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Josh Reading to Jonathan at Starbucks ~ September 2009
How do you involve Dad in your homeschool? It can be tough when Dad works full-time and is out of the house most of the day, but it is important to include him in your children's education. Here are some things to think about:
- What level of involvement does he want to have?
- Is there a subject he enjoys or is better with than you?
- Is there a type of activity that the kids like to do with him?
In our home, I'm the researcher and the planner. Josh couldn't be any more different in this area! I love researching curriculum and planning out our schedule. I'm also a verbal processor. I need someone to bounce my ideas off of in order to make sense of them. Josh, well, let's just say that he doesn't talk very much. {Those who know him are laughing their heads off right now at that understatement.} It works very well for me to be the one to research and plan out our curriculum and goals and for Josh to be the sounding board and keep us on track for the bigger picture.
Here are some other things that Josh does with the boys:
- Read-alouds – Josh is not much of a reader. You're not going to see him curled up with a book like I do, but the boys love to cuddle up with him and hear a story.
- Review and Narration – Most days, Jonathan loves to tell Daddy what he learned that day in school. Josh, being a great listener, attentively interacts as mountains of facts and stories are heaped on him.
- Reinforce and Reteach Math and Science – Josh is the math brain of this family. He is great at reinforcing a concept or re-teaching a concept in a different way to help Jonathan understand. I expect that as we get to higher level math, Josh will do more of the teaching in this subject. Josh is also the science buff. He will definitely be doing more of the high level science teaching when the time comes. Right now, as we study Astronomy, he listens to narrations of science facts and takes Jonathan out after dark to gaze at the stars.
- Handwriting – If you've seen Josh's handwriting, you'd be surprised that I include handwriting in this list. I'm a lefty and Jonathan is right-handed. Thankfully, Jonathan took to writing very easily, but I have needed Josh's help to correct formation of some letters.
- Discipline – Yeah, someone has to do this and when you're the one with the kids all day long, sometimes the perspective and presence of someone who has been gone all day is helpful. Daddy is head of the family so he is the final word.
- Perspective – Again, because he is not in the house all day long, Josh is good at giving perspective and helping me re-think things.
How do you involve Dad in your homeschool? I missed the link up with Three Thinking Mothers last week, but you can jump over there too and see how other families include Dad in homeschooling.
