Homeschool Chat

[dvcbnd]

Anyone else have a perfectly capable, yet uninterested reader? My son is 6.5 and hates "baby" stuff. All the normal reading things I've tried aren't working- the cute laptop, the phonics sets, starfall.com, the phonics dvds...

I don't know what to do. I have been patient with him leading me (which is so not my nature), but I feel like he's just being lazy at this point.
Anyone have any ideas?

My son is 7 and is capable of reading, although it's not one of his favorite things to do. The books he seems to enjoy the most are The Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne. We set some time aside to read and take turns while reading each paragraph out loud. Then we talk about each chapter, so I know that he's comprehending what he read. This seems to be working for us so far.

 

[wvdislover]

So, tell me.... what does a typical day in your homeschool "look" like?

This is our first year homeschooling, and we have been enjoying ourselves and lately, we have gotten lazy. The past several weeks we haven't finished our work and have been playing catch-up. I even took one week "off" a couple of weeks ago to get caught up. My dd has been wanting to do nothing but play on the computer and watch tv. Getting her to do anything else has been a fight that, quite frankly, I haven't felt like fighting. I'm feeling a bit better now, and have told my girls that I am limiting their tv and computer time. Right now, we only homeschool our oldest. Next year we will homeschool both and I really feel the need to develop a schedule of some sort now while it is just 1 at home. I do understand that flexibility is one of the great joys and advantages to homeschooling.

So, would you be willing to share your schedule -- especially if you have more than 1 at home?

I, too, am having the same problems with my DD11 (it seems to get worse every day ) She got up around 9 this morning and took over an hour to do her math lesson, and then fell asleep again after doing some punctuation work. Now, if I told her she could just watch tv and play computer all day, she'd wake up in a heartbeat, probably I don't really have a schedule for her, which probably doesn't help, so I'm planning on instituting more of a schedule for next year. We spent the first half of the year doing a unit study that didn't work well for us, so now we're just trying to do some work in different subjects each day. I try to do math first thing every day (her least favorite subject), then I have different workbooks I've picked up for history, science, and language arts. Sometimes, we'll watch something "educational" on tv (right now, we're watching the "Colonial House" miniseries PBS did a few years ago, since we're studying Colonial Times in history...she stayed awake for all of that, since it was "so interesting"). If only she could learn everything she needs to learn by watching movies on tv! Life would be much simpler!

 

[Denine]

So, tell me.... what does a typical day in your homeschool "look" like?

This is our first year homeschooling, and we have been enjoying ourselves and lately, we have gotten lazy. The past several weeks we haven't finished our work and have been playing catch-up. I even took one week "off" a couple of weeks ago to get caught up. My dd has been wanting to do nothing but play on the computer and watch tv. Getting her to do anything else has been a fight that, quite frankly, I haven't felt like fighting. I'm feeling a bit better now, and have told my girls that I am limiting their tv and computer time. Right now, we only homeschool our oldest. Next year we will homeschool both and I really feel the need to develop a schedule of some sort now while it is just 1 at home. I do understand that flexibility is one of the great joys and advantages to homeschooling.

So, would you be willing to share your schedule -- especially if you have more than 1 at home?

I only have the 1 DD who is 6 and in 1st grade.

We start at 9:30 in the morning. Math is always first. DD has already finished 1st grade math and is now doing 2nd grade math. I use a boxed curriculum (calvert) so everything is pretty much laid out for us. We finish around 12:30 to 1:30 PM. We have school 4 days a week usually. This week it is 5 since I am not working on Friday.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

We're very laid back and it goes in cycles for us. Sometimes during the year we are doing more hands-on stuff, going to parks, exploring our world, reading more than anything else, and sometimes we slack and are busy doing other things. We also have periods where we "buckle down" and catch up, and do lots. It's a pretty natural flow for us, but doesn't look much like school in the way most people see it. We get what we need covered though and I feel my kids have a pretty good grasp on their academics with lots of fun and natural learning too.

Wasn't THAT a mouthful!

 

[avic77]

So, tell me.... what does a typical day in your homeschool "look" like?

This is our first year homeschooling, and we have been enjoying ourselves and lately, we have gotten lazy. The past several weeks we haven't finished our work and have been playing catch-up. I even took one week "off" a couple of weeks ago to get caught up. My dd has been wanting to do nothing but play on the computer and watch tv. Getting her to do anything else has been a fight that, quite frankly, I haven't felt like fighting. I'm feeling a bit better now, and have told my girls that I am limiting their tv and computer time. Right now, we only homeschool our oldest. Next year we will homeschool both and I really feel the need to develop a schedule of some sort now while it is just 1 at home. I do understand that flexibility is one of the great joys and advantages to homeschooling.

So, would you be willing to share your schedule -- especially if you have more than 1 at home?

I have 3 at home this year. Our schedual is pretty steady as I live by a list.
We get up at 8am (the little ones are usually already awake and have gotten something to eat and are watching TV they still wake up around 6:30 or 7am) the kids get breakfast while I get DH up and off to work ( iron his clothes make his lunch and so forth) He leaves around 845am. I eat breakfast while the kids get the table cleaned off and their school books out. DD14 writes the Bibles lesson title on the dry earse board. While DS6 and DD9 copy the Bible story title on their paper DD 14 starts her school work. DS7 is slow about writing and DD9 usually gets started with Math while waiting on him. Once he gets it copied DD14 teaches a bible lesson and asks the younger 2 questions about the lesson. DD9 then writes a brief summery of the lesson and DS6 draws a picture about the story.
After that is done the little ones do Math then Spelling, DD14 does her subjects in what ever order she sees fit to do them in. After spelling or around 10am they get a 15 minute break for snack and a drink. After break we do English, Reading, Science (Tues and Thurs) or History (on M,W,F). We are almost always done by noon with the main subjects. The kids are then allowed to play educational computer games read or watch educational TV programs (Discovery Channel) or do chores until 3 when the PS bus comes through and they are allowed to go outside to play with their cousins from next door. We have dinner at 5:30 and kids go to bed at 8pm dd14 goes to bed at 9.
That is basically our day.
The second tuesday of every month we have Science lab. The second friday we have club days, and the fourth tuesday we have park days. We usually have 2 other fieldtrips a month and a couple days for running around.

 

[Mommy2three]

I am wanting to teach my daughter about the changes her body will make while getting older, she is 9 years old, but I know several kids who are 10 and have already gotten their menstrual cycle. So my question is does anyone know any good books or sites to use to teach her about the changes she will be going through?

 

[MiniGirl]

Thanks everybody. It is so nice to know that we aren't the only ones going through this. I've never had to limit tv and the computer before. My girls just haven't been the type to spend too much time in front of them -- except during the summer when it really is too hot to do much else, so this is new. I'm sure we'll manage. I am also limiting my own computer time. Ack!!! We have enjoyed schooling. My oldest and I are very laid back and just like to do whatever whenever, and as long as it all got done, I didn't worry. My youngest though likes having a schedule, so I'm going to try to work something out. It will also benefit us, too. Thanks again.

I am wanting to teach my daughter about the changes her body will make while getting older, she is 9 years old, but I know several kids who are 10 and have already gotten their menstrual cycle. So my question is does anyone know any good books or sites to use to teach her about the changes she will be going through?

We are using "The Care and Keeping of You." It is an American Girl book, and it written in easy to understand language. My dd is 9, but has already started to develop. She and several of her friends now wear deoderant, and bras (or camis) on a daily basis and have been for a year or so.

 

[graygables]

We are using "The Care and Keeping of You." It is an American Girl book, and it written in easy to understand language. My dd is 9, but has already started to develop. She and several of her friends now wear deoderant, and bras (or camis) on a daily basis and have been for a year or so.

LOVE this book, used it with all 4 girls from 23 to 10. Their copies are all dog-eared and very well-read. It opened up a huge line of communication.

As far as what days look like...yipes. Since I've been working at WDW, my days have been crazy! My girls do math every day and do some kind of unschooling activity, usually researching some interest on the internet that we discuss over dinner or whatnot. On my days off, we've been working on lapbooks of animal classification and Australia. I think I'm going to sign them up with Time 4 Learning this week, however, b/c they've been slacking off a little too much and when that happens, the bad-ittude crops up and makes Mom unhappy.

 

[wvdislover]

I, too, love this book. It made it really easy to explain things to my DD11, who I was sure would just freak out over what was to come Fortunately, the book explained things in a factual, but girl-friendly manner that made it easy to understand. We read the book together, and discussed any questions she had. She reads it often, so I know she'll be as prepared as she can when the "time" comes.

 

[DawnM]

How many computers do you have?

We have one desktop and one laptop, but DH uses the desktop for work if he works from home.

Dh is adament about not getting one of those inexpensive ones, but I am saying that is all the kids need to do their work and play games on it.

Anyway, thought I would ask you guys.

Dawn

 

[dvcbnd]

We also have 2 (one desktop and one laptop). For us though, my dh uses the laptop for work and the kids and I share the desktop. This seems to work for us.

 

[Denine]

We have 2 computers. I have the laptop in the school room and there is the desktop in the office. DH has a laptop he uses for work, but it belongs to work.

 

[MiniGirl]

How many computers do you have?

We have one desktop and one laptop, but DH uses the desktop for work if he works from home.

Dh is adament about not getting one of those inexpensive ones, but I am saying that is all the kids need to do their work and play games on it.

Anyway, thought I would ask you guys.

Dawn

Our family of 4 has 5 computers. Dh and I each have a lap top. We have a computer in the "office" that dh and I mostly use, and we have one in the family room for the girls. We also have one that we use strickly for our business. We do use all of them almost every day though.

 

[anabelle]

How many computers do you have?

We have one desktop and one laptop, but DH uses the desktop for work if he works from home.

Dh is adament about not getting one of those inexpensive ones, but I am saying that is all the kids need to do their work and play games on it.

Anyway, thought I would ask you guys.

Dawn

We have a laptop for each child and my husband. I get the desktop unit. My hubby got great deals on Ebay for the kids' laptops.

 

[fabumouse]

I think an inexpensive laptop with internet access is a great way to go for homeschooling. We have that one in the kitchen and it is almost solely used for that (plus a little webkinz here and there). As long as it's a reasonable speed, for playing math or reading games, really, what more do they need?

 

[NHWX]

Umm... we're really bad. I have two teenagers so getting them up and moving in the morning is a good goal.

Pretty much, our schedule is get enough work done during the week so you can have fun during the weekend. It can be hard to block out a schedule for my older child because some of his work takes a variable amount of time. He has a German tutor who sends him translations once a week. That can take between one hour and three hours to do. Then he meets with the tutor and a study group and that is a variable amount of time. Sometimes his political science work takes four hours in a week, sometimes considerably more.

Our younger son is using a mix of K12, a math book from The Art of Problem Solving and a hands-on-science botany project from topscience.org. His work is much more easily broken down into daily chunks. For him, I try to make sure each day's work is done by supper time. Sometimes he'll trade grammar assignments in place of history, for example, but overall it needs to all get done by the end of the week.

NHWX

 

[NHWX]

We have too many computers. We bought the boys each a laptop when we started homeschooling a couple years ago and then replaced them this summer. The old ones still exist as old program storage, more than anything else. I have a laptop and a large Mac, but that was bought for business purposes. DH works out of the home so he has his work laptop and his personal laptop.

Because our sons are teenagers and do a lot of work online, we pretty much couldn't share.

NHWX

 

[NHWX]

http://www.topscience.org/

Pretty darn accessible science! We're using the radishes one now and will move onto corn and beans in a month. I wasn't sure if we could get anything to grow in New Hampshire's dim March sunlight so I figured I'd start with the smaller and quicker growing plant.

I'm really enjoying it, both from the subject perspective and the ease of implementation.

NHWX

 

[NHWX]

Last year, ds13 did Algebra 1 at the local middle school. I didn't want to put in the high school this year for Algebra 2 and Geometry. So we started with a introductory look at both of them and realized by December that it just wasn't meant to be for this year. He needs a year to grow.

Instead, we're working with this book for the spring: http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Books/AoPS_B_Item.php?item_id=202

It has all those types of problems that befuddle me and are always left to the end of the book: permutations, combinatorics, restricted counting, etc. You know the ones that go like this: How many sets of three numbers between 0 and 500 can you pick if one number is the average of the other two? For example 2 is the average of 1 and 3, so one set is 1, 2, and 3. But they actually teach you how to figure these things out.

If nothing else, go to the artofproblemsolving.com and watch the little applets on the left hand side. They're pretty entertaining!

NHWX

 

[Denine]

Yeah, we finished school for the week!