Homeschool Chat Part III

[GusGus77]

I think homeschooled buyers co orphans a student and teacher is card you can make for free and laminate.

Yes, they do. I didn't know if that would be sufficient or not. I guess I will just call.

 

[tabrizia]

Erm thanks phone for changing co-op to co orphans, not exactly what I spelled.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Erm thanks phone for changing co-op to co orphans, not exactly what I spelled.

I saw that earlier and wondered just what that could possibly mean!

 

[chicagoshannon]

I didn't realize lego land had homeschool discounts. We are also going in Feb and just have the homeschool buyers coop card. I hope that works!

 

[Baklava]

Has anyone else ever dealt with a homeschool group that is cliquish? Just feeling frustrated today by the direction a formerly good group has taken. Would love to know I'm not alone.

(Although I suppose that means wishing someone else had felt like this which isn't quite what I mean either.)

 

[chris31997]

Has anyone else ever dealt with a homeschool group that is cliquish? Just feeling frustrated today by the direction a formerly good group has taken. Would love to know I'm not alone.

(Although I suppose that means wishing someone else had felt like this which isn't quite what I mean either.)

Not cliquish. But more that I had a hard time fitting in or relating to the group. We are military so we move a lot. Sometimes, it can be challenging. Maybe it is time to find a new group or under this current group start a club that works for you(not to compete with)

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

You can use your HSLDA card, I too am in Illinois and that worked for us as well as the receipt for our curriculum called Seton Home Study.

 

[GusGus77]

You can use your HSLDA card, I too am in Illinois and that worked for us as well as the receipt for our curriculum called Seton Home Study.

We don't belong to HSLDA. Dd just turned 7 and we are in a very friendly homeschool area so we passed this year. We use some Seton but are not enrolled. (And got our books as hand me downs this year.)

 

[mjaclyn]

Hi Everyone!!
I am currently researching different homeschool programs and would love some advice. Right now my kids are enrolled in a Montessori school, but will be homeschooled for Middle/High School. I have to admit, I'm a little apprehensive. It's scary to think that the quality of my kids education will be left entirely up to me. I'm not a teacher, so I'd like to find a program that offers help if the kids have any questions. Maybe I'll even supplement with tutors, I'm not sure yet. I'd love to hear about your experiences and greatly appreciate any tips!

 

[chris31997]

Hi Everyone!!
I am currently researching different homeschool programs and would love some advice. Right now my kids are enrolled in a Montessori school, but will be homeschooled for Middle/High School. I have to admit, I'm a little apprehensive. It's scary to think that the quality of my kids education will be left entirely up to me. I'm not a teacher, so I'd like to find a program that offers help if the kids have any questions. Maybe I'll even supplement with tutors, I'm not sure yet. I'd love to hear about your experiences and greatly appreciate any tips!

The great news is that your kids have a good base of education in Montessori school. That is a plus in your favor

We just graduated a high schooler 2 yrs ago

Anyway, for high school, I went back to a set curriculum. I made things easier for me. I also bought the answer keys. Between online online helps like Kahn, youtube, and the answer key we were able to figure things out. Now looking back, I think it was a good thing because it made DD look things up and really learn things. She taught me some things. DD's life for 4 years was in a spreadsheet. Everything she did that would or could count for school went onto the spreadsheet. That then was used to make her transcript.

Some curriculums, like Abeka, have DVDs or an Academy you can join. Then there is Liberty University that has there Edge program where you can do high school through them.

We used Abeka and now DD is doing college online with Liberty

 

[Happyinwonerland]

DD will be 4 in August and I would like to get more organized about her education. Currently we don't really do much formally. I've tried horizons preschool for 3s, and while it does seem to help, we get through the the lessons quickly and then I feel lost. I do incorporate learning into our daily actives, but I really feel at 4 she needs to start a real pre-k program. My school plan is to do a labor day to memorial day schedule when she's young, maybe switching to a more year round approach if need be.

Anyhow, I was looking at sonlight because, well, honestly that seems to be the most prominent program for that age. Anyone have any experience with it?

I am open to other programs as well, if anyone can recommend anything.

I know a lot of people say not to buy stuff at this age, but honestly, trying to prep all the lessons and materials myself gets overhwleming. I work overtime hours, DH is in grad school and works full time, I'm just a busy mom. We do a co-op once a week and also go to story times and do a lot of educational experiences, so she is learning, I would just like it to be more formal.

Any ideas?

 

[momimouse27]

Has anyone else ever dealt with a homeschool group that is cliquish? Just feeling frustrated today by the direction a formerly good group has taken. Would love to know I'm not alone.

(Although I suppose that means wishing someone else had felt like this which isn't quite what I mean either.)

I was in a group for a long time, and it wasn't so much cliquish than it just got to feeling I didn't quite fit in anymore. My girls were getting older, there was not many other girls their age, and the ones that were, they kind of did have a closer group. I felt like some of the ladies taking over-we had an outgoing President and VP-were a bit more strict and "super mom" than me. I am somewhat structured, but can be a bit more laid back, and these ladies were not. It can leave you feeling a bit isolated. I now don't have a group. My son is ASD and he doesn't quite fit in with the other kids there, and quite frankly I don't know how they would feel about what he deals with.

 

[mandis77]

DD will be 4 in August and I would like to get more organized about her education. Currently we don't really do much formally. I've tried horizons preschool for 3s, and while it does seem to help, we get through the the lessons quickly and then I feel lost. I do incorporate learning into our daily actives, but I really feel at 4 she needs to start a real pre-k program. My school plan is to do a labor day to memorial day schedule when she's young, maybe switching to a more year round approach if need be.

Anyhow, I was looking at sonlight because, well, honestly that seems to be the most prominent program for that age. Anyone have any experience with it?

I am open to other programs as well, if anyone can recommend anything.

I know a lot of people say not to buy stuff at this age, but honestly, trying to prep all the lessons and materials myself gets overhwleming. I work overtime hours, DH is in grad school and works full time, I'm just a busy mom. We do a co-op once a week and also go to story times and do a lot of educational experiences, so she is learning, I would just like it to be more formal.

Any ideas?

I use Bookshark Pre-K - which is a lot like Sonlight and I believe they use the same books. I also have a 3rd grader so we work the Pre-K in stuff while the older kid is doing things independently. It's a lot of books and reading, but my little one really likes it. I also like the Kumon books a lot.

 

[DisHmsklMom]

DD will be 4 in August and I would like to get more organized about her education. Currently we don't really do much formally. I've tried horizons preschool for 3s, and while it does seem to help, we get through the the lessons quickly and then I feel lost. I do incorporate learning into our daily actives, but I really feel at 4 she needs to start a real pre-k program. My school plan is to do a labor day to memorial day schedule when she's young, maybe switching to a more year round approach if need be.

Anyhow, I was looking at sonlight because, well, honestly that seems to be the most prominent program for that age. Anyone have any experience with it?

I am open to other programs as well, if anyone can recommend anything.

I know a lot of people say not to buy stuff at this age, but honestly, trying to prep all the lessons and materials myself gets overhwleming. I work overtime hours, DH is in grad school and works full time, I'm just a busy mom. We do a co-op once a week and also go to story times and do a lot of educational experiences, so she is learning, I would just like it to be more formal.

Any ideas?

Welcome to the land of so many homeschool choices!!!
This is the right time of year to start really researching what is available to you and your daughter. My advice to you is: seek out the local homeschooling groups in your area, find out when their used curricula sales are and go, find out if there is a local homeschooling convention in your area, talk to the moms you meet about what they've used and liked, and lay your hands on as much material as you can while you go through your process.

With mine, I started with the math as the first formal program. I recommend Math-U-See highly. You can often find it used on e-bay and there is a used Math-u-See group on yahoo groups. If Math-U-See is at your local convention you can usually pick up the materials without paying for the shipping.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Looking more at sonlight- it looks like I should have started with preschool? Will I be doing my child a disservice by starting with the pre- k and not the preschool? We read tons of books ( at least 10 per day), so I think she has a good appreciation of the written word, which is what the preschool curriculum seems to be instilling.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Welcome to the land of so many homeschool choices!!!
This is the right time of year to start really researching what is available to you and your daughter. My advice to you is: seek out the local homeschooling groups in your area, find out when their used curricula sales are and go, find out if there is a local homeschooling convention in your area, talk to the moms you meet about what they've used and liked, and lay your hands on as much material as you can while you go through your process.

With mine, I started with the math as the first formal program. I recommend Math-U-See highly. You can often find it used on e-bay and there is a used Math-u-See group on yahoo groups. If Math-U-See is at your local convention you can usually pick up the materials without paying for the shipping.

Thanks. I am actually quite involved in our co-op, but most of the moms just tell me that at this age they kind of let learning happen organically, instead of a formal setting. The problem is, I am not a stay at home mom, so I do better with something pre-planned that serves as my guide. I still plan to insert plenty of other learning into our days, but having the core of our lessons already planned and prepped will help me tremendously, especially on days when I'm at work and dad or grandmother has to do the teaching.

Our homeschool convention is this weekend, but it conflicts with another trip we already had planned, so we may have to wait until next year for that.

 

[JoanneDisFan]

Most kids don't need preschool or pre-k. Just read and spend time doing things is the best thing you can do. I start a more formal curriculum in Kindergarten, but still keep it to simply reading, writing and arithmetic. Once in first grade we add social studies and science.

 

[kreckl]

10 books a day???

 

[GusGus77]

Just wanted to report back that we ordered the homeschool Id from homeschoolbuyerscoop.com (we paid for one vs printing for free so it looked more professional) and that worked no questions asked for the homeschool discount at legoland. I had one for myself and my daughter. When I called and asked about IDs, I was told that the student must have one for the discount and that a teacher (parent) one alone was not sufficient.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

10 books a day???

She loves books! They are children's books, not lengthy chapter books. I read some, DH reads some, it's a nice way to get her to sit still!