Homeschool Chat

[desparatelydisney]

Okay, I have pretty much made up my mind that I (we) are going to do this. The kicker today was when my 2nd grader brought home his STAR report-he is reading at a 5.2 grade level and the AR book he brought home - 3.2! His teacher just doesn't get it!

I originally thought that I really wanted a boxed curriculum and was very drawn to Calvert but I have slowly become "awakened" to why the unit study program is so good. I feel good about Math, History, LA/Reading, Writing, Spelling, Art...but not Science.

Last night I found the Andrew Lost book series and teacher guides. Does anyone use these? Other suggestions? As someone with a MS degree, I really want a non-creation based text with lots of fun experiments - Bill Nye the Science Guy type stuff

TIA!

 

[Tink561]

I really will be starting over soon. My boys went to school when they were little but now they are 15, 16 and 19. We've been homeschooling for 9 years.

Now I'm preparing to get preschool curriculum for our daughter who just turned 3. She will be 3.5 in the summer and we will do preK next year. I've decided to do Calvert with her. I really like that everything comes in the box and is planned out. I also like that we can do it all the way through middle school if we choose.

I've done all sorts of things with the boys over the years. I have unit studies, Charlotte Mason, Classical Ed., etc. I really don't want to do all that planning again and I'm not sure unit studies would be as fun with just one child so I think we're going the boxed route.

Any recent opinions on Calvert pre-K with a 3.5 year old?

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Thanks everyone for all the links and advice. I am definitely doing this no matter what obstacles I face. I want to make it happen ASAP. With that being said we have already ordered thew paper work from the county. It's being sent. Here are some questions I have...

About how long will it take to get them out of school?

Someone mentioned that since DS is in G/T and has high scores I may get a hard time from the school...what should I expect? Has this happened to anyone personally? Did you have to get a lawyer involved?

Another thing...although we are a Christian family we do not attend church on a regular basis. Most curriculums I've found deal with religion, as do the social groups. Will they look down upon us for not going to church all the time?

DD (1st grade) is excellent in Math but struggles a little in reading. What curriculum would you suggest for her?

DS (4th grade) is the one in GT whose test scores are way out there. What would you all suggest for him?

So many of you have PM'ed me and I really appreciate it. You guys have been so much help! We're for sure going to do this so any advice is appreciated. As of right now I'm trying to get the supplies in order. Being we're already in the second semester is there a way their current school can share their curriculum with us? Do they do this kind of thing or will they be hateful towards us for pulling the kids out?

Thanks again for all your help!


Tammy

 

[wheelerkidz3]

Thanks everyone for all the links and advice. I am definitely doing this no matter what obstacles I face. I want to make it happen ASAP. With that being said we have already ordered thew paper work from the county. It's being sent. Here are some questions I have...

About how long will it take to get them out of school?

Someone mentioned that since DS is in G/T and has high scores I may get a hard time from the school...what should I expect? Has this happened to anyone personally? Did you have to get a lawyer involved?

Another thing...although we are a Christian family we do not attend church on a regular basis. Most curriculums I've found deal with religion, as do the social groups. Will they look down upon us for not going to church all the time?

DD (1st grade) is excellent in Math but struggles a little in reading. What curriculum would you suggest for her?

DS (4th grade) is the one in GT whose test scores are way out there. What would you all suggest for him?

So many of you have PM'ed me and I really appreciate it. You guys have been so much help! We're for sure going to do this so any advice is appreciated. As of right now I'm trying to get the supplies in order. Being we're already in the second semester is there a way their current school can share their curriculum with us? Do they do this kind of thing or will they be hateful towards us for pulling the kids out?
Thanks again for all your help!


Tammy

this is what i worry about too. i have a dd in 3rd grade and my youngest ds is in kindergarten. my dd does great in public school, so my plan for now is to leave her and youngest ds there. dd however wants me to hs her!! i prob will next year, but i'm afraid of getting overwhelmed right now. i do in home daycare, and i should be able to help my oldest during naptime, but i'm afraid if i have all 3 of my kids plus my daycare kids, i may be taking on too much!!
what kind of responses have others gotten from the school? do they treat your children left in ps differently? thanks again for all your time!!

 

[MiniGirl]

Okay, I have pretty much made up my mind that I (we) are going to do this. The kicker today was when my 2nd grader brought home his STAR report-he is reading at a 5.2 grade level and the AR book he brought home - 3.2! His teacher just doesn't get it!

TIA!

Not that I'm trying to get you to keep your child in school. I'm just trying to perhaps offer some insight. My youngest is in 1st grade, but she is an amazing reader. She was also bringing home books that were well below her ability, so I spoke with her teacher about it. Her teacher said that it can be very difficult to find books that are apporpriate for early advanced readers. Most of the books written for that reading level are written for older kids and so the younger ones simply are not interested in them or some of them contain subjects such as bullying or crushes on boys, etc. Also, eventhough my dd is reading at a late 4th/early 5th grade level, she is still just 6 and her attention span is still not where it should be to read some of those chapter books. Sometimes she wants to just sit down with a simple picture book. It could be the same with your son.

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

how is it going? you just pulled your ds on monday right? are you de-schooling now? i'm so nervous to make the move!! i need to get looking into curriculum to get this started.

I'm lucky. My son is adapting beautifully (I think it's because I was the one teaching him math and grammar anyway because his teacher was doing other things!). My mom and dad are keeping him during the day while I work. He does his "homework" assignments there and we do lessons at night.

I didn't know what to do about curriculum. I know he's weak in math and that he's never had US history or civics of any kind so I kinda started there. We have a wonderful store where I live called Bradburns and another called the Teacher's Lounge. I went there on Monday evening and browsed for a long time. I found 4 really good math workbooks, and a Weekly Reader series dealing with Civics that I liked a lot. So right now, we're just doing math workbooks to emphasize some of the basics while we move into decimals and fractions, and civics which will tie in with a trip I have to DC in March (again, thank goodness grandparents will come along on this trip!). We're also working on multiple drafts of a book report on Science Fair by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. His writing is good, but he's never learned how to edit and tighten his own writing.

My advice is don't wait until you're "ready" with everything in place. Just do it and you'll be amazed at how quickly it falls into place.

Karen

 

[MiniGirl]

this is what i worry about too. i have a dd in 3rd grade and my youngest ds is in kindergarten. my dd does great in public school, so my plan for now is to leave her and youngest ds there. dd however wants me to hs her!! i prob will next year, but i'm afraid of getting overwhelmed right now. i do in home daycare, and i should be able to help my oldest during naptime, but i'm afraid if i have all 3 of my kids plus my daycare kids, i may be taking on too much!!
what kind of responses have others gotten from the school? do they treat your children left in ps differently? thanks again for all your time!!

We hs our oldest (3rd grade) and our youngest (1st grade) is still in public school. Our youngest has not been treated any differently, but her teacher seems to be pro-homeschooling and welcomes my oldest into the classroom for class parties, etc. When my oldest asked about homeschooling, I told her we could but with certain conditions -- one of which was additional household chores. (I wanted to be sure my dd really wanted to do this and knew it wouldn't be sitting at home all day watching tv and playing on the computer.) My youngest was not willing to do this and she choose to go back to school. Since I didn't really know what I was doing, I picked a boxed curriculum that came with everything I needed including lesson plans.

My dd and I have really enjoyed our time together this year, and I will say that it has been easier than I thought. I don't feel that I have done any "teaching" though. We have read books together and discussed them, and she can recall them months later; so I guess I am teaching afterall. LOL!!! It has been great, and I look forward to keeping my youngest home next year as well. Truthfully, I'd pull her out now, but my dh wants her to finish out the school year. There have been a lot of fun things we have not done because I didn't want my youngest to feel left out, and we are still tied to the public school schedule, too. I will also say that while my youngest really enjoyed school last year, she has not enjoyed it this year. The main reason is because she doesn't want to be there. She wants to be home.

All this is a long-winded way of saying I understand what it is like to have 1 in public school and 1 at home. If I were you, I'd make sure your dd knows what would be involved with her staying home, and make sure she isn't running from conflict at school that she should deal with. If she still wants to hs, then bring her home, too. Maybe next year (or the year after) you can then bring your youngest home, too.

 

[desparatelydisney]

Not that I'm trying to get you to keep your child in school. I'm just trying to perhaps offer some insight. My youngest is in 1st grade, but she is an amazing reader. She was also bringing home books that were well below her ability, so I spoke with her teacher about it. Her teacher said that it can be very difficult to find books that are apporpriate for early advanced readers. Most of the books written for that reading level are written for older kids and so the younger ones simply are not interested in them or some of them contain subjects such as bullying or crushes on boys, etc. Also, eventhough my dd is reading at a late 4th/early 5th grade level, she is still just 6 and her attention span is still not where it should be to read some of those chapter books. Sometimes she wants to just sit down with a simple picture book. It could be the same with your son.

Thanks for your advice. I fully understand what you mean. However, the books he is bringing home are chapter books with very few pictures, they're just at a lower level. But, we also run into the issue sometimes that he wants a book with lots of pics but also one that takes an hour to read

If that was the only issue, I wouldn't be considering HS (or maybe only a little bit). Unfortunately, it's just one of several. He goes to private school. They raised tuition last year by only $500 per child but because of that, we lost 1/3 of our student body. As such, they have cut back everything. There is absolutely nothing extra to provide for him (no GT/AG, no extra assignments, no individual attn) and they have gone from 2 classes in 1st grade with 12 kids each to 1 big class in 2nd with 23 kids. I would consider pulling him and putting him public school next year (the elementary school is considered the best in the county) but our daughter will start K next year and I cannot consider putting her at the public K.

So, that would leave me with one in public 25 minutes north of our house from 8:15 to 2:45, one in private 30 minutes west of our house from 8:05 to 3:10 and one in pre-K 15 minutes west of our house from 9:00 to 12:00 - a completely non-workable situation - not even mentioning the fact that my husband and I run our own business AND I am a home-based travel agent.

We are trying to figure out what would be best for each of them...and that is the hard part...

 

[Denine]

I really will be starting over soon. My boys went to school when they were little but now they are 15, 16 and 19. We've been homeschooling for 9 years.

Now I'm preparing to get preschool curriculum for our daughter who just turned 3. She will be 3.5 in the summer and we will do preK next year. I've decided to do Calvert with her. I really like that everything comes in the box and is planned out. I also like that we can do it all the way through middle school if we choose.

I've done all sorts of things with the boys over the years. I have unit studies, Charlotte Mason, Classical Ed., etc. I really don't want to do all that planning again and I'm not sure unit studies would be as fun with just one child so I think we're going the boxed route.

Any recent opinions on Calvert pre-K with a 3.5 year old?

We used calvert PK 2 years ago. DD loved it. There were lots of projects in all subject areas. I liked it cause I didn't have to come up with a curriculum.

 

[Denine]

Thanks everyone for all the links and advice. I am definitely doing this no matter what obstacles I face. I want to make it happen ASAP. With that being said we have already ordered thew paper work from the county. It's being sent. Here are some questions I have...

About how long will it take to get them out of school?

Someone mentioned that since DS is in G/T and has high scores I may get a hard time from the school...what should I expect? Has this happened to anyone personally? Did you have to get a lawyer involved?

Another thing...although we are a Christian family we do not attend church on a regular basis. Most curriculums I've found deal with religion, as do the social groups. Will they look down upon us for not going to church all the time?

DD (1st grade) is excellent in Math but struggles a little in reading. What curriculum would you suggest for her?

DS (4th grade) is the one in GT whose test scores are way out there. What would you all suggest for him?

So many of you have PM'ed me and I really appreciate it. You guys have been so much help! We're for sure going to do this so any advice is appreciated. As of right now I'm trying to get the supplies in order. Being we're already in the second semester is there a way their current school can share their curriculum with us? Do they do this kind of thing or will they be hateful towards us for pulling the kids out?

Thanks again for all your help!


Tammy

I can't help you with 4th grade but I do have a 1st grader who is really good in math. We use Horizons. It is a "Christian" program, but really it just mentions Christmas and stuff like that. It is supposed to be a more advanced program. It uses a spiral approach which some people don't like. DD, however, loves it. She finished 1st grade math last week and started 2nd grade math this week. For the rest of our curriculum, we use Calvert. It is secular. The reading program is very good. It uses a phonics approach. Some people would use Calvert just for their reading program.

 

[MeetingMickeyin2006]

Just a little vent here. I am so tired of hearing misinformed, preconceived biases about homeschooled children. I hear the same one all the time--in fact, it was brought up in a thread about the Duggars here on the CB board the other day. It went something like this--"all of those kids are homeschooled, I wonder how their social skills are with non-family?" This has to be my LEAST favorite stereotype about homeschoolers. My son is probably the most social little boy I have ever met. He LOVES people, he loves talking, he's not shy in the least. In fact, he's much more outgoing than I am, and I went to public school, so I should be a regular social butterfly, right? The funny thing is, I can remember kids from my school who were so painfully shy, that it was difficult for them to even answer a question when called upon! I would love for some of these people who are so worried about homeschooled kids' social skills, to come along on one of our cub scout meetings, field trips, PE classes, get-togethers, or activities, so they can see how "anti-social" all of these kids are.

What "homeschool stereotype" really gets under your skin?

 

[Tink561]

Just a little vent here. I am so tired of hearing misinformed, preconceived biases about homeschooled children. I hear the same one all the time--in fact, it was brought up in a thread about the Duggars here on the CB board the other day. It went something like this--"all of those kids are homeschooled, I wonder how their social skills are with non-family?" This has to be my LEAST favorite stereotype about homeschoolers. My son is probably the most social little boy I have ever met. He LOVES people, he loves talking, he's not shy in the least. In fact, he's much more outgoing than I am, and I went to public school, so I should be a regular social butterfly, right? The funny thing is, I can remember kids from my school who were so painfully shy, that it was difficult for them to even answer a question when called upon! I would love for some of these people who are so worried about homeschooled kids' social skills, to come along on one of our cub scout meetings, field trips, PE classes, get-togethers, or activities, so they can see how "anti-social" all of these kids are.

What "homeschool stereotype" really gets under your skin?

That has been my biggest one since we started in 99. But, with families like the Duggars being in the spotlight that is an image that is out there. Of course I don't think most homeschooling families are like them at all and I'm glad.

The other thing that gets to me is that people think everyone homeschools to protect their children from the outside world. That annoys me.

 

[Tink561]

I can't help you with 4th grade but I do have a 1st grader who is really good in math. We use Horizons. It is a "Christian" program, but really it just mentions Christmas and stuff like that. It is supposed to be a more advanced program. It uses a spiral approach which some people don't like. DD, however, loves it. She finished 1st grade math last week and started 2nd grade math this week. For the rest of our curriculum, we use Calvert. It is secular. The reading program is very good. It uses a phonics approach. Some people would use Calvert just for their reading program.

I agree about Horizons math. There may be a Bible verse, etc. on the page but it isn't preachy at all. It doesn't have the same tone that Abeka has in their text books. It is a very good, solid math program.

 

[Tink561]

We used calvert PK 2 years ago. DD loved it. There were lots of projects in all subject areas. I liked it cause I didn't have to come up with a curriculum.

How old was your daughter when you started? My dd will be 3.5 when I plan to start. I've heard from people who used it for 4 and over who thought it was too easy. My dd knows her colors, shapes, letters and some numbers but I think the review will be good. I also think some of the activities for motor skills, etc. will be beneficial.

Would you mind giving me an example of some of the projects, etc?

That is exactly why I'm leaning that way - so I don't have to plan it out myself. You really can't go wrong with Calvert academically either. Two of my sons used it for one year and I enjoyed the program. I wish we had started that way instead of eclectic and unit studies. I don't want to go that way again.

 

[wheelerkidz3]

what is the best way to "research" curriculum?? i'm pretty sure i need a boxed type to start...i'm too nervous to do it any other way right now. i've seen lots of opinions on diff ones used here on the board. are most of these christian based? when you buy a boxed set, does that include everything that you would need? are there some non-religious boxed sets? sorry for silly questions, but thanks for the help!!!

 

[Tink561]

what is the best way to "research" curriculum?? i'm pretty sure i need a boxed type to start...i'm too nervous to do it any other way right now. i've seen lots of opinions on diff ones used here on the board. are most of these christian based? when you buy a boxed set, does that include everything that you would need? are there some non-religious boxed sets? sorry for silly questions, but thanks for the help!!!

Calvert is non-religious based boxed type. With them you do get everything, even down to the pencils. www.calvertschool.org. It is an actual school in Baltimore and is highly rated. Theirs is the oldest homeschooling program around.

There are lots of homeschool sites to visit and ask about curriculum. Feel free to PM me and I will give you some. Where do you live? Your state homeschool convention is a great place to start too.

 

[disneymom3]

I agree you do not have to stick with Abeka, there is no reason not to teach them together, you can adapt each as needed.......why not spend a week on the sun, a week or more on the civil war, etc..........that is the beauty of homeschooling you can do that. You can incorporate activities in with what you are teaching at the moment. field trips etc.
I don't use a set curriculum, I piece things together........we use Story of the World for history social studies, it goes chronologically and to me makes sense.
we use Singapore math and science, and Learning language arts thru literature.
I have changed some things we do, some we have stuck with , such as Singapore.

The fun thing is you don't even have to follow your OWN plan. I scrapped our preplanned curriculum in Dec. It just wasn't working for us. If you spend money on a program it should work for you, not you working for it and that is how I felt. We decided to learn about China for the month of Jan. But you know what? We aren't done. So next week we are on vacation and the week after that, we are doing more on China.

 

[HomeschoolMama]

what is the best way to "research" curriculum?? i'm pretty sure i need a boxed type to start...i'm too nervous to do it any other way right now. i've seen lots of opinions on diff ones used here on the board. are most of these christian based? when you buy a boxed set, does that include everything that you would need? are there some non-religious boxed sets? sorry for silly questions, but thanks for the help!!!

You could start with this book: 100 Top Picks for Homeschool curriculum. I found it very helpful when I started out. Most bookstores like Barnes & Noble have it in stock.

I too piece things together for what works for my kids. We do History and Science as a family and tailor Math and Grammar to each child's level. Several of the math curriculum have placement tests on their websites. So, that would be a good place to start too.

Also- I don't feel like we have to do every page when a child is gifted. If she gets it, she gets it and we move on and review later. That's something that took me a long time to do. I always felt like they had to do every single thing or they wouldn't be smart enough or be confused, but sometimes, it just clicks and they don't need to do it all. I also didn't want to exasperate my kids and have them hate school, so we focus on what they love and do the basics on what they don't.

Good luck! We're all here for you!!!

 

[Denine]

How old was your daughter when you started? My dd will be 3.5 when I plan to start. I've heard from people who used it for 4 and over who thought it was too easy. My dd knows her colors, shapes, letters and some numbers but I think the review will be good. I also think some of the activities for motor skills, etc. will be beneficial.

Would you mind giving me an example of some of the projects, etc?

That is exactly why I'm leaning that way - so I don't have to plan it out myself. You really can't go wrong with Calvert academically either. Two of my sons used it for one year and I enjoyed the program. I wish we had started that way instead of eclectic and unit studies. I don't want to go that way again.

DD was probably 3.5 when we started PK. We did a lot of projects that involved cutting pictures out of magazines. I think that was the year we did colors. We cut out all red pictures, then all green pictures, etc and pasted them on poster board. Cutting, pasting does it get any better? We did another poster board project with seasons, but they may have been K. I can't remember. DD also knew her colors and how to count to 10 and her shapes when we started. It was a fun way to get her used to school and me used to teaching. I am an RN by trade. We read a lot of stories too.
I like unit studies, but it is too much work on my part. I still work and have requirements for my job. I need a curriculum that is already done for me.
DD is 6 now and started 1st when she was 5. We are on lesson 97.

 

[Denine]

what is the best way to "research" curriculum?? i'm pretty sure i need a boxed type to start...i'm too nervous to do it any other way right now. i've seen lots of opinions on diff ones used here on the board. are most of these christian based? when you buy a boxed set, does that include everything that you would need? are there some non-religious boxed sets? sorry for silly questions, but thanks for the help!!!

Calvert is secular. You get everything you could possibly need in the box. DD loves "box day". That is the day the box comes and she gets to go through it to see all the books and stuff. Heck, I still have construction paper from PK.