[Guitarmom]

Hi there -any fellow homeschoolers out there?
My kids are in grades 2,5,8,10 and we'll soon be adding two preschoolers - although I dont' do much for preschool,just a lot of reading aloud,and fun hands-on acitivities.
I'm just trying to psyche myself up for adding two new little students.
What is the best way to incorporate them? Should I take time off from my older kids' studies?? We should be getting our new kids in january.

My older kids are pretty good at working independantly. Is it better to keep their routine the same, with a little less involvement from me, so I can be freed up to give the new kids attention, or stop school altogehter for a month or two? We've been known to school through the summer to catch up ,but I'm not sure my older two would be keen on that idea!

[CalandraLark]

As a young adult homeschooled all the way through High-School my suggestion would be to keep the routine as much the same as usual. I enjoyed the fact that I could do so much of my schoolwork without constant interaction with my mom, it made me feel like I was really responsible for my own schooling and feel like I was actually more productive than when I had subjects completely taught by my mom every step of the way. Also while we always rearanged our schoolwork around family activities like errands, seeing family friends, and such, it would have unnerved me if we suddenly stopped school just because my mom was more busy (but at home). If I were your kids I wouldn't mind cutting down if the new kids had a lot of therapy or something that required changing the schedule by going places but if it's just a matter of mom being at home the same amount but needing more time for younger activities while at home, then I'd deffinately try to keep up the normal routine to some extent.

If your kids generally enjoy time to themselves or being recognized as "the big kids" they should adjust well to having a lot of their work independently. My sister and I enjoyed having subjects that didn't require having mom around unless we had questions when we were in elementry school as well as when we were older.

[2manyks]

keep things the same as much as possible. your older kids could help with the new, younger preschoolers.

[homeschoolingrocks]

This is my first post on the board and I am so excited to contact other moms of large adopted and homeschooling families. We have 9 total, 6 at home of whom 4 are foster/adopted and all homeschooling. Three of them arrived as foster kids at the end of the last school year and we plunged right in with the homeschooling. I was anxious that they understand what homeschooling was all about and see what the expectations would be right from the start. So I bit off more than I could chew at first with trying to juggle the move, all the discipline issues, the adjustments of the kids to each other and to having parents, and the school on top of it all. Looking back now I feel I should have relaxed the reins a bit and not tried so hard to get stuff done in school. It's hard because the kids arrive so educationally deprived, even the bright ones, because of lack of support at home, so I had so many ideas of what they needed etc. But they're also not so thrilled when it turns out that homeschooling means there will be real expectations for them to live up to (as with other aspects of their lives)!
So I guess the trick is to have fun together with the school at first, to keep your current kids on track with their work, while at the same time giving the new kids the understanding that there will be work to do. We had great success with some of the more fun aspects of homeschooling, like reading together, art projects, writing stories, even math games, but straight math work was pretty much a recipe for head butting and crying sessions under the table. I would ease up on your expectations for yourself and the kids temporarily, but they all benefit from the routine school requires as well as the quality (LOL) time spent together doing school.
I'm interested in how others have found the transition to homeschooling for their adopted kids? My girls (7,10,11) generally enjoy all of it, math the least as there's the most anxiety built up around it, but our 12 yr old son is pretty angry about the whole thing and says I'm trying to hold him back etc. But my experience with our 11 year old daughter who's been here 2 years is that the bonding through homeschooling is invaluable, even if it is very tumultuous at times.

[cbj]

Hi! I know this is an older thread, but I'm hoping to find others who are in, or have been in similar circumstances. I have three children and are in the final stages of bringing our soon-to-be son home from Russia, who will make #4! I homeschooled my oldest when he was in middle school and my 7 year old daughter is begging me to homeschool her next year. Our future son, is almost 11 and knows little English, plus is very behind in school. He is a sweet, timid boy and I am seriously considering homeschooling the two of them together. As much as the thought scares me, I am also thinking of the incredible bonding time and the other benefits for him as he adjusts to our language and culture and family. Anyone in the same boat or traveled this road?
Thanks!
Susan

[homeschoolingrocks]

Susan - I am currently homeschooling 6 (4 of them adopted as older kids) currently ages 8-17. It is finally going great! though I am an experienced homeschooler (20+ years under my belt) it was totally different homeschooling adopted kids who knew nothing but public school, to say nothing of the attachment/authority issues etc. But I'm convinced it's the best thing to do for adopted older kids! They need the simpler, less threatening environment that home provides, as well as the bonding time with the parents. They also need a very structured environment and rules that will really be enforced, which is seldom the case with school rules etc.

I have discovered the Robinson Curriculum and it has been a life saver! I was on the verge of putting them in school (at least late at night) and feeling like I was going in 6 different directions at once. Robinson is a very streamlined system (so simple it's amazing!) and the really telling thing is that on the discussion board on their web site there are many large families and quite a number of them have older adopted kids! I strongly urge you to check out their website and read the discussion board (open to anyone) (www. robinsoncurriculum.org - I think). Let me know if you have any more questions or would like to chat via email. Best wishes to you ad yur family - Barb Smith