Homeschool Chat

[crl]

My daughter likes PBSkids.org. And it does have some good learning games. For general fun games, she enjoys playhouse disney online and nickjr.com.

 

[cerberus]

My daughter likes PBSkids.org. And it does have some good learning games. For general fun games, she enjoys playhouse disney online and nickjr.com.

Thank You!

 

[Nicolepa]

Children's Books is having their annual winter sale. I have found their prices to be about the best anywhere. Just wanted to put it out there for anyone who can use it.

www.childsbooks.com

How often do they run a sale like this? Thanks!

 

[Ellester]

How often do they run a sale like this? Thanks!

I think they do their big sale twice a year. But even without a sale, their prices are pretty good. They are usually at the bigger HS curriculum fairs in the south and beat everyone else's prices, in my experience.

 

[PoohBear]

Since we just started our homeschooling this year, I am making lots of mistakes. I am having trouble finding good curriculums. Can you please share with me what curriculum you use for each subject for your kids? This will help me by giving me at least an idea on which ones I should be researching. I have never even heard of some of these programs until I see someone post it here. My local homeschool group helps but because it is small a lot of them use the same curriculum, which does not give us much choice.

A lot of the ones I find on the internet sound good and I have spent a lot of money on them but then when it comes it's just a list take to the library. I don't mind the cost, I just want more than a pamphlet for the money. The only one we have found that works for us so far is my 9th grader's Spanish. We got Rosetta Stone and he loves it. The 6th grader is doing it, too.

Your experiences will help us. We are working on 6th and 9th grades now but I can also use ideas for when my 3 year old starts. I appreciate your taking the time to share with us. Thanks!

 

[cerberus]

Hi! We started homeschooling both DD at 3. Every day we did alphabet flashcards, and I picked up a "preschool" worksbook at Walmart for $10, and they did the anywhere from 1-4 worksheets per day, depending on how they felt about it. We worked primarily on colors, shapes, numbers and counting, holding the pencil correctly, staying inside the lines, stuff like that. I went and got science and social studies related kids books at Half Price books (10% discount for homeschool teachers, by the way!) and we read at least one "learning" story a day. Total sit-down "structured learning" time per day was around 45 minutes total. That doubled by the age of 4, DD5 spends about 2-3 hours a day now. I let them tell me how much sit down time they want each day.

The rest of pre-homeschool was learn-by-live; children's museum, science museum, kids day at the art museum, PBS, nature walks, etc.

I got the Walmart workbooks, they are great. Thanks!

 

[Ashley Kees]

I got the Walmart workbooks, they are great. Thanks!

Yay! I'm glad you like them. I'm off to get another one today, DD4 has blown through the first one.

 

[Praise2Him]

Since we just started our homeschooling this year, I am making lots of mistakes. I am having trouble finding good curriculums. Can you please share with me what curriculum you use for each subject for your kids? This will help me by giving me at least an idea on which ones I should be researching.

Your experiences will help us. We are working on 6th and 9th grades now but I can also use ideas for when my 3 year old starts. I appreciate your taking the time to share with us. Thanks!

We started homeschooling when DD was in 8th grade, so all I know about is upper grades. The ones we've liked the best were:

Math - "Teaching Textbooks"
Spelling - "Spelling Workout"
Science - "How the ______ Works" (Universe, Body, Earth, etc.) series up through 9th grade, then "Abeka" for Biology, Chemistry, etc.

We use "Alpha Omega" for everything else and like it pretty well. Although, this year we're using "Learning Language Arts through Literature" and so far it's going good.

When we started out I read "The Well Trained Mind" and was set on doing a classical education, including Latin! But, as you're finding out, it's a lot of trial and error - what works for others won't necessarily work for you and/or your child (and of course, each child is different, so what works for one may not work for the other!) (Yes, that was a run-on sentence, LOL)

Anyway, hope this helps a little bit. This thread is a great resource and you'll probably get lots of other helpful suggestions. Just keep experimenting until you find what works best for your family.

 

[Ellester]

Since we just started our homeschooling this year, I am making lots of mistakes. I am having trouble finding good curriculums. Can you please share with me what curriculum you use for each subject for your kids? This will help me by giving me at least an idea on which ones I should be researching. I have never even heard of some of these programs until I see someone post it here. My local homeschool group helps but because it is small a lot of them use the same curriculum, which does not give us much choice.

A lot of the ones I find on the internet sound good and I have spent a lot of money on them but then when it comes it's just a list take to the library. I don't mind the cost, I just want more than a pamphlet for the money. The only one we have found that works for us so far is my 9th grader's Spanish. We got Rosetta Stone and he loves it. The 6th grader is doing it, too.

Your experiences will help us. We are working on 6th and 9th grades now but I can also use ideas for when my 3 year old starts. I appreciate your taking the time to share with us. Thanks!

Here is what we use with our 5th grader (our 2nd grader does most of the same on her level):

History, social studies, and language arts: Sonlight
Math: Math-U-See
Science: Apologia (We're trying Noeo for our next unit, I just need a change. We've done Flying Creatures and Astronomy from Apologia's Elementary series)
Latin: Latina Christiana
Spelling: Sequential Spelling
Reading comprehension: Seton
Religion: Faith and Life (we're Catholic)
Handwriting: A Reason for Handwriting
Geography: MCP Maps & Charts
Art: Barry Stebbing's series
Grammar: Grammar Ace

Our little guy is 4, I have some Kumon workbooks for him and will probably start Five in a Row with him sometime in the spring.

I am happy with most of our choices right now, they seem to work well with our kids' learning styles. I've been told many times to consider the entire first year of HS'ing as an experimental work in progress for both parents and children. I think that is very good advice, it can take quite a while to "get in the groove" and even then bumps are bound to occur now and then. The fact that if something isn't working, you can change it. That's one of the best benefits of HS'ing in my opinion.

 

[Nicolepa]

I know many of you use Saxon for math. I'm looking at either the 2nd grade & the 54. Are they meant to be one lesson a day? How long do they take? Can they easily be split over 2 days?

Thanks.

 

[Ashley Kees]

I know many of you use Saxon for math. I'm looking at either the 2nd grade & the 54. Are they meant to be one lesson a day? How long do they take? Can they easily be split over 2 days?

Thanks.

There are 12 lessons a month, with the meeting book running from September through June. The days that you don't start a new lesson, are either free or meant for review.

I use Saxon K at the moment, and Layla spends 20 minutes a day doing it. We sart a new lesson each time we do formal schoolwork, about 4 times a week, so we are ahead (I think in early February) but I just adapt it, it's easier than you think.

We love it!

 

[dis-happy]

I know many of you use Saxon for math. I'm looking at either the 2nd grade & the 54. Are they meant to be one lesson a day? How long do they take? Can they easily be split over 2 days?

Thanks.

Saxon K is set up to be 4 days IIRC, so don't go by that schedule for 2nd grade and 54. The lessons are supposed to be one per day but can be stretched out if necessary (ie. your child needs more time to understand the material). There are around 140 per year, so basically one per day but you can add in extra test days for 54 if you want. Really, Grade 2 goes pretty quickly, it takes us about 30 minutes per day including the Meeting, lesson, time test, and doing the worksheet. One reason I would try not to stretch it out is the Meeting (calendar time). Not only are you writing the date, etc. but you are doing the skip counting; I think the daily repetition is what gets kids to really know the numbers well. Finally, the calendar book is blank, you can start and end when you want, just write in the months as you go along; there are 10 months in there.

If you doing 54 and up, you may want to look into the DIVE cd's. I love those things!!! So do my kids! They aren't sold by Saxon but do follow the lessons, google "DIVE into Math" for more information.

 

[MelliRobi2]

we have been homeschooling for 5 years with Sonlight...and we purchase all our materials through them...with the exception of religion...we get that through Catholic Heritage Curricula. We love Sonlight because you use real books as opposed to textbooks..and the schedules are great...everything is done for you.

 

[Nicolepa]

Saxon K is set up to be 4 days IIRC, so don't go by that schedule for 2nd grade and 54. The lessons are supposed to be one per day but can be stretched out if necessary (ie. your child needs more time to understand the material). There are around 140 per year, so basically one per day but you can add in extra test days for 54 if you want. Really, Grade 2 goes pretty quickly, it takes us about 30 minutes per day including the Meeting, lesson, time test, and doing the worksheet. One reason I would try not to stretch it out is the Meeting (calendar time). Not only are you writing the date, etc. but you are doing the skip counting; I think the daily repetition is what gets kids to really know the numbers well. Finally, the calendar book is blank, you can start and end when you want, just write in the months as you go along; there are 10 months in there.

If you doing 54 and up, you may want to look into the DIVE cd's. I love those things!!! So do my kids! They aren't sold by Saxon but do follow the lessons, google "DIVE into Math" for more information.

Thanks for the info on the DIVE. I will have to check them out. I saw a package that included them and i had no idea what it was!

The reason I was asking about breaking the lessons is that I was thinking of using them as a supplement. My sons school is really lacking in math. This is an area where he thrives but they don't break kids up for different levels until like 3rd grade. So my thought was to get the Saxon and start using it with him so when we try out hs'ing this summer he will already be used to it.

I thought I'd get a program for my daughter and she can work on it on days she doesn't really have a lot of homework. She loves doing math so I'm hoping it would help motivate her to do the rest of her work in a timely manner.

 

[storybookmum]

Since we just started our homeschooling this year, I am making lots of mistakes. I am having trouble finding good curriculums. Can you please share with me what curriculum you use for each subject for your kids? This will help me by giving me at least an idea on which ones I should be researching. I have never even heard of some of these programs until I see someone post it here. My local homeschool group helps but because it is small a lot of them use the same curriculum, which does not give us much choice.

A lot of the ones I find on the internet sound good and I have spent a lot of money on them but then when it comes it's just a list take to the library. I don't mind the cost, I just want more than a pamphlet for the money. The only one we have found that works for us so far is my 9th grader's Spanish. We got Rosetta Stone and he loves it. The 6th grader is doing it, too.

Your experiences will help us. We are working on 6th and 9th grades now but I can also use ideas for when my 3 year old starts. I appreciate your taking the time to share with us. Thanks!

Bible: Sonlight, along with devotional readings (I just picked up two new ones for January start, but I'm sorry, can't remember what they were), Adventures in Odyssey discussion-studies that I put together.
History: Sonlight + Canadian studies put together by me
Geography: Sonlight + several Canadian me-assembled materials
Language Arts: A Beka, MCP Phonics (my younger daughter), and The Writer's Jungle (more of a mom-thing than a program for the kids). We do independent creative writing assignments.
Math: Right Start (no good for you, probably, the program isn't developed for the older grades yet - your sixth grader could probably use it for a year or two).
Science: Apologia Elementary
Reading: Sonlight readers
Literature:: Sonlight read-alouds, several Canadian historical fiction titles, and anything else we feel like getting out hands on.
Art:: Artistic Pursuits
French: a personalized, picture-book doctored version of Nallenart's L'art de lire and L'art de dire. We use the books, but reinforce the vocabulary with picture books, puppets, and games. Nallenart illustration and supplementary materials are horrible, but their approach is solid and sensible.

We also do violin (Meredith) and piano (Caroline). Meredith uses Suzuki, and Caroline is in the RCM and some other books. Music appreciation - we have lots of classical music, and several systematic guides like the Story of the Orchestra, Classical Kids, and the like.

 

[NHWX]

Since we just started our homeschooling this year, I am making lots of mistakes. I am having trouble finding good curriculums. Can you please share with me what curriculum you use for each subject for your kids? This will help me by giving me at least an idea on which ones I should be researching. I have never even heard of some of these programs until I see someone post it here. My local homeschool group helps but because it is small a lot of them use the same curriculum, which does not give us much choice.

A lot of the ones I find on the internet sound good and I have spent a lot of money on them but then when it comes it's just a list take to the library. I don't mind the cost, I just want more than a pamphlet for the money. The only one we have found that works for us so far is my 9th grader's Spanish. We got Rosetta Stone and he loves it. The 6th grader is doing it, too.

Your experiences will help us. We are working on 6th and 9th grades now but I can also use ideas for when my 3 year old starts. I appreciate your taking the time to share with us. Thanks!

My first six months or a year weren't up to my standards either. Remember though that teachers have mentors, curriculum guidelines, etc. when they're just starting out.

I have a tenth grader and an eighth grader and I'm still learning about what works and what doesn't. And it's different for each child.

Some suggestions - homeschoolbuyerscoop.com has group buys on a number of items. We've used the Thinkwell math programs and it's worked for one child and not for the other. Half.com is a good source for used textbooks. I'm currently looking at http://mathwithoutborders.com/Algebra-II/ and http://www.askdrcallahan.com/Products/AlgebraIIwTrig.html as alternatives to the not-working-for-one Thinkwell.

We're using Spectrum Chemistry http://www.beginningspublishing.com/ for our tenth grader. I liked the fact that it comes with nearly all the lab equipment. The downside - it could use a bit more explanation at times, one piece of the lab equipment (a curved tip eye dropper) didn't work right and you have to keep track of the errata sheet.

We've also used our state's virtual charter school for some high school courses.

www.power-glide.com has some relatively low cost language courses but I'm also using a local person to tutor for conversation and written work.

BYU online high school's courses are reasonably priced and accredited.

My eighth grader is finishing up this year with K12 which I like quite a bit.

NHWX

 

[sha_lyn]

Oh the spectrum chemestry looks amazing

 

[MiniGirl]

Hi everyone. I have posted here a couple of times and find the advice and encouragement ya'll give to be invaluable, so I am back to ask another question.

First some background.... We have 2 girls -- 3rd and 1st grades. Last spring, my oldest asked if she could be homeschooled. After much prayer and discussion we decided to do it. However, my dh and I felt it would be best to keep our younger dd in public school. (There are several reasons for this. Some are no longer valid, but some still are.) Anyway, this year has not gone well for her. She hasn't wanted to go to school and got off the bus yesterday crying and refused to get on the bus this morning. In speaking with her yesterday, she was upset because she couldn't answer some questions on a test they were doing. Nobody said anything to make her feel bad. She just couldn't answer them, and I guess she didn't feel she could ask the teacher for help. Anyway, I drove her to school this morning to speak to the teacher, and she was unaware of any of this. She said she went over everything beforehand and that my dd didn't finish because she was walking around the room and visiting with the other students. I believe her because that is very much my dd. Anyway, I hate seeing my dd so unhappy and not liking school. She absolutely loved it last year, but 1st grade has been more work than play and she has not adapted well to that.

So, I am seriously thinking of having her go until Winter Break and then not sending her back. Have any of you started homeschooling mid-year? We are using Adventures in My Father's World this year with my 3rd grader, and I figure I could just include her in that and pick up some workbooks for math and language arts and find something for spelling. I am wanting to avoid buying a curriculum for just half the year, KWIM? Is there something else I would need? My dh left all these decisions up to me, and I went with Adventures because I liked that the lesson plans were already done for me and stuff like that since I really didn't know what I was doing. I still don't feel comfortable about picking out this stuff on my own. Then I think... it is first grade, and only half a year at that. Certainly I won't scar her for life if I leave something out of her curriculum as we finish up the school year.

Anyway, thanks for *listening* to my ramblings and I would love to hear your opinions. And yes, I feel certain I know what you will say and I think I have already made up my mind. I guess I'm just looking for confirmation, but please do give honest opinions.

 

[Tink561]

Eva,
When we started in 1999, I pulled my sons out mid-year and they were older. She will be fine! Let her follow along and she will pick up lots. Yes, get her 1st grade work books at Barnes & Noble or similar to give her grade appropriate skills. It will work.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Good Morning Eva!!
Definitely take her out!! I wanted to take my ds out of 2nd at mid-term,but hubby wanted me to wait--I should have taken him out!! The problems with the teacher/classroom really went downhill after they came back from Christmas. So, yes, I say do it. If she can make it 2 more weeks knowing she doesn't have to go back later, it'll be easier for her I think. Just encourage her to do her best and stick it out "for Mommy!!" and she'll be fine. I think letting her listen in on the sister's work is fine. Get her a workbook from a book store or wal-mart for math. Does she have her own library card? If not-let that be the first homeschool thing to do. My kids have soooo much knowledge just from books they have read that interests THEM.

My oldest is a dog fanatic-he likes fiction stories of boys and their dogs. My middle son is a Lego, dinosaur man-you wouldn't believe what he knows about machines, animals.... my daughter is just happy to read what I help her pick out. We read all different kinds of books---anything with a Caldecott or Newberry Award generally goes over well. The Five in a Row curriculum has great book lists. Also, the book Honey for a Child's Heart is awesome!!! I suggest that for anyone--it has lists of all the great classics(and some not so old!) for diff ages and genres.( Let me add-my dd can't read-I read to her, I think that reads oddly the way I wrote that!)

Christian book is a website I look at a lot for hs curriculum-I love their site because they give you several sample pages to read--you can really see what's in the book!! You have plenty of time to order for next year-just do lots of reading with her and some math--let her have time to be creative too. My boys didn't love this as much as my daughter does. Just little things like construction paper, glue , pipe cleaners and beady eyes from Wal-Mart keep her busy!!! And that stuff is cheap!!!!

Let us know how it goes!!!! Blessings to you!!