Homeschooling and Daycare
Written by Pamm Clark
How can a mom do both? It seems impossible, even contradictory. Well, actually it's complimentary. I don't claim to be an expert, I'm far from it. All I can do is tell you what worked for us.
Homeschooling is our priority over the daycare. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 commands us to teach our children.
We are very relaxed homeschoolers. Our goal is to produce productive members of society, not to finish the book this year. It is as important for us to teach our children life skills as well as academic skills.
Something I observed about my son is that he gets overwhelmed with school. When
I take the pressure of school off, he really excels. When he was six I got rid of the workbooks! We played educational games like a simple forms of Scrabble and Monopoly. When he counted change back to a customer at the thrift
store I was working in I asked him how he knew that and he said from Monopoly,
LOL! He helped me out with the chores, I read to him, we watched PBS shows
on animals, airplanes, etc., and overall I let him go! I couldn't believe the
difference in him! He taught himself to read and he figured out math concepts on his own. He no longer had all that pressure to do the workbooks or 'school', but to just be a boy. I think what made this hard for me
was our daughter, 21 months older, LOVED school, workbooks, reading, etc.
It's so hard not to compare the two!
When he got into 2nd grade on up, I added a 'school' subject here and there.
Again, he got frustrated and started acting up when I said it was school time so I didn't give it to him all at once. Every hour he would do a subject, example: at 9am he would do math, at 10am he would do spelling, at 11am he would do reading, etc. He knew when he was done with that subject, he would get to play (His whole goal in life!)
In his junior high years he did all his school work in one long 2 or 3 hour stretch. He realized, finally, if he would just sit down and do his school work, it will be over and he can do what he wants to.
Something else about my son, he loved to get into trouble, aggravate his sister, torture the daycare kids, you know; boy stuff! I found that giving him jobs to do kept him busy and out of trouble. He cooked lunch for the daycare, took complete care of the dog (waking, feeding, picking up after him, etc.) administrated P.E. for the daycare, helped Dad change the oil in the cars, did yard work, rocked babies, did 'circle time', read to the children, took out the trash, etc. Again, I couldn't give it to him all at once, but every hour or so, I would say, "Can you please make lunch for everyone today?" and he did! You have to keep him busy without overwhelming him.
This won't happen over night! I started when he was about 7 with the trash. I said, the trash is your responsibility. I expect you to take it out when it's full and be in charge on trash day to get the cans to the curb." It took me A FULL YEAR to get him to do this responsibly! I add things here and there.
I expected my children to take out the trash and do dishes and housework just because they are a part of the family. I reward them for their "attitude" with a 'prize box item' weekly for a good attitude while doing house work. I paid them for working in the daycare. I would not pay them if I didn't get paid for doing daycare. I gave them a small monthly salary (I started with $10 per month each) in which half they have to put into their savings account.
and personal belongings?
I gave my kids the control of who they want in their room and when. This was easier as they got older and the age span between our children and the daycare children got greater and greater. I have watched elementary aged children when my children were about the same age. We tried different things, but the best thing that worked is to give my children control over who goes into their bedrooms and when. Having toys and supplies that belong to the daycare separate from our own children's is very important. Our children can use the daycare toys, just like any other child in the daycare.
How Others Homeschool and Daycare
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