Homeschool Chat

[Denine]

3Princesses: I am so happy to hear your decision. I am sure your DD will be much happier.

We had a park program this morning and have 2 more this week.

We had a busy weekend and are looking forward to leaving for WDW a week from Saturday.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

I know exactly what you mean. I'm not a worrier either, but these tools have helped DS significantly (oh, and changing his school to home school has helped too!).

Good luck!

K

Thanks!

I just used the one off of HLSDA's website.

Oh, Ok, thanks I will go check that one out!!

3Princesses: I am so happy to hear your decision. I am sure your DD will be much happier.

We had a park program this morning and have 2 more this week.

We had a busy weekend and are looking forward to leaving for WDW a week from Saturday.

All right, another one going to Disney Soon!! I cannot wait!!!! And now don't have to worry about dd9 coming back to school and being a nervous wreck because she has to make up assignments!

 

[Denine]

Thanks!






All right, another one going to Disney Soon!! I cannot wait!!!! And now don't have to worry about dd9 coming back to school and being a nervous wreck because she has to make up assignments!

That will be very nice for your whole family!

Yep, we will be there for my birthday and won't come home for almost 2 weeks!

I haven't heard about the AK scavenger hunt either. I'll have to check it out.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

I was wondering about how much work you guys give your kids per day. I feel like I may be giving too much. My kids are in 1st and 4th grades. The 4th grader is a GT student so his is mostly 5th grade work.

My oldest gets about 4-6 worksheets per day in Math and Lang Arts each. In SS or Science we do about one chapter per day. Is this too much?

 

[Goofyest mom]

Ok. Hubby and I are leaning towards homeschooling. We are looking into the Keystone Middle School. Does anyone use this program and how is it working out for you?

 

[DisneyMom5]

I was wondering about how much work you guys give your kids per day. I feel like I may be giving too much. My kids are in 1st and 4th grades. The 4th grader is a GT student so his is mostly 5th grade work.

My oldest gets about 4-6 worksheets per day in Math and Lang Arts each. In SS or Science we do about one chapter per day. Is this too much?

My kids (k-4) do 2 pages of math a day (workbook style). One page of handwriting, and sometimes one page of a supplemental language arts. They read (or are read to) a chapter of each reading subject (science, soc. studies, read aloud, and reader)

You might be doing a bit too much of worksheets, if that's 4-6 per subject.
Lower elementary should usually take 3 or less hours.
[Not including outside things like sports, or maybe extra reading.]

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Has anyone ever subscribed to IXL.com, I just stumbled upon it while searching for some math sheets to print out for my dds for tomorrow. It looks great. It is 9.95 per month, and 2 dollars more to add another child. It would be 13.95 a month for us and they seem to have so much tailored to each grade level, it even keeps track of their scores. It looks like a lot of fun too. You can go on and sample it, and I was having fun with some of the word problems, it was very challenging. It's not like time4learning, it's not meant to be a curriculum or anything, just challenging math games and questions. It looks like a great way to spend an hour. The kids love to play on the computer, they would love this. I'm excited about this find.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

My kids (k-4) do 2 pages of math a day (workbook style). One page of handwriting, and sometimes one page of a supplemental language arts. They read (or are read to) a chapter of each reading subject (science, soc. studies, read aloud, and reader)

You might be doing a bit too much of worksheets, if that's 4-6 per subject.
Lower elementary should usually take 3 or less hours.
[Not including outside things like sports, or maybe extra reading.]

We have to work for at least 4.5 hours according to state law. My oldest son would read all day if I let him. He read his entire history book over Spring Break just for fun. Thank you so much for your input. Sounds like I am doing a little too much at one time.

 

[WeDisney4]

Hi All, I posted last week re. kicking up our Science & am very happy to post I've gone w/ Apologia! Now, I'd just love to find the pre-made kits to go w/ each! I've scoured the public homeschool classifieds & have only found 2 posts, 1 was already sold & the 2nd never replied to both my requests, so I'm guessing also sold. Does anyone have any advice on where to find them or should I just settle down & possibly build our own?

Specifically ~ I'm looking for the Zoology 1, 2 & 3 kits. If you know of any boards I may be missing or need to become a member of please do let me know.

Finally if anyone else is looking for them (as I believe they've recently become hard to find w/ the new gov. restrictions) I found both the Apologia -Astronomy Advanced Kit & the Botany Kit for $93.55 total w/ PM shipping, about as close to $45 per kit as I could come. These were from the OnlineScienceMall w/ a 10% discount code.

Have a Magical Day

 

[Denine]

I am really beginning to love the park programs. Today we go to learn about the Underground Railroad.

 

[Goofyest mom]

We are looking into the Keystone Middle School. Does anyone use this program and how is it working out for you?

 

[livndisney]

Any suggestions for a math program for a child that hates math? We use Abeka now, simply because it was was she was "used" to. But it is a struggle each day. She will be in 3rd grade next year and I really want her to atleast understand math. (and maybe not hate it so much LOL)

 

[WeDisney4]

Hi Livndisney,

I would Highly suggest Saxon!!! The Catholic school where DD was for K & 1before we started homeschooling used it & DD really enjoyed it. So we stayed w/ it & now both DDs love it, even feel they are very good at it, which means so much!!

BTW this yr the Catholic school quit Saxon & I believe actually lost a couple of middle school students because of this & the lower grades do Not like the new series nearly as much!

 

[disneymom3]

I was wondering about how much work you guys give your kids per day. I feel like I may be giving too much. My kids are in 1st and 4th grades. The 4th grader is a GT student so his is mostly 5th grade work.

My oldest gets about 4-6 worksheets per day in Math and Lang Arts each. In SS or Science we do about one chapter per day. Is this too much?

Do you use a curriculum for each of those topics? I have my kids do one lesson a day whatever that may mean. So, in math (I use Singapore) they do lesson #23 for instance. Sometimes that is one page sometimes it is up to four pages. For Social Studies/geography I do that myself and we usually work about half an hour to sometmes over an hour on that depending on the day.

Ok. Hubby and I are leaning towards homeschooling. We are looking into the Keystone Middle School. Does anyone use this program and how is it working out for you?

Is that an online charter school? I have not heard of it. If it is, I think experiences vary greatly. Seems that system works great for some who want that structure and for others it gets to be too much. Do you have to pay for it? If not, I would think it wouldn't hurt to try it.

We have to work for at least 4.5 hours according to state law. My oldest son would read all day if I let him. He read his entire history book over Spring Break just for fun. Thank you so much for your input. Sounds like I am doing a little too much at one time.

Can you do PE in those hours that you have to school? I would think reading time would count. I also consider mind challenging games to be school time.

Any suggestions for a math program for a child that hates math? We use Abeka now, simply because it was was she was "used" to. But it is a struggle each day. She will be in 3rd grade next year and I really want her to atleast understand math. (and maybe not hate it so much LOL)

I hate to disagree with the pp but to me Saxon is a LOT of drill and if your DD hates math I think that would push her over the edge. I have a DD who has gone in circles of loving and hating math. She really liked Singapore as the lessons are short but clear. They use a lot of word problems which I like.

For one that young I also strongly suggest math games. Peggy Kaye has a book called Games for Math that seems to be at most libraries and it's really worth a read. My boys love a game we do out of there where I put number cards on the floor and then ask each a question outloud and they have to find and run to the answer on the floor. We also do a game using just a sheet of paper and some dice. You write out the numbers of a multiple of something, say 8 up to times 12. So, your numbers are going to say 16, 24, 32, 40 etc up to 96. You each have a sheet of paper with the same numbers. Take turns rolling the dice and covering a number each time you get it. Whoever covers their numbers first wins. You can do that with adding, subtracting, division etc.

If that doesn't make sense let me know, if you want more game ideas, I can post those too, I just don't want this to get too long.

 

[disneymom3]

I forgot my own question.

I am trying to figure out homeschool days for next January. It looks like they have done them the week before MLK day. At least this last year. Can anyone confirm for the year before that.

I know this sounds nutty, but I am trying to trade into DVC with a timeshare week and I can't wait for the long awaited release of dates by the Disney youth education group. I'll miss out on available weeks! Right now, I have a choice of either beginning Sunday the 10th or the 17th. It's stressing me out!

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Disneymom3, I would love to also hear some more of your math game ideas, I'm going to check that book out as well. My kids don't hate math , but they don't have the easiest time with it, so games are probably a good idea for them too.

And I posted a question earlier to see if anyone has ever heard of ixl.com before, I was just searching for things on google and came across it. And now I see it at the bottom of this page as an advertisement!! Too funny!! We are definitely going to sign up for that this week!!!
Livndisney, you should check this website out, it's not a curriculum, but looks like a lot of fun!

 

[disneymom3]

. And I know I've mentioned before dd9 has anxiety issues and is already dwelling on our Disney trip next month and how her teacher is going to make her stay in and complete all missed assignments.
We had a really nice talk last night about everything that bothers her and I feel really bad. It's not just school stuff, although that is the brunt of her "issues" she says she worries about stuff alot, like something bad happening to a family member. She says when she's bored and starts to daydream, only thoughts that worry her come into her head. I know I am going to ask her Pediatrician for a referral for her to talk to someone, I can talk to her, but I am not a professional and don't really know what to say, other than, try to think of something happy like Disney World. But she says she's tried, and that doesn't work. I don't really know what else to say to her to help. And ya know, the funny thing is that you'd never know she was "bothered" she's always happy , and doing crazy things. But I think that's why everything is getting worse, she's keeps it inside and it just builds up there.

I read this post before but somehow missed this part. I am not one to give out worst case scenarios or be an alarmist but this really touched my heart. My DD has anxiety in a big way. After we took her out of school in K things got much better for a long time. However, she did all of that extreme worrying stuff too. Same deal with the daydreaming always being bad or scary stuff. She couldn't get to sleep well because when she let her defenses down to relax all this bad stuff would come crowding in.

I don't share this a lot, but once we did get DD into a child psychologist, we found out during the evaluation that she thought of killing herself everyday. She didn't understand why that worried people. She thought everyone thought like that because to her it was so normal. She was only 10 at the time. My DD takes medication now. Therapy didn't work--honestly it doesn't for most bright kids as they figure out quickly what the therapist wants to hear and they tell them that. She is a lot better now but we still have some pretty big road bumps. Course, she is also almost 13 so I am sure some of it comes from adolescence.

I encourage you not to be scared but to be aware and to get your DD evaluated.

 

[WeDisney4]

Ddisneymom3 don't worry about disagreeing w/ me that's what so great about this thread!

The only thing I would add is I completely agree Saxon is not for everyone. However we truly don't see it as a drill math. I guess we just really enjoy the hands on reinforcement at the beginning of each class (for simplicities sake I bought the Saxon manipulative kit ~ slightly $$, but I'm sure I can sell it some yr. when we no longer use it). Also we very rarely do the B side of the lesson unless DD needs extra work. Because of the way Saxon builds daily on each lesson, this is not very often & when we do it gives DH some time to help DD w/ her "Math Homework".

I have heard good things about Singapore but don’t know much about them. 1 more thing I do know about Saxon is w/ the daily counting exercises (by 3s, 4s etc. forwards & back) both DDs are very proficient in their Math drills. Even so far as in 2nd grade w/ multiplication & I truly never get complaining!

For what it's woth hope this helps, & hope you enjoy shopping math curriculums as much as I’ve enjoyed looking for our science. Best of luck to you w/ your decision!

 

[3princesses+aprince]

I read this post before but somehow missed this part. I am not one to give out worst case scenarios or be an alarmist but this really touched my heart. My DD has anxiety in a big way. After we took her out of school in K things got much better for a long time. However, she did all of that extreme worrying stuff too. Same deal with the daydreaming always being bad or scary stuff. She couldn't get to sleep well because when she let her defenses down to relax all this bad stuff would come crowding in.

I don't share this a lot, but once we did get DD into a child psychologist, we found out during the evaluation that she thought of killing herself everyday. She didn't understand why that worried people. She thought everyone thought like that because to her it was so normal. She was only 10 at the time. My DD takes medication now. Therapy didn't work--honestly it doesn't for most bright kids as they figure out quickly what the therapist wants to hear and they tell them that. She is a lot better now but we still have some pretty big road bumps. Course, she is also almost 13 so I am sure some of it comes from adolescence.

I encourage you not to be scared but to be aware and to get your DD evaluated.

Thank you for your story and advice, I will definitely have her talk to someone. I figured we'll get all of the school stuff out of the way and then deal with the rest. My dd is the same way at night, she does not go to sleep until a few hours after she lays down Thinking about stuff like that all of the time must be so stressful!

 

[feedthebirds]

Hello!

Any thoughts/experience regarding Landmark Baptist homeschool materials? Thanks for any advice!