Adventures in Homeschooling - The Firstborn in First Grade

With most homeschoolers there's not an actual grade level corresponding to their curriculum. This is actually a good thing because it allows for each child to be met where they are and to cater to their needs and interests. My firstborn excels with reading and is definitely reading above a first grade level (whatever that ambiguous term actually means), but he struggles more with handwriting. On the surface, a grade level does not accurately describe the capabilities of a child, and I guess that is accurate for public school as well. The grade level merely describes the information covered, not whether or not a certain child will comprehend the information and remember it. Anyways, in the state of Georgia, kindergarten is not required, only in first grade are we required to report to the state that we are instructing him at home. 

At this point we have around 8 weeks left of our curriculum. It has been good, and challenging. My firstborn mostly enjoys school, but still would rather play. Things have been very different this year because the curriculum contains more subjects than kindergarten, we have a baby and a toddler schedule to work around, and my second born is learning to read. There is a lot happening in our house; at the beginning of the year I was very adamant that we do everything the curriculum offered. Now I've relaxed a bit and we're doing more essentials and if we have time for extra, then we do it as we can. It has been a long time since I have had him work on his handicraft, and his drawing curriculum. We skip those probably more than we should. I do think they are important, but I have difficulty setting out time to accomplish them. This is a time management issue on my part, which is something I struggle with anyways.

We also have been struggling with Math. Not that he doesn't understand, more that I do not have patience. We were attempting to use a Charlotte Mason type of math, and I think I rushed him through because of my own impatience and desire to just get to the numbers on paper. The whole idea is to build his brain and to familiarize him with numbers and how they relate to one another, not just be a calculator. A couple weeks ago I closed the textbook we were using and now we've been using a math book called "Addition & Subtraction: Math Games for Elementary Students" by Denise Gaskins, from her Math You Can Play series, intended for K-4th grade. It has made math more fun for both of us. He's still doing math but because it's part of the game, it is not a chore. Now he is asking to do math! I have caught him and his 5 year-old brother playing math games on their own. I think we will return to the textbook at some point, but for now, I want him to be confident in his math skills and seeing the patterns of how numbers go together before interpreting word problems. He puts a lot of pressure on himself and I think I was also putting pressure on him, but with the games, the focus is on the fun. The math is definitely still happening, but it is cloaked by the fun of the games.

I am feeling the desire to be done with school for the year. I enjoy certain subjects more than others and so does he. We are going to finish out the curriculum, but I am eager to be done. I enjoy being his teacher, but I am also ready for a Summer break.