Homeschool Chat

[mommyof2princesses]

The homeschool days are at the end of Feb through the begining of march. It is only $5 a person for 1 day, $7 a person for 2 days or $11 a person for 5 days. This includes admission to all buildings including the governers palace and tours.

During the same exact time, Jamestown is doing their homeschool days. It is $10.50 a person but is good for the entire homeschool days period. It includes classes, tours and admission on all days.

If you look up the prices for regular admission you will save A LOT! We are going the begining of March and stay for the week to do it all.

 

[Denine]

That is soo cool. DD really enjoyed her day today. We didn't buy tickets and she wanted to go in some of the buildings. We promised her we would have tickets the next time, but we only had today.
I will have to check into the HS days.

 

[Denine]

Are there certain ages for the HS'rs? DD is 6 and in 1st grade. The spring program seems like it would be interesting for her. The fall program not so much at this age.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

Are there certain ages for the HS'rs? DD is 6 and in 1st grade. The spring program seems like it would be interesting for her. The fall program not so much at this age.

Those who are 5 and under are free. All ages are welcome. The Jamestown one has a class for pre-k through 2nd grade. I am signing up dd5 for it and there is another class for highschoolers I will sign dd14 up for.

 

[Denine]

Thanks! If we can arrange it, we may just do this.

 

[disneymom3]

I may look into these. We need to revamp what we're doing with DD11. We've been doing a unit study on American Girls (Portraits of American Girlhood), but I've been having trouble getting her to do a lot of the activities. She doesn't think they're "fun" (although I've told her school isn't always going to be fun...there is also some work involved). I think with her Asperger's, it hasn't been appealing to her, b/c it isn't personal to her. The assignments have no meaning to her. There's no "purpose" in her life to many of the assignments. She enjoys reading the books, and I enjoy her learning about history from a personal perspective, but I'm tired of fighting with her on all the assignments. Part of the problem is, she just doesn't like to do anything where she has to exert physical or mental energy (who does?), but with the AS, the problem is compounded. I need to find a new way for her to learn, but make it more interesting to her, so maybe she'll work at it more. I've even looked at going back to SOS for some stuff, but she didn't get much out of that last year, or doing some kind of workbook, so she can see a beginning and end to her work each day

For the AG stuff have you looked at the Activity kinds of books that go with them. Like Felicity's World, Addy's World etc? My kids get a lot more out of hands on stuff than just assigned work. No idea of course, what you are currently doing but maybe it would help make it more personal if it was things she created. I also found my kids like to follow on a map where a book is set. (That works great with Addy since she travels quite aways.)

Good luck.

We are starting some new things here this week too. (I am typing furiously as they are on a break.) I have been using My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures and it just isn't working for us. I want it to, but it's not lighting any fires. So, we are sticking with cultures and geography but we are adding in a lot more history, literature etc. Also doing lapbooks which the kids are excited about--expecially DD since she didn't get to do one last time we made them. Right up her alley!

Off to start China!

 

[wvdislover]

Thanks for your reply! We started school again this morning--wasn't as big of a battle as I had anticipated I think what I'm going to do is continue with some of the AG stuff, but taylor the assignments (many of which are hands on, but she doesn't want to do ) more for her. For instance, she had to do a comparison/contrast assignment, using a Venn diagram (she's supposed to c/c an aspect of the natives of NM to the Mexican immigrants, such as their art, faith, dwellings, or food--we had a lot of problems researching this stuff, too). Instead of doing the NM/Mexico stuff, I am having her c/c school and homeschool (we just pulled her out of school near the end of last year). Maybe this will help her appreciate hs more, too . I think this is going to be more meaningful to her. At least I'll be able to see that she can effectively c/c, using a Venn diagram. BTW, we have checked out the Felicity's World, Josefina's World, etc books--she was really bored with them (had nothing to do with her, I guess--Aspie kids can be a bit self-centered...at least mine can).

We're also going to use the Vacation Education books that I had ordered and decided to put off. Now is a good time to pull those back out and use them. We're going back to WDW in Sept, so having an educational background of MK and Epcot will be helpful. She seems more excited about it, anyways. It has some really interesting information to it, too.

On top of this stuff, I'm just going to come up with stuff for her to do, using Internet resources, workbook pages, and myself (if God led us to do this, He's going to help us with it, right?!?). So, anyways, we'll see how things go, and maybe try something different next year I'm planning on going to a curriculum fair or 2 this spring to get some ideas. It's hard to choose something, just by going on what someone's website says about their curriculum. I need to see stuff and touch it to know for sure. Good luck with your new stuff, too!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Just wanted to tell you that you are right--God will help you through this and show you what will work for you dd!!!Be Encouraged!!!! This is my 5th year to hs and I am very comfortable now with mixing and matching what works for each kid!

 

[arielmomma]

Hello. I just wanted to peek into this thread and introduce myself. My name is Joy and I am a Disney-loving homeschooling mother of 2. I just wanted to say "hi" and I look forward to chatting with all of you.

 

[graygables]

We did math yesterday morning with zebra grazing outside our Animal Kingdom Lodge villa. 10yo went and did the animal tracking activity afterward and said she "could get used to this" (psssst...so could I!)

We arrived safely (finally!) and are settling in for our 26 days here before moving to our new home.

I got a call last week from the Homeschool Days coordinator here at WDW and they changed the speaker series from both days to one day (NOT the day I'd scheduled DDs YES class for, of course ), so I don't know if it's due to lack of interest on the part of homeschoolers or if it's the economy. I'll post next week and let everyone know how it went. My mom and oldest DD will be taking them, since I'll most likely be training.

 

[Denine]

When does this get easier? This is our 3rd year and every year has been easier, but it is so hard for me to get anything done around the house. DD is in 1st grade.
I can stick a load of laundry in during school and a few small things, but only during math where she is pretty independent. The rest of the time I need to be with her.
I want to keep HS'ing her next year, but it seems to be getting harder for me.
Help!

 

[Denine]

Has anyone given the CAT? I need to give it to DD this Spring so I can have the test results for the next school year.

Can I administer it or does it need to be given by a teacher?

DD is in 1st grade.

 

[DawnM]

You can give it at home. It is very user friendly and easy to give.

Dawn

Has anyone given the CAT? I need to give it to DD this Spring so I can have the test results for the next school year.

Can I administer it or does it need to be given by a teacher?

DD is in 1st grade.

 

[disneymom3]

Denine, my babysitter's mom always did the CAT and administered it herself. I have never used it. We do the Peabody which does require someone else to administer it.

As for when it gets easier, after 6 years of this I have just tried to accept that I cannot do it all. Consider--you have a full time job IN YOUR HOME by teaching your daughter. Then you have the fact that you all are there all day messing it up, doing projects that most people do not have going on in their homes, plus all of the normal homestuff. Do you involve your dd in cleaning activities around the house? My kids at 6 were dusting, cleaning windows (vinegar and water) scrubbing the toilet with the toilet wand, vacuuming the stairs, swiffering the floors and a few other jobs. They might not be done the way I always would but when we split it up, it makes the work go faster and more gets done. Plus, they LOVE to clean! Wish I had their passion for it!

Graygables are you spending 26 days at Animal Kingdom villas?? How completely awesome!!

 

[Denine]

Glad to hear I can administer the CAT at home.

DD does "help", but I am a perfectionist and it gets hard to deal with after a while.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

We started back today after taking 2 weeks off for the holidays....maybe I shouldn't have taken so much time off. It took an hour for dd5 to get through her math. Usually it takes 20 min! She was driving me looney! DD13 was fine, although she kept day dreaming. I have to work tonight but I am off after that till Sat. This wonderful econony is not helping me keep hours at work!

 

[HomeschoolMama]

We started back today after taking 2 weeks off for the holidays....maybe I shouldn't have taken so much time off. It took an hour for dd5 to get through her math. Usually it takes 20 min! She was driving me looney! DD13 was fine, although she kept day dreaming. I have to work tonight but I am off after that till Sat. This wonderful econony is not helping me keep hours at work!

My kids were the same way yesterday. Today's better, but not like it normally is.

 

[graygables]

Graygables are you spending 26 days at Animal Kingdom villas?? How completely awesome!!

Yes, we are. I {heart} my Disney Vacation Club! We had the daydreamies today, too, with the random run to see what animals were hanging about. It took 2 hours to do what usually gets done in 1. I will tell you laundry and dishes are MUCH easier when there's a giraffe out the window!

 

[amez]

If anyone is interested we are finalizing our plans for our 2nd Annual Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering held at the awesome Kalahari Resort in Sandusky Ohio. We have some amazing speakers planned, funshops for all ages, a winter carnival, talent show, movie night and a Medieval Princess Ball Dance. check out ugoevent.com and hopefully you can join us in Feb.

Thanks
Amy

 

[Villainess]

Hi. My name is Danielle. I am a single mom to a DD, 2yrs, and a DS, 14 mos from NJ. I have been seriously considering homeschooling my children for the past 5 months and am at the point of decision - I definately want to do it and believe they will ultimately get a much richer, diverse education this way. I still need to discuss this w /exDH, but it is something that I feel very strongly about.

I am enrolling both children in Gymboree for more social interaction with children their ages. Their cousins, all similar in age, live 30-1 hr away so we don't see them that often, and while there are young children in the neighborhood, the parents are not friendly. I have friends who have twins DD's age, however they are almost always sick from daycare and have aggressive tendencies so I limit the amount of time DD and DS are with them. They will also be starting swim lessons (if not next month, then next session - I haven't decided yet), and I am also looking into dance classes for DD as she loves to dance and twirl around the house in the tutus I make her.

I guess I am looking for a curriculum to begin with DD. We do basics already (colors, shapes, counting), but I guess I am looking for path to follow and ways to organize the day. I found this one http://www.first-school.ws/INDEX.HTM and this one http://www.abchomepreschool.com/ in my searches so far.

A little bit of a long introduction, but I am looking forward to chatting with you all some more, and learning from you as well!