*** Homeschool List ***

[disneymom3]

We like A Reason for Handwriting. I was actually reading not too long ago that penmanship has been all but dropped in PS due to teaching for the NCLB tests. The amount of time third graders spend learning cursive has dropped dramatically in the past 50 years or so. The article talked about how the only cursive an adult really needs is for their signature! Even in high school and college now almost everything is done on the computer, from taking notes to writing papers. I wish I could remember where I read it, I'm thinking it was in the newspaper last summer.

As you guys know, DD started school this last month. My one area I was worried about is her penmanship. It is atrocious! However, she does all of her journal entries, writing for book reports, history etc on the computer so it really doesn't factor in. My sister though had participated in a study (she was an SAT judge for the writing composition portion) that showed that kids who wrote cursive for their composition portion scored much higher than kids who printed. The scores are based on complexity of sentence structure, grammar, vocabulary and.....one other thing, sorry....and in ALL of those areas the cursive kids scored much higher as a group. So, this summer DD will be doing daily writing and yep, as much as she hates it, she will be doing it in cursive!

 

[tswoodruff7]

We have been homeschooling for 3 yrs. We love it. We use ABEKA, mystery of History, My Fathers World and honestly anything else that catches our attention.
Sabrina

 

[teacups]

English/Language? I have an advanced 3rd grader who loves anything with words! What curriculum would you all suggest for her for English/language/Grammar? Also spelling... but I may create my own in that area. Thanks for any info.

 

[NHWX]

I used Edhelper.com's spelling lists when my ds12 was younger. They seemed to be fairly well organized.

NHWX

 

[DangerMouse]

Hi there! A friend over on the DLR boards pointed me to this thread, so I thought I'd pop in and introduce myself.

I'm Callie, and I homeschool my 3 kids (dd(11); ds(8); dd(6)). We've been doing it since the beginning and use a blended curriculum including AWANA, Horizon Math, Math-U-See, Explode the Code, Easy Grammar/Daily Grams, Handwriting Without Tears, Abeka History, KONOS, FIAR, and Spelling Power. I mix and match curriculum based on my kids' individual learning styles.

I mostly hang out over on the DLR board because I am obsessed with the LAND and do trip planning as a side business.

Hope to be able to pop in here from time to time to get to know some other homeschooling Disney fanatics.

 

[wvdislover]

As you guys know, DD started school this last month. My one area I was worried about is her penmanship. It is atrocious! However, she does all of her journal entries, writing for book reports, history etc on the computer so it really doesn't factor in. My sister though had participated in a study (she was an SAT judge for the writing composition portion) that showed that kids who wrote cursive for their composition portion scored much higher than kids who printed. The scores are based on complexity of sentence structure, grammar, vocabulary and.....one other thing, sorry....and in ALL of those areas the cursive kids scored much higher as a group. So, this summer DD will be doing daily writing and yep, as much as she hates it, she will be doing it in cursive!

By the time your child gets to that point, the writing portion (and maybe the whole test) may be on computer (it would definitely be easier to score!). I HS my DD10, but my DD6 is still in PS. Our most recent newsletter says that the 3rd-5th graders at our school are participating in a pilot program in May, in which the "essay" portion of the state's standardized test (WESTEST) will be done on computer. Interesting!

 

[DawnM]

UGH!

I just can't stand the "debate" over on the budget board about how socially stupid homeschoolers are.....this is the same board that is saying bullying is a problem in our schools!

Dawn

 

[teacups]

Hi there! A friend over on the DLR boards pointed me to this thread, so I thought I'd pop in and introduce myself.

I'm Callie, and I homeschool my 3 kids (dd(11); ds(8); dd(6)). We've been doing it since the beginning and use a blended curriculum including AWANA, Horizon Math, Math-U-See, Explode the Code, Easy Grammar/Daily Grams, Handwriting Without Tears, Abeka History, KONOS, FIAR, and Spelling Power. I mix and match curriculum based on my kids' individual learning styles.

I mostly hang out over on the DLR board because I am obsessed with the LAND and do trip planning as a side business.

Hope to be able to pop in here from time to time to get to know some other homeschooling Disney fanatics.

Hi DM! You and I have talked over on the DLR board. Who could forget your location? Welcome!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

tnmomof4-
A Reason for Spelling is lists of words with common sounds or they all share the same blend. Every list has something like that in common. We looooooved this book (&the handwriting) so much more than ABeka. I loved ABeka because we were already familiar with it, and it's tried and true, and we love the Christian approach,but.......Takes way too much time. They do have certain things that we just loved, phonics and the pre-k and kinder. are great, but the older they get, we just weren't as happy. I too am a curriculum mixer! Eclectic homeschooler You just gotta mix til you find what works for you!

 

[Ellester]

UGH!

I just can't stand the "debate" over on the budget board about how socially stupid homeschoolers are.....this is the same board that is saying bullying is a problem in our schools!

Dawn

Well, it has been a week or two since the last snarky comments on a homeschooling thread. We were about due. I just have to laugh when I read some of the comments. People really can be so self-righteously ignorant sometimes!

 

[sha_lyn]

LOL...tell me about it
About a yr ago a comment was made that was something like "your kids will never get to experience normal things like the prom or dating"
So I asked them to explain how DS went to a homeschool prom both his jr and sr yr. Oh and of course I pointed out that he had a date for the proms, and dated often.

Or they'll say my kids don't get to participate in sports. OK then explain all the medals and trophies my kids have earned. I guess I just travel all over for competitions because I like stalking "normal" kids


Vent over....

 

[Ellester]

I guess I just travel all over for competitions because I like stalking "normal" kids

 

[DawnM]

Ok, deleting my post and trying not to stoop down to snarky level.

I HATE the rudeness that is going on over there!

Dawn

Well, it has been a week or two since the last snarky comments on a homeschooling thread. We were about due. I just have to laugh when I read some of the comments. People really can be so self-righteously ignorant sometimes!

 

[NHWX]

I confess I had to stick my elbow into the conversation over there. But then I came back here to be happy.

Nice homeschooling related comment: Today we were at a neighbors' house, enjoying hanging out with a bunch of people and saying hello to their second eldest son who was home on an 18 day leave from Iraq. (Every mother who walked in the door just had to hug him.) My oldest was there, talking with a variety of people, including their daughter who is in the same grade. At one point this daughter said something to the effect of "You are so lucky! I would do anything so I could be homeschooled!" Her older brother, the one in the Army, had been homeschooed for part of middle school and one of her sister in laws had been completely homeschooled so she knows what she's talking about. Nice to hear other kids validate what we're doing.

Compelely off topic - please send a prayer, or good thoughts or whatever you might think might help to keep these young men and women safe in the Middle East. I know our neighbor felt like the Army was the employer of last resort but that's where he is now. I only heard bits and pieces about his life but it is a very nitty-gritty existence there.

NHWX

 

[sha_lyn]

I believe I just stumbled upon a great resource. Haven't had time to look it over too much. I have looked at the main site before, but I just found the free lesson plans.
http://www.coreknowledge.org/CK/resrcs/lessons/index.htm

 

[bear74]

For our Kinder, we are doing:
Abeka Phonics Program
Little Pilgrims History
Abeka Numbers, etc.
Fun with Music
Various art programs, reading and phonics workbooks .

I guess that's the gist of where we are at right now. We're starting now so that we aren't behind when we break in September for Disney

I just finished setting up all their lessons plans for the year - I so love Homeschool Tracker!!! So, we are set to go

thanks for the ideas

One fabulous resource I am using is www.home-school-inc.com. You can set up a whole school online - and it's free.

I have set up our entire school year - it's hard to describe - you really have to check it out. Good luck to everyone else!!

thanks for the link

Add me to the list!! My son is only 3, but we have decided to try homeschooling. My BIGGEST reason for wanting to homeschool is b/c I think schools are forcing way too much on kids and way too early. I don't see any reason why an elementary school student should spend 6 to 8 hours a day stuck in a classroom, and then have to come home and spend another 1 to 2 hours on homework. We had an awesome private Christian school picked out, but I just couldn't stop thinking that I could do a better job, in less time, without having to sacrifice his childhood. Not to mention the fact that the 10K a year tuition could be used to SHOW him the world, not just read about it. My second reason is that both my husband and I are/were linguists. I want my son to learn both Spanish and Chinese, and even our awesome private school didn't start Spanish until 6th grade and didn't even have Chinese; so there you go
I think I like the sonlight curriculum the best, but I don't plan on actually getting curriculum until next year, so I still have a year to think about it. Have homeschoolers got their own "area" yet????

I so agree with this

The group is set up! Please PM me with your email addy as this is by invite only. My yahoo ID is baby_dreaming73 but I will start a thread so we can keep track of who's who if their DIS name is different.

great idea

http://www.3dtravelcompany.com/docs/Ultimate Field Trip.pdf

Is this the Sept Homeschool field trip you are looking for?

that would be a fun working field trip

I used Hands on Homeschooling and loved it. It just gave a little more structure to our day, and had some terrific arts and crafts and games that incorporated whatever we were currently learning.

thanks I will check out this site

http://www.fiveinarow.com

Ditto that it is a great way to spend time learning with little ones. Also agree that finding a local mom's group/playgroup is a good idea. I always needed the interaction more than my kids! I also like the preschool workbooks from Rod & Staff. (http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/item/10021/) They are very inexpensive and my youngest two have really liked them.

thanks

 

[bear74]

count me in I want to homeschool my DD who will be 5 in July. My parents are giving me a hard time. My mom is our babysitter when I am at work. Today she told me that I needed to put my DD in a preschool program at least once a week or public or private school so that she can learn to play with more then one kid at a time. Apparently my Nephew and his half-brother were at moms over the weekend and DD would only play with one of them at a time and would ignore the other one. I have looked at yahoo groups. their is one that has a park day every week but it is on a day both DH and myself work.
I went to a church based school, from K -12. DH went to one 9-12. I want this type of educational environment for my DD's. But these type of schools are a little out of budget. I dislike that the schools have to pretty much teach strictly to standardized test's.

 

[Ellester]

Compelely off topic - please send a prayer, or good thoughts or whatever you might think might help to keep these young men and women safe in the Middle East. I know our neighbor felt like the Army was the employer of last resort but that's where he is now. I only heard bits and pieces about his life but it is a very nitty-gritty existence there.

DH's cousin was staying with us over the weekend, DH just left to drop him off at Ft. Benning's airfield so he can leave for Afghanistan tonight. He's a Navy officer but doing some kind of contractor oversight which is why he'll be in a landlocked country for the next 6 months. It's been quite an eyeopener living where so many families are in the military. At least three local hs families we know have dads in Iraq right now. Most of them get to come home next month now that their extended 15 month tour is coming to a close.

 

[Ellester]

Welcome to the thread, bear74 & DangerMouse!

 

[Ellester]

Here's another site: www.amblesideonline.com

Friend's of ours use it, it uses the Charlotte Mason approach and is FREE! I know that their 11yo dd scored in the graduate school level (above grade 18) in the general knowledge section of the WJ-III test we took last week. Smart, smart family.