Homeschool Chat Part III

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

I need help figuring out how this will work.

Next year I will have a K & 6th. We had applied to two charter schools for the 6th but e didn't get into either. He may still get into one, but I need to figure out what I'm doing if he doesn't.

I wanted K to be a fun field trip, activity based year. With my 6th grader home that is not going to be doable. :-(. This kid takes 8-9 hours to do his work. It's just who he is. If I give him one sheet of math or a full load of work it will always take 8 hours. He will only work at home.

So, how do I make K fun and still educate the older one? I'm only planning Phonics(LOE) and math (Saxon or Math Mammoth) for formal studies. We might do magic schoolbus (videos and books) for science if we can work it in without stress. I have Sonlight K that we use as story time at night, nthing formal. Both boys will hav Classical Conversations, but for the K I don't require memory. What he gets he gets (and he loves it.)

For your field trips, have you considered going ahead with them and just having your other child do work while on the field trips? Maybe he needs a change in environment?

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

I am needing beginning reading help. I have a 5 year old that is learning to read. He knows all his letter sounds, phonics sounds and the like but when it comes time to sounding out words, he guesses. CAT - He will sound out the C and then just say Car, Can, Cup...anything that has a C beginning sound. We are using Starfall online as well. He loves being read to, can point out a word if I ask him to look for the word in a sentence....he just doesn't want to put it together.

 

[GusGus77]

I am needing beginning reading help. I have a 5 year old that is learning to read. He knows all his letter sounds, phonics sounds and the like but when it comes time to sounding out words, he guesses. CAT - He will sound out the C and then just say Car, Can, Cup...anything that has a C beginning sound. We are using Starfall online as well. He loves being read to, can point out a word if I ask him to look for the word in a sentence....he just doesn't want to put it together.

My daughter went through this phase as well, so I think it is normal. I just reminded her to look at all the letters (and then would often leave the room as it would get me frustrated!) I actually just gave her a break from actively working on it for a few months and just read to her for that time instead and then it was much better. Although she knew all the "pieces" she just wasn't ready yet for the next step and I needed to wait until she was ready. We are using explode the code online now and she really likes it. We got a great deal on it through the homeschool buyers co-op online (there is a link to it a page back or so in this thread.)

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

My daughter went through this phase as well, so I think it is normal. I just reminded her to look at all the letters (and then would often leave the room as it would get me frustrated!) I actually just gave her a break from actively working on it for a few months and just read to her for that time instead and then it was much better. Although she knew all the "pieces" she just wasn't ready yet for the next step and I needed to wait until she was ready. We are using explode the code online now and she really likes it. We got a great deal on it through the homeschool buyers co-op online (there is a link to it a page back or so in this thread.)

Thank you so much for this information, I am so glad to know that others have been through this before. My older 2 took to reading so easily and without issue or complaint. I have to keep reminding myself that each child is a different type of learner!

 

[Aunt Stepody]

Has anyone here used Connections Academy? We home school, but I was considering this for my DS who will be entering 9th grade next year. However, I just noticed under the requirements that he needs to have attended public school the year prior to enrollment. If any of you have enrolled in this program, was there any way around this?

 

[MommaBerd]

Thank you so much for this information, I am so glad to know that others have been through this before. My older 2 took to reading so easily and without issue or complaint. I have to keep reminding myself that each child is a different type of learner!

My 9 yr old and my 5 yr old both learned to read "on their own" (with some help from Starfall!) and very young. But my 6 yr old has been a totally different story. Last year I thought he was "behind" and he really resisted learning to read. But, I talked to a friend who is a former kindergarten teacher and she basically told me to relax. And, so I did.

This year he's been motivated and has made a lot of progress. It still doesn't come easy for him, and I foresee spelling woes as he gets older. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

But, it is so easy to think that because they are siblings, they will all learn the same way. Oh - I also want to add that I think his struggles with learning to read have really been a blessing. As a result we've spent more one-on-one time than I think I would have otherwise.

 

[Readerbug]

knows all his letter sounds, phonics sounds and the like but when it comes time to sounding out words, he guesses. CAT - He will sound out the C and then just say Car, Can, Cup...anything that has a C beginning sound....

Long post here, I'm crazy into this, skip if not happy crazy too!

For the kids in my family who hit this block, too, it was partly for 2 reasons:

#1, An attitude of "this is too much work! You're hurting my brain. Let's get it over with". So they wouldn't try. My remedy was to make it fun. And low key. And back off a little on what I was demanding, but totally step up the read alouds on topics they loved, just a few levels above thier reading level.

And Making it a little fun can go far. We made lots of homemade quirky games that were little more than drill with homemade flash cards (like cut index cards on the 2/3s part, put up, at, ap, op, on those, and C, M, etc, on the smaller part. They get point per word found. Only use a few sets at a time. Make it 'easy' to read.)

So it's drill, because #2, for one of many reasons, "right" answers aside, some really don't get it yet, and we just practice in disquise untill it clicks. Drill, drill, but disguised by "winning" grapes or fish crackers or chocolate chips, one per word, in a mini muffin tin next to a stack of cards...(there does have to be an opponent.Who could be handicapped.)

Or place the treats and the words going up on a drawn ladder, or archery target, or steps to Cindy's castle, or minecraft.... whatever the interest, make that the board. Do bingo. Do a cheezy slides and ladders board, any roll and move board. (but do small and imperfect!). Use their favorite little toy guys for movers . Rotate the words used.

They loved playing with me, partly because I wasn't making them do phonics or thier readers, ha ha.

Good luck being patient. Or back off a bit. It does come! Even, actually....if you did...gasp...nothing....
but read lots of wonderful, compellingly interesting stuff to him!

 

[DisHmsklMom]

With my youngest, we loved Starfall, the old Dick and Jane books, and she really enjoyed special time with daddy at bedtime with the Bob Books.
http://www.amazon.com/Bob-Books-Set...UTF8&qid=1361887479&sr=8-1&keywords=Bob+books
We also did a lot of the Leap Frog phonics, the fridge magnets, the DVDs, ect. On computer we did the Ready to read with Pooh, and Blue's Clues phonics games. My kids really love Between the Lions (they would watch them over and over), and I used as many videos, books and workbooks that I could lay my hands on. We also used the Calvert's Come Read with Me videos. I also put together a special bin of phonics toys that she "played" with. There is a ton of stuff on ebay if you put in phonics toy, also check out the consignment shops in your area, I have found some great learning toys in consignment shops.
Also, reading did not seem to be a straight line, they went forward 3 or four steps, back one or two and leaped ahead again. ( I also had a 2 year old who just seemed to know how to read and I never had to teach him, kids are very interesting!)

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Long post here, I'm crazy into this, skip if not happy crazy too!

For the kids in my family who hit this block, too, it was partly for 2 reasons:

#1, An attitude of "this is too much work! You're hurting my brain. Let's get it over with". So they wouldn't try. My remedy was to make it fun. And low key. And back off a little on what I was demanding, but totally step up the read alouds on topics they loved, just a few levels above thier reading level.

And Making it a little fun can go far. We made lots of homemade quirky games that were little more than drill with homemade flash cards (like cut index cards on the 2/3s part, put up, at, ap, op, on those, and C, M, etc, on the smaller part. They get point per word found. Only use a few sets at a time. Make it 'easy' to read.)

So it's drill, because #2, for one of many reasons, "right" answers aside, some really don't get it yet, and we just practice in disquise untill it clicks. Drill, drill, but disguised by "winning" grapes or fish crackers or chocolate chips, one per word, in a mini muffin tin next to a stack of cards...(there does have to be an opponent.Who could be handicapped.)

Or place the treats and the words going up on a drawn ladder, or archery target, or steps to Cindy's castle, or minecraft.... whatever the interest, make that the board. Do bingo. Do a cheezy slides and ladders board, any roll and move board. (but do small and imperfect!). Use their favorite little toy guys for movers . Rotate the words used.

They loved playing with me, partly because I wasn't making them do phonics or thier readers, ha ha.

Good luck being patient. Or back off a bit. It does come! Even, actually....if you did...gasp...nothing....
but read lots of wonderful, compellingly interesting stuff to him!

Thanks for the post, we actually make it all fun and I change it up all the time (I write a mommy blog on making learning fun) so that he is not repeating the same flashcards or phonics cards all the time. For some reason it is just that he does not want to put it all together. He likes our reading time and actually always wants more of it but even race car sight word games make him start guessing straight away. (Even though he begs to play that particular game).

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

With my youngest, we loved Starfall, the old Dick and Jane books, and she really enjoyed special time with daddy at bedtime with the Bob Books.
http://www.amazon.com/Bob-Books-Set...UTF8&qid=1361887479&sr=8-1&keywords=Bob+books
We also did a lot of the Leap Frog phonics, the fridge magnets, the DVDs, ect. On computer we did the Ready to read with Pooh, and Blue's Clues phonics games. My kids really love Between the Lions (they would watch them over and over), and I used as many videos, books and workbooks that I could lay my hands on. We also used the Calvert's Come Read with Me videos. I also put together a special bin of phonics toys that she "played" with. There is a ton of stuff on ebay if you put in phonics toy, also check out the consignment shops in your area, I have found some great learning toys in consignment shops.
Also, reading did not seem to be a straight line, they went forward 3 or four steps, back one or two and leaped ahead again. ( I also had a 2 year old who just seemed to know how to read and I never had to teach him, kids are very interesting!)

YES! Roman loves Starfall and Dick and Jane, my oldest really enjoyed them, so we bought so many of them! Hahahah...I will try the video route, a trip to the library is in order this week and this could be perfect. Thank you!!

 

[Readerbug]

Pp, thanks for mentioning your blog. Will visit it!

A reader thought-

There's an old set of readers from the1960's, also, that my most 'special' learner son really took off with, and loved.

It's the Sam and Ann series from Sullivan Associates. They are phonetic plus limited sight words. His favorites were The Bag in the Sand, and The Witch and the Bat, because they were the first time he read over 100 pages(eventually) by himself and loved it. Still re-reads them, for fun, now a proficient 3rd grader.

I think he loves these because, beginning with the second and third books in the series, (the first is very basic, Pins and Pans) they tell real stories with funny( to a 6 year old-he was a big fan of Scooby Doo-type humor) comic pictures that carry consistent characters and a real plot line.

Each book has 3 or 4 good sized stories, about 64 pgs. You have to find them on Amazon or eBay used, though. I buy when they are under $8. They are very re- sellable, from my experience, but I'm keeping them for my grand kids cause they work so well.

(Anyone have any of these, or read 'em as a 70's kid?)

 

[Nanu57v]

DMM-- Three thoughts: Maybe he needs a break, try Explode the Code online through Homeschoolbuyerscoop (like $25 for a year I think)...Alex thought it was a game!, and try reading the Bob books with him. They are so easy that it really motivated to read the short book.

 

[Nicolepa]

For your field trips, have you considered going ahead with them and just having your other child do work while on the field trips? Maybe he needs a change in environment?

He will not work outside of the house. I've tried having him do work in the car, at McD's while his brother plays, library, etc. He will take something with him, but he will not do it.

He also cannot focus if we go do something and then I expect work when we get home.

So, anytime we leave the house I either have to do school in the am and outing in the afternoon or just forget about schoolwork for the day. I have to be home by 3 to do carpool for his older sister, so afternoon doesn't give us much time.

 

[pocomom]

I am needing beginning reading help. I have a 5 year old that is learning to read. He knows all his letter sounds, phonics sounds and the like but when it comes time to sounding out words, he guesses. CAT - He will sound out the C and then just say Car, Can, Cup...anything that has a C beginning sound. We are using Starfall online as well. He loves being read to, can point out a word if I ask him to look for the word in a sentence....he just doesn't want to put it together.

I would get a copy of Peggy Kaye's games for reading- my younger dd didn't take to reading the way the older dd did, but hands on active games helped get her excited, once they are self -motivated it is so much easier. I felt like she was stressed out by trying, and maybe was getting pushed to hard. We ended up ditching all phonics, formal lessons and I just read to her, we played those games and others for an hour or so each day, and I started letting her stay up a little later for "reading" to herself. It was a long time before I realized she really was reading to herself. She's 7, in second grade and just started Harry Potter. I think even more important then learning to read is learning to love reading.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Pp, thanks for mentioning your blog. Will visit it!

A reader thought-

There's an old set of readers from the1960's, also, that my most 'special' learner son really took off with, and loved.

It's the Sam and Ann series from Sullivan Associates. They are phonetic plus limited sight words. His favorites were The Bag in the Sand, and The Witch and the Bat, because they were the first time he read over 100 pages(eventually) by himself and loved it. Still re-reads them, for fun, now a proficient 3rd grader.

I think he loves these because, beginning with the second and third books in the series, (the first is very basic, Pins and Pans) they tell real stories with funny( to a 6 year old-he was a big fan of Scooby Doo-type humor) comic pictures that carry consistent characters and a real plot line.

Each book has 3 or 4 good sized stories, about 64 pgs. You have to find them on Amazon or eBay used, though. I buy when they are under $8. They are very re- sellable, from my experience, but I'm keeping them for my grand kids cause they work so well.

(Anyone have any of these, or read 'em as a 70's kid?)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS!!!! I will check them out for sure! I'm willing to try anything!!

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

DMM-- Three thoughts: Maybe he needs a break, try Explode the Code online through Homeschoolbuyerscoop (like $25 for a year I think)...Alex thought it was a game!, and try reading the Bob books with him. They are so easy that it really motivated to read the short book.

YES, I just found the link for explode the code, since a PP mentioned it. It's 35 for the year and I am thinking we are going to try it! We are working on just reading to him for the rest of this week and he can play his starfall games that he adores. That way it's not too much.

 

[kc10family]

Has anyone here used Connections Academy? We home school, but I was considering this for my DS who will be entering 9th grade next year. However, I just noticed under the requirements that he needs to have attended public school the year prior to enrollment. If any of you have enrolled in this program, was there any way around this?

I have not but my kids use Alpha Omega Academy and love it. Have you checked K12.com, It may work for you. K12 will not wotk for us because we want to move and grove as we feel like it and not be on the public school schedule.

Best wishes!

 

[Nicolepa]

For your field trips, have you considered going ahead with them and just having your other child do work while on the field trips? Maybe he needs a change in environment?

I think for K we are going to focus on learning games. My little guy really enjoys those. Then the big kid can pretend to do his thing upstairs. ;-). The following year he will be in school and I can Mae that a field trip year with my little one.

 

[Aunt Stepody]

I have not but my kids use Alpha Omega Academy and love it. Have you checked K12.com, It may work for you. K12 will not wotk for us because we want to move and grove as we feel like it and not be on the public school schedule.

Best wishes!

Thank you for responding. I will definitely look into the Alpha Omega Academy. Do you mind me asking what grades you use it for?

Yes, I looked at K12 also. After doing a little more research, neither form of on-line public school will work for us either. My focus is to find a quality, accredited program that provides a transcript in the end. However, like you, we also want to maintain the flexibility that we have with home school.

I am seriously considering NorthStar Academy. They seem to meet all my requirements. Your student (grades 5-12) can take up to 52 weeks to complete a 36 week program (now that's flexibility). Not that we want to stretch it that far, but we do like to take vacations at off-peak times every now and then. They have a parent-led program (non-accredited) and a teacher-led program (accredited). I also like NSA because they provide a Christian-based education.

If anybody else has any ideas, I would love to hear them. TIA.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Has anyone here used Connections Academy? We home school, but I was considering this for my DS who will be entering 9th grade next year. However, I just noticed under the requirements that he needs to have attended public school the year prior to enrollment. If any of you have enrolled in this program, was there any way around this?

I have not, but I noticed you were looking for an accredited program with transcripts at the end. We use SETON and it offers all of this. It is a Catholic program but allows you 12 months to finish the 10 month program and for an additional fee, you can even tack on 4 more months to that! We absolutely love it, but are just getting started.