Homeschool Chat Part III

[TheRatPack]

My son has completed all the HWOT books, but he still needs lots of work on his cursive. This year I'd like to use his memory work for handwriting. Does anyone know of a font that is similar to HWOT? I'd like to be able to type it up and past it in a spiral notebook for him to copy.

We purchased Start Write and I'm able to type up anything in cursive or regular script. I can type up a short bit of copywork on Disney, their favorite animal or sports cars. You can darken the trace lines, lighten them, leave them dashed....etc.

It really is a GREAT program....we got ours at Rainbow Resource. Start Write

 

[miami305]

Does anyone else ever get homeschool burnout? I am feeling so torn as to whether or not homeschooling is really the right thing for us right now. I love it, I really do. However, we are about to move to a town with a great school district, and part of me is tempted to send them off to school. I think I'm just tired, and stressed with the move, but I thought maybe some of y'all would have a good way to stave off the burnout. DH really thinks we should just continue on with homeschooling, and supplement with other activities once we move, which I know will be a big help since we've not really had anything to supplement with down here. Thanks.

It all depends on why you are homeschooling. If you are moving to a city with a PS that has a challenging curriculum and small class sizes, then the quality of education isn't an issue. I strongly disagree with people saying your will spend 3 hours on homework! Even my middle school child in advanced classes doesn't spend 3 hours a day on homework. An hour for gradeschoolers and 2 hours for middle schoolers who have a big test or project due.

I am actively homeschooling DS as he is advanced for his age. I have low confidence that we will find a PS to meet his needs. Next year, we will search for a private school to meet his needs. If we can not find or afford one, then we will continue to homeschool.

 

[Nicolepa]

I strongly disagree with people saying your will spend 3 hours on homework! Even my middle school child in advanced classes doesn't spend 3 hours a day on homework. An hour for gradeschoolers and 2 hours for middle schoolers who have a big test or project due.

The amount of homework will vary greatly with the school & student. My daughter is in gifted programs in 3rd grade she would have 2-3 hours of homework. In 4th & 5th 3-4 hours. Was this every night, no, but it was more often than I felt it should be and the biggest issue was we never knew when that would happen (didn't neccesarily go along with a big project being due). Because of this we always had to leave school nights totally open for the potential homework. She is a very studious child and does her work without reminders. 6th grade we had zero, and I mean zero homework.

For Middle school gifted program we have been told 3 hours nightly.

On the other hand, my younger son, I know (from experience) would not complete his classwork in class and therefore would have that, in addition to any homework that might be assigned. He would, without question have 3+ hours of homework a night. The kids at his school, regularly have over an hour of homework a day, plus big projects.

 

[miami305]

The amount of homework will vary greatly with the school & student. My daughter is in gifted programs in 3rd grade she would have 2-3 hours of homework. In 4th & 5th 3-4 hours. Was this every night, no, but it was more often than I felt it should be and the biggest issue was we never knew when that would happen (didn't neccesarily go along with a big project being due). Because of this we always had to leave school nights totally open for the potential homework. She is a very studious child and does her work without reminders. 6th grade we had zero, and I mean zero homework.

For Middle school gifted program we have been told 3 hours nightly.

On the other hand, my younger son, I know (from experience) would not complete his classwork in class and therefore would have that, in addition to any homework that might be assigned. He would, without question have 3+ hours of homework a night. The kids at his school, regularly have over an hour of homework a day, plus big projects.

I would change schools. Some teachers think tons of busy work equals advanced work. Maddening and counter productive. Quality, not quantity is the key to teaching Advanced children.

DD had one of the busy work teachers for 2nd semester. The woman sucked the fun out of The Hunger Games unit the class had already started. The class gave her a chance. After the teacher assigned a massive project over Springbreak, the class rebelled. All those advanced 6th graders told her in no uncertain terms how much they disliked her class. The class continued with creative group projects and no busy work. I think she got the hint.

 

[miami305]

You might want to check out Hoagies Gifted website for more information on gifted learning styles. Tons of helpful links!

DD 12 would have never had the free time to participate in church activities or teach herself how to create web pages if she had 3hrs of HW a night. For summer fun, she is learning App Inventor for Android.

 

[Nicolepa]

I would change schools. Some teachers think tons of busy work equals advanced work. Maddening and counter productive. Quality, not quantity is the key to teaching Advanced children.

I agree its busy work. Changing schools wasn't really an option. For the full time gifted they take 5-6 schools and move the kids to one of the schools. There is at max, one class for every grade. Most of the classes are combined (1/2, 3/4, 5/6). She was actually at two of them. Both had teachers who gave little to no homework, and both had teachers who gave 3 hours a night. Although I will say the teacher she had for 4th/5th only upped the work when the middle schools said they needed to prepare them for 3 hours a night.

I finally got my husband to agree to hs my dd, but he gave the final decision up to dd. After a year of asking to be hs'd she can't decide. Last week she was sure she wanted to be hs'd. This week she wants to go to school.

You might want to check out Hoagies Gifted website for more information on gifted learning styles. Tons of helpful links!

DD 12 would have never had the free time to participate in church activities or teach herself how to create web pages if she had 3hrs of HW a night. For summer fun, she is learning App Inventor for Android.

I agree it definitly makes it difficult to do church and sports. Fortunatly 1/2 our team is in the class and the coach is one of the parents so they are able to work around things.

 

[Nox54]

I just found this thread. I've been trying to read through it but obviously it's pretty huge.
DD is 4 and we are seriously considering homeschooling, so if it's alright with everyone, I'd like to hang out in here with you super awesome people.

 

[mks18412]

I just found this thread. I've been trying to read through it but obviously it's pretty huge.
DD is 4 and we are seriously considering homeschooling, so if it's alright with everyone, I'd like to hang out in here with you super awesome people.

Welcome!

 

[Mouseketeer67]

I just found this thread. I've been trying to read through it but obviously it's pretty huge.
DD is 4 and we are seriously considering homeschooling, so if it's alright with everyone, I'd like to hang out in here with you super awesome people.

Welcome to the homeschooling thread!

 

[Pollyanna Poppins]

I have lurked these boards for years to cram information before a Disney trip and never joined. That is until today when I find homeschool and Disney together on one site. I couldn't resist not joining this thread so here I am. We have 3 in grades 2 4 and 6. Our curriculum includes Abeka-math, reading, and English, Mystery of History for history, science-Apologia, Handwriting by George-handwriting. I love David Barton's stuff esp. Drive Thru History. Vision Forum has great supplements as well. Just curious if anyone else is going to the Homeschool Days class in AK in October?

 

[McDuck]

Good morning, all. I was wondering if anyone could weigh in on Math. I am one of those uber-nerds who does tons of research way before I need to. I am preparing to start PreK-3 with my almost 3-year old, and while I know what we're doing at this point (pretty much play with purpose), I am also researching and looking ahead to kindergarten/1st grade with my research. As such, I am on the fence between Horizons and Saxon math, both of which have pros and cons as I can glean. Can anyone share their experiences/opinions? Thanks!!!

 

[jdcthree]

Horizons math is more advanced than Saxon math. Math is a strong subject for my son and it seems many math programs are watered down, so Horizons was a great fit. I like the scope and sequence for Horizons, but if we were to try anything else in the upper grades it would be Math-U-See.

 

[McDuck]

Horizons math is more advanced than Saxon math. Math is a strong subject for my son and it seems many math programs are watered down, so Horizons was a great fit. I like the scope and sequence for Horizons, but if we were to try anything else in the upper grades it would be Math-U-See.

Thank you. I had read where the instructor manual for Horizons was vague, while Saxon's was quite scripted. How do you find the manual for Horizons? I always did well in math, but I focused on English in college/grad school so sadly didn't do any math past the required, so I'm a bit apprehensive about not steering her wrong.

 

[Teamtori]

Hi Moms!

My name is Michelle and I am strongly considering homeschooling my daughter. She is seven and is undergoing chemotherapy. Everyone keeps telling me I should send her to school to give her a "normal" life but I feel like I am exposing her to illness that would require her to be hospitalized etc. I am also making the school accomodate her, I am struggling with finding someone who can watch her before and after school that I trust with her medicine etc.

I work full time now, well actually 4 days a week because I take her to chemo.

Problem is, I need to decide like yesterday because school starts in a week and I'm losing my childcare (my sister in law) on Friday.

I know you all are homeschoolers, but does homeschooling her seem like the right thing to do?

Also, I homeschooled my oldest daughter for a year using Connections Academy but she was a lot older.

I would rather use some sort of curriculum but I have no idea where to start and what is good.

I guess I just need some help/support.

 

[Aunt Stepody]

Thank you. I had read where the instructor manual for Horizons was vague, while Saxon's was quite scripted. How do you find the manual for Horizons? I always did well in math, but I focused on English in college/grad school so sadly didn't do any math past the required, so I'm a bit apprehensive about not steering her wrong.

We have used both Horizons and Saxon Math. So I will share my thoughts with you. Saxon is more structured. With that in mind, the script and the "hands on" manipulatives can be a bit overwhelming. I used Saxon my very first year to homeschool and had no problems. It does require a little more planning and preparation than Horizons. Horizons has colorful, illustrated worksheets, which are more "entertaining" than the black and white ones you get with Saxon. So Horizons worked well for my youngest, who is a visual learner. Saxon teaches using "hands on" manipulatives. So it was a better curriculum for my older, kinesthetic learner. They both worked great for us, but I think for the younger years Horizon was the better of the two.

You were asking about the teacher manual...I did not need one to successfully teach kinder-2nd grade Horizons math. It does come with the set when you purchase the curriculum.

I also recommend going to a homeschool bookfair so you can compare the two before you purchase.

Good luck!

 

[Nanu57v]

Hi Moms!

My name is Michelle and I am strongly considering homeschooling my daughter. She is seven and is undergoing chemotherapy. Everyone keeps telling me I should send her to school to give her a "normal" life but I feel like I am exposing her to illness that would require her to be hospitalized etc. I am also making the school accomodate her, I am struggling with finding someone who can watch her before and after school that I trust with her medicine etc.

I work full time now, well actually 4 days a week because I take her to chemo.

Problem is, I need to decide like yesterday because school starts in a week and I'm losing my childcare (my sister in law) on Friday.

I know you all are homeschoolers, but does homeschooling her seem like the right thing to do?

Also, I homeschooled my oldest daughter for a year using Connections Academy but she was a lot older.

I would rather use some sort of curriculum but I have no idea where to start and what is good.

I guess I just need some help/support.

I would also recommend a curriculum! We use Sonlight (sonlight.com). They have a 4-day curriculum which would probably work well around your schedule with chemo. We like Singapore Math, but lots of people like Horizons math too. Depending on where you live, there is probably a homeschool group that you can join for some of the "normal" things she'd be missing in public school. Our group does monthly field trips and in the spring has weekly drama, art, gym and music classes. And, since these are optional, sick kids don't go. I agree, it sounds like a good idea. We are homeschooling a year at a time...and making a decision each summer.

 

[jdcthree]

Thank you. I had read where the instructor manual for Horizons was vague, while Saxon's was quite scripted. How do you find the manual for Horizons? I always did well in math, but I focused on English in college/grad school so sadly didn't do any math past the required, so I'm a bit apprehensive about not steering her wrong.

We have used Horizons for K-4th and I haven't had any issues with the teacher's guide. I only use it about 25% of the time, though, so that could be part of the reason I have no problem with it, lol. I don't find it vague, but it's not extremely detailed so I can see why some may say that.

I agree with the previous poster about checking both of them out before you purchase anything.

 

[jdcthree]

Hi Moms!

My name is Michelle and I am strongly considering homeschooling my daughter. She is seven and is undergoing chemotherapy. Everyone keeps telling me I should send her to school to give her a "normal" life but I feel like I am exposing her to illness that would require her to be hospitalized etc. I am also making the school accomodate her, I am struggling with finding someone who can watch her before and after school that I trust with her medicine etc.

I work full time now, well actually 4 days a week because I take her to chemo.

Problem is, I need to decide like yesterday because school starts in a week and I'm losing my childcare (my sister in law) on Friday.

I know you all are homeschoolers, but does homeschooling her seem like the right thing to do?

Also, I homeschooled my oldest daughter for a year using Connections Academy but she was a lot older.

I would rather use some sort of curriculum but I have no idea where to start and what is good.

I guess I just need some help/support.

Wow, you are going through a lot! I will be praying for you and your family. Only you can decided if homeschooling is right for you and your daughter, but tell your friends and family that homeschooling IS part of a "normal" life for many children.

Getting started can be really overwhelming. Do you have any homeschool groups in your area or friends that homeschool? It's nice to have support, but even if you don't, you can homeschool! I would recommend checking out some info on the HSLDA site: http://hslda.org/earlyyears/StartHere.asp Also, a book that was really helpful to be was 101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum. It has so much information about homeschooling that goes beyond curriculum!

I hope you figure out what works best for you!

 

[mks18412]

Any South Atlanta HSing Families here???

 

[Grammyof2]

Does anyone know where I could find online videos or purchase a subscription that doesn't cost a fortune for history and science? I am looking for significant world events in one place. Thanks!