Homeschooling...

[pass_the_mate]

Dear BA Expats:
My husband (Kerr) and I posted a question here a few weeks ago about a possible school situation for our daughter and got some GREAT responses! Thank you, it was really helpful...

So, our deliberations continue, and increasingly it seems it might work best for us to homeschool our daughter, who will be 6. We are only in BA for 5 months, the timing with the local schools is not ideal, and the admissions process seems fairly involved...plus we may want to travel for some of that period, so the flexibility is appealing. We have some good homeschooling resources, so we are not concerned about her falling behind in terms of keeping up with US kids in the 1st grade when we get back, but the obvious drawback is less contact with Argentinian kids.

So again, we'd be interested in your thoughts:
- how easy would it be to find a part time sitter who could spend time with our daughter and help with Spanish practice in particular?
- what other suggestions would you make about play groups or ways for her to mingle with kids her age? (She is on a soccer team here in the US, but, well, won't be the next Maradona skill-wise...)
- any other thoughts?

thanks for your input!
Lisa

 

[Jaredberryman]

We homeschool our kids for now and plan to do so in the near to medium future. It's very easy to get your kids involved with other kids, and a sitter who spends some time with your kids would be good for their Spanish, and also give you a break to get things done. For instance, my kids did homeschool in the morning, and they did Colonia in the afternoon the whole summer, spending the whole afternoon with other kids while keeping a U.S. schedule for school (1st grade home school can be done in a couple of hours). Lots of times you can find cheap art classes, swimming classes, skating, etc. and all sorts of things at local clubs that you can even mix into your homeschool. Just go and contact you local club and see what you can enroll your kids in. There are also some cool museums for kids in the BA area, and some things that you might want to do with them are the zoo, Temaiken, el museo de los ninos, and another one for children in zona norte. Tecnopolis has some cool exhibits that are actually good for teaching science. They will pick up a LOT of Spanish taking classes with other kids and traveling to these destinations. Also, it's a great idea to get to know locals here if you can, especially ones with kids. Go on a weekend to eat dinner at their homes, and your kids are sure to have a blast.

 

[pass_the_mate]

Dear Tex:
This is so helpful, and now that we are here we are doing many of these things! That said, our local club does not allow membership for less than a year, and given the brevity of our stay, it doesnt seem practical...

So connecting our 6 year old daughter with kids her age is proving harder than I had hoped. Do you know if there is a listserve of homeschooling parents? We would love to take her to meet up with others, or find a regular playdate in our area - we are not far from the zoo...

Any thoughts would be welcome, or advice on where to share this post where others who have kids at home would be much aprpeciated!

 

[jbhenson]

Im curious where you get the materials and books etc for homeschooling, any good sites or links would be appreciated. We have a 4 year old and want to keep him up to date and our considering the home school alternative. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Jaredberryman]

I find it absolutely weird the local club does not allow membership. My daughters do activities in the clubs (swimming), but they don't have to pay club membership, they just pay for the activities and show up. There ought to be more than one club in your neighborhood. What neighborhood are you in, and maybe I can give you a recommendation?

There is definitely not a list of homeschooling parents. Most homeschooling parents do not want to stick out as the government really does not yet realize this is an area they do not control, so they are not very vocal about it. My kids will meet periodically with other homeschooled kids on a non planned basis, and mostly they just play together. We did some lessons a couple of times, and it was nice, but since then we have mostly just met informally. If you want to send me a personal message we will see if we can connect you when we do that.

Nobodyspecial there are tons of paid and free resources out there. There are some parents that have put out their entire curriculum and scope and sequence for k through 12 with links to videos and exactly what they did over the years. One of these is called easypeasy.com and Starfall is absolutely amazing. Starfall has some free stuff and a paid version (fairly inexpensive). Starfall really helped my 7 year old learn how to read and she enjoys going and using it on her own for fun. There are also several paid programs which basically teach your kid on the computer while you sit by their side, some between $150 a year up to about $800. These are partially planned or some of them provide the entire plan and include a supplementary teacher to consult with. Some of these provide certificates which is nice as well.

 

[jbhenson]

I find it absolutely weird the local club does not allow membership. My daughters do activities in the clubs (swimming), but they don't have to pay club membership, they just pay for the activities and show up. There ought to be more than one club in your neighborhood. What neighborhood are you in, and maybe I can give you a recommendation?

There is definitely not a list of homeschooling parents. Most homeschooling parents do not want to stick out as the government really does not yet realize this is an area they do not control, so they are not very vocal about it. My kids will meet periodically with other homeschooled kids on a non planned basis, and mostly they just play together. We did some lessons a couple of times, and it was nice, but since then we have mostly just met informally. If you want to send me a personal message we will see if we can connect you when we do that.

Nobodyspecial there are tons of paid and free resources out there. There are some parents that have put out their entire curriculum and scope and sequence for k through 12 with links to videos and exactly what they did over the years. One of these is called easypeasy.com and Starfall is absolutely amazing. Starfall has some free stuff and a paid version (fairly inexpensive). Starfall really helped my 7 year old learn how to read and she enjoys going and using it on her own for fun. There are also several paid programs which basically teach your kid on the computer while you sit by their side, some between $150 a year up to about $800. These are partially planned or some of them provide the entire plan and include a supplementary teacher to consult with. Some of these provide certificates which is nice as well.

Much Thanks Tex, Ill look into them, I tried easypeasy but it was having some strange errors. ill try it again later. Thanks again!