Sunday, August 31, 2008
The Importance of Art Education
Another article to share...this one on The Importance of Art Education.
Giftedness
I really liked these articles on gifted kids and on homeschooling a gifted preschooler Homeschooling a Gifted Perschooler. (I only wish Dr. Sears hadn't said to hs until kindergarten, but given the context of the article, it may have come across differently than he intended, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt. And, for the record, I don't think you have to send your child off to kindergarten after you've homepreschooled him or her ;-)
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Article About Scheduling
I ran across this helpful blog article: Scheduling the Easy Way--A 5 Step Plan. I hope you'll find it helpful, especially if you are new to homeschooling.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Thoughts on Latin
from kbmomto3:
I don't really think it's [studying Latin] *necessary.* I do think it helps with vocabulary and it impresses the extended family. ;-) We're going to play at it a bit this year, at least while we're studying Ancient Rome. I'm not sure if we'll continue after that or not.
from nancymc:
like studying Latin, and it's something that has been VERY useful for me in my career (medical field), as I can easily decipher big words and figure out what I need to know, even when I've not heard of the diagnosis before or whatever.
I think that *for us*, it's been appropriate to dissect why we want to study it. I have no desire to have kids who are fluent, and I don't have time to study to that level with them, we just have too much on our plates. So I don't worry overly much about the declensions and the case endings and all that stuff (though we do work on conjugation, as it makes the meaning more clear).
For us it's more about vocabulary, knowing the origins of English words so that we can have a broader vocabulary and can figure out words we might not know otherwise. It's also about knowing the roots for spelling and other languages.
Bottom line, we take our time with it (we only did lessons 1-12 this year, will do 13-24 next year), don't stress about being fluent, and try to just have some fun with it.
from m00minmamma:
I worked through two years of high school Latin with my eldest a couple of years back and it was great (I think she was 11 when we started). But it was only great because she was the one who wanted to do it, for her own reasons. She loved it, but I can't imagine inflicting a formal Latin curriculum on a kid who wasn't dying to do it.
from teddiebear_hugs:
really like the idea of just taking our time with it. I don't even need to plan the lessons out, just do a lesson on whatever day is good for us that week. If we have already spent a large amount of time doing other lessons and projects on a certain day, skip Latin. DS is interested in studying Latin, and this will keep the pressure off me, but allow him to study it.
from jujsky:
It's not necessary, but I do feel that Latin is an excellent elective if you can fit it in. It will help your son with science, and just about any other foreign language he takes in the future. So many words we use daily and in the sciences have Latin roots. I took a year of it my senior year in high school (after 3 years of Spanish) and I still find what I managed to retain useful.
from mom2adeline:
I think it depends on what direction you are hoping to go with the education of the child. As many people here know, I've tried many different things with my dd just to try to keep her occupied. I recently read the first edition of Andrew Campbell's Latin Centered Curriculum from the library and am anxiously waiting for some money to buy the second edition of the book. Many things that he said really made sense to me and he makes a strong argument for making Latin first priority. This is difficult for me because I'm still trying to get rid of the public school experience, but Latin works well for Adeline. She instantly applies what she learns and watching her learn strongly supports what Andrew Campbell says in his book. For example, we learned "habito" in Latin and when she was reading a book about animals she looked up and said "Their habitat must be where they live." She is also learning English grammar in a very gentle way through the Latin that seems to make so much more sense to her.
from cl-susanmercy:
I think some Latin study has some value. I've tried to learn it for myself and I get bogged down by the declensions and conjugations and stuff. So I'm stumped as to how to approach it with my kids, other than learning word roots and meanings so they can be applied to everyday language. Really, that's more important anyway since it's not a spoken language. I toyed with a medical terminology book when I was a teenager--that part really fascinated me. I will probably incorporate word roots and meanings into our studies at some point, as part of vocabulary. Maybe closer to high school. It's in the back of my mind! Meanwhile, on to Spanish ;-)
I don't really think it's [studying Latin] *necessary.* I do think it helps with vocabulary and it impresses the extended family. ;-) We're going to play at it a bit this year, at least while we're studying Ancient Rome. I'm not sure if we'll continue after that or not.
from nancymc:
like studying Latin, and it's something that has been VERY useful for me in my career (medical field), as I can easily decipher big words and figure out what I need to know, even when I've not heard of the diagnosis before or whatever.
I think that *for us*, it's been appropriate to dissect why we want to study it. I have no desire to have kids who are fluent, and I don't have time to study to that level with them, we just have too much on our plates. So I don't worry overly much about the declensions and the case endings and all that stuff (though we do work on conjugation, as it makes the meaning more clear).
For us it's more about vocabulary, knowing the origins of English words so that we can have a broader vocabulary and can figure out words we might not know otherwise. It's also about knowing the roots for spelling and other languages.
Bottom line, we take our time with it (we only did lessons 1-12 this year, will do 13-24 next year), don't stress about being fluent, and try to just have some fun with it.
from m00minmamma:
I worked through two years of high school Latin with my eldest a couple of years back and it was great (I think she was 11 when we started). But it was only great because she was the one who wanted to do it, for her own reasons. She loved it, but I can't imagine inflicting a formal Latin curriculum on a kid who wasn't dying to do it.
from teddiebear_hugs:
really like the idea of just taking our time with it. I don't even need to plan the lessons out, just do a lesson on whatever day is good for us that week. If we have already spent a large amount of time doing other lessons and projects on a certain day, skip Latin. DS is interested in studying Latin, and this will keep the pressure off me, but allow him to study it.
from jujsky:
It's not necessary, but I do feel that Latin is an excellent elective if you can fit it in. It will help your son with science, and just about any other foreign language he takes in the future. So many words we use daily and in the sciences have Latin roots. I took a year of it my senior year in high school (after 3 years of Spanish) and I still find what I managed to retain useful.
from mom2adeline:
I think it depends on what direction you are hoping to go with the education of the child. As many people here know, I've tried many different things with my dd just to try to keep her occupied. I recently read the first edition of Andrew Campbell's Latin Centered Curriculum from the library and am anxiously waiting for some money to buy the second edition of the book. Many things that he said really made sense to me and he makes a strong argument for making Latin first priority. This is difficult for me because I'm still trying to get rid of the public school experience, but Latin works well for Adeline. She instantly applies what she learns and watching her learn strongly supports what Andrew Campbell says in his book. For example, we learned "habito" in Latin and when she was reading a book about animals she looked up and said "Their habitat must be where they live." She is also learning English grammar in a very gentle way through the Latin that seems to make so much more sense to her.
from cl-susanmercy:
I think some Latin study has some value. I've tried to learn it for myself and I get bogged down by the declensions and conjugations and stuff. So I'm stumped as to how to approach it with my kids, other than learning word roots and meanings so they can be applied to everyday language. Really, that's more important anyway since it's not a spoken language. I toyed with a medical terminology book when I was a teenager--that part really fascinated me. I will probably incorporate word roots and meanings into our studies at some point, as part of vocabulary. Maybe closer to high school. It's in the back of my mind! Meanwhile, on to Spanish ;-)
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Homeschooling a Teen
from lemonewton:
First off, I would suggest that you and your H get on the same page. If you're setting limits, and H is not assisting with seeing that they're following through, this is only going to be the beginning of trouble. Like a snowball gathering and getting bigger.
Does DS have friends he spends time with? If so, encourage him to spend some quality time with them. Or with a close family member near the same age? If not, then yes, I'd encourage him to begin doing something, club activity, or even volunteer work to get him out and active. He's 12-13, or around there? If he's promised to do the copies, I'd make him stick to that and get them done. At least finish the ones he already has promised, then he can quit doing it if he no longer likes doing it.
I've got 2 teens, 16DD & 13DD. Both would spend all day in front of the tv/games/computer if allowed. The 13DD is especially bad, she gets easily distracted by the tv. Oh, and the 16DD loves to wear her MP3 while doing school work last year. For us, here, this school year has started different than it did last year. They got to assist helping me to decide some of the curric, but others were just picked out by me. At PS, you don't get to pick out what you want. If something simplifies it for me, then oh well, they'll just have to deal with it this year. And, they've been sitting at the kitchen table, the last 2 days. Both of them each have 1-2 programs that they're doing on the computer, so that they get a little computer time in. And, I've decided to assign some artsy-type projects for a couple of their main subjects. So far, so good, they're starting out well so far. We've also got a 1st grader, so she gets more of our time (I work FT 3d/week, and DH is a SAHD, but we've got a farm and stuff to do additionally).
Oldest DD was getting really good at staying in front of her tv and not wanting to do the things required of her/ chores, etc. So about a month ago she had to hand over her MP3, tv cord, lap-top power cord, and we changed the password on the internet. She had to start spending more time with us, doing things that were required, and a bit more reading. You might have to start taking some cords if DS is continually staying in his room. And, get H on the same page as you. He's got to step up to the plate.
And, if you're thinking about sending DS to PS, you need to have some discussions with him & your H. If he's not going to do the work at home, will he do the work at PS? If he wants to go, maybe you should see about sending him. You might find, though, that he doesn't want to do it there, either.
from nancymc:
Well, I'm a big meanie I guess, we have a rule in our home: no TV/computer until chores and/or assigned work is done. During the summer this is easy, it's just daily chores, but during the school year it means that the computer/TV can NOT come on until all their schoolwork is completed. Beginning and end of story, not negotiable.
For us TV/computer is a reward, not a right. We also don't own any gaming systems, so it's easier in a lot of ways to limit it. I'm a big believer in outdoor activity and work hard to keep my kids engaged in physical things. I recently attended a lecture entitled "the dangers of video gaming" and it really opened my eyes to the generation of kids we are raising by allowing them so much time in front of screens, so right now I am particularly concerned about limiting it and finding other activities for my kids to do.
For social stuff, are you involved in a co-op or homeschool group of any kind? If not, that is where I would start, my kids attend classes with other homeschoolers once a week and they get together for social activities at least once a week (more in the summer). Kids this age need peers, and for me personally, that means finding plenty of opportunity for interaction, we live remotely so it's really up to me to get them places.
I work, but only part time and I make my own hours for the most part, doing some on weekends and later in the afternoon, so I'm not terribly helpful there. I would network with other homeschoolers of teens to see if they can help you with getting your son places and such.
I'm not sure of your religious leanings, and this appears to be Christian based, but I just got an email about a book for teens called "Do the Hard Things" and I'm really excited about it, the message is that if we have low expectations for our teens, they will have low expectations for themselves. I am going to order a copy and read it with my son. I think that we need to work on our teens character along with their education, it's not always about what they know, it's also about who they ARE, you know? Anyway, I'm getting off track now, sort of, but wanted to encourage you to help your son continue his business and accomplish some things with that before he turns on the TV each day, I love hearing about kids starting their own business, it shows such promise and character for them to be an entrepreneur.
from cl-susanmercy:
I'm not the parent of a teenager (yet but it's close!) but I have been a hsed teen myself, back in the 80s. I wold strongly encourage you to first of all, be united with your dh. Hopefully you can get him on board, since you are the at-home parent and the one dealing the most with at-home issues. As long as you are not united, your ds will know that dad lets him get away with not following house rules, and that behaviour will continue. I would also encourage you to seriously let your ds be a part of his education process. If he's not, you may be butting heads for a long time. Let him have a choice in choosing curriculum...extracurricular activities...books to read, etc. This doesn't mean that he has carte blanche--but you can give him several choices that are ok with you and let him pick which one he wants.
I don't know if you deschooled your son at all, but if you didn't it's not too late to do so. It could provide you with relief from his attitudes!
from kathlh:
I found my oldest ds had issues with doing schoolwork at the 12-14yo phase. He had issues with anxiety and depression and was generally in a tough place. The best I could do was talk to him a lot, let him know we loved him no matter what, set limits to what we would accept from him and set limits on computers and TV. I tried having TV and computer use interspersed throughout the day when the kids were young and it just didn't work for us. They spent everyday asking for computer time. I finally decided that TV and computer can't come on until 6pm. Period. The other iron-clad rules we had were that chores and schoolwork needed to be done before the kids could play with their neighbourhood friends. This was a hard lesson for a kid who wanted to lie on the couch and moan until his friends came home at 4pm ;-) He eventually got it. The good news is that at almost 15yo, he's now much more outgoing and energetic than he's been in several years. He seems in a better place and also understands the purpose of passing certain courses to get to his goal of becoming an engineer. This past spring he came with me to our hs fair and picked out his own curriculae. I have yet to see if that'll make a difference for him but I have hope. This year we also have plans for him to do volunteer work one or 2 afternoons a week. He needs to think about something other than sports and computer games ;-)
I don't know if our experience is of any help to you. My situation is easier in that dh isn't around during the day (usually). He doesn't really need to be on board with the rules as he doesn't have to reinforce any of them. I work on weekends, so he does need to get the kids to do their chores but, otherwise, isn't really part of the equation. With him being home the last few months with multiple surgeries, I've had my share of him not being on board with the rules ;-) I can sympathize with your challenge!
First off, I would suggest that you and your H get on the same page. If you're setting limits, and H is not assisting with seeing that they're following through, this is only going to be the beginning of trouble. Like a snowball gathering and getting bigger.
Does DS have friends he spends time with? If so, encourage him to spend some quality time with them. Or with a close family member near the same age? If not, then yes, I'd encourage him to begin doing something, club activity, or even volunteer work to get him out and active. He's 12-13, or around there? If he's promised to do the copies, I'd make him stick to that and get them done. At least finish the ones he already has promised, then he can quit doing it if he no longer likes doing it.
I've got 2 teens, 16DD & 13DD. Both would spend all day in front of the tv/games/computer if allowed. The 13DD is especially bad, she gets easily distracted by the tv. Oh, and the 16DD loves to wear her MP3 while doing school work last year. For us, here, this school year has started different than it did last year. They got to assist helping me to decide some of the curric, but others were just picked out by me. At PS, you don't get to pick out what you want. If something simplifies it for me, then oh well, they'll just have to deal with it this year. And, they've been sitting at the kitchen table, the last 2 days. Both of them each have 1-2 programs that they're doing on the computer, so that they get a little computer time in. And, I've decided to assign some artsy-type projects for a couple of their main subjects. So far, so good, they're starting out well so far. We've also got a 1st grader, so she gets more of our time (I work FT 3d/week, and DH is a SAHD, but we've got a farm and stuff to do additionally).
Oldest DD was getting really good at staying in front of her tv and not wanting to do the things required of her/ chores, etc. So about a month ago she had to hand over her MP3, tv cord, lap-top power cord, and we changed the password on the internet. She had to start spending more time with us, doing things that were required, and a bit more reading. You might have to start taking some cords if DS is continually staying in his room. And, get H on the same page as you. He's got to step up to the plate.
And, if you're thinking about sending DS to PS, you need to have some discussions with him & your H. If he's not going to do the work at home, will he do the work at PS? If he wants to go, maybe you should see about sending him. You might find, though, that he doesn't want to do it there, either.
from nancymc:
Well, I'm a big meanie I guess, we have a rule in our home: no TV/computer until chores and/or assigned work is done. During the summer this is easy, it's just daily chores, but during the school year it means that the computer/TV can NOT come on until all their schoolwork is completed. Beginning and end of story, not negotiable.
For us TV/computer is a reward, not a right. We also don't own any gaming systems, so it's easier in a lot of ways to limit it. I'm a big believer in outdoor activity and work hard to keep my kids engaged in physical things. I recently attended a lecture entitled "the dangers of video gaming" and it really opened my eyes to the generation of kids we are raising by allowing them so much time in front of screens, so right now I am particularly concerned about limiting it and finding other activities for my kids to do.
For social stuff, are you involved in a co-op or homeschool group of any kind? If not, that is where I would start, my kids attend classes with other homeschoolers once a week and they get together for social activities at least once a week (more in the summer). Kids this age need peers, and for me personally, that means finding plenty of opportunity for interaction, we live remotely so it's really up to me to get them places.
I work, but only part time and I make my own hours for the most part, doing some on weekends and later in the afternoon, so I'm not terribly helpful there. I would network with other homeschoolers of teens to see if they can help you with getting your son places and such.
I'm not sure of your religious leanings, and this appears to be Christian based, but I just got an email about a book for teens called "Do the Hard Things" and I'm really excited about it, the message is that if we have low expectations for our teens, they will have low expectations for themselves. I am going to order a copy and read it with my son. I think that we need to work on our teens character along with their education, it's not always about what they know, it's also about who they ARE, you know? Anyway, I'm getting off track now, sort of, but wanted to encourage you to help your son continue his business and accomplish some things with that before he turns on the TV each day, I love hearing about kids starting their own business, it shows such promise and character for them to be an entrepreneur.
from cl-susanmercy:
I'm not the parent of a teenager (yet but it's close!) but I have been a hsed teen myself, back in the 80s. I wold strongly encourage you to first of all, be united with your dh. Hopefully you can get him on board, since you are the at-home parent and the one dealing the most with at-home issues. As long as you are not united, your ds will know that dad lets him get away with not following house rules, and that behaviour will continue. I would also encourage you to seriously let your ds be a part of his education process. If he's not, you may be butting heads for a long time. Let him have a choice in choosing curriculum...extracurricular activities...books to read, etc. This doesn't mean that he has carte blanche--but you can give him several choices that are ok with you and let him pick which one he wants.
I don't know if you deschooled your son at all, but if you didn't it's not too late to do so. It could provide you with relief from his attitudes!
from kathlh:
I found my oldest ds had issues with doing schoolwork at the 12-14yo phase. He had issues with anxiety and depression and was generally in a tough place. The best I could do was talk to him a lot, let him know we loved him no matter what, set limits to what we would accept from him and set limits on computers and TV. I tried having TV and computer use interspersed throughout the day when the kids were young and it just didn't work for us. They spent everyday asking for computer time. I finally decided that TV and computer can't come on until 6pm. Period. The other iron-clad rules we had were that chores and schoolwork needed to be done before the kids could play with their neighbourhood friends. This was a hard lesson for a kid who wanted to lie on the couch and moan until his friends came home at 4pm ;-) He eventually got it. The good news is that at almost 15yo, he's now much more outgoing and energetic than he's been in several years. He seems in a better place and also understands the purpose of passing certain courses to get to his goal of becoming an engineer. This past spring he came with me to our hs fair and picked out his own curriculae. I have yet to see if that'll make a difference for him but I have hope. This year we also have plans for him to do volunteer work one or 2 afternoons a week. He needs to think about something other than sports and computer games ;-)
I don't know if our experience is of any help to you. My situation is easier in that dh isn't around during the day (usually). He doesn't really need to be on board with the rules as he doesn't have to reinforce any of them. I work on weekends, so he does need to get the kids to do their chores but, otherwise, isn't really part of the equation. With him being home the last few months with multiple surgeries, I've had my share of him not being on board with the rules ;-) I can sympathize with your challenge!
Handwriting Without Tears
from jujsky:
We use HWT K. We bought a bunch of the stuff, but I don't think it's all really necessary. I would definitely get the Teacher's Guide and the workbook. The wooden letter pieces are nice, and I'm glad I bought them, but they have a template for them in the Teacher's Guide. I've heard that a lot of people make the shapes out of poster board.
The roll-a-dough set isn't really necessary, but I really like it. My DS has sensory issues, and this works well for him. You can use it with beans and rice too, and have him trace the letters.
I would also get the chalkboard. There is something about the friction of writing the letter on the board that ingrains it in their memories.
The blue mat for the letter shapes -- nice, but not totally necessary. You will need it (or a similar-size piece of cardboard) if you want to make Mat Man. I bought the letter cards to use with the wood pieces. I really think you EITHER need these, or the blue mat. I don't think both are necessary.
I didn't bother with the music cd, though in retrospect that would have been really good for my DD who is doing the program. She learns well by using songs and rhymes.
from jennyberm:
We really liked the Pre-K/K books, Get Set For School and Letters & Numbers For Me, along with the slate boards. The slate boards are really, really great because they help them to start the letters in the right place and keep them a uniform size. After that, I haven't bothered to do anything else with the program... just some random copywork when I see that their writing needs some practice. I may go back to something formal for cursive, but I'm not sure if it will be HWT or something I piece together like copywork.
from treddlesewingmachine:
If the chalk boards are not real slate, (that is, just wood painted with chalkboard paint) I got a set of three for about $3-$4 from American Science and Surplus. They aren't as nice as the rock, but they work ok.
We used HWWT last year for cursive for my daughter. I had some pre-K and K stuff given to us by our OTs, but didn't do it much with my son. It was just really hard to get him to do it. Now that he has grasp down, more strength and better attention, he can do it. He is now getting to the point where he needs to write sentences, so until our books come I am just using cheap writing paper with lines.
One OT traced the (wooden) templates on colored magnetic sheets - she gets the kids to do the letters on the refrigerator.
We use HWT K. We bought a bunch of the stuff, but I don't think it's all really necessary. I would definitely get the Teacher's Guide and the workbook. The wooden letter pieces are nice, and I'm glad I bought them, but they have a template for them in the Teacher's Guide. I've heard that a lot of people make the shapes out of poster board.
The roll-a-dough set isn't really necessary, but I really like it. My DS has sensory issues, and this works well for him. You can use it with beans and rice too, and have him trace the letters.
I would also get the chalkboard. There is something about the friction of writing the letter on the board that ingrains it in their memories.
The blue mat for the letter shapes -- nice, but not totally necessary. You will need it (or a similar-size piece of cardboard) if you want to make Mat Man. I bought the letter cards to use with the wood pieces. I really think you EITHER need these, or the blue mat. I don't think both are necessary.
I didn't bother with the music cd, though in retrospect that would have been really good for my DD who is doing the program. She learns well by using songs and rhymes.
from jennyberm:
We really liked the Pre-K/K books, Get Set For School and Letters & Numbers For Me, along with the slate boards. The slate boards are really, really great because they help them to start the letters in the right place and keep them a uniform size. After that, I haven't bothered to do anything else with the program... just some random copywork when I see that their writing needs some practice. I may go back to something formal for cursive, but I'm not sure if it will be HWT or something I piece together like copywork.
from treddlesewingmachine:
If the chalk boards are not real slate, (that is, just wood painted with chalkboard paint) I got a set of three for about $3-$4 from American Science and Surplus. They aren't as nice as the rock, but they work ok.
We used HWWT last year for cursive for my daughter. I had some pre-K and K stuff given to us by our OTs, but didn't do it much with my son. It was just really hard to get him to do it. Now that he has grasp down, more strength and better attention, he can do it. He is now getting to the point where he needs to write sentences, so until our books come I am just using cheap writing paper with lines.
One OT traced the (wooden) templates on colored magnetic sheets - she gets the kids to do the letters on the refrigerator.
Helping Kids be Excited about Homeschooling
from two_girls_mom2007:
My ODD will be 6 in a couple weeks. We went through this really bad the year she was 4. She was so looking forward to school, and people started asking her if she was in school or when she was going etc. I did have to limit some of her T.V. cartoons that showed a lot of school for awhile. I also tried to not read books that showed kids going to school, just to try to keep her from thinking she was missing something.
She always seemed to be negotiating when she could go to "real school." She would tell me she would homeschool while she was 5, but she would start real school when she was 6. I made sure that the first day of K was a lot of fun for her. I made it very official, and we kind of played school. We do a formal calendar time to start the day, and keep things predictable during school time. We even call things recess, storytime, lunchtime, etc. using school words. She got her own new lunchbox for field trips, and backpack and supplies. Lots of new supplies like she kept seeing in the store. Dd loves dinosaurs, so I buried dinosaur bones in our sandbox for a dinosaur dig for Science the first day. We pretended we were paleontologists uncovering a fossil, and tried to figure out what kind of dino it was. The 2nd day of school we made a library visit, and I let her pick out books about animals she wanted to study. I made a mini unit on the ones she chose, and then later that week we visited the zoo to observe the animals we were studying. I just tried to really keep her involved, and I pointed out gently the whole time, that if she were in P.S. she wouldn't be on a field trip already.
I also got her involved with other kids that homeschool. That seems to be what finally did the trick. She knows now that she is not the only one out there. She has some friends that homeschool, and most don;t. She is now aware that most kids do not homeschool, but she does not ask not to anymore.
from nancymc:
I'm not sure if I'm just lucky or if I did something to help this along, but my kids have NEVER wanted to go to school. We've ridden buses places, they don't see any attraction in that, plus I always point out to them when we're out and about (usually coming home from some really fun cool place) how early the buses come and how late they drop off, so they understand how much time is spent on that bus. In our area the kids typically ride the bus for an hour or so, twice a day, I can't imagine how that would be fun!
It's a balance for me, I don't at all want to portray school as a bad thing, particularly since many of their friends are in school, I don't homeschool as a protest and I don't want my kids to think school is evil or anything....HOWEVER....I do point out to them the advantages we have, we often wave to the school as we go by on our way to whatever fun thing, we talk often about homework and how if they had any they wouldn't have time for the fun evening things we are doing, we often celebrate how lazy we are in our pj's at 10am, etc.
Basically I talk up the good points about homeschooling, and I make sure that they don't feel like they miss anything. Find out what your son wants from school and then work to duplicate it at home. Ride a bus somewhere....go back to school shopping (this is a fun one for us, we wait until all the supplies are on clearance and then we just go have fun, no list, just whatever they thing looks fun....new markers, cool folders, etc). Maybe this is mean, but I usually pick up the list that is there for the schools and look it over, we always laugh at how they have to buy things like kleenexes and a specific color of folder...it's not like the kids in school actually get to take the fun stuff to school anymore! So I let them pick out whatever within reason, usually on clearance for a song. I buy them each a new pair of pj's each year for their first day back to school, lol, but I also let them pick out a new shirt and some nicer shorts for the classes they take outside the home.
My son went to school, so that helps immensely as well, he very well knows he has it good at home. He remembers homework, he remembers getting up really early, he remembers how little time he had to actually play and pursue his passions.
from treddlesewingmachine:
Last year my son was supposed to go to kinder, but they put him in with the worst teacher, whom I requested to NOT have. (And here they don't tell you the teacher until 2 days before school starts...) So we had to quickly change gears when my husband and I decided to keep him home (with his older sister who is home schooling and younger brother.)
The bus stops outside our door too, at least for the first week until they realize there are no kids getting on here! We talked about how he gets to eat his breakfasts (yes, he usually eats more than one!) how it doesn't matter when he gets dressed (was very hard for him to do that last year) how he can have snack when ever he wants, how he gets to watch the "good" shows on PBS (the ones actually for beginning readers are on after the school bus comes) and how he could play on the computer if he wanted, or play his bugle. The bus comes at 7:20 here, one of the last stops, but still pretty early. I told him he could sleep in if he wanted (a laugh, he gets up with my husband at 5:30!) We also talked about how we could go to the park whenever we want, go for bike rides, and not have to do homework after school like the other kids we meet in the park after school (usually our second trip to the park for the day!) Kinder kids have homework here, probably most schools nowadays. One of the reasons I dislike public schools.
The teacher thing I did have to explain - my daughter had her so I knew how she was. (Had to be careful her, my daughter loved her, but I hated her!) I explained that the teacher wanted kids who could sit still and not go explore stuff. My son already knew that she didn't like hugs, which he loves. I also had to tell my daughter that while the teacher was ok for her, there were kids that she had problems with and would yell at constantly and I didn't want her brother to be one of those kids. (I gave her an example of one boy that constantly was in trouble and she tried to squish the life out of.) My son has a hard time following directions, sitting still and has a lot of curiosity about things. Honestly sometimes he drives me to distraction, but I couldn't let him be with that woman! Oh, and this woman told a boy in my daughter's class, with similar speech issues, "Don't talk like a baby!" (In front of the class and mom, no less!) I never heard the boy talk the rest of the year. Ah, so many stories, but not pertinent to what you are asking...
Can you go camping or to an amusement park the first week of school? A great fun way to show how you have it better!
from hbbk20:
You can arrange for a bus ride somewhere so your kid can ride a bus. You can also have a pretend bus that you decorate with markers and things from a cardboard box and then play a game of ride the bus and ...now we go to school ect....so make it an event that you express thru artistic things like making a box bus, pack a lunch to eat at the table that you do school at and things like that. Make being home fun, and remind them of the benes of not going away.
from bugsmomct:
You can't "get" someone's feelings to change. *However* your 4 year old has only had one set of inputs - that "big boys" go to school.Yeah, all those 'fun things' at home you've been talking about are nice, but that's nothing new really (you're probably already doing lots of fun things). Find out what stuff is really exciting (like riding a bus) and go do it - find someplace where you can take a bus ride. If back to school clothes commercials are exciting, go take advantage of the sales and get sneakers, jeans, backpack, etc. Pack a lunch a couple times per week and go have a picnic.
I'd strongly suggest you find (or make) a local homeschool support group so he can see that not all "big boys" go to school, some learn at home with mom and dad and their siblings. We got involved with our first support group when DS was 3 - mostly just did park days, beach days, and parent support evenings (while DS visited with Grandma). As he got older, we did visits to the firehouse, the newspaper (he loved the big printing and folding machines), a sole proprietor candy shop (made cool chocolate treats - bacon and eggs - melt some white chocolate; lay out 3 thin pretzel sticks on some waxed paper; pour a bit of the white chocolate over the central area of the pretzel sticks; put a few yellow M&Ms together in the middle of the chocolate and voila - bacon and eggs on the sweet side!). The school bus stops next door and across the street from us but he's never asked to go to school - he knows lots of people don't go to school from little ones up to teenagers. And, he's experienced things like driving home with us after spending a day at a hs group park day and sitting behind a school bus full of kids who spent the whole gorgeous late spring day sitting in a classroom while he spent the day running free in a park and playing with friends. He does get frustrated sometimes when we're trying to plan things like a sleep over with favorite cousins because they can only do things at certain times because of school. He loves taking vacations when things are totally uncrowded; we love getting the off season prices.
from momwifefriendedie:
I think for us we have let dd do some of those same things like buying a new colorful notebook to be her "school" journal, buying fun stickers to reward with just like school, buying new markers and crayons, and letting her decorate her own study area on a tri folder. We also take her picture in a new outfit on our first official. We also plan a special fun art project for that first day. You just can't beat playing with paint.
from pailani:
I have a friend who starts the first day of homeschool kindergarten by teaching the child to obey instructions - by making cookies! She tells the child "get me the flour," "now go get me the sugar," while she mixes and makes the cookies. So each of her children's first day of kindergarten was helping Mommy make cookies I always thought that was a fun idea.
My ODD will be 6 in a couple weeks. We went through this really bad the year she was 4. She was so looking forward to school, and people started asking her if she was in school or when she was going etc. I did have to limit some of her T.V. cartoons that showed a lot of school for awhile. I also tried to not read books that showed kids going to school, just to try to keep her from thinking she was missing something.
She always seemed to be negotiating when she could go to "real school." She would tell me she would homeschool while she was 5, but she would start real school when she was 6. I made sure that the first day of K was a lot of fun for her. I made it very official, and we kind of played school. We do a formal calendar time to start the day, and keep things predictable during school time. We even call things recess, storytime, lunchtime, etc. using school words. She got her own new lunchbox for field trips, and backpack and supplies. Lots of new supplies like she kept seeing in the store. Dd loves dinosaurs, so I buried dinosaur bones in our sandbox for a dinosaur dig for Science the first day. We pretended we were paleontologists uncovering a fossil, and tried to figure out what kind of dino it was. The 2nd day of school we made a library visit, and I let her pick out books about animals she wanted to study. I made a mini unit on the ones she chose, and then later that week we visited the zoo to observe the animals we were studying. I just tried to really keep her involved, and I pointed out gently the whole time, that if she were in P.S. she wouldn't be on a field trip already.
I also got her involved with other kids that homeschool. That seems to be what finally did the trick. She knows now that she is not the only one out there. She has some friends that homeschool, and most don;t. She is now aware that most kids do not homeschool, but she does not ask not to anymore.
from nancymc:
I'm not sure if I'm just lucky or if I did something to help this along, but my kids have NEVER wanted to go to school. We've ridden buses places, they don't see any attraction in that, plus I always point out to them when we're out and about (usually coming home from some really fun cool place) how early the buses come and how late they drop off, so they understand how much time is spent on that bus. In our area the kids typically ride the bus for an hour or so, twice a day, I can't imagine how that would be fun!
It's a balance for me, I don't at all want to portray school as a bad thing, particularly since many of their friends are in school, I don't homeschool as a protest and I don't want my kids to think school is evil or anything....HOWEVER....I do point out to them the advantages we have, we often wave to the school as we go by on our way to whatever fun thing, we talk often about homework and how if they had any they wouldn't have time for the fun evening things we are doing, we often celebrate how lazy we are in our pj's at 10am, etc.
Basically I talk up the good points about homeschooling, and I make sure that they don't feel like they miss anything. Find out what your son wants from school and then work to duplicate it at home. Ride a bus somewhere....go back to school shopping (this is a fun one for us, we wait until all the supplies are on clearance and then we just go have fun, no list, just whatever they thing looks fun....new markers, cool folders, etc). Maybe this is mean, but I usually pick up the list that is there for the schools and look it over, we always laugh at how they have to buy things like kleenexes and a specific color of folder...it's not like the kids in school actually get to take the fun stuff to school anymore! So I let them pick out whatever within reason, usually on clearance for a song. I buy them each a new pair of pj's each year for their first day back to school, lol, but I also let them pick out a new shirt and some nicer shorts for the classes they take outside the home.
My son went to school, so that helps immensely as well, he very well knows he has it good at home. He remembers homework, he remembers getting up really early, he remembers how little time he had to actually play and pursue his passions.
from treddlesewingmachine:
Last year my son was supposed to go to kinder, but they put him in with the worst teacher, whom I requested to NOT have. (And here they don't tell you the teacher until 2 days before school starts...) So we had to quickly change gears when my husband and I decided to keep him home (with his older sister who is home schooling and younger brother.)
The bus stops outside our door too, at least for the first week until they realize there are no kids getting on here! We talked about how he gets to eat his breakfasts (yes, he usually eats more than one!) how it doesn't matter when he gets dressed (was very hard for him to do that last year) how he can have snack when ever he wants, how he gets to watch the "good" shows on PBS (the ones actually for beginning readers are on after the school bus comes) and how he could play on the computer if he wanted, or play his bugle. The bus comes at 7:20 here, one of the last stops, but still pretty early. I told him he could sleep in if he wanted (a laugh, he gets up with my husband at 5:30!) We also talked about how we could go to the park whenever we want, go for bike rides, and not have to do homework after school like the other kids we meet in the park after school (usually our second trip to the park for the day!) Kinder kids have homework here, probably most schools nowadays. One of the reasons I dislike public schools.
The teacher thing I did have to explain - my daughter had her so I knew how she was. (Had to be careful her, my daughter loved her, but I hated her!) I explained that the teacher wanted kids who could sit still and not go explore stuff. My son already knew that she didn't like hugs, which he loves. I also had to tell my daughter that while the teacher was ok for her, there were kids that she had problems with and would yell at constantly and I didn't want her brother to be one of those kids. (I gave her an example of one boy that constantly was in trouble and she tried to squish the life out of.) My son has a hard time following directions, sitting still and has a lot of curiosity about things. Honestly sometimes he drives me to distraction, but I couldn't let him be with that woman! Oh, and this woman told a boy in my daughter's class, with similar speech issues, "Don't talk like a baby!" (In front of the class and mom, no less!) I never heard the boy talk the rest of the year. Ah, so many stories, but not pertinent to what you are asking...
Can you go camping or to an amusement park the first week of school? A great fun way to show how you have it better!
from hbbk20:
You can arrange for a bus ride somewhere so your kid can ride a bus. You can also have a pretend bus that you decorate with markers and things from a cardboard box and then play a game of ride the bus and ...now we go to school ect....so make it an event that you express thru artistic things like making a box bus, pack a lunch to eat at the table that you do school at and things like that. Make being home fun, and remind them of the benes of not going away.
from bugsmomct:
You can't "get" someone's feelings to change. *However* your 4 year old has only had one set of inputs - that "big boys" go to school.Yeah, all those 'fun things' at home you've been talking about are nice, but that's nothing new really (you're probably already doing lots of fun things). Find out what stuff is really exciting (like riding a bus) and go do it - find someplace where you can take a bus ride. If back to school clothes commercials are exciting, go take advantage of the sales and get sneakers, jeans, backpack, etc. Pack a lunch a couple times per week and go have a picnic.
I'd strongly suggest you find (or make) a local homeschool support group so he can see that not all "big boys" go to school, some learn at home with mom and dad and their siblings. We got involved with our first support group when DS was 3 - mostly just did park days, beach days, and parent support evenings (while DS visited with Grandma). As he got older, we did visits to the firehouse, the newspaper (he loved the big printing and folding machines), a sole proprietor candy shop (made cool chocolate treats - bacon and eggs - melt some white chocolate; lay out 3 thin pretzel sticks on some waxed paper; pour a bit of the white chocolate over the central area of the pretzel sticks; put a few yellow M&Ms together in the middle of the chocolate and voila - bacon and eggs on the sweet side!). The school bus stops next door and across the street from us but he's never asked to go to school - he knows lots of people don't go to school from little ones up to teenagers. And, he's experienced things like driving home with us after spending a day at a hs group park day and sitting behind a school bus full of kids who spent the whole gorgeous late spring day sitting in a classroom while he spent the day running free in a park and playing with friends. He does get frustrated sometimes when we're trying to plan things like a sleep over with favorite cousins because they can only do things at certain times because of school. He loves taking vacations when things are totally uncrowded; we love getting the off season prices.
from momwifefriendedie:
I think for us we have let dd do some of those same things like buying a new colorful notebook to be her "school" journal, buying fun stickers to reward with just like school, buying new markers and crayons, and letting her decorate her own study area on a tri folder. We also take her picture in a new outfit on our first official. We also plan a special fun art project for that first day. You just can't beat playing with paint.
from pailani:
I have a friend who starts the first day of homeschool kindergarten by teaching the child to obey instructions - by making cookies! She tells the child "get me the flour," "now go get me the sugar," while she mixes and makes the cookies. So each of her children's first day of kindergarten was helping Mommy make cookies I always thought that was a fun idea.
Kindergarten
from bugsmomct:
For now, keep on living and learning together in whatever way you already are enjoying (she's already been learning from you all this time anyhow). You don't need to 'teach' anything at this age necessarily. Your role is to facilitate, particularly at this age. You're in a brand new place with all sorts of new sights, sounds, adventures outside your door. Spend a day exploring a different ethnic section of the city, go to libraries and museums and watch street corner performers and whatever else you can get yourself into.
from jujsky:
You don't have to be an educator :) Being a mom is usually plenty good enough. You know DD better than anyone, and that's the only "expert" you need to be.
If you want something that is all laid out for you, Calvert is a good option. That's what I'm using with both of my kids. We did pre-K last year (which was way too easy -- we had to supplement quite a bit) and we have all of our K materials ready to start in September. I looked over everything, and it seems like a very solid, complete K program. It starts right off with letters, and starts teaching reading about 1/2 through the year. The math starts off very simply (numbers, shapes) and by the end of the year they're doing a bit of addition and subtraction. Language arts and math are done every day, and science, social studies, art, music, and technology (computers) are also covered. Some people don't like it because it's a little pricey, but it's very complete. You get EVERYTHING you need for the year, including pencils, paper, and art supplies. The lesson manual is awesome, and lays everything out for you. At the top of each page they list the books and supplies you'll need for the day, and each section give you details of what the lesson requires, and gives you tips. You can call Calvert during their business hours and speak to a teacher if you're having any problems. They also have an advisory teacher service (it's optional, and a substantial additional fee) where you can send in papers every so many lessons, and an advisory teacher will grade the papers, and send your child a letter. I don't feel it's necessary, but some people find it very helpful.
from lemonewton:
used this link last year to help me determine what I needed my then K to be learning:
http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum/kindergarten
I am a mom, therefore I am a teacher. I am a nurse by profession, not an educator. I taught my children lots of things when they were little, I continue to do so now as their homeschooling mom. Sounds like, if your child is already a "sponge" and has a love of learning, you're a pretty good teacher, don't you think? I mean, if you were a bad teacher she'd never want to learn anything else, a good teacher helps instill a love of learning, then fosters it to strengthen it.
Check in on your states laws, and enjoy the remaining time you have with your daughter until you have to begin her "formal" education. You might just find out that she will flourish under your continued instruction, and you might decide you want to remain on this path. If not, you will have created wonderful memories at home with mom when she was younger. Either way, it's a win-win situation.
from jazzymomintx:
If your dd really enjoys books and learning, and you think she is ready for something a bit scheduled, you may want to look into the following programs:
http://www.sonlight.com
http://www.fiarhq.com
http://www.heartofdakota.com
We use the Rod and Staff preschool workbooks at our house. They are simple to use, and include cutting and pasting activities. The pages are no frills, and are black and white, but my dd enjoys them.
http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com
For now, keep on living and learning together in whatever way you already are enjoying (she's already been learning from you all this time anyhow). You don't need to 'teach' anything at this age necessarily. Your role is to facilitate, particularly at this age. You're in a brand new place with all sorts of new sights, sounds, adventures outside your door. Spend a day exploring a different ethnic section of the city, go to libraries and museums and watch street corner performers and whatever else you can get yourself into.
from jujsky:
You don't have to be an educator :) Being a mom is usually plenty good enough. You know DD better than anyone, and that's the only "expert" you need to be.
If you want something that is all laid out for you, Calvert is a good option. That's what I'm using with both of my kids. We did pre-K last year (which was way too easy -- we had to supplement quite a bit) and we have all of our K materials ready to start in September. I looked over everything, and it seems like a very solid, complete K program. It starts right off with letters, and starts teaching reading about 1/2 through the year. The math starts off very simply (numbers, shapes) and by the end of the year they're doing a bit of addition and subtraction. Language arts and math are done every day, and science, social studies, art, music, and technology (computers) are also covered. Some people don't like it because it's a little pricey, but it's very complete. You get EVERYTHING you need for the year, including pencils, paper, and art supplies. The lesson manual is awesome, and lays everything out for you. At the top of each page they list the books and supplies you'll need for the day, and each section give you details of what the lesson requires, and gives you tips. You can call Calvert during their business hours and speak to a teacher if you're having any problems. They also have an advisory teacher service (it's optional, and a substantial additional fee) where you can send in papers every so many lessons, and an advisory teacher will grade the papers, and send your child a letter. I don't feel it's necessary, but some people find it very helpful.
from lemonewton:
used this link last year to help me determine what I needed my then K to be learning:
http://www.worldbook.com/wb/Students?curriculum/kindergarten
I am a mom, therefore I am a teacher. I am a nurse by profession, not an educator. I taught my children lots of things when they were little, I continue to do so now as their homeschooling mom. Sounds like, if your child is already a "sponge" and has a love of learning, you're a pretty good teacher, don't you think? I mean, if you were a bad teacher she'd never want to learn anything else, a good teacher helps instill a love of learning, then fosters it to strengthen it.
Check in on your states laws, and enjoy the remaining time you have with your daughter until you have to begin her "formal" education. You might just find out that she will flourish under your continued instruction, and you might decide you want to remain on this path. If not, you will have created wonderful memories at home with mom when she was younger. Either way, it's a win-win situation.
from jazzymomintx:
If your dd really enjoys books and learning, and you think she is ready for something a bit scheduled, you may want to look into the following programs:
http://www.sonlight.com
http://www.fiarhq.com
http://www.heartofdakota.com
We use the Rod and Staff preschool workbooks at our house. They are simple to use, and include cutting and pasting activities. The pages are no frills, and are black and white, but my dd enjoys them.
http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com
"Back to School" Traditions
from nancymc:
The week that school starts in our district, we have a "not back to school" week of fun. We get together with others from our homeschool group and do just a ton of stuff that entire week: swimming, bowling, goofy golf, last year we did a bat tour, this year we'll do a waterpark and maybe one of those indoor arcade type places, etc, etc. Just anything to celebrate NOT getting on that bus!
For our first day of actual school (which is usually a full week after the above), I always make chocolate chip pancakes with that horrible whipped topping in a can, drawn as a face. I typically have a bunch of balloons tied to their books, and little goofy gifts hidden in their stuff.
For lunch we have a dessert, which is unheard of.....one year I did a hot dog cake from FamilyFun, it looked just like a hot dog but was sweet, it was adorable. Not sure how or if to top THAT one, but it was fun.
That's all I can think of for now, mostly we try to make it fun and something to look forward to.
from kathlh:
This will be our 9th "not-back-to-school" day in September. We've varied what we've done over the years. Some years it's just a day to sleep in and have fast food for lunch while other years it's been afternoon movies or a full day of fun. I'm thinking of going into Toronto to the zoo or the Science Centre--both sure to be pretty quiet ;-) I haven't polled the troops on it yet, but I'm sure to get votes for either. I will probably do one on the first day of school and one on the following week. I had plans to do lots of trips in September of last year but family things got in the way. I have my fingers crossed for this year!
from momtomnie:
Our first year, we got up and made homemade cinnamon rolls and ate them as we watched the schoolbus go by. Now we live in a cul de sac so no school bus to watch, but we usually go to the park and meet with a homeschool group.
from teddiebear_hugs:
We have been homeschooling 3 years and haven't had any set traditions, until this year. We decided that we would make huge cinnamon rolls for lunch on the first day. Today was the first day, and the older daycare children's faces were a riot. They couldn't believe that they could eat cinnamon rolls for lunch. DS decided we should do this on the 1st day of school from now on. He actually said we should make cinnamon rolls for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the 1st day of school, but...I don't think so. ;-) The last day of school I plan on making a fancy cake or cupcakes, and having a graduation from 5th grade party. I like the idea of small presents on the 1st day. I might have to add that in next year. It would be exciting to get new pencils, colored line paper, colored pencils, etc.
from treddlesewingmachine:
Last year was the first year for us. Our virtual school didn't start until two weeks later than the public school, so we had fun going to the beach and stuff during that time. We will probably go to the Boardwalk this year (we can sleep in!) on one of the one ticket nights when most of the other kids have started school.
In the past I took photos of my daughter getting on and off the bus. Last year I had her make a sign with her grade, and "First Day" on it and we took some photos. She was really excited to start her new lessons, so we got started pretty much right away! I will probably do something similar with her and her brother this year. (Chocolate chip pancakes huh...I am not sure I want the sugar rush that brings - that will be the day we do go back to public school! Not that it is worse than the free breakfasts that they give to the kids who get free lunches!)
from bugsmomct:
Not really since we don't do school. But, several local hs groups do beach days right after Labor Day (still fairly warm, beaches are empty since kids are in school by then, parking fees go away) so we may do one or more of those. Otherwise, our years are not defined by the start of school (but I do love the back to school sales for stocking up on stuff that gets used a lot).
from two_girls_mom2007:
Yesterday was our first day for our PreKer and First Grader. I made signs saying "first day of first grade" and of PreK. I took a picture of each of them holding their sign. I did make a have a great year poster and hung up, and I cleaned out their pencil boxes and filled with new pencils and crayons. I set out a few surprises, like new erasable colored pencils that dd had wanted and a math bingo game and a workbook she didn't know I had bought. And I hung some new posters on the wall that they hadn't seen. I thought it was more fun for them to start the year with new interesting things to look at, and to be excited by them the first day. Most of the year, they help with the decor.
So I guess our only tradition is pictures :) But I do try to make the day special.
from hbbk20:
Field trips that week is great because you get the place to yourself as all the schoolers are getting locker assignments and bus schedules. Pictures are good too. I like the idea of having them wake up and having a backpack full of things to take out and work on at our table. Maybe some new Pajamas as we celebrate the idea that we don't have to be dressed and on a bus super early but can sit and have breakfast and books while the other kids have a 20-30 minute ride on a loud over stimulating over crowded bus. My kid always had headaches from the bus ride.
:) September is wonderful and still so nice outside, we also like to decorate for Fall....and celebrate that way.
from nutbunch:
We unschool so we don't start or stop school. On the first day the ps kids go back we go out for lunch and then go to the arcade. It is so quiet after the summer; it's great!
The week that school starts in our district, we have a "not back to school" week of fun. We get together with others from our homeschool group and do just a ton of stuff that entire week: swimming, bowling, goofy golf, last year we did a bat tour, this year we'll do a waterpark and maybe one of those indoor arcade type places, etc, etc. Just anything to celebrate NOT getting on that bus!
For our first day of actual school (which is usually a full week after the above), I always make chocolate chip pancakes with that horrible whipped topping in a can, drawn as a face. I typically have a bunch of balloons tied to their books, and little goofy gifts hidden in their stuff.
For lunch we have a dessert, which is unheard of.....one year I did a hot dog cake from FamilyFun, it looked just like a hot dog but was sweet, it was adorable. Not sure how or if to top THAT one, but it was fun.
That's all I can think of for now, mostly we try to make it fun and something to look forward to.
from kathlh:
This will be our 9th "not-back-to-school" day in September. We've varied what we've done over the years. Some years it's just a day to sleep in and have fast food for lunch while other years it's been afternoon movies or a full day of fun. I'm thinking of going into Toronto to the zoo or the Science Centre--both sure to be pretty quiet ;-) I haven't polled the troops on it yet, but I'm sure to get votes for either. I will probably do one on the first day of school and one on the following week. I had plans to do lots of trips in September of last year but family things got in the way. I have my fingers crossed for this year!
from momtomnie:
Our first year, we got up and made homemade cinnamon rolls and ate them as we watched the schoolbus go by. Now we live in a cul de sac so no school bus to watch, but we usually go to the park and meet with a homeschool group.
from teddiebear_hugs:
We have been homeschooling 3 years and haven't had any set traditions, until this year. We decided that we would make huge cinnamon rolls for lunch on the first day. Today was the first day, and the older daycare children's faces were a riot. They couldn't believe that they could eat cinnamon rolls for lunch. DS decided we should do this on the 1st day of school from now on. He actually said we should make cinnamon rolls for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the 1st day of school, but...I don't think so. ;-) The last day of school I plan on making a fancy cake or cupcakes, and having a graduation from 5th grade party. I like the idea of small presents on the 1st day. I might have to add that in next year. It would be exciting to get new pencils, colored line paper, colored pencils, etc.
from treddlesewingmachine:
Last year was the first year for us. Our virtual school didn't start until two weeks later than the public school, so we had fun going to the beach and stuff during that time. We will probably go to the Boardwalk this year (we can sleep in!) on one of the one ticket nights when most of the other kids have started school.
In the past I took photos of my daughter getting on and off the bus. Last year I had her make a sign with her grade, and "First Day" on it and we took some photos. She was really excited to start her new lessons, so we got started pretty much right away! I will probably do something similar with her and her brother this year. (Chocolate chip pancakes huh...I am not sure I want the sugar rush that brings - that will be the day we do go back to public school! Not that it is worse than the free breakfasts that they give to the kids who get free lunches!)
from bugsmomct:
Not really since we don't do school. But, several local hs groups do beach days right after Labor Day (still fairly warm, beaches are empty since kids are in school by then, parking fees go away) so we may do one or more of those. Otherwise, our years are not defined by the start of school (but I do love the back to school sales for stocking up on stuff that gets used a lot).
from two_girls_mom2007:
Yesterday was our first day for our PreKer and First Grader. I made signs saying "first day of first grade" and of PreK. I took a picture of each of them holding their sign. I did make a have a great year poster and hung up, and I cleaned out their pencil boxes and filled with new pencils and crayons. I set out a few surprises, like new erasable colored pencils that dd had wanted and a math bingo game and a workbook she didn't know I had bought. And I hung some new posters on the wall that they hadn't seen. I thought it was more fun for them to start the year with new interesting things to look at, and to be excited by them the first day. Most of the year, they help with the decor.
So I guess our only tradition is pictures :) But I do try to make the day special.
from hbbk20:
Field trips that week is great because you get the place to yourself as all the schoolers are getting locker assignments and bus schedules. Pictures are good too. I like the idea of having them wake up and having a backpack full of things to take out and work on at our table. Maybe some new Pajamas as we celebrate the idea that we don't have to be dressed and on a bus super early but can sit and have breakfast and books while the other kids have a 20-30 minute ride on a loud over stimulating over crowded bus. My kid always had headaches from the bus ride.
:) September is wonderful and still so nice outside, we also like to decorate for Fall....and celebrate that way.
from nutbunch:
We unschool so we don't start or stop school. On the first day the ps kids go back we go out for lunch and then go to the arcade. It is so quiet after the summer; it's great!
K12
from summerbaby99:
We've used K12 before (for K and 2nd), and I just wanted to clarify that they do use living books for history, LA, and some science. For 2nd grade LA, dd was reading a lot of early American history with books like Chang's Paper Pony, The Josefina Story Quilt, Wagon Wheels West, and others. In history she read King Arthur (step into reading chapter book), St. Valentine, The Hundredth Name, plus many short stories on par with SOTW.
K12 Language Arts program is very fast-paced and intense, especially if you have a child who struggles in this area. My dd (now 9) continues to struggle greatly in her reading, writing, and spelling, and we were quickly overwhelmed by the amount of material there is to cover between composition, spelling, vocab, reading, and grammar. As an independent user you would have more flexibility to go at your child's pace and modify lessons as needed, but if you school through a virtual academy you may feel pressured.
I think it depends on what you want from "Distance Learning". If you're looking to be enrolled as a public or private school student with teacher oversight and an official transcript, then that would be a reason to pursue it. If you are looking for structure and accountability to someone else, that's another decent reason. If you're simply interested in a curriculum that tells you what to do, how to do it, and in what order to do it in, there are plenty of complete programs out there with quality lesson plans that take a lot of the stress of planning out of more formal homeschooling. K12 is just one of them.
from treddlesewingmachine:
I should clarify, after reading Summerbaby99, that when I was saying that we have two friends who use the K12 program through our state Virtual Acadamy who have learning differences, that both have IEPs (Individualized Education Plans) that allow them to go at a slower pace than kids that do not have IEPs. There is a lot of stuff in the Language Arts, as it gets higher that does make it harder to do if there are learning issues. One child we are friends with has severe problems with spelling - the spelling is done on one to two rules per week and this child could only remember one rule when it came time to do the test. It made it hard on her mother as up to 2nd grade, all the Language Arts are linked together. So, the mom couldn't mark the lesson complete because the girl did not pass the spelling, but had done ok on the reading, grammar and phonics. (In 3rd, there are separate books for the reading, spelling, composition, and grammar, and each has a separate progress bar. I really think that it would be much easier for the parents if the Language Arts were separate in the lower grades instead of linked.)
If your kids are bored in school, if the spouse wants to have something with transcripts or more public school like (afraid to make the jump to homeschooling) of if the teacher (mom or dad) is not real sure of their ability to teach their child because they feel they might skip something, this is a good place to start.
We've used K12 before (for K and 2nd), and I just wanted to clarify that they do use living books for history, LA, and some science. For 2nd grade LA, dd was reading a lot of early American history with books like Chang's Paper Pony, The Josefina Story Quilt, Wagon Wheels West, and others. In history she read King Arthur (step into reading chapter book), St. Valentine, The Hundredth Name, plus many short stories on par with SOTW.
K12 Language Arts program is very fast-paced and intense, especially if you have a child who struggles in this area. My dd (now 9) continues to struggle greatly in her reading, writing, and spelling, and we were quickly overwhelmed by the amount of material there is to cover between composition, spelling, vocab, reading, and grammar. As an independent user you would have more flexibility to go at your child's pace and modify lessons as needed, but if you school through a virtual academy you may feel pressured.
I think it depends on what you want from "Distance Learning". If you're looking to be enrolled as a public or private school student with teacher oversight and an official transcript, then that would be a reason to pursue it. If you are looking for structure and accountability to someone else, that's another decent reason. If you're simply interested in a curriculum that tells you what to do, how to do it, and in what order to do it in, there are plenty of complete programs out there with quality lesson plans that take a lot of the stress of planning out of more formal homeschooling. K12 is just one of them.
from treddlesewingmachine:
I should clarify, after reading Summerbaby99, that when I was saying that we have two friends who use the K12 program through our state Virtual Acadamy who have learning differences, that both have IEPs (Individualized Education Plans) that allow them to go at a slower pace than kids that do not have IEPs. There is a lot of stuff in the Language Arts, as it gets higher that does make it harder to do if there are learning issues. One child we are friends with has severe problems with spelling - the spelling is done on one to two rules per week and this child could only remember one rule when it came time to do the test. It made it hard on her mother as up to 2nd grade, all the Language Arts are linked together. So, the mom couldn't mark the lesson complete because the girl did not pass the spelling, but had done ok on the reading, grammar and phonics. (In 3rd, there are separate books for the reading, spelling, composition, and grammar, and each has a separate progress bar. I really think that it would be much easier for the parents if the Language Arts were separate in the lower grades instead of linked.)
If your kids are bored in school, if the spouse wants to have something with transcripts or more public school like (afraid to make the jump to homeschooling) of if the teacher (mom or dad) is not real sure of their ability to teach their child because they feel they might skip something, this is a good place to start.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Apologia
from momtomnie:
We have been using Apologia elementary level, as well. It' s great for working with several ages. I'm starting the one on sea creatures this year and plan to end with botany(not in the right order, I know). I like the notebooking aspect. My older dd will use the general science. It's very textbooky which we haven't done a whole lot of. But her being in 7th grade, I let her help choose, and starting to do some testing might not be a bad idea.
Someone on here recommended Home Science Tools website for science kits to get the things needed for the experiments. I ordered for all the kids. I thought the prices were great considering the price of gas and running around trying to find some of those objects. I'm not sure where to find some of those things anyway. I'm sure I would have ended up ordering individual things anyway or skipping some of the experiments. They had kits for several curriculums not just Apologia.
We have been using Apologia elementary level, as well. It' s great for working with several ages. I'm starting the one on sea creatures this year and plan to end with botany(not in the right order, I know). I like the notebooking aspect. My older dd will use the general science. It's very textbooky which we haven't done a whole lot of. But her being in 7th grade, I let her help choose, and starting to do some testing might not be a bad idea.
Someone on here recommended Home Science Tools website for science kits to get the things needed for the experiments. I ordered for all the kids. I thought the prices were great considering the price of gas and running around trying to find some of those objects. I'm not sure where to find some of those things anyway. I'm sure I would have ended up ordering individual things anyway or skipping some of the experiments. They had kits for several curriculums not just Apologia.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Science Thoughts
from treddlesewingmachine:
Eyewitness Books has great books on just about everything science. There is generally one sub-subject to each pair of pages, which might be about right for him to get interested and reading. Books that we have/have read include volcanoes, minerals, ocean life, electricity, the list goes on. There are also some fairly easy readers (about your son's level) that include topics such as Pompeii, the Titanic, and lots of other science and history. Usborne has great history books on Vikings and Egyptians, Castles and Warfare that may also be appealing. I suspect that once he gets started on some exciting stuff that you will find he wants to keep reading. Once you get started on the Vikings, you could then read some of their myths, move on to Greek and Roman Myths, and then fairy tales.
from maleaab:
We combine Noeo and unit studies. Right now we have Noeo Chemistry I and it is very very easy for my nearly 10 year old. I wish I had gotten Chemistry II. Level II would probably work for your 8 and 12 yo to do together if they are able to work together or if the 8yo is motivated.
To incorporate the 5yo, I would probably try getting the Level II packages and then incorporate single books or options from the Level I packages for the 5yo.
Noeo covers chemistry, biology and physics. We haven't tried bio or physics yet but they state on their website that although they are a Christian family, they worked hard to keep their programs balanced for Christians and non-Christian's alike so I doubt if there would be much about evolution or creation in the bio package.
For unit studies, I took a workbook meant for younger kids that was about animals and created unit studies around each section. The first section is Arctic and Antarctic animals. I went through and separated the animals in the workbook into two groups and lumped the ones that migrate between the two poles in with the Arctic. Then, I printed off worksheets, puzzles, etc from the 'net to add in. I scoured our library for books on each animal, on the tundra and taiga, and so on. So far we have studied caribou and reindeer, musk ox, lemmings, ermines, and we are on polar bears now. There are also lots of great websites and dvd's available too.
from nancymc:
My daughter (10) and I have been through the first 3 elementary Apologia books (astronomy, botany, flying creatures) and we absolutely LOVE them. Her learning style leans heavily to a Charlotte Mason-ish program, so the sit together and read then do projects really works well. I'm really impressed with them.
We'll do sea creatures then whatever the last one is (land creatures I suppose) and then she'll go straight into General Science in 7th grade, so the timing has worked out well. My son began the program in 6th grade with General Science (the elementary program wasn't available then, or I didn't know about it!) and we enjoy it for him as well, but I look forward to seeing how she does doing Apologia the whole way.
I do supplement here and there with some physical science experiments, that's about my only complaint, there aren't enough of that sort of thing (atoms and electricity, etc), but that's easy enough to add in.
Eyewitness Books has great books on just about everything science. There is generally one sub-subject to each pair of pages, which might be about right for him to get interested and reading. Books that we have/have read include volcanoes, minerals, ocean life, electricity, the list goes on. There are also some fairly easy readers (about your son's level) that include topics such as Pompeii, the Titanic, and lots of other science and history. Usborne has great history books on Vikings and Egyptians, Castles and Warfare that may also be appealing. I suspect that once he gets started on some exciting stuff that you will find he wants to keep reading. Once you get started on the Vikings, you could then read some of their myths, move on to Greek and Roman Myths, and then fairy tales.
from maleaab:
We combine Noeo and unit studies. Right now we have Noeo Chemistry I and it is very very easy for my nearly 10 year old. I wish I had gotten Chemistry II. Level II would probably work for your 8 and 12 yo to do together if they are able to work together or if the 8yo is motivated.
To incorporate the 5yo, I would probably try getting the Level II packages and then incorporate single books or options from the Level I packages for the 5yo.
Noeo covers chemistry, biology and physics. We haven't tried bio or physics yet but they state on their website that although they are a Christian family, they worked hard to keep their programs balanced for Christians and non-Christian's alike so I doubt if there would be much about evolution or creation in the bio package.
For unit studies, I took a workbook meant for younger kids that was about animals and created unit studies around each section. The first section is Arctic and Antarctic animals. I went through and separated the animals in the workbook into two groups and lumped the ones that migrate between the two poles in with the Arctic. Then, I printed off worksheets, puzzles, etc from the 'net to add in. I scoured our library for books on each animal, on the tundra and taiga, and so on. So far we have studied caribou and reindeer, musk ox, lemmings, ermines, and we are on polar bears now. There are also lots of great websites and dvd's available too.
from nancymc:
My daughter (10) and I have been through the first 3 elementary Apologia books (astronomy, botany, flying creatures) and we absolutely LOVE them. Her learning style leans heavily to a Charlotte Mason-ish program, so the sit together and read then do projects really works well. I'm really impressed with them.
We'll do sea creatures then whatever the last one is (land creatures I suppose) and then she'll go straight into General Science in 7th grade, so the timing has worked out well. My son began the program in 6th grade with General Science (the elementary program wasn't available then, or I didn't know about it!) and we enjoy it for him as well, but I look forward to seeing how she does doing Apologia the whole way.
I do supplement here and there with some physical science experiments, that's about my only complaint, there aren't enough of that sort of thing (atoms and electricity, etc), but that's easy enough to add in.
Creative Writing (for a younger child)
from bugsmomct:
Maybe a curriculum is not so much what you need then. Perhaps, look for a book (library or bookstore) that is a general writing guide (for teens or adults is fine). Then -you- look through it and pull out the main ideas of how they go about organizing the ideas. Once you've got a summary of the processes, pick maybe one style per month (news article, short story, opinion/persuasive, etc) and work on that style for the month, with either one larger project (as in a short story) or several smaller items (maybe a letter to the editor of the local paper about something of current interest - a new playground or the cancellation of some beloved town programs). You also might consider NaNoWriMo just for fun - National Novel Writing Month - nanowrimo.org. They have a Young Writers Program as well. The full version is to get a 50000 word novel done in one month (November) - it's not about a polished result but just getting the words flowing, no endless self-editing. The Youth version encourages the young writers to work with a mentor (they say teacher and student but anyhow...) to set a realistic but challenging goal for themselves. There are forums to connect with others online even! (and writing posts and online messages, emails, etc. is a whole other writing form FWIW)
A couple of ideas that may or may not be appropriate for your needs:haiku poetry is a very specific style with specific syllable counts you have to really boil down what you want to say to the essence. It's fun but it's also a very disciplined exercise.
Precis writing (I didn't get to this until high school but it has been very useful): basically, you write a standard essay or whatever (in school it was the standard two page essay on a topic). Then you reduce the length by half, while keeping the message the same. Then reduce by half again. What you end up with is a medium to large paragraph (6 to 8 sentences) that conveys the major ideas of what you want to say. Not something for a novelist necessarily but as a tool for organizing one's ideas, it can work great.
from hbbk20:
If she has any favorite books or aurthors you could have her....write a new ending to the book with her favorite charaters. Other things for that age are writing promps you write on a slip of paper and they pull out and write a paragraph or more on.....such as What is your favorite.....color, flavor, neighbor, summer time activity then she can write from there. Maybe ask your librarian for a resource in writing they are very helpful with things like this. Does she illustrate? My kids do a lot of illustration with their free writing, especially my oldest who does this on her own for fun. I would keep it as a fun thing more than a school work task, and try and keep it creative and low on criticism. No problem having her correct punctuation or spelling(editing) afterwards but don't knock the content LOL! She will probably be self critical of it and need time to go back and re-work it as she grows her ideas in the story.
from triplyblessed:
Have you seen the workbooks from Excellence in Writing? They are themed workbooks designed to help kids write. The one we have has DD pick out parts of stories and organise them in outlines and then re-tell the story. I believe they start at early elementary age.
from two_girls_mom2007:
I got at the Scholastic book sale a Scholastic book for creative writing for 1st - 3rd graders. There is a writing idea for every letter of the alphabet, actually more than one for some. They are reproducible sheets of themed paper to go with the idea as well. I think it would be young for a 3rd grader, but perfect for a 1st grader. Maybe you could find it on their website. If you are interested, let me know, and I will find the exact name of it for you.
Ideas include comparing and contrasting animals. Book reports. Holiday themed paragraphs (V for valentine's day). all kinds of different things. In the back it gives the basic symbols for editing as well.
from cl-susanmercy:
How about if you let her pick out a pretty journal, and then give her daily journal prompts so she can write in her journal (or dictate her entries to you if she'd rather do it that way). Letter of the Week has daily journal prompts for 6-8 year olds, organized by the month. (I think I need to re-visit these prompts for my ds, who loves to write in his journal but only does it sporadically ;-)
from kbmomto3:
I set up a writer's workshop, as described here, for my dd. It was great because it taught her the basics of writing in a very step-by-step manner and was totally self-paced. It sounds like it might be just the thing for your dd.
Maybe a curriculum is not so much what you need then. Perhaps, look for a book (library or bookstore) that is a general writing guide (for teens or adults is fine). Then -you- look through it and pull out the main ideas of how they go about organizing the ideas. Once you've got a summary of the processes, pick maybe one style per month (news article, short story, opinion/persuasive, etc) and work on that style for the month, with either one larger project (as in a short story) or several smaller items (maybe a letter to the editor of the local paper about something of current interest - a new playground or the cancellation of some beloved town programs). You also might consider NaNoWriMo just for fun - National Novel Writing Month - nanowrimo.org. They have a Young Writers Program as well. The full version is to get a 50000 word novel done in one month (November) - it's not about a polished result but just getting the words flowing, no endless self-editing. The Youth version encourages the young writers to work with a mentor (they say teacher and student but anyhow...) to set a realistic but challenging goal for themselves. There are forums to connect with others online even! (and writing posts and online messages, emails, etc. is a whole other writing form FWIW)
A couple of ideas that may or may not be appropriate for your needs:haiku poetry is a very specific style with specific syllable counts you have to really boil down what you want to say to the essence. It's fun but it's also a very disciplined exercise.
Precis writing (I didn't get to this until high school but it has been very useful): basically, you write a standard essay or whatever (in school it was the standard two page essay on a topic). Then you reduce the length by half, while keeping the message the same. Then reduce by half again. What you end up with is a medium to large paragraph (6 to 8 sentences) that conveys the major ideas of what you want to say. Not something for a novelist necessarily but as a tool for organizing one's ideas, it can work great.
from hbbk20:
If she has any favorite books or aurthors you could have her....write a new ending to the book with her favorite charaters. Other things for that age are writing promps you write on a slip of paper and they pull out and write a paragraph or more on.....such as What is your favorite.....color, flavor, neighbor, summer time activity then she can write from there. Maybe ask your librarian for a resource in writing they are very helpful with things like this. Does she illustrate? My kids do a lot of illustration with their free writing, especially my oldest who does this on her own for fun. I would keep it as a fun thing more than a school work task, and try and keep it creative and low on criticism. No problem having her correct punctuation or spelling(editing) afterwards but don't knock the content LOL! She will probably be self critical of it and need time to go back and re-work it as she grows her ideas in the story.
from triplyblessed:
Have you seen the workbooks from Excellence in Writing? They are themed workbooks designed to help kids write. The one we have has DD pick out parts of stories and organise them in outlines and then re-tell the story. I believe they start at early elementary age.
from two_girls_mom2007:
I got at the Scholastic book sale a Scholastic book for creative writing for 1st - 3rd graders. There is a writing idea for every letter of the alphabet, actually more than one for some. They are reproducible sheets of themed paper to go with the idea as well. I think it would be young for a 3rd grader, but perfect for a 1st grader. Maybe you could find it on their website. If you are interested, let me know, and I will find the exact name of it for you.
Ideas include comparing and contrasting animals. Book reports. Holiday themed paragraphs (V for valentine's day). all kinds of different things. In the back it gives the basic symbols for editing as well.
from cl-susanmercy:
How about if you let her pick out a pretty journal, and then give her daily journal prompts so she can write in her journal (or dictate her entries to you if she'd rather do it that way). Letter of the Week has daily journal prompts for 6-8 year olds, organized by the month. (I think I need to re-visit these prompts for my ds, who loves to write in his journal but only does it sporadically ;-)
from kbmomto3:
I set up a writer's workshop, as described here, for my dd. It was great because it taught her the basics of writing in a very step-by-step manner and was totally self-paced. It sounds like it might be just the thing for your dd.
Spelling
from mom2adeline:
I've spent hours studying different spelling programs and didn't like any of them--thank goodness for online samples!! I have been using Dr. Fry's 1000 Instant Words--The most common words for teaching, reading, writing, and spelling. The book gets progressively harder and is divided into groups of five words. I usually ask her to learn 5 to 10 words at a time. She is free to pick her method for learning and then I ask her to spell for me. We've also used the dictionary for spelling. I just pick words and ask her to spell. We go over spelling rules as I encounter the need for it.
from mykidsmom8898:
I bought Spelling Power when we first started homeschooling about a 1 1/2 years ago, but for us personally it has been a waste of time and money. My son was in public school from K to the middle of 3rd grade, and I was surprised that he was never given much in the way of spelling test. He's a decent speller, but what works best for us is dictation. My son gets to practice his typing skills, learn good punctuation and practice his spelling. We are very relaxed homeschoolers so it works for us.
from cl-susanmercy:
We've been using Spelling Power for several years now. DD and I both like how the words are organized by spelling rule, and we also like that you don't have to drill a spelling list for a week and then test on Friday. Practicing just the words that trip her up has been a big boost for her! We did a a hiatus from Spelling Power for a few months (we took a trip down the Sequential Spelling road) but by mutual decision, returned to Spelling Power, which was a much better fit for us.
I've spent hours studying different spelling programs and didn't like any of them--thank goodness for online samples!! I have been using Dr. Fry's 1000 Instant Words--The most common words for teaching, reading, writing, and spelling. The book gets progressively harder and is divided into groups of five words. I usually ask her to learn 5 to 10 words at a time. She is free to pick her method for learning and then I ask her to spell for me. We've also used the dictionary for spelling. I just pick words and ask her to spell. We go over spelling rules as I encounter the need for it.
from mykidsmom8898:
I bought Spelling Power when we first started homeschooling about a 1 1/2 years ago, but for us personally it has been a waste of time and money. My son was in public school from K to the middle of 3rd grade, and I was surprised that he was never given much in the way of spelling test. He's a decent speller, but what works best for us is dictation. My son gets to practice his typing skills, learn good punctuation and practice his spelling. We are very relaxed homeschoolers so it works for us.
from cl-susanmercy:
We've been using Spelling Power for several years now. DD and I both like how the words are organized by spelling rule, and we also like that you don't have to drill a spelling list for a week and then test on Friday. Practicing just the words that trip her up has been a big boost for her! We did a a hiatus from Spelling Power for a few months (we took a trip down the Sequential Spelling road) but by mutual decision, returned to Spelling Power, which was a much better fit for us.
Math
from hbbk20:
My 12 year old....really did not like the Math approach at regular school, has trouble with rote memory and had little interest in textbook type problem after problem. The first year we did lots of non-text Math...so I could prove to her she could do math! We did kitchen Math, Workshop measuments, measuring and weighing and comparing, Math at the grocery store with comparisons....we did a lower level summer catch-up series as our only paperwork and still had to go slowly.
Then we went to "Developmental Math" and "Key to" series MAth with extra print outs, to add in to doing our hands on Math....this was very Mastery type but in the Developmental way. It gave lots of real world examples and makes it real...finally I have caught her making up problems and seeing Math as something she can handle, getting Math confidence back. She still has memory issues with rote memory and "facts" so we let her use a lot of Math charts so she can see the numbers in relation to other numbers...as she is more visual and kinsthetic, we have used the Math blocks....esp when teaching her little sister "Miquon" series math and my 12 year old will say....oh that is how that works, from her little sisters lessons with Miquon so we all love thiat series.
YET, it takes a lot of time and for my 1st grader I wanted to add something else to Math. This year is the first year I am using a big program for my 12 year old in Math. I decided to go with "Teaching Textbooks grade 7" because I want her to try and do more on her own now that she is less afraid or discouraged. For this year in 2nd grade we are going to still use Miquon but also add in a Horizons page or two, she will get the fun and discovery method we love with Miquon and also get more of a traditional method with Horizon mixed in and I hope she will have the patience for both this year. My new K kid will watch our Miquon lessons as she has done last year and also has the K series Horizons book but I will let her go at a pace that works for her. She likes numbers and has been exposed to good, happy, Math play and little frustration so hopefully we can keep up the good work.
from cl-phacademy:
Saxon was great for my oldest, but torture for DS2. We switched to Singapore, and he was much happier. When DS3 came along and was needing math, we used Singapore. It works well for him, but sometimes is a bit too fast paced for him. When I see him needing extra help, we pull out other materials, and supplement for a while. It usually doesn't take more than a week, then we're back to Singapore. I like that a lot of problems are shown different ways so the child can work the best way for him.
from cl-susanmercy:
We've done a bit of flip-flopping (Singapore to MUS and then back to Singapore) and I don't see that it hurt dd in any way. Moving to MUS got her solid in multiplication/division, which she was struggling with. It was at her request for this year that we moved back to Singapore.
from thesummerhouse:
Have you looked at Horizons? it's reasonably priced, it's colorful..with a good amount of practice. From there we went to ALEKs math online as they got older. We love ALEKS!!! They offer a 1 month free trial for homeschoolers. It's soo different from other program out there. It was developed by a professor from UC Irvine and it uses artificial intelligence. My kid used it from 6-10th grades-up through Algebra 2.
from m00minmamma:
You might look into Teaching Textbooks. It's got about 120 lessons per grade level, so the expectation of one lesson per day would be clear and reasonable. It can be completely computer-based, completely paper-based or anywhere in between.
We actually didn't like TT much because we found it was tough to skim through unnecessary explanations and practice that my kids didn't need -- my kids were used to a very quick pace of presentation and mastery through Singapore Math. But for families that are looking for daily structure and reinforcement, especially with a learner who wishes to work independently, TT is a great choice. They have a good demo on their website.
from kathlh:
Math-u-see is laid out with one page per day in mind. You'd need to look at the programme to get an idea where your ds would start. We've only used it in the Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1&2 and Geometry levels so far. We don't have experience with any of the lower levels but I know others here have.
from nancymc:
We're big Math U See fans here, so definitely look into that one. I do think you can expect some transition issues at first with any program you look into, with any of these programs they will have to adjust to the way the information is presented (which is more than likely MUCH different than ps).
Look at the placement test for MUS and see where he is there as well, the approach to it is much different than TT however, in that it uses a mastery approach, focusing on one area all year (for example, one year on division...one on fractions, etc). It does spiral in old concepts each week, but just for review. My kids do well with this approach, there is enough of the old to keep their skills current but not so much they get irritated.
In MUS there are 3 or 4 pages of new concepts only, then a few that include the new plus review. Word problems are a big part too, they are on every page. For my kids I have them watch the DVD, then do the first page of the new concept (called lesson practice), if it's clear to me that they have the new concept, we move onto the systematic review pages. Sometimes we spend the entire week on that lesson, sometimes they do the test after just a few days, it's really easy to judge when they have it and when they need to spend more focused time. I do always make them do at least one page of systematic review so that they are practicing both new stuff and old stuff.
Anyway, my point in all that long-winded information is that with this program it's been easy for me to teach the new and review the old without it getting tedious. I'm sure that's true with most programs, but I know that many programs believe in a LOT of review, and a LOT of problems each day, which my son would thoroughly balk at, so this works well for him.
It's also just a logical approach to math, which I appreciate, lots of real life applications, my kids instinctually get math, and I almost do too!
from arachnea:
We loved Lial- and for his level- Lial Basic Mathmetics.
We used Lial with our youngest dd who LOVES math! They are college books- don't be put off by that they are soooo well explained and I was able to find used one easily- teachers and students. Many of my friends switched to it and their kids thanked us for finding something that THEY could understand from the lesson instructions.
It covers everything he will need to be sucessful in higher maths.
As far as too much review- keep in mind texts include those for kids who need it. If your child has mastered them skip the review sections! Or do them once a week- or do one problem from each section. Be flexible and use whatever you choose to buy in a way that suits your child.
We used all of this series as well as Calculus with her. At 16 when she was taking placement tests for Dual Enrollment she tested out of all her college algebra courses. The test administrator came to talk to me and wanted to know what school she went to! When I told him- homeschool and we use Lial he said Ahhhhh no wonder she did so well on the tests!
My older two used her books to help them through their college math courses. Often the books their professors choose were not as well laid out.
Here is the link to their Algebra series http://www.lialalgebra.com/ you can see examples and read more about them her.
Here is a link to their free online text tutorials- http://www.interactmath.com/asp/wizardframe.htm
It would give you an idea of what the coursework. You have to install a small program (also free) to run it- but you can work through problems with it.
My 12 year old....really did not like the Math approach at regular school, has trouble with rote memory and had little interest in textbook type problem after problem. The first year we did lots of non-text Math...so I could prove to her she could do math! We did kitchen Math, Workshop measuments, measuring and weighing and comparing, Math at the grocery store with comparisons....we did a lower level summer catch-up series as our only paperwork and still had to go slowly.
Then we went to "Developmental Math" and "Key to" series MAth with extra print outs, to add in to doing our hands on Math....this was very Mastery type but in the Developmental way. It gave lots of real world examples and makes it real...finally I have caught her making up problems and seeing Math as something she can handle, getting Math confidence back. She still has memory issues with rote memory and "facts" so we let her use a lot of Math charts so she can see the numbers in relation to other numbers...as she is more visual and kinsthetic, we have used the Math blocks....esp when teaching her little sister "Miquon" series math and my 12 year old will say....oh that is how that works, from her little sisters lessons with Miquon so we all love thiat series.
YET, it takes a lot of time and for my 1st grader I wanted to add something else to Math. This year is the first year I am using a big program for my 12 year old in Math. I decided to go with "Teaching Textbooks grade 7" because I want her to try and do more on her own now that she is less afraid or discouraged. For this year in 2nd grade we are going to still use Miquon but also add in a Horizons page or two, she will get the fun and discovery method we love with Miquon and also get more of a traditional method with Horizon mixed in and I hope she will have the patience for both this year. My new K kid will watch our Miquon lessons as she has done last year and also has the K series Horizons book but I will let her go at a pace that works for her. She likes numbers and has been exposed to good, happy, Math play and little frustration so hopefully we can keep up the good work.
from cl-phacademy:
Saxon was great for my oldest, but torture for DS2. We switched to Singapore, and he was much happier. When DS3 came along and was needing math, we used Singapore. It works well for him, but sometimes is a bit too fast paced for him. When I see him needing extra help, we pull out other materials, and supplement for a while. It usually doesn't take more than a week, then we're back to Singapore. I like that a lot of problems are shown different ways so the child can work the best way for him.
from cl-susanmercy:
We've done a bit of flip-flopping (Singapore to MUS and then back to Singapore) and I don't see that it hurt dd in any way. Moving to MUS got her solid in multiplication/division, which she was struggling with. It was at her request for this year that we moved back to Singapore.
from thesummerhouse:
Have you looked at Horizons? it's reasonably priced, it's colorful..with a good amount of practice. From there we went to ALEKs math online as they got older. We love ALEKS!!! They offer a 1 month free trial for homeschoolers. It's soo different from other program out there. It was developed by a professor from UC Irvine and it uses artificial intelligence. My kid used it from 6-10th grades-up through Algebra 2.
from m00minmamma:
You might look into Teaching Textbooks. It's got about 120 lessons per grade level, so the expectation of one lesson per day would be clear and reasonable. It can be completely computer-based, completely paper-based or anywhere in between.
We actually didn't like TT much because we found it was tough to skim through unnecessary explanations and practice that my kids didn't need -- my kids were used to a very quick pace of presentation and mastery through Singapore Math. But for families that are looking for daily structure and reinforcement, especially with a learner who wishes to work independently, TT is a great choice. They have a good demo on their website.
from kathlh:
Math-u-see is laid out with one page per day in mind. You'd need to look at the programme to get an idea where your ds would start. We've only used it in the Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1&2 and Geometry levels so far. We don't have experience with any of the lower levels but I know others here have.
from nancymc:
We're big Math U See fans here, so definitely look into that one. I do think you can expect some transition issues at first with any program you look into, with any of these programs they will have to adjust to the way the information is presented (which is more than likely MUCH different than ps).
Look at the placement test for MUS and see where he is there as well, the approach to it is much different than TT however, in that it uses a mastery approach, focusing on one area all year (for example, one year on division...one on fractions, etc). It does spiral in old concepts each week, but just for review. My kids do well with this approach, there is enough of the old to keep their skills current but not so much they get irritated.
In MUS there are 3 or 4 pages of new concepts only, then a few that include the new plus review. Word problems are a big part too, they are on every page. For my kids I have them watch the DVD, then do the first page of the new concept (called lesson practice), if it's clear to me that they have the new concept, we move onto the systematic review pages. Sometimes we spend the entire week on that lesson, sometimes they do the test after just a few days, it's really easy to judge when they have it and when they need to spend more focused time. I do always make them do at least one page of systematic review so that they are practicing both new stuff and old stuff.
Anyway, my point in all that long-winded information is that with this program it's been easy for me to teach the new and review the old without it getting tedious. I'm sure that's true with most programs, but I know that many programs believe in a LOT of review, and a LOT of problems each day, which my son would thoroughly balk at, so this works well for him.
It's also just a logical approach to math, which I appreciate, lots of real life applications, my kids instinctually get math, and I almost do too!
from arachnea:
We loved Lial- and for his level- Lial Basic Mathmetics.
We used Lial with our youngest dd who LOVES math! They are college books- don't be put off by that they are soooo well explained and I was able to find used one easily- teachers and students. Many of my friends switched to it and their kids thanked us for finding something that THEY could understand from the lesson instructions.
It covers everything he will need to be sucessful in higher maths.
As far as too much review- keep in mind texts include those for kids who need it. If your child has mastered them skip the review sections! Or do them once a week- or do one problem from each section. Be flexible and use whatever you choose to buy in a way that suits your child.
We used all of this series as well as Calculus with her. At 16 when she was taking placement tests for Dual Enrollment she tested out of all her college algebra courses. The test administrator came to talk to me and wanted to know what school she went to! When I told him- homeschool and we use Lial he said Ahhhhh no wonder she did so well on the tests!
My older two used her books to help them through their college math courses. Often the books their professors choose were not as well laid out.
Here is the link to their Algebra series http://www.lialalgebra.com/ you can see examples and read more about them her.
Here is a link to their free online text tutorials- http://www.interactmath.com/asp/wizardframe.htm
It would give you an idea of what the coursework. You have to install a small program (also free) to run it- but you can work through problems with it.
Organization and Home Management
from cl-phacademy:
I don't "do" schedules for our homeschooling. I think I probably do a lot like you... just go with it. The way I manage to feel like I'm doing something, or doing right by my son, is to write down what we did- after it is done. Schedules didn't work, and if I write down before we do stuff, I end up erasing or using white-out (I tend to use a pen nowadays). I used to use a teacher planner book from an office store, but a couple of years ago, I made my own pages up using a microsoft word or publisher. I print the blamk pages out, and 3-hole punch them and put them in a binder. If I leave it open on a table with a pen, I can remember to write in it. I can see that I'm doing stuff, even when I feel like I'm not doing a lot. Having subjects lined up by day helps me to see what we have done, and what we still need to do so I don['t forget anything. Some people call this way of doing things "journalling".
When I started off, I bought a pocket-size notepad, and dated the top of a page and wrote things down as a list of things done. Each day, I'd start a new page. Sometimes I'd write a page, sometimes more, sometimes less. Then I moved on to planner books, then to my current printed-myself format. When I was homeschooling all 3 of my boys, I bought a planner book for each boy so there would be plenty of room to write, and besides, it made it easier to distinguish who was doing what. This may sound complicated, but it was the easiest way for me to feel organized without doing a lot.
Another thing I did was buy plastic bins. These are about a 3 gallon size. I removed the lids, and stand the books in them upright, so the books stick out the top. The books are about the width of the bin, so it looks fairly neat. If you have 2 bins, you can move the completed books into the second bin, and it makes it easy to select something else that needs done. If you are using computer programs or online resources, get a piece of cardboard and write on it what the subject or program is, and place it in the bin so it isn't forgotten. When you're done, the empty bin can be stacked under teh now full one, and you can move the books into the other bin the next day. This keeps materials together so they don't get lost, too. (we used to have a problem with misplaced books).
The tv... we used to have that problem- me included. My solution was to get a piece of fabric and cover the tv up- out of sight, out of mind. It didn't come off until things were done. This helped me to realize that tv really was sucking us in for a lot of wasted time. Now the fabric is gone, but the tx isn't on all the time either. We established a good habit and have managed to keep it.
I don't "do" schedules for our homeschooling. I think I probably do a lot like you... just go with it. The way I manage to feel like I'm doing something, or doing right by my son, is to write down what we did- after it is done. Schedules didn't work, and if I write down before we do stuff, I end up erasing or using white-out (I tend to use a pen nowadays). I used to use a teacher planner book from an office store, but a couple of years ago, I made my own pages up using a microsoft word or publisher. I print the blamk pages out, and 3-hole punch them and put them in a binder. If I leave it open on a table with a pen, I can remember to write in it. I can see that I'm doing stuff, even when I feel like I'm not doing a lot. Having subjects lined up by day helps me to see what we have done, and what we still need to do so I don['t forget anything. Some people call this way of doing things "journalling".
When I started off, I bought a pocket-size notepad, and dated the top of a page and wrote things down as a list of things done. Each day, I'd start a new page. Sometimes I'd write a page, sometimes more, sometimes less. Then I moved on to planner books, then to my current printed-myself format. When I was homeschooling all 3 of my boys, I bought a planner book for each boy so there would be plenty of room to write, and besides, it made it easier to distinguish who was doing what. This may sound complicated, but it was the easiest way for me to feel organized without doing a lot.
Another thing I did was buy plastic bins. These are about a 3 gallon size. I removed the lids, and stand the books in them upright, so the books stick out the top. The books are about the width of the bin, so it looks fairly neat. If you have 2 bins, you can move the completed books into the second bin, and it makes it easy to select something else that needs done. If you are using computer programs or online resources, get a piece of cardboard and write on it what the subject or program is, and place it in the bin so it isn't forgotten. When you're done, the empty bin can be stacked under teh now full one, and you can move the books into the other bin the next day. This keeps materials together so they don't get lost, too. (we used to have a problem with misplaced books).
The tv... we used to have that problem- me included. My solution was to get a piece of fabric and cover the tv up- out of sight, out of mind. It didn't come off until things were done. This helped me to realize that tv really was sucking us in for a lot of wasted time. Now the fabric is gone, but the tx isn't on all the time either. We established a good habit and have managed to keep it.
Hsing While Pregnant
from jennyberm:
While I do try to keep everyone busy and involved in classes and such (because that's one less kid I have to watch during that time), I make sure we have at least two days a week where we have nothing to do. Last week, we actually had three days with nothing that "had to" be done except for one morning ballet class and by the end of those three days I felt like a new woman. The days suddenly had 24 hours again instead of about 6, lol. I also have a park day on Fridays that I NEVER miss. Kids have to be dying for me not to go to that park day because it's the one place we can go and ALL relax and it's at the point in the week when I need that the most. The last two weeks I've been trying to get everyone doing a chore chart too and that's made a difference. It's takes some of the load off of me to do everything and it puts a bit of routine in the day too (I have them set out as morning, afternoon, and evening chores, nothing really specific). I balk at routine too and can never stick with one but just having the things to do laid out like that and check-off-able makes things go a little smoother.
While I do try to keep everyone busy and involved in classes and such (because that's one less kid I have to watch during that time), I make sure we have at least two days a week where we have nothing to do. Last week, we actually had three days with nothing that "had to" be done except for one morning ballet class and by the end of those three days I felt like a new woman. The days suddenly had 24 hours again instead of about 6, lol. I also have a park day on Fridays that I NEVER miss. Kids have to be dying for me not to go to that park day because it's the one place we can go and ALL relax and it's at the point in the week when I need that the most. The last two weeks I've been trying to get everyone doing a chore chart too and that's made a difference. It's takes some of the load off of me to do everything and it puts a bit of routine in the day too (I have them set out as morning, afternoon, and evening chores, nothing really specific). I balk at routine too and can never stick with one but just having the things to do laid out like that and check-off-able makes things go a little smoother.
Reading
from jujsky:
Hooked on Phonics Pre-K was really good for my DD. We started her on it right after she turned 3. She already knew a lot of her capital letters prior to starting. I mostly liked HOP for the games. They had a lot of creative games like Letter Lake (you stick paperclips on the letter cards then fish for them with a magnet) Hop to the Letter (spread the letters out on the floor and hop to them) Go Fish, Musical Letters (like musical squares), and Letter Labels (you give the child post-its with letters on them and they have to label things in the house that start with each letter).
The reason DD knew so many of her letters before we started HOP was due to playing with bathtub letters, and watching the Leap Frog Letter Factory video. That video teaches phonics as well.
from mizzou_mommy:
Starfall is very popular in my house. It's one the tools that helped my DD learn to read. She liked the the Leapfrog videos - Letter Factory, Word Factory and Storybook Factory, too. DS watches them now, too. He's 2.5 and is sounding out CVC words and has a slew a sight words. They are only allowed to watch one hour of tv plus 30 mins. each of computer time per day. We, also, read together a *lot*.
Hooked on Phonics Pre-K was really good for my DD. We started her on it right after she turned 3. She already knew a lot of her capital letters prior to starting. I mostly liked HOP for the games. They had a lot of creative games like Letter Lake (you stick paperclips on the letter cards then fish for them with a magnet) Hop to the Letter (spread the letters out on the floor and hop to them) Go Fish, Musical Letters (like musical squares), and Letter Labels (you give the child post-its with letters on them and they have to label things in the house that start with each letter).
The reason DD knew so many of her letters before we started HOP was due to playing with bathtub letters, and watching the Leap Frog Letter Factory video. That video teaches phonics as well.
from mizzou_mommy:
Starfall is very popular in my house. It's one the tools that helped my DD learn to read. She liked the the Leapfrog videos - Letter Factory, Word Factory and Storybook Factory, too. DS watches them now, too. He's 2.5 and is sounding out CVC words and has a slew a sight words. They are only allowed to watch one hour of tv plus 30 mins. each of computer time per day. We, also, read together a *lot*.
Preschool
from jazzymomintx:
I think you are on the right track with not getting anything to formal just yet. Preschoolers learn so much through play and interaction with parents.
My preschoolers all loved Kumon workbooks. I used Rod and Staff preschool books with her last year, and she has really enjoyed those as well. She asks to "do school" everyday and gets disappointed if we don't have time. The workbooks are really simple and require zero prep work. They involve cutting and coloring activities. They are black and white, though.
http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/
Here are some other tips for homeschooling preschool.
from ummibrahim:
Free play w/ various building toys/puzzles/dress up/ etc., Read Read Read together, playdough & other sensory play, water play, library story time, nature walks, bake/cook together, daily living tasks, have lots of art supplies available to explore, have fun!...avoid worksheets and 'crafts'. keep it open ended and child-centered.
I think you are on the right track with not getting anything to formal just yet. Preschoolers learn so much through play and interaction with parents.
My preschoolers all loved Kumon workbooks. I used Rod and Staff preschool books with her last year, and she has really enjoyed those as well. She asks to "do school" everyday and gets disappointed if we don't have time. The workbooks are really simple and require zero prep work. They involve cutting and coloring activities. They are black and white, though.
http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/
Here are some other tips for homeschooling preschool.
from ummibrahim:
Free play w/ various building toys/puzzles/dress up/ etc., Read Read Read together, playdough & other sensory play, water play, library story time, nature walks, bake/cook together, daily living tasks, have lots of art supplies available to explore, have fun!...avoid worksheets and 'crafts'. keep it open ended and child-centered.
K12
from momwifefriendedie:
did use K12 for Laura Beth for her K year. It's a great program based on those core concepts by Hirsch (?). It was for the most part engaging and it definitely based it's phonics reading approach on a multisensory system which is great for even those kids with dsylexia and it was all free. The downside it that it definitely had structure and guidelines to follow so it felt like school. Of course, that could be because my child does have learning problems so all work feels like work to us.
from treddlesewingmachine:
used it last year for my 2nd grade daughter who was reading much higher. She was able to do third grade language arts (so that she wasn't skipping too much material.) She also was able to "assess" (take the lesson assessments) for a bunch of the math so that she was able to skip over the beginning of the year review that was totally boring for her because she played math computer games all summer. She loves the science and history, and art was fun too. Music was the only subject that we didn't care for because it was very slow. My son will be starting 1st grade this year with the same program. We also have several friends with learning disabilities who use the program and are progressing pretty well because they can go slowly, but completely. (The only issue that one child has is that she has some visual processing issues and the materials do not come in large type, and type actually gets smaller as the grades go up. But she is working around that.) My kids seem challenged by the program, and we can do as much or little of the activities as we want as long as they can answer the questions for the assessments at the end of each lesson. (That was how we ended up doing music, I taught just the objectives, then we tested. This year we had the option of switching to a language so we will be doing Spanish instead.)
Some people feel overwhelmed by the program, especially with multiple kids, but there is leeway in what you have to do. If a child understands the math with a simple explanation, don't do all the exercises that they recommend. Likewise with grammar or spelling.
I like the classical/core approach - very good reading material, complete and not totally Eurocentric History, science with an experiment almost every lesson. Art and music have classical works that they look/listen and compare. I feel that the curriculum is much better than what my public school offered, (my daughter came home at the end of the 1st grade year with a science notebook that had not been written in, too much emphasis on state testing, too little on science and the world around, no art or music, etc.)
We get ours through a charter school, so we get it free. It means that my son gets his speech therapy and OT, but we also have to do state testing and show weekly progress. (There are ways around that too!) My daughter really loves it, and my very active son is excited to start in the fall, and more excited that he will be learning some things that his sister did not have because she didn't start at the beginning! If you are considering this, find someone else who is in the program and look at their materials, and online lessons. (Lots of the lower grades material is not online.) I really like this program, but if I get in the situation I have to pay for it, I think I am going to look for other curriculum because this one is so expensive because of all the online things that make planning and use easy to do.
did use K12 for Laura Beth for her K year. It's a great program based on those core concepts by Hirsch (?). It was for the most part engaging and it definitely based it's phonics reading approach on a multisensory system which is great for even those kids with dsylexia and it was all free. The downside it that it definitely had structure and guidelines to follow so it felt like school. Of course, that could be because my child does have learning problems so all work feels like work to us.
from treddlesewingmachine:
used it last year for my 2nd grade daughter who was reading much higher. She was able to do third grade language arts (so that she wasn't skipping too much material.) She also was able to "assess" (take the lesson assessments) for a bunch of the math so that she was able to skip over the beginning of the year review that was totally boring for her because she played math computer games all summer. She loves the science and history, and art was fun too. Music was the only subject that we didn't care for because it was very slow. My son will be starting 1st grade this year with the same program. We also have several friends with learning disabilities who use the program and are progressing pretty well because they can go slowly, but completely. (The only issue that one child has is that she has some visual processing issues and the materials do not come in large type, and type actually gets smaller as the grades go up. But she is working around that.) My kids seem challenged by the program, and we can do as much or little of the activities as we want as long as they can answer the questions for the assessments at the end of each lesson. (That was how we ended up doing music, I taught just the objectives, then we tested. This year we had the option of switching to a language so we will be doing Spanish instead.)
Some people feel overwhelmed by the program, especially with multiple kids, but there is leeway in what you have to do. If a child understands the math with a simple explanation, don't do all the exercises that they recommend. Likewise with grammar or spelling.
I like the classical/core approach - very good reading material, complete and not totally Eurocentric History, science with an experiment almost every lesson. Art and music have classical works that they look/listen and compare. I feel that the curriculum is much better than what my public school offered, (my daughter came home at the end of the 1st grade year with a science notebook that had not been written in, too much emphasis on state testing, too little on science and the world around, no art or music, etc.)
We get ours through a charter school, so we get it free. It means that my son gets his speech therapy and OT, but we also have to do state testing and show weekly progress. (There are ways around that too!) My daughter really loves it, and my very active son is excited to start in the fall, and more excited that he will be learning some things that his sister did not have because she didn't start at the beginning! If you are considering this, find someone else who is in the program and look at their materials, and online lessons. (Lots of the lower grades material is not online.) I really like this program, but if I get in the situation I have to pay for it, I think I am going to look for other curriculum because this one is so expensive because of all the online things that make planning and use easy to do.
Sonlight
from thesummerhouse:
Have you looked at Sonlight? They use a lot of literature-you get to read to your kids. When my boys were young, they would color or draw while I read to them. I have 2 boys so I know they love to move. I would also suggest reading For the Children's Sake. She talks about doing 15 minutes per subject in the younger years.
My sons are now 14 and 16. I would just have to say...enjoy them now. It's all worth it and I would do it all again.
A friend told me about it when I started homeschooling 5 years ago. They scedule out the reading and lessons on either a 4 or 5 day plan. I use the 4 day and leave Fridays open for fun classes, field trips and dr. appts.
With Sonlight you won't have to spend much time planning. Take a look at their catalog-all real books. And it will be fun for you too.
Then add in maybe Horizon Math, Handwriting and some science and you are all set.
from cl-susanmercy:
We use Sonlight, and it's great--my kids do something active while I read to them--ride their scooters or bikes, swing, draw, build with Legos, make jewelry, play with clay, etc. I can't imagine making either one of them sitting for long periods of time. They can, of course, if necessary--but I save that for things away from home, like church, honors choir, etc.
from mommy24angels:
We bought the P3/4 Newcomer package and love it!!! We have a 2 and 3 yo so I thought we'd get lots of use out of them. I asked all the grandparents to chip in and bought it as a bday present when Colton turned 3 in April. I'd totally recommend it. Even my 10 and 13 yo listen in on some of the stories :-) Have fun!!!
from leach0976:
We have used pieces of P 3/4 this summer as a warm up for this fall when we will be using P 4/5. My kids love the collection books and we have read them over and over this summer! I didn't use an IG, we just did our own thing. I let the kids choose the stories, and some days we read 5 or 6 books other days we read only a couple of pages. My DD 3 (4 next month) loves all the stories we are reading, and our 5 and 6 yr old DS love them too. Even our 12 and 10 yr old love listening in for story time!
Have you looked at Sonlight? They use a lot of literature-you get to read to your kids. When my boys were young, they would color or draw while I read to them. I have 2 boys so I know they love to move. I would also suggest reading For the Children's Sake. She talks about doing 15 minutes per subject in the younger years.
My sons are now 14 and 16. I would just have to say...enjoy them now. It's all worth it and I would do it all again.
A friend told me about it when I started homeschooling 5 years ago. They scedule out the reading and lessons on either a 4 or 5 day plan. I use the 4 day and leave Fridays open for fun classes, field trips and dr. appts.
With Sonlight you won't have to spend much time planning. Take a look at their catalog-all real books. And it will be fun for you too.
Then add in maybe Horizon Math, Handwriting and some science and you are all set.
from cl-susanmercy:
We use Sonlight, and it's great--my kids do something active while I read to them--ride their scooters or bikes, swing, draw, build with Legos, make jewelry, play with clay, etc. I can't imagine making either one of them sitting for long periods of time. They can, of course, if necessary--but I save that for things away from home, like church, honors choir, etc.
from mommy24angels:
We bought the P3/4 Newcomer package and love it!!! We have a 2 and 3 yo so I thought we'd get lots of use out of them. I asked all the grandparents to chip in and bought it as a bday present when Colton turned 3 in April. I'd totally recommend it. Even my 10 and 13 yo listen in on some of the stories :-) Have fun!!!
from leach0976:
We have used pieces of P 3/4 this summer as a warm up for this fall when we will be using P 4/5. My kids love the collection books and we have read them over and over this summer! I didn't use an IG, we just did our own thing. I let the kids choose the stories, and some days we read 5 or 6 books other days we read only a couple of pages. My DD 3 (4 next month) loves all the stories we are reading, and our 5 and 6 yr old DS love them too. Even our 12 and 10 yr old love listening in for story time!
Carletta's Website
http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/
Chock full of great info on everything from getting started, to curriculum, to learning styles, to dealing with naysayers--and lots of stuff between!
Chock full of great info on everything from getting started, to curriculum, to learning styles, to dealing with naysayers--and lots of stuff between!
Abeka
from jazzymomintx:
I am worried that you are setting yourself up for failure with the Abeka DVD program. If your child does not like sitting for long periods of time, the Abeka DVD program is not going to be a good fit, especially not at the level where you have to move at Abeka's pace. If you do choose the DVD program, for your own sanity, go with the one where you can move at your own pace.
It sounds like you may feel intimidated by the thought of teaching your children and keeping them on track, but it is really so simple. Programs like Abeka come with lesson plans that tell you exactly what to do/say. I am not at all telling you not to use the DVD program. I just want you to know that you are capable of teaching on your own. That being said, go with the DVD program if that's what you really want to use. It really could work out well for you. But if it doesn't work out, don't consider yourself a failure at homeschooling, just realize it may be the teaching method that isn't a good fit.
I do not have anything against Abeka - it is actually the program we use and love. But I do think moms can set themselves up for failure with this program. It contains MANY schoolish activities that are just unnecessary and will take a long time to complete. We probably do 1/4 of the work the lesson plans call for and it has been MORE than enough to teach my son everything he needs to know.
Make sure you understand the concept of busy work. Abeka lesson plans contain plenty of activities that are just that - stuff that is just meant to keep your child busy and does not add anything to the learning experience. Learn to identify this stuff and skip it - especially if you have a wiggly little boy. Don't feel like you have to do all of your lessons at the kitchen table. You can read to him while he plays with playdoh, digs in the sandbox, plays with matchbox cars, etc.
I am worried that you are setting yourself up for failure with the Abeka DVD program. If your child does not like sitting for long periods of time, the Abeka DVD program is not going to be a good fit, especially not at the level where you have to move at Abeka's pace. If you do choose the DVD program, for your own sanity, go with the one where you can move at your own pace.
It sounds like you may feel intimidated by the thought of teaching your children and keeping them on track, but it is really so simple. Programs like Abeka come with lesson plans that tell you exactly what to do/say. I am not at all telling you not to use the DVD program. I just want you to know that you are capable of teaching on your own. That being said, go with the DVD program if that's what you really want to use. It really could work out well for you. But if it doesn't work out, don't consider yourself a failure at homeschooling, just realize it may be the teaching method that isn't a good fit.
I do not have anything against Abeka - it is actually the program we use and love. But I do think moms can set themselves up for failure with this program. It contains MANY schoolish activities that are just unnecessary and will take a long time to complete. We probably do 1/4 of the work the lesson plans call for and it has been MORE than enough to teach my son everything he needs to know.
Make sure you understand the concept of busy work. Abeka lesson plans contain plenty of activities that are just that - stuff that is just meant to keep your child busy and does not add anything to the learning experience. Learn to identify this stuff and skip it - especially if you have a wiggly little boy. Don't feel like you have to do all of your lessons at the kitchen table. You can read to him while he plays with playdoh, digs in the sandbox, plays with matchbox cars, etc.
Kindergarten Resources
from cl-susanmercy:
Here are some kindergarten resources that I have saved:
A Kids Heart http://www.akidsheart.com/
Alphabet Activities http://millennium.fortunecity.com/plumpton/304/home.html
Alphabet Letters http://www.littlegiraffes.com/alphabetletters.html
Ambleside Online Year 0 http://amblesideonline.org/00.shtml
Bry-Back Manor http://www.bry-backmanor.org/
Creation Kids http://creationkids.5u.com/
Course of Study--Kindergarten http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/learning/p/coursek.htm
Early Childhood Printables http://www.earlychildhoodprintables.com/main.html
Homeschooling Kindergarten http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/kindergarten/a/kindergarten.htm?nl=1
Letter of the Week http://www.letteroftheweek.com/
Starfall http://www.starfall.com
Story Sacks http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/homemadebooks/l/blstorysindex.htm
Story Stretchers http://www.youcanteach.com/storystretchers.php
Here are some kindergarten resources that I have saved:
A Kids Heart http://www.akidsheart.com/
Alphabet Activities http://millennium.fortunecity.com/plumpton/304/home.html
Alphabet Letters http://www.littlegiraffes.com/alphabetletters.html
Ambleside Online Year 0 http://amblesideonline.org/00.shtml
Bry-Back Manor http://www.bry-backmanor.org/
Creation Kids http://creationkids.5u.com/
Course of Study--Kindergarten http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/learning/p/coursek.htm
Early Childhood Printables http://www.earlychildhoodprintables.com/main.html
Homeschooling Kindergarten http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/kindergarten/a/kindergarten.htm?nl=1
Letter of the Week http://www.letteroftheweek.com/
Starfall http://www.starfall.com
Story Sacks http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/homemadebooks/l/blstorysindex.htm
Story Stretchers http://www.youcanteach.com/storystretchers.php
Preschool Resources
from cl-susanmercy:
Here are some preschool resources that I have saved--
A Kids Heart http://www.akidsheart.com/
Alphabet Activities http://millennium.fortunecity.com/plumpton/304/home.html
Abecedarian Academy http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Forest/2468/index.html
Alphabet Letters http://www.littlegiraffes.com/alphabetletters.html
Ambleside Online Year 0 http://amblesideonline.org/00.shtml
Bry-Back Manor http://www.bry-backmanor.org/
Creation Kids http://creationkids.5u.com/
Course of Study--Preschool http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/learning/p/coursep.htm
Early Childhood Printables http://www.earlychildhoodprintables.com/main.html
First-School http://www.first-school.ws/
Letter of the Week http://www.letteroftheweek.com
Muddle Puddle http://www.muddlepuddle.co.uk/
Preschool Science http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperiments/quick/preschool.html
Preschool by Stormie http://preschoolbystormie.com/
Preschool Express http://www.preschoolexpress.com/index.shtml
Preschool Activities http://www.quakeroatmeal.com/qo_familyFocus/quakerToddlers/toddlerActivities/index.cfm
Preschool Resources http://homeschooling.about.com/od/preschool/Preschool_Resources.htm
Story Sacks http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/homemadebooks/l/blstorysindex.htm
Story Stretchers http://www.youcanteach.com/storystretchers.php
Here are some preschool resources that I have saved--
A Kids Heart http://www.akidsheart.com/
Alphabet Activities http://millennium.fortunecity.com/plumpton/304/home.html
Abecedarian Academy http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Forest/2468/index.html
Alphabet Letters http://www.littlegiraffes.com/alphabetletters.html
Ambleside Online Year 0 http://amblesideonline.org/00.shtml
Bry-Back Manor http://www.bry-backmanor.org/
Creation Kids http://creationkids.5u.com/
Course of Study--Preschool http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/learning/p/coursep.htm
Early Childhood Printables http://www.earlychildhoodprintables.com/main.html
First-School http://www.first-school.ws/
Letter of the Week http://www.letteroftheweek.com
Muddle Puddle http://www.muddlepuddle.co.uk/
Preschool Science http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperiments/quick/preschool.html
Preschool by Stormie http://preschoolbystormie.com/
Preschool Express http://www.preschoolexpress.com/index.shtml
Preschool Activities http://www.quakeroatmeal.com/qo_familyFocus/quakerToddlers/toddlerActivities/index.cfm
Preschool Resources http://homeschooling.about.com/od/preschool/Preschool_Resources.htm
Story Sacks http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/homemadebooks/l/blstorysindex.htm
Story Stretchers http://www.youcanteach.com/storystretchers.php
Entertaining Little Ones
from cl-susanmercy:
Here are some ideas I have saved for entertaining younger ones while working with your older children--
http://www.homeschoolchristian.com/Features/Preschoolers.html
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/3446/keeplittleones.html
http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/michelle_preschool.htm
http://www.jeanniefulbright.com/Preschool.html
http://www.quakeroatmeal.com/qo_familyFocus/quakerToddlers/toddlerActivities/index.cfm
http://www.earlychildhoodprintables.com/main.html
Here are some ideas I have saved for entertaining younger ones while working with your older children--
http://www.homeschoolchristian.com/Features/Preschoolers.html
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/3446/keeplittleones.html
http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/michelle_preschool.htm
http://www.jeanniefulbright.com/Preschool.html
http://www.quakeroatmeal.com/qo_familyFocus/quakerToddlers/toddlerActivities/index.cfm
http://www.earlychildhoodprintables.com/main.html
Entertaining Little Ones
from kbmomto3:
We began hs'ing when my oldest was starting 2nd grade and I had a 3 year old and one-year-old who wanted to be in everything that we were doing. Here are a couple of great sites with ideas on how to entertain the little one:
http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/preschool_activities.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/mo/sasschool/preschoolers.html
And, of course, I can't say enough about crayons, coloring pages, Play-doh and nap times! ;-)
from bookworm_mom2006:
Have a few boxes/tubs of "school time only" toys/manipulatives/etc. that he can play with during lessons. Set him up outside with containers and water. Ummmm.... are there any videos he really likes? Thomas the Train? Give him (toddler) scissors and a pile of old paper. Just little busy activities that he can just go for.
We began hs'ing when my oldest was starting 2nd grade and I had a 3 year old and one-year-old who wanted to be in everything that we were doing. Here are a couple of great sites with ideas on how to entertain the little one:
http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/preschool_activities.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/mo/sasschool/preschoolers.html
And, of course, I can't say enough about crayons, coloring pages, Play-doh and nap times! ;-)
from bookworm_mom2006:
Have a few boxes/tubs of "school time only" toys/manipulatives/etc. that he can play with during lessons. Set him up outside with containers and water. Ummmm.... are there any videos he really likes? Thomas the Train? Give him (toddler) scissors and a pile of old paper. Just little busy activities that he can just go for.
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