Homeschool Chat

[*Toadstool*]

I got the Hands on Homeschooling curriculum today. It should work ok but I"m not wowed by it like I thought I would be. I'll use it but if I could do it again I wouldn't order it. It does have everything spelled out as far as a schedule but it doesn't seem (in the limited time I've looked it over) like it will be as "fun" as I thought.

She only included 5 worksheets for tracing and only a few patterns for some crafts. Everything is black and white.

It's going to take a lot more work on my part than I thought. OH well. I'll probably end up combining it with the Horizons I already have.

Thanks for posting. I came to check if you had received it yet.
Any ideas on other curriculum that you looked at that you wish you had bought?? I really want something "fun". I need something that teaches me how to do it. Has anyone used Abeka for pre-k? Their website is very lacking is showing what you actually get.

 

[jacksmomma]

Nor are they socialized to follow the status quo and be a number in a box. When we go to the children's theater the big thing we notice is that the public school kids are really good at standing in a straight line and ours are really bad at it. Since even in WDW your line does not have to be straight, or single file, I am not too worried about that.

So true about the line thing...DS is only 3 but I already notice it.

I also have begun to notice a huge change in the way my son interacts with his cousins who all have been to some sort of preschool or parent's day out. They are so competitive and have to be in the middle of the attention all the time. They also tattle all the time. DS just looks at them and walks off to do his own thing.

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

So true about the line thing...DS is only 3 but I already notice it.

I also have begun to notice a huge change in the way my son interacts with his cousins who all have been to some sort of preschool or parent's day out. They are so competitive and have to be in the middle of the attention all the time. They also tattle all the time. DS just looks at them and walks off to do his own thing.

Not to sound lofty, or my kids are better than yours..but it's true! My dd is starting her 3rd year of ballet this year and it's been very evident from the beginning. The other girls want to form little groups within the group and exclude other ones they don't know or don't like...and they are only 6!!! So, we have dealt with this since the 4yo class. They do it at church nursery too... & it's the kids who are gone from home all day. My dd wanted to quit ballet before recital last year because the majority of kids in the class just wanted to play and they are all so very silly. DD is mature for her age and takes her ballet seriously!! ha!! Even her teacher has talked to me about how good she was in class, followed rules and was there to do dance...not make little cliques. She has enough this year ,she is doing a homeschool class during the day this year!! Our class will be at 11:00 and it will be other hsers her age. Her teacher said this will be one of her easier/better classes because hs kids act better and are easier to teach. She was an elementary teacher before she went back to dance!!!! So, don't worry about straight lines!! My boys sure don't want to do it!! How many times in real life do we ever have to stay in a straight line and not speak?

Okay, that was long, but I just wanted to add my 2 cents...oh, and my kids have best friends that are not the same age as they are. And, all my best friends are at least 4 years older than me..except for one. So...don't let all that stuff about socialization get ya'll bogged down!!! I never really hung out with kids my age and I went to ps. In fact, several of my classmates are in jail(mainly drugs), have been married and divorced numerous times,and some even still live back and forth with their parents!!! Not that I am judging people for divorce!!! But, these girls are marrying/divorcing (guys too!) like they are just breaking up with boyfriends. and the poor kids are always caught in the middle!!! At least, we can kinda choose more who they hang out with than just let them be influenced 8 hours a day by people who do NOT have the same standards or convictions that we do.
Also---I just enjoy teaching them and watching them learn!! Don't ya'll? It's rewarding for me too!! Yes, we have slow days and sometimes things just don't click, but over all...what a blessing!!!!

 

[disneymom3]

Not sure if I am in the correct forum; however I am looking forward to homeschooling my son when the time comes. He is almost 2 right now. HOwever, I have a question.... what books would you recommend for teaching toddlers and consequently teaching me too? Or any book you found helpful during the "terrible twos".

A book I love for activities to do with toddlers in called "What to do with Toddlers and Twos." It's by Karen Miller. I was a toddler teacher for a long time and the whole "terrible twos" really elude me. I just think they are funny at that age. Strong willed and opinionated, but funny. I think the biggest thing to remember is to be consistent. If the answer is no, it has to stay no. If you give them a limit you must enforce it. And offer choices whenever you can. "Do you want to wear the blue shirt or hte green shirt?" NOT "What do you want to wear today?" That is too big!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I have homeschool days at Disney marked on my calendar. Though I am ashamed to admit, I can't think if I am supposed to sign up or anything for it.


Anyone know?

We were planning on Monday the 21st.

 

[Lora]

I have homeschool days at Disney marked on my calendar. Though I am ashamed to admit, I can't think if I am supposed to sign up or anything for it.


Anyone know?

We were planning on Monday the 21st.

Do you have park passes already? My sister bought hers through the homeschool days program on line. She ended up getting 5-day hoppers for her family. I have APs, so I just purchase a $16 add-on for the hs events. There are also special YES programs that are $25 per class. She received her park passes yesterday, but the CM she spoke to today said the event info. would be coming separately. I really don't know what events are happening. The last time I spoke to someone, they were still working all of that out. I know there's an orientation of sorts at Epcot at 10am on Monday. We will most likely miss it because I had my tour plans all set before we decided to do the hs days.

Editing to add this link:

http://disneyyouthgroups.disney.go.com/wdyp/listing/listingPageRender?page=HSDEventInfoListingPage

On the tickets page, it says registration will close on Sept. 18th at 3pm.

 

[jacksmomma]

Not to sound lofty, or my kids are better than yours..but it's true! My dd is starting her 3rd year of ballet this year and it's been very evident from the beginning. The other girls want to form little groups within the group and exclude other ones they don't know or don't like...and they are only 6!!! So, we have dealt with this since the 4yo class. They do it at church nursery too... & it's the kids who are gone from home all day. My dd wanted to quit ballet before recital last year because the majority of kids in the class just wanted to play and they are all so very silly. DD is mature for her age and takes her ballet seriously!! ha!! Even her teacher has talked to me about how good she was in class, followed rules and was there to do dance...not make little cliques. She has enough this year ,she is doing a homeschool class during the day this year!! Our class will be at 11:00 and it will be other hsers her age. Her teacher said this will be one of her easier/better classes because hs kids act better and are easier to teach. She was an elementary teacher before she went back to dance!!!! So, don't worry about straight lines!! My boys sure don't want to do it!! How many times in real life do we ever have to stay in a straight line and not speak?

Okay, that was long, but I just wanted to add my 2 cents...oh, and my kids have best friends that are not the same age as they are. And, all my best friends are at least 4 years older than me..except for one. So...don't let all that stuff about socialization get ya'll bogged down!!! I never really hung out with kids my age and I went to ps. In fact, several of my classmates are in jail(mainly drugs), have been married and divorced numerous times,and some even still live back and forth with their parents!!! Not that I am judging people for divorce!!! But, these girls are marrying/divorcing (guys too!) like they are just breaking up with boyfriends. and the poor kids are always caught in the middle!!! At least, we can kinda choose more who they hang out with than just let them be influenced 8 hours a day by people who do NOT have the same standards or convictions that we do.
Also---I just enjoy teaching them and watching them learn!! Don't ya'll? It's rewarding for me too!! Yes, we have slow days and sometimes things just don't click, but over all...what a blessing!!!![/COLOR][/FONT]

Thank you for that! I already noticed it and I did not want to sound lofty either. I am so thankful that DS will not have to endure the cliques or the "we don't like him because he does not have ____."

Funny that you mention behavior in dance class. My sister is a dance teacher and said she loves having HS kids because they are there to learn and not wild and chatty.

 

[jacksmomma]

A book I love for activities to do with toddlers in called "What to do with Toddlers and Twos." It's by Karen Miller. I was a toddler teacher for a long time and the whole "terrible twos" really elude me. I just think they are funny at that age. Strong willed and opinionated, but funny. I think the biggest thing to remember is to be consistent. If the answer is no, it has to stay no. If you give them a limit you must enforce it. And offer choices whenever you can. "Do you want to wear the blue shirt or hte green shirt?" NOT "What do you want to wear today?" That is too big!

Ditto Disneymom on consistency and limited choices. They works wonders with behavior. Another great book is Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready it has activities for kids from birth to age 5.

 

[KNJ Mom]

Hi everyone.
I have been looking through this thread and was very impressed with the amount of info here and thought that maybe someone would be able to help me. For a little bit of info I have 3 boys and homeschooled my two youngest for about 2-3 years , several years ago. We have since moved and both of my boys wanted to go back to school to meet more kids and we were fine with it and were relatively happy with our choice(They have been in public school for 2 years now)An interesting side note is that both boys have said that they loved homeschooling but for the time being want to stay in public school. If things change I would have no qualms about going back to homeschooling.

Now for my question. Our high school only offers 6 actual class periods a day, so my sophomore is having trouble fitting a foreign language into his schedule. He is in all honors core classes and is taking architectural drafting and choir for his two electives, neither is one he is willing to drop. We are thinking of letting him take his language as a homeschool course but I would love some guidance about a good program. I would like some flexibility with timing because he also swims and participates in theater so for stretches of time he is very booked up. My husband is fluent in 5 languages so we really don't need or want teacher support/oversight. The option the school offered was very rigid and I wasn't impressed (even though the dean who was offering it acted like it was the best thing since sliced bread) Does anyone know of any German courses that would fit our needs.

TIA
Martha

 

[lyv4him]

A book I love for activities to do with toddlers in called "What to do with Toddlers and Twos." It's by Karen Miller. I was a toddler teacher for a long time and the whole "terrible twos" really elude me. I just think they are funny at that age. Strong willed and opinionated, but funny. I think the biggest thing to remember is to be consistent. If the answer is no, it has to stay no. If you give them a limit you must enforce it. And offer choices whenever you can. "Do you want to wear the blue shirt or hte green shirt?" NOT "What do you want to wear today?" That is too big!

Thanks so much disneymom3 for the great advice. I sure could use it and would welcome it from other dis'ers. I understand what you mean about eluding the term/phrase "terrible twos"....it's more like "mom is handling the two's terribly" I am looking into that book today!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Fun booklet with history of Labor Day and some activities. It is Charlotte Mason based and it is free.


http://www.livingbookscurriculum.com/pdf/HH-Labor-Day.pdf

I tried to check their site for other holiday freebies, but no such luck.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Hi everyone.

Now for my question. Our high school only offers 6 actual class periods a day, so my sophomore is having trouble fitting a foreign language into his schedule. He is in all honors core classes and is taking architectural drafting and choir for his two electives, neither is one he is willing to drop. We are thinking of letting him take his language as a homeschool course but I would love some guidance about a good program. I would like some flexibility with timing because he also swims and participates in theater so for stretches of time he is very booked up. My husband is fluent in 5 languages so we really don't need or want teacher support/oversight. The option the school offered was very rigid and I wasn't impressed (even though the dean who was offering it acted like it was the best thing since sliced bread) Does anyone know of any German courses that would fit our needs.

TIA
Martha

I have heard Rosetta Stone is wonderful! Expensive, but wonderful. They offer many langauges.

We have La Classe Divertida which is geared towards younger children, but I find the way it is tought to be helpful for older people where it is more of a challenged to pick up langauges easily.

We just began a latin course called Latin Christiana. That would be a helpful lead in for langauge (as well as beneficial for your sons ACT/SAT verbal!).


If you go to Rainbow Resource's website, they do have a bunch of foreign language curriculum that you can check out.

I took French in high school--and personally, I do not think a 50 minute class period is an effective way to teach. But that was just my poor luck with my French instructors. First year was horrible, so that made 2nd year tough (teacher was good, but when you are behind, it is hard). Third year teacher at a different high school was going for her French PhD and had little precious time to actually teach us a valid 3rd level French class. AP students were complaining as well. Our French was so lackluster that when we went to a French competition and tested for our supposed levels--we realized how poor we were being tought. It was pathetic.

I did like the French in Action movies and if I had the money, I would buy the series and watch them all!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Editing to add this link:

http://disneyyouthgroups.disney.go.com/wdyp/listing/listingPageRender?page=HSDEventInfoListingPage

On the tickets page, it says registration will close on Sept. 18th at 3pm.

Thanks. We have AP's so we should be all set!

ETA: I see on the order page that all the sessions are itemized. But then you get to the AP holder and it is just one spot. Do we just total all the tickets we want and mark it there?

 

[NHWX]

Does anyone know of any German courses that would fit our needs.

I've got a great suggestion: German Online from Oklahoma State. My older son just finished up German 3 with them and really enjoyed it. There was a good mix of writing, listening and reading. There's also a weekly phone call with an instructor so you have regular practice speaking German. http://germanonline.okstate.edu/

He'll take German 4 or AP German next year as a senior. He's giving himself a break this year.

NWHX

 

[graygables]

I've got a great suggestion: German Online from Oklahoma State. My older son just finished up German 3 with them and really enjoyed it. There was a good mix of writing, listening and reading. There's also a weekly phone call with an instructor so you have regular practice speaking German. http://germanonline.okstate.edu/

He'll take German 4 or AP German next year as a senior. He's giving himself a break this year.

NWHX

Let's see: Dad's an OK State prof, I was born in Stillwater, grew up in Germany, and I have a certificate from OSU for "meritorious performance in German". I'm a fan!!!

I did see, however, that their enrollment for this year is closed.

 

[graygables]

Ordered Oak Meadow today...left the math off since we're happy with Math U See, but DDs are excited to get their new stuff! I'll post a review once it's in my hands...

 

[NHWX]

Let's see: Dad's an OK State prof, I was born in Stillwater, grew up in Germany, and I have a certificate from OSU for "meritorious performance in German". I'm a fan!!!

I did see, however, that their enrollment for this year is closed.

I'm glad you checked. It was startling news to me. I'm glad that ds16 had decided to take a year off. I'll know now to sign him up in May or so of this year. I'd been thinking about doing that so he'd have time to work up to the AP workload.

Well, maybe KNJ Mom's son could do it as a spring semester course.

NHWX

 

[jacksmomma]

Well we are at the end of our first week of homeschooling and I must say thus far it is not going exactly like I expected. DS just is not as excited about the process as I thought he would be. I have struggled a few times with getting him to listen and focus, but he just turned 3 and it is our first week. Please tell me this is normal!

On an unrelated note...have any of you struggled with copy cat behavior in your child? DS is generally really well behaved, but if we get around other kids who are doing inappropriate things he instantly wants to do what they are doing. How do you handle that (and why is it that only the bad behavior wear off, not the good?!)?

Any insights on either issue would be much appreciated!

 

[jacksmomma]

My butterfly lesson is taking a different turn! lol I ordered caterpillars for our first preschool lesson. They hatched out of their chrysalises and have been flitting around everywhere. Yesterday I noticed a lot of activity in the tent they live in. Then last night they started mating! I explained it to DS and he was mildly interested. But now I have to figure out what to do. I fear that it may be a little too cold to release them into the wild, but I certainly do not have the plants required for the female to lay eggs on. Maybe I will just release them and wish them the best...

Yesterday before the mating I told DH that once the butterflies were no longer with us we would have to order some more. When I told him about the mating he said, "See God will provide." Thanks honey!

 

[Disneynut5]

Well we are at the end of our first week of homeschooling and I must say thus far it is not going exactly like I expected. DS just is not as excited about the process as I thought he would be. I have struggled a few times with getting him to listen and focus, but he just turned 3 and it is our first week. Please tell me this is normal!

On an unrelated note...have any of you struggled with copy cat behavior in your child? DS is generally really well behaved, but if we get around other kids who are doing inappropriate things he instantly wants to do what they are doing. How do you handle that (and why is it that only the bad behavior wear off, not the good?!)?

Any insights on either issue would be much appreciated!

Can you be more specific about what you mean by homeschooling? At age 3 learning is mostly achieved through play and interaction with one's environment, not through formal learning. I never formally "teach" my children anything until they are five and yet they "know" a lot by that age. Relax and just be his mom. Play with him and let him enjoy being little. He has the rest of his life to do formal education but only 5 short years to be a preschooler who plays 24/7. Follow his lead... I hate to see learning facts and such pushed on a child too early in life. It rarely translates into greater intelligence as studies have showed that early learners level out by 3rd grade.

Let them be little. Trust me, that sweet time goes by too quickly and then you will long for those preschool days.