Just starting Memoria Press (and homeschooling). Any advice?

[Amanda Z]

My daughter will be 5 in July, and I will be starting Kindergarten with her in September. Over the summer, we will be doing the "Myself and Others" unit to get into the habit of doing schoolwork at home. This year, she attended a Catholic preschool three mornings a week.

I plan to supplement a little bit. I'll be using some religious materials from Seton, teaching some basic American Sign Language, and adding a few crafts and picture books to certain weeks. I'm worried about over-scheduling and overdoing things, as I have a tendency to want to try EVERYTHING. We'll also be continuing some extracurricular activities that she enjoys, currently ballet, gymnastics and piano lessons.

We moved to Albuquerque, NM a couple years ago. We have a very small social circle out here, none of whom are homeschooling. I'm hoping we find a weekly co-op that we click with, but I do worry about the social aspect. I used to be a high school teacher, so I worry about being able to handle the lower grades.

Basically, there's a lot of worrying going on. I'm also very excited to start, and my daughter seems to be looking forward to it as well. I would love to hear any tips, tricks, or encouragement you have.

[howiecram]

CAn you tell us more about your family? Does your daughter have younger siblings? Any homeschoolers at your Parish? Local homeschool groups? We do not belong to any, but we have a Facebook group, and random people set up different field trips. You could also find or “make” a regular park play date?

[Amanda Z]

I also have two boys, they will be 2 in July. I'm sure someone at our church homeschools, but most families go to the school run by the church. There are a few local homeschooling facebook groups, but they are all private. I was going to message some of them after Easter (I gave up Facebook for Lent).

[howiecram]

So, you are busy! I would try not to do too much! . When my oldest did K at home (she had also been to the parish preschool and most families go to our parish school as well, but there are about 5 of us that do not)) and I had a 1.5 year old and three old, I used the afternoon nap time or even after dinner to do school with her. (I was not using MP at the time). In your case, I would think about building a routine around the MP core, but break it up. You might save phonics, math and religion for right after lunch, or nap time (plan 40ish minutes, but only about 20 the first 10 weeks). The enrichment you could probably do with everyone! If you find yourself “ not busy”, then add additional things. It is easy to burn out. Work with the core first, and see how it goes. It is so easy to plan so much and get overwhelmed! Cook, bake, play with playdough, go on nature hikes, play dates, etc. Good luck!

(Try and find some play dates!)

[DiannaKennedy]

My daughter will be 5 in July, and I will be starting Kindergarten with her in September. Over the summer, we will be doing the "Myself and Others" unit to get into the habit of doing schoolwork at home. This year, she attended a Catholic preschool three mornings a week.

I plan to supplement a little bit. I'll be using some religious materials from Seton, teaching some basic American Sign Language, and adding a few crafts and picture books to certain weeks. I'm worried about over-scheduling and overdoing things, as I have a tendency to want to try EVERYTHING. We'll also be continuing some extracurricular activities that she enjoys, currently ballet, gymnastics and piano lessons.

We moved to Albuquerque, NM a couple years ago. We have a very small social circle out here, none of whom are homeschooling. I'm hoping we find a weekly co-op that we click with, but I do worry about the social aspect. I used to be a high school teacher, so I worry about being able to handle the lower grades.

Basically, there's a lot of worrying going on. I'm also very excited to start, and my daughter seems to be looking forward to it as well. I would love to hear any tips, tricks, or encouragement you have.

Well, I hear there's a video about getting started with MP. Scroll down to the Time to Get Started video. I'd recommend watching First Start with Phonics and Reading, as well as Have We Really Started Yet and Poetry and Enrichment in the Early Years. Since I have a rising K student, I'm going to be watching those again in the next few weeks. **All of the videos are wonderful, but the ones I mentioned are specific to your situation. **

And, from one extrovert to another, I'd encourage you to take a hard look at your calendar. I say this because I was that momma --- filling every single day of our calendar. Please leave time in your schedule to breathe. Just enjoy this journey -- K is SO fun!

[enbateau]

I really overdid it in my first year homeschooling, too. I think as a former secondary ed teacher myself, you get in this mindset that school has to encompass the 8 to 3 day, and one hour 4-5 days a week seems woefully inadequate. Trust me when I say that if you get to the language/reading and math of MPK, it's enough. I went to all of these homeschool classes at our library, from science experiments to engineering to art to library science days. None of it stuck or significantly added to her primary knowledge base, and at the end of the year, I was left wanting. Trust the MP path. It gets your student where she needs to go beautifully, incrementally and thoroughly.

And don't be afraid to let this year be about routine formation and figuring out what to do with those little boys. You will be amazed by how they won't let you put them down, then you can't hold them near to hear a read aloud, then you can't keep them away once they see the joy and accomplishment of doing challenging things. That was the arc of my youngest, who stopped napping at 1.5. Now, he rattles off some of his big sister's Recitation.

Another thing that I have been cultivating in my daughter is a sense of responsibility for setting a good example about school when it gets tough. She had a lot of negative self talk from 3+years of Montessori where I just didn't see it. I had to remind her that a positive attitude will help her brother know how to react to his own challenges. They both encourage each other so sweetly now. A year later, my little guy now asks if he can be crash his cars noisily while waiting his turn for me to come back to him because he knows he can't make noise during timed tests, spelling tests and Latin tests. I thought that self-moderation would never come, but God is faithful.