Homeschool Chat

[Karlzmom]

new to homeschooling. DS 1/2 is still young, but we are adding basis concepts to our play. He already knows his colors, shapes and can count to 20+, forward and backward. So far pretty easy. DS wants to please ad shoew off what he knows.

I' m thrilled that I just found the Blue Book Speller and the New England Primer to add to our books that we simply read together and let what sticks sticks.

How early did the rest of you start on an "official" should curiculum and how many simply created their s tem based on a particular book thIh. man this is a great house.

 

[disneymom3]

new to homeschooling. DS 1/2 is still young, but we are adding basis concepts to our play. He already knows his colors, shapes and can count to 20+, forward and backward. So far pretty easy. DS wants to please ad shoew off what he knows.

I' m thrilled that I just found the Blue Book Speller and the New England Primer to add to our books that we simply read together and let what sticks sticks.

How early did the rest of you start on an "official" should curiculum and how many simply created their s tem based on a particular book thIh. man this is a great house.

This is really going to depend on your individual child and your personal educational philosophy. I do not believe in an academic Kindergarten. I also think children will learn when they are ready to learn. What does that mean? It means that for K and even for a portion of 1st, I spend a lot of time playing games and just exploring the world. We do art activities but mainly a presentation of materials and what can you do with them. We go on nature walks. We read like crazy. But as far as the traditional "sit down and work on a worksheet" I don't do much of that. Now, I will say that my youngest has WANTED that type of thing since he was three so I have used lots of little activity books either found at Walmart or through Rod and Staff. He also really loved the primers for Explode the Code and did all three of them twice. He is in first grade this year. He does have a handwriting book, Singapore math workbook and then he does do the activities and listen to the reading from the science and history/geography we use.

For each child this is going to mean different things. My DD was reading long before Kindergarten. My middle one didn't read fluently until the end of first grade and my youngest is reading fairly well now at the beginning of first grade. The middle one I had to really work on phonics and blending letters, DD I did nothing at all and she just started reading. For that matter math was the same way. (I don't homeschool her anymore as I just couldn't keep up with her speed of learning. ) The youngest is kind of a middle of the road.

For me the most difficult part of homeschooling is figuring out what works best for each child and teaching them in that style. Now, I don't HAVE to do that but since one of my reasons for homeschooling is that each child does learn in a different way, it would be silly to me if I did not do that.

 

[Disney_Angel]

new to homeschooling. DS 1/2 is still young, but we are adding basis concepts to our play. He already knows his colors, shapes and can count to 20+, forward and backward. So far pretty easy. DS wants to please ad shoew off what he knows.

I' m thrilled that I just found the Blue Book Speller and the New England Primer to add to our books that we simply read together and let what sticks sticks.

How early did the rest of you start on an "official" should curiculum and how many simply created their s tem based on a particular book thIh. man this is a great house.

One thing I think is so very important is a good phonics program! Even though DD taught herself to read by repition with the old Dick and Jane readers and Hop on Pop we transitioned to the ki12 phonics program in K.
It was perfect for her. But their are other great phonics programs out there.
It is sad how because of cutbacks many schools just do not have the time to teach phonics. Phonetic awareness is the key to good reading and spelling down the road. IMHO

 

[Belle & Ariel]

Abeka has some great phonics charts. They start with consonants and short vowels, progressing to long vowels and blends. eg.
br in bride
oo in tooth oo in book
ea in thread ea in steak ea in meat
I think they follow the order used in the Blue backed speller.

They also sell little packs of books for 4 year old K that got my kids reading very young and set a great foundation.
One set of about 10 comes in a plastic ziploc type bag.
A set of 55 comes in a box. My kids loved both.

 

[Denine]

Call me crazy but we love Calvert. This is our 3rd year (PK, K and now 1st). DD loves the worksheets and everything else about it. NOw we did start with Horizons for math because DD would have been bored with Calvert math. She is doing very well so far.

DD is reading at and end of 1st grade beginning of 2nd grade level. I believe that will continue to advance as she gets older. She will be 6 in 1 month.

We chose not to do an on-line program like k12, connections or even Calvert even though they were free because we did not want the oversight.

I do like a packaged curriculum though since I still work 1 day per week and have commitments related to that. I am an RN. I like everything laid out for me and then I can modify that to our needs.

 

[Disney8704]

Where does everyone get their books, workbooks and phonics materials? Can you find everything you need like at walmart and toysrus or is there a website online where you can find everything you need?

 

[nuzmom]

Where does everyone get their books, workbooks and phonics materials? Can you find everything you need like at walmart and toysrus or is there a website online where you can find everything you need?

http://www.rainbowresource.com/index.php
But beware - there is WAY TOO MUCH to look at!!!!! You can request a catalog from them, too. It's about 4 inches thick.

I also find some "light" curriculum at Sam's club, a local teachers store, and a local Christian store.

 

[Disney_Angel]

Here is what we covered for Japan....we will be leaving for the world next week we will be looking for all the elements we learned about in our travels thru the WS Japan Pavilion. MY dd is in second grade.
Have I missed anything? Or does anyone have anything to add?

Map of Japan - explain Japan is an archipelago
-a group of islands near each other
four major islands
-Hokkaido (ho-KIY-doh)
-Honshu (HAWN-shoo)
-Shikoku (shee-KOH-koo)
-Kyushu (KYOO-shoo)
have her outline the four major islands in purple crayon
on the map

to the west is the Sea of Japan to the east is the Pacific
Ocean.

explain what a volcano is and then tell her if their were
no volcanoes there would be no Japan

explain that long ago when volcanoes under the sea
erupted they spit out tons of hot rock, the rock cooled
over time and became and island, in the case of Japan
many islands.

show her on the map where Mount Fugi is, have her color
it in red.
-Mt. Fuji is on the big island of Honshu

discuss the myth that the Japanese told to explain how
their home came to be
-Izanagi (iz-ah-nah-GEE) and Izanami (iz-ah-nah-MEE)

discuss the religions of Japan
-Shintoism
what are kami
what is a torii
-Buddhism
Buddist Art from Japan
-Pagodas
the five roofs stand for parts of nature
Earth
Water
Fire
Wind
Sky
-Sansui (SAHN-soo-ee) Japanese landscape paintings
San means: mountain
Sui means: water

 

[ROIE01581]

I never knew you could get an education from WAlmart. Do they let you into college with a high school education from WAlmart?

 

[pixiepower1971]

Just starting to get some special trips together for my girls this school year and I thought it would be interesting if we all listed the places in our area that offer homeschool days that others may be interested in.

Off the top of my head( I will add info later). These are ones we have participated in or we are registered for this year.

Colonial Williamsburg
Jamestown
Yorktown
Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Sea World San Antonio

I know there are a lot more out there!

 

[NHWX]

9/16 is the Home School Day there.

Good idea to list all of them!

NHWX

 

[Belle & Ariel]

Dollywood and their waterpark just had them this Thursday and Friday. They offer a lot of classes for grade school kids.
Many states also have a day in the spring to go to the state capitol and meet your reps.

 

[Disney8704]

I wasnt talking about an actual education. I was talking about supplies.

I never knew you could get an education from WAlmart. Do they let you into college with a high school education from WAlmart?

 

[Disney8704]

Thanks for that link. Are there any other links? What phonic things does everyone use? Has anyone ever used the leapfrog or vtech systems to help with learning at a younger age like for pre-school and kindergarten? Im considering getting an early start on "teaching" with my nephew who is in pre-school. He comes over once in awhile and he LOVES to learn. So I thought this would be great pratice so I can go ahead and get some things now and get a head start.

http://www.rainbowresource.com/index.php
But beware - there is WAY TOO MUCH to look at!!!!! You can request a catalog from them, too. It's about 4 inches thick.

I also find some "light" curriculum at Sam's club, a local teachers store, and a local Christian store.

 

[hsmamato2]

I never knew you could get an education from WAlmart. Do they let you into college with a high school education from WAlmart?

You'd be surprised how much an intelligent person can learn from many different sources. Things like grammar,punctuation,and what should or shouldn't be capitalized.
BTW, I've been intending to get to Sturbridge MA for 2 years now on a homeschool day.....every time,it's been downpour rainy! I'm hoping we actually make it on Sept. 16th this year! woohoo!

 

[3KAR]

Here is what we covered for Japan....we will be leaving for the world next week we will be looking for all the elements we learned about in our travels thru the WS Japan Pavilion. MY dd is in second grade.
Have I missed anything? Or does anyone have anything to add?

Not sure how to do the quote thing, however.....

I love all of this! Is it ok with you to copy and save it in one of my files?

Kristine

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Disney 8704-
We have the Leapsters and my kids love them. They just came out with a newer version, but most games play on all systems. At least the one we have works with diff. games. They are really cool, they have a little case so you can bring them in the car, or out to eat. The games are around $25, but they last a long time.We have the green one and the pink one. Actually dd is on her 2nd one--she played the first one so much you couldn't even see the screen anymore!!!

All the LeapFrog stuff is excellent as toys & educational in my book.They are very much on their level and make learning fun. Which is important at that age--so I am a big fan of LF!!!! Can't go wrong!!

 

[Disney8704]

Great! Thanks for the reply Oh what kind of games do they have? My nephew loves to count things and practice his numbers, so do they have like a math game? As of right now he can count up to 20. BTW he is 3 yrs old, so not really sure how far a 3 yr old should be able to count. However, he's pretty smart for someone his age. He loves to talk also, so is there any games that helps with words and maybe reading? He has a hard time saying the letter S. Like whenever he says snow, it comes out no, . Or like spider-man, it comes out pider-man

Disney 8704-
We have the Leapsters and my kids love them. They just came out with a newer version, but most games play on all systems. At least the one we have works with diff. games. They are really cool, they have a little case so you can bring them in the car, or out to eat. The games are around $25, but they last a long time.We have the green one and the pink one. Actually dd is on her 2nd one--she played the first one so much you couldn't even see the screen anymore!!!

All the LeapFrog stuff is excellent as toys & educational in my book.They are very much on their level and make learning fun. Which is important at that age--so I am a big fan of LF!!!! Can't go wrong!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

They have quite a variety of games. dora,bat man, 2 with the princesses,a puzzle game, pet games,thomas....Check out their website.I think TRU has most of them--Wal-Mart and Target have a bunch as well.

 

[TNKBELL]

I never knew you could get an education from WAlmart. Do they let you into college with a high school education from WAlmart?

Don't ya know, you can get anything at Walmart??!!