Homeschool Chat

[nov02mom]

Almost a homeschooler here! My son will be starting Kindy sometime AFTER our 1st trip to WDW. (although here in NC we don't have to register until age 7)

I was actually HS'd during middle school - it's facinating to see all the changes in the MANY intervening years!!

We're pretty relaxed in our approach to education. He has Aspergers and we just follow his lead.

Looking forward to "meeting" y'all.

 

[monkeysmamma]

Oooh, a new thread. I saw the old one, but was too intimidated by it's length to dive in. I'm HSing my 2 boys who are 7 and 4. We're going to WDW in May for their first trip! I would have loved to go in Sept. for free dining, but DH didn't want to wait that long, lol.

My boys have autism and I'm still feeling my way around with curriculum. I've found we do a lot better with unit studies because I can tie them into something they're interested in.

Nice to "meet" you all.

Julia

 

[emh1129]

Have any of you read the book Call to Brilliance?
Here is a great interview with the author.. (the first half of this clip)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc2zatmfsYk

 

[sha_lyn]

Hi! I'm a possible future home-schooler to my soon to be 5 year old. I still have a few things to work out in my head...but I'm about 99% certain. I've even been researching curriculum. I think we are going with Sonlight (using Secularly...is that a word? ROFL) and Saxon for math. Still looking into that though.

I looked into using Sonlight secularly but decided against it. I went with using the free Tanglewood lesson plans that blend classical and Charlotte Mason. However there is a secular Sonlight yahoo group that seemed like a great resource.

Next year, DD will be in fifth grade, which is the first year in the logic stage, so I'm looking at picking up some new items. I have the 1999 edition of WTM, but am curious about the 2004 edition. If anyone here has looked at both, can you weigh in on the differences? I'm particularly interested to know if the recommended resources have changed much. No libraries in the county have the new edition. I'd really like to know if the update is different enough to be worth purchasing.

I can't speak on the difference between editions of TWTM, but for the logic stage I love History Odyssey level II. It covers history, geography and literature. I have promised a review to Jenny and other here, that I just haven't written yet. I am in the process of writing reviews starting at the beginning of our HS experience because a Friend is really interested in seeing how many of us have ended up switching philosophies and curricula.

 

[Scuba Princess]

Hello to all

Just checking in to say hi. We are a Homeschool family, 3 DD 16, 15, 2.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

Welcome to all our new posters! Glad you came out of lurkdom!

 

[sha_lyn]

homeschoolbuyersco-op.org has a special right now throughl Alpha Omega

 

[disneymom3]

Welcome to all our new posters! Glad you came out of lurkdom!

I agree! A fresh start looks like a good thing.

I have more to say, but no time right now. Just wanted to say hi and welcome!

 

[disneymom0104]

I want her to learn about religion and christianity..so I think this'll be good exposure for her..she certainly doesn't get it from us.

I have been doing more and more research on Saxon math..seeing negative reviews. I know you'll get negative from every program...but now I'm not so sure. A friend recommended Math U See to me. It looks great..but kinda boring. Any experience with it? Do they get calendar, time, money from it as well or just the 'facts' type of stuff?

We haven't used Saxon or Math U See. I don't think any of the programs out there are bad- it is just a matter of finding what works best for your child. We are using Horizons and it is going really well. My daughter does the first grade level and we have covered calendar, time and money. It is very fast paced, but reviews constantly and I know she is really learning it. At this point we have no reason to switch. We also use Miquon, which is completely different and not at all traditional. I don't think I'd like using it alone, but I do like what it offers and how it teaches her to see outside the box

 

[LegoMom3]

We're going mid september - the 16th - 25th. Woo hoo Free Dining! And that brings me to this question:
Is there a place where I can find a list of all the animals in AK? .......

I'm not sure about anything on-line that is printable, but I just picked up a copy of a book called "The Complete Walt Disney World 2008 - The Definitive Disney Handbook" by Julie and Mike Neal. It's a great book in its own right, but in the section on AK, there is a whole guide to all the animals you'll see there. It's really neat!

Ok, with that aside, I'll "introduce" myself and say Hi! We are currently home schooling DS11. We are also going for Free Dining!! September 8 - 16.


.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Hey everyone-Julie, thanks for the new beginning!! Just wanted to say that homeschooling is a blessing and wouldn't trade it for anything
We are close to the end of our school year(we start in July) and I have to say we are very ready for a break! We will still be doing a lot of summer time reading, but are ready for some time to just be kinda lazy about mornings!!!
We are doing a new thing for the boys next year in math. I forgot who posted(Momvic5 ?) but we are trying out Teaching Textbooks-they look great and I have only heard good things, so we'll see. We've used Five in a Row, A Beka, Bob Jones and Saxon (we are very eclectic ) and this year we are doing more unit studies.
I am very excited about the new things I have found and just wanted to remind ya'll and give a heads up to the newbies of hsing- if you wait to order your curriculum after the beginning of June, it takes quite a bit longer to recieve it and if you have any returning/exchanging to do, it could take a while. So get busy ordering mommys!!!!

 

[livndisney]

I hope it is ok to ask this question here. I have been considering Homeschooling my DD for 2 years now. We have tried several different schools and I feel they have all fallen way short of my expectations. (One even lost my DD ) I don't want to make an "emotional" choice-I want to make the best choice for my child.

SO my question is this: Why did YOU choose to Homeschool?

 

[bebelle]

What math curriculums do you use with your older children (6th grade and up)? My oldest DS12 will be going into the 7th grade, and we currently use Saxon. Most days I really like it, but then there are days when I think it is very boring. My son likes it fine I guess. He never complains about it, but I think he might enjoy a change for the next school year. I am interested in what others are using and how it compares with the style of Saxon.

Thanks so much for your thoughts!

We are in the same spot. I am thinking of changing to Teaching Textbooks. You can go online and look at examples of their DVD lessons. Another great math curriculum is Chalk Dust but it is VERY expensive. They too have a website with examples of their DVD lessons. We are going to a home schoolers convention in May. So I may change my mind but I feel pretty strongly that we will be going with Teaching Textbooks. Hope this helps.

 

[TheRatPack]

How exciting ~ A new thread!

I have started planning for our next school year, and while trying to get an idea of what I am going to use with my oldest, I started considering the idea of switching to a new curriculum for him in math.

I am curious. What math curriculums do you use with your older children (6th grade and up)? My oldest DS12 will be going into the 7th grade, and we currently use Saxon. Most days I really like it, but then there are days when I think it is very boring. My son likes it fine I guess. He never complains about it, but I think he might enjoy a change for the next school year. I am interested in what others are using and how it compares with the style of Saxon.

Thanks so much for your thoughts!

We will be sticking with Math-U-See...we really like it and it's been easy to follow up through 6th grade so I'm hoping that it'll continue to work for us

 

[TheRatPack]

Love Sonlight and Math U See. MUS does include time, money, tally marks, Roman numerals and measurement. I don't think they do anything with the calendar though (at least not that we've seen in Primer, Alpha, Beta, or Gamma). We've done that separately (Sonlight covers it in their "Language and Thinking for Young Children" in the K Core.) The MUS workpages are not colorful or exciting at all, but my kids don't seem to mind. We had started our oldest on Horizons, which is VERY colorful, but the spiral approach wasn't working for her. She didn't mind the change to plain pages, although some kids might. My youngest draws a picture on the facing blank page every time she does math, I guess that's her way of spicing it up!

I was grading my 13 year old DS's and noticed that he also made a very elaborate 3D drawing on the blank page facing his lesson page in MUS LOL But then this is the same kid that does his work standing on his head LOL

 

[tnmomof4]

Hey everyone-Julie, thanks for the new beginning!! Just wanted to say that homeschooling is a blessing and wouldn't trade it for anything
We are close to the end of our school year(we start in July) and I have to say we are very ready for a break! We will still be doing a lot of summer time reading, but are ready for some time to just be kinda lazy about mornings!!!
We are doing a new thing for the boys next year in math. I forgot who posted(Momvic5 ?) but we are trying out Teaching Textbooks-they look great and I have only heard good things, so we'll see. We've used Five in a Row, A Beka, Bob Jones and Saxon (we are very eclectic ) and this year we are doing more unit studies.
I am very excited about the new things I have found and just wanted to remind ya'll and give a heads up to the newbies of hsing- if you wait to order your curriculum after the beginning of June, it takes quite a bit longer to recieve it and if you have any returning/exchanging to do, it could take a while. So get busy ordering mommys!!!!

What subjects do you use A Beka and Bob Jones for? I am using all A Beka right now and as you mentioned.... I am thinking about putting my orders in for new books/curriculum by June. I don't know if I should stay with all A Beka or not. This is our first year, and I don't know anything about other curriculums.

 

[TheRatPack]

I hope it is ok to ask this question here. I have been considering Homeschooling my DD for 2 years now. We have tried several different schools and I feel they have all fallen way short of my expectations. (One even lost my DD ) I don't want to make an "emotional" choice-I want to make the best choice for my child.

SO my question is this: Why did YOU choose to Homeschool?

Mine is a combination of years and years of struggling with the decision. My best friend homeschools and I always thought it was a strange decision...that she just didn't want to let her kids go LOL I let mine go to Elementary (the two oldest) and although there were bumps here and there...I passed them all off as 'normal school' and learning to be a part of society. I won't go in to all the reasons here....but it was a lot of things. Them becoming a number, teachers not caring anymore, the whole switch toward them being more concerned with peers over grades and a REAL education. So we began homeschooling in middle school years for the oldest 2 and then with our youngest, they will not step foot in a public school as long as I can keep them home and homeschool them.

 

[NHWX]

I've got a ds14 who's completing pre-calculus now and I've been tossing around the idea of having him do a course in logic next year. I'm thinking it might help him with future math and science courses.

NHWX

 

[TanyaS]

I didn't see a thread specifically about animals in the Animal Kingdom, but they do have some of the coolest animals on earth - the okapi. I had never seen one until my first trip to the AK.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

What subjects do you use A Beka and Bob Jones for? I am using all A Beka right now and as you mentioned.... I am thinking about putting my orders in for new books/curriculum by June. I don't know if I should stay with all A Beka or not. This is our first year, and I don't know anything about other curriculums.

When we first started with ABeka, we got the grade level kits. Second Year, we mixed bob jones math with 5 in a row. Third year, back to all ABeka and I remembered why I switched the year before!! Love ABeka, love the Christian theme and all the scriptures in the workbooks, but they sooooo overload the homeschoolers, that it just ends up being too much work for us. So, this year we used Bob Jones for Science and English, Saxon math and Christian Kids Explore and Apologia for Science. Another thing that my kids were having a bit of 'too much' of, was the penmanship. We used A Reason for Handwriting (&Spelling) and it was such a blessing! If you go to Christianbook.com, and look at the homeschooling section you can find a great amount to look into.

Look up Charlotte Mason and read about her methods, this is another reason we got out of ABeka-she really stresses more reading, "living books", and not the workbook-type of schooling we had. We really love this and would recommend it to anyone. Five in a Row has great books for this type of learning as well.