August 1, 2007 12:07 PM
Homeschooling little boys
Hi Barbara- I sure do appreciate you and all that you do!I am preparing to begin my 2nd year of homeschooling my 3 boys, who are 6 and under. I'm a bit nervous, because I know how wiggly they can get, and how it can sometimes be difficult to keep them on track. Now that my toddler is awake during schooltime, he poses a new challenge for us as well........What I'm wondering, is, what did you expect of your little boys when you were homeschooling? When do the " wiggles" become a discipline issue, and when is it normal little boy behavior? I"m just wondering what types of goals I should be setting, and how to keep them interested.
Thank you so much!
Lisa
I'm smiling, Lisa, because I know exactly where you're coming from. Somehow a lot of the time little boys and lessons just don't seem to mix so well. Yes, I know there are some very quiet and focused boys who seem well-suited to learning from the get-go, but most boys have physical needs - for activity and movement and exploration - that are just as important as the educational needs we adults are trying to meet.
Longtime readers here no that this is a subject dear to my heart - the marginalization of the needs of boys to be who they are as mothers and teachers try to mold them into an educational pattern that is better suited to girls.
We moms need to be very careful and to always remember that we ourselves are works in progress. If you've given birth to boys and have not been changed through the process of observing how they grow, then I will venture to say your boys are in trouble :)
(For more on my views on boys, click on the Categories above, then click on Boys.)
Homeschooling younger children under 6 should be a pretty relaxed proposition anyway - which may sound weird, coming from someone who's written two books specifically focused on preschool education (see Mommy, Teach Me!). But the Montessori approach can be incorporated easily into home life and does not call for prolonged hours of lessons sitting at a desk. The most important things the young child needs to learn are the ability to concentrate, to exercise independence in a constructive way, to keep order in the environment, to know the difference between right and wrong, to develop self-control and to serve others. These are things that come through clearly in the Montessori approach I've adapted for the Christian home.
The other secret about early education is that the actual curriculum takes very little time to master. When you teach your children at home, you don't need to fill six hours with "school" just because the public schools do. They need to do that because they are teaching to the lowest common denominator in the calss. You will not be held back by that. When I was homeschooling through grade six, we were finished with lessons by noon and we usually only did them four days a week. Friday was field trip day. We took four weeks at Christmas and a couple weeks at Easter and summer off too. Yet all my kids entered private or public school way ahead of the game - even skipping grades.
Lisa, the most important thing for you now is to enjoy your boys and to teach them to read if they are ready. Please consider ordering my books to enable you to provide for those needs I mentioned earlier - those are all qualities which will help your boys become better lifelong learners.
And I'm sure my readers will have a lot more encouragement and wisdom to share too!
[wood engraving by Winslow Homer: see Snap the Whip]
Posted in Boys, Homeschooling, Preschoolers | Permalink
Comments
Barbara,
I was interested in your thoughts about teaching boys since I write action-adventures and mysteries especially for boys.
Keep up the good work,
Max Elliot Anderson
Books for Boys blog http://booksandboys.blogspot.com
Posted by: Max Elliot Anderson | August 1, 2007 1:48 PM
My first three kids were boys. We managed kindergarten in about 45 minutes day, so don't get overwhelmed.
We spend about 15 minutes a day doing math work, 15 minutes a day doing phonics work, 5-10 minutes a day reading his primer (once he got ready), and 10-15 minutes a day doing some science or history pages.
Don't overdo!
Posted by: Marie | August 1, 2007 7:52 PM
Thank you so much Barbara, for posting this......
Marie-thanks for your comment......It's always good to hear from other moms.
Posted by: Lisa | August 2, 2007 5:57 PM
