Homeschool Chat

[Pooki]

Just wanted to say... I DID IT! I told the school that I would be homeschooling after today (which I was so nervous about), and it was insanely easy! You would have thought I was only asking for a copy of a lunch menu...I suppose its slightly more common where I am than I thought. Because my kids go to a DoDs school, they are eligible to attend "specials" (art, music, Japanese language/culture, Gifted, etc.), so they will continue to do those classes.

I'm very nervous, but excited too! I ordered almost all of the material that I wanted and am just waiting on it to arrive. I suppose we will just wing it and we will figure it out as we go! Its quite funny, because my kids keep asking me so many specific questions, such as "are you going to teach us each subject the same amount of time," or "do we have to raise our hands/what do we call you?", lol. Some of their questions are quite obvious ("Call me Mrs. Mom" haha), but I keep reminding them that this is a new adventure for us, and we will all figure it out along the way

 

[SCHBR'smom]

Just wanted to say... I DID IT! I told the school that I would be homeschooling after today (which I was so nervous about), and it was insanely easy! You would have thought I was only asking for a copy of a lunch menu...I suppose its slightly more common where I am than I thought. Because my kids go to a DoDs school, they are eligible to attend "specials" (art, music, Japanese language/culture, Gifted, etc.), so they will continue to do those classes.

I'm very nervous, but excited too! I ordered almost all of the material that I wanted and am just waiting on it to arrive. I suppose we will just wing it and we will figure it out as we go! Its quite funny, because my kids keep asking me so many specific questions, such as "are you going to teach us each subject the same amount of time," or "do we have to raise our hands/what do we call you?", lol. Some of their questions are quite obvious ("Call me Mrs. Mom" haha), but I keep reminding them that this is a new adventure for us, and we will all figure it out along the way

Congrats to you! It is so wonderful to homeschool!

 

[Tink561]

Just wanted to say... I DID IT! I told the school that I would be homeschooling after today (which I was so nervous about), and it was insanely easy! You would have thought I was only asking for a copy of a lunch menu...I suppose its slightly more common where I am than I thought. Because my kids go to a DoDs school, they are eligible to attend "specials" (art, music, Japanese language/culture, Gifted, etc.), so they will continue to do those classes.

I'm very nervous, but excited too! I ordered almost all of the material that I wanted and am just waiting on it to arrive. I suppose we will just wing it and we will figure it out as we go! Its quite funny, because my kids keep asking me so many specific questions, such as "are you going to teach us each subject the same amount of time," or "do we have to raise our hands/what do we call you?", lol. Some of their questions are quite obvious ("Call me Mrs. Mom" haha), but I keep reminding them that this is a new adventure for us, and we will all figure it out along the way

Congratulations!

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

Hope it's alright to jump in here but I have a question you all may be able to help me with.

My son is in Kindergarten and at a private school. He is having some difficulties remembering what a n, f and t sound like and this slows his reading down just a hair. We have been having doing flashcards and have him playing some on starfall.com but he needs something else too. Any ideas for fun ways to learn phonics?


THANK YOU for any help.

My son knew the sounds letters make long before he knew the letter names thanks to The Letter Factory movies from Leap Frog.

A fun way to help with sounds is to make giant letters and have him glue things that begin with that sound on it. Example make several giant letter "N" pages. One day glue on noodles, another day cut out noses from a magazine and glue on one, next day tear up napkins and glue little pieces on one. For "F" big letter on Poster board and FOOT paint. Smaller one on paper and FEATHER paint. Put some flour and a plate and make "f" with a fork. Make a "T" Get a cheap canvas bag from a craft store and a big "t" on the outside. Go a a treasure hunt for "t"s.

The sillier you are, the more they will remember. We make up crazy stories to help remember some of those crazy letters that don't make the sounds they should make. Do you know the letters have exclusive parties and only certain sounds can go to that party? So sometimes letters get together and make different sounds just so they can go the the party. "g" and "h" are real party animals. They are always hooking up with other letters to make sounds to get them into other parties. They get together with "i" to sneak into the "long i sound party", then with "ou" they some how sneak into two parties- "long o" and "uff" I guess "rough" and "tough" like to hang out with "fluff" and "puff" lol

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

Just wanted to say... I DID IT! I told the school that I would be homeschooling after today (which I was so nervous about), and it was insanely easy! You would have thought I was only asking for a copy of a lunch menu...I suppose its slightly more common where I am than I thought. Because my kids go to a DoDs school, they are eligible to attend "specials" (art, music, Japanese language/culture, Gifted, etc.), so they will continue to do those classes.

I'm very nervous, but excited too! I ordered almost all of the material that I wanted and am just waiting on it to arrive. I suppose we will just wing it and we will figure it out as we go! Its quite funny, because my kids keep asking me so many specific questions, such as "are you going to teach us each subject the same amount of time," or "do we have to raise our hands/what do we call you?", lol. Some of their questions are quite obvious ("Call me Mrs. Mom" haha), but I keep reminding them that this is a new adventure for us, and we will all figure it out along the way

Every day is a anew adventureCongrats!

 

[roadtrippin2wdw]

Just wanted to say... I DID IT! I told the school that I would be homeschooling after today (which I was so nervous about), and it was insanely easy! You would have thought I was only asking for a copy of a lunch menu...I suppose its slightly more common where I am than I thought.


May I ask what you said? My daughter is in kindegarten, but starting w/ 1st grade, I plan on homeschooling. I don't know if I have to let them know this far in advance or what to say or if I have to say anything at all and just not register her. Thank you for any advice, I very much appreciate it!

 

[scrapbookingmanda]

I would recommend Math-Us-See if he is a visual learner. Dr. Demme (the instructor) explains things very well, in my opinion. His philosophy is that the child needs to understand the concept, not just memorize formulas. MUS also uses blocks to help visualize the concepts. We've done Primer through Epsilon and have been very pleased. My DH and I are both engineers, so math is a big deal to us. The only thing is that he teaches mastery before moving on to the next subject. So Primer and Alpha cover addition, Beta moves on to subtraction, Gamma is multiplication, Delta is division, Epsilon is fractions and Zeta is decimals and percentages. It doesn't mix it up like most curriculums. It works for us, but MUS is not going to line up with any public school math progression.

I have also been looking into Math U See but Dh is convinced it will cause burnout by not spiraling some. That midway through a whole year of fractions the whole family will be so tired of looking at them that we will all go nuts. Does anyone run into this problem when using it?

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

I have also been looking into Math U See but Dh is convinced it will cause burnout by not spiraling some. That midway through a whole year of fractions the whole family will be so tired of looking at them that we will all go nuts. Does anyone run into this problem when using it?

Every lesson includes review. In each there is 3ish lessons on the current topic, and then the next 3 days are current plus review.

We've used this for years, and while I still do not love fractions, they are totally understood by the end of the year. We like it a lot, and my kids have all scored really well both on regular standardized tests, and the testing done by colleges for placement. It was recommended to us by 3 different engineers.

 

[DawnM]

MUS isn't for everyone. We have now tried it twice, for two different kids, and it just isn't our style at all. My boys have really not liked it.

Dawn

I have also been looking into Math U See but Dh is convinced it will cause burnout by not spiraling some. That midway through a whole year of fractions the whole family will be so tired of looking at them that we will all go nuts. Does anyone run into this problem when using it?

 

[Denine]

Congratulations Pooki!

 

[Ellester]

MUS isn't for everyone. We have now tried it twice, for two different kids, and it just isn't our style at all. My boys have really not liked it.

Dawn

I totally agree that MUS is not for everyone. Just like the spiral approach was a big failure with my kids. My oldest would pick up on the pattern of the answers. Then she would just fill in the blanks (like putting "1's" in all the hundreds' places and then going back and filling in the tens and ones). She would get the right answer, but totally the wrong way. We have not had a problem with burnout covering one major topic a year, but, as always, YMMV.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

MUS isn't for everyone. We have now tried it twice, for two different kids, and it just isn't our style at all. My boys have really not liked it.

Dawn

I'd agree. I think that everyone needs to find their own fit.

 

[Pooki]

May I ask what you said? My daughter is in kindegarten, but starting w/ 1st grade, I plan on homeschooling. I don't know if I have to let them know this far in advance or what to say or if I have to say anything at all and just not register her. Thank you for any advice, I very much appreciate it!

I brought a letter that I both my husband and I signed, saying that we would be homeschooling for the remainder of the year (you can google "homeschool withdraw letter" and find a few samples, thats what I did). When the secretary asked if I was completely unenrolling my kids, or allowing them to participate in "special" classes (our DoDs school allows that), she kept the kids enrolled so they could take those classes. She didn't even take my letter! But I assume my school is a "special" case. If you will be beginning next year to HS her, I would definitely wait until Kindergarten is over - there is no need for them to know now. If you look at hslda.org, you can find your state's specific requirements regarding HS'ing, and you can figure out the process you need to take (whether you have to send in a letter to the superintendent vs. principal, if you need to fill out paperwork, etc.)

Good luck to you!

 

[littlepeppers]

I would recommend Math-Us-See if he is a visual learner. Dr. Demme (the instructor) explains things very well, in my opinion. His philosophy is that the child needs to understand the concept, not just memorize formulas. MUS also uses blocks to help visualize the concepts. We've done Primer through Epsilon and have been very pleased. My DH and I are both engineers, so math is a big deal to us. The only thing is that he teaches mastery before moving on to the next subject. So Primer and Alpha cover addition, Beta moves on to subtraction, Gamma is multiplication, Delta is division, Epsilon is fractions and Zeta is decimals and percentages. It doesn't mix it up like most curriculums. It works for us, but MUS is not going to line up with any public school math progression.

Do you know of a curriculum that teacher other subjects like this?

I would love to teach DS with this approach. I think he needs it. How can you move on to something new if you never mastered your last objective? He just isn't getting things. He needs review ( a lot of it) but we can't keep up w/ these cover, cover curriculums & review like he needs.

I would have to establish us as a private school to use this method, but I think DS would get more out of it. DH wasn't thrilled when I asked him if I could look for a curriculum like this. He is concerned that if something should ever happen to me & DS has to go back to a traditional school, then he would be behind.

 

[desparatelydisney]

I just watched the demonstration on MUS's webpage. I think I'm in love. OMG!!! Goodbye Saxon, next year....MUS!!!!!!!

If you don't know what I am talking about go to http://www.mathusee.com/homeschool.php

 

[desparatelydisney]

sorry - double post

 

[graygables]

MUS isn't for everyone. We have now tried it twice, for two different kids, and it just isn't our style at all. My boys have really not liked it.

Dawn

My girls didn't like it, either. They seem to be much happier with Teaching Textbooks this year.

 

[love__goofy]

Ok, so I pulled my children out of public school last year. I had one K,2nd, and a 4th grader, with a 3 year old at home. The oldest are all boys. We started on our venture homeschooling last March. I loved it at first, and now of course I am feeling a little stressed.

For my now 1st and 5th grader, basically everything goes smoothly. I try to let my 3rd and 5th grader do some independent work. For example I usually teach them grammar, math, then they do the work. With reading they usually read the story and answer questions on their own. I, of course, check it. Now with spelling, I let them do that independently. Science, the children basically do every other day, and history we all do together.

My 3rd grader is the one that tries to skip anything and everything he can possibly do. It is very frustrating, and I have tried adding work if he skips it, taking toys away..and I am at wits end. Does anyone have a child like this that they can possibly give me suggestions?

I really do appreciate it. I have LOVED spending all the time with my children. My boys are so close and truly do enjoy each other and I want to keep them home with me.

Thanks in advance!

 

[bebelle]

My girls didn't like it, either. They seem to be much happier with Teaching Textbooks this year.

My son too! He does not like math--he is too creative for something so absolute---but he does like TT and is doing very well. He took the Terra Nova test to meet state testing requirements and scored 96% in math.

 

[Ellester]

Ok, so I pulled my children out of public school last year. I had one K,2nd, and a 4th grader, with a 3 year old at home. The oldest are all boys. We started on our venture homeschooling last March. I loved it at first, and now of course I am feeling a little stressed.

For my now 1st and 5th grader, basically everything goes smoothly. I try to let my 3rd and 5th grader do some independent work. For example I usually teach them grammar, math, then they do the work. With reading they usually read the story and answer questions on their own. I, of course, check it. Now with spelling, I let them do that independently. Science, the children basically do every other day, and history we all do together.

My 3rd grader is the one that tries to skip anything and everything he can possibly do. It is very frustrating, and I have tried adding work if he skips it, taking toys away..and I am at wits end. Does anyone have a child like this that they can possibly give me suggestions?

I really do appreciate it. I have LOVED spending all the time with my children. My boys are so close and truly do enjoy each other and I want to keep them home with me.

Thanks in advance!

First of all, January and February are notorious for being the months that bring the homeschool doldrums and stress on full strength. Persevere and it will get better as spring approaches!

My 3rd grader is also my slacker. Often we are approaching lunch and I find that she has done NOTHING that was assigned. I wish I had a good solution, because I would be using it! I usually just try to stay on her, to the point of staying nearby and not letting her leave her seat at the table until X is done. I do let her have lots of breaks if she cooperates. She is also very likely ADHD, I often say that if she was in public school she would either be heavily medicated or have her own seat in the principal's office! I can tell you that adding extra work or taking away toys/privileges has almost zero affect on my daughter. She either just doesn't care or simply can't comply on her own. Her room is a disaster and she cannot put away her coat to save her life. She is very, very bright, compassionate, artistic, and generous though. I just think it's her personality, my dh and I are constantly trying to figure out how to deal with her.