I'm doing PHFHG with my oldest, a 10 year old 6th grader. I also have a younger daughter, a 6 year old 1st grader. Due to the fact that my children have two parents who have input on their education, my younger is attending a brick and mortar school this year at The Hubs' request. I "shopped around" and found a charter school near us that is half school attendance (Mon-Thur mornings) and half homeschool (2 hours required in the afternoon and 5 on Fridays). Parents who are already at the school tell us that the 1st grade packet they send home will take us nowhere NEAR 13 hours a week to complete, and that we will need to "supplement" with our own work. And so, I've been scrambling, looking at workbooks, worrying & worrying about 5 hours of work on a Friday for a six year old.
*Lightbulb!*
Silly me! I can do Beyond with my 1st grader in the afternoon. The school teaches math, phonics, language, writing and reading (and, oddly, rock-climbing, music keyboarding, woodworking, computers, and dance). So...in the section where it says "or use your own program" for math and phonics and writing...well, the classroom already is "using their own program". I can divide her homework packet into five days to keep afternoon worksheets to a minimum and then fill in with all the snuggle-reading and fun stuff from Beyond! I can do history, Bible, science, Storytime, and even the emergent readers (she's around the Frog & Toad level right now) and just ENJOY the afternoon with my girl after all of the tough-skills-stuff is out of the way in the classroom in the morning! SO excited now that we're still going to get in our reading, drawing, experimenting, and CONVERSATIONS, even though she's at school in the morning. Whew! My mother-heart is ready to cry with gratitude. I was, of course, going to go along with my husband's wishes...but was not looking forward to the drudgery of work-filled afternoons. Can you hear my sigh of relief?
Thank you, thank you, thank you,
-Rebecca
P.S. I'm pretty sure my older won't mind snuggling up for an additional read aloud or two each day, either. Did I mention how RELIEVED I suddenly am?
