*** Homeschool List ***

[TNKBELL]

Lisa!!! Wow you had a boy!!! He was huge!! Congratulations!! I had a boy also born Nov 7th of 2006, when was your little boy born???

OT: TNKBELL--you had a baby!!!!! Congratulations!!!


And on topic--we will be "schooling" through summer this year. Mainly b/c I was very very sick when we began the year and then took a 3 week delay...and then b/c I took our year down to basics. We have kicked it into high gear though! In fact off to do a project with clay.

B/c of our many breaks--I am actually suprised at what my 6yo does retain. But we do a co-op that we did not interrupt and she likes doing those summer bridge work books on her own.

 

[GreatLakes5]

From what we've tried and others who have tried, I think that year 'round schooling works best if you have very short school days - not trying to do a full day of school every day.

We start the middle of August, go full time through mid May. We always take Friday afternoons off, though often the afternoon is filled with something with our co-op group. They get 1/2 of December off plus whatever vacation(s) we end up taking. In the summer we continue to do math lessons and grammar lessons - otherwise it seems we spend the first couple of weeks reviewing previously learned lessons.

We also continue music lessons year 'round which I know some stop for the summer.

Our days, however, tend to go from 9am - 2pm with about an hour in between of lunch and other breaks. Perhaps not as long of a day as some.

 

[goofymom23]

Count us in. We homeschool. Always looking for groups to share with.

 

[jaycns]

Bumping, don't want us to get too buried!

How many of you school through the year? I am amazed at what my kids, especially my 5yo forget when we take more than a week or so off. The thought of what they would forget over a long summer break is more than I can take, so we'll school through the summer. We will take plenty of breaks though, love that homeschooling flexibility!

We go year round. I LOVE it!! It gives us the freedom to chose not to do school on a warm spring day...instead I send my spring fevered boys outside to play the day away. It gives us the freedom to stop and build snowmen on a rare snowy day. It gives us the freedom to take most of the month of September off (I get some sort of wicked pleasure out of being on vacation when everyone else is just starting in again ). It gives us the freedom to take off for birthdays. It gives us the freedom to go "deep" into a subject that sparks my sons' curiosity levels. It gives me the freedom to not panic when I have strep throat for three days and "fall behind" in my teaching. It gives me the freedom to take a week off for burnout no matter what month we hit our "down time" in. It gives me the freedom to take a week and do a unit study without worrying if we will then be able to finish their math text.

Also, going year round gives me the ability to truly work as fast or slow as my children's needs call for. I am never worried about "getting done" by the end of the school year (cause it never ends ). Actually, I do worry about staying on track but find it easier to keep everything in perspective when I know I have an entire calendar year to complete each grade level. More often then not my boys are actually already started on the next level curriculum by the time we hit that year deadline. With more school days in the year, we naturally get more done. Initially we started year round schooling because my oldest son lost some of his math/spelling skills over his first grade summer. Ever since then we just "forgot to stop".

I run our school from Aug.15-Aug. 15. That is how I break it down on the calendar because I live in a state where I am required to keep track of how long we school each year.

All of that said, in the summer we rarely work past noon. I figure this way my boys still get to go outside and play with the neighborhood school kids after lunch...but I still get in a good 4 hours each morning of school time. We do have full school days during the hottest days in the summer. No sense in stopping if it is too hot to play outside.

Also, this is just what works for us. I have many dear friends who home school that consider going to school year round a form of torture! But for our family, it has been just what the doctor ordered!

To each his own...one of the greatest benefits and most beautiful things about home schooling!

 

[jaycns]

Congrats to the new moms on the thread!!

 

[GreatLakes5]

JAYCNS - thanks for sharing your schedule. I love hearing the variety of ways home teachers set things up. If I may ask - have you done year 'round schooling since day one of homeschooling - I was wondering how one would transition children into it....We are considering it going forward (after this summer which we already filled with a lot of activities and chemistry camp, etc....)

 

[GreatLakes5]

What does everyone use for history?

I teach chronologically and this year we officially begin American history in depth. I figured this would be a piece of cake decision for me Not so much....

DH & I both love history - his minor in college - and I know a lot of decent books and what to cover - I'm wondering about specific curriculum that either supplies a bit of rhyme and reason (ex. Sonlight) or something that gets even further into things than I might (ex. Calvert or Veritas) or something crafty (ex. "Pockets" from Evan Moor)

My problem? Too many good options.

Does anyone "wing it" when it comes to history and not actually utilize a curriculum at all?

HELP

 

[sahwifeandmommy]

I use Galloping the Globe and Cantering the Country. I am planning on using the Native American pockets and Which Way USA with our 10 states that we will study this year. Then in Jan we are going to do Story of the World and I bought the ancient pockets to go along with that. I think when mine get older I will use Mystery in History. I also love the daily geography practice from Evan-Moor (actually we do all of the dailys except the handwriting).

Also if anyone ever has the chance to go to a Barry Stebbing art class (he does the How great thou Art) they are wonderful

I kind of school year round. We are done as of the end of next week. If my planning works then we need to do 25 days of school in May, June, July and Aug and then we will finish with the first 100 days by Christmas and will be done about this same time next year.

 

[disneymom3]

First off, congrats LIsa! I didn't realize your little guy had been born. What do the big sisters think?

As for History we use STOW mainly but have added in a few things here and there. Don't like the lack of focus on the US there though. Tried WinterPromise didn't like it and this next year we are using hte geography year from My Father's World. May go into their US History the following year. Not too sure. I keep looking for that perfect fit and am beginning to think it is not out there.

We have tried schooling year round and I found I needed the break for the summer and the kids got cranky. Since winter here basically stinks, I can't stomach the thought of not letting the kids play outside as much as they can or want to during the nice weather. We start in about mid Aug and then school through May taking a break here and there for vacations. We are very blessed and I am very thankful that our state does not require a certain number of days per year, just a general when does your school run? By May it is nice out and everyone wants to be done, but by August the novely has worn off and they are starting to get bored. We do do some stuff in the summer. We read a lot of course and we also do science experiments at least once a week. This summer I am thinking I will also do an art curriculum I have been meaning to get to for the last couple of years and have not managed to pull off.

What do you all do for health if anything? A friend of mine pointed out that legally we are supposed to be teaching health as a topic. Other than wash your hands and eat your fruit and vegies, I don't.

Say, is anyone on this thread going to the Ladies Meet in Nov? I am considering it but don't have a roommate.

 

[Figment*Fan]

We homeschool too, and think that a homeschool board would be great Homeschooling boards are good in general, but a board with fellow Disney fans would be the best

 

[GreatLakes5]

What do you all do for health if anything? A friend of mine pointed out that legally we are supposed to be teaching health as a topic. Other than wash your hands and eat your fruit and vegies, I don't.

.

I found a new Abeka workbook on health, safety & manners at a used bookstore and grabbed it last year for my youngers (6 & 8) I had never thought about buying a "curriculum" for such things. My kids ended up loving it. We have fun doing basic exercises in between certain subjects. And at least every other year we usually do a short unit (1 month tops) on the food pyramid - I expect more of my older (11) in terms of a report - we do food diaries, etc.

Michigan is probably the easiest state to homeschool in (I feel like whispering that as something could change....) No reports, etc. Though we do Iowa Basics every other year and I figure if ever called upon I have those results (and my manic schedule books ) to fall back on.

I asked the history question but I'll throw out there that we use History of the World by Susan Wise Bauer & I use a geography book that I believe is also used by My Father's World in their curriculum set (it's something you can buy at any teacher's store).....we do lots of memorizing of capitals both in the US and Europe, etc. and pick our literature based on our history. I'm so excited this year to enter true American History this year Never thought I'd say that!

 

[Ellester]

Good morning! It's so good to see so many new posts! Here's a link to an article that was quite the discussion starter among the moms at homeschool tennis last week. The link to the Washington Post article at the bottom was also very interesting. Jeannie Fulbright is the author of the elementary science books for Apologia. Enjoy!

http://www.jeanniefulbright.com/time_spent_schooling.html

 

[DawnM]

My boys do cubscouts and there is a lot of health and safety stuff in there. We just use that.

Dawn

 

[Figment*Fan]

This year for health, I just use the section in the science book that deals with health related topics, and did a google search for health related websites geared towards children. There are some really good (and free!) websites out there. We also have to cover civics, and I didn't want to buy more books for smaller classes, and came across a really neat (and free) website that has worksheets, and a lot of info and online quizzes for kids in grades k through 12 (bensguide.gpo.gov)

There are some really neat websites out there -- the ones with the free interactive educational games are good for those moments in between lessons or when I have a phone call or something like that. They're fun too -- ds really looks forward to them.

 

[paper1225]

hehe, just have to laugh at my title
Just thought I would post a little update since everyone has been soooo helpful. My DS6 kindergarten teacher got wind thay we "may" not be coming back next year....so I bought up the idea of homeschooling............lol.........Alex is a bright kid, he comes home with great papers all the time, but apparently since Christmas he has been slow getting his work done. Kind.teacher thinks he is getting distracted by other children, etc.........I think he is just like his dad and older sister-they go slow, take their time and are perfectionists!! I have explained this to her, but she seems to think I can say or do something to turn him around.....
Anyway, she made a statement that homeschooling would be wrong for him since he needs a teacher to push him along........wouldn't it be better for me to teach him one on one then? I just smiled and listened-so thank you for teaching me the right way to handle this-only one month left till summer, thank goodness!

 

[sha_lyn]

I found this health series on clearance
http://www.singaporemath.com/Treks_All_Aboard_s/79.htm
while trying to find the health book we used a couple of years ago.

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

Hi ! I was wondering if anyone uses Connections Academy for their schooling. It will be offered for the first time in Las Vegas next year and we are considering it for our DD10. I'd love to hear some reviews.

 

[sha_lyn]

From what I understand they use the Calvert School Curriculum.
I used Calvert K for DD. I found it was too worksheet intense for that age. However overall I think it is probably one of the best prepackaged sets out there. I am planning on using some elements of Calvert for DD next yr (spelling and history CDs). Connections is trying to get set up in GA. A law was recently passed that allows for virtual charter schools. However instead if it being set up state wide, each county is in charge. Connections academy does not apply for approval apparently. Someone locally has the apply for a charter and get the county's approval to use connections academy.

 

[meandtheguys2]

When the kids were young, we would use all of the health literature from the yearly health fair. It was all done at a kid level, there were coloring pages, nice illustrations, and it was free.

Now that they are older, we use a couple of older Abeka health books, and some awesome nutrition books.

 

[disneymom3]

hehe, just have to laugh at my title
Just thought I would post a little update since everyone has been soooo helpful. My DS6 kindergarten teacher got wind thay we "may" not be coming back next year....so I bought up the idea of homeschooling............lol.........Alex is a bright kid, he comes home with great papers all the time, but apparently since Christmas he has been slow getting his work done. Kind.teacher thinks he is getting distracted by other children, etc.........I think he is just like his dad and older sister-they go slow, take their time and are perfectionists!! I have explained this to her, but she seems to think I can say or do something to turn him around.....
Anyway, she made a statement that homeschooling would be wrong for him since he needs a teacher to push him along........wouldn't it be better for me to teach him one on one then? I just smiled and listened-so thank you for teaching me the right way to handle this-only one month left till summer, thank goodness!

Good for you! See how far you have come? He needs a teacher to push him...what are you? Chopped liver?? And the kids are distracting him so he should stay there and.......keep being distracted? I mean, it's her theory afterall.

I am going to check out the Abeka health stuff and I have also heard that Rod and Staff has some good stuff too.(UGh, I hear Ramona Quimby's mother in my head saying "there are better words than stuff." )

I am liking the look of that Fulbright article. Sounds like good perspective. I went to a state homeschool assoc convention a few weeks ago and went to a seminar called Avoiding Reluctance in your Student. I basically had affirmed for me that DS 7 is being reluctant because I am trying to have him do too much stuff at the table in workbooks etc. I had just lost some enthusiasm and umph and consequently so did my students!