Homeschool Chat Part III

[bellebud]

For all you lapbookers out there....

DD (6) will doing 2nd grade next year and is very artistic. She spends all day when not doing school, drawing, making her own books, etc. I have read ad infinitum about lapbooking - how, where, etc - but as a non-artistic person it just seems soooo complicated and time-consuming.

Please help me to see how this is not a monumental effort because I really think she would benefit greatly from these next and enjoy them tremendously.

My creative DD really didn't care for lap books. Of course I didn't figure this out until I had bought, cut, and set it up. She prefers notebooking because of the freedom to draw and write about whatever she wants (within the subject of course). I was really glad I had only bought one instead of the whole years.

BTW- I'm new here. I've been homeschooling for 7 years and have five children- 2 school age and 3 wee ones. Hi!

I wanted to add that when we started hsing 2 years ago, my crafty, artistic dd (then 9), did maybe 2 lapbooks (nothing we bought, we just made our own), and then she was done w/ lapbooking. I was very surprised, because again, she was crafty and artistic (still is), but it just wasn't her thing.

don't buy anything yet - just look on-line for ideas and make your own w/ file folders.

 

[Razorback family]

Hi.. I'd love to join your group. I have been homeschooling for 5 years and have 4 kids, ages 11, 8, 5 & 3. We love Disney and especially love going when almost everyone else is in school!

yanni2- I am having a writing struggle as well and was hoping that IEW would be our answer... now I'm not so sure. I was planning to do a "writing-type" workshop this summer using that. Maybe there is something else out there that would be better.

 

[Mouseketeer67]

I'm sure a lot of you already know about this site, but I have to recommend it for any who might not.

Khan academy dot org

we're using it for math now, and it's AWESOME! Listen to the video of how it got started and what Bill Gates thinks of it (he's supporting it). Totally free.

amazing site!!!!

Thanks! We will be using these videos to help my last two get through high school math.

 

[bellebud]

Thanks! We will be using these videos to help my last two get through high school math.

you're very welcome! it's a really great resource, isn't it?? I'm amazed with it. I'm even using it now for myself to refresh my math skills (I enjoy math). My kids love the independence from me and doing it on the computer.

 

[meredith1]

I don't homeschool but, did teach writing in second and fourth grades in Plano, Texas for 11 years. Hopefully, I'm not stepping on toes here..

Journaling is the very best thing you can do. Remember that writing is a process. When your kiddo sits down to write anything the ideas are the ONLY thing that matter. Spelling, punctuation, capitalization do not matter. That's what the process is for-to go back in steps to revise the writing.

After your child gets his/her ideas down then, they could go back during the next lesson and circle the misspelled words. On a another day they could use a variety of resources to help them spell the words correctly. Asking you how to spell during the revision writing phase is absolutely a valid way of finding out spelling but, I always made them look at lease two other sources prior to asking me. : ) On another day they may want to look up or find more rich vocabulary for ordinary words and on another pick four or five sentences to make into compound sentences to make use of varying sentence structure which, makes your writing more interesting.

Also, along these lines, I had my kiddos use a highlighter marker to highlight every other line of a piece of notebook paper. When they were writing their first copy they wrote on the white lines. The highlighted lines were used in the revision process only. They use the highlighted lines for their corrections. This really solidified the idea of writing as a process.

Again, I hope I didn't step on any toes. I really enjoyed teaching writing and actually learned so much while teaching it. GL to all of you lovely ladies!

ETA-Not everything your child writes has to be an edited piece of work. That's just not real life. When you want to teach vocabulary, verbs, nouns, sentence structure, punctuation, ect have your child pull a piece of writing from their writing folder (their choice, something that they are particularly fond of or had fun writing) and teach your concept from that writing. That is how the writing process works!

 

[bellebud]

I don't homeschool but, did teach writing in second and fourth grades in Plano, Texas for 11 years. Hopefully, I'm not stepping on toes here..

Journaling is the very best thing you can do. Remember that writing is a process. When your kiddo sits down to write anything the ideas are the ONLY thing that matter. Spelling, punctuation, capitalization do not matter. That's what the process is for-to go back in steps to revise the writing.

After your child gets his/her ideas down then, they could go back during the next lesson and circle the misspelled words. On a another day they could use a variety of resources to help them spell the words correctly. Asking you how to spell during the revision writing phase is absolutely a valid way of finding out spelling but, I always made them look at lease two other sources prior to asking me. : ) On another day they may want to look up or find more rich vocabulary for ordinary words and on another pick four or five sentences to make into compound sentences to make use of varying sentence structure which, makes your writing more interesting.

Also, along these lines, I had my kiddos use a highlighter marker to highlight every other line of a piece of notebook paper. When the were writing their first copy they wrote on the white lines. The highlighted lines were used in the revision process only. This really solidified the idea that writing is a process.

Again, I hope I didn't step on any toes. I really enjoyed teaching writing and actually learned so much while teaching it. GL to all of you lovely ladies!

not stepping on any toes at all! Thank you very much for coming here and sharing your knowledge. I'm going to use your suggestion - we've been at a standstill w/ writing lately, and I really think this will help get us going again.

Thanks!!

 

[meredith1]

You're welcome bellebud! I remember writing being such a chore as a child and it really didn't have to be.

 

[desparatelydisney]

My creative DD really didn't care for lap books. Of course I didn't figure this out until I had bought, cut, and set it up. She prefers notebooking because of the freedom to draw and write about whatever she wants (within the subject of course). I was really glad I had only bought one instead of the whole years. !

I wanted to add that when we started hsing 2 years ago, my crafty, artistic dd (then 9), did maybe 2 lapbooks (nothing we bought, we just made our own), and then she was done w/ lapbooking. I was very surprised, because again, she was crafty and artistic (still is), but it just wasn't her thing.

don't buy anything yet - just look on-line for ideas and make your own w/ file folders.

Thanks, guys. I think I will try a sample in the fall and see what happens

I don't homeschool but, did teach writing in second and fourth grades in Plano, Texas for 11 years. Hopefully, I'm not stepping on toes here..

Journaling is the very best thing you can do. Remember that writing is a process. When your kiddo sits down to write anything the ideas are the ONLY thing that matter. Spelling, punctuation, capitalization do not matter. That's what the process is for-to go back in steps to revise the writing.

After your child gets his/her ideas down then, they could go back during the next lesson and circle the misspelled words. On a another day they could use a variety of resources to help them spell the words correctly. Asking you how to spell during the revision writing phase is absolutely a valid way of finding out spelling but, I always made them look at lease two other sources prior to asking me. : ) On another day they may want to look up or find more rich vocabulary for ordinary words and on another pick four or five sentences to make into compound sentences to make use of varying sentence structure which, makes your writing more interesting.

Also, along these lines, I had my kiddos use a highlighter marker to highlight every other line of a piece of notebook paper. When they were writing their first copy they wrote on the white lines. The highlighted lines were used in the revision process only. They use the highlighted lines for their corrections. This really solidified the idea of writing as a process.

Again, I hope I didn't step on any toes. I really enjoyed teaching writing and actually learned so much while teaching it. GL to all of you lovely ladies!

ETA-Not everything your child writes has to be an edited piece of work. That's just not real life. When you want to teach vocabulary, verbs, nouns, sentence structure, punctuation, ect have your child pull a piece of writing from their writing folder (their choice, something that they are particularly fond of or had fun writing) and teach your concept from that writing. That is how the writing process works!

Thanks so much for giving us your insight. I love your last paragraph and it has really started me thinking.

 

[sparks19]

Hello

I hope you all don't mind me posting a few FREAK OUTS and questions lol.

My daughter is 3 1/2. She goes to preschool one day a week and the rest of the time I am a SAHM. As my hubby says "don't worry so much.... you've been teaching her for the past 3 1/2 years why is this any different?" It just IS lol.

Mostly... I honestly don't know what to expect. How did you guys get started? resources? I'm really freaking out about whether this is something I will be able to handle or not. I think I'm making it out to be harder than it is (not saying it's not hard or not a serious undertaking... I just think I'm blowing it out of proportion) but that still doesn't stop me from worrying lol.

I need to really start getting into this and getting things set up and I really just need some support from people who do homeschool. I just worry that I have to be SUPER mom to do this and I am a good mother but I'm not June Cleaver lol. how do I know if I can do this or not?

How did you get started?

 

[chris31997]

Hello

I hope you all don't mind me posting a few FREAK OUTS and questions lol.

My daughter is 3 1/2. She goes to preschool one day a week and the rest of the time I am a SAHM. As my hubby says "don't worry so much.... you've been teaching her for the past 3 1/2 years why is this any different?" It just IS lol.

Mostly... I honestly don't know what to expect. How did you guys get started? resources? I'm really freaking out about whether this is something I will be able to handle or not. I think I'm making it out to be harder than it is (not saying it's not hard or not a serious undertaking... I just think I'm blowing it out of proportion) but that still doesn't stop me from worrying lol.

I need to really start getting into this and getting things set up and I really just need some support from people who do homeschool. I just worry that I have to be SUPER mom to do this and I am a good mother but I'm not June Cleaver lol. how do I know if I can do this or not?

How did you get started?

I am not a June Cleaver, either In fact, a friend of mine laughs at me because I turn everything into a field trip. I make life one big learning expierance. When we go to the beach, we look for shells and critters and have a blast When we go to WDW, we go to Epcot and visit every country and taste our way around the world.

At your DD age, I would get books about animals and read them and go to the zoo. I would get books about colors and find the colors in life outside. I would cook with her. I would find crafts that you can do with her and make Christmas presents with her for her grandparents. As her skills improve, go to the local bookstore and get workbooks like Jumpstart or Kumo and work those with her. But I would keep those to an hour or less right now. As she ages, than you can get harder books.

I would also find a local group that you can meet with. You can buy used books from them or get an idea of what books you would like. Better yet, you can have a local sounding board and some other kids for DD to play with.

 

[bellebud]

Hello

I hope you all don't mind me posting a few FREAK OUTS and questions lol.

My daughter is 3 1/2. She goes to preschool one day a week and the rest of the time I am a SAHM. As my hubby says "don't worry so much.... you've been teaching her for the past 3 1/2 years why is this any different?" It just IS lol.

Mostly... I honestly don't know what to expect. How did you guys get started? resources? I'm really freaking out about whether this is something I will be able to handle or not. I think I'm making it out to be harder than it is (not saying it's not hard or not a serious undertaking... I just think I'm blowing it out of proportion) but that still doesn't stop me from worrying lol.

I need to really start getting into this and getting things set up and I really just need some support from people who do homeschool. I just worry that I have to be SUPER mom to do this and I am a good mother but I'm not June Cleaver lol. how do I know if I can do this or not?

How did you get started?

it's totally normal to be 'worried' about it. but you'll do just fine.

To make you feel better (but this is not 'necessary'), I'd go out and get a "National Standards" pre-K workbook, and maybe a K one, just to have it. It will simply give you a general idea of what prek and K kids are doing around the country. Then you can relax, knowing you're 'keeping up'... but I say that as someone who has come to learn in the past 2 years (that's how long we've been hsing, and my kids are 11yo and 9yo), that "keeping up" isn't something I should be worried about. (but I still do).

Just enjoy exploring anything your dd is interested in, and have a ball!

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

Had to share -- my kiddos are taking their end-of-year testing, and I'm sitting here, enjoying the silence and getting my Disney fix! I'd initially thought I'd work while they tested, but the Disney siren song was calling...

 

[scootch]

My dd will be going into 6th grade. She has gone to a catholic school grades k-5. I am considering doing a virtual school(online) with supplementation for the first year. Is this a good idea or should I buy a curriculum?. I am a stay at home mom and have a bachelor degree in science, dh has a master's in teaching(teaches at a public school) and my brother also has a master's in math, retiring from teaching this year, so we do have resources available. Any opinions appreciated.

 

[jacksmomma]

My dd will be going into 6th grade. She has gone to a catholic school grades k-5. I am considering doing a virtual school(online) with supplementation for the first year. Is this a good idea or should I buy a curriculum?. I am a stay at home mom and have a bachelor degree in science, dh has a master's in teaching(teaches at a public school) and my brother also has a master's in math, retiring from teaching this year, so we do have resources available. Any opinions appreciated.

I do not have personal experience, but I am friends with a couple of families that include "older homeschoolers" (ie: middle or high school) and they are enrolled in virtual academies and love them. Both sets of parents supplement the learning with field trips and hands on experiences and the kids are doing great!

 

[sparks19]

it's totally normal to be 'worried' about it. but you'll do just fine.

To make you feel better (but this is not 'necessary'), I'd go out and get a "National Standards" pre-K workbook, and maybe a K one, just to have it. It will simply give you a general idea of what prek and K kids are doing around the country. Then you can relax, knowing you're 'keeping up'... but I say that as someone who has come to learn in the past 2 years (that's how long we've been hsing, and my kids are 11yo and 9yo), that "keeping up" isn't something I should be worried about. (but I still do).

Just enjoy exploring anything your dd is interested in, and have a ball!

Thank you. I know it's normal to worry but for some reason I always think I'm the only one lol

that's a great idea. I think something like that will give me a good place to start to get an idea of what I'm going to be doing.

Thank you for your help

 

[chicagoshannon]

Hello

I hope you all don't mind me posting a few FREAK OUTS and questions lol.

My daughter is 3 1/2. She goes to preschool one day a week and the rest of the time I am a SAHM. As my hubby says "don't worry so much.... you've been teaching her for the past 3 1/2 years why is this any different?" It just IS lol.

Mostly... I honestly don't know what to expect. How did you guys get started? resources? I'm really freaking out about whether this is something I will be able to handle or not. I think I'm making it out to be harder than it is (not saying it's not hard or not a serious undertaking... I just think I'm blowing it out of proportion) but that still doesn't stop me from worrying lol.

I need to really start getting into this and getting things set up and I really just need some support from people who do homeschool. I just worry that I have to be SUPER mom to do this and I am a good mother but I'm not June Cleaver lol. how do I know if I can do this or not?

How did you get started?

I started by reading the previous thread on here. Then I ordered a whole bunch of catalogs for all the curriculum places. I then tried one out. I liked it (Horizons by Alpha Omega) but there wasn't much reading included. So I'm switching to Sonlight. It's literature based so we get to read lots of stories. I haven't used it yet so we'll see if I keep doing it down the road. We then picked a math program.

Don't be afraid to ditch something if its not working for you.

 

[Mommy2three]

Does anyone here use Verticy Learning? I am going to be pulling my son (9) out of school after this school year is finished, and just homeschool him. He was diagnosed with PDD-NOS (autism spectrum), and has been previously homeschooled. I put him back into public school a year and a half ago, and it seems as though hes actually not learning anything, his grade level has actually went down since he started back at public school. We have previously used calvert, but with all his language based issues, i thought we would try verticy for next year. His autism therapist actually suggested homeschooling highly when I told her i was considering it. She said right away "Yes" she would do it if she were me. Our school district is making some major changes this year, which will start next year. they are closing 2 schools, and putting all 4th and 5th graders at one school. Ive talked to the school, and they said there will be 30 kids in each class! WHOA! Thats alot! Theres always been alot of bullying issues towards him as well while in public school, getting beat up last year on a daily basis!

 

[danjoealexis3006]

We use Verticy for my ds. He has dyslexia. If you used Calvert before then you will be pleased with it. I LOVE the writing portion. Make sure to do the placement testing.

 

[Mommy2three]

Thanks Danjoealexisis. We did the placement testing already. He tested at yellow level for phonics and orange level for the composition part, and 3rd grade for core.

 

[sparks19]

I started by reading the previous thread on here. Then I ordered a whole bunch of catalogs for all the curriculum places. I then tried one out. I liked it (Horizons by Alpha Omega) but there wasn't much reading included. So I'm switching to Sonlight. It's literature based so we get to read lots of stories. I haven't used it yet so we'll see if I keep doing it down the road. We then picked a math program.

Don't be afraid to ditch something if its not working for you.

I'll have to look for the 1st homeschool thread. that's a great idea, thanks for the suggestion

Here is a couple more questions. What age did you start? like kindergarten would be 5 years old normally... did you do a pre K program?

Also Have any of you done a second language?