*** Homeschool List ***

[hsmamato2]

Love Discovery channel...wish we had tivo...
we had a good unschooling math lesson here. we built our own gingerbread house- to do it- we had to quadruple the recipe- b/c of allergykid, it calls for 3 types of four- ak was surprised to figure out you have to convert '1/2 cup" to .5,and 3/4 c to .75 -in order to input with a calculator-------------------------------- important lesson of day?
A calculator is just a tool -that the user HAS to know how and what to input- AND ask the right question- ONLY then will he get the correct answer.
A calculator won't provide the answers unless the user knows what he's asking,and how to use that info. In our house, that's an excellent lesson to learn.
Not to mention,fractions, multiplying,percentages,dividing...I could go on and on....

 

[tmli]

I also would be interested as I am starting to HS by ds (9) tomorrow!!! It was to begin after the xmas break but he came home in tears today begging me to not make him go back!

 

[disneymom3]

Welcome Tracy! So sorry your DS is going through whatever it is that is making him so sad. I am interested to know how homeschooling in Canada would differ from the US. Do you have any set curriculum you are required to follow? Is homeschooling very prevalent there?

Good luck and come here whenever you need reinforcement.

 

[Belle0101]

I also would be interested as I am starting to HS by ds (9) tomorrow!!! It was to begin after the xmas break but he came home in tears today begging me to not make him go back!

I'm sorry to hear that your son is having a bit of trouble at school. My son was 9 when he had his troubles too. We've been h'schooling since March of this year.

And do keep coming to these boards. I got very down and everybody was so great about encouraging me to not give up.

 

[tmli]

Thankjs for the warm welcomes! My son has Aspergers and is Bi Polar. He has an IEP which the school has not been following. The kids have been bullying him relentlessly and the school is doing nothing. Yesterday he retaliated with a not so nice gesture and was punished while the student who has been torturing him was not disciplined at all.

From what I have learned (remember I am VERY new to this) is that I must notify the school in writing and can expect a letter back from the board telling me they are aware and have been notified. They could ask me to fill out a detailed form of intent if they question whether or not he will be schooled at home properly. However, they rarely if ever do as the burden of proof appears to be on them that the request is valid.

They are a large number of hs'ers right here in my area that I plan to connect with. It is becoming more and more common.

I have not yet had time or the proper knowledge to choose a curriculum. I just discovered in my province their is an organization that provides the exact curriculum the schools are using with full lesson plans etc, they will score work and issue a provincial report card and they are funded by the Ministry of Education. The cost is $120 plus cost of textbooks. I may give it a try because it is line with what he has been learning so far. I really didn't have a problem with the material just the way it was being taught.

Then again I may use it for one year until I get "comfortable" and then do my own thing. The issue is I have an ex who will be looking for every opportunity to proof this was a bad idea.

My province does not require me to file reports or make any justifications to them. Unless of course there is reason to suspect I am not doing what I should be.

Phew, that was long winded!

 

[disneymom3]

The issue is I have an ex who will be looking for every opportunity to proof this was a bad idea.

Test scores, my dear. Test scores. If I were you, I would find a Peabody tester in my area. From what I have heard from many sources, that style of testing is going to work much better for a child with Asperger's than a fill in the dot standardized test. Have him tested now to get a starting point. Here in MN the testers usually charge $40-$55 and will come to your home or meet in a library or whatever works best for your child. Then at the end of the year, you can have him tested again and see how far he progressed. Trust me, without the constant stress of the social garbage he has had to deal with in school, his brain is just going to soak up the info. And, overall, homeschooled students score an average of 2 grade levels higher than their peers. Even if that is not the case, you will be able to show that he is progressing through tracking those scores.

Now, for the reason I am on here this morning. I am sooooo frustrated with my 5 yo, I don't even know what to do. I even told him today that if he didn't stop complaining and moping around the house ALL the time(!!!!!) that I was going to send him to public school. (Nice, huh?) He is just the whiniest most annoying child. He will NOT find anything to do on his own and is soooo incredibly obnoxious when I try to do anything even resembling school with him that it makes me crazy. Today, I thought it would be fun to play alphabet dominoes. THis is a set I found on the internet and one side has a letter and one has a picture and you are supposed to match up the pics and the letter sounds. NOPE. So, I got out the counting bears and we were playing with those where we would have different friends come join in and leave to go to bed etc etc and figuring out how many we had as we went along. Oh my goodness, you would have thought I was putting the child through boot camp. Okay fine, leave the table and find something on your own to do. So, now he has spent the last half an hour wandering around moping. I have offerred to do playdough with him, read books and play legos. Nope. Doesn't want any of that.


AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH! I don't know what to do with this chld. I think that if I had left him completely alone this morning, he would have just played, but really, can I just let him hang out with no structure all day, every day? I am planning on starting FIAR after the holidays, but honestly it takes a lot of work and I don't want to go through all of that if he is going to be a pain in the neck about it. And then of course, we have DD 9 who loves homeschooling, however, it is rather hard for her to get why little brother has days where he does not do ANY school work and she is assigned specific books etc. Of course, I point out that he is in Kindergarten and she is in 4th grade, but she went to public school for kindergarten and remembers plenty of paperwork. I guess it makes sense to say that we didn't like the way the school did k so we are doing it differently......

Oh, I am just going nuts here. Very frustrated and cranky. We have these two last days of school and then we are taking two weeks off and I am deciding about FIAR. (We are not starting Colonial Studies after the new year afterall, btw because our co-op has decided to do two hours of history instead of one and I think that will be enough.)

 

[Belle0101]

Wow, sorry that your 5 year old is frustrating you. I wonder if it could be the weather? I know my 10 year was a bear on Tuesday. We had gotten some snow, it was cold out - I think he was having cabin fever. I ended up leaving him alone with the trade off that we have class Saturday. Did he not sleep good last night maybe?

BTW, what's FIAR?

I wish we had a co-op here. There aren't many h'schoolers in my area. I forget the name for the moment but there's a free magazine for Indiana h'schoolers and it lists groups by area and what they have coming up, how to join their group etc. There is nothing listed for my area.

I hope the rest of your day goes better. Maybe after lunch he'll be ready to try some school work.

 

[TNKBELL]

Julie....Is it possible he needs more time to just be a boy? A lot of the hs books I have read say that some boys really are not mentally ready for the challenge of school until age 6, that being said, it doesn't mean he can't be surrounded by educational stuff without even knowing it, my boys love the leapster and v-smile, they are the only video games they are allowed to play and they also love computer games, he probably needs a break and even though all the things you were trying to do with him were fun, the fact that he knew that is was "school" was probably what he was trying to avoid. I have had days like that with my Ds6 when he was getting in his 6 year molars, is that a possiblilty? I think that it would be just fine to wait until he is 6 to start formal learning, you may be surprised at what he will learn on his own when he does start. My Ds6 didn't start talking until age 3 1/2 and then we couldn't understand him, he went through 2 years of speech therapy just to be understood, none of the neighborhood kids like to play with him because they didn't know what he was saying, so I assumed he would be difficult to teach and expected to have lots of catching up to do, but he is actually very bright, while in 1st grade he tested at a 3rd grade reading level, he is the first one done with his homework everyday and loves to read and just recently beat Dh at chess, so hang in there it will come, the fact that your Dd is being homeschooled is a great thing for him to be around and it does rub off, it's been noted in studies that just being exposed the vocabulary of learning makes for greater understanding when formal learning begins. Have a Merry Christmas and just enjoy your family, you have been an inspiration to us all on the Dis!!!

 

[disneymom3]

Well, thanks for the encouragement, guys!! I am feeling a little better. We had to go out and drive quite a bit for several errands that had to be done this afternoon. We were listening to the Magic Treehouse books on tape and DS made the following comments, making me realize how much he really is learning even though it is not at the table:

"You know, the Ancient China people believed in spirits. We don't believe in spirits and we have straight lines in our house and no spririts come in." (How and where on earth did this child learn about Fung Shui?)

"Hmmm, they say Morgan Le Fay was good, but really she was not. Merlin was her enemy and he helped King Arthur. You know, I really liked that legend about that knight guy who went on a quest to kill the dragon. What was his name again?" (Just the fact that in K he knows what a legend and a quest are, made me pretty happy.)

And,
"Y'know Mom, Australia is on the other side of the world and so if we lived there we wouldn't have to drive in all of this snow to buy Grandma's Christmas present. We could just go out in our shorts to do Christmas shopping. They are a lot closer to the sun than we are right now." My response, was "So is Florida. Maybe we could live there!!"

Maybe I am not doing such a crappy job of this whole educating thing after all.

 

[TNKBELL]

Well, thanks for the encouragement, guys!! I am feeling a little better. We had to go out and drive quite a bit for several errands that had to be done this afternoon. We were listening to the Magic Treehouse books on tape and DS made the following comments, making me realize how much he really is learning even though it is not at the table:

"You know, the Ancient China people believed in spirits. We don't believe in spirits and we have straight lines in our house and no spririts come in." (How and where on earth did this child learn about Fung Shui?)

"Hmmm, they say Morgan Le Fay was good, but really she was not. Merlin was her enemy and he helped King Arthur. You know, I really liked that legend about that knight guy who went on a quest to kill the dragon. What was his name again?" (Just the fact that in K he knows what a legend and a quest are, made me pretty happy.)

And,
"Y'know Mom, Australia is on the other side of the world and so if we lived there we wouldn't have to drive in all of this snow to buy Grandma's Christmas present. We could just go out in our shorts to do Christmas shopping. They are a lot closer to the sun than we are right now." My response, was "So is Florida. Maybe we could live there!!"

Maybe I am not doing such a crappy job of this whole educating thing after all.

Sounds like you've got a bright one there!! Have you read "Carschooling" very interesting, lots of fun educational ideas for on the road. Car time is when I have done "Music Appreciation" on tape with the Music for the Masters series, it's cool when I hear the Dks humming Mozart!!. I'll have to check out some books on tape from the library too!!

 

[Belle0101]

Well, thanks for the encouragement, guys!! I am feeling a little better. We had to go out and drive quite a bit for several errands that had to be done this afternoon. We were listening to the Magic Treehouse books on tape and DS made the following comments, making me realize how much he really is learning even though it is not at the table:

"You know, the Ancient China people believed in spirits. We don't believe in spirits and we have straight lines in our house and no spririts come in." (How and where on earth did this child learn about Fung Shui?)

"Hmmm, they say Morgan Le Fay was good, but really she was not. Merlin was her enemy and he helped King Arthur. You know, I really liked that legend about that knight guy who went on a quest to kill the dragon. What was his name again?" (Just the fact that in K he knows what a legend and a quest are, made me pretty happy.)

And,
"Y'know Mom, Australia is on the other side of the world and so if we lived there we wouldn't have to drive in all of this snow to buy Grandma's Christmas present. We could just go out in our shorts to do Christmas shopping. They are a lot closer to the sun than we are right now." My response, was "So is Florida. Maybe we could live there!!"

Maybe I am not doing such a crappy job of this whole educating thing after all.

Wow! I'd say you're doing a great job at schooling. And please, hang in there. I decided to start to checking the homechool threads daily because you are an inspiration to me.

I love all the great ideas I've picked up here. I really appreciate being able to come here and learn new things. Especially, being that I don't live in a big home school area, having friends I can share with. Thanks everybody!

 

[disneymom3]

Wow! I'd say you're doing a great job at schooling. And please, hang in there. I decided to start to checking the homechool threads daily because you are an inspiration to me.

I love all the great ideas I've picked up here. I really appreciate being able to come here and learn new things. Especially, being that I don't live in a big home school area, having friends I can share with. Thanks everybody!

Wow, thanks for saying that.

I agree, TNKbelle, that the car is a great place to do various lessons. We have also done the classical music thing in the car. Have you heard the stories for Classical Kids--Beethoven lives Upstairs, Mr Bach Comes to Call, Mozarts Magical Fantasy and something about Tchaivovsky. They are fantastic! Great stories based on real life facts about the musicians lives and interspersed with their music. DD9 who is really talented musically anyway can tell the difference between different classical composers. Blows me away! I sure can't do that! Of course, she is completely obsessed with music, so it is not too surprising.

I borrowed carschooling from a friend and it has some fun ideas in it. Another friend recommended this site for long car trips too http://www.momsminivan.com/ Good ideas on there too.

 

[Brooknwdw]

Hi! I am still new to the disboards but I have really gotten a lot of good information here.
I came SO close to homeschooling my DS7 & DS9 this year..but paniced.

I really need to do more research and be fully prepared before I start...so a board for this subject would be great!

 

[hsmamato2]

Brooknwdw, why Panic? They're your children, what you choose for their education is going to be just fine! It's your right and priviledge as a parent- don't ever let anyone tell you different... educate yourself on your local laws,and go for it! you won't be sorry!
That's also one of my favorite tools, books on tape, my kids are both great audio learners, and we always have a book on tape in our car, it drives my DH crazy, he doesn't enjoy them at all... LOVED the classical compsers and artists"upstairs" stories- our biggerst problem is we've run through both our libraries supplies, we're running out of new ones- We enjoyed listeing to "Lost on a mountain in Maine" on tape- I stopped writing down all the books we've heard in the past few years, but it's usually about 3 a month....
BTW, love this list, let's keep at it, we may get a board after all! Gonna be in Disney in less than a Month! YAy!

 

[SeeDisney]

HI!


This is my first time on this thread. I'm not a homeschooler. But I'm asking for help.

My DS9 is a very very poor speller. Even though he reads GREAT and is in the advanced Reading and Math at the public charter school. He just doesn't spell well.

Is there any websites or suggestion that you HS'ers parents can give me?

Thank you for any advice.

 

[disneymom3]

SeeDisney--my DD used to be like that and I don't know that you want to go for my solution but it has worked wonders. We were using various spelling programs for the first few years we homeschooled but it seemed like DD still couldn't spell words she had supposedly already learned in previous lessons. Last year we switched to a program called Spelling Power. Now, this program is $50 and to me that is a lot of money, but it was worth it because I have three kids and will be able to use it simultaneously with all of them all the way through highschool. At any rate, I love this curriculum.

Basically, each day you cover a new rule and all of the words in that list follow that rule. The kids only practice and study the words that they get wrong when you do the test. It's kind of backwards because you test first, then study, but it works. There is then a 10 step study guide to follow and then some other reinforcement activity. This all takes only about 15 min a day. You are supposed to stop testing after 5 min or when you get to the end of the list for that rule. The next day, you retest any words your child has gotten wrong. In a year and a half of using this, DD has only gotten the same word wrong more than once one time.

We got this because DD was complaining about what an awful speller she was and it was her goal last year to improve her spelling. (She was probably tired of me sighing at her!) It was worth every penny, and hey, sells for almost retail on ebay so I figured it was a good gamble.

Brooke--you need to know that you are never going to be completely ready. It is never going to be perfect. Just grab the reigns and jump in. If you read through this whole thread you will see that the majority of us posting on here have days where we just feel like we are totally blowing it and don't have it together enough to be able to do this. You can do it! Just pick a topic and decide to do all you can with that and then go from there.

 

[SeeDisney]

Thank you Julie

 

[Smile]

Just had a chance to read some of the pages. Will need a few more nights to readup.

My kids are 2.5 and 1. I am trying to get DS to read and learn words more.

I am VERY interested in homeschooling, but I have few questions. (Sorry if these a dumb questions, I haven't had time to read books on HS)--

1. Do you end up using a lot of computers and TV to supplement their education?
2. How many hrs do you normally dedicate to schooling (for pre-K)
3. Is Blue's Clue bad for them? DS LOVES Blue. DS learns really fast with Blue's videos. I have tried books and flashcards, but with Blue, the topic hit home faster. Is there a better alternative if this is bad.
4. Do you go crazy being with your kids 24/7? I love them, but sometimes I think I might need a break. I currently work fulltime and would consider HS after I leave this job.
5. What do you think a montessori schools?

Thanks!!!!

 

[hsmamato2]

Just had a chance to read some of the pages. Will need a few more nights to readup.

My kids are 2.5 and 1. I am trying to get DS to read and learn words more.

I am VERY interested in homeschooling, but I have few questions. (Sorry if these a dumb questions, I haven't had time to read books on HS)--

1. Do you end up using a lot of computers and TV to supplement their education?
2. How many hrs do you normally dedicate to schooling (for pre-K)
3. Is Blue's Clue bad for them? DS LOVES Blue. DS learns really fast with Blue's videos. I have tried books and flashcards, but with Blue, the topic hit home faster. Is there a better alternative if this is bad.
4. Do you go crazy being with your kids 24/7? I love them, but sometimes I think I might need a break. I currently work fulltime and would consider HS after I leave this job.
5. What do you think a montessori schools?

Thanks!!!!

Well, first ,breathe deep,you're heading in the right direction!
#1- some of us do- some of us don't,it all depends on the family
#2-For pre-k? No hours- they're little,and they learn by playing and interacting with the world- this is for anyone under 7 or 8, IMO...
#3-Blue's Clue's Bad? Only you could decide that- none of us can answer that one, (see#1) b/c it depends on each family!
#4-Yes, sometimes I do! I do need breaks-a long walk, sometimes a babysitter, sometimes a long movie for them,and a long bubble bath for me!
I need breaks from everything and everyone sometimes! To think otherwise isn't realistic-
#5- I love Montessore style learning(see answer#2)- read up on it, and do lots of fun learning stuff together!
Search out local homeschool support groups, find one that meets your needs and join! Got Home Education magazines website, and read- sign up for the free issue- you'll love it!
Your kids are still babies- if you really want to stop work full time, you won't regret taking this time with your kids, it only happens once-
wishing you the best...

 

[Smile]

Thanks. I know it is still early, but I just want to plan/learn as much as I can so I can steer them in the right direction.

Happy Holiday. : )