Summer and Home Shcooling Qustions

S., yes, you are smart enough to teach your child and I think you are a wonderful mother who is interested in and trying to find what is best for your son. (And just for the record, you have very FEW misspellings in your post and they look like you were typing too fast)

Keep the learning fun during the summer. There is a website called Mathletics.com and it motivates a child to keep their math skills up. It does cost some money but I don't think that it is that much (we get it through our school).

For reading, I would go to the local library and join their summer reading program. It's free and usually pretty fun.

I would also have him write in a journal each day.

You could also go to a local teacher's store and ask their clerk to show you some good teaching books to use. If you explain what you want, there is sure to be one that would fit your needs.

Good luck....you are being a great mother, he is lucky to be your son!

Has your son read Harry Potter? That is what I suggest you do with him during some of the down time this summer. It is a bit of a slow start but after the first couple chapters he will probably be hooked-my son was and so was I. If you can read to him the first couple chapters that was what I did. helped over the initial hump.

If HP doesn't appeal then pick another book series. At this age it is reading that really really helps.

My daughters are too young for homeschooling, so I don't have experience teaching, but I was homeschooled in middle and part of high school. Back then there were great support groups for homeschooling families through the local churches - and we lived in a smaller more rural area. Homeschooling is much bigger now and we have the amazing internet, so I would look around at sites like Meetup.com to see if there are local groups in your area with boys the same age. Check out Mothering.com too because I believe they have a large homeschooling community online.

Don't let anyone tell you you're not smart enough to teach your child. You've been and will be your child's most important teacher in life. If anyone tries to make you feel otherwise, then they are ignorant. My mother was a great science and math teacher, but she wasn't as skilled in other subjects. So she used the many resources we had access to (there are many more today), such as homeschooling classes, tutors, and different kinds of curricula for different subjects to round out our education.

Also check out your local public school system. In Wisconsin there are two or three online schools for homeschooling families. There accredited and free because they are public schools. They send out materials and have teachers online to support and teach students. The great thing is the consistent testing that lets you know your child is excelling.

Good luck, Mama. I'm sure you'll do great!

Keeping him learning in the summer is essential!

- Have him read every day for 30 minutes- he picks the book or magazine, but 30 uninterrupted minutes
- Keep a daily journal of events- have him essentially make a scrapbook of his summer... pictures, captions (full sentences of course), mementos, ticket stubs, etc. Not only will he practice writing, but he'll have a great record of what sounds like a really cool summer.
- Pick up a couple of math workbooks at a bookstore and have him help you cook- ratios and "adding" are so much a part of cooking (telling time too)

Keep it fun and not "school-like" so he isn't resistant to it.

We had those summer bridge activity books. My kids loved them and did most of them unitl the middle of vacation. THen they picked them up again towards the end.

You can check w/ your local school to see if they have suggestions for summer activities. I think learning in the summer is great but you want to make it fun learning with the emphasis on fun...the learning will happen. Review some topics he learned during the year and expand on it (go to the libary and get books, or visit somewhere that tie in with the subject). For example, if he learned about dolphins get books (both fiction and non-fiction) on dolphins, then visit an aquarium if you can. Then get books on another animal he saw and took interest in.

Also, your local book store may have some "summer activity books" for just the purpose of helping kids retain and not loose knowledge of the summer.