Homeschool Chat

[Praise2Him]

Here's my 2 cents worth...

Re: skipping books - I know that when I was in school (many years ago ) I was terrible in math, so while most students went from 8th grade math to Algebra 1 in 9th grade, the rest of us had to take 9th grade math, then go to Algebra in 10th grade.

Fast forward to the present: My DD was in a private Christian school in 7th grade and used Saxon 76. They skipped to Algebra 1/2 the next year. I was told that Saxon 87 was for those students (like me) who struggled with basic math and needed some more help before going on to Algebra.

Maybe you can do some research and find out if that's true, but it makes sense to me.

Re: Saxon vs TT - our first year to homeschool DD was in 8th grade and as mentioned above had used Saxon in 7th, so we continued with that (Algebra 1/2). We had major problems with it, because, also as mentioned above, I'm not good in math, so I couldn't understand it to teach it to her. Fortunately she loves math, so we struggled through it, but she had to get most of it on her own, with help from DH (also an engineer ).

That's the main reason we switched to TT - because it was developed by homeschooling parents and was designed to be pretty much self-taught. It's worked wonderfully for us, but if you're happy with Saxon and it's working well for you I don't see any reason to change.

 

[lori1043]

Hey ya'll!

Wondering if anyone is doing homeschool days in Sept. I talked to a girl, full of attitude! from the Disney Youth programs. I was asking if I could buy tickets for the programs only since I may already have tickets. (it's cheaper to go with the free DDP). She said that i had to get the package through the youth programs to go to the programs, but that AP holders could get program only prices($16). I have an AP but my kids do not. IF we do this it will be for 3 nights only. We'd have to 2 days for homeschool days in MK and AK(which look wonderful) and 1 day for a waterpark. Because i am not a Florida resident, the least amount of days I can purchase through them is 3 day PH.

For $662, I can go for 3 nights /4 days, 1 adult and 2 kids(10 and 8) 2 day passes ,water park, food, hotel.

If I used the youth program , 3 nights-same hotel, 3 day PH with water park plus my AP rated homeschool programs would be $676.66 PLUS food.

I am sorry but when it comes to vacations or any other pricey thing-the $$$ factors in pretty much!!

Lori

 

[Momvic5]

Praise2Him ~ Thank you for your thoughts! I can see Saxon 87 being used as extra practice before starting Algebra 1/2. It makes sense.


Nuzmom ~ I think we have a winner around here. It looks like we are going to stick with Saxon! My DS12 and I sat and watched a sample lecture from the TT Pre-Algebra curriculum, and he did not like it at all. I should have known. He hates change. Anyways, he feels good about Saxon, and I know it works well for him so we will be venturing into Algebra 1/2 this coming school year. I feel so much better now that we have made a final decision!

Now if I could just find a Latin program.......

 

[disneymom3]

Hey ya'll!

Wondering if anyone is doing homeschool days in Sept. I talked to a girl, full of attitude! from the Disney Youth programs. I was asking if I could buy tickets for the programs only since I may already have tickets. (it's cheaper to go with the free DDP). She said that i had to get the package through the youth programs to go to the programs, but that AP holders could get program only prices($16). I have an AP but my kids do not. IF we do this it will be for 3 nights only. We'd have to 2 days for homeschool days in MK and AK(which look wonderful) and 1 day for a waterpark. Because i am not a Florida resident, the least amount of days I can purchase through them is 3 day PH.

For $662, I can go for 3 nights /4 days, 1 adult and 2 kids(10 and 8) 2 day passes ,water park, food, hotel.

If I used the youth program , 3 nights-same hotel, 3 day PH with water park plus my AP rated homeschool programs would be $676.66 PLUS food.

I am sorry but when it comes to vacations or any other pricey thing-the $$$ factors in pretty much!!


One more thing--if you just want to do the actvities at AK, it sounds like they are having activity stations set up. Or are you talking about the seperate/additional classes?
Lori

I am going! Yay! Just booked our hotel room. We are staying offsite though.

Are you sure it's more to do the passes through the youth program? That doesn't seem right. I know I figured out that for 5 day hoppers my family would save over $600. There are 5 of us though and I am only comparing that to the regular cost of the same # of days hopper.

I am sorry that you are frustrated with this. To me, the point of going during that time is to be able to buy the tickets for cheaper. If we hadn't been able to do that, we wouldn't be going at all for this year.

 

[nicolemomof4cuties]

I also have a DS12 who will be entering into 7th grade, and we are kind of in the same boat.

First for a foreign language my son and I are leaning towards Latin. Mainly because my DS12 loves the study of science, and at this point, he wants to be a rocket scientist of some sort so we thought Latin would best suit his interests. I haven't looked into a specific curriclulm yet so I will be searching soon too.

Secondly, history has been a tough one for us. We have also used Story of the World. I liked it OK, but I wasn't sure we were covering enough. This year we are using Bob Jones history. I can't say I love it, but I do think it covers more, is presented well, and interesting to read. I modify the busy work a bit to make it less redundant. The hardest thing for me is that I also have a 3rd and 1st grader, and it is so time consuming to work with each child and cover 3 different time periods. It was so much easier when we all used one curriculum.

I look forward to seeing other homeschoolers' opinions too!

My oldest DS wants to be a scientist to! Not something that many children want to be. He wants to be a inventor in the medical field. We are doing Sonlight this year. I am pretty excited aboout it. I am having my children start Spanish next year with Rosetta Stone. When my DS is in 7th grade I want to start him on Latin- that will be in 2 years.

 

[kloh1002]

Just wanted to say Hi to everyone!

I guess you could say I am a homeschool Mommy. My DS is only 2, but our plans our to homeschool. I am enjoying reading alot of your curriculim info as we are getting closer every day. Can anyone recommend any preschool curriculim or do most just make every day experiances learning?

Also, wondering if anyone is going in December. We are taking advantage of the Mousefest room rates and ticket discounts through Mousefantravel.com.
DH, Me, and DS are all going for 6 nights: tickets and room for $950. We are really excited about be there for all the Christmas stuff and especially the Candlelight processional.

 

[Momvic5]

My oldest DS wants to be a scientist to! Not something that many children want to be. He wants to be a inventor in the medical field. We are doing Sonlight this year. I am pretty excited aboout it. I am having my children start Spanish next year with Rosetta Stone. When my DS is in 7th grade I want to start him on Latin- that will be in 2 years.

Isn't it amazing how some children just naturally know what they want to be. An inventor in the medical field ~ how exciting. My son wants to invent/improve instruments that are used in outer space. He loves the idea of inventing robots that work in outer space. We start Latin this coming school year. I am both excited and nervous about it!

Just wanted to say Hi to everyone!

I guess you could say I am a homeschool Mommy. My DS is only 2, but our plans our to homeschool. I am enjoying reading alot of your curriculim info as we are getting closer every day. Can anyone recommend any preschool curriculim or do most just make every day experiances learning?

Also, wondering if anyone is going in December. We are taking advantage of the Mousefest room rates and ticket discounts through Mousefantravel.com.
DH, Me, and DS are all going for 6 nights: tickets and room for $950. We are really excited about be there for all the Christmas stuff and especially the Candlelight processional.

My family and I will be going in December(14 - 20). We love Christmas time. We have been to WDW two times, and both times were in December. We just can't bring ourselves to go at any other time. We are excited about the Candlelight Processional too! We didn't get a chance to see it last year.

 

[HomeschoolMama]

Just subbing... Now I'm going back to read!

 

[disneymom3]

Hey guys. I am leaving. The "explanation" thread/post on the Community Board is just too much crap for me to handle. Can't be part of this nonsense anymore. You can find me at www.wdwwow.com

Hope to see you all there!

 

[tnmomof4]

Hey guys. I am leaving. The "explanation" thread/post on the Community Board is just too much crap for me to handle. Can't be part of this nonsense anymore. You can find me at www.wdwwow.com

Hope to see you all there!

Sorry to hear that. You have always been a great help with any questions people here have. I guess I am totally clueless as to what is going on on the community board.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Hey guys. I am leaving. The "explanation" thread/post on the Community Board is just too much crap for me to handle. Can't be part of this nonsense anymore. You can find me at www.wdwwow.com

Hope to see you all there!

I hate to see you go! What thread are you talking about-I don't roam too much-also, are you gonna be under the same name on the new boards?

 

[DawnM]

It is much more economical to go for 5 days. I think the difference in cost between the 3 day and the 5 day is all of $20 or so. Could you do 5 days instead.

Last hs days we got the 5 day hopper with the 4 vouchers to the waterparks or DisneyQuest for $141 per person. That is an awesome deal. We plan to do it again in January if we can.

Dawn

Hey ya'll!

Wondering if anyone is doing homeschool days in Sept. I talked to a girl, full of attitude! from the Disney Youth programs. I was asking if I could buy tickets for the programs only since I may already have tickets. (it's cheaper to go with the free DDP). She said that i had to get the package through the youth programs to go to the programs, but that AP holders could get program only prices($16). I have an AP but my kids do not. IF we do this it will be for 3 nights only. We'd have to 2 days for homeschool days in MK and AK(which look wonderful) and 1 day for a waterpark. Because i am not a Florida resident, the least amount of days I can purchase through them is 3 day PH.

For $662, I can go for 3 nights /4 days, 1 adult and 2 kids(10 and 8) 2 day passes ,water park, food, hotel.

If I used the youth program , 3 nights-same hotel, 3 day PH with water park plus my AP rated homeschool programs would be $676.66 PLUS food.

I am sorry but when it comes to vacations or any other pricey thing-the $$$ factors in pretty much!!

Lori

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Bumping! I know lots of us are already through with our school year and don't want us to slip out of sight!!! Anyone have any good summer reads planned? A year or so ago we did The Pernderwicks-WONDERFUL little family book & I told my dh I thought it should win an award....and it did!! Just saw the 2nd one out today, can't wait to get it! Also, we are reading an old book (recently revamped, I believe)Emil and the Detective. Very funny so far. I was surprised how much they enjoyed The Wind in the Door books-sorta challenging, but good. So...whatcha readin'?

 

[AuroraBeauty]

Hello friends,

I'm trying to figure out what a 'real' curriculum looks like. I have never used a true curriculum for DD5. She went to a French immersion school part of this school year but I took her out in Feb. (Long story but it doesn't really matter b/c she already knew everything they were teaching). DD will be finishing up French-K with her tutor by end of summer and moving on to French-1st.

French-K probably isn't much different since its foundational. But, now DD will be on to 1st and I don't even if I should piece things together. I don't want to teach to the state minimum standard and fortunately AZ is a pretty easy state for HS'ers.

DD will be 6 in Dec and would have to be in K (again) and that's just not an option. She can read and do basic math and many other things that the 'normal' K student may only be starting to learn.

I've been looking at either Shiller or Singapore for Math. I know there are many of you out there that have used these and recommend them. What are pros/cons. Or even, is there something else I should consider? I'm pretty good at math (finished advanced calculus at the college level) so none of the math stuff scares me.

But from there what do I do? I have one tiny concern with many of the available homeschool curriculum. Many of them are faith-based, and not being of the Christian faith I'd prefer to have a more secular-based program to work from. I'm not offended in any way by the Christian curriculum and I know many of them are wonderful. However, I don't want to skip things b/c I know DD will read them and then ask questions and while I don't mind explaining other religions to her it will just take more time away from the task at hand.

So, for those of you who are veteran homeschoolers please help! I know I need to keep working on the following:

Reading
Language/Grammar/Spelling
Math
History/Social Studies/Geography
Science


With Math I will need some form of 'curriculum'.

Grammar/Language -- any suggestions? I've looked at the Shurley English series and they look very good. As do the First Language Lessons for TWTM. I'm not using TWTM but the language stuff looks good.

Do I move to a curriculum for History/Geography/Social Studies or am I best to just work a timeline and start pulling things together?

OK, I know I've asked so many questions and I apologize for not being more focused. But, I do hope that those of you who have gone thru this can offer your sage advise as to what worked or didn't. I know everyone has different experiences b/c the kids are each different, so I understand that none of this is the absolute answer.

I think I'm just stuck in that 'newbie' phase of paralysis and just need some help to get me to move forward.

Thank you all in advance!

 

[trailblazer]

I just wanted tell tell everyone about a new site called WDWWOW . com. They just started and have a homeschool board all to itself. Very nice!

Hope to see you there! Just think, a place to gather where they respect the homeschoolers enough to give them their own board!

 

[Laura.bora]

Bumping! I know lots of us are already through with our school year and don't want us to slip out of sight!!! Anyone have any good summer reads planned? A year or so ago we did The Pernderwicks-WONDERFUL little family book & I told my dh I thought it should win an award....and it did!! Just saw the 2nd one out today, can't wait to get it! Also, we are reading an old book (recently revamped, I believe)Emil and the Detective. Very funny so far. I was surprised how much they enjoyed The Wind in the Door books-sorta challenging, but good. So...whatcha readin'?

We are currently reading Prince Caspian (and then going to see the movie and discuss how the book differed from the movie) I think after this, we're going to read All of a kind family. I am loving reading aloud as a family! I'm sure you know of it, but http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html has a GREAT book list!

Hey guys. I am leaving. The "explanation" thread/post on the Community Board is just too much crap for me to handle. Can't be part of this nonsense anymore. You can find me at www.wdwwow.com

Hope to see you all there!

Why do you wander over there?? I'd be fed up if I wasted my time over there too!! Either way, see you over at wowwdw!

 

[Temair]

So I'm going back and forth on sticking with the virtual school and the k12 curriculum for free or homeschooling on my own. I know I don't have $1500 a year to do K12.

Some of my reasons for changing is that the curriculum just doesn't seem to be working as well for my DD. It is very writing intense, and overwhleming at times. My DD doesn't like to do school anymore. It drags on all day long and I end up frustrated and yelling. I want my DD to want to do school and enjoy it, rather than just doing it to get it done.

What we have likes was worktexts, and hands on learning. I really like the Math-u-see curiculum and have heard only good things about it. But when it comes to the other subjects I'm strugling to fidn the right curriculums. I've been looking at workbook/worktext style curriclums such as Abeka, Bob Jones, Rod & Staff, ACE, A&O Lifepacs, and Christian Light Education. I've only seen samples provided online and unfortunatly was unable to make it to our local homeschool convention the other weekend. Has anyone used these curriculums and what is the good and bad of them. Does anyone have any other sugestions of good curiculums. The things I'm looking for are a good solid education that will get her into any university, enough work to learn the material, but not alot of busy work. My DD tends to learn thigns very quickly and then gets bored doing the repetitive work. She also likes to use games to learn materials. She is 9 yrs old and we will be starting grade 4 in the fall.

 

[mykidsintow]

We just finished a Prince Caspian homeschool book club. We will all be going to see the movie!

So I had my son tested today. He is 7 yrs old, 1st grade. He tested early 1st grade level in Math (no suprise, we really struggle with math). Then he tested 4th gradereading comprehension! I was floored. I expected early 3rd grade... he does read well, but 4th?! Wow.

I have never been to WDWWOW or whatever it is. I have a hard enough time keeping up with the few places I currently go! Maybe I will find time to check it out....

 

[tnmomof4]

I am ordering all our curriculum next week. I have decided to just stay with using all ABeka. I like having it all laid out for me as far as what to do each day.

I am a bit nervous as I will be teaching 6th and 5th grade for my older boys and my twins will be doing K-5. It sure seems like a lot.

Do any of you teach any kind of computer class to your kids? I was thinking about getting something, but I am not sure what to get. I know when my kids were in the private school they had computer class, but it was more of a beginning typing class.

 

[bebelle]

We just got back from a HS convention. I saw the neatest curriculum using EPCOT and MK. It was around $15-30 can't remember exactly. It is geared for grade school and middle school but a little too easy for my 9th grader. You can check it out at vacationeducationbooks dot com.