Trying to get organized to begin CM

Take her out now – don’t wait for summer.

Lots of playtime. Go outdoors a lot. Go outdoors more. Read some good books to her. When you get the Rails book, start building good habits. Listen to good music. This is all that you really need to do at this point.

If she is ready, you can do some basic reading instruction and/or math… but there really is no rush.

The best advice I got was to start implementing the different areas or subjects slowly to form habits and see how they will work into your day. 

As everyone has said, in the younger ages, plenty of time to explore, preferably outdoors, is key.  So, I first developed a routine that gives us lots of time outside.  Then, in the March before my oldest officially started ‘school’ we spent a month just focused on Nature Study.  We took a weekly walk in one of the nearby wooded areas.  We started a list of ‘signs of Spring’ posted on the wall, adding to it whenever we noticed something.  We sketched a few flowers as they started to appear. 

In April, I started deliberately playing music for our Composer study.  We watched a DVD from the library of a ballet version of “Peter and the Wolf”, and learned about different instruments (sparking a desire in my daughter to play the violin, which she is still enjoying over 3 years later.)  I also chose an artist and we started looking at pictures once a week.  These things take almost no time at all.

In May, I focused on making a list of living books and putting them into my ‘for later’ lists on the library website, so that I could easily pick out a few each week to bring home and read.  We were already reading every evening at bedtime, but now I was more intentional about the books I chose.

And so on, adding in one thing at a time until by about November we had a full program going.

I agree with Suzukimom that if you know you are going to pull her out of public school, I wouldn’t bother waiting until summer.  If you do leave her in, however, you can still start a slow introduction to all the wonderful CM ideas.  Get outside as much as possible and start intentionally noticing things and gently pointing them out.  Read living books at bedtime.  Play music music during breakfast and mention the composer and the name of the piece.  Find a good children’s poetry anthology and read a few poems together on a regular basis.

Everyone’s schedule will be different.  Ours seems to change about every few months.  If you start developing your own good habits now, it won’t feel so overwhelming when you eventually start more formal lessons. 

Joanne

This is a link to a similar thread: 

http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/help-with-planning-aoscm

I have a 5 dd and a 2.75 dd so I am in exactly the same place you are. I cannot “ditto” enough everyone’s encouragement to focus on habits. They are making a huge difference in our home. I reccommend that you read Laying Down the Rails, and buy and implement Laying Down the Rails for Children. Also, search Habits in the forum for other threads. 

I reccommend reading The Early Years from cover to cover and follow it closely. You will notice that the emphasis will NOT be on lessons of how to read, mathmatics, or copywork in The Early Years. Truly, the most important things right now are playing outdoors for hours, habits, and bible study. I love The Early Years publication but you have to be open to it’s suggestions. They aren’t what you are expecting most likely….they are even better. :)))

Our “art” is usually painting or drawing. I do not do art prints, yet. I am saving that for starting in the first grade.

We do poetry, memorize bible verses, read bible stores, read tons of great books mostly rented from the library, play classical music all the time, listen to audio bible, learn sewing and other handicrafts. We work on life skills like making up the bed, sorting/folding laundry, routines/chores like feeding the dog. These things are going to go a very long way to establish the foundation/routine we will need for days of more formal education.

I just really focus on enrichment activities and just “being present” with my kids. Try to stay unplugged from the phone, the TV, the internet. Just PLAY WITH THEM! It’s ok. You are not in a race with any other family. Do what is best for your child, not what mainstream says is the normal. You are their new normal and it is sooooooo much fun to be with children all day. Just relax and pray about it all and it will fall into place. Do not do too much too soon. If you are having a bad experience with Kindergarten, pull her out now and just play with her. Start fresh and slow in January after the holidays. Use the remaining months to just celebrate the holidays. You will not regret it. I promise. In the long run, you will not notice the missed days of school but you will have awesome holiday memories. Take lots of pictures. 🙂

Now, my daughter just happens to love to do math so we are working our way through RightStart Math, Level A Second Edition and we love it!!!  

Today, instead of school, we had a complete tea party with an elderly neighbor of mine. She arrived all dressed up in a hat and everything. My daughters were all dressed up today with hats, as well. We learned how to set the table, decorate the table, arrange flowers in a vase, bake banana bread, brew tea, manners and bible verses to go with them, a chance to practice saying the blessing, socializing with an adult, hospitality, food groups, etc…..See how much you can learn just from one activity? The girls had a blast. My neighbor even brought an antique wash board with her for the girls to do their dolls’ laundry. We had classical music playing in the background and a nice fire going. A beautifully pleasant day with plenty of laughter and creativity.

Just try this type of day balanced with more structured days. I think you will like it. I “do school” with my daughters about 3-4 times a week, usually 3. We have church twice a week and gymnastics once. it is plenty, I promise. Tomorrow is zoo day. Just relax and let kids be kids. I try to think of games to play that might incorporate a lesson I have in mind. For example, we are working on lowercase b and d reversals in letter recognition. I printed out a bunch of b’s and d’s and put in a paper bag. She will pull one out, say the sound, then find an object in the house that starts/or ends with that letter. We do All About Reading Level 1 very very slowly. We do Cursive First for copywork, one letter at a time after learning her name. 

Hope all this helps. 🙂 

In Christ, Mollie

Perhaps you can share with your dh that homeschool will prepare her for real life by giving her the opportunity to interact with many different types of people.   Intelligent, responsible adults are much better role models than children her own age! 

Socialization was a big concern for my husband when we first considered hs. I did as retrofam suggested and after we discussed it more, he was on board and has been a great supporter ever since. We had weekly events planned like library story hour, church, field trips, etc. Is there a local hs group you can join?

Tailormade,

I agree the older version of the curriculum giude is a nice, at-a-glance format.
Doe you, or anyone else, know if that is printable?

Thanks!

I’m trying to get my husband past the “lack of socialization” aspect she’ll miss from not being at school.

You could always introduce more disrespect, bullying, bad language, and pop-culture into your homeschool to make up for it.