Homeschool Chat Part III

[olwyngdh]

What is "Umbrella School"? I think I am going to go with Calvert, but I haven't made a firm decision.

 

[southern_redhead]

Thank you, I will look into the Mango Languages.

An umbrella school is just a layer between you and the state/school system (or that's what it is for me.) For us, how it works is: I am listed as a teacher with their school, the kids are "enrolled" with them, and I will report grades/attendance to them twice a year. I also had to tell them what I planned to use to teach (for instance, we will use Life Of Fred for Math.) I went with an umbrella school because we have an overly zealous truancy person at school. I decided that we would use the umbrella school so that there wouldn't be any question of truancy. Our umbrella school won't tell me what to teach or when to teach it, they will just help me with meeting the state requirements for reporting.

I'm sure that umbrella schools have broader uses, that is just why I went with one.

 

[dis-happy]

What is "Umbrella School"? I think I am going to go with Calvert, but I haven't made a firm decision.

With Calvert you either get the curriculum at home and do it all yourself, or you can add on the advisory teacher service, which is equilvalent (in most states) to being enrolled in school by correspondence. They will grade the monthly tests, assess your child, have a teacher available to answer questions, provide documentation.

IIRC, MA is a difficult state to homeschool in (or it used to be, I've been homeschooling for nearly 20 years now). You will probably be glad you have the covering of a set curriculum and/or ATS, at least for starting out.

Wishing you the best on your HS journey!



ETA: you might find this helpful: http://hslda.org/hs/state/ma/200506200.asp

Also, look into joining HSLDA.

 

[olwyngdh]

With Calvert you either get the curriculum at home and do it all yourself, or you can add on the advisory teacher service, which is equilvalent (in most states) to being enrolled in school by correspondence. They will grade the monthly tests, assess your child, have a teacher available to answer questions, provide documentation.

IIRC, MA is a difficult state to homeschool in (or it used to be, I've been homeschooling for nearly 20 years now). You will probably be glad you have the covering of a set curriculum and/or ATS, at least for starting out.

Wishing you the best on your HS journey!



ETA: you might find this helpful: http://hslda.org/hs/state/ma/200506200.asp

Also, look into joining HSLDA.

Thank you! Looking at what I have to submit in order to homeschool has me a bit overwhelmed, and that is one of the reasons I am looking at Calvert. The 15% military discount doesn't hurt either. I just can't stand to see how this school is hurting her anymore. I can't stand to hear her calling herself stupid and useless, and I don't like her getting in trouble for asking questions. I either need to homeschool, or find a sugar-daddy to pay the $10,000 tuition at the local private gifted school, or I am going to lose my bright happy child.

I am starting to understand why there have been child suicides in this area.

 

[Pimama]

What is "Umbrella School"? I think I am going to go with Calvert, but I haven't made a firm decision.

Sounds like this might be a good choice for your state. I'm not a big fan of "school-at-home" programs especially for gifted children but it sounds like your choices are more limited. As you get more confident and learn how to work the system in your state you may be able to be more flexible. Two of my favorite non traditional curriculums are Life of Fred math (especially for kids who pick up concepts quickly and don't need as much drill) and Michael Clay Thompson language arts (very different and not for everyone- research carefully first)

Best wishes to you and remember you don't have to do everything and answer every question. Mix it up and do some things orally or make a game of it. We sometimes do math on whiteboards or with window markers on the window! If you have time, cut up a worksheet and tape the questions on the walls throughout the house so she has to find the next questions before she gets to answer it. And last but not least, we all have bad days (or weeks or months) when it doesn't all get done or we just need to quit for the day and go to the park or clean the house or go cry in the bedroom. It won't all be wonderful but it's worth it.

Wow, that was more unsolicited advice than I intended to write, hope you don't mind. I think I have a soft spot for your DD because she reminds me of mine!

 

[olwyngdh]

Pimama, I appreciate all the help, suggestions, and support I can get! I am a 50 yr old mom with Fibromyalgia, and I am scared spitless jumping into this. I just know that it is what I need to do or I am going to lose her, she will become something she was never meant to be, and less than she can be.

Sounds like this might be a good choice for your state. I'm not a big fan of "school-at-home" programs especially for gifted children but it sounds like your choices are more limited. As you get more confident and learn how to work the system in your state you may be able to be more flexible. Two of my favorite non traditional curriculums are Life of Fred math (especially for kids who pick up concepts quickly and don't need as much drill) and Michael Clay Thompson language arts (very different and not for everyone- research carefully first)

Best wishes to you and remember you don't have to do everything and answer every question. Mix it up and do some things orally or make a game of it. We sometimes do math on whiteboards or with window markers on the window! If you have time, cut up a worksheet and tape the questions on the walls throughout the house so she has to find the next questions before she gets to answer it. And last but not least, we all have bad days (or weeks or months) when it doesn't all get done or we just need to quit for the day and go to the park or clean the house or go cry in the bedroom. It won't all be wonderful but it's worth it.

Wow, that was more unsolicited advice than I intended to write, hope you don't mind. I think I have a soft spot for your DD because she reminds me of mine!

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

Ugh! I am frustrated! Some of my kids had physicals today, and my son (15) was one of them. At that age our doctor hands out a questionnaire to the kids and has them answer questions about how they are feeling and what body parts are hurting so that parents aren't the ones answering for the kids. So my son answers the question about school as "less interested in school". I have to say, my kids have a phenomenal doctor, but he irritated me a bit today.

The doctor has me sit in a room without my son and shows me the sheet with his answer on it, and asks what it's about. I answered that Michael doesn't like school. It's not a new thing, he would rather not do school. He'd rather play his guitar, which is very normal for boys. He then tells me that he would prefer if I put Michael in a regular school.

The long and short of it is that I told him Michael doesn't want to go to regular school, so he said that I should make him. I said that I didn't want to, and he said it was my choice, but he felt I should make him go. He expressed that at some point the curriculum will be more than I can handle teaching him, and that it would be better for someone else to be monitoring him to make sure he isn't being lazy with school. I then explained that with internet schooling he has teachers for each subject, and Yes, it is much harder this year for high school, but he is kept accountable for his work. He has to do voice recordings, live lessons, etc...to keep in contact with his teachers.

I came home and told my mom what he said, and she said "the only thing that I can say about him going back to school is that it would be quieter for you to teach the girls if he weren't home irritating them." He's a great kid who makes good choices when it matters, but sometimes he is a distraction at home b/c he is the only boy, so he likes to cause mayhem.

Neither person was trying to be rude or anything, so I don't want to make it seem that way. I respect their opinions, but even if I were the one teaching my son everything, I am smart enough to do it. I graduated 7th in my class, and had straight A's!!!! I felt like he thinks I am dumb!

I just have to say that my life probably would be easier if I sent my kids back to bricks and mortar, but I wouldn't see my kids. I like being around my kids. I don't like that they got picked on and it was a distraction for them. I like that they are strong and confident doing things as we are doing them now, and I don't want the hours when they would be home spent doing homework! We do school, then we are free. We aren't tied down by tons of extra work. Everything we do is a lesson, and I love that. Sorry to vent, but I needed to tell someone!!!

On a lighter note, this next week we are going to attempt a tighter schedule. Right now we are on a martial arts schedule, and it is kicking my butt. We are up too late, wake up too late, and end up doing school mid-day instead of in the morning with our afternoons free. My goal is to get up earlier, get work done in the morning, chores done after lunch, dinner made and eaten before karate, and kids in bed shortly after arriving home from karate so momma can get to bed at a humane hour. Care to share how tight or loose your school schedules are?

 

[olwyngdh]

DD9 is taking the mid-year placement test for Calvert School right now, and if I had not been convinced before that pulling her out of the pubic school and homeschooling her was the best option, I would be now. I am SOOOOOO tired of hearing "I'm stupid," "I hate myself" "Why do I have to do this, I'm useless," "I bet your sorry youhave such a dumb kid," etc. I am about ready to scream! I looked over the test before giving it to her, and I think there are maybe 3 math problems she may not know how to do, and she missed a couple in underlining adverbs, but that is it. I know what a joy school was for her before this move, and this is killing me. She has lost all her self-confidence. I just want to cry.

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

DD9 is taking the mid-year placement test for Calvert School right now, and if I had not been convinced before that pulling her out of the pubic school and homeschooling her was the best option, I would be now. I am SOOOOOO tired of hearing "I'm stupid," "I hate myself" "Why do I have to do this, I'm useless," "I bet your sorry youhave such a dumb kid," etc. I am about ready to scream! I looked over the test before giving it to her, and I think there are maybe 3 math problems she may not know how to do, and she missed a couple in underlining adverbs, but that is it. I know what a joy school was for her before this move, and this is killing me. She has lost all her self-confidence. I just want to cry.

I am glad you are taking control of the situation. I was just wondering if you ever thought about having her take some karate to help her regain her self-confidence? Maybe the combination of the two things will help her! I did not always teach karate, so I am speaking from the experience of having come in as a family of students and seeing the growth in confidence in my kids. My oldest daughter used to be so shy she would hide behind me. Now she performs in front of huge audiences, is a leader in many community projects, and is one of the most confident girls I've ever seen. Homeschooling will help her because she will probably thrive. I just wondered if you knew what karate can do for girls and self-confidence. You can read my pre-trip report if you are interested, and see some pics of my kids in action in regards to karate. If you aren't interested, no biggie! I've also inserted a link to my formerly shy girl's utube video of her competing and beating some boys in her weight class.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrHEcF1MwLQ

If you think it's something you'd like her to try, I am sure that you can find some local schools that offer free trials. Good luck!

 

[olwyngdh]

I am glad you are taking control of the situation. I was just wondering if you ever thought about having her take some karate to help her regain her self-confidence?

If you think it's something you'd like her to try, I am sure that you can find some local schools that offer free trials. Good luck!

I hadn't thought about karate,I think mostly because she is so tiny--she is only 50 lbs at 9. She has been dancing for 5 years, (ballet, Jazz, Tap, and Musical Theatre) and has a really high metabolism, so she is thin, but she is also a full head shorter than most of the girls her age--and that is one of the things she gets picked on about. She wears a size 8 in length, but only a 4 around. There is a school down the street, I will have to see if they offer trial classes.

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

I hadn't thought about karate,I think mostly because she is so tiny--she is only 50 lbs at 9. She has been dancing for 5 years, (ballet, Jazz, Tap, and Musical Theatre) and has a really high metabolism, so she is thin, but she is also a full head shorter than most of the girls her age--and that is one of the things she gets picked on about. She wears a size 8 in length, but only a 4 around. There is a school down the street, I will have to see if they offer trial classes.

That's the nice thing about karate. I have kids of all sizes I teach. I have kids who were born prematurely, so they are tiny, and I have kids with growth disorders that are 12 and look like fully grown men. We always tell our students that their journey to black belt is their journey and theirs alone. It's an individual path that is supported by a team, if that makes sense. I hope she finds her bliss. I've seen kids come in our doors as shy kids who feel as though they have no self worth, and unfortunately alot of that comes from being teased or from struggles in school. I've seen those same kids go on to get black belts and their confidence level soars. Plus there's the added bonus of your daughter learning how to defend herself. That will come in handy when she dates! I for one love that my daughters will be able to take care of business if a boy gets out of control. On the flipside, I also love that my son learns self-control and respect so he doesn't become one of those boys. Keep me posted on what you find out at that school if you decide to go that route! Most schools offer some kind of free trial, so you should be able to find something.

 

[DisneyWalle]

Exploring America is the Notgrass High School curriculum. America the Beautiful is for middle school. My dd used Exploring America for 9th and I found it to be a very well-designed and thought out program. It's quite wordy and incorporates literature like Uncle Tom's Cabin and The Scarlet Letter, which are certainly high school materials. So unless your 11-year-old is exceptionally bright and ready for higher order thinking, America the Beautiful might be a better choice. My niece is currently doing this one and LOVES it.

Thank you....At the time, I requested help I was not aware that a middle school curriculum was offered. After checking the companies website, I discovered America the Beautiful and I did decide to go with this program. I received the books the other day and started reviewing the materials to work out daily lesson plans. I love it! It is definitely a change from Mystery of History because the lessons are shorter and not as in-depth. However, I feel that this is a good introduction to US History. What I like best about the curriculum is the excellent tie-ins for reading, Bible and writing. We are taking the rest of December off for Christmas and plan on beginning 7th grade. It is my sincere hope that my son enjoys America the Beautiful because I am leaning towards using Exploring America once he enters high school years. Thank you to everyone who offered their reviews and opinions -- I love the Dis.

 

[DisneyWalle]

I have a question for anyone with middle school aged boys who don't enjoy sports of any kind......

My son who is 11 dislikes all sports related activities. I purchased a trampoline in hopes that he might enjoy it as a form of physical activity but alas he doesn't. He will go out and jump on it (with the cats) if I ask him to but not voluntarily. We live on 20 acres with dogs, cats and pot belly pigs --- there is lots that he could do but he just isn't interested (he would prefer to read and practice piano). My husband and I talk all the time about how we would have loved 20 acres of wooded land in the country to play on at his age.

Little more backstory....he has been enrolled in basketball, karate and soccer and he didn't take to any of those sports. He refuses to let me sign him up for baseball or pee-wee football which are offered by our community. Thats it for our small rural town, no more organized sport-like activities are offered.

So my question is....Does anyone else have a young boy who is similar to this? If so, I would like to know what you do to get him to be more active and especially active outside.

 

[Disney4us2]

I have a question for anyone with middle school aged boys who don't enjoy sports of any kind......

My son who is 11 dislikes all sports related activities. I purchased a trampoline in hopes that he might enjoy it as a form of physical activity but alas he doesn't. He will go out and jump on it (with the cats) if I ask him to but not voluntarily. We live on 20 acres with dogs, cats and pot belly pigs --- there is lots that he could do but he just isn't interested (he would prefer to read and practice piano). My husband and I talk all the time about how we would have loved 20 acres of wooded land in the country to play on at his age.

Little more backstory....he has been enrolled in basketball, karate and soccer and he didn't take to any of those sports. He refuses to let me sign him up for baseball or pee-wee football which are offered by our community. Thats it for our small rural town, no more organized sport-like activities are offered.

So my question is....Does anyone else have a young boy who is similar to this? If so, I would like to know what you do to get him to be more active and especially active outside.

I am on the opposite end. My DD (12) loves most sports. I have her in ice skating. She has been doing it for several years. I like that it is more of an individual sport with the exceptions of the competitions she has done. She loves learning new elements, jumps and spins etc.

She also love riding her bike. At least it is physical activity.

Good luck, hope you find something that he likes.

 

[dis-happy]

I have a question for anyone with middle school aged boys who don't enjoy sports of any kind......

My son who is 11 dislikes all sports related activities. I purchased a trampoline in hopes that he might enjoy it as a form of physical activity but alas he doesn't. He will go out and jump on it (with the cats) if I ask him to but not voluntarily. We live on 20 acres with dogs, cats and pot belly pigs --- there is lots that he could do but he just isn't interested (he would prefer to read and practice piano). My husband and I talk all the time about how we would have loved 20 acres of wooded land in the country to play on at his age.

Little more backstory....he has been enrolled in basketball, karate and soccer and he didn't take to any of those sports. He refuses to let me sign him up for baseball or pee-wee football which are offered by our community. Thats it for our small rural town, no more organized sport-like activities are offered.

So my question is....Does anyone else have a young boy who is similar to this? If so, I would like to know what you do to get him to be more active and especially active outside.

Since you have acreage, could you try horseback riding? Maybe it could eventually lead to owning a horse too.

Also, my kids preferred individual sports to team sports---swimming, tennis, horseback riding, for example. They seemed to enjoy watiching their own prowess develop over time vs. the team mentality/pressure.

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

I have a question for anyone with middle school aged boys who don't enjoy sports of any kind......

My son who is 11 dislikes all sports related activities. I purchased a trampoline in hopes that he might enjoy it as a form of physical activity but alas he doesn't. He will go out and jump on it (with the cats) if I ask him to but not voluntarily. We live on 20 acres with dogs, cats and pot belly pigs --- there is lots that he could do but he just isn't interested (he would prefer to read and practice piano). My husband and I talk all the time about how we would have loved 20 acres of wooded land in the country to play on at his age.

Little more backstory....he has been enrolled in basketball, karate and soccer and he didn't take to any of those sports. He refuses to let me sign him up for baseball or pee-wee football which are offered by our community. Thats it for our small rural town, no more organized sport-like activities are offered.

So my question is....Does anyone else have a young boy who is similar to this? If so, I would like to know what you do to get him to be more active and especially active outside.

I understand your son b/c I was the same way. I did love to go out and ride my bike and such though. As I got older I stayed inside as much as I could, and I would lock myself in my room for days with a book.

I see kids like this all the time at our studio, and I'm glad you recognize the importance of making sure your son is exercising. Have you tried disguising outside play? We often come across kids (and I know this is not the problem with your son, I am just using it as an example) who are very inactive usually due to video games, TV, and computer. They lack focus and imagination b/c these activities require no imagination to complete. Focusing on a book or music is a much healthier activity than the other activities I listed, so I am glad he is at least interested in something healthy! It takes weeks for us to get those other kids to start looking us in the eye and having fun in classes. Again, I know this isn't your son, but I wanted to tell you about these kids so you can read about how we get them engaged in physical activity. If it were me trying to get a student involved who was resistant, I would make them think we were playing. We have to disguise the work we want to accomplish with them by playing games. Maybe you could try this with your son. Maybe try going outside as a family and play a game like dodgeball or 4 square basketball. If you start doing these things in small increments, your son won't even recognize that he's doing something physical. He will just start to think of it as fun time with the family. It may be a trial at first to see what works, and it might even be a hassle b/c he may resist. Just remember, parents shouldn't quit on their kids. Unfortunately that is something I see often too.

I'll be honest, sometimes my kids resist going to karate. It's not an option though. I'm not Hitler about it, but it is something that we just do in our family, so there's no complaining allowed. We try and instill in our kids that nothing is worth doing if it's not hard. If it's hard it will be more rewarding in the end. Our philosophy is that the hard work we put in now as parents will pay off in our children down the road. They will have a good work ethic and be finishers of goals b/c they were required to see things through to the end as kids.

I hope he finds something he loves to do. If you need game ideas, I am full of them b/c I do it on a daily basis! Let me know! There's nothing wrong with disguising work as play. It gets the job done, and the kids are none the wiser! Have fun!

 

[mdcousins]

Hi all. This is our third year homeschooling, and I have a question. How do so many homeschool familes complete their school work in an hour or two per day? I am not being fasecious, I'm just really curious. We homeschool M-Th, but it takes all day...literally from about 830-9 until 3-4 (with an hour for lunch). I feel like if I cut anything out, she won't be getting what she needs, but I envy the families that have so much free time. How do you do it?

 

[southern_redhead]

I have a question for anyone with middle school aged boys who don't enjoy sports of any kind......

Oh, this could be me! My oldest is 12, and he isn't interested in sports at all. The few times he's tried them, it hasn't been a happy experience. He does, however, like solitary exercise. He loves to rollerblade. When he was younger, he had a set of skates. I think, now that all the kids skate, we will get skates again. You can even do that on your road (provided it's paved, fairly smooth, and not too busy.....) DS will also walk with me. We each have our iPods going, we just enjoy being "together". We have a trampoline, too. He will get on it with his brother and sister. It sounds like your DS is an "only". Does he have some buddies that could come jump with him?

DD will also shoot basketball by herself some, so that might be an idea.

Motivating my DS to M-O-V-E is something I plan to focus on after we come home next week. It was hard to argue with him to be active when I, myself, was physically and mentally exhausted after a full day of school (so I knew he probably was, too.) Also, like you, we live in a small town right now and it really limits things we can do. There is no Y to swim, no ice rink near enough to take ice skating lessons, we DO have a walking track but you can't put bikes or skates on it.....so if little ones want to do that you have to live on the right kind of street (thankfully, we do.)

I have a question for Blackbeltdisneygirl. How much do you push your students to compete? I signed DS12 up for Karate when he was 7. We didn't take for very long. From the first class, all the instructor talked about was preparing for competition and competing. He also had twice a week sessions (once at 7 at night during the week, and once at 8 am on Saturday morning - ) If you were competing, I believe he also tried to hold another practice during the week. I thought it was a little much for a beginner. DS burned out quickly, it was just too hard with school/homework/trying to get into bed at a decent hour. I confess, I know very little about martial arts. Can you not move through the belts without competing? I think, if DS could have taken a once a week class that wasn't focused on competition, he might have enjoyed it more. Perhaps that is impossible, though?

 

[DisneyWalle]

Thank you to everyone who has replied...Let me take a moment to answer a few questions.

He is an only child. We wanted to have more but it just wasn't meant for us. Being an only child, he is very independent and enjoys a lot of indoor activities such as: models, legos, piano, and reading. I call him "my little old man" because his favorite thing to do is read a book in the barn while its raining (tin roof). He is a very easy-going child and is happy to do almost anything as a family. We do travel a lot -- field trips and vacations, in such - all of which he loves. His favorite field trip/vacations are to Disney for Disney classes (My husband and I love these as well).

He use to enjoy soccer and he did play it for about 2 years before the competitive nature of the other kids and sadly the parents squashed whatever desire he had to play it. He does not like the pressure that comes with competitive team sports (I really can't blame him). Now, he is cool as a cucumber playing piano at recitals and in church ---tons of people listening to him ---that doesn't bother him but of course no one is yelling at him.

We do play games as a family outdoors --- he loves "hunting" us with the Nerf guns (think paintball but with Nerf darts). He likes helping his daddy gather and cut wood for our bonfires (but we don't do this on a regular basis - maybe twice a month). He also helps my husband dig fence post holes, when asked. I would just love to find a way to motivate him to be active outside more often than when we are working on our place.

We, unfortunately, do not live near any other children. The closest child lived a mile away and he moved last year. We bought our land 2 years ago which moved us an hour away from our very active homeschool group. With gas prices, its just not reasonable to drive into town frequently. So outside of church, we are his reliable "playmates". He does have a cousin that he used to do a lot of outdoor playing with -- but that cousin recently turned 16 and discovered girls. So he isn't around much anymore. My son visits his grandparents on the weekend while we work and he will play with the little boy next door when he is home.

We have discussed adding a horse to our collection of animals but as of right now, its just not feasible. The money it would take to maintain the horse is just not there considering we already have 20 pot belly pigs, 6 barn cats and a dog.

We have talked about adding ramps for riding bikes/skateboards but he just isn't interested. We have even discussed a pool because he likes playing in them on vacations but he said no.

Now, he will walk on our treadmill inside the house and he will walk on this for an hour at a time while he watches tv. But he won't go outside for a walk unless I ask him to. So he is active just not outside where you would think an 11 year-old boy would want to be. I know he can't be the only young boy like this.

I do recognize that him being an only child plays a huge part in this. I just remember as a child that I played outside by myself with my toys and just feel like he should want to as well. My husband really doesn't understand him, since he played football and hunted when he was younger. I have considered buying or letting him make a marshmallow gun, since he likes to build, and letting him shoot marshmallows at the pigs. The pigs would love the marshmallows and would chase and "hunt" him if he hid from them with marshmallows. (They are pets and extremely gentle ---they will sit in his lap if he sits down)

Blackbeltdisneygirl - if you have game suggestions I am willing to try them. We have 10 acres that are open pasture so anything can be played out there.

I'm just curious if this is a growing trend among children these days. It just seems that instead of active playing its becoming more and more sedentary play.

 

[DisneyWalle]

Hi all. This is our third year homeschooling, and I have a question. How do so many homeschool familes complete their school work in an hour or two per day? I am not being fasecious, I'm just really curious. We homeschool M-Th, but it takes all day...literally from about 830-9 until 3-4 (with an hour for lunch). I feel like if I cut anything out, she won't be getting what she needs, but I envy the families that have so much free time. How do you do it?

Our homeschooling day begins at 730 and ends at roughly 130/200. We only take 30 minutes for lunch. This is as condensed as we can make our school day with the exception of Fridays. Fridays are for studying and completing writing assignments, so those days usually only involve 2 -3 hours. So our schedule is very similar to yours.