Homeschool Chat

[adisneymama]

WE are doing k12 but as homeschoolers. We are not going thru the public school system. We are only getting started with it but so far I am pleased. let me know if you have specific questions.

 

[Nicolepa]

We didn't do well with K12 as we travelled a lot and they frowned upon that, even if we did the work. It is a PUBLIC school and they act like it.

If you are doing the work, have access to a computer to log the hours how would they know you were traveling? When my son was on vacation the teacher said that she would have never known if I hadn't told her. ????

The only way this could be a problem (that I see) is if the kids are doing the program thru high school where you have to log in to regular illuminates with the "class".

Of course each VA has different rules, so it's possible you had more teacher contact require than we do. But Bumbershoot is talking about the same VA I do and I can tell you I could go to Timbuktu for months on end if I wanted. As long as I had internet access and I was willing to make the monthly phone call they wouldn't know.

 

[littlepeppers]

I have gotten the Calvert catalogs for 2 years now (though I recently recycled them), and I would have sworn that there was religious material in it...I want to believe the poster here...can anyone back that up, that there isn't religious material? It's totally possible I'm going by the name, and how religious it *sounds* to my ears.

Calvert has no religious basis. That is why I chose it.

I don't want DS to get any edited versions of history or science. I want him to study his religion & school subjects & fuse them together for himself.

I do find that the 2nd gd Social Studies is a little culturally slanted. The science is factual, but a bit easy.

It is a nice packaged program that can easily be edited & changed to meet your needs. We ditch the art & poetry & add in library reading, paragraph writing, & PE (jui-jitsu, baseball....).

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

I think all science and history are biased. It just depends on who is writing it. Not arguing against calvert, it is a good program. Just saying that all come with a world view.

 

[Denine]

I had a bad interaction with a K12/WAVA person (at an ice cream social where I nearly had to pry the info booklets from her) where she told me that parents are "like TAs" for their children when using the virtual academy.

I found out at the Y's homeschool PE class that a woman there was told that they simply would NOT be able to use K12/WAVA, as they generally go to Brazil for the month of September, and they HAD TO follow the program EXACTLY, and since she would be out of the country she couldn't use it.

Not very positive!

Interesting about the history book!


I don't *want* to pick and choose, at least for one year. That's what we're doing this year, and it's driving DS crazy. I have to find a way to meet his needs, and 'curriculum in a box' is what I can think of as the next step.


I have gotten the Calvert catalogs for 2 years now (though I recently recycled them), and I would have sworn that there was religious material in it...I want to believe the poster here...can anyone back that up, that there isn't religious material? It's totally possible I'm going by the name, and how religious it *sounds* to my ears.

Oak Meadow, I'll look into it again, thank you.



Thanks for all the responses!!!!!!!!!! I really appreciate it. If I can't find a way to meet DS's needs (which he started communicating at only 3, when he demanded workbooks to do) in the next year, you'll find me trying to get him enrolled in the unique *public* Montessori school here in town, which goes from K-8...not a horrible choice at all, but NOT what I've dreamed about for 15 years.

We have used Calvert for 4 years. It is definitely NOT religious!

 

[thespouseandi]

Hi can I come over and play...

I'm Amy and this has been our first year HSing...DD6 and DS5...I had always planned to let them go to public school until third grade and then HS, but it worked a little differently.

I am thinking of going with My Father's World next year. Anyone use it? I read a few random pages and didn't see it mentioned.

looking forward to meetin gyou all...

 

[bellebud]

I would love to hear this from other people, too. We are starting homeschooling for the first time next year (3rd & 5th grade), and after that decision was made, I found out I am pregnant and due in November! My plan is to do something very similar to what is mentioned above, but I am a little worried about not doing "enough" as well. Glad to hear others school year-round - this seems easier, and will give us time for a break when the baby is born and around Christmas. The kids are excited - I am scared!

Please tell me what you do with your days!

so Kristi, let's continue our discussion here...

I assessed the kids learning styles with the book "discover your child's learning style" by mariaemma willis and victoria kindle hodson (they also have a website... learningsuccessinstitute-dot-com). i really recommend it! it's taught me so much about my kids personalities, what drives them in learning and in life.

I don't have a recommendation for a boy's book series like American Girl. (maybe someone else will). My ds8 is the same where he doesn't really like fiction. I get him kids informational books on subjects he's interested in. He loves the kids versions of world record books too. We listen to american girl in the car, so he's a captive audience (but if I didn't have dd10, I probably wouldn't do american girl). But it is a really nice way to get history in.

I don't have any type of curriculum at all - just the general National Standards book for each grade that we refer to. I teach each kid then in their own style (dd enjoys worksheets, writing, reading... ds likes verbal learning - I just ask him questions and he answers me). He'll have to step up to writing at some point, but not now. He writes his few sentences a day, and that's it for having a pencil in his hand, literally. But like that story I told you about the math and the negative numbers with him, it all seems to come together anyway, even when I do nothing about it.

What else have I missed?

 

[graygables]

We have used Calvert for 4 years. It is definitely NOT religious!

I think "Calvert" often gets confused with "Calvin".

 

[dis-happy]

I don't have a recommendation for a boy's book series like American Girl. (maybe someone else will).

There's a series of books I used for a book club where boys are often the main protagonists and the stories are action packed. They also come with study guides for teaching if you want. Author: Nancy Rue. Each series comes with 6 books and ties in as historical fiction. We read The Charleston Years, The Salem Years and The Williamsburg Years. HTH

 

[TSRE]

There's a series of books I used for a book club where boys are often the main protagonists and the stories are action packed. They also come with study guides for teaching if you want. Author: Nancy Rue. Each series comes with 6 books and ties in as historical fiction. We read The Charleston Years, The Salem Years and The Williamsburg Years. HTH

That sounds perfect for my older son. He would probably enjoy the American Girl stories, if they didn't actually say "girl" in the title!

I assessed the kids learning styles with the book "discover your child's learning style" by mariaemma willis and victoria kindle hodson (they also have a website... learningsuccessinstitute-dot-com). i really recommend it! it's taught me so much about my kids personalities, what drives them in learning and in life.

Thanks, I'm going to check this out. One of the biggest reasons we are pulling the kids next year is because our oldest just doesn't learn well the way he is taught in school... way too many worksheets and time wasted on stuff he picked up in the first 5 minutes of class. I want to do better for him - hopefully this will get me started in the right direction.


I just have to say, I am soooo looking forward to not having to wake the kids up and drag them out of the house so early in the morning next year! I can't wait!

 

[adisneymama]

School went well today. I'm still trying to figure out what she does know and what she doesn't. Seems like we are repeating a lot of things she knows how to do. I guess that is the problem with starting at the end of the year. I wish I had just ordered 3rd grade and reviewed materials if need be. At least then I wouldn't feel like I'm hunting and pecking all the time. LOL I still really like the curriculum though. I like the ease of use (aside from the hunting and pecking but that isn't because of the curriculum) I'm looking forward to finishing up second grade and doing some catch up work over the summer and then onto 3rd grade!

I wish I could help with the curriculum discussions, but I really don't know anything about the ones mentioned. We are just getting started ourselves. Maybe one day I can contribute as much as the rest of you!

 

[NHWX]

K12 - we liked the portions that we used as homeschoolers, not through a virtual school. We used art, music, science, history and language arts. Mind you, sometimes the science experiments were useless or needlessly long and because we were using them as private homeschoolers, we just modified them. We only used them for middle school courses though so I have no experience with their primary grade offerings.

Florida Virtual School - our state bought some of their courses for our own virtual high school and for the most part, it's been fine. We've used health, gym, world history, basic computer programming, pre-calculus, AP Computer Science and honors physics. (2 students) Sometimes, it depends on the teacher and any other outside help you can get.

For high schoolers, I can definitely recommend the PA Homeschooler's AP Statistics course.

We've also used the Johns Hopkins math and literature courses with varying results. I would not recommend their AP Calculus AB course but we had pretty good results with the coursework up through algebra.

NHWX

 

[bellebud]

Hi can I come over and play...
looking forward to meetin gyou all...

just wanted to say "hi!" and hope you enjoy hsing! can't help with the curriculum - sorry.

I just have to say, I am soooo looking forward to not having to wake the kids up and drag them out of the house so early in the morning next year! I can't wait!

I can't tell you how much I enjoy this little 'side bonus' of hsing! I love letting the kids sleep as much as they need to. I love letting them stay up later than I could on a "school night", especially if daddy gets home later than usual. He used to hate walking in the door and having to say good night to them. Hsing allows us to be a family in a way we just couldn't when the kids were in school - because of our schedules.

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

so Kristi, let's continue our discussion here...


I don't have a recommendation for a boy's book series like American Girl. (maybe someone else will). My ds8 is the same where he doesn't really like fiction. I get him kids informational books on subjects he's interested in. He loves the kids versions of world record books too. We listen to american girl in the car, so he's a captive audience (but if I didn't have dd10, I probably wouldn't do american girl). But it is a really nice way to get history in.

We enjoyed the Magic Treehouse series audio CDs in the car. We checked them out from the library. Another great way to do some history. Then we follow up with other books on topics that grab our interest.

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

I think all science and history are biased. It just depends on who is writing it. Not arguing against calvert, it is a good program. Just saying that all come with a world view.

I agree. I teach my children that everything in media is coming from someones point of view.

History needs to be looked at from many points of view to be understood.

Science...we learn about different views because...I always say that the more you understand about what other people believe, the more you will KNOW what you believe.


Not to mention I feel that they need to be aware that some things are "changed" to match the a person's/media/group's point of view. I have shown them models where media "cut" words from a politician's speech to give it a whole new meaning. They know that when they see Domino's Pizza being delivered in a movie that Domino's paid for that "commercial." Information is all around them...I don't want them to believe every email they receive or everything they see on TV or read in the news. I want them to know how investigate to find their own answer for the things the feel are important and ignore all the rest of the confusion.

Sorry... where did that soapbox come from...

 

[Nicolepa]

School went well today. I'm still trying to figure out what she does know and what she doesn't. Seems like we are repeating a lot of things she knows how to do. I guess that is the problem with starting at the end of the year. I wish I had just ordered 3rd grade and reviewed materials if need be. At least then I wouldn't feel like I'm hunting and pecking all the time. LOL I still really like the curriculum though. I like the ease of use (aside from the hunting and pecking but that isn't because of the curriculum) I'm looking forward to finishing up second grade and doing some catch up work over the summer and then onto 3rd grade!

I wish I could help with the curriculum discussions, but I really don't know anything about the ones mentioned. We are just getting started ourselves. Maybe one day I can contribute as much as the rest of you!

I started DS at the begining of the year and I felt that the entire 2nd grade was a review! In K12, 3rd grade is a big jump though. I'd read about it but didn't really believe it. The material's not necessarily harder but they are expecting them to write a lot more.

How long have you had the materials? They have a 30 day money back guarentee. If you are in that window I'd call them and switch to 3rd grade. The first couple of months are review so you should be fine.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

I agree. I teach my children that everything in media is coming from someones point of view.

History needs to be looked at from many points of view to be understood.

Science...we learn about different views because...I always say that the more you understand about what other people believe, the more you will KNOW what you believe.


Not to mention I feel that they need to be aware that some things are "changed" to match the a person's/media/group's point of view. I have shown them models where media "cut" words from a politician's speech to give it a whole new meaning. They know that when they see Domino's Pizza being delivered in a movie that Domino's paid for that "commercial." Information is all around them...I don't want them to believe every email they receive or everything they see on TV or read in the news. I want them to know how investigate to find their own answer for the things the feel are important and ignore all the rest of the confusion.

Sorry... where did that soapbox come from...

love it, and I agree!!!

**********************Freebie alert***********************

http://classroom.history.com/america-dvd/event/form

free dvd from the history channel, available to homeschoolers, too.

 

[bellebud]

so, we're off to disney tomorrow!

we're doing disney, the beach and universal (10 days in all). we haven't packed yet either... i've never, ever, ever done this before - I'm always packed a week in advance (but then I unpack and repack at least once a day), so this time I figured I'd wait and only do it once. we'll see how much stuff I forget!

 

[erinmomof2]

My DD is in public school but I try to supplement a lot at home because I think her school is lacking in some areas. I'm working on my DH about homeschooling, because I really think it would be good for my kids (especially my youngest), but he's not there yet.

Anyways about a month ago I found this great website that had complete lesson plans for all the grades. It was great. Had math, science, history, language arts, ect printouts. I printed a lot of great stuff and my daughter loved it. Everything was free. Now of course I can't remember the name of the site and I want to print out a few more things.

Does anyone know what I'm talking about? I've done about a dozen google searches and I haven't found it yet.

Thanks!
Erin

 

[amanda_stacy]

Hi everyone!! I homeschool my two daughters ages 10 and 6. Thought i would hop on board the homeschool chat as well.