Homeschool help?

Question

I just started homeschooling my five year old. Suddenly it is like he can't do any work if I am not helping him with every question. Any suggestions on how to get him to work on his own? Thanks.

Answer 1

Homeschooling for the first year is a time of lots of adjustment..for both you and your son. All of a sudden he has gotten to spend his entire day with his most favorite person in the world..you. And all of a sudden you have to be a teacher as well as a Mom, so your expectations of how he will work for you have gone up. I had a similar adjustement with my daughter and she was in third grade when we began homeschooling.

In the beginning, I sat with her as she did her work. This is the time I would write bills, clip coupons, plan out lessons for the next day, organize papers, etc. After a month or so of that, I started leaving her on her own for a work page or two at a time (in subjects I knew she felt confident it). I would go sit on the sofa and fold laundry, brush the dog, any sort of thing that could be done in sprurts or would be finsihed quickly. And, when she asked for help, I always went over to see what she needed help with. As time has gone by, she is more than happy working on her own when the lesson allows (review sheets, reinforcement of newly learned skills, etc.). Give your son some time to get used to you in your new role and to enjoy the fact he has you all to himself! Trust me, before you know it he'll be anxious to show you he can do it "on his own".

Answer 2

Five is pretty young to expect much independent work. And as this is only the end of September, he's only had a few weeks at it. So you may be expecting a little too much from him.
For starters, give him work that he can do by himself. Things like putting together a simple jig saw puzzle, or matching similar shapes, or tracing the shape of a letter.
After he has done some independent work, join him and help him with the questions. Don't forget that at this point, he can't read, so the pages are just a big, mystifying jumble to him. Your job is to translate. But don't do the work for him. You can read the instructions, and guide him, but he has to do the work himself.
Once he gets a little more confidence, and once he learns a little more, he'll have something to base independent work on. But at the moment, he's really in the introductory stage. Primary teachers spend a lot of time doing one-on-one or small group work to help the students get started. You will have to do this to. If it doesn't work for you, you might want to consider whether you really want to home school him for 12 more years, or if you want to switch him over to the public school system.

Answer 3

I home school my daughter and have done so for five years, and I wouldn't really expect a 5 year old to be doing much independent learning yet.

Learning at that stage should be fun and learning is all around you!

Try:-
Counting cows in the field or telephone poles,
Talk about the foods you see at the market, where they come from or how they are made,
Look at eggs in the carton and count them in 2's,
Read stories to him,
Have him tell you a story and write it down for him,
Get a map of the world and stick the little stickie things that come on fruits & vegetables onto the map,
Talk about shapes - see how many circles/squares/triangles you both can see,
Go to the park and look for insects & birds,

There are so many learning opportunities every day, you don't need to be doing much book work really, but if you do, I would probably make it short and be there with him while he does it.

Good Luck with Home-schooling, it is a wonderful experience!

Answer 4

I agree that five is too young for working alone. I'm sure he enjoys your company and wants you with him, too. I have an 8 yr. old in second grade, and we work mostly together. He has things he does on his own: handwriting, and any coloring pages he needs to complete, which he did by himself last year, but this year I am just now giving him a little more to do alone, but only math. We work together, but the curriculum I use has minute math type drills, so once I get him settled, then I explain that he can do this on his own, and I get up from the table. I do not leave the room, but I will fix a snack, or something, so I'm still with him, just not beside him.
I stay in the room, because he will get distracted pretty easily, so I'm there to return his focus to his work. Oh, sometimes he still fusses, but he is getting the concept down. He has such a sense of accomplishment when he completes an assignment on his own. I try to go back and forth between independent work and together work so as to keep it interesting.
At five, enjoy the time you get to spend one on one with your son. Take breaks so he can get his wiggles out. Give him a choice of which subject he wants to do next (by the way, an answer of "none" means I choose, lol) give him control in small doses, and before long he will be able to sit unattended and work on something. But don't give up on the idea of being in ear shot for a LONG time, lol!!!
good luck

Answer 5

I have to agree with many of the others. You shouldn't expect a five year old to work on his own. My son is 6, at a second grade level, reads fluently and I still sit with him and work with him on most of his sit down work. At five you should be working with your child, not putting work in front of him and walking away. They need guidance. The learning should be fun. My kids are 6 & 3. We do a lot of learning games. We do a lot of hands on activities. One of the best things at that age is to learn simple science and do simple science experiments. Take your child out into the world. Take him to watch people at construction sites. Take him to see farmers in the field. Take him to the zoo. Go feed ducks at a pond. Discuss things while you're doing this. Ask him questions. Let him ask questions. If you don't know the answers then make a mental note and use some of his questions as a guide to create further lessons.

If you're just going to make him sit and do worksheets he might as well be in public school.

Answer 6

Until your child can read, schooling will be very hands on. Give him instructions and freedom to work on his own when he can. Kindergarten and 1st grade are hard but keep up the good work and it will get better. Homeschooling is so worth the time and effort. I find it is best to just emphasis the three "R's" for K-1st. Get the basics down. Enjoy this fun and learning time with him.

Answer 7

My son is 7 and in 3rd grade. He is JUST NOW starting to do more independent study. The first few years take a lot of work on your part. Maybe 5 is too young. Is he reading well? Probably not well enough to be left alone to understand the assignment. You need to sit with him until he understands what you want him to do. However, 5 y/o coursework isn't as much written as hands on. My K student does very few worksheets, and lots of art projects and hands on things.

5 is just too young to expect independent study.

Answer 8

At five years old, the material should be fun. And teachers do interact w/ kids alot. This is pretty normal.

I don't know what your expectations are, but independent scholarship is too advanced.

Consider playing alot of games w/ your child, and don't push independent school work. Chores, where there are clear and obvious accomplishments, are a better way to instill independent work at this age.

Answer 9

Five years old is still quite young to expect too much independent schoolwork. My son is 6yo (and a pretty strong reader) and he still needs me to help with almost everything he does. However, my 11yo is quite independent - there are some things I still "teach" him (math, for instance), but he doesn almost everything else on his own.

Instead of helping him, you could ask him leading questions - ie. what did the story say about the wolf? Was he a nice wolf or a mean wolf? Was he big or small? etc.

Answer 10

5 year olds dont have much of an attention span, and kindergarden teachers have a lot of one on one time with the students. give him prices or make it a game..he will learn how to work on his own, but it will take time..he's also seeing what all he can get away with right now and seeing how far he can push you just like any thing else..