Homeschool Chat

[Denine]

I agree with Dawn. I love that book. I still look at it for info even though I know we are going to use Calvert again next year.

I also skim over stuff DD has a good grasp on. However, she does do all the work pages just because she loves them.

 

[Denine]

I know someone sent me a PM, but I can't access my PM's right now.

We leave for WDW tomorrow, but I will try to look before we go so I can answer the question.

 

[wheelerkidz3]

I know someone sent me a PM, but I can't access my PM's right now.

We leave for WDW tomorrow, but I will try to look before we go so I can answer the question.

i sent you a pm! i was just asking a bit more for your opinion on the calvert curriculum.
wish i was going to wdw tomorrow!! hope you guys have lots of fun!!!

 

[disneyfinatics]

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!!!

Hope you don't mine if I join in. I've always homeschooled my two boys. They're in the 6th & 7th grade. You can usually search sites like aop and see when a homeschool fair is going to be. They are a Christian curriculum, but the fairs have a number of vendors. I just don't know any other sites to check. It's great to see the material in person. I hope this helps.
Shelly

 

[Denine]

i sent you a pm! i was just asking a bit more for your opinion on the calvert curriculum.
wish i was going to wdw tomorrow!! hope you guys have lots of fun!!!

Glad you replied! I just tried again and can't get my PM's.

This is our 3rd year using Calvert and we will use it again for 2nd grade. DD and I both love it. For me it is user friendly and a good academic program. For DD, it keeps her interested and she loves the work pages for reading. We also have computer lessons that she loves.
Also, they reference websites for more info which makes it more interseting for DD again. She gets to do word searches for her spelling words every week on the computer.
They have a lot of neat enrichment programs you can buy too. I have the music one. I wanted to get science but it wasn't in the finances last summer.
I also like that everything you could possible need comes inthe box. DD loves it too. She can't wait to open it when it comes. It is a little pricey over do it yourself curriculums, but it is worth it to me.
You can get custom math too except in K. I think you just need to test into it.
DD said her favorite subject is science cause she likes to learn about plants and animals.

 

[wheelerkidz3]

Glad you replied! I just tried again and can't get my PM's.

This is our 3rd year using Calvert and we will use it again for 2nd grade. DD and I both love it. For me it is user friendly and a good academic program. For DD, it keeps her interested and she loves the work pages for reading. We also have computer lessons that she loves.
Also, they reference websites for more info which makes it more interseting for DD again. She gets to do word searches for her spelling words every week on the computer.
They have a lot of neat enrichment programs you can buy too. I have the music one. I wanted to get science but it wasn't in the finances last summer.
I also like that everything you could possible need comes inthe box. DD loves it too. She can't wait to open it when it comes. It is a little pricey over do it yourself curriculums, but it is worth it to me.
You can get custom math too except in K. I think you just need to test into it.
DD said her favorite subject is science cause she likes to learn about plants and animals.

thanks for getting back to me so quickly! i am really leaning towards this curriculum. do you know how it works when you start it half way thru the year? and what is the ats portion? is that just if you want the extra testing? i'm soooo confused by all this! thanks for your help though!!!

 

[DawnM]

I thought I would throw out another suggestion or two for you.

We personally use Sonlight, but a boxed type set that impressed me recently was a curriculum called "Moving Beyond the Page." I plan to get a book or two from them next year to supplement a few books we are reading in Sonlight.

It is a secular program, you could add Bible on your own if you wanted it, but it is not a religious program at all.

http://movingbeyondthepage.com/

Dawn

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!!!

 

[wheelerkidz3]

I thought I would throw out another suggestion or two for you.

We personally use Sonlight, but a boxed type set that impressed me recently was a curriculum called "Moving Beyond the Page." I plan to get a book or two from them next year to supplement a few books we are reading in Sonlight.

It is a secular program, you could add Bible on your own if you wanted it, but it is not a religious program at all.

http://movingbeyondthepage.com/

Dawn

thanks....i'm gonna check that out now! does anyone here use this curriculum and have an opinion on it?

 

[Denine]

thanks for getting back to me so quickly! i am really leaning towards this curriculum. do you know how it works when you start it half way thru the year? and what is the ats portion? is that just if you want the extra testing? i'm soooo confused by all this! thanks for your help though!!!

ATS is the extra testing. I plan on doing it in the future but didn't see any need for it at this age.

I am not sure how it works when you start 1/2 way through, but I am sure the education counselors could help you.

 

[Denine]

I liked Sonlight but I knew it wouldn't work for my DD.

I never heard of the other. I will have to check it out.

 

[sukaryan]

Hi other homeschooling Dis-ers! It is nice to find my social subsets all in one place! I don't know many other people who love Disney the way I do (so I look weird) and I homeschool (double weird). Looking forward to chatting with you all!
In response to what preconcieved ideas I hate about homeschooling: I have to agree about the social aspect. I think that my children have a better socialization than public school. They are friendly with all age groups. No leaving little brother or sister out because they are too young. And even though we have all girls, they are comfortable playing with boys too, because of the interaction we have with other homeschool families. I don't notice this mixing of sexes and ages among public schooled kids. Anyone else noticed this?

 

[Disneynut5]

Hi, another hs mom going to Disney for the first time as a family in September 09. We are so excited. My son will be 8 and my daughter 4.5! I also hs my niece who is 10 but she will not be making the trip with us. She has already been twice!

We are Christian hsers and we use a variety of curriculum - Horizons math, Sonligh Science and Real Science for kids, THe Mystery of History, SPellingtime.com, etc. We also have a large home library of about 3,000 books - most used. I have most of the Sonlight books in grades k-4.

So, will there be other school age kids at Disney in late September? I guess it really does not matter.

 

[DawnM]

Shannon,

If you have looked at the website, you may know this by now, but what I liked about it was that it tied all the subjects together. It is more like a Unit Study approach.

I may even look at getting one full unit to do this summer and see what I think. I am impressed with it so far, but I have a full curriculum load right now and don't want to switch mid-stream.

Dawn

thanks....i'm gonna check that out now! does anyone here use this curriculum and have an opinion on it?

 

[bebelle]

I need help finding an art curriculum for my very talented 15 year old DS. I have been unable to find any sort of local classes. He is a very good artist and would like to go to art school. We looked at our state HS convention but there was nothing there that he felt was challenging enough.

 

[MiniGirl]

Hi, another hs mom going to Disney for the first time as a family in September 09. We are so excited. My son will be 8 and my daughter 4.5! I also hs my niece who is 10 but she will not be making the trip with us. She has already been twice!

We are Christian hsers and we use a variety of curriculum - Horizons math, Sonligh Science and Real Science for kids, THe Mystery of History, SPellingtime.com, etc. We also have a large home library of about 3,000 books - most used. I have most of the Sonlight books in grades k-4.

So, will there be other school age kids at Disney in late September? I guess it really does not matter.

Welcome to the DIS!! Do you have your dates for Sept already? The next Disney Homeschool Days will be sometime in Sept, but as of a week or so ago, the dates hadn't been set yet.

 

[HomeschoolMama]

I was hoping someone here would have some idea of a good reading program for my reluctant 6 year old son. I've bought the Scaredy Cat reading system, Sing, Spell, Read and Write, 100 Easy Lessons...
He doesn't seem to want to focus and look at the words he's learning. He gets frustrated easily. I don't want something he has to do a lot of writing with because that will just frustrate him further.

It wasn't as big of a deal to me when he reads, but I putting everyone in a two day homeschool co-op in the fall. He'll be tested for his classes in the fall in June and I'm stressed. I don't want my almost 7 yr old in kindergarten again next year.

I'm so frustrated I could cry.

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

I was hoping someone here would have some idea of a good reading program for my reluctant 6 year old son. I've bought the Scaredy Cat reading system, Sing, Spell, Read and Write, 100 Easy Lessons...
He doesn't seem to want to focus and look at the words he's learning. He gets frustrated easily. I don't want something he has to do a lot of writing with because that will just frustrate him further.

It wasn't as big of a deal to me when he reads, but I putting everyone in a two day homeschool co-op in the fall. He'll be tested for his classes in the fall in June and I'm stressed. I don't want my almost 7 yr old in kindergarten again next year.

I'm so frustrated I could cry.

I have sorta been where you are. I couldn't get my DS (now 10) to write. We had him in a private school at the time (he was in 1st grade) and our first grade teacher told us that boys sometimes develop their reading and writing skills a bit later than girls...and there are variances within boys. Also, not every child comes out of Kindergarten reading! We were given the "dolch" guide. Here's the kindergarten guide:

Complete Kindergarten List

all am are at ate be black brown but came did do eat four get good
have he into like must new no now on our out please pretty ran ride
saw say she so soon that there they this too under want was well went what white who will with yes

Maybe you need to put the curriculum away for a while and dig out his favorite picture books. Take turns reading pages OR make flash cards of the Golch Kindergarten list and ask him to point them out in the story?

Trust me, it will come. Boys are squiggly and impatient at times. What I found worked well for my DS was to do his reading lessons toward the end of the day when he was more relaxed and less squiggly.

Unless you think there is an underlying issue, I'd relax.

Karen

 

[mickeyjen]

I was hoping someone here would have some idea of a good reading program for my reluctant 6 year old son. I've bought the Scaredy Cat reading system, Sing, Spell, Read and Write, 100 Easy Lessons...
He doesn't seem to want to focus and look at the words he's learning. He gets frustrated easily. I don't want something he has to do a lot of writing with because that will just frustrate him further.

It wasn't as big of a deal to me when he reads, but I putting everyone in a two day homeschool co-op in the fall. He'll be tested for his classes in the fall in June and I'm stressed. I don't want my almost 7 yr old in kindergarten again next year.

I'm so frustrated I could cry.

I'm sorry you are frustrated. I agree with PP that they all learn in their own timeframe.

To answer your question, we had really good luck with Hooked on Phonics. There is no writing involved whatsoever, and each lesson is read along with a cd (and then by themselves). At the end of several lessons, they read a book that contains only the sounds they've so far learned, so it is very encouraging for them. If your son already knows all his letters and sounds, I recommend starting with the HOP kindy set (sometimes you can get a bundle with k-2 so you can start whereever necessary). If he doesn't know his letters, I don't recommend learning them with HOP. LeapFrog Letter Factory and Word Factory (and other leapfrog items) were much more useful and quick for us.

Good luck!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Homeschool Mama~ Maybe just do some fun books with him like Dr. Suess, or something along those lines that's repetitive. Maybe he's bored with the books he has had since they are lessons. Just hang in there--what is totally great for one kid will not work for another. On the other hand, some kids really catch it when they do something out of the box!!!

 

[mom2princessj]

I'm sorry you are frustrated. I agree with PP that they all learn in their own timeframe.

To answer your question, we had really good luck with Hooked on Phonics. There is no writing involved whatsoever, and each lesson is read along with a cd (and then by themselves). At the end of several lessons, they read a book that contains only the sounds they've so far learned, so it is very encouraging for them. If your son already knows all his letters and sounds, I recommend starting with the HOP kindy set (sometimes you can get a bundle with k-2 so you can start whereever necessary). If he doesn't know his letters, I don't recommend learning them with HOP. LeapFrog Letter Factory and Word Factory (and other leapfrog items) were much more useful and quick for us.

Good luck!

I wonder if this would work for my son??? We don't homeschool although I supplement ALOT at home...both kids in preschool and my son is just 4 but has an awful attention span. I've got ALOT of work to do before my son enters pre-k next year although there is no requirement I'd like to have him ready for kindergarten without worrying he'll struggle. We used letter factory and both of my kids easily learned their letter sounds. He just has no interest in sitting down to color or do any type of activities. He loves circle time and ofcourse choice/play time but unless they keep him busy he can't sit still to do projects or color. It's a big concern of mine

I do have another question...my dd will be going to a catholic school next year (starting kindergarten) and the one thing this particular school doesn't have that the others in our area do is spanish for the kindergarteners. they don't start spanish at this school until 4th grade. I'd like to actually start spanish at home with her and continue with her until she gets it at school. Are there any programs that anyone can point me to that are good starters for young children? She's watched Dora and has a Dora game that teaches minimal words but if I could find a computer program/website or anything that will help me get her going I could do it with her once per week and that would definitely be enough.

I've gotten great info from your threads (I'm a lurker for programs I can use at home with my kids) so I thank you all for giving your advice and input!