Homeschool Chat

[Ellester]

Just a heads up that Barnes & Noble is having their "Educator Appreciation" week from 1/17-1/25. Teachers (including homeschoolers) can get 25% off most books for classroom OR personal use and 10% of DVDs and CDs. Our store usually has breakfast for educators one morning along with all kinds of door prizes. Have fun shopping!

 

[CookingMama]

The Homeschool Ultimate Fieldtrip we know about is Sept 7t -13th. We wanted to go last year but couldnt.
I am jumping in to introduce my family. We are funschoolers, eclectic & very relaxed, did some natural structure kindof Montessorri at home the early years.
My 20 yr old is graduating from UNT this yr & has been on the Dean's list, he has his AA and an AS with honors from community college he is doing Economics and minor Chemistry. He was our first hs graduate. He did the Tort Law thing at Patrick Henry one summer and loved it so who knows what he will end up choosing to do next year 14 yr old is into swimming, zoology, and Spore. 11 yr old wants to have a video game store & is learning Japanese, dd wants to be a vet then retire on her own farm & rescue animals. We have homeschooled in 4 states now and love to travel. Husband job takes him teaching global so I hold down the fort. We came to TX for ds20 so he could be a TX resident & we could sell our so CA house before the market went down.

We are Catholic and IME the best Catholic Curriculum is CHC. And when you buy from them you support a Catholic homeschooling family.

 

[MeetingMickeyin2006]

Hi everyone! So glad to have found this thread! We're in our second year of homeschooling. I have a 6 year old first grader and a 2 year old girl. After many, many canceled trips, we'll be taking our first trip to Disney this summer.

Can't wait to get to know you all!

 

[dvcbnd]

Just a heads up that Barnes & Noble is having their "Educator Appreciation" week from 1/17-1/25. Teachers (including homeschoolers) can get 25% off most books for classroom OR personal use and 10% of DVDs and CDs. Our store usually has breakfast for educators one morning along with all kinds of door prizes. Have fun shopping!

Thanks so much for the info! I've been wanting to go over to B&N and get my educator's disct card and just haven't had the chance. This seems like the perfect time to do so. Thanks again.

 

[Minnie Squeaks]

I'm hoping someone on here can help me. DH and I are talking about enrolling our DD's into Catholic school or keeping them in Public school and start teaching religious curriculum at home.

Any ideas on what curriculum I should research for this? I just feel since we're not huge church going folk (sporadic) going to a Christian school or supplementing at home would be great.

We're just tossing the idea around at this time. Like you guys, we take education seriously and want what is best for our kids.

Thank you for any information you can give.

well im 15..
name is Amanda btw
and I use the SOS program..stands for Switched on Schoolhouse
it is bible,christian based
there is even a bible class
the program is pretty easy to use and I like it for the most part hope that helps?

 

[graygables]

Mini Homeschool Days report...

10 & 12yo DDs went to Homeschool Days last week at DHS. I had to work (I'm a CM at Dinoland in AK right now), so my 20yo DD took them. The speaker was at 930am and everyone said she was awesome. They got her autograph on her CD and a photo with her. At 1230, my girls did the YES program, Disney's Productions Arts and Sciences, which was a 3 hour tour including ToT (ride and backstage) and learning about facade, flats, and forced perspective. They were assigned various roles in a "production", took some photos, and did some editing. DDs enjoyed that part, too, but there were a couple of kids that were not very well behaved that kind of impacted their enjoyment.

I met up with them after the YES program and we hopped to Epcot for the evening where I listened to them in "magpie-stereo" tell me all about their day. All in all, it was a good experience and we'd do it again.

 

[desparatelydisney]

Hi everyone, I am new to this thread and have looked around a little but I confess to not having read the entire thread.

I have a second grader in private school who has not made lower than a 98 all year, a 4 year old, and a 3 year old who is ready to start reading. I am considering homeschooling next year for the 3rd grader, putting our middle child in kindergarten at the private school, and continuing the little guy in preK but supplementing it at home with a kindergarten program.

However, my husband and I also run our own business & I am a home-based travel agent. Days around here can be slow or CRAZY!! I have a friend who homeschools and I have looked at a lot of curricula. We are Methodist Christians but (please don't take offense) we do not want a religious based curriculum. So far I am most interested in the Calvert curriculum with the ATS option so that there is outside testing done regularly.

Does anyone else have experience with this curriculum that would like to share their thoughts? I want a challenging curruculum that is well laid out and has outside testing.

Thanks for your help!

 

[HomeschoolMama]

Ugh, ladies... I've been stressed lately with school stuff. I've been full time home schooling my kids since my 6th grader was in 2nd grade. Now I have three (6th, 2nd, and K) I'm schooling. I love it, but I feel like it's time for my oldest to take some classes elsewhere.
I plan on enrolling all three of the kids in classes this fall with the home school co-op at my church. I know they test them to see what level they will be on. I'm trying to decide if I should switch to their curriculum so she'll test on level or just stick with what I already have (and paid for) and hope it's going to work out.

Also- does anyone have any suggestions on preparing them for taking a test? We do the tests in the books we use. Will that be enough? Man, the stress of wondering what level they'll be on is...

Did I mention the guilt I feel for "quitting" as their full time teacher? Then again, I feel excited that life will be less stressful for me. I will still be their co-teacher on T/Th when they are home with me. So, I guess it's the best of both worlds, so why do I feel so bad?

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

I can't say what is right for you--that's between you, hubby and the Lord! Pray about it, and whatever he leads you to do, is the only thing to do!! And don't feel guilty! If He leads you somewhere,then that is the best plan for your child!!!! Why feel guilty about that!! We are all doing what's best for our own kids!!!

 

[Denine]

Hi!

We have used Calvert for 3 years, this is our 3rd year. DD is in 1st grade. We do not use the math though. We use Horizon's for that.
I have not used ATS yet, but I plan to in the future.

 

[Leader of the Club]

Does anyone else have experience with this curriculum that would like to share their thoughts? I want a challenging curruculum that is well laid out and has outside testing.

Thanks for your help!

We used Calvert one half of one year. It wasn't for us. We are way too laid back and it was way strict for us.

That said, if you really want something secular (we're Methodist Christians, too so no offense here), challenging and well laid out, you cannot beat Calvert.

 

[Leader of the Club]

I have been looking at Elementary Success Deluxe 2009 at Sam's club. I just wanted to use it as a review for my 11 year old. Has anyone used it? Whattya think?

 

[Belle & Ariel]

Abeka is Christian but I heard it is very challenging. I don't think it is preachy; I know some primary readers were a very abridged Pilgrim's Progress and a Bible reader. I think some penmanship pages were Bible verses. Of course science is creation based and refutes evolution. We used it though 8th grade exclusively and all but math (Teaching Textbooks) and science (Apologia) in h.s. The phonics program is wonderful.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

Sam's Club has test prep books for each grade in their book section. They will have practice tests at the end.

 

[TLHB70]

Abeka is Christian but I heard it is very challenging. I don't think it is preachy; I know some primary readers were a very abridged Pilgrim's Progress and a Bible reader. I think some penmanship pages were Bible verses. Of course science is creation based and refutes evolution. We used it though 8th grade exclusively and all but math (Teaching Textbooks) and science (Apologia) in h.s. The phonics program is wonderful.

We have used A Beka each year also, K4 - now. My oldest DD is in 8th grade now. What made you switch curriculums for math and science in high school? DD is doing the video academy this year because I thought we would do that for high school. I wanted a practice year to make sure she liked it. So far, so good.............

 

[GPA1015]

Love the Abkea reading! I am looking into Saxon phonics. Anyone have any insight on it- I can not seem to get a hold of a book to look at it. And I refuse to pay the high price to look at it!

 

[Denine]

Calvert is structured, but that is what DD needs, so it works great for us.

The only problem now is the reading program. DD is reading at a 3-4 grade level, but we are still doing 1st grade reading. Right now, I just use it to get the basics for comprehension. She still needs the spelling program. We do use the phonics, but she doesn't need that much anymore.

We use Horizon's for math because the Calvert math was too easy for her. THis program is supposed to be more advanced and she will finish 1st grade math on Friday.

I love that DD can go at her own pace and not be stuck behind with kids that don't understand math. (Like me at her age.)

 

[TLHB70]

I just replied to a thread about this on the CB, but I thought it would be especially great to share here. I am sure that some of you, like me, have these days where we feel invisible.
Take a moment to watch this, and let it be an encouragment to you. I have it saved in my favorites so I can rewatch it when I need it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YU0aNAHXP0

 

[disneymom3]

graygable--thanks for the mini report. Sounds very cool--glad your girls had a good time.

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

Mini Homeschool Days report...

10 & 12yo DDs went to Homeschool Days last week at DHS. I had to work (I'm a CM at Dinoland in AK right now), so my 20yo DD took them. The speaker was at 930am and everyone said she was awesome. They got her autograph on her CD and a photo with her. At 1230, my girls did the YES program, Disney's Productions Arts and Sciences, which was a 3 hour tour including ToT (ride and backstage) and learning about facade, flats, and forced perspective. They were assigned various roles in a "production", took some photos, and did some editing. DDs enjoyed that part, too, but there were a couple of kids that were not very well behaved that kind of impacted their enjoyment.

I met up with them after the YES program and we hopped to Epcot for the evening where I listened to them in "magpie-stereo" tell me all about their day. All in all, it was a good experience and we'd do it again.

Newbie here...how did you find out about this? My DS would LOVE (and I mean love) to do this next year. He's been saying since he was 7 that he wants to be an imagineer when he grows up and this would be a terrific experience for him. TIA for any information you can provide.

Karen