[seatides]

Maybe it's because I'm just a beginner at homeschooling, but it seems that just preparing for the upcoming day or week is so time-consuming. It's probably because I'm still reviewing new materials, determining what format(s) will work best for my son, consulting with people about approaches and resources they recommend, and so on. I suppose once I have all these things nailed down, "prep" should take me less time.

Am I right about this? Or am I kidding myself? I just want to be realistic about what to expect. Thank you!

[mcmama]

Fran, you are prepping just like a professional teacher. And let me tell you, you may cut down on the time involved in prepping for a class if you are covering repeated subject matter over a few years, but that doesn't apply to you. All of it is new, fresh, ongoing, and will continue to be.

Successful home schooling is a way of life for families. That includes the preparation, the teaching, the activities, the assignments, and also the followthrough to determine how well your child is doing. It involves a lot of planning, reaching out to others in support networks, resource teachers for specialty areas like the arts, and continuing education for yourself. A lot of people start this when their kids are young, with the support of a spouse. You are single, and you are home schooling a teenager. That is really difficult (ok, well, ooops, just told Fran the big secret she wasn't supposed to know because it might scare her).

You will be continuing to plan, revise, rework, reevaluate. You may find the process gets easier for you than it is now, but you sure have your work cut out for you!

[seatides]

Thanks, Janet! I'd rather know the truth so I appreciate that!

Thanks for reassuring me that this should be extra-time-consuming in the beginning.

[KW29]

Hey Fran,
I remeber when I first started homeschooling that I kept going back and forth with curriculum trying to determine what was the best fit for my son. It is very time consuming to begin with. I have found that after awhile you do get in somewhat of a routine with it. I have a time that I grade, plan, and review. However, I am always on the lookout for new opportunities like field trips or stopping by the homeschool store to look for new materials that may be fun or doing research on a new topic that we are going to cover in an upcoming lesson. Like Mcmama said, it is a job that will always require much ongoing dedication.
With that in mind, remember that like any first year teacher you are still learning the ropes and it will become more routine for you and your son!

[Merrymom4]

Hi Fran,
I think it will get easier, although homeschooling a teenager is probably more intense than a first grader. One key is to know yourself. I know that I am not always the world's greatest planner, so I chose a curriculum that does a lot of the planning for me. (Sonlight) Also, we are involved in a homeschool co-op, which helps as well. It meets once a week. Different parents teach different topics. We are given an outline at the beginning of the school year. For example, for History, we have a list of what chapters we need to read with our children each week. It's the same with science. It's great for us.
My daughter also takes ballet through the co-op and she will be in an end of the year musical. It offers much needed socialization that homeschooled kids sometimes miss out on. Maybe you can find something like that in your area.
Best wishes as you set out on this adventure. It really is fun! I am enjoying going through first grade again and I'll get to do it three more times after this. I shouldn't have any more problems with algebra after this phase in life.
Chrissy

[seatides]

Thank you, Merrymom4 and KW29! You've both made me feel better. I appreciate all the information too. Take care and thanks for your encouragement!

[homesheart]

Hi Fran,
It can be tiresome, teaching all day, then lesson planning at night. My advice is to choose a really good curriculum that has a wonderful "teacher's guide". It can be more difficult to "lesson plan" if you are using the Unit Study approach, or student led learning, but if you use a curriculum guide (what public school teacher's use) you will find that your "teaching" will be included, down to "and read this sentence to the child...etc...have the child turn to page ten...ask them what animal is in the picture..."
Most major curriculums include teacher guides, are you using a pre planned curriculum?
If not, you can also find many lesson plans on the Internet that can help save time, (however, you will need to take the time to find them)..there will always be lesson plans and preparation, but like everyone said before, the more familiar you become with the subject, the easier it becomes, and then one day, you may decide to "embellish" the teacher plans with your's and your child's learning style and preference.

[seatides]

Thanks, homesheart. Maybe I should take a look at a preplanned curriculum (Merrymom4 suggested this too). I have this idea in my head that a preplanned curriculum will be too much like "school" and that's why I've been avoiding them. My fear is that they will be too boring. I have an ADHD teenager so I'm afraid that preplanned, although undoubtedly a lot easier for me, won't hold his attention if it's not really interesting and engaging.

Can you (and/or anyone else with experience with a preplanned curriculum) tell me if I'm wrong? Actually, I'd like to be wrong about this! Thanks again. I appreciate it.

[scrapbookguru]

For me, my experience with homeschooling was a bit different. My son was age 8-10 when we homeschooled. He is almost 12 now and back in school full time (long story but our school works REALLY well with ADHD children). However, Ryan is ADHD and I had the EXACT same concerns that you have Fran. I was excited about homeschooling because he's so smart I knew I could push him ahead. But I was also terrified because I knew that homeschooling an ADHD child was going to be difficult. I too am ADHD and am NOT that good at pre-planning. I had to be for him though.

I read an article about homeschooling ADHD children back then. If I can find it, I will send it to you. It was a great article and it talked about all ages. (yes, even teenagers). I remember the key point in the article about homeschooling an ADHD child was to allow them some freedom of choice about what exactly they were learning about. It also talked about keeping them active in the community and that hands on experience as they got older was better than classroom hours.

We took a lot of trip out. I realize that for a teenager that becomes more difficult, but not necessarily. I am on stand-by right now, and if the opportunity presents itself to me again, and I need to pull him out again, I will. I'm prepared - rather I pre-planned - in case it ever happpened. I still work with him at home a lot, and we try to use real-life as an opportunity to learn, more than books and papers and worksheets.

They do the same thing for my son at school. They show him how what he is learning applies to everyday life, rather than teaching him information he won't need. This does keep it interesting, just in the fact that my son can see what he needs to do to succeed in the world.

As I said, our situations are entirely different, but being as creative as you can with an ADHD child is important. The more I did it, the more fun it became and it was hard to send him back. Allow your son some choices in what he is learning about. Concentrate on some area's of his own interests, and then compromise and move back to something he HAS to learn. Find ways to make it fun or have it apply to his life.

Homeschooling had to be the most rewarding experience I ever had. It brought me closer to my son and allowed me to see how smart he really was. Now he LOVES learning and can't get enough.

I wish you the best. ADHD Children are challenging to say the least, but they are also the best candidates for learning and retaining information. That's a plus in our favor!

Good luck Fran!
Nicole

[seatides]

What a coincidence -- I also have ADHD and constantly struggle to be organized and structured in my own life! Makes it much harder to teach your child those hings when you have difficulty with them yourself.

I have discussed with my son what he'd like to learn and how (described various things we could do/ways we could do it), but I think I need to repeat that; we both need a lot of reinforcement to remember things!

I've found a little about homeschooling ADHD teens but not much. If you do run across that article, please let me know. Thanks again!