HE for a 7 year old.....ideas??

[TOMOLBEN]

Hi all,
From January I'll be HE'ing my DS2 age 7, year 3. I a hoping to take a structured approach, certainly regarding English and maths. In regards to geography, history etc I intend to just do topic work as and when an interest arises.
I just wondered if any other HE'ers would be willing to share with me ways they HE, ideas and days out. I have some key stage books to work through for maths and english. I dont want to be to rigid in my approach.
I realize it will take a while to establish a routine and see what works best, so I will go with the flow for a while and see what happens but structured maths and english is what I hope for.
Thanks all. :)

Have a look at Muddle Puddle a website especially for families home educating children aged 8 and under.

Have you found HE families local to you yet?

I took my ds1 out of yr3 at half term. He's 7 too. I also planned a fairly structured approach to maths and English and bought the gold stars workbooks which I think are brilliant. Some days I manage to get him to sit with me for up to an hour. Sometimes I don't! At first I got annoyed with him, but I am beginning to relax a little now. I find that if I give him a choice then he works much better. I have trouble getting him to choose English so occasionally I put my foot down but he chooses the page we work on. As for everything else, it just kind of happens. I am learning loads of things! We've been doing fractions this week. I am suddenly discovering maths which I hated at school :-)

Good luck with it. We definitely have good days and bad days but overall I believe I have done the right thing

Hi
I home ed my twin nearly 7yr old DDs, they came out of year 2 last half term. I do much the same as threesnocrowd - we use the gold stars workbooks which I also think are really good (just got a load from Matalan for £2 each!) for maths and english. 1 of the girls loves these books, the other is less keen but she prefers to use the Reading eggs website which is also fab (you can get a free trial). I also intend to register on Mathsletics and BBc bitesize is good...and free :). There are loads of websites where you can get free worksheets too. We do alot of cooking/baking, crafts, visiting library and incorporate alot of 'purposeful conversation' (I love that phrase!). I was just saying to DH the other day how much i'm learning...never mind the kids . we still take DD1 (year 3) to school every day so have a walk through the park with our dog and always find interesting things to look at (at the moment it's fungi and berries!!!) and look things up in books when we get home. We even occaisionally manage to fit in a home ed group and they go to Rainbows.

I can't say we have a very strict structure to our home ed but I try to cover the basics of maths, english, reading and eveything else just seems to fit in!

I'm really jealous of you new Home Edders with young ones, as my two DS's are older (getting to teen stage), which is still great, but I do miss that early time when my youngest was 7 and they had both just come out of school and everything was just delightful and liberating and I discovered so much along with them!

My advice is just enjoy, enjoy, enjoy because the time flies past and immerse yourself and your family in as many hands on activities and experiences and trips as you can and just love it!

And No.1 advice, don't worry about what anybody thinks either

Thank you all for your replies (sorry for the delay). :)

Thank you for all the suggestions. Muddle puddle, BBC bitesize and reading eggs look great, I will definately be using them. I found a group on facebook for HE'ers near me (Staffordshire). I managed to attend one of their meet ups. They were lovely and really welcoming, so I hope to attend their group more often.
After the holidays I will go and get the gold star workbooks, that will give me the structure I am after and some ideas.
I just hope everyday doesn't become a battle of wills! I really think I am going to have to be laid back with my approach to get a more positive attitude from him.
He enjoys arts and crafts, baking, riding his bike and playing the piano so I think we will have great fun with all these activites as well.
I think I will learn loads as well. I am really looking forward to starting in January when DD1 and DS1 go back to school.
The overall response from you, topics in HE on mumsnet and in articles is to relax and enjoy the experience. I must remember this!!
You are right 'shineynewthings' about not worrying about what others think. Unfortunately DS and I are the only 2 who think HE is a great idea. Nobody else seems to have a positive attitude at all. DH is pretty supportive but I think deep down he thinks it wont work. He hasnt said it but I can tell. Friends and family just say things like ''you must be mad'' or ''they have to go to school. Most kids dont like school but they have to go'' It is driving me mad!!!!
I dont really care what they think. I will play it by ear and if any point things dont work out he can always return to school. (I doubt this will happen but I will keep an open mind!) In response to the negative comments i simply say '' Everyone is entitled to an opinion. However, you dont know any HE'ers, you have never HE'ed and you havent read a single article about HE. Therefore, I really dont see how you can express a negative opinion regarding something you know nothing about!'' They seem to shut up after that

Thanks again xx

You say you are worried about having a battle of wills with your son, but it sounds like you wouldn't be comfortable with an entirely autonomous approach. I guess you are keen to be doing things which are overtly educational.

In addition to the curricula you do, perhaps you might look at some things which are definitely going to appeal to him while still reassuring you that he's learning. Most kids love outings, so you could check out museums and historical sites close to home or plan some day trips farther afield. Post on a local or national home ed list if you need any ideas! Activities like these are quite likely to impress other people such as your dh, so that would be an added bonus. School trips are often the highlight of the year for children at school, and your son could have the opportunity to go on far more of these while being home educated. What's more, he can go to those places which particularly interest him and he can spend as long as he likes on whichever bits particularly captivate him. Teachers say that these outings have great educational value, and most of them say they wish their budget and schedule allowed them to take the kids out of the classroom more often. Seven is a great age for going out!

Thank you Saracen for your reply.
The autonomous approach interests me (in a postitive way) and after reading articles and posts about children who have grown up learning this way, they have done extremely well in their chosen paths.
School is all I ever knew and for the past 8 years (when DD1 first started school) school is the only way I have known for my children. Therefore, I suppose I am finding the autonomous road quite hard and need some structure (for myself). I think structured learning e.g. workbooks etc are a way I can show to DH and others who feel the need to pass comment (and myself) what he has been up to and what he is learning.
This said, I am going to keep a very open mind and for the first few months I will start with workbooks etc but see what suits DS best. I think it is more me that needs to unschool!!! :)
Trips are a great idea and something he is very excited about. I am going to look into lots of places that may interest him. I think we will get a lot out of getting out and about.
Thanks again x

About a year ago, we went through a phase of providing workbooks "just in case" the children showed an interest. Any interest was pretty short-lived and sporadic. I glanced at a couple of them the other day, and my goodness me, they are boring and restrictive compared to the amazing things my children get up to with an old fashioned Etchasketch, and with the power of the interweb on Sketchstar (miniclip.com) and with a pen and paper, or a paint brush and paper, or just in conversation with me, or on any number of interactive websites.

I'd be really really resistant to providing my children with lots of workbooks, because of the danger of turning the thrill of learning into something mind numbingly boring, personally. But of course YMMV.

You don't have to choose between autonomous learning or workbooks! Those are either end of the spectrum really and there is something inbetween which is a happy place to be if you a) like structure and b) aren't really sure what you are doing c) feel a little uncomfortable with the autonomous approach at the moment or are investigating it.

I would be careful not to make your structured time boring with workbooks. They can be good but there are tons of other, more fun, hands on things you can do that are still structured. Act out the maths... play games... put it in real life situations - go to the shops and learn about money and change... hide numbers around the house and then order them from smallest to biggest.. learn about weight with cooking... make fruit salad and group the pieces of fruit in 10's or 5's... count them in 10's or whatever. That is structured, overtly educational and far from the pages of work books.

I would also be careful, if you choose to use workbooks that they are TEACHING something, not just REVISING something - there is a big difference there. The Singapore maths books are excellent at teaching and then give the children activities to do and practise pages too.

I too teach through a topic (chosen mainly by the children) - we do music, art and craft, cooking, history, geography, some english activites through the topic. We then stick it all in a book with photos of art etc. They love reading these topic books. Have a look at homeschoolshare.com for ideas (they call their topic resources lapbooks). Hope that helps.

I would like to recommend to you the Enchanted Learning website and also the Happy Scientist for activity ideas and science videos and experiments you can watch and do at home. I used both loads in my early days. You do have to subscribe for access to all the resources for a year though.

Great post, diddee :)

Thank you for all the tips and advise. I will look at the different sites you have recommended. Topic books sound a great idea as well, he would love that.
Thanks again x