is going to be very different than in VA! I went to an information meeting for one of the NUMEROUS homeschool groups around me tonight and was pleased as well as shocked! There were ALOT of ladies there - I think the group has over 270 families and that is just in 1 county! We also joined a group in the county on the other side of us and I am not sure how many families that group has but I am sure it is close to that! Nice to have options!! I am in shock though over the acceptance and ease of homeschooling here. They have homeschool sections at several of the used book stores around, at the Christian Store they have a HUGE homeschool section and they even have a Home Educators Resource store!! It is a different world!
I am still not ready to start but we did start on Monday with our new Daily Board(will show pics later) and some reading and establishing the routine of our day - somewhat! I did add in Quiet Time or Alone Time this year and so far it is the best thing I have done! Everyday from 1-3 the boys are off to their own corners for some alone time! We all just need to be away from each other for a little bit and it is really gonna be good for them to be alone and play,read, listen to books or adventures in odyssey and even just lay on their bed and stare at the ceiling!!
I am really hoping to be able to share what our plans are for this year and show you how we are doing things here sometime this weekend!
I am gonna get to go to a QandA in Frisco with some ladies who have been doing things the Charlotte Mason way for quite a few years and I am excited to be able to pick some brains and ask some questions - especially about high school!!!
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Hi Julie,
ReplyDeleteI am a mom of 2 boys 6 & 4 (and a little girl in heaven who would be 1 1/2). I am a homeschool mom and quickly distracted : ). I came about your site looking at workbox systems and saw that you not have a quite time from 1- 3 pm. I use to have time similar to that when they napped, but now it is down to an hour of time in separate rooms and they are not very quite. How do you do it? What can they do during that time, what are their boundaries, when do they know it is over and how did you begin. Thanks for your help. I love boys!
Blessings,
Valerie
from Virginia Beach
Hi Valerie. You know I didn't think it was going to work and I have been really suprised by how well the boys have responded to the whole quiet time issue!! I explained to them that we were gonna start something new. We spend a lot of time together since we homeschool and so we need some down time to be alone and away from each other for a little bit. So - we are gonna start having a quiet time every day from 1-3(the time has shifted according to what has been going on around the house but we have stuck with 2 hours so far). The boys all share a room so that was my biggest concern! Stephen actually has his mattress in the closet and has made that his little room so he just goes in there and shuts the door. The other 2 are out in the main room and they have a clear seperation between their 'spaces' and they are not supposed to cross those boundaries! Today there was some fighting over toys but i yelled at them and they worked it out and went back to their corners! They are NOT allowed to do anything with screen(which is a big struggle for stephen but he is working thru it)! They can play with any toys that are in their room, listen to ipods, books on cd(we love adventures in odyssey) or music as long as they do it alone! For us it is more about the alone time than the quiet part!! The fighting has gone down since we started which shows me it is working to some degree!!!
ReplyDeleteI do have to fuss at them to not talk to each other a little but they are getting better at it! Today when i said it was quiet time they went upstairs, picked out the toys they wanted and went to their spaces! No fuss at all!
Hope that helps - do not hesitate to ask me any questions - i will be glad to share what is working for us!!!
Thanks so much Julie. You have inspired me. We used to have an hour room time in the morning where they could play with toys and than an hour in the afternoon that was more nap/quiet time. I think I will try to combine them to 2 hours in the afternoon. I know in the Well Trained Mind they had a 2 hour quiet time, but I was doubting it would work. Ok I am going to try it again after next week (we travel next week) and tell them that they are getting their room time back in the afternoon after their quiet time. I will blog back in a couple of weeks in let you know how it goes. It will be such a blessing....
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Valerie
Best of luck to you this year. Looks like you're off to a great start!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Texas!! I think you will really enjoy it here. I've been here close to 8 years now. I'm on the Home loop with you :)
ReplyDeleteYou don't have the name/url option for commenting, so I will sign it up here:
Brandy Not So Average Mama
http://notsoaveragemama.com
Welcome to a GREAT place to home school! I hope you have a wonderful first year. Sounds like you are off to a good start, even with all of the changes in your home lately. Welcome!
ReplyDeletejust randomly crossed your blog;
ReplyDeleteI have 5 boys;
I just have to say how stinkin' cute I think those boys of yours are!
You are blessed to have a homeschool friendly state...we moved 18 months ago to a more strict state, and have not got plugged in anywhere...but we LOVE homeschoolin'!
~Sheri