Homeschool Chat

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Hi neighbor!

I'm in Ft. Lauderdale and about to embark on my first year of homeschooling my soon to be 10 year old DS.

I am alternating between excited, scared and down right panic. I definately need to find a HS group nearby.

Hi, congratulations on your journey!!! There is a large group called Broward County Homeschoolers. You should be able to google them.

PM me if you have any questions maybe I can help you find a group. We used to live in Deerfield Beach when we first started.
 
I think I remember reading some time back about home schooling with the American Girl book series. Does anyone have any info?

http://www.gatewaytoknowledge.com/us7.html

This is the one we used a year or so ago. I bought it right from the author's website, but it looks like she has let that domain name go (www.unitsunique.com). We enjoyed the study. I bought the books (readers and "Welcome to ***'s World" series) as I needed them from Amazon. The studies cover Felicity, Josefina, Kirsten, Addy, Samantha, Kit, and Molly. We did not do all the activities but we did do quite a few. My dd's were 8 and 5 at the time, obviously the 8yo did quite a bit more than the 5yo did.
 
Hi I would really like to join your thread. I'm going to have to make my final scool choice for my boy in the next few weeks. I lean towards keeping him home for many many reasons. I just don't have a firm support system for it because I seem to be the only one who thinks it's a wonderful idea!:lmao:
Where do I start?:worried:
 
Hi I would really like to join your thread. I'm going to have to make my final scool choice for my boy in the next few weeks. I lean towards keeping him home for many many reasons. I just don't have a firm support system for it because I seem to be the only one who thinks it's a wonderful idea!:lmao:
Where do I start?:worried:


Welcome!! :welcome:

Well, it's a good start just coming here. It's always good to have other home schoolers to talk to!

I would suggest starting here for the bigger picture: www.hslda.org
On the main page, there is a drop-down menu for "About Homeschooling" and within that are many options. One will let you choose your state and get the legal requirements, if any (very important to know and stay on top of!). Another option lets you choose your state and see what support groups are in your area. That would let you hook up with (or at least contact) someone local.

We have home schooled my oldest son but I am looking at bringing his two younger brothers home next year for the first time. Yikes!!...three of them!??...can I do it??!! :faint:

Well, again, welcome to our little thread, and hope to see you here again!! :goodvibes


.
 

http://www.gatewaytoknowledge.com/us7.html

This is the one we used a year or so ago. I bought it right from the author's website, but it looks like she has let that domain name go (www.unitsunique.com). We enjoyed the study. I bought the books (readers and "Welcome to ***'s World" series) as I needed them from Amazon. The studies cover Felicity, Josefina, Kirsten, Addy, Samantha, Kit, and Molly. We did not do all the activities but we did do quite a few. My dd's were 8 and 5 at the time, obviously the 8yo did quite a bit more than the 5yo did.

Great, thanks!
 
http://www.gatewaytoknowledge.com/us7.html

This is the one we used a year or so ago. I bought it right from the author's website, but it looks like she has let that domain name go (www.unitsunique.com). We enjoyed the study. I bought the books (readers and "Welcome to ***'s World" series) as I needed them from Amazon. The studies cover Felicity, Josefina, Kirsten, Addy, Samantha, Kit, and Molly. We did not do all the activities but we did do quite a few. My dd's were 8 and 5 at the time, obviously the 8yo did quite a bit more than the 5yo did.

This looks really cool! I've just about decided that unit studies are going to be the way to go for my Aspie DD10 (almost 11). It will offer her a lot more flexibility in her schooling and allow her to have more creative outlets for displaying her knowledge. We've been doing SOS for the past few months (we didn't start hs until mid March). She likes the computer part of it, but still gets frustrated really easily and just gives up.

Ellester, what subjects did the American Girls study cover? The website doesn't say :confused3 Obviously, it will cover history and reading. What else?
 
This looks really cool! I've just about decided that unit studies are going to be the way to go for my Aspie DD10 (almost 11). It will offer her a lot more flexibility in her schooling and allow her to have more creative outlets for displaying her knowledge. We've been doing SOS for the past few months (we didn't start hs until mid March). She likes the computer part of it, but still gets frustrated really easily and just gives up.

Ellester, what subjects did the American Girls study cover? The website doesn't say :confused3 Obviously, it will cover history and reading. What else?

It actually covers quite a bit. The "Master Overview of Skills and Content" includes:
Social Studies -Rev. War era, history & culture of N. Mexico, Pioneers, Civil War/underground railroad, suffrage, the Depression, WWII

Science - Medicine(then & now), animal classifications, desert habitats, nature journaling, tornadoes, constellations, scientists & inventors, nutrition

Biography - George Washington, Betsy Ross, Lincoln, Edison, Wright Bros., Susan B. Anthony

Geography- 13 original colonies, regions of the US, European countries and routes to America, 50 states, map skills

Math reinforcement- geometric shapes & patterns, symmetry, literature based word problems, drills

Character education - qualities of a good friend, honestly, working together, reciprocity, cooperation, allies vs. enemies

Language arts- dictionary skills, literature, grammar & usage, general writing skills, creative writing, journalism and newspaper writing

The book recommends supplementing with math, phonics for new readers only, possibly for spelling, and probably not for grammar.

We supplemented with math, Bible, spelling, art(although there was lots of art in the study), handwriting, and an analogy work book I had.
 
/
Oh well I was interested in the American Girl unit study until I got to the part where is is written from a creationist POV..... So how easy would it be to leave out the religious part?
 
Thanks so much Ellester! I showed the website to DD10 today and she was so excited! She says she actually saw the workbook advertised on TV one day and has been looking for it at the library :confused3 Maybe she saw something that reminded her of it :confused3 Anyways, she says she wants to do this for hs this year! It is neat to see her so excited about school!
 
Shalyn- we have a Christian American Girl club, but I feel you can do AG w/out any religious aspect. I bought my books via ebay, education al stores,...and don't know what they go for now, but they are older AG books put out by Pleasant company that are Teacher Guides for each series-minus the newer ones, like Julie and maybe Kit. If you go to BAM or some other bookstore, there are books called "Welcome to ......'s World" that can be used for further study of Am history. We use AG for a lot, but mostly for complete enjoyment, and they are learning anyway! There are also cookbooks nad craft books for each historical AG girl to add in some more ideas and flavor. I feel the AG books can be used in so many fun ways. Our club is moving onto our second year and we have SO much we can do to add to it-ideas are almost endless. I feel using it as a curr. for Am history can be the same.

BTW- maybe this was crazy, but incentive for reading EVERY AG book in this family is the purchase of a doll or accessories after completing them(there are like 50-60 books!). We had to honor our own "way of getting our previously 8 year old child to read" because she DID IT! It took her a little over a year. She even went over and above and read some of the mysteries. Now, my now 8 year old(the other one is 10 now) hasn't picked up on it yet, but I am hoping she will. She is a more reluctant reader, but getting there! She reads well, but doesn't enjoy it quite as much as I'd like. But I refuse to force it b/c then it just ain't fun;) !!! She has read maybe 2 of them and we have read a couple to her too!

Lori
 
Hi I would really like to join your thread. I'm going to have to make my final scool choice for my boy in the next few weeks. I lean towards keeping him home for many many reasons. I just don't have a firm support system for it because I seem to be the only one who thinks it's a wonderful idea!:lmao:
Where do I start?:worried:

Hi!
I dont post here often (nobody ever answers me! ;) ) but wanted to jump in and suggest you look on Yahoo for local HS forums/groups to you. Also look in the phone book and see if there is a curriculum store in your area. It helps to see what locals are doing, and then you dont feel like you are alone. You can take your son on field trips with ohter HSers in your area, or join a HS PE class, etc.
Good luck. We started HSing mid year this past school year and LOVE IT!!
4th grade girl and 1st grade boy. :duck:
 
http://www.gatewaytoknowledge.com/us7.html

This is the one we used a year or so ago. I bought it right from the author's website, but it looks like she has let that domain name go (www.unitsunique.com). We enjoyed the study. I bought the books (readers and "Welcome to ***'s World" series) as I needed them from Amazon. The studies cover Felicity, Josefina, Kirsten, Addy, Samantha, Kit, and Molly. We did not do all the activities but we did do quite a few. My dd's were 8 and 5 at the time, obviously the 8yo did quite a bit more than the 5yo did.

It actually covers quite a bit. The "Master Overview of Skills and Content" includes:
Social Studies -Rev. War era, history & culture of N. Mexico, Pioneers, Civil War/underground railroad, suffrage, the Depression, WWII

Science - Medicine(then & now), animal classifications, desert habitats, nature journaling, tornadoes, constellations, scientists & inventors, nutrition

Biography - George Washington, Betsy Ross, Lincoln, Edison, Wright Bros., Susan B. Anthony

Geography- 13 original colonies, regions of the US, European countries and routes to America, 50 states, map skills

Math reinforcement- geometric shapes & patterns, symmetry, literature based word problems, drills

Character education - qualities of a good friend, honestly, working together, reciprocity, cooperation, allies vs. enemies

Language arts- dictionary skills, literature, grammar & usage, general writing skills, creative writing, journalism and newspaper writing

The book recommends supplementing with math, phonics for new readers only, possibly for spelling, and probably not for grammar.

We supplemented with math, Bible, spelling, art(although there was lots of art in the study), handwriting, and an analogy work book I had.

Shalyn- we have a Christian American Girl club, but I feel you can do AG w/out any religious aspect. I bought my books via ebay, education al stores,...and don't know what they go for now, but they are older AG books put out by Pleasant company that are Teacher Guides for each series-minus the newer ones, like Julie and maybe Kit. If you go to BAM or some other bookstore, there are books called "Welcome to ......'s World" that can be used for further study of Am history. We use AG for a lot, but mostly for complete enjoyment, and they are learning anyway! There are also cookbooks nad craft books for each historical AG girl to add in some more ideas and flavor. I feel the AG books can be used in so many fun ways. Our club is moving onto our second year and we have SO much we can do to add to it-ideas are almost endless. I feel using it as a curr. for Am history can be the same.

BTW- maybe this was crazy, but incentive for reading EVERY AG book in this family is the purchase of a doll or accessories after completing them(there are like 50-60 books!). We had to honor our own "way of getting our previously 8 year old child to read" because she DID IT! It took her a little over a year. She even went over and above and read some of the mysteries. Now, my now 8 year old(the other one is 10 now) hasn't picked up on it yet, but I am hoping she will. She is a more reluctant reader, but getting there! She reads well, but doesn't enjoy it quite as much as I'd like. But I refuse to force it b/c then it just ain't fun;) !!! She has read maybe 2 of them and we have read a couple to her too!

Lori
wow thanks that is one of the ideas I had for curricelum but was not sure it would work,
 
Buying the AG dolls....... A friend does the same thing with her 2 older DDs and will with the youngest. she said since the library has all the books she figures she saves the $$ that way to pay for the dolls.

DD just started showing an interest in reading the books within the last few months (probably from talking the the 2 girls). Before she's always been more interest in fantasy, well except for reading Carol marsh mysteries. I think reading the CMM has opened her up to broadening what she reads. There is a secular AG book club that meets the same time as the CMM club. Looks like she might have to decide between the 2. I don't think I'm going to run all over town every 3rd week of the month like one friend does so that her DD can do both clubs (and so her DS can do the CMM and a classic books club). The local group that has the homeschool book clubs has them spread out all over area but not all locations has every club. I think my friend goes to 3 different meetings to cover the 4 clubs her kids are in.

I like the idea of the unit study CD pulling it all together, but it sounds like the intro books does that pretty well.

As for getting interested in the unit study...I swear I have curriculum ADD or something
Its like.....oh look heres a shining new book to look at, don't you want it instead of what you are using?

Our order from Rainbow Resources should be here any day. I took weeks to decide what to get for next yr, but now I'm second guessing myself. Was very comfortable continuing with Singapore math, but then saw that teaching textbooks now has 5th grade. Arggg. why do I do this to myself LOL.

So I'm of course already obsessing over highschool for DD. Really thought we would shell out the $$ and do oak meadow on line. I haven't been happy with any of the accredited programs we used for DS. From 7-12 grade we used Seascape-7th, great books academy-8th, American School-9, James Madison 10-12. Customer service and turn around between turning in an assignment and grading was horrible with all 4 (never did receive final 1/4 from seascape or several assignments form James Madison). In the end DS didn't end up with a diploma because JM was such a horrible experience. He's decided to just go for his GED instead of continuing to fight JM at every turn.
However that little nagging bit of "mainstream" keeps telling me I need to find an accredited program for DD so she will have a "real" diploma. Arggg


teacups...LOL.... At one time this thread (or the one before it) was moving so fast I couldn't keep up. I think a lot of questions never got answered because they got lost in the mass amount of posts.
 
Sha_lyn,

I tried to answer your post earlier today, but the DIS is giving me fits today! It kept timing out. Anyway.... it would be very easy to secularize the Units Unique study. The introduction section probably contains the most Christian references. The units themselves really don't contain any religion at all. I think you'd be able to use it without much if any modification.
 
Has anyone used NCCS (national center for constitution studies) for unit study or co-op study on the constitution? We are using it for co-op, for 4th-7th graders.

Just fishing for more add on ideas.

Thanks!

Lori

BTW- the AG books I am telling you about use all the books in the series, not just book 1. I have that unit study (mentioned)also and like it, but love that the books use all of the 6 books in the series. I think you almost don't need curr. if you get the cookbooks and craft books to add to the reading.
 
Who is going to Disney hs days in September?

I think we are planning on January at this point. Just curious.

Dawn
 
We were hoping for Jan, but right now it looks like next sept before we'll have the $$
 
I was frustrated about homeschool days. I wanted to go this year, but that is not happening unless our financial status makes a 180 really soon!!!!!

My frustration? I wanted my cake and to eat it too. But Disney won't allow it::cop: .

I could go for HS days but not be able to attend any of the cool things they have on thier schedule b/c I wanted Free Dining, too.:smokin: . hey, I tried! When it comes down to doing WDW though, HS days or not, the bottom line is what I go by. I could go with the free DDP for 3 nights(yes, a quick trip -just me and my girls) for $650!!! I have an AP that is good till next February. All I needed was to get there and get home and pay like maybe another $100 for classes. BUT homeschool days people say NO. I HAVE to get thier packages and if I want the DDP, it is added on. Hello? That was going to be over $1000 altogether, plus transportation.

So we were going to go, but then things started falling apart-the hot water heater-$1400, the camry- $2500, I got into an accident-$1000(my 2001 minivan was totalled but in great shape so we just had it fixed and kept it-it was 76% damaged in a state that says 75% is totalled), a new back door-$500, a new attic door(it wouldn't open and we hung on the string and it was stuck-we'd fixed it 2x before though!!!) that had to be refitted b/c they don't sell our size any more-$400 plus new sheetrock and painting the ceiling.

So you can see how WDW got phased out quickly. I ony hope we can recover from all this so we can pay for the cruise we have planned NEXT December:laughing:

Lori
 
hi

Just found you guys and wanted to join in on the discussion. I homeschool three of my children and love it!! I'm going to head back and read some of the older post.

Amy
 
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