Homeschool Chat

[NHWX]

Thanks, guys.

I just feel so fragmented jumping constantly between them and each one wanting to know "what do I do now, I'm finished". I think it would be better to work with the 8 yr old in the morning and let the two little ones play and then work with my daughter after lunch and let the boys play (my youngest is still in pre-school so we only do school with him when he asks so as not to push).

Thanks again
MMM

It might only help with your older two children but this year, I gave each child a whiteboard and they divided up by coursework and day. So, I'll refer them to their whiteboard when they need help. Sometimes, it's a matter of them not knowing what to work on for a given but I've tried to build work boxes for them too. So, my younger son has all his math work in one box with a semester's worth of schedule sitting on top of the pile. He can check his whiteboard to see if he needs to work on health, or Latin or whatever. If they work ahead, they mark ahead on the whiteboard. It doesn't completely stop the questions and interruptions but I hope it's teaching them some self-pacing.

NHWX

 

[sl_underwood]

I have also been a pingpong ball when it comes to teaching and it is stressful. Here is what we do. Each child has a checklist each day of what they must finish. For my kindergartener, I made picture cards showing him what he is to do. I laminated them and put them on a key ring so the cards can easily be changed out. I also found activities my son can do independently while I teach his 7th grade sister. We have puzzle cards for spelling and alphabet beads, I made a moving alphabet with a small dry erase board and upper and lowercase foam magnetic letters. He has foam numbers as well along with dollar store objects for counting, ie. 10 snakes, 9 bears, etc. He also uses these to sort into classifications, such as insects, farm animals, zoo animals, etc. Each card shows has pictures with the classification on one side and just text on the other. I also have a leapster, tag reading system, various educational media, dvds, etc. We use websites like pbs kids, he has a folder with coloring sheets and worksheets he can do independently. With these options, he doesnt get bored while I work with his sis. I usually only have to work with my daughter for about 30 minutes per subject, sometimes less. So while she is finishing up, I have 30 minutes to 1 hour with my son. I still trade off but there are less interuptions. My son couldnt handle more than 30-40 minutes on his own. You may be able to do these type of learning activities allowing the younger two to do together while you complete your school day with the older child and then work with the younger two in the afternoon. If you would like templates of what we have done, pm me and I will share them with you.
Lora

 

[IcedMudd]

Hi guys! I'm new here and just wanted to stop in and introduce myself! I'm a first-time homeschooler. My dd is only 5 so there's not much actual school I'm enjoying it and so is she. She loves to "go" to school. The first week, though, well it was rough! Once we found our groove, everything's been awesome!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

to Iced Mudd!! Glad you found us!

Lora..love those ideas for your kindergartener! I too make a daily list for each kid...we have a journal/daily planner thing.I bought it at Target or somewhere (Barnes &Noble this time)....anyway... they are in the school supplies ...each day has a few lines for scheduling and I do a semster at a time and they just check off as they go!

 

[dizzymomx4]

Hi everyone! We are new to the chat too...this is our 3rd year of homeschooling..DS 8 and DS 11...We have a total of 4 boys, two older ones attended PS until I finally believed that I could do this!!

Hope to share and learn from all of you DISers!!

 

[disneymom3]

Nice to see the new faces!



This is my 8th year of homeschooling and every year the start of hte year has always looked different but I find that by the end of the year, we are doing about the same thing. This year it took me a shorter time to figure it out. So we relaxed already. For awhile there I was really stressing and being all formal and structured. That really doesn't work for me.

I try to teach as much as I can together. This year, is the second year we are doing science seperately since my oldest is going into high school next year. My boys who are two grades apart do basically everything together other than spelling and math.

I have a thrilling announcement!! I had to make reservations for our stay a month or so ago before WDW announced the next homeschool days. So, I crossed my fingers, looked at when they had other events and when the Jan days had been the last few years and booked it! Came out the other day....we check in on Friday and homeschool days start on Monday so we can use the discounted tickets! I am sooooo thrilled!! We were able to get a 2 BR villa at the Beach Club through my ILs timeshare membership. I cannot even believe it. That would be so very far out of our budget to do it as a regular stay.

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

Questions about HS days at WDW:

Can you add days once you are there to the base tickets offered on website?
Can you use the ticket before the event begins?

We will be there a total of ten days. Before, during and after homeschool days event.

Thanks!

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

Ok, with a little searching I think I have answered my questions. On the website it says the tickets are good 7 days prior and 7 days after the event.

For the other question, I read that after you use a ticket for a day the value of the ticket becomes gate price and you only pay the difference to upgrade from the ticket type you have to they ticket type you want.

If anyone knows otherwise PLEASE let me know. I don't want any surprises when I go to upgrade from 5 days to 10 days once we get there.

Thanks a million!

 

[DawnM]

I would call and ask. When I have a Disney question I want to be SURE and know the right answer to I call twice and talk to 2 different people and make sure the answers are the same!

Dawn

Ok, with a little searching I think I have answered my questions. On the website it says the tickets are good 7 days prior and 7 days after the event.

For the other question, I read that after you use a ticket for a day the value of the ticket becomes gate price and you only pay the difference to upgrade from the ticket type you have to they ticket type you want.

If anyone knows otherwise PLEASE let me know. I don't want any surprises when I go to upgrade from 5 days to 10 days once we get there.

Thanks a million!

 

[DawnM]

My *guess* is that you cannot add later since you cannot buy these at the gate.....they must be ordered online.

If you will be there 10 days, I would suggest getting the 5 park hopper days and 4 vouchers to the waterparks and Disney Quest. That would give you plenty to do for the 10 days. Waterparks are great weekend activities as they are never that crowded during the off-season.

Dawn

Questions about HS days at WDW:

Can you add days once you are there to the base tickets offered on website?
Can you use the ticket before the event begins?

We will be there a total of ten days. Before, during and after homeschool days event.

Thanks!

 

[DawnM]

We plan to do the give a day/get a day Disney promotion starting in January. My understanding is that you can apply this towards hopper tickets/APs or whatever.

Does anyone know if there is a way to apply them towards homeschool days? I am thinking no since you have to order HS passes, but it would be so great to apply the $80 towards the HS passes.

Thanks,


Dawn

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

i looked into it last year, and was not able to. i hope they've changed it. maybe you could ask on th theme parks board someone there works in ticketing, i think.

 

[disneymom3]

I would call and ask. When I have a Disney question I want to be SURE and know the right answer to I call twice and talk to 2 different people and make sure the answers are the same!

Dawn

I would check too. If you want ten day tickets it might end up being less expensive to just by the 10 day passes as opposed to the 5 day homeschool and then another set of 5 day passes. It's those first several days that are the more expensive portion. I would love it if you could upgrade but I doubt I will be able to afford it at the time as we would need to add the no expiry option that always costs a bundle!

 

[chicagoshannon]

I couldn't get the site to pull up... but I'll try again later because it sounds like a great resource!

PS. I followed the link on your blog for that Donnayoung.org. That has been an awesome resource for me! I went ahead and downloaded almost every Pre-K and K pdf that they have to use for DD 2.5 years old. I wanted to start with her on tracing, coloring, letters, etc. and these worksheets are perfect! I hope to homeschool one day but don't know when that will happen. But this gives me some stuff to start with her on.

have a blessed day,

Julie

Hi Julie. I also have a 2.5 year old DD that I've started on tracing, cutting ect. The tracing is starting to go better but we're still struggling with cutting. I've actually slacked with our homeschooling for the last few weeks because we were in Disney and she's in an activity almost every day. We plan to start back up next week. We also use starfall.com for reading.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

I forgot to introduce myself! I am Rosie, and we have been homeschooling for 20 years. My oldest is 24 and is getting his PhD in biochemistry, and my youngest is almost 2 months. He was was a glorius surprise!

We are more of the Raymond Moore type of homeschoolers. My oldest didn't read until he was 8. It only took him a few months to catch up when he was ready to learn. He was excelling in science and math before that time, however. The rest have followed their own paths, also and are doing well.

We are planning on going to the homeschool days, but have no clue where we are staying. We need space, and there aren't the options there were a couple of years ago.

 

[LegoMom3]

I forgot to introduce myself! I am Rosie, and we have been homeschooling for 20 years. My oldest is 24 and is getting his PhD in biochemistry, and my youngest is almost 2 months. He was was a glorius surprise!

We are more of the Raymond Moore type of homeschoolers. My oldest didn't read until he was 8. It only took him a few months to catch up when he was ready to learn. He was excelling in science and math before that time, however. The rest have followed their own paths, also and are doing well.

We are planning on going to the homeschool days, but have no clue where we are staying. We need space, and there aren't the options there were a couple of years ago.

Hi! SO glad to meet you! I've been studying the Moore's and the more I read, the better I like it. My youngest turns 8 this year. He started out in PS, so he learned to read there and did fine. However, he really struggles with math concepts and I used to pull my hair out wondering how to make him "get it." But now I think he's just not ready and it's not going to hurt anything to let him wait until he IS! We do real-life math stuff....money, fractions with baking, etc. but to have him sit down and try to "do math" on paper, he just has a complete block.

Please feel free to PM me any time if you'd like to chat! I'd love to hear how this has worked for your family.


And again, WELCOME!

.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

Thanks, Legomom! Real math is vital, in my opinion. My grandpa built his business no able to cipher on paper, but the concepts were all built into his head and real life. Not saying that in this day and age it isn't necessary, but that you can give tons of information in other formats. Have you ever looked at miquon math? A couple of mine thrived with it, when Abeka did little for them.

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

I forgot to introduce myself! I am Rosie, and we have been homeschooling for 20 years. My oldest is 24 and is getting his PhD in biochemistry, and my youngest is almost 2 months. He was was a glorius surprise!

We are more of the Raymond Moore type of homeschoolers. My oldest didn't read until he was 8. It only took him a few months to catch up when he was ready to learn. He was excelling in science and math before that time, however. The rest have followed their own paths, also and are doing well.

We are planning on going to the homeschool days, but have no clue where we are staying. We need space, and there aren't the options there were a couple of years ago.

I am going to check out Raymond Moore. I have not heard of him. My DS (7) struggles with reading but is great in math and science and my DD (11) excels in the Language Arts but finds math a challenge.

I talk to the youth program office. They said you can not upgrade the ticket. But they are going to do 10 day tickets!!!! for the homeschool event. They are just working on the price details. They said they would call me in a couple of days when it was all worked out. They just met yesterday to discuss because they were getting so many calls. YAY!!!I will pass on info when I hear.

Need space? Have you thought about Windsor Hills? Just as close as some of Disney's resorts.(so I have heard) We got 10 nights at a 3 bedroom 3 bathroom townhouse with a small pool. Plus the resort has a nice heated pool with slide. There is a little movie theater you can reserve for your family. Workout facility. Game room...all within a minute walk. With pool heat and tax it came to $1243.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

That is a great price! And it will be interesting to know what they come up with in pricing those longer tickets!

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

We plan to do the give a day/get a day Disney promotion starting in January. My understanding is that you can apply this towards hopper tickets/APs or whatever.

Does anyone know if there is a way to apply them towards homeschool days? I am thinking no since you have to order HS passes, but it would be so great to apply the $80 towards the HS passes.

In my research it seems that youth program tickets fall into a different catagory. That promotion such as free birthday credits do not apply not even towards the bonus that you get if you already have a ticket.

We volunteer all the time so I planned to do the give a day also but I don't think there would be enough process time before our trip. It says that you will receive an email two weeks after the organization tells Disney that you completed your time. So you have the volunteer organization's turn around time plus Disney's. Not to mention will there be a volunteer opportuntiy listed for first week of January. So I think it would take a lot of pixie dust to get the ticket email before leaving on a January trip.