Homeschool Chat Part III

[kc10family]

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.

I don’t mind you asking at all. I have a 3rd and 5th grader. AOA is Christian based and has many different options, cd’s, hard book and online (we do all online) and has an accredited program. IMO, this is the best of both worlds. If my girls don’t want to listen to what I have to say about something ( I like to get into the lessons with them) they can call into the school and talk with a teacher or even go to an online classroom where they interact with the teacher one on one. The school keeps all of the administrative records and when we move (we are military); I don’t have to worry about changing states/ countries and rules. I like that my girls can do a lesson on an ipad while driving or on a plane. We got hit by Hurricane Sandy (lost power for a week), I called into the school and they without question rest the dates of the semester. AOA allows 12 months to finish a 10 month program but I will tell you, my girls finished last semester early even with the power outage.
Feel free to ask me anything else. If you want to see a sample of the lessons, send me a pm.

 

[momimouse27]

Anyone have any experience with K5 math Internet lessons? I think my son needs something that feels like a game when he's learning and this might fit the bill but it's kind of pricey.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Share your day with me please! Do you keep a schedule? Lean more towards the formal or informal?

I have 3 kids in Kindergarten, 1st and 3rd grade.
We start between 8 and 8:30 daily.
On a daily basis we do: Reading,Math, Writing, Language & Religion, Spelling
I alternate History and Science.

I require my kids to get dressed on a daily basis, eat and brush teeth before starting and then we head about our day. If we are spending the day at a museum or library, I allow time for travel and such but aim to stay on a schedule as much as possible. Our day usually ends around noon.

How about you?

 

[momimouse27]

Hi DMM,

Our schedule is similar. But since my son has Aspbergers we have to be flexible. I am not a morning person, so we start ours starts a bit later.

8:30-9:30. Breakfast, dressing, brush teeth
9:30-10:00. Clean room
10:00-10:45. Reading/journal
10:45-11:15 science/History (we alternate too)
Short break
11:30-12:00. Spelling
Lunch
1:15 math
2:00-2:30 writing/grammar

We also spend time reading books that relate to science or history and go to the library. We do other stuff I count as school, like play mad libs and scrabble. We are still working out the kinks

 

[DisneyMom5]

Share your day with me please! Do you keep a schedule? Lean more towards the formal or informal?

I have 3 kids in Kindergarten, 1st and 3rd grade.
We start between 8 and 8:30 daily.
On a daily basis we do: Reading,Math, Writing, Language & Religion, Spelling
I alternate History and Science.

I require my kids to get dressed on a daily basis, eat and brush teeth before starting and then we head about our day. If we are spending the day at a museum or library, I allow time for travel and such but aim to stay on a schedule as much as possible. Our day usually ends around noon.

How about you?

We do afternoon school (though my sixteen year old starts in the morning.)
After years of trying to be like everyone else and start school first thing in the morning, I have realized that our natural rhythm is afternoon.
Giving in to that has helped immensely. We are usually done by 4 or 5.
I have preschool, 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 11th (and one graduate! )

 

[hsmamainva]

My 13yo is doing high school level work, so he doesn't have a schedule set by me. He receives his assignments in the morning after breakfast and is usually finished for the day around 2:00 in the afternoon. I merely check his work at the end of the day at this point (math lessons, essays, science & history tests, etc.)

My 11yo has special needs and she goes to school for 4 hours a day and we homeschool in the afternoons (with special emphasis on reading and math). So she doesn't really have a set schedule either although I try to make sure her schoolwork is completed sometime between 2 and 5pm.

 

[chris31997]

Share your day with me please! Do you keep a schedule? Lean more towards the formal or informal?

I have 3 kids in Kindergarten, 1st and 3rd grade.
We start between 8 and 8:30 daily.
On a daily basis we do: Reading,Math, Writing, Language & Religion, Spelling
I alternate History and Science.

I require my kids to get dressed on a daily basis, eat and brush teeth before starting and then we head about our day. If we are spending the day at a museum or library, I allow time for travel and such but aim to stay on a schedule as much as possible. Our day usually ends around noon.

How about you?

Weeelll, it depends on the day we are having

Co-Op Day our day starts at 8:30 but we are up and out the door at 7:45.

Usually, our day start time depends on our night end time. For instance, last night DD had dance class. We got home at 10pm. We will start alittle later today. Tonight, we will not have sucha late night so, we can start earlier.

I try to start around homework around 9. The order is totally up to each child. DD is on her own. She has her weekly requirements. DS and I work together. We are usually done around 1pm.

Chores and breakfast are started around 8, depending on the night before.

 

[Nanu57v]

No schedule here...we wake up, eat breakfast, then do Keys for Kids, Math, and Reading/LA And anything else I might throw in, like science, history, art, music, etc. Thursdays she has co-op from 9-12 and Release time 1-3, Friday she has co-op from 1-3.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Thank you everyone for responding!! I truly appreciate seeing how everyone learns, as we get further into our groove, I should be able to relax more. My children came from a very strict, very scheduled school and I wanted to transition them easily and not just make it a free for all.

 

[Christen99]

I have two kids (13 and 8) who are both special needs, but are also ahead academically.

We do have a fairly strict schedule for the morning because we have in home therapy for both, and afternoons are for classes.

My oldest gets up at 6:45 and gets his morning chores, hygiene, breakfast out of the way. By 8 he is sitting in his room starting school work. He has a pacing schedule for math, and he's taking a couple of online classes at BYU. He also has language, writing, and science daily, as well as any history homework for his class. He does as much as he can before his therapist arrives at 9. From 9-11 he works with his therapist, and hangs out from 11-11:30 until my other son's therapist leaves. Lunch from 11:30-12:30, and then classes, or finishing up schoolwork. Everything has to be done before 4, so he has a couple of quick afternoon chores and he's free to hang out after he finishes. He's usually done by 2:30 most days.

My 8 year old is up, fed, and dressed by 8:30 and ready for his therapist at 9:30. From 9:30-11:30 we work through school work (math, history/geography, handwriting, and language). He also works on specific therapy goals as ll (meditation, etc.). He takes science twice a week, PE twice a week, and swimming once a week, so we don't do those things during therapy. On Friday we spend all day in occupational therapy, speech, and language, but we still do school work in the morning.

After my youngest is done with therapy, he hangs out, reads, builds with Legos, and likes a lot of quiet time. We throw in a lot of sensory/OT work throughout his day as well.

Dinner is from 6-7, immediately followed by getting ready for bed at 8.

We tried a loose, unschooled type of schedule but it was a horrible fit for my two who are on the autism spectrum. This is the end of our 4th year! We school all year round btw because loose downtime is a nightmare for this house.

 

[chris31997]

Thank you everyone for responding!! I truly appreciate seeing how everyone learns, as we get further into our groove, I should be able to relax more. My children came from a very strict, very scheduled school and I wanted to transition them easily and not just make it a free for all.

That is what is great about homeschooling, we all do what works for us. What works for us this might not work next year. We have the ability to be as rigid or flexible as our families need us to be.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

That is what is great about homeschooling, we all do what works for us. What works for us this might not work next year. We have the ability to be as rigid or flexible as our families need us to be.

Very true! I know that I am working a lot more with the youngest right now, so a schedule is necessary. I am teaching him to read and that takes up most of our time right now.

 

[monkeybug]

I never realized there was a homeschooling thread on the Dis! I'm so happy to have found it.

We are wrestling with the idea of homeschooling next year. Our schools are fine and both my kids are doing well, but I hate the schedule (they are gone from 8-4:30) and I'm worried that they aren't being challenged. We went from my daughter being told to do a project that demonstrated what she learned (and her having to decide for herself the what and how) to her being given explicit directions on how to make a poster. Such detailed instructions that really it was just a 2 week exercise in how to read a list and hold a crayon. Not really aligned with our educational goals for her. Lol!

I looked into a few distance learning and online academies (k-12, Calvert, and Bridgeway) but they all seem very similar to public school. Has anyone used these and tweaked the lessons or projects a bit to be more open ended? Is there flexibility within their programs to do that?

I've also been thinking a lot about using Moving Beyond the Page, Brave Writer, and Singapore Math, anyone have experience with any of these? I want curriculum that has a bit of skill and drill to build a strong foundation of facts, but one that also challenges them to think critically and creatively. (Which is the element that seems mostly absent in our local schools, which seem much more about drill and test)

Thanks!

 

[momimouse27]

Welcome Monkeybug! You will find this is a great place to come for ideas and questions or just to feel it out if you decide to finally take the plunge.

I have used Liberty online with my daughter, although it was high school curriculum. . It was definitely challenging. My daughter didn't like it because it was very rigid and inflexible. I thought it was okay, but I just thought it was a bit boring, even for high school.

Someone here has mentioned Northstar academy and I'm looking in to that. Good luck in whatever you decide to do

 

[DisneyMom5]

I never realized there was a homeschooling thread on the Dis! I'm so happy to have found it.

We are wrestling with the idea of homeschooling next year. Our schools are fine and both my kids are doing well, but I hate the schedule (they are gone from 8-4:30) and I'm worried that they aren't being challenged. We went from my daughter being told to do a project that demonstrated what she learned (and her having to decide for herself the what and how) to her being given explicit directions on how to make a poster. Such detailed instructions that really it was just a 2 week exercise in how to read a list and hold a crayon. Not really aligned with our educational goals for her. Lol!

I looked into a few distance learning and online academies (k-12, Calvert, and Bridgeway) but they all seem very similar to public school. Has anyone used these and tweaked the lessons or projects a bit to be more open ended? Is there flexibility within their programs to do that?

I've also been thinking a lot about using Moving Beyond the Page, Brave Writer, and Singapore Math, anyone have experience with any of these? I want curriculum that has a bit of skill and drill to build a strong foundation of facts, but one that also challenges them to think critically and creatively. (Which is the element that seems mostly absent in our local schools, which seem much more about drill and test)

Thanks!

We've used Singapore, and we like it a lot. It's more of a "think outside the box" problem solving style math, not a repetitive math skills style. Saxon is very repetitive, drill it into them. BUT...I like Singapore for what it is. I want my kids to understand real life math applications, not memorize a bunch of algorithms and do them over and over.
Saxon is supposed to excel for standardized tests, but Singapore is created out of one of the most successful countries for math testing.
Make sure you do the placement tests for singapore, it tends to run ahead of what other math programs do, by about 1/2 - 1 year.
All that to say...yes on Singapore. LOL
I now have switched my older kids to Teaching Textbooks for math, but it is behind what Singapore is. But it is a very good fit for us, because the kids do their math on the computer.

 

[Nicolepa]

!

I looked into a few distance learning and online academies (k-12, Calvert, and Bridgeway) but they all seem very similar to public school. Has anyone used these and tweaked the lessons or projects a bit to be more open ended? Is there flexibility within their programs to do that?


Thanks!

We did k12 our first 1.5 years. It is very much school at home. The amount of paper, it was crazy! If you are doing it independently you could definitely tweak however you want, if you do it thru a school you are stuck for th most part.

The three things I reall didn't like we're 1. Amount of worksheets. It wad really all desk work. 2. Being tied to the school district calendar (w did it thru a virtual academy). I couldn't relly take a field trip day without risking meeting our progress goals fr the month. 3. Being tied to the computer. The K12 website was down a lot and that made doing some subjects impossible (science & history). Being tied to the computer also mad schooling on the go/in the car impossible, and at the time we were in the car a lot.

 

[monkeybug]

Welcome Monkeybug! You will find this is a great place to come for ideas and questions or just to feel it out if you decide to finally take the plunge.

I have used Liberty online with my daughter, although it was high school curriculum. . It was definitely challenging. My daughter didn't like it because it was very rigid and inflexible. I thought it was okay, but I just thought it was a bit boring, even for high school.

Someone here has mentioned Northstar academy and I'm looking in to that. Good luck in whatever you decide to do

Thank you!
I will look into Northstar . We are not Christian so I've been mostly researching secular curriculums, but I'm sure that some can easily be secularized so maybe I should broaden my search.

And I'm going to apologize to in advance because I'm going to have to reply to everyone with individual posts. I'm using my ipad and I don't see a multi quote option.

 

[monkeybug]

We've used Singapore, and we like it a lot. It's more of a "think outside the box" problem solving style math, not a repetitive math skills style. Saxon is very repetitive, drill it into them. BUT...I like Singapore for what it is. I want my kids to understand real life math applications, not memorize a bunch of algorithms and do them over and over.
Saxon is supposed to excel for standardized tests, but Singapore is created out of one of the most successful countries for math testing.
Make sure you do the placement tests for singapore, it tends to run ahead of what other math programs do, by about 1/2 - 1 year.
All that to say...yes on Singapore. LOL
I now have switched my older kids to Teaching Textbooks for math, but it is behind what Singapore is. But it is a very good fit for us, because the kids do their math on the computer.

I'm happy to hear that about Singapore! I read how it came to be, and it just makes so much sense to me. In the US we seem to focus a lot on memorization, so I'm guessing that's why Saxon prepares kids well for testing here. I know that the PISA test (the one that compares how nations stack up in regards to education) focuses on whether or not students can apply what they've learned in ways they aren't used to, so it makes sense that countries that use a theory based math would test higher.
I'm looking into right start math as well, have you ever heard of that?

 

[monkeybug]

We did k12 our first 1.5 years. It is very much school at home. The amount of paper, it was crazy! If you are doing it independently you could definitely tweak however you want, if you do it thru a school you are stuck for th most part.

The three things I reall didn't like we're 1. Amount of worksheets. It wad really all desk work. 2. Being tied to the school district calendar (w did it thru a virtual academy). I couldn't relly take a field trip day without risking meeting our progress goals fr the month. 3. Being tied to the computer. The K12 website was down a lot and that made doing some subjects impossible (science & history). Being tied to the computer also mad schooling on the go/in the car impossible, and at the time we were in the car a lot.

Yeah that doesn't sound at all like what we'd want either! My husband travels a lot and a big check in the pro homeschool column for us is the ability to go with him if we wanted.

 

[Nanu57v]

We did/do Singapore too. We've done 1b, 2a, and 2b.