*** Homeschool List ***

[heart4dis]

We converted our formal dining area into a homeschool room. It has one large table (white formica! I love it for crafts or we use it as one large dry-erase board). We have several bookshelves and cabinets/drawers that line the room. We also have a small computer table (no printer). I don't make the children do school in there, but they usually choose to. Sometimes they take their work somewhere else. They each have a large storage drawer or "bin" in which to keep their own schoolbooks. Supplies are in shared drawers and a file cabinet. There is one place for them to put their completed work so I can check it.

 

[PLibster]

So, what curriculum do you use for your 4th and 5th grader? I think that I am going to use Apologia Botany for Science, Horizon Math, Mystery of History, Easy Grammar, Classic Novels for Reading, and Wordly Wise 3000 for Vocabulary. We may do some kind of Art program and I know we will do daily Devotions for Bible.

This will be our first year homeschooling and we are so excited. Any ideas or comments?

 

[mom2boys0310]

I'm considering homeschooling my 10 yr old ds who will be in 5th grade next year. I've gotten the sonlight catalog and wondered if anyone had any experience with it. I would really like something that clearly spells out what to do and teach and when. I would appreciate any help! Thanks, Barbara

 

[Lora]

I'm considering homeschooling my 10 yr old ds who will be in 5th grade next year. I've gotten the sonlight catalog and wondered if anyone had any experience with it. I would really like something that clearly spells out what to do and teach and when. I would appreciate any help! Thanks, Barbara

We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Sonlight. We're in Core 3 right now because my girls are 8 and 10. We've done K, 1, and 2 also. You could probably do Amer. Hist. (using 3 and then 4 for 2 years) or the One-Year Amer. Hist. Another option is to go to the Core 6 for World Hist. You'd have to see where you think your son would fit best and which program appeals to you right now.

We don't use the SL Lang. Arts, so I can't comment on that. We use the SL Science and I can't complain. I'd be happy to answer any more questions you have. You can check out the forums at Sonlight. (There's a subscription fee for most of the forums, but you can do a 30-day free trial or use the free forums while you're considering SL.) www.sonlight-forums.com

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

I'm considering homeschooling my 10 yr old ds who will be in 5th grade next year. I've gotten the sonlight catalog and wondered if anyone had any experience with it. I would really like something that clearly spells out what to do and teach and when. I would appreciate any help! Thanks, Barbara

Hi fellow Jerseyian,
I'm homeschooling my girls for the first time this coming school year also. My oldest will be a 5th grader too. After alot of consideration of different curriculums, we decided to go with Calvert. I was looking for something that was like "school in a box", where everything I needed would be coming from 1 place and would be easy to manage. We are also going to use their Advisory Teacher Services. Both my 5th grader and Pre-Ker will be using it.

 

[disneymom3]

Hi All! Nice to see so many new families chiming in!

For a school room we basically use the dining room table as well as the living room couch etc. We are still tossing around the idea of finishing at least some space in our basement and designing it as a school friendly space. There would be a bathroom down there as well so we would have access to water and we already have our old kitchen table from our previous house down there. A lot of that idea appeals to me, but I am not sure how well it would fly and if we in reality would use it. Right now, the dining room is the center of the house and since school is just basically our dailly life, that works well. The trouble with that approach is that the dining room and kitchen tend to totally be taken over by school which is starting to bug DH. He is 100% in support of homeschooling, but the clutter is getting to him and since he doesn't see the day to day he doesn't realize that it is always new clutter!! LOL.

I have known a lot of people who have really loved Sonlight and only one who has not. She chose a year that was well below her oldests ability in order to also be able to include her younger child and now feels like she is doubting that they are really learning. (Ya think?) Another curriculum to look into is My Father's World. They lay things out really well also. Personally I have gotten to the point that I don't want or feel like I need to follow what order and pace someone else has decided we should go, but that has been a long time coming! I used the What your .....Grader Needs to Know books a lot the first few years.

For curriculum we use Spelling Power for spelling, some little McGraw Hill workbook on Reading that I picked up at Barnes and Noble, Dandylion Logic series, mainly Singapore math but we also use the Key To....series to spice things up, Apologia Astronomy (which we supplement with Janice Van Cleave's books and a few others) and overall our history is based on Story of the World. Next year we are still going to be using SOTW but we are going to add in a lot of our own other stuff for American History. I prefer to do Social Studies worked in wth History as opposed to separating them out. This is for DD who is in fourth grade this year.

DS is in K and he does a LOT of alternative learning kind of stuff. Lots of hands on and tactile things are the only way to get through to him I despaired at the beginning of the year of having any success with this child, but he is reading many three letter words and getting good at sounding them out. He is also doing some early math although up until last week I thought he was way behind. I pulled up our states learner outcomes list and discovered that the stuff I had in my head for K were the goals for 1st. Not that it really matters. I try really hard not to put those expectations on my kids, but I think I put them on myself. If anyone wants more info about specifically what I do with him, I am happy to share, but this post is getting long!

 

[sara74]

Anyone out there from CT? We live near the Mass border and I only know one person who homeschools - she's about 45 minutes north of us in Mass. She knows that I want to homeschool - DD is 4 and ready to start reading any day now. My friend is encouraging me to learn more and also to find out what sort of community I will have here in CT.

Now here's a really tricky one...I work. Part time. But I am a dentist and am committed to continuing on in practice for a number of personal reasons. I could practice as little as 15 hours a week (right now I do 22) but that would still necessitate the kids having some sort of child care during the day on one weekday. Again, my HS friend knows people who do this - but without family in the area I don't know how I could. Does anyone have this situation?

Sorry to put such a big question out there, but I don't know where else to ask it! And I don't mean to start a huge WOHM/SAHM debate, I've been there too much before. I know that HS takes enormour committment and I would not attempt it if I thought I would shortchange my kids, I just am looking for some information here. (can you tell I am bracing myself for potential flaming?)

 

[TooBoyz4us]

I think I might have asked this before on here, but I don't remember so here goes. I'm just curious as to where all of you "hold class". Do you have a room in your house just for school purposes? .

We have a "nook" off of our livingroom that is our computer area/school area.When we built our house it was supposed to be a fourth bedroom, but we left 2 walls off of it and made it an extension of the living area.
DH built a L shaped desk that extends the length of one wall and half of another, with plenty of storage shelving.
We use a computer based curriculum, so we have two PCs, one on each end of the desk.
There is also plenty of space to spread out for math and other projects.

I have a closet in this area as well, so we call it the homeschool supply closet.

It works perfectly for us

 

[Praise2Him]

Sara74 - Before I started homeschooling I went to the library and checked out every book on hs I could find. I know I read about some parents who work and also hs successfully (I think the children might have been older, though - in one case I believe they stayed home alone and did their work while the mom was at work and then she checked it at night).

"So You're Thinking About Homeschooling" by Lisa Whelchel (actress who played Blair on Facts of Life AND was on the Mickey Mouse Club!) is one that I know of that has the story of a mom who works and hs's.

I admire you for wanting to hs and work. I know I couldn't do it! But I definitely think it can be done and I encourage you to be creative and investigate all your options.

 

[disneymom3]

Sara--I used to sell real estate and homeschool. What I did is find a homeschooled high school student who came in two part days a week and took care of the kids for me. I tried not to have any lessons that needed to be done while she was there but a few times DD spent a lot of time dawdling and whatever else and did have to finish her work before she could join in whatever the sitter was doing with the boys. Because she has almost always been homeschool, she is awesome about understanding the structure and ebb and flow of it all. She also has been a fabulous role model for my kids about what you can do while being homeschooled and also lets them see how normal it is. I contacted some support groups in the area and talked to parents of older kids while looking for someone and then as it turned out she only lives two blocks away from us.

I also had two people who do regular daycare that I could do drop in care with. The stumbling block you may run into with that would be that if all the kids in their care are nappers and your kids get too old for that, some people don't want to take them during that time as it is the providers only break for the whole day.

I put my license on hold essentially because of DH's job. I used to concentrate the majority of my hours in the evenings and on Sat and then he started to work those hours too and have unpredictable weeks and it was just too dang stressful. I have to admit I am a lot happier being able to focus more fully on schooling my kids, but it CAN be done.

 

[*Robin*]

I just saw this! Seriously....just now.

I've been living under a rock, so forgive me!

I have a lot of reading to do, but I did want to say, I'd love a homeschool board!

Now I've got to get reading....

 

[TNKBELL]

Sara, I don't think you'll get the flaming on this particular thread, we all are unique in our goals and I think it's wonderful that you want to homeschool, it would be great to find someone to care for your children in your home, that might be easier for you all, is there a local nanny agency you could call, a lot of times thier pay is very negotiable as a private contract between the two of you. Or as Julie mentioned, finding a hs teen or a few of them who could help out. I wish you the best!!!

 

[sara74]

Wow! Thanks for all the supportive posts! I was really fearful about being flamed and you have all been so nice! My neighbor has really been on my case about working lately and has totally stressed me out. Not that it is any of her business, but when her 16 yo daughter asked me what the point of me having all these kids was if I was just going to abandon them to work, well - you can see how I might get stressed!

I am going to the library (after our trip!) to check out some books and my friend is going to bring me some of her HSing magazines. I have another year really before DD would start K but she is already doing K work in some books I bought her. So I guess I am doing a little bit of HS already!

Thank you again for being warm and supportive all of you. I really needed it! Already making me feel good about something I am just considering!

 

[PLibster]

Sara- I am going to work and HS. In my situation, I will be a preschool teacher from 9am-12noon M-F. My kids DS10 and DD8 will be with me. I plan on having them help with my class some and do schoolwork that doesn't need my help during the 3 hours I'm at school. After lunch I will teach them their lessons. We should be done each day by 3pm. Of course, this is my plan. I know with God all things are possible! I am always up for a good challenge. Anyway, I have those who tell me it can't be done, but I know what is best for my family. Every situation is unique. Good Luck!

 

[mello]

And we love it! We've gone from using it rather loosely, to following the instructors guides exactly, to loosely again, but we will probably always use some form of it. The books are wonderful, and I really like the overall philosophy. We have lots of great discussions about the reading, and my boys have learned more about history than they ever would have with textbooks. The instructors guides have a wealth of information, and they're very organized. One of the beauties of SL is that you can tailor it to your needs - doing anything from just picking a few books, all the way to getting a whole Core + everything else and following all the instructors guides. You can leave things out to speed up, or slow it down and add other things. If you like to read at all, you yourself will love it, and you'll likely be amazed at the things you learn!

Right now we're slowly working our way through Core 4 - American History part 2. We've done pretty much all of C1, C2, and C3. The boys are 10 (4th grade) and 12 (6th grade). Just yesterday my 10 yo was telling me he just couldn't put down one of the books he's reading, Shades of Gray. He wound up reading most of the afternoon. Then we had a nice discussion. That's one of the things I love about SL.

If you have any other questions, feel free to pm me!

I'm considering homeschooling my 10 yr old ds who will be in 5th grade next year. I've gotten the sonlight catalog and wondered if anyone had any experience with it. I would really like something that clearly spells out what to do and teach and when. I would appreciate any help! Thanks, Barbara

 

[house_of_princesses]

Just found this thread... and am happy I did! I have 4 dds and they have all been hs. I've been doing this for 13 years. My eldest went to school for the first time this year. She is in 8th grade at a private academy and is doing very well. The other three are still at home w/ me. We've used Sonlight, along w/ Miquon, Saxon, Spelling Workout, Learning Language Arts Through Literature, and others.

Haven't read but a handful of posts, but hope to get into it soon.

So happy to have found this!! Education is my passion.

 

[Brier Rose]

Hey everybody!
Got a question I just know you all can help me with!

I'm looking to do something different with DD this year. We have always done a "boxed" curriculum like Abeka DVD, etc..

Currently she is doing an online school, which we like ok, but it's still not quite right.

Sooo, what I'm looking at doing for the first time ever is just piecing together subjects from whatever sources we like.

So far I think I've settled on Saxon Math 7/8 to start, followed up with Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra. She's a little behind in math, so we plan to start this coming school year - 8th grade- a few months early, and work in both of these.

The Teaching Textbooks looked awesome!

That is ALL I have so far. Any suggestions?
How about foreign languages, anybody have a program they like a lot?

I'm really nervous about doing this type of homeschooling. I'm really afraid I'll miss something you know? I'm so used to having basically step by step instructions for everything. I order the complete kit and it comes with EVERYTHING I could possibly need!

Is it a lot harder to do this way?

TIA

 

[laceemouse]

Well Rose, the workbook/textbook approach like Abeka has never been my cup of tea, though I know many families enjoy it. The online stuff is not for us either. We do Sonlight for history, LA, science, ect. Then we do Saxon for math. With Sonlight it is all laid out for you, so I do not worry at all about missing something. Of course it is flexible, you can add where you need to and skip stuff that is not working, but you are not spending hours and hours planning what to do the next day. We came to hsing late, but if I had not discovered SL I doubt I would have ever had the courage to pull them all out of ps. I think the Teaching Textbooks look nice too, but my older girls will be doing their math with an outsourcing group next year and they use Saxon so we will be sticking with that. My oldest will do Algebra 2 for 10th grade and my second will be doing Algebra 1/2 (pre-Algebra) for the 8th grade.

 

[Disney Family 5]

We are finishing our 2nd yr of hs this week!! I would love to be in on this!! For all of you mommies considering hs-go for it!! I would not have it any other way. We so enjoy it. Yes, it's a lot of work, but you also get lots of freedom, and more time to watch your little ones grow up!!

 

[Denine]

I thought I had decdied that I was going to use Calvert. I had done a lot of research. But, I received the Sonlight catalog yesterday and I like it too. I even looked at their website and decided that it wasn't for use.

I have a couple of questions:

1. Are any of you that use SL Catholic? I don't know how the evangelical Christian approach is different. I am certain I would have to supplement this area.

2. With Calvert, you can get transcripts and records that you would need. How does this work with SL?

As you can tell, I am brand new to this. I am going to start pre-k with DD in the Fall. I don't think I am going to use a boxed curriculum, but I did like the book selection in SL.


Another question. When is DD going to sit still long enough to read to her? She is 3-1/2. I am lucky if I can read to her for 5 minutes without her playing and not listening. I do read to her before her nap and before bed, but she won't let me any other time. Am I just expecting too much from a 3yo?