implementing my lessons when the child actually seems interested? This morning and last week there were a couple of times when I was trying to read to my daughter and she immediately said “I don’t want to do that” or “let’s do something else”. Do I push the issue, and ask her to pay attention, or simply end the lesson and wait for a better time? My daughter is barely 5, so I know she’s on the young side for CM, but I’m trying to get both of us used to this homeschooling idea. Thanks so much!
September 12, 2012 at 10:49 am
nerakr
Participant
I’m not sure I’ll be of much help, but I’ll give you my experience. Ds8 had gone to a structured preschool before we started homeschooling. While I didn’t try too much structure, I did have a “lesson time” each day. Granted, he had always loved being read to, so that wasn’t the problem. It was the “3rs”. Plus, he was a winter baby, so he was 5 1/2 when we started kindergarten.
Dd, on the other hand, is in kindergarten now. She did not go to preschool. She, like your daughter, is barely five. I am trying to follow her lead, but I have been known to read to her while she’s doing something else, like playing with her dollhouse. It’s with the 3rs that I’m looking for teachable moments for. Like yesterday. She taught herself to write last year (it’s sloppy, though). She was writing simple words on a MagnaDoodle. I took another one (we have 3 different sizes) and wrote a word. I asked her if she knew what it was. If she did, she read it. If she didn’t, I showed her how to sound it out. We did that a few times, then she started copying the word onto her MagnaDoodle. I don’t know how long that teachable moment lasted, probably 5-10 minutes.
Sometimes I feel guilty that I’m not doing more, but then I remind myself that she is just barely five, that homeschooling lets us set our own pace, and that if I had tried to enroll her in school, I probably would have been told (as many parents of summer babies are) to keep her home another year and let her grow up a bit. Either that, or she would be put in a transitional kindergarten/first grade class next year.
HTH,
Karen
September 12, 2012 at 12:31 pm
JenniferM
Participant
This is our third year homeschooling, but first year “CM.” When my daughter was a kindergartner, I fluctuated between super structured and super relaxed. It was our first year homeschooling and I had been a classroom teacher, so I was torn between what was best. I think “best” for us would have been somewhere in between!
This year my son is a kindergartner. He is registered with our homeschool association so that means I agree to teach him the minimum of reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. Sometimes, I think that sounds like a lot for a 5 year old, but we do most of this informally so it is not overwhelming. I think since he has an older sibling homeschooling, it is an easier adjustment for him to “do school” although I do keep his lessons short. He joins his sister for science/nature study, art, music. Just to give you a picture.
As I look at different CM type curricula, most suggest waiting until the child is age 6 to begin schooling. Maybe you could set a time each day to ease into “school.” Read a story. Paint. Listen to some great music while your child dances or moves with it. Do a little reading instruction meeting her at her level (maybe that means learning a letter and its sound). Read a short poem or nursery rhyme. Go run and skip outside. Stop to look carefully at a flower. Smile and laugh and enjoy each other. I think that would constitute a good CM kindergarten day! Sounds lovely anyway…
If you have an easel type chalkboard, here are some great exercises for developing writing skills:
http://soundcityreading.com/chalkboardexercises.pdf Also, play doh, stringing beads, and cutting paper help strengthen those fine motor skills to prepare for writing.
Enjoy your time with your daughter and don’t rush it or push too much. (I made that mistake with my first child. I’m learning from it and passing it on to others!)