Homeschool Chat Part III

[antree]

Great, thank you. I think 8/7 is what we need, but do you have the link to the test?

TIA

 

[vleeth]

http://www.sonlight.com/uploads/saxon_middle_placement.pdf

My daughter took this test at the end of 2nd grade and she made it into 6/5 my one question. It only took a few lessons to realize it was too much for her. We got 5/4 and that was much better. She's now 4th grade age and doing just fine with 6/5. So I would say that the placement test is helpful, but don't take it as law.

 

[antree]

http://www.sonlight.com/uploads/saxon_middle_placement.pdf

My daughter took this test at the end of 2nd grade and she made it into 6/5 my one question. It only took a few lessons to realize it was too much for her. We got 5/4 and that was much better. She's now 4th grade age and doing just fine with 6/5. So I would say that the placement test is helpful, but don't take it as law.

Thank You

 

[vleeth]

Thank You

You're welcome!

 

[cruisecrasher]

Did anyone else homeschool through summer?

 

[vleeth]

Did anyone else homeschool through summer?

We do! This was our second summer. I love that we have the freedom to take off whenever we want during the year and still be ahead. Plus we don't have to review everything from having such an extended break.

 

[chris31997]

Did anyone else homeschool through summer?

Unoffically It is usually full of fun "field trips", time with family, and reading....lots of reading

 

[Polishnavy]

We had to go through most of June due to not starting on time last year. So we had about 6 weeks of summer. We will see how life goes for this year.

 

[quandrea]

Hi all. I've been homeschooling my dd for two years. This is our third and it's been great. We just added her five yo twin brother and sister to the mix and I am reeling with the workload, the chaos and juggling the demands of the three of them. I feel like I'm spending all my time with the little ones. It seems I can hardly get to my ten year old. We started six days ago and I already feel like packing it in. Don't even ask about the laundry and state of the house.

Here's what I do with the twins.

Direct instruction math
Calendar
Direct instruction reading
Printing
Journal
Two phonics pages
Two pages of "does it belong?" Game
Free choice

My older daughter

Direct instruction math
Direct instruction language
Reading
French
Science
Journal
Social studies
We will do art on occasion for fun


Any pointers, words of encouragement? I need help!

 

[NokOnHarts]

Hi all. I've been homeschooling my dd for two years. This is our third and it's been great. We just added her five yo twin brother and sister to the mix and I am reeling with the workload, the chaos and juggling the demands of the three of them. I feel like I'm spending all my time with the little ones. It seems I can hardly get to my ten year old. We started six days ago and I already feel like packing it in. Don't even ask about the laundry and state of the house.

Here's what I do with the twins.

Direct instruction math
Calendar
Direct instruction reading
Printing
Journal
Two phonics pages
Two pages of "does it belong?" Game
Free choice

My older daughter

Direct instruction math
Direct instruction language
Reading
French
Science
Journal
Social studies
We will do art on occasion for fun


Any pointers, words of encouragement? I need help!

I can sympathize with the feeling of being overwhelmed. I'm homeschooling two now and trying to figure out the best way to juggle it all. The one thing I would say is to remember that the huge benefit to homeschooling is that you are able to make it work for you, not you working for it. There are days when I feel like I accomplished a lot, and days where I have to be OK with what we were able to do. I always strive to hit all the days' goals but I have learned if I don't take that pressure off myself to have it perfect, I end up feeling stressed instead of enjoying and learning in the moments we have together.

I don't know if you are already doing this, but I would give your 10 year old the assignments she can do on her own (reading, some math, journal, etc) while you focus on the tasks that your 5 year olds need help with most. Then, let them take a break and do something else while you sit and work with your 10 year old on things that need direct instruction. Also, are there subjects you can do only a few days of the week? I rotate between history and science (my curriculum has a 2 day a week plan) and between grammar and spelling, I do them every other day. We do reading, math and writing each day, but the rest is every other day which is much more manageable.

We do a little at a time throughout the day, too, not all at one time, (sometimes together, sometimes one on one), but we take breaks throughout the day which allows me to get laundry done, clean the dishes (etc) and then focus on school again later. Your 10 year old is at a great age to be helping with housework too, and there is a lot you can learn by doing "real life" tasks. It doesn't all have to be workbook education. We work on a lot of science and math when my 6 year old helps me cook dinner, and laundry is a great task for 5 year olds, sorting by colors and counting, (etc) - I try to incorporate my kids in the daily tasks and learn together as we do them. It always goes slower with help, but if we are learning as we go then it counts as school, too. HTH!

 

[cruisecrasher]

Hang in there! It didn't click for us until two weeks in. I second the having the kids help around the house.

 

[quandrea]

Thank you both so much. My 10 yo is working independently. She's great at that. We don't do every subject every day but I will let myself off the hook a bit. With my son I feel like I have to light a bomb under him to get things done. I feel like grouchy , mean mama all the time. I don't want to be that way.

Anyway, today is a new day. We will get back at it. Hopefully we find our groove soon. I will work at being patient and take it as it comes. So glad to have this place to ask for support and help.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

We are year-rounders and I have never been happier that we are than right now! We are headed to Disney in a week and will be there for 16 days!!! We are also doing 2 days of Universal and Cocoa Beach! <3 We NEEEEEED this break!! As we are driving though, the kids are bringing some school work with!

 

[cruisecrasher]

We had a Houston Zoo trip day today. The kids had the zoo keepers to themselves

 

[chris31997]

Hi all. I've been homeschooling my dd for two years. This is our third and it's been great. We just added her five yo twin brother and sister to the mix and I am reeling with the workload, the chaos and juggling the demands of the three of them. I feel like I'm spending all my time with the little ones. It seems I can hardly get to my ten year old. We started six days ago and I already feel like packing it in. Don't even ask about the laundry and state of the house.

Here's what I do with the twins.

Direct instruction math
Calendar
Direct instruction reading
Printing
Journal
Two phonics pages
Two pages of "does it belong?" Game
Free choice

My older daughter

Direct instruction math
Direct instruction language
Reading
French
Science
Journal
Social studies
We will do art on occasion for fun


Any pointers, words of encouragement? I need help!

Hang in there. There are days when you wonder what you signed up for.

You gotta try high school math and then doing 2nd grade math at the same time. You should have seen my head spin

Something you may want to try for your game "Does it belong", laundry. Having them seperate the clothes and help with that. Having the kiddos help with laundry, dishes, grocery list, cooking, anything to do with the running of the house can be counted towards school. It is practical ap of home economics.

Have the kiddos works together when possible like with the journal.

Enlist DD to teach the youngers their easier subjects so that you can get bills or something done.

Use art for instruction: make out of clay something that starts with the "ph" sound, draw about the books just read

For your son, make sure he is expending energy. I have found that my DS can focus, be more helpful, and learn more after he exercises. Wall sits, runs, jumping jacks, plank. And on his worst days, he will stand while doing school and do exercises.

Sometimes, school happens in the car, at the library, or under the kitchen table. So think outside the box when it comes time to do school. Maybe do it outside at a picnic table, finding things that work with your phonics/reading lesson.

Good luck you can do this

 

[wasnotafan]

Got behind on grading math homework and found out one of the kids just wrote 4 lessons of random numbers on the math homework to get it done quicker so we spent 2 1/2 hours yesterday redoing it. Hopefully that will be the last time.

 

[Fantastic4]

Has anyone seen the Science of Imagineering series? Is it worth the cost or have you found them somewhere for cheap or rent?

 

[staceyrhood]

Has anyone seen the Science of Imagineering series? Is it worth the cost or have you found them somewhere for cheap or rent?

They are great! My son, 7, watches them over and over. Got the DVDs on amazon.

 

[sweetlovin']

Got behind on grading math homework and found out one of the kids just wrote 4 lessons of random numbers on the math homework to get it done quicker so we spent 2 1/2 hours yesterday redoing it. Hopefully that will be the last time.

I just went through something similar with my 12yo. I asked her if she was done with the science questions, turns out she only wrote one word answers. UH, not happening. The next day, I made her redo the assignment (and the experiment) and do the scheduled lesson for that day. 3 1/2 hours later...

Hopefully, she learned to answer in full and complete sentences.

Next year, I will be home schooling through summer. We are headed to Hawaii in Sept and I do not want to take books with us!

 

[chris31997]

Got behind on grading math homework and found out one of the kids just wrote 4 lessons of random numbers on the math homework to get it done quicker so we spent 2 1/2 hours yesterday redoing it. Hopefully that will be the last time.

Went thru that also. I had a huge eraser and erased all the work for 2 weeks and made DD make that up. Then when I checked her work, I had the eraser with me. She knew if she did it for 1 answer I would erase all her work. One time that was all it took