Homeschool Chat

[chicagoshannon]

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

We stayed at Windsor Hills in May. It is 5 minutes from Disney. You literally get on the road and immediately exit onto Disney property. We stayed in a condo so no experience with the houses but the pool is nice. The water slide is a bit scary and you have to be 48 inches I think to go on it. My husband seemed to enjoy it.

 

[belle22]

Anyone have reading fluency passages they would be willing to share for second to third grader?

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

Have you ever tried time4learning.com? Even if you just use it to supplement reading it is a great resource. They have fluency passages in second grade. The student clicks start, reads through, clicks finish. It tells you how many words per minute you read and tells you your goal. Then it models reading the passage with different emphasis each lesson (reading questions, with expression, periods, commas, etc.) Then you read along with computer. Then student clicks start, reads again, clicks finish. It tells new words per minute. My son does not usually reach the goal but he is always excited to see his progress.

 

[robinsegg]

Hi!
I'm Rachel, and this is our 6th year homeschooling (including 1 year preK).
I've never heard of HS days at WDW. Can you give me more info?
We've never been, planning a trip the week after Thanksgiving 2010. We'll be taking a 10yo, 8yo and 17mo (in a MobyWrap and probably renting a stroller).
Nice to see this thread!

 

[DawnM]

HS days are the 3rd week of Sept and the 3rd week of January. Much less expensive tickets!

It is through the Disney Y.E.S. program (you can google it).

Dawn

Hi!
I'm Rachel, and this is our 6th year homeschooling (including 1 year preK).
I've never heard of HS days at WDW. Can you give me more info?
We've never been, planning a trip the week after Thanksgiving 2010. We'll be taking a 10yo, 8yo and 17mo (in a MobyWrap and probably renting a stroller).
Nice to see this thread!

 

[robinsegg]

Thanks!
It's always cool to "meet" other hs'ers!
Anythng I should be "on the lookout" for to study when we return?

 

[LegoMom3]

Hey y'all!!! I don't know if this has been mentioned here before, but I just discovered homeschooling at about.com - too cool! The actual web address is http://homeschooling.about.com There are ALL kinds of FREE printables available there. And if you do unit studies, they have TONS! I just printed out a bunch of stuff on the state of California for one of my boys who is really interested in studying that state. There are questions listed that the kids need to find the answers to, and you can either do it right there with the provided links, or if you want to toss in some book work, have them look it up in an encyclopedia or the like.

I'm so excited to have found this resource!!

.

 

[belle22]

I am looking for Mult Time test for 100 problems a test for each fact --
all 1's -- all 2's -- all 3's ect.

I would also like to combine the facts once mastered. Once we learn 3's a test for 0 thru 3's. Learn 4's then add 0-4's...ect

Anyone know a site that has these?

 

[savannahcat]

My daughter attends a private school, but I am interested in supplementing with a foreign language at home. I'm looking for resources that will be fun for her and not necessarily like classroom work. Any help would be great!

Thanks!

 

[robinsegg]

I'm not sure if this will help with math, but you could look up http://www.theteacherscorner.net/printable-worksheets/

For Spanish, have you looked at Rosetta Stone?

 

[ekatiel]

Hi Guys. I've never posted on the home school thread before, so I hope it's ok to start . I don't home school, but I do teach home schooling classes at a local home school alliance. I decided to hold fall and spring parent/teacher conferences for the first time this year for my Guided Reading classes (I teach a K/1 class and a 2nd-4th grade class). I was wondering if you guys would give me some input about what kind of information you'd like to receive in a short (15 minute slots!) conference about your child's reading. I am planning on addressing:
The child's current reading level
The level where the child "should" be by the end of the year
Some tips on teaching reading more effectively at home

The problem is, I have SO many tips, that I can't possibly fit it all in! So, what sort of tips would you find useful?
Tips on supporting your reader's decoding (reading the words)?
Tips on supporting your reader's comprehension?
Any other tips?

I'm also not sure how in depth I should go. When I taught public school, I did not go very in depth about reading instruction, but these parents are their childrens' primary reading teachers (I only meet with the kids for one hour a week and then send home readers and homework for the rest of the week). So, how in depth do most home school parents want to go with reading instruction? Thanks for any input you have. I want the conferences to be useful to the parents, but I also don't want to go over their heads and use too much "teacher" lingo!! --Katie

 

[robinsegg]

Hi Guys. I've never posted on the home school thread before, so I hope it's ok to start . I don't home school, but I do teach home schooling classes at a local home school alliance. I decided to hold fall and spring parent/teacher conferences for the first time this year for my Guided Reading classes (I teach a K/1 class and a 2nd-4th grade class). I was wondering if you guys would give me some input about what kind of information you'd like to receive in a short (15 minute slots!) conference about your child's reading. I am planning on addressing:
The child's current reading level
The level where the child "should" be by the end of the year
Some tips on teaching reading more effectively at home

The problem is, I have SO many tips, that I can't possibly fit it all in! So, what sort of tips would you find useful?
Tips on supporting your reader's decoding (reading the words)?
Tips on supporting your reader's comprehension?
Any other tips?

I'm also not sure how in depth I should go. When I taught public school, I did not go very in depth about reading instruction, but these parents are their childrens' primary reading teachers (I only meet with the kids for one hour a week and then send home readers and homework for the rest of the week). So, how in depth do most home school parents want to go with reading instruction? Thanks for any input you have. I want the conferences to be useful to the parents, but I also don't want to go over their heads and use too much "teacher" lingo!! --Katie

Hi Katie!
I'm a homeschooler who uses the ps speech therapy dept., so I may be a good person to answer this?
If I were asking you to help my student with reading, here's what I would want to know:
1. What exercises should I be doing with my student through the week?
2. What are my students specific issues?
3. What portions of reading should I be working on, and which should I wait on? Is there anything I should be bringing to my child's attention more than anything else?
4. What do I need to bring with us each week for my students' sessions with you?

As I was going to school to be an elementary teacher before I had kids, I may be more "in tune" with this sort of thing . . . I don't know about that. But, by and large, the hs'ers I've met were willing to research their students' issues and be knowledgeable about them, even if getting outside help. Try not to use too much jargon, but make sure you communicate the specifics of each student with the parents, and how best they can help.

I hope this gives you a starting point.

 

[pipersmom]

Due to various medical issues, I'm going to be keeping my 8 yo daughter (3rd grade) out of her school until spring. Right now it looks like we'll be doing some combination of homebound teacher and homeschooling. Does anyone have experience with that sort of arrangement? Are there things I should specifically address when I speak with special services? Thanks in advance...

 

[love__goofy]

I read, I think on here, about some type of lapbook that someone had designed which gave information about the countries around Epcot. Maybe I am losing my mind..lol. If anyone has any information on that, I would appreciate it. We leave for the World in about 3 weeks...Yippee!

 

[ekatiel]

Hi Katie!
I'm a homeschooler who uses the ps speech therapy dept., so I may be a good person to answer this?
If I were asking you to help my student with reading, here's what I would want to know:
1. What exercises should I be doing with my student through the week?
2. What are my students specific issues?
3. What portions of reading should I be working on, and which should I wait on? Is there anything I should be bringing to my child's attention more than anything else?
4. What do I need to bring with us each week for my students' sessions with you?

As I was going to school to be an elementary teacher before I had kids, I may be more "in tune" with this sort of thing . . . I don't know about that. But, by and large, the hs'ers I've met were willing to research their students' issues and be knowledgeable about them, even if getting outside help. Try not to use too much jargon, but make sure you communicate the specifics of each student with the parents, and how best they can help.

I hope this gives you a starting point.

Thanks for the ideas! I think I will definitely focus more on the individual students' needs and how the parents can help them with their weaknesses! --Katie

 

[NHWX]

I think edhelper.com might have something like that. I'd give it a look, at any rate.

NHWX

I am looking for Mult Time test for 100 problems a test for each fact --
all 1's -- all 2's -- all 3's ect.

I would also like to combine the facts once mastered. Once we learn 3's a test for 0 thru 3's. Learn 4's then add 0-4's...ect

Anyone know a site that has these?

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

I read, I think on here, about some type of lapbook that someone had designed which gave information about the countries around Epcot. Maybe I am losing my mind..lol. If anyone has any information on that, I would appreciate it. We leave for the World in about 3 weeks...Yippee!

This is probably what you have heard about
http://vacationeducationbooks.net/epcot.aspx

We are using this plus books from the library.

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

Also I printed out some passport pages from http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r132/donatalie/Passports/Passport 3/

I don't see the ones we are using but I like this set even better. I think they are going to have to rewrite the ones we have done. I have the children write how to say hello, goodbye, thanks, yes and no in each language. Then on another I have them write a couple interesting facts they learned.

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

I wanted to post you samples from the passport pages that Natalie (a fellow diser) has for free (along with MANY other AMAZING things) I posted the link in the above post.

I am having my children write hello, goodbye, thanks, yes, and no in each language and then one fact on the page with lines. They can get this stamped when we go to Epcot. Then the are filling in the blanks (people called, language spoken, capital) and coloring the flag on the other page. I am printing them two to a page.

 

[desparatelydisney]

I am looking for Mult Time test for 100 problems a test for each fact --
all 1's -- all 2's -- all 3's ect.

I would also like to combine the facts once mastered. Once we learn 3's a test for 0 thru 3's. Learn 4's then add 0-4's...ect

Anyone know a site that has these?

Try Math Magician
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/Mathmagician/cathymath.html