60-day returns • free shipping on USA orders $129+
Scared and doubting myself!
- This topic has 21 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 8 months ago by
.
- Posts
my3boys,
I guess I can applaud myself for all those years of reading books to my kids when they were babies and after. They do love books but it seems since my son turned six he’s gotten lazy and only wants to see the pictures to know the story and not wanting to sit and hear it. I am gonna try to plan some fun things to do everyday. We try to get to the library weekly and meet with our homeschool group once a week. I guess my big goal this year is to get my son reading and writing better. DS is very dependant on me for everything….even wants me to be his playmate all day long which is fun and good but draining when I have other tasks that need completing. I admire all you ladies and appreciate your help so much. I thin I kind of freaked out about just trying to fill all the legal requirements of schooing and feeling the pressure. so worried that we will not get in our 180 days of instruction!
Cayecronk,
Your kids sound just like mine, 6 yrs ago. When I first pulled them from school they couldn’t stand to be around each other and I couldn’t stand their fighting! My mom kept telling me I could homeschool and I kept saying “But , Mom, I can’t even deal with them during the 2 mo. summer break! How in the world can I be with them 24/7? I will go CRAZY!” It took about 6 months but one day I hear my 9 yr old son say something nice to his 8 yr old sister, while they were PLAYING together. I was so shocked I just started crying , I thought these kids HATED each other. That was just the start. They have accually become friends. They still bicker from time to time (they are only 17 mo. apart so I’m sure that has something to do with it) but they also laugh and talk and support each other in ways I never knew they would. Hang in there…it will get better 🙂
oh and I don’t know if you read the Bible ( 6 yrs ago I didn’t) but when things really got stressful, I would lock myself in my bedroom, pull out my Bible, let it fall open and read where ever my eyes fell. I called it my 5 min. time outs and it really helped! Sometimes I had no idea what I was reading but it didn’t matter because I would always feel better and be able to go face the drama again. Maybe you can try that.
Happy Homeschooling!
🙂
OP, Thank you for your honesty about your fears and apprehensions about teaching your ds and having your children together ALL the time, with the fighting. I have these fears too and they are very real, but thankfully I have received much encouragment from the Lord and others.
I wanted to add to the other posts that I believe if you accomplish the task of having your children get along (no matter how long it takes…days, weeks, months, or years) even though they may irritate each other, you have accomplished a great thing. Being in school will alleviate some of the fighting temporarily, but may set up a life long message that if a person doesn’t get along with someone else, time apart is the answer. Being home together, children are forced to cope with the differences they have with siblings, and I believe this will make it easier for them to cope with differences they have with important people in their lives in the future (eg: spouses, in-laws, co workers, bosses, and such).
I just got started with a 6yo that attended ps K last year as well, and I am so glad to have him home this year as 4yo dd and I were lonely with him in school last year. Because we are starting slow and don’t have a full day of academics, I wonder if I am doing enough (I do simple lessons for the 3R’s daily, lots of literature, light intro to the other CM recommended subjects on rotation, and they get a Bible story from dad at night). When I see my kids bickering, yelling, hitting, and being disrespectful to each other; I am SO GLAD that I am right there to correct the behavior. I feel deep in my heart that next to salvation in Christ, them learning to respect each other and respect me as an authority figure will create a larger foundation for success in the future than mastery in reading, writing, and math would. I hope it will EVENTUALLY be natural for my children to consider the other first and want to please each other. I’m sure it will be natural for your children as well with time and training. I don’t know the exact reference, but this type training makes me think of the proverb “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Blessings.
Last yr, my son was 6 when we started school. He has a Nov b-day. He did not like to write either! His handwriting looked ummm not so good 🙂 to put it nicely…some boys are like that! 🙂 I tried not to fret! I just let him do tracer pages for a long time..then we tried copywork..but we couldn’t read it still..and he just had a very hard time..so back to tracer pages!! I just kept on letting him do tracer pages until towards the last few months of the school yr. Then he had to do copywork AND I allowed him to still do one tracer page a day. This yr, now that he is 7, he is doing much better! Don’t be afraid to do what YOU need to do! If he needs to do tracer pages until he gets the hang of it..so be it! Here is a wonderful website http://www.handwritingworksheets.com
As for math, we didn’t do a curriculum..I made up my own. We used this website http://www.worksheetworks.com as well as some living math books and sheppardsoftware.com You do whatever you feel comfortable with..start w/ the first level if you see he is getting it quickly move on!
I would suggest a character book too. Such as Child’s Book of Character or the Miller books! Both of my sons loved/love these! We are on our last Miller book and they are sad! And my oldest just turned 10!! But he loves them! 🙂
As for Literature, maybe you can pick some boy books to read! 🙂
And YES, at first it does seem like you are thinking of it 24/7!! It will get better! However, I still think of it often! 🙂 MY dh tells me it is my job! Think of it as my job…if I was away at a job that would be what I had to do!! I think since we are “at home” all the time we expect ourselves to be masters of everything…and have all done perfectly..that ain’t gonna happen..pardon the ain’t 🙂 You have to decide what is important in your life at this moment…make a list..and try to follow it. Is a clean sink your priority? Or a swept kitchen? LOL…I have to laugh cause I would obsess over the kitchen! I finally had to say okay…this day is for sweeping..that is it!!! LOL
Three things are important to me for me to be sane…1) sink/dishes cleaned either in rack or dishwasher and fairly clean countertops 2) a picked up living room (we have a LR and a Dining Area/play area) only the LR needs to be clean and 3) a clean bathroom (we have 3-this one is the one that belongs to the school room/LR/and laundry. If those 3 are done then I am okay for the day! 🙂 yours can be different! I would LOVE to have all rooms clean and orderly..etc…it just is not worth me fretting over!! LOL!
AND most of all if I had fed my kids 3 times a day, got dinner on the table, and the boys learned something today and I spent time w/ them then it was a good day! 🙂
Hopefully, you can spend time w/ your dh when the kids go to bed. That is when we get together to talk, watch a favorite show, and just be!
And if your dh needs encouragement, may I suggest Todd Wilson’s website and books for dads! My dh loved his books! And you will like the one for mom as well! His site is http://www.familymanweb.com 🙂 At least one of his books are specifically for homeschool dads! His cartoons are hilarious!
As for the 180 days, don’t worry….you are always teaching something and he is always learning!! You can count all kind of things as learning! 🙂
HTH!! 🙂
8angels,
Thank you for your words of comfort! I look at all the other homeschooling moms even the new ones and feel they got it all figured out but me. So thankful that there are others who went through what I am going through and can be open and relate to others. Im a person that can’t hide my feelings very well and they come out as a fountain if I hold them in too long. My closet is my favorite hiding place to go cry out to God….where no one can see me or hear me! Thanks for reminding me to have a secret place where I can meet the Lord daily. Actually homeschooling has brought me closer to God than any other time in my life. I need him now more than ever!
ibkim2,
Thank you for reminding me again that my greatest goal in homeschooling is that my kids would know the Lord and love Jesus Christ and have a deep relationship with him. So thankful for your story and being able to relate with others openly! My kids are four years apart and so sometimes it seems silly to me that they fight so much. I just gotta slow down and take it day by day!
2flowerboys,
Wow….your words are so encouraging and thanks for sharing those resources. When I have time today I will look into them Sometimes I think hubby expects me to be super mom and do it all perfectly and look perfectly for him but in the end this makes us all so unhappy! You guys have changed my perspective so much over the last few days. So much wisdom from you ladies! So thankful for this website!
- The topic ‘Scared and doubting myself!’ is closed to new replies.