| Question: |
Both of my daughters are enrolled in our local Parish School. While we appreciate the religious education that they are receiving, academically we find it lacking, particularly with my first grader. She is currently being evaluated for ADD. She is a pleasant, well-socialized child but really struggles with reading and math. She is really not reading at all independently and is falling behind her peers because of this. She has trouble finishing assignments at school because of her inability to focus. She says that her teacher is always yelling at her (other parents have told me she is a yeller, but my daughter can be dramatic so I don't have a sense of how true this is). She comes home with unfinished assignments along with the assigned weekly homework. She is so tired and drained after being at school all day that it is hard on the whole family to get the homework completed (so we often just don't do it, or only do some of it). My plan is to homeschool both girls next year, but I really don't want to leave my little one in this current situation for another day. Can I just start first grade over right now with the CHC curriculum, or do you have any other suggestion? She will definitely need to repeat first grade no matter which direction we go. To add to our family stress my husband who is in the Navy is currently deployed to Afghanistan for a total of 15 months (only 6 more to go!) Can I handle homeschooling as a single parent for the remainder of this year? Blessings to you and thank you for reading such a long question. |
| Answer: |
Dear Parent, Thank you for your question! It sounds as though you are making the right decision to homeschool your daughters. I think the one-on-one time you can provide, and the extra time, free of stress and distractions will greatly serve her needs. What I would do, should you decide to homeschool, is to wait two or three weeks before beginning to homeschool, to allow her time to relax and transition. I would definitely start her with 1st grade, beginning slowly and at a level she can easily work. For right now, I would concentrate on catching her up in the core subjects---math and reading---with a little religion and science thrown in. If she struggles in reading, I would start her at the beginning of Little Stories for Little Folks, and work your way up. Can you handle homeschooling as a single parent? I would say, "Yes!" I very much think you can. Remember, that you---as teacher---are in control of how you want to teach. That means, that you can create a curriculum based on your needs, and your daughters' needs. Structure and routine will be the most help to you, as you plan how you want to teach. The lesson plans will help you greatly with the structure. If you can't cover everything in that day, that's fine. You can always move it to another day. In the lesson plans, CHC has helpfully provided shading that show what your core curriculum is, and what non-core activities are suggested in each week. This way, if you absolutely cannot get to everything, you can just do the core curriculum, and put aside the rest for another less-busy day. (Visit CHC’s Grade-Level Guides to view more details about the lesson plans and materials.) I think that your daughters will both blossom from learning at home, and I hope that you will enjoy teaching them, as much as they will enjoy learning! God bless you and your family! Laura Corrigan
|
