When my son was in the fourth grade his father and I made the decision to bring him home from school to home school him. That was a great year for him and for me. I used some curriculum, but I also created some of my own stuff for him, to better help him improve in areas where he had weaknesses.
Being a home school mom also helped me improve in areas where I had weaknesses. Confession time – I can lack discipline. I always manage to get it all done, but I am rather random in the way I go about it. Well, I learned during that fourth grade year that when you home school random doesn’t cut it. I found myself having to create and stick to a daily routine, much like I did when my children were toddlers, before they went off to school.
This old dog has to re-learn a new trick; daily disciplined productivity with a teenager. I’m guessin that’s gonna be a fun one! Much has changed since that boy of mine was a wee fourth grader. He is now a large, soon to be 11th grader!
The obvious – our lunch bill is going to go way up! But beyond that I am still contemplating what other big adjustments I will have to make in my current random days. I do know it will be good for me.
Here’s a bit of irony – Be The Mom comes out this fall, I first started writing what would become Be The Mom that year I home schooled my son. The daily discipline of working with my son caused me to have a writing routine. I am hoping that means the four books I have started and dabbled with over the last couple of years actually get completed! Wouldn’t that be amazing!
If any of you fabulous home school moms of teens have any suggestions for me – I would so welcome your thoughts and suggestions! I hope you will come back tomorrow and I will share with you why our son actually asked us if he could be home schooled. You may be sadly shocked when you hear his reason.
I’m excited for you and your son! Enjoy your time together — it flies by all too quickly. I feel like I will be starting over this fall as well. My oldest is about to graduate, so next year I will be schooling a senior, a junior, and a 4th grader. We have attended a homeschool co-op for the past 4 years, and the girls got the majority of their assignments from there. The best thing the girls learned at co-op was accountability. They learned to schedule their time and follow each teacher’s specific class rules. The worst part was not having the option to personalize their curriculum so they could pursue topics that interested them. I often found them researching topics that interested them on their own. They did well in the co-op environment, so I know they can do the work, it’s just a matter of maintaining the discipline to stay on schedule without being accountable to someone other than Mama.
I’m excited for you and your son! Enjoy your time together — it flies by all too quickly. I feel like I will be starting over this fall as well. My oldest is about to graduate, so next year I will be schooling a senior, a junior, and a 4th grader. We have attended a homeschool co-op for the past 4 years, and the girls got the majority of their assignments from there. The best thing the girls learned at co-op was accountability. They learned to schedule their time and follow each teacher’s specific class rules. The worst part was not having the option to personalize their curriculum so they could pursue topics that interested them. I often found them researching topics that interested them on their own. They did well in the co-op environment, so I know they can do the work, it’s just a matter of maintaining the discipline to stay on schedule without being accountable to someone other than Mama.
Did I miss the post on why your son asked to be homeschooled? I’ve been checking back but I haven’t seen it yet. 🙂
Actually I sort of wondered if I should share why…but I will take this as an indication I need to share. Stay tuned. Thanks so much Jenae for circling back around! :0)