Homeschool Chat Part III

[Cinderellabride]

Hi,

I posted a new thread, and it was suggested to post this here:

Hi,

I am homeschooling my Kindergarten son this year , and we are heading to WDW in a couple of weeks. It is going to be a huge extended family trip celebrating my DH graduating salutatorian , so mostly we will just be focusing on celebrating, and having fun. But I know there are so many educational opportunities at Disney, so I'm looking for ways to incorporate learning opportunities into our trip, without going too overboard. (I also have a 4 year old boy, but am not officially homeschooling him until next year, we wanted him to finish the preschool program he was already in). We also have about a 20 hour drive each way to get there, and I will be sitting in the back with the kiddos most of the way (my dad is driving down with us), so lots of entertaining kiddos, and some schooling would fit in well on the drive.

So suggestions on:

Ideas for the car ride?
General kindergarten learning opportunities?
We are in the middle of a Dinosaur unit study as well, and I plan to take him on Dinosaur, go the bone yard, and eat lunch at T-Rex, but any other ideas for that would be great.

Thanks!
Steph

P.S. I tried searching to see if this has been asked before, and I didn't find anything. If it has and you have link to the thread, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[sweetlovin']

Week 6 of home school and a new twist. Now, my 5th grader would like to home school as well. It's not that I am worried about her, I am worried about how to handle a 9th, 3rd, and now 5th/6th grader. After thinking about it for two nights, I think I have figured out a loose schedule. Putting it together and implementing will be a complete different factor.

Has anyone put their 3rd grader in apologia Anatomy and Physiology? I purchased that today for the 5th grader than I realized I might be able to pull my 9yo up. Has anyone used these for their younger kids?

 

[momimouse27]

I use Apologia with my son, but we are doing Zoology. He likes learning about animals and it's well written. I have used the anatomy long ago with my kids who are older now. I liked them.

As for the prior poster, have you thought of the 'Behind the seeds' tour in The Land? My kids liked it, and it's really interesting to see where they grow the food from the ride. You could also learn about some of the animals they'll see at The Seas in Epcot.

 

[Cinderellabride]

I use Apologia with my son, but we are doing Zoology. He likes learning about animals and it's well written. I have used the anatomy long ago with my kids who are older now. I liked them. As for the prior poster, have you thought of the 'Behind the seeds' tour in The Land? My kids liked it, and it's really interesting to see where they grow the food from the ride. You could also learn about some of the animals they'll see at The Seas in Epcot.

I thought they had to be older for the behind seeds tour? Is that not true? I've wanted to do it, but thought they were too young.

 

[chris31997]

Hello all-

New homeschooling mom here. I've got a 4th grader, 2nd grade and a pre-K guy who didn't make the K cut off.

We are going to Disney in Feb/March and I'm looking for ideas to "count" hours during our trip. Is this the right thread to ask for ideas? I know we will do the animal walks and a trip to conservation station in AK. I'm sure we will do the furture world stuff, and some time Living with the Seas...and I guess the land too.

Lots of people suggest the countries, but what specifically do you have the kids do other than watch the movies in Canada, France and China? Talk to cast members? Ideas for what they should ask?

Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated and if I'm in the wrong thread, possibly re-direct?

At the very least, didn't know this was here, and now I am subscribed! We do Connections in Pa.

Hi,

I posted a new thread, and it was suggested to post this here:

Hi,

I am homeschooling my Kindergarten son this year , and we are heading to WDW in a couple of weeks. It is going to be a huge extended family trip celebrating my DH graduating salutatorian , so mostly we will just be focusing on celebrating, and having fun. But I know there are so many educational opportunities at Disney, so I'm looking for ways to incorporate learning opportunities into our trip, without going too overboard. (I also have a 4 year old boy, but am not officially homeschooling him until next year, we wanted him to finish the preschool program he was already in). We also have about a 20 hour drive each way to get there, and I will be sitting in the back with the kiddos most of the way (my dad is driving down with us), so lots of entertaining kiddos, and some schooling would fit in well on the drive.

So suggestions on:

Ideas for the car ride?
General kindergarten learning opportunities?
We are in the middle of a Dinosaur unit study as well, and I plan to take him on Dinosaur, go the bone yard, and eat lunch at T-Rex, but any other ideas for that would be great.

Thanks!
Steph

P.S. I tried searching to see if this has been asked before, and I didn't find anything. If it has and you have link to the thread, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

Look into Phineas and Ferb mystery thingy, last time we went and kiddos were into that it was Kim Possible . I believe it is in Epcot.

Give them a giftcard/journal for keeping track of money spent:budget

Or if on a food plan then have them keep track of the "points"

Eat at differant restraunts and try differant foods: explore the culture alittle thru the food.

IF you trust little hands with a camera, give them a camera and have them photo journal. Or see if you can find a disposable camera, some of the most entertaining pictures I have ever gotten were pics taken by my kids.

Pin trading, gives them a chance to talk to someone and ask for something. They have to make a choice, which can be hard You will find your type A personalities

Keep a list of the differant countries/areas/states people are from. Do tally marks to see if one has more people from it than other locations.

Keep track of the weather.

 

[sweetlovin']

I use Apologia with my son, but we are doing Zoology. He likes learning about animals and it's well written. I have used the anatomy long ago with my kids who are older now. I liked them.

They do seem well written. My 13yo just started the biology with the companion CD. He said it was really easy to understand. There is no CD for the Anatomy book, but I will give it a go I guess.

 

[momimouse27]

I thought they had to be older for the behind seeds tour? Is that not true? I've wanted to do it, but thought they were too young.

I can't remember how old my girls were when they did it. It was several years ago, and they are 20 and 16 now. I checked and there is not age restriction on the tour, though it's not cheap-$16 for kids, $22 for adults.

I second the above recommendation for Phineus and Ferb. Even my 16 yr old still likes that. It's fun and I think it's great for decision making skills.

 

[superchime]

Hello all- New homeschooling mom here. I've got a 4th grader, 2nd grade and a pre-K guy who didn't make the K cut off. We are going to Disney in Feb/March and I'm looking for ideas to "count" hours during our trip. Is this the right thread to ask for ideas? I know we will do the animal walks and a trip to conservation station in AK. I'm sure we will do the furture world stuff, and some time Living with the Seas...and I guess the land too. Lots of people suggest the countries, but what specifically do you have the kids do other than watch the movies in Canada, France and China? Talk to cast members? Ideas for what they should ask? Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated and if I'm in the wrong thread, possibly re-direct? At the very least, didn't know this was here, and now I am subscribed! We do Connections in Pa.

They can learn how to say a few words (hello, thank you, goodbye) in each of the languages for the world showcase countries then try them out on the cast members. I've heard this is a lot of fun and the cast members are usually excited to help the kids practice.

We also read about the countries ahead of time and then looked for the famous landmarks that are represented in Epcot (Eiffel Tower, etc.). We also collected flags from each country and trinkets to go in our continent study unit boxes.

 

[momimouse27]

We have done what superchime mentioned. We have done both the Epcot passports and our own self made booklets on each country. The kids loved it because of the anticipation of the trip.

Trying to decide now if I should attempt something like this with my son. He has autism, and has lots of trouble paying attention. But if he had a booklet to complete, he might be more engaged.

 

[DisHmsklMom]

Hello all-

New homeschooling mom here. I've got a 4th grader, 2nd grade and a pre-K guy who didn't make the K cut off.

We are going to Disney in Feb/March and I'm looking for ideas to "count" hours during our trip. Is this the right thread to ask for ideas? I know we will do the animal walks and a trip to conservation station in AK. I'm sure we will do the furture world stuff, and some time Living with the Seas...and I guess the land too.

Lots of people suggest the countries, but what specifically do you have the kids do other than watch the movies in Canada, France and China? Talk to cast members? Ideas for what they should ask?

Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated and if I'm in the wrong thread, possibly re-direct?

Welcome to the world of "thinking like a homeschooler", it is really fun to enter the world of life-long learning with your kids.
We find all of the Disney parks to be great sources of learning. We look for interesting architecture, have the kids take pictures and compare what they see to styles they have learned about.
In EPCOT, don't miss all the little museums in the different countries, we spend a good amount of time in those - the are gems not to be missed, more pictures can be taken here.
My kids have really enjoyed learning about Walt Disney and his family, the history of Disney, and discovering the story of each of the parks and their different areas.
Magic Kingdom has really great areas that can inspire, be sure to do the tree house in the evening when it's less crowded so you can take your time and see all the detail, try and read the book and see the movie before the trip. Even playing Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom you can teach the kids a lot, look at the villains, how they are drawn - their faces are upside down triangles. The Disney artists did a ton of research on what faces people like and didn't like.
Liberty Square is really an interesting place to visit when you are covering American History, again go in the evening when it is less crowded - look for the lanterns, take the ferry boat, during the afternoon go to Tom Sawyers Island....
Then there is all of the detail at the Disney hotels...
Try and slow them down, point out as much stuff as you can, eventually they will begin to see all of it too. Have fun, take lots of pictures for your records.

 

[adventure_woman]

We are considering homeschooling our DD7. She is currently in a private Christian school but she isn't being challenged. She is currently in 2nd grade. As of last March, she was at about a 2.5 level for math and 4.9 level for reading. She catches onto things very easily.

So, a I am researching homeschooling I have a few questions:
- HOW do you choose which curriculum for each subject?
- What curriculum do you think are a must have for a 2nd grader? (ie - I know I need to find something for math, grammar, spelling - but do you also recommend buying a curriculum for history, science, etc - or do you just work on different things that interest her?)
- This is all so new to me, which is probably why it scares me to death to homeschool her. So, I am just trying to absorb all the info I can!

 

[sweetlovin']

Welcome to our world

It really depends on your family and what works best and what you want your child to learn. For me, it was easiest to follow Well Trained Mind with either Life of Fred, Teaching Textbooks, or Saxon. I also use Apologia for science. I'm more secular, so I skip the biblical teachings. Again, for me, that was the easiest. I have a 3rd, 5th, and 9th (he's suppose to be 7th, but he was bright enough to move up). If you want the more religious teachings there are a lot of curriculums to follow.

I have run into people that unschool and I have run into people more like me that have a set curriculum. I have joined a lot of different groups in my area either for a few classes or a yahoo group, or a Facebook group that will keep you in the loop for activities. My kids last week went roller skating on Tuesday at 1pm and laser tag with trick or treating on Friday 1pm with other home school kids. Look up the home school laws in your area and make sure you understand them. I swore my kids had to still take the state test and it wasn't until I was talking to another mom and she explained that they do not. So glad she took the time to explain to me that it could be any standardize testing. Again, that is my state.

Good luck! The freedom of it is amazing

 

[sweetlovin']

I use Apologia with my son, but we are doing Zoology. He likes learning about animals and it's well written. I have used the anatomy long ago with my kids who are older now. I liked them.

So far, my 3rd grader is "dealing" at best with Anatomy and Physiology. I think she would much prefer the Zoology books. I'm going to try to finish what I started, but this is not her favorite subject.

 

[wunkmom]

I thought they had to be older for the behind seeds tour? Is that not true? I've wanted to do it, but thought they were too young.

Did Behind the Seeds with my 14yo DS last week. He loved it.

 

[jahber]

We are considering homeschooling our DD7. She is currently in a private Christian school but she isn't being challenged. She is currently in 2nd grade. As of last March, she was at about a 2.5 level for math and 4.9 level for reading. She catches onto things very easily. So, a I am researching homeschooling I have a few questions: - HOW do you choose which curriculum for each subject? - What curriculum do you think are a must have for a 2nd grader? (ie - I know I need to find something for math, grammar, spelling - but do you also recommend buying a curriculum for history, science, etc - or do you just work on different things that interest her?) - This is all so new to me, which is probably why it scares me to death to homeschool her. So, I am just trying to absorb all the info I can!

Honestly, if you don't have much time to research, don't spend a lot of money now. Just start with what a friend uses or google each subject and see what gets good reviews. Homeschool parents love to experiment with curricula and it can take a few years until you find something you love. After 4 years I still find myself thinking about changing up some things--even though they work great for us. It's a passion.

I'll tell you what we do, which may or may not work for you. Don't even try to replicate it--no one schedule works for everyone. I just want give you one idea of how a school day "can" work. You have a great deal of freedom in many states. We are in Fl, so there are no attendance requirements or testing requirements, although I administer a standardized test (which I don't share with the government) for my own evaluation purposes.

I have a 4th grader and 1st grader. They have always been homeschooled and the 1st grader (my son) is above grade level in nearly every subject, so we just move up to the next grade as he finishes a book. We have the same policy with my daughter, but she tends to move at an "average" pace, so she's on grade level in most subjects. Funny how kids can be so different.

We do:
-Math (Jump Math or Saxon--both ahead a grade for most kids)
-Spelling (All About Spelling)
-Vocabulary (just a workbook for 1st grader for now, 4th grader uses Wordly Wise 3000)
-Phonics (Explode the Code)
-Handwriting/copy work (I make my own silly/funny sheets every day for the 1st grader. The 4th grader practices her cursive)
-Grammar (First language lessons for 1st, Easy grammar for 4th)
-History (Veritas Press, with memorization, activities, and tests for the 4th grader, 1st grader does it casually along with my daughter's lessons
-Geography (The Big Book of Geography)
-Bible same as history (we are religious, so that's optional, obviously, and can be a lot of memorization)
-Reading aloud to me for 30 mins (4th) or 15 minutes or so (1st)
-Reading comprehension (Beyond the Code for 1st and another workbook because the kid LOVES workbooks. We use these for test-taking skills).
-Writing (institute for excellence in writing, 3 times a week on a good week--doesn't always happen )
-Science (Magic School Bus science kits 2x a week, mostly, but we do lots and lots of hands on, exploration, and discussion. Text books haven't done the trick for my kids in this subject so I'm holding off.)
-Art sometimes
-Music (they are each learning an instrument/15 mins a day. The 4th grader more so than the the 1st)
-Typing when we have time. So, occasionally

This is a LOT, but I'm a former teacher so it's important to me that we have a strong basis in academic subjects--some parents are more concerned with social/civic/real world skills or hands-on, self-directed learning. I strongly believe that a loving, involved parent will do a great job no matter what method they choose, as long as they evaluate frequently and adjust when necessary. Our school day is very loose and unstructured. The kids wouldn't be able to handle the pressure of so many subjects stacked on top of each other if we followed a traditional school day schedule/calendar. So, we school for 4 days a week, basically year round, and our days typically include 4 or so hours of "school" total. We take a week or two off here and there and a month in the summer (with weekday math and reading to keep our skills fresh).

We do not try to replicate the school room at our house. My son practices his spelling words while jumping from couch to couch, most days . But we aren't quite unschooling. Nor are we full on classical, just in history and bible. But every method of homeschooling has merit and value and can be successful. So just give it a try and see what works for you!

Sorry for the book, but if hope I was able to give you an idea or two. I'm no expert, but we found what works for US. I hope you are able to do the same

 

[mama2four]

Hi! I was happy to find this forum I'm a homeschooling mom to four kids - aged 9, 5, and a set of 2 yo twins. I was super nervous this year - my twins are insanely active and I was super-scared that I'd be unable to get anything done with my two older kids. So far, so good though.

My twins will color at the table while we do our book work (or should I say they will color the table and eat the crayons...) Once they tire of that, I can usually appease them with a snack (unless they are really full from the crayons LOL).

By then, the older kids are usually off to do some online lessons. The twins really enjoy watching those -- especially the lessons my 5 yo is working on.

Their favorite program is Hooked on Phonics. My son (the 5 yo) loves it and works on it just about every day. He is reading beyond grade level (at about a 2nd grade level) and finds the work fun. The babies already know their letter sounds, and I know it is from watching their brother play the HOP games.

After that we are generally done with the "school" part of the day. Our other activities keep the babies really busy, so we usually don't have issues there.

The only thing I find to be a real challenge with multiple kids is what to do when one is sick and the other three don't want to miss all of their activities. It is hard to make them all stay home, but I can't drag the sick little around while the others are at their various classes and clubs. How do you all handle that?

 

[fabulousfive]

Following along as we may be interested in homeschooling in the near future.

 

[sweetlovin']

I'm in first language lesson and writing with ease with my 3rd grader. Analytical grammar with my 7th and 5th grader. Spelling workout with all three. I have my 5th in Writing Strands, but she will do IEW starting in Jan. We have classes for IEW for home school kids. I also have the middle school program for that course at my house. I love it, but my 7th grader told me he thought it was a little cheesy. LOL!

 

[kohlby]

So, a I am researching homeschooling I have a few questions:
- HOW do you choose which curriculum for each subject?
- What curriculum do you think are a must have for a 2nd grader? (ie - I know I need to find something for math, grammar, spelling - but do you also recommend buying a curriculum for history, science, etc - or do you just work on different things that interest her?)

I started out unschooling for kindy and below and then add in more formal subjects as I go along. My state requires math, science, social studies, writing, and reading from first grade up, so I do have to document all. For formal curriculums, I started with math in first grade. Reading was reading books on their reading level. Writing was writing stories and occasionally doing Mad Libs. Science and Social Studies was asking them what they were interested in and following it. The kids non-fiction area of the library can give lots of ideas if they don't have any. My daughter wanted to learn about the countries of Epcot last year, so we researched those. Then she wanted to learn about one of the American Girls time period, so we did that. In second grade, I add in formal spelling, but keep the rest child led.

So, a mix of formal curriculums and following their interests. It makes it a lot less overwhelming to pick curriculums that way as well! And lots of fun! Also, it helps to tailor it to your child by doing it subject by subject instead of buying a boxed set of curriculum.

Here's what my 2nd grader is doing now:

Math - Life of Fred Fractions. (She's ahead. She did Math-U-See Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and half of Delta in first grade then switched to LoF and started in Apples there).
Reading - Reading Little House on the Prairie series. We discuss the vocab and comprehension informally and it works well for us.
Spelling - Sequential Spelling 1
Language Arts - Since she's gifted, we're treating her as an advanced 3rd grader here and doing Michael Clay Thompson Island. Though my oldest was advanced too, we treated him more like 2nd grader and he wrote books and did Mad libs still in 2nd grade.
Science - Magic School Bus Kits and watching MythBusters
Social Studies - She found a book about SC History she wanted to do, so that's what we're doing right now
PE - Yoga at the Y and running - she does the occasional 1 or 2 mile road race
Art/Music - Happens naturally so I don't plan it in

 

[chris31997]

We are considering homeschooling our DD7. She is currently in a private Christian school but she isn't being challenged. She is currently in 2nd grade. As of last March, she was at about a 2.5 level for math and 4.9 level for reading. She catches onto things very easily.

So, a I am researching homeschooling I have a few questions:
- HOW do you choose which curriculum for each subject?
- What curriculum do you think are a must have for a 2nd grader? (ie - I know I need to find something for math, grammar, spelling - but do you also recommend buying a curriculum for history, science, etc - or do you just work on different things that interest her?)
- This is all so new to me, which is probably why it scares me to death to homeschool her. So, I am just trying to absorb all the info I can!

You may want to look into Abeka, it is a harder curriculum. Think rated 2.5-3.5 for 2nd grade. You can look them up online and see where there will be a display. Also see if you can find a local group and ask if you can look at their stuff and get a feel for it.

I am another that has a core curriculum for math and grammer.
I do have science, history, forgein language, art, physical ed and that is more outside the box. While younger, I tend to go with their intersts and focus on that.
Science: based on the days of Creation
History:combo of Abeka 2nd grade and a differant enrichment workbook
forgein language: ASL and Japanese(currently live in Japan)
Phy Ed: activites outside the house, for DD ballet for DS jujitsu
Reading: Library to get all sorts of books

Hi!

The only thing I find to be a real challenge with multiple kids is what to do when one is sick and the other three don't want to miss all of their activities. It is hard to make them all stay home, but I can't drag the sick little around while the others are at their various classes and clubs. How do you all handle that?

Unless you are dying , you are going out. Actually, if a child is actively got it coming out both ends or lathargic from fevor then we stay home. Or if I think they might be contagious.