what do u do??

[bridget001]

hi every one,

today was maybe my second proper day of he, and the morning time was spent with ds2 whinging and ds1 annoying him, when i did tidy up and sit at teh table with ds1, ds2 had to be on my knee, and we managed to get some math done and some writting practice, but i have a feelin that ds will soon be bored, and also he did a good bit of arguing with me today, i dont want to spend every day arguing with my kids

help asap, what do i do in my day to make me not get bored and kids not get bored

thanks

bridget

[onwardandmerrilyupward]

Ooooh, get yourself out of the house and have some fun!!!! School children are hardly doing anything formal at the moment anyway - they're all exhausted after a looooooong term (presumably your ds1 is too) and so are the teachers!

What would I be doing right now?

Going out to see the Christmas decorations and lights. Popping into charity shops to choose some random stocking presents. Taking advantage of it not yet being the holidays and getting yourselves to some local fun and free places (museums? city farms? adventure playgrounds? type of place depends whether you're urban or rural, of course)

And what else have we been doing? Decorating the tree in all sorts of different ways. Doing various crafts and baking out of the wonderful Usborne Big Christmas Book of Things to Make and Do which I got last year but saw on offer in a bookshop this morning, so it's readily available. Christmas colouring in. Making Christmas cards. Throwing snow (=plain flour) all over the (lino) kitchen floor and then playing with plastic animals in it and using a tea strainer to shower snow on top of them. NB use a dustpan brush for clearup afterwards, don't put floury children in the bath (flour and water paste offspring, anyone?) NB2 don't recommend SR flour - much more sneezy.

This is much more personal information than I usually share on MN...

If your Ds has just come out of school, then what he really needs is to let off some steam and just do some fun stuff with you!

[bridget001]

hi again

thanks for the quick reply, i did pop out to the library and then they had friends over afterwards so that was today sorted, i think am panicin about the fact that i have to sort every day out, and am worried that i wont be able to fill thier days lol

oh god am off to panic some more
ok i know i'll be fine i just need to trust myself and have some confidence in my teaching, thing is today during math i kept thinkin is this how his teacher would do it, and did i do enough or too much and then things like should i make them get dressed every morning or leave in jammies should we start early and finish early or go on throughout the day

ok sorry am at it again

again thanks

[musicposy]

Hi Bridget! I've been reading your threads but haven't really had time to reply yet. Well done for taking the plunge! Taking my two out of school ( 9 year old a year and a bit ago, 12 year old this Sept) was the scariest thing ever, but has turned out to be the best decision I ever made.

Private schools are on holiday by now, so I'd declare yourself on holiday! Let him do anything he likes for the moment, and then you will buy yourself time to sort out how you want to do it all. My two are in panto, so we finished all formal work at the start of December. My eldest spends most of the time on the computer....but the local autority came round last week (a long story prompted by our need for a performance licence from the council) and the bloke was fab, he said we were doing exactly the right thing!

So I'd relax. You will find a rhythm to your days that works for you. I'll post more later if I get time

[lindenlass]

Hi Bridget

Sloooooooooooowwww down!

What do we do? Well at the moment we've settled into a bit of a pattern of getting up early in the morning, DDs watch tv/cuddle the baby while I FLY then we usually watch one or two more programmes together while I feed the baby and then we get breakfast, which takes ages what with all the chatting (4 DDs!) that goes on. Then we/they play and I surf the net, and at some point, when baby goes to sleep, we do something a bit more focussed at the dining room table for a little bit - nothing primarily educational though - we only do stuff for fun in our house . Maybe we'll get the playdough out, or I'll help the 5.5yo and nearly 3yo do something a bit harder (the other day we made split pin dinosaurs) or we'll make Christmas cards, or do baking. Sometimes they want to do colouring or workbooks, or get out the multilink or do puzzles or...you get the gist . At some point in the morning I'll make supper. Then we have lunch and then, after their post-lunch play (which invariably happens and lasts some time!) we go out either to a friend's or to a HE group or to the library or to run an errand. Not all our days are like this. On Wednesdays we go to a French club first thing in the morning, for example. We just play it by ear and that's how the days are working at the moment

[believer07]

What did we do. Hmm.

Dragged ourselves out of bed at 8.30. I set my sons work at the end of the previous day. My son follows a curriculum so he gets on with that. I help when I am needed. Got on the hamster wheel of household chores, move the baby from room to room and breastfed. Went out to the bank and did some shopping. Come back and made tea.

My son does a range of subjects every day. He is fairly independant about learning now, which is good.

[believer07]

Oh its not arguing its debating a vital life skill. And in return you teach them that your in charge, another vital life skill.

[bananabrain]

Hi, Don't panic! Ds1 is 4 3/4 so a bit younger than yours. I think because he's never been to school, our days are just a progression from last year when he wasn't "of school age" (although in fact, he isn't really that until he's 5). We don't do much (at all) in the way of planned educational activities, but he is still learning loads (early reading, writing (despite me not thinking he would be ready yet he is now showing interest all on his own), counting and simple adding/subtraction - just through him asking questions and our usual games & activities.
I also have a ds2 who needs a lot of attention atm (18 mths old and into everything!) so I try to spend the 2 hours ish that he sleeps to do the things that need me to give ds1 more undivided attention - like cooking or painting (as he likes to spread all the paints around and paint on a low down table) or uninterrupted reading or even joining in with oone of his fantasy games (doctors or whatever.)
Tomorrow I might pinch O&U's idea of making snow with flour... and then hopefully he'll help me clean up afterwards!
(And some days we get dressed quickly, other days we stay in PJs all morning... you have the freedom to choose!)

[Rabblewithoutaclue]

Hi there, I am new to this site and other home ed groups. Have taken my 12 year old son out of school yesterday so know how you feel. Its something I have been looking into on and off for a couple of years. Am still considering with my 7(nearly 8 year old). Only thing that puts me off is juggling both their needs (which typically are completely different!)and worrying about sibling squabbling etc. I'm sure it would be the right thing to do though...My ds1 spent yesterday doing PE, social responsibility and childcare ie. playing with his little cousins at Playzone. Today we did some maths (fractions) in bed in our dressing gowns (and had quite a laugh).Then he got up and did Typer Shark (he has decided to learn to touch type), he did some juggling, made flapjacks and spent time on the computer and about 2 hours reading (his choice), including a chapter from his science work book (leftover from school). Two days well spent as far as I am concerned. On holiday from tomorrow so will leave well alone until after Christmas.... take care and good luck!

[Litchick]

My DCs go to independent school so we broke up almost two weeks ago and have had some Home edders staying with us.
What have we done?
We've made mince pies, we've been for walks, we went in to London to see a show and we had a go on a local fake ski slope...at the moment the whole bunch of kids are rehearsing a play they've written which by the sounds of it involves a lot of bombs and machine gun fire.

[believer07]

Welcome to the wacky world of Home-ed to rabble.... You may find it easier if your children are all out, as you are still tied to the school run and the holidays. You often find that the younger ones learn at the same rate as near aged siblings. Home-ed is a roller coaster ride.

Enjoy your christmas break.