Homeschool Chat

[Momvic5]

I have floundered between Sonlight and A Beka. When I think I have made a decision, I change my mind. I have almost decided to try A Beka first. Do you use the Bible curriculum? How is the math? I have heard that it moves quickly. Thanks!!!

I used ABeka math for my DS7 in both Kinder and 1st grade. I really liked the math! It does move quickly, but it is a good curriculum. I am not sure what grade you are looking at, but if you are starting out with Abeka math, I think you will like it.

This school year we are switching to Saxon for 2nd grade. I am not sure how I will like Saxon in the younger years, but I have used it with my oldest son now for 2 years in upper elem/middle school years, and it has been great for him. I thought I would go ahead and get both my DS7 and DD9 started in the program and familiar with their layout.

I am praying that I made the right choice!

 

[TLHB70]

I am sorry that I did not answer your math question, karynnix.
I love A Beka math. I taught in both public and private schools before I decided to homeschool, and I feel that A Beka math is just as advanced as what I taught in the schools. I do think it is a lot like Saxon math (I taught Saxon in a private school.), maybe it is a little less colorful on the pages.....not a big deal. Even though it does move quickly, there are review problems each day also to keep the skills fresh.

 

[Ellester]

This link was posted on our local e-mail loop. A nice, positive look at the transition from homeschooling to college.

http://www.miamiherald.com/295/story/617442.html

 

[lori1043]

Thanks for the article Ellester. I love being able to use things from this board and "bring" it to my HEA for encouragement!

I will do the same for you all should I run into any cool homeschool articles.

I was gungho for starting and after 3 weeks I am downright exhausted. We have had a lot go on outside school stuff with summer still being on for everyone else and we did just come off of 5 days in a row of constant visiting, BBQ's, birthdays and co-op signups, but I ahve to work tomorrow and this is my only day. They will do school(as much as they can) tomorrow, but it won't get checked till later in the weekend, if not Monday.

Anyone work in the travel agency field as a side job?
I am interested and have questions, but wonder how they get paid too.
I will do a Dis search!

Lori

 

[karynnix]

I have not used the Bible curriculum in a few years. I did use it for about two years, but honestly, I found it a bit boring. I switched and started doing different family Bible studies that I picked up at Lifeway. I have also done a couple of the Beth Moore studies with my girls (Daniel -first part only - and Jesus the One and Only).
Since I am switching oldest DD to the video academy this upcoming year, she will be using their Bible curriculum again. She will be on Program I so she will be graded on the course.

Thanks for the info! I was just wondering if it was worth the extra cost for the curriculum. I will check into Lifeway and see what they have. That is where all of our church Sunday School comes from, so I am familiar with them.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

Mommyof2princesses, I have a DD that just turned 13; she will be in 8th grade this upcoming school year. We are starting school August 11. I have all of our new books in boxes in our school room. I said that I wouldn't do anything with them until August. I, too, live in NC (Union County), and I do plan to go shopping for our notebooks, pencils, pens, and all other supplies this tax free weekend. I think we will go to Office Depot or Staples. I have tried Walmart and Target in past years, but it is too crazy! I thought Office Depot or Staples might be calmer. We will see. Then, next week, I plan to work on our school room. I need to box up last year's books and clean out cabinets for this year's materials.
BTW, we use A Beka. I have used it with both of my DDs since K4. My oldest is now 8th grade and my youngest is now 5th grade.

We are right around the corner from you in Cabarrus. I really need to clean my school room as it seems to be a junk hole right now! It will get done!

This school year we are switching to Saxon for 2nd grade. I am not sure how I will like Saxon in the younger years, but I have used it with my oldest son now for 2 years in upper elem/middle school years, and it has been great for him. I thought I would go ahead and get both my DS7 and DD9 started in the program and familiar with their layout.

I am praying that I made the right choice!

We are using Saxon for both the girls this year. One will be in Saxon 1 and the other in algebra... Yike! We enjoyed saxon k, was easy, but we skipped a lot and did some of our own stuff. We will see how it goes this year!

 

[DawnM]

Hey, I am in Union County too. Are you part of any hs groups in UC?

We have done Abeka Language Arts until 4th grade. My son is 4th grade and we got about 1/4 of the way into it and it was just too big of a jump from writing sentences to report writing without anything in between. Now we are actively looking for an alternative for him.

Dawn

Mommyof2princesses, I have a DD that just turned 13; she will be in 8th grade this upcoming school year. We are starting school August 11. I have all of our new books in boxes in our school room. I said that I wouldn't do anything with them until August. I, too, live in NC (Union County), and I do plan to go shopping for our notebooks, pencils, pens, and all other supplies this tax free weekend. I think we will go to Office Depot or Staples. I have tried Walmart and Target in past years, but it is too crazy! I thought Office Depot or Staples might be calmer. We will see. Then, next week, I plan to work on our school room. I need to box up last year's books and clean out cabinets for this year's materials.
BTW, we use A Beka. I have used it with both of my DDs since K4. My oldest is now 8th grade and my youngest is now 5th grade.

 

[Momvic5]

Hey, I am in Union County too. Are you part of any hs groups in UC?

We have done Abeka Language Arts until 4th grade. My son is 4th grade and we got about 1/4 of the way into it and it was just too big of a jump from writing sentences to report writing without anything in between. Now we are actively looking for an alternative for him.

Dawn

Since you are looking for a new language arts curriculum, I thought I would share with you what works for us. We use Bob Jones Writing and Grammar. Like it reads, it is both a grammar and writing program. It alternates between the two about every 14 lessons. My children have done very well with it, and so far, it hasn't been overwhelming. I have used the 2nd - 6th grade books. It works really well if you have several children because they follow the same pattern and topics just at different levels.

I know some homeschoolers do not like Bob Jones, but for language arts, it was worked well for us. Just thought I would share it with you.

 

[TLHB70]

Hey, I am in Union County too. Are you part of any hs groups in UC?

We have done Abeka Language Arts until 4th grade. My son is 4th grade and we got about 1/4 of the way into it and it was just too big of a jump from writing sentences to report writing without anything in between. Now we are actively looking for an alternative for him.

Dawn

I understand what you mean about the jump in writing.
My oldest DD LOVES to write. That is what she enjoys doing in her spare time. She writes short stories, plays, etc. So the A Beka writing was not a big deal for her at all. My youngest DD does not have the same passion for writing. A Beka's language writing was a bit harder for her last year in 4th grade. I am not sure how she will handle this 5th grade year because she will have her first research paper. I may be switching language curriculum for her. We will see how it goes.

I was a member of HOPE for two years. However, I dropped out a year ago. For this upcoming year I just joined PATH. http://www.pathnc.org/ I have not been to an official meeting or activity yet because I just joined. Quite a few of the homeschool families at my church are members so I decided to try it out.
Are you a member of a local UC group?

 

[jetprincess]

Ok homeschool moms!! I know you get tons of questions about curriculums and so forth. But I have a question about the emotinal side of homeschooling...

How do you do it?!? I would love to homeschool my first grader! However, she is a very emotional and physical child. She is quick to temper and it doesn't take much for her to end up in tears b/c she "can't do something" that is challenging. My fear is that we would spend most of our valuable learning time fending off temper tantrums and we would both end up with high blood pressure!

She doesn't do this with other teachers. She tries though and thankfully she has had wonderful teachers who "had her pegged" pretty quicky and wouldn't stand for it.

I just know I could be really good at homeschooling and I love the flexiblity involved. I am a certified teacher and I love teaching other people's children. But my own daughter exhausts me! I just don't know if she and I have the right personality match for it.

So, how do you deal with the meltdowns? How do you minimize them?

 

[sha_lyn]

Jetprincess
With DD I found that including her in the planning process really helps.
I break our yr into 6 6 week periods and figure out 1/6 of each subject. I show her on a calendar where we can take breaks if she completes each 6 week period etc.I believe I started it the beginning of 3rd. I found by the middle of last yr (4th grade)she would figure out breaks, how many lessons she needed to complete etc on her own.

I also make her a part of the process of picking out textbooks etc. We both like covering history and science in depth instead of taking a more spiral approach, so last yr we stop using science curricula that touches on several science subjects and covered earth science in depth. This yr we will cover space for the first 1/2 of the yr, then we will go back to a "sub" section of earth science and cover environmental science. Next yr we will cover physical science in depth, and the following yr biology. The long term plan is to then use 8 to fill in any gaps before she moves into high school level science.

 

[chrissiecutie]

Hi All,

I'm a new hs mom, we will be starting preschool in Sept and I can't wait! We are doing this as kind of a "trial run" for a couple years to see how it goes. In my state, WA, you don't have to start school until 8 so my son has a few years until we hit that deadline. I'm assuming we'll love it and of course continue on once he does turn 8, but you never know.

My question to everyone is...how did you break the news to your family? DH and I have parents and stepparents who live near to us and are very close with our son. We cherish the relationships and feel so lucky he's able to really know all of his grandparents.

However, they are starting to talk about when he goes to Kindergarten and have even been saying things to him about it. He, of course, doesn't really understand homeschooling or Kindergarden but is thrilled at the prospect of going to school. To which I've enrolled him in local swim and gymnastics classes to get some "class" experience. Not quite the same but the best I can come up with. We did try a co-op preschool last fall and hated it! All the kids were off doing their own things, not interacting at all and the teacher was sitting talking w/the parents. Not a good first school experience for us unfortunatly. My son never wanted to go and it just didn't make for a fun, enjoyable experience. Thus prompting us actually making the decision to homeschool. But how did you tell your family and when?? I don't want my son to get excited over going to kindergarten since that just isn't going to happen. I know all the grandparents are just not going to understand and I'm afraid I'll have to constantly be defending our decision. I was hoping to wait another year until it's time to actually enroll him and then just be like..."oh, he's not going to K, we are homeschooling instead..." However, will all the talk recently, I feel I must say something so they'll at least stop telling him how great K will be!

Any advice?

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Jet Princess
I definitely think you can do this! My little girl is the same way--as far as getting very discouraged-she has 2 older brothers and thinks she can do what they can do. So, instead of learning letters as we look, she tries to guess from the pictures and then cries when I tell her it's not right. So, we have switched over to Explode the Code- so far we are doing great. She has a bit of liberty after I give her the intro to each new letter. The attitude your daughter has is just something that has to be worked out between you two. You know the best way to handle her, some kids do so much better with praise, while other will only stop if they are disciplined.I am sure being a teacher you know all that!! It's different with homeschooling because when it gets too much you can stop for a day if you have to. You set the pace, if you know she can do 1 hour and at 30 min. she starts acting up just let her know that even if she's at home YOU are the instructor and this IS school-u are just in a different setting. I had to do this with my oldest who had been to public and Christian school til 2nd grade.
I told him-if you were at a diff. school with a teacher would you act like this? And of course he said no. So, I just explained that he was getting an education in p. s. and he would be getting an education at home--just that we were blessed enough to get to stay together and do it in a home setting. That really made an impact on him-I explained that I would be respected and so would the other siblings- we are all learning!
No matter what type of hser you are, she has to understand that you are giving her a wonderful opportunity and explain the benefits and then set down whatever rules work for your family. I know it's tough at first, but if you feel this is where the Lord has led your family, pray hard and stick it out!! It's a wonderful journey and you will start to see the blessings before you know it!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Chrissiecutie,

I would go ahead and tell them your decision. He is still gonna be "in kinder." just a different kind! If it makes them feel better to pinch in and get him some crayons or even a backpack or new school shoes that would be great! He is getting to begin his education just like all the other 5 yo boys, he just gets to do something different!!!

Just make it clear they shouldn't make this negative for him or talk down to you or him about your decision. As long as he's excited and has fun while he learns they will probably be fine with it. if they aren't, that's really their problem and they should keep it to themselves. I think you are gonna really enjoy this!! I know I have!!

 

[NHWX]

JetPrincess-

It's just one of those learning things. My 12 year old wants to avoid things that he's not good at. Too bad! You can talk about things that are hard and tell her that many times grownups don't have a chance to learn something truly new. It can be daunting. But with practice you get better at it. Tell her about your experience with something new - the first time student teaching perhaps. And then help her walk through each step, bit by bit.

You could also try saying "We have to get this done by the end of this week or day or whatever... If you spend a half hour worrying / crying / whatever about it, then that half hour is gone. Will the crying make the work go away? Why are you doing it? Would you rather cry or do something that you enjoy?" Once you take your passion out of it (easier said than done, I know!), it becomes the student's problem.

I love this phrase which I've repeated to my kids: School is optional, learning is not.

And like those days when your daughter would come home with a problem, there will be issues at home. That's life!

NHWX

 

[NHWX]

OK, so I write this mom of two boys, just deal with it type post in response to JetPrincess and now I have to say that I haven't always paid attention to my own advice!

ChrissieCutie - we never told my husband's family that we homeschool! Ooops! Actually we did tell his grandparents so maybe the word has spread around but no one's actually asked us. We told my side of the family that this was the best option that we'd found. And when our then 14 year old returned to homeschooling, my mom was convinced that he'd never go to college. (And never get a good job, etc.) Over a couple of months, I had to go chapter and verse about how bad the high school was, how my brother had had such a miserable time in high school that he dropped out and got his GED but still has a fine life, that gasp! he'd be getting an actual diploma from a real high school and that genuine teachers will approve all his work. *sigh*

It doesn't matter, she'll find something to worry about. It might be that he's spending too much time with his friends, or that he doesn't get outside enough, or that he doesn't have enough friends since he's not in the high school, or that he's spending too much time/not enough time with outside activities... You get the picture. Many people have had perfectly happy lives and never been a member of the National Honor Society.

Good luck!

NHWX

 

[grammynelliebelle]

Chrisie, I am a dgm of homeschoolers and have a suggestion for that might be helpful for your folks. You might remind them that homeschooled grandkids (and all grandkids) can greatly benefit from their time and experience. We have been fortunate enought to be able to do things with the kids that are part of the learning and educational process. ie, Trips, working with them on journals and photos of our expeditions etc.Woodworking projects, learning to make jam and can it for holiday gifts. In some cases we are learning as we are working with the kids and having a great time! DH is starting to plan a music 6 week program for dgd age 8 and dgs age 5. He will be a couple of lessons ahead of them! Good luck and follow your heart! Grammy

 

[karynnix]

Okay, I have yet ANOTHER question.

I will be starting homeschool in the middle of the year when we move. I hate to spend $1000 on curriculum that I will only be using for a few months. What could I use for just a few months of homeschool that won't be so expensive and will work? Next year, I will start with a packaged curriculum, but I don't want to spend an enormous amount of money for just a few months.

Any suggestions??

 

[TLHB70]

Okay, I have yet ANOTHER question.

I will be starting homeschool in the middle of the year when we move. I hate to spend $1000 on curriculum that I will only be using for a few months. What could I use for just a few months of homeschool that won't be so expensive and will work? Next year, I will start with a packaged curriculum, but I don't want to spend an enormous amount of money for just a few months.

Any suggestions??

Check out my post #486 on page 33. There is a link to a site where you can buy used books/material. It is a great resource. You can get the curriculum that you are interested in for a lot cheaper!

 

[sha_lyn]

Okay, I have yet ANOTHER question.

I will be starting homeschool in the middle of the year when we move. I hate to spend $1000 on curriculum that I will only be using for a few months. What could I use for just a few months of homeschool that won't be so expensive and will work? Next year, I will start with a packaged curriculum, but I don't want to spend an enormous amount of money for just a few months.

Any suggestions??

Did you decide on a curriculum or method yet? IMHO that makes a lot of diffeence on the ways you could approch this.
However in general I would test the kids and start where they need to be and continue from there. I would complete whatever curriculum I purchased, unless it wasn't working. I think we get too hung up on grade levels because of the pass/fail mentality of public school. IMHO the better path it to "Take as long as it takes" and to experience the journey instead of getting hung up on grade levels and grades.