*** Homeschool List ***

[disneymom3]

Ummmm, feeling just like you do! I know I have lowered my expectations for what I accomplish each day with each child. I also make sure that science and history are the same for all of them.



Disneymom3~
Last year I did use the same science and history programs for all three children, and I think that is why the year went much smoother. Then my brain went into overdrive and worry mode kicked in, and I couldn't figure out at what point in our history program that I was going to need to stop and reteach the same material for the younger two. This year they are each in their own program, and it is very time consuming on my part. We are in three different time periods. For science, we are still sharing a program. It works well for us right now, and I don't think anyone is behind or missing anything. However, this may change soon as my oldest DS is going into 7th grade, and he is a big science guy. I will have to kick it up a bit.

I don't know anything about Math U See, but I have heard excellent things about it. I think you will do fine working at two different spots in the curriculum. It might even be easier since you will be familiar with what is coming up for your younger son. Starting the program over the summer will also help because it will give you time to prepare for how you might want to approach it with each of your sons.

I don't think I have enough brain power to manage three different time periods! Yikes. I totally know what you mean though about the whole freak out thing! OH, how I know about that! Did it myself recently but it actually did me some good. I want my boys to do world geography but we have not done, well, finished, US Geography yet. We have done all of hte east coast all of hte south and some of the midwest. So, I decided we are counting our trip to the west this summer as geography and they are all going to have little booklets to work on for each state we drive through and see things in. That way I can be ready by the fall when I want to start World Geography. That will then keep me in line for where I want to be for my next years of History.

We homeschooling moms are a bunch of kooks, I tell ya!

 

[Momvic5]

I don't think I have enough brain power to manage three different time periods! Yikes. I totally know what you mean though about the whole freak out thing! OH, how I know about that! Did it myself recently but it actually did me some good. I want my boys to do world geography but we have not done, well, finished, US Geography yet. We have done all of hte east coast all of hte south and some of the midwest. So, I decided we are counting our trip to the west this summer as geography and they are all going to have little booklets to work on for each state we drive through and see things in. That way I can be ready by the fall when I want to start World Geography. That will then keep me in line for where I want to be for my next years of History.

We homeschooling moms are a bunch of kooks, I tell ya!

Oh...don't get me started on geography. World Geography haunts me in my sleep. We get bits and pieces of it here and there, but it is not a subject of its own yet. Last year, my son's spelling curriculum incorporated US Geography into each lesson, and that was nice because it was readily available and part of his daily work.

I agree~ just a bunch of kooks ~ but I have to say I am begining to be Smarter than a Fifth Grader!

 

[sha_lyn]

here's more in the series with the school kid/home kid
http://www.arcamax.com/newspics/5/508/50893.gif
http://www.arcamax.com/babyblues

 

[mickeyjen]

Ok, about the bullying thread.....the more I read the more I think it is abusive for these parents to continually send their children into these environments 8 hours per day!!!! If the allegations are true (which may not be) then I would yank my kid out of those schools in a hot minute! How can they allow their children to be tortured like that on a daily basis???

Dawn

Its funny you mention this... I actually said to DH when I finished reading a lot of that thread that if any of those things ever happened to one of my children, I'd be homeschooling in a heartbeat! Then I realized that my opinion sounded pretty ridiculous coming from someone who homeschools without any of those triggers...

Still, I just can't imagine sending my child into an environment like the ones these people are describing. It wouldn't take more than one time for me to be doing something completely different!

 

[mommyof2princesses]

When does everyone finish up the school year? My dd13 finished her math and spanish already. She is doing some math review and some practice for algebra. I think she will be done at the end of April, but that sounds sooo early!

Dd4 finished her math already too. We are doing Sing spell read write and I think I will take it into next year. She is doing awesome on the reading but the writing is a lot for her so we have slowed down.

Does anyone stop in April, or do you just keep on going with other stuff?

 

[lori1043]

Read "They Way They Learn" by Cynthia Tobias. It should be very helpful in identifying her learning style.

I also loved this book! Another is DQ Factor by Dr Cinnamaun(or something like it), it mostlty defines discipline styles that work with your specific kind of child, but it helped me with D8 a while back when we were getting kindergarten started!!

Lori

 

[disneymom3]

I don't think you'll have any problem running Alpha at two different levels. We are currently on Alpha for dd6 and Gamma for dd9. It works great for us, other than when dd6 wants to sing her original composition: "math song" at full volume to "help her think". That gets dd9 all in an uproar, she sometimes ends up retreating to her upper bunk to finish her math!

That is good to know. From what I have gathered, basically I watch the DVD and then teach them following that system as I would with any other teacher manual. Is that right? Or do they watch the DVD too?

I am working on a more concrete system for next year. Don't want to get carried away here! I know that we are going to have to take off the days that DD is home from school unless she has projects to work on so I need to make sure we have a bit more structure than we have for the last year.

 

[mickeyjen]

When does everyone finish up the school year? My dd13 finished her math and spanish already. She is doing some math review and some practice for algebra. I think she will be done at the end of April, but that sounds sooo early!

Dd4 finished her math already too. We are doing Sing spell read write and I think I will take it into next year. She is doing awesome on the reading but the writing is a lot for her so we have slowed down.

Does anyone stop in April, or do you just keep on going with other stuff?

We actually don't ever stop... We do a lot of unit studies and things rather than actual curriculum, so we just move on to the next subject. The things we are using a "curriculum" for, we move on to the next level when they're ready. When we all need a break, we take one!

 

[DawnM]

Is this thread really going to be killed once we get to 200 pages? Is that the magic number where threads die????

I know we can start over again, but that makes me sad!

Dawn

 

[disneymom3]

I know Dawn. Maybe we can get a dispensation since we can't get our own long asked for board! Maybe we should get a new one started while we still have the ability to still link it here.

 

[Ellester]

That is good to know. From what I have gathered, basically I watch the DVD and then teach them following that system as I would with any other teacher manual. Is that right? Or do they watch the DVD too?

You can do it either way. We watch the DVD together, he actually teaches the lesson to a group of kids on the DVD. Then I help as needed until they get the concept. It seems overkill for me to watch it and then just repeat what he said. My kids generally like to watch him, he's goofy in a good way. I do pause sometimes when he asks a question to give them time to answer before a kid on the video does.

 

[bbp]

Having received 2 emails from readers who had the same interpretation of this series of strips, I decided to go to Google to check if there were any others out there interpreting them the same way. That's how I came upon this forum. Luckily, I didn't find any others.

Sorry for the intrusion (I don't plan on frequenting the board), but I would like to confirm that the series of strips do not have anything at all to do with home-schooling. As mentioned in subsequent replies they are strictly comparisons of kids' behavior at school versus at home. If you'll notice, the strips say "School Kid," "Home Kid," not "Home-schooled Kid."

I'd just like to mention too, that in perusing some of the posts following this thread, I see that home-schooling is not the only object of stereotyping. There seems to be a little stereotyping of public schooling, too: "What do you ask the PS kids? How do you roll a joint? How do you buy beer without an ID? What's the bully motto?"

Having had both our kids entirely public-schooled, one is now working on a Masters in Social Work and the other is finishing college in a creative field, both with high grades. Both have high ethical standards, and are all-around great people. While I can't guarantee they don't know how to roll a joint, I don't think all home-schooling parents could guarantee that, either. It would be both dangerous and naive to assume that. Those kinds of comments have as much to do with parenting as school.

Thanks very much for reading the strip, and we'll try to be more clear with our gags. Please keep an open mind, and don't assume everyone is out to get you.

Rick Kirkman
Baby Blues

 

[bbp]

Having received 2 emails from readers who had the same interpretation of this series of strips, I decided to go to Google to check if there were any others out there interpreting them the same way. That's how I came upon this forum. Luckily, I didn't find any others.

Sorry for the intrusion (I don't plan on frequenting the board), but I would like to confirm that the series of strips do not have anything at all to do with home-schooling. As mentioned in subsequent replies they are strictly comparisons of kids' behavior at school versus at home. If you'll notice, the strips say "School Kid," "Home Kid," not "Home-schooled Kid."

I'd just like to mention too, that in perusing some of the posts following this thread, I see that home-schooling is not the only object of stereotyping. There seems to be a little stereotyping of public schooling, too: "What do you ask the PS kids? How do you roll a joint? How do you buy beer without an ID? What's the bully motto?"

Having had both our kids entirely public-schooled, one is now working on a Masters in Social Work and the other is finishing college in a creative field, both with high grades. Both have high ethical standards, and are all-around great people. While I can't guarantee they don't know how to roll a joint, I don't think all home-schooling parents could guarantee that, either. It would be both dangerous and naive to assume that. Those kinds of comments have as much to do with parenting as school.

Thanks very much for reading the strip, and we'll try to be more clear with our gags. Please keep an open mind, and don't assume everyone is out to get you.

Rick Kirkman
Baby Blues

 

[bbp]

Sorry, I don't know why that posted twice. (sigh) I don't do much of this sort of thing.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

We don't stop, either. We document 15 days a month (using a large lined student desk calendar I got from Staples) and it has worked out very well for us. (We're required to document 180 days a year. We learn 365 days a year, but we only have to document 180).

Dianna

I don't know if I could go all summer. Especially with a high schooler! We will still do other fun and educational activities, but no " real" school work!

Is this thread really going to be killed once we get to 200 pages? Is that the magic number where threads die????

I know we can start over again, but that makes me sad!

Dawn

I know Dawn. Maybe we can get a dispensation since we can't get our own long asked for board! Maybe we should get a new one started while we still have the ability to still link it here.

Over at the disboutique board we just start a new one and link it in the last post and in the first posts. I am sure everyone will find their way! It's great we have som many homeschoolers here!

 

[Ellester]

Having received 2 emails from readers who had the same interpretation of this series of strips, I decided to go to Google to check if there were any others out there interpreting them the same way. That's how I came upon this forum. Luckily, I didn't find any others.

Sorry for the intrusion (I don't plan on frequenting the board), but I would like to confirm that the series of strips do not have anything at all to do with home-schooling. As mentioned in subsequent replies they are strictly comparisons of kids' behavior at school versus at home. If you'll notice, the strips say "School Kid," "Home Kid," not "Home-schooled Kid."

I'd just like to mention too, that in perusing some of the posts following this thread, I see that home-schooling is not the only object of stereotyping. There seems to be a little stereotyping of public schooling, too: "What do you ask the PS kids? How do you roll a joint? How do you buy beer without an ID? What's the bully motto?"

Having had both our kids entirely public-schooled, one is now working on a Masters in Social Work and the other is finishing college in a creative field, both with high grades. Both have high ethical standards, and are all-around great people. While I can't guarantee they don't know how to roll a joint, I don't think all home-schooling parents could guarantee that, either. It would be both dangerous and naive to assume that. Those kinds of comments have as much to do with parenting as school.

Thanks very much for reading the strip, and we'll try to be more clear with our gags. Please keep an open mind, and don't assume everyone is out to get you.

Rick Kirkman
Baby Blues

Wow! A celebrity on our post! Just have to say that I love, love, love the Baby Blues strip. Having three of my own makes me appreciate much of the humor and insight. I never thought about this current series of strips having anything to do with homeschooling, I thought they were on point remembering my public schooling days.

I had to comment though on your comments about our stereotyping. You would have to know the recent history of this thread and these boards. There was another post by a new homeschooler asking for advice on locating free materials and websites for her young son. The thread was hijacked by a few very anti-homeschooling posters who had nothing worthwhile to add other than to attack the poster and homeschoolers as a whole, unfortunately this kind of behavior is not unusual on posts seeking answers and advice about homeschooling. This thread is our "safe zone" so to speak, although it does get invaded from time to time. The anti-PS posts you may have seen are in direct response to the frustration we sometimes feel when bombarded by anti-homeschooling sentiments. What I have come to realize after frequenting this post over the past three years is that most homeschoolers appreciate the choices that are available to all of us in the US regarding the educational opportunities we have for our children. Public, private, home, secular, religious, etc. we are incredibly fortunate to have so many choices. No one choice is right for everyone.

Thanks for taking the time to post! It shows that you truly care what your readers think, and I sincerely appreciate that.

 

[DawnM]

Well said.

I don't think anyone on this board is truly anti-PS or any other kind of school. I am not and we may very well eventually choose PS for our children at some point down the road.

Dawn

Wow! A celebrity on our post! Just have to say that I love, love, love the Baby Blues strip. Having three of my own makes me appreciate much of the humor and insight. I never thought about this current series of strips having anything to do with homeschooling, I thought they were on point remembering my public schooling days.

I had to comment though on your comments about our stereotyping. You would have to know the recent history of this thread and these boards. There was another post by a new homeschooler asking for advice on locating free materials and websites for her young son. The thread was hijacked by a few very anti-homeschooling posters who had nothing worthwhile to add other than to attack the poster and homeschoolers as a whole, unfortunately this kind of behavior is not unusual on posts seeking answers and advice about homeschooling. This thread is our "safe zone" so to speak, although it does get invaded from time to time. The anti-PS posts you may have seen are in direct response to the frustration we sometimes feel when bombarded by anti-homeschooling sentiments. What I have come to realize after frequenting this post over the past three years is that most homeschoolers appreciate the choices that are available to all of us in the US regarding the educational opportunities we have for our children. Public, private, home, secular, religious, etc. we are incredibly fortunate to have so many choices. No one choice is right for everyone.

Thanks for taking the time to post! It shows that you truly care what your readers think, and I sincerely appreciate that.

 

[teacups]

Nobody here (at least not me) is anti PS, but plenty (out there) are anti HS... and I must question why this comic strip celebrity failed to make note of the very inappropriate behavior of many towards the HSer (such as questioning my children at a grocery store), but was offended at my comments regarding the stereotype switch. I did not say those are traits of PS kids... I simply implied that I would question the next person who was rude enough to doubt that my HS kids could answer their silly questions what silly questions they had for PS kids.

One person questioned this comic in the heat of the moment and he tells us not to think everyone is out to get us?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[disneymom3]

Nobody here (at least not me) is anti PS, but plenty (out there) are anti HS... and I must question why this comic strip celebrity failed to make note of the very inappropriate behavior of many towards the HSer (such as questioning my children at a grocery store), but was offended at my comments regarding the stereotype switch. I did not say those are traits of PS kids... I simply implied that I would question the next person who was rude enough to doubt that my HS kids could answer their silly questions what silly questions they had for PS kids.

One person questioned this comic in the heat of the moment and he tells us not to think everyone is out to get us?

Thanks for the advice.

That struck me as well, teacups. I had no problem with the comic strip at all, but clearly bbp didn't read all 189 pages of this thread or even 10 of them--just made a judgement on something posted in a time of frustration. He completely missed the point of your post--that people feel free to question us and slam our decision but no one throws anything back to them about their own choices.

I have to say that my respect for the author of Baby Blues just went down a lot today.

 

[sha_lyn]

One person questioned this comic in the heat of the moment and he tells us not to think everyone is out to get us?

While only 1 questioned it here, posts about this "attack on homeschooling" are all over the Internet

Rick,
Thank you for taking your time to post.
Don't' worry about the double post, it happens from time to time.
As others have said, the comments about public school were really nothing more than a tongue-in-cheek answer to similar comments received about home-schooling.

IE..... If you looked through this thread you might have seen my story on losing a friendship. The woman insisted that the only reason to home-school was because the parents were too lazy to get up in early the morning. We attended high school together, and were reacquainted when our daughters became best friends in a toddler tumbling class.
My answer to her could insinuate that stay-at-home moms with kids in school go back to bed and stay there until their kids came home. I certainly don't believe that to be true, but it was my knee jerk reaction to her insinuating that all home-schoolers are lazy.