Homeschool Chat Part III

[Mouseketeer67]

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and also has a Happy New Year!

 

[Mouseketeer67]

What happened to all the homeschoolers?

 

[jacksmomma]

I am here! Just started back with our prepacaked curriculum after our week long unit on the the Artic and Christmas and then Christmas break.

I am excitedly researching taking DS to see a puppet show of Eric Carle books.

What is everyone else up to?

 

[ncbunnie]

My 4yo wrote her first complete sentence today! She also go the Team Umi Zoomi preschool math kit from Nick Jr. and absolutely LOVES it. We save math for last every day because she looks so forward to working on the kit. Best $30 we ever spent!

We are working on sight words, spelling, handwriting/copying, a few preschoolish crafts, days of the week and months of the year, and the Umi Zoomi math. I have also started a habit of doing school at the library at least once, hopefully twice a week. Going to the library really helps ME to focus. We can shut out distractions, there are tons of supplies at our local library to use with school and it's a different environment than home. I hope we keep up the habit!

Does anyone know of a website with kindergarten goals/preparedness checklists? I checked the DPI website for my state with kindergarten goals and it was a joke! After a few pages of rhetoric about children progressing at different levels, it actually got to what kids who complete kindergarten in my state should actually know. Item 1: the difference between a speaking voice and a singing voice. Wow.

We are doing a children's theater production later this month of Fancy Nancy so I'm sure we'll spend some time talking about her when the time gets closer. And we've also started a Hubbard's Cupboard Letter & Rhyme a Day that looks really cool- if only my craft skills extended beyond cutting paper, we could make some really cool things!

I'm thinking about starting horseback riding lessons, also. Found a place that offers lessons for $15 which is cheaper than a lot of other activities. We start dance class and tumbling back this week, too. Hope it's a good start to the year for everyone else!

 

[Disney4us2]

We just started back today. So far, so good. Have one lab today. To make a seismograph and collect the data. Sounds like fun. As long as we don't experience the real thing. We live in earthquake country.

 

[Mouseketeer67]

Does anyone know of a website with kindergarten goals/preparedness checklists? I checked the DPI website for my state with kindergarten goals and it was a joke! After a few pages of rhetoric about children progressing at different levels, it actually got to what kids who complete kindergarten in my state should actually know. Item 1: the difference between a speaking voice and a singing voice. Wow.

I have always used the course of study provided World Book as a guideline.

http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/learning/p/coursek.htm

 

[tikilyn]

Has anyone used time4learning.com? I'm looking for personal experiences. My husband and I are still trying to decide if home schooling my ds best. We are leaning heavily on doing it. I have decided not to go the public virtual school route because I don't want to have to follow the states rules. LOL

Anyways I'm just wondering if time4learning is a complete program for my 3rd grader? Thanks

 

[aleshad01]

Hello! I hope you don't mind but I would like to join in. My name is Alesha and I have 3 kids. My daughter is 8 and I have 2 boys ages 5 and 1. My 8 year old goes to public school and my 5 year old is in 4-5 year old preschool. I plan to start homeschooling in the fall and looking forward to it.

 

[Zarabear]

Hello everyone! I thought I'd post up and maybe join in the fun!


We decided to remove our DS9, from the school district this year for a variety of reasons. Budgets keep getting slashed, the focus is only on the standardized testings to fall in line with NCLB, and it's only going to get worse.

We were very lucky to have our sights on an incredible charter school option, that has given me a lot of helpful direction. I would have been LOST without them!

My son is in 5th grade this year, and he's pursuing computer programming, along with his core curriculum. We use Time4Learning, which he's really enjoyed; and IXL.com for Math. Along with the textbooks and workbooks from the school, he's just been cruising right along!

One reason for choosing this charter school was an option for Middle School for a Gateway to Technology Program. It's a 3 year courseload that covers Robotics, programming, Prototyping and MORE and my son has been talking about it non stop since 1st grade. With how hard he's working this year to prove himself, he'll be in this program starting next year.


~Zara

 

[chicagoshannon]

My 4yo wrote her first complete sentence today! She also go the Team Umi Zoomi preschool math kit from Nick Jr. and absolutely LOVES it. We save math for last every day because she looks so forward to working on the kit. Best $30 we ever spent!

We are working on sight words, spelling, handwriting/copying, a few preschoolish crafts, days of the week and months of the year, and the Umi Zoomi math. I have also started a habit of doing school at the library at least once, hopefully twice a week. Going to the library really helps ME to focus. We can shut out distractions, there are tons of supplies at our local library to use with school and it's a different environment than home. I hope we keep up the habit!

Does anyone know of a website with kindergarten goals/preparedness checklists? I checked the DPI website for my state with kindergarten goals and it was a joke! After a few pages of rhetoric about children progressing at different levels, it actually got to what kids who complete kindergarten in my state should actually know. Item 1: the difference between a speaking voice and a singing voice. Wow.

We are doing a children's theater production later this month of Fancy Nancy so I'm sure we'll spend some time talking about her when the time gets closer. And we've also started a Hubbard's Cupboard Letter & Rhyme a Day that looks really cool- if only my craft skills extended beyond cutting paper, we could make some really cool things!

I'm thinking about starting horseback riding lessons, also. Found a place that offers lessons for $15 which is cheaper than a lot of other activities. We start dance class and tumbling back this week, too. Hope it's a good start to the year for everyone else!

My daughter is always asking me to get that math for her. I haven't so far because I think she already knows all of it. What does it teach? She already knows how to add and subtract and some more complex things too.

 

[ncbunnie]

It is very much like what they do on the show- logic, measurements and patterns.

Today was a picture of 6 "blank" bugs and the instruction said, "Color 2 bugs red, 2 with stripes and 2 with polka dots." Or a page with a picture of Millie that says, "Draw 2 flowers in Millie's right hand and 3 in her left hand." Yesterday there was one about measurements. It was a picture of 3 empty juice cups and said, "Fill the cup with 3 units of juice for Geo, 4 for Bot," etc. and you colored in the units. It's not so much on adding and subtracting but they do ask you to count something and fill in the number on a blank so I've seen an improvement in my daughter's skills writing numbers.

The backpack is pretty nice, too. It's obviously sized for a preschooler. My daughter loves it.

 

[sl_underwood]

I am here, just dealing with some health issues and such so its making homeschooling a bit difficult right now, particularly homeschooling a child with autism. Hope homeschooling is going well for everyone else.

 

[Rland8228]

I hope everyone doesn't mind me posting on here. I kinda need some help lol.. I am getting ready to register my son for K and was talking with his father last night, we got on the topic of school and I had considered homeschooling my DS for the last two years but just didn't think I would be able to do it. I have to be honest it all seems overwhelming so I thought about putting him into an online charter school but I am a little worried about it. I dont even know where to start to begin to look for information for homeschooling or where to even start period ... any help would be great!

 

[sl_underwood]

Welcome, homeschooling kindergarten is pretty easy, not much more difficult than what you probably have already been doing assuming he has been home with you to this point. Learning is in everything we do, especially at that age. You could get a full curriculum but it really isnt necessary. Reading with your child and practicing phonics at his level, math skills can be anything from counting to 100 while playing a friendly game of basketball to practicing addition and subtraction, depending on his level. Science can be nature walks. Play dates can easily provide socialization. Homeschooling the early grades is a great deal of fun. With my daughter, I looked on our state website and found the scope and sequence for education, then I made sure she knew more as our state was pretty pathetic at the time. With my son, I use Abeka along with a variety of other activities. With both, I got creative. I purchased or created activities for them that were fun yet educational. I really believe in learning through play as much as possible as it is natural for children. For example, when learning letter sounds, we may have had to go to the grocery store so while there we would play I spy except with letter sounds. I spy something that makes the duh sound, and they would search for it on the isle we were on. It was fun and kept them busy while I got what I needed. Sure the trips took a bit longer but it definitely helped teach the concepts. We also have a math game that you jump on the mat to answer the question and another one thats a ring toss. I really think the key is to make it fun and engaging and enjoy the time you have with your son.

 

[ncbunnie]

Yep, we do math in the grocery store, too! "I need 2 MORE cans of ___. Can you get them for me?" Every week I try to have a "Math Mission" for my daughter. Yesterday it was to find one thing that she wanted to buy that started with a number less than 4. Anything can be fun and educational!

What is the low down on the online charter school thing? I have never heard of that.

 

[jacksmomma]

I hope everyone doesn't mind me posting on here. I kinda need some help lol.. I am getting ready to register my son for K and was talking with his father last night, we got on the topic of school and I had considered homeschooling my DS for the last two years but just didn't think I would be able to do it. I have to be honest it all seems overwhelming so I thought about putting him into an online charter school but I am a little worried about it. I dont even know where to start to begin to look for information for homeschooling or where to even start period ... any help would be great!

Thus far, homeschooling with KG has been great fun! DS is in KG right now and we are both loving it. To begin I would do a search to find out what your state rules for HS are. Then get some books from the library and start reading about different programs, styles, etc. Two of my favorite curriculums for homeschooling are My Father's World and Sonlight.

I do not care for the online chrater schools because your are still in a "state rans school" and are subject to the state's rules and regulations. Plus, I believe that the online schools are going to muddy the waters of education and possibly make it harder to homeschool in the future...but that is another topic for another day.

I would start with the internet and library to get some basic information and if you have specific questions ask here or feel free to give me a PM.

 

[chicagoshannon]

It is very much like what they do on the show- logic, measurements and patterns.

Today was a picture of 6 "blank" bugs and the instruction said, "Color 2 bugs red, 2 with stripes and 2 with polka dots." Or a page with a picture of Millie that says, "Draw 2 flowers in Millie's right hand and 3 in her left hand." Yesterday there was one about measurements. It was a picture of 3 empty juice cups and said, "Fill the cup with 3 units of juice for Geo, 4 for Bot," etc. and you colored in the units. It's not so much on adding and subtracting but they do ask you to count something and fill in the number on a blank so I've seen an improvement in my daughter's skills writing numbers.

The backpack is pretty nice, too. It's obviously sized for a preschooler. My daughter loves it.

That sounds like a lot of fun. Maybe I'll get it for my son when he's older.

I hope everyone doesn't mind me posting on here. I kinda need some help lol.. I am getting ready to register my son for K and was talking with his father last night, we got on the topic of school and I had considered homeschooling my DS for the last two years but just didn't think I would be able to do it. I have to be honest it all seems overwhelming so I thought about putting him into an online charter school but I am a little worried about it. I dont even know where to start to begin to look for information for homeschooling or where to even start period ... any help would be great!

KG is pretty easy. You can do just the basics, reading, handwriting, and math or you can add in a lot more things. It's nice starting out in KG cause you can learn a lot and be more prepared for the following years. We're doing KG this year even though DD is 4. I briefly questioned myself last week when I started thinking about the fact that we should be registering her for Kindergarten. But that passed quickly.

Find a homeschool group if possible. I found ours on yahoo groups. They can be really supportive.

 

[newtexan]

My dd 12, is having a bad year. I don't know if one is reason enough to pull her out and have a go at it myself. She has done well up to now, and even likes it. Her father and I are confused.
What are some good articles for us to read? Anything current you know of? Appreciate the help.

Now off to read through thread 1...

 

[Zarabear]

I'm pretty new to this myself newtexan. We took a leap of faith and pulled our son (9 years old) out of school at the beginning of this year. He was in an excellent school from K-3, but in that 3rd year, we hit a REALLY rough patch. My son was dreading school and didn't want to go back and it made me take pause.

Thankfully, we had an excellent charter school in town that supported homeschooling and it's been amazing journey this year.


Today, we were studying science and matter. He was fascinated with molecules and how they form together to 'make' things.
"Did you know that sugar is made up of six carbon atoms, 12 hydrogen atoms and six ogygen atoms? Isn't that neat? Can I draw that for art today?"
From that art project of drawing molecules, we then went into a discussion on Pointillism due to how his Molecular Mom drawing went. He said I was made of LOVE. LoL

I love the freedom that Homeschooling brings and I really enjoy having him be involved in his own learning. We made a decision as a family to move him to 5th grade, so that he could tackle a program focused on Technology next year. He's gone leaps and bounds further than we could have ever imagined!

One reason I came here to post tonight was to post a Hidden Mickey that we found in his Science book!

He was excited and that's what led into the artwork and drawing out the molecules and such.

I worked all of 3rd grade with his teacher. I spent an entire day every week in the classroom, and at least an hour to two the other days. I finally looked at all the time I was spending on his education already and decided that I just might be able to pull off the homeschooling thing. ANd I haven't looked back yet.

~Zara

 

[MissNurse]

Well, we've been homeschooling since October, and the kids LOVE it! I am still working 12 hr night shifts at a hospital, and things are going ok. I wish I could do better, but I think they are still learning more than they did in public school.

I had posted that we moved to this new place for my husband's job, and it's not working out well. We think we may move back to our hometown in the near future. I am deathly afraid that I will have to get a job that won't allow for me to homeschool the kids anymore. We still don't know how everything will work out. We are leaving it all in God's hands. I am just asking for prayers at this point.

DH would be attempting a career change, and hopefully it would be enough of a salary increase that I could stay home completely.

I had been researching different curriculum options for next year. I noticed a lot of people use My Father's World, and I was interested in that. We have been using Teaching Textbooks for DD's math (5th this year) and it's working out well. I have been considering letting DS move up to 3rd math (he's really doing well in 1st grade math, so I gave him the placement test for third grade TT math and he will probably be ready for it by the end of this year). Any thoughts?

I didn't intend for this to get so long. Sorry! Thanks for your advice!