*** Homeschool List ***

[Lisa Hale]

Hello, all! We got back late Wednesday night from 2 weeks at WDW and have gotten everything settled back down and are ready to pick up on school again on Monday. We had already completed 3 weeks when we left so we aren't as far behind as we would have been.

I posted our schedule a while back, and after having 3 weeks of it done, I am a little concerned that it's too heavy for our son this year, but he seems to be doing well. He's a great student in that he never complains and seems to accept whatever schedule we set. He's just 13 and I don't want to completely burn him out because this year (9th grade) is much more intense than last year was (7th/8th). I'm sure others have addressed this, but I did want to hear from anyone else who has condensed/skipped 8th and moved on to high school early. How did your child handle stepping up their game and did it end up being too stressful? Even last year our son was bored several times (which is why we began adding 8th grade curriculum early) and he tested very well on the Stanford Test we did last year.

Guess I'm just curious about how this worked for others.

Also, we are starting our daughter (she turned 4 in May) with a full Kindergarten schedule because she begged all of last year for more "school" for herself and could easily complete all of the preschool workbooks we had. How have those of you who had 4 year old kindergarten kiddies felt about it? Did it worked well?

Thanks!

 

[Nanu57v]

sorry -

www.letteroftheweek.com

Wow!!! That's just what I was looking for!!! I just wanted something basic that I could use as a framework! Thanks so much for posting that! I'll have to bookmark that for when she's ready for preschool.

 

[Ellester]

Wow! I leave for the weekend and the thread just takes off! Hurray for us!

I know we have a support group in this area, but haven't really looked into it much since DD is 2. But how do the classes work?

In our group, parents volunteer to teach a six session class on pretty much whatever they want. We hold the classes at a local, homeschool supporting church. Every family must help in some way, if not teaching then helping with nursery, snack time, running copies, etc. We meet for 2 1/2 hours on six consecutive Fridays. We run one session in the fall and one in the spring. There is nursery/preschool for kids up to 4 or 5 and the classes go from early elem. up through high school. Two moms are teaching driver's ed this session, that seems to be very popular! I know your dd is only 2, but it's never too early to see what's out there! We have had a few parents teach who no longer have kids at home or only babies, they still enjoy sharing their knowledge.

I just stumbled across this thread by accident, and I am so thrilled!

I have homeschooled my DD(11) since she was 8 years old. The first year was dedicated to unschooling. Year 2 was wasted on AOP's Switched-On Schoolhouse (obviously, we absolutely hated it). Year 3, I ordered some Abeka materials, and I absolutely loved them. This year, we're doing the Abeka DVD program (grade 5). Technically, DD should be using the grade 6 materials, but I'm not concerned. She has a summer b-day (will not turn 12 until June), and with that year of unschooling, I'm just glad she is doing so well with the grade 5 materials.

She never knows what grade to say she is in when asked by other adults who don't know (or remember) we're homeschooling. The only reason I think this is such an issue for her is because she spent 3 years in the PS system. She is in Sunday School with some of those same kids she had classes with in PS, so she wants to "keep up" with them.

I live in an area where homeschooling is not popular, and finding a nearby co-op has proven to be quite a challenge. The closest co-op meets 40 miles from our house. I guess I just need to bite the bullet and make the drive. She is an only child and has just recently began making comments about wanting a "girl friend" to hang out with. Although we as VERY active in our church, the kids her age are mostly boys, and at this stage of the game, that's just not cutting it. She is VERY mature for her age (both emotionally and physically). I suppose this is the biggest issue I'm dealing with right now. I just discovered there is a homeschool mom who attends my local Weight Watchers meeting, and I will have a chance to speak more with her this Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed that she will have some good news to share about local co-ops that are starting in my area.

I think it would be so fun to have a DIS homeschool meet!! Wouldn't that be cool?!?

Welcome to the thread! I'm with the others who just use the grade they would be in if they were in PS. For us, it just makes it easier. I told my girls they could move up to their next grade last spring, they seemed to think it was a big deal.

I know a 40 mile drive is a haul, but it might be worth it. If it's only once a week it wouldn't be that inconvenient. Now, it might get expensive with gas prices, but that's another topic!

I think a meet would be fun! I don't think our next trip will be until 12/08 though. But, if a meet was put together, I might be persuaded to go earlier....

HI there.....


I've just started homeschooling my 5 year old son a few weeks ago.


What's the difference between unschooling and homeschooling????

Thanks.

Others have covered this pretty well, but I think of unschooling as student directed homeschooling. We do some of it, I like to let the kids explore what they are interested in at the time. But, we do have curriculum and a schedule that I also follow. Some define true unschooling as using no texts or curriculum at all, the parents just act as "facilitators" to learning; ie. making sure resources are available for the kids to learn on their own. There are several books on unschooling out there if it something you are interested in exploring.

By the way, my son LOVES homeschool. We ran into a few fellow homeschoolers while in Disney and saw a few stories on the news about homeschooling while on vacation so he is a lot more at ease about it. He is also excited about the activities he can now participate in. While we were at the Lion King musical (Animal Kingdom) there was a woman and her daughter sitting in front of us doing homework. I asked the mother if that was in fact what was going on. She replied yes and that the little girl had 47 pages of it. My heart went out to the little girl. How much fun is it to have 47 pages of homework on your Disney vacation? Her mother was not happy about it.

Like my last post, I could type for hours about how great everything was but I need to leave space for you guys. Thanks for the support.

Welcome back, sounds like a great trip. I cannot believe that poor child had 47 pages to work to do on vacation! Doesn't sound like much of a vacation to me!

I think we just might take the next two weeks completely off. We are officially way over our 180 days for this year (our new year starts on October 1). I was originally planning on doing some light school, but I just don't feel like it! Hmmm, I don't think I'll tell the kids anything quite yet, but I'll mull it over this afternoon.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Monday. I've got to get back to tagging stuff for the big consignment sale here this weekend. Hopefully I'll add some $ to our Disney pot!

 

[belle22]

We already use starfall.com ... I just don't know what else to do with our DD5 - I work with her but what they teach in Kindergarten she already knows. Any suggestions? Websites? Books?

I ran into the www.letteroftheweek.com just by accident but love it.

 

[disneymom3]

I don't homeschool. I have a DD5 and DD2. I am always looking for workbooks and webstites to teach my children. One site I like is theletteroftheweek.com. Though I didn't have time to do everything off it I did what I could.

MY DD5 is in Kindergarten and before school started could read 100+ sight words. I just found out that they only learn 26 the entire year of kindergarten. I am having problems finding books that are similiar to Dick and Jane but not too hard that will discourage her... Any ideas? I am trying to find SRA's at local libraries .. no luck.
I would love to hear about other things I could try at home.. I just use flash cards. She can add 0 and 1's. The five senses and 5 vowells and we have worked on time... What should I try?

Thanks! I can't wait to hear your ideas!!

I have had this conversation with my local librarian a dozen times. What she says is that the libraries are still catching up after the big Whole Language debacle of a few years back and it is still very hard for them to find genuine phonics based stories. The best I did Bob Books by scholastic. There are several different levels and they are okay. Sort of cute stories but horrible illustrations. The Dick and Jane books are in preprints now so you might be able to find them. For the level it sounds like she is at, I would suggest Bob as a starting point.

I am having a bit of nerves here. I had called the school district last year about DS's writing skills. Also wondering about some overall OT issues. Well our neighborhood was switching attendance areas so they suggested they contact me this fall. So, no one had called and we have been doing school for a month so I wanted to get the ball rolling. I called again today but now I am worried. Don't know why. Maybe I think they are going to tell me I am doing this wrong and am screwing up my kids. But the thing is I have two kids who can write just fine. The littlest one is booking through HWOT while the middle one struggles along. Ugh. I am nervous. They are supposed to call by mid next week to set up an appt for a referral meeting. Anyone ever done that? What does it entail?

 

[belle22]

Thanks!

I will have to check out the Bob books. We have the Dick and Jane books and she can read all the pages. So, the Bob books are a little more challenging then Dick and Jane? I may see if any local libraries have the SRA reading LAB's. Anyone know if their library carries it?

Sorry, but what does HWOT stand for?

 

[antree]

This is my first year homeschooling, so it is all new to me. We are using Horizon K. My son is 5 yrs old and does have problems pronouncing all his letters, so of course Phonics is not going good. We have been schooling now for 2 weeks so I know it is still early in the learning phase. I just don't know what to do. He is having a hard time pronouncing and remembering what letter goes with what sound. He knows all the sounds we have learned so far but he can't put it together with the correct letter.
So do I move on to the next letter or do I make sure he has it down packed before we move on? I review what we learned the day before but he doesn't get it right. It can take us an 1 1/2 or longer to just get through the phonics part. I get fustrated and he gets tired of listening after a while.
What is the correct way of handling this? If he doesn't remember the letter and sound should I dtay with that letter and for how long? or do I just keep moving forward each day with a different letter. Today we didn't finish phonics because he was having such a hard time and it was driving us crazy. We are up to the letter I, so do I stop now and review the last 9 letters or just keep going?
Isn't it a waste of time to keep going on if he is not learning it, well remebering it. To introduce a new letter a day is alot to learn don't you think, or am I wrong, I don't know HELP.

Thank You, Maria

 

[sha_lyn]

antree.... there is a phonics computer program called color phonics (made by the same company that makes horizons, Lifepacs and SOS). I feel it really helped DD distinguish the difference between similar phonetic sounds. It also uses color coding to help them decode new words.

 

[disneymom3]

HWOT stands for Handwriting Without Tears. It is a writing program.

Maria--I really would just relax with the phonics. I have learned after having my third child entering K this year that they will get it when they get it. I feel strongly that there is way too much emphasis on early reading with kids. The most important thing is to read TO him. Play some games that involve letter sounds--someone recently mentioned www.starfall.com , lettter bingo/phonics bingo is a good way to go, cut out magazine pictures of things that start with....find things around your house that make the ....sound. Etc. Yes, a letter a day is a LOT. Have you looked ahead to see if they come back to those letters or is this really a review of what that curriculum thinks he should already know?

I really really encourage new homeschooling moms to NOT push academics so early. Play with him, paint, sing songs, do playdough. Don't fall into the trap that the mess our public schools are in has created. Early is not better, it's just early.

WHOA! I just reread what you wrote above. I have to tell you that most days my 11 yo doesn't spend 1.5 hours on school! Not straight anyway. That is a really long time. My kindergartener spends about two hours a day total on school and that includes his choice time off the school shelf and 20 min independent "reading" time while I am working with his older brother and sister. The school shelf includes things like magnetics, a microscope, geoboards, letter stamps, puzzles, Think It Through Tiles, Learning Wrap Ups, tangrams etc.

 

[mamaloya]

This is my first year homeschooling, so it is all new to me. We are using Horizon K. My son is 5 yrs old and does have problems pronouncing all his letters, so of course Phonics is not going good. We have been schooling now for 2 weeks so I know it is still early in the learning phase. I just don't know what to do. He is having a hard time pronouncing and remembering what letter goes with what sound. He knows all the sounds we have learned so far but he can't put it together with the correct letter.
So do I move on to the next letter or do I make sure he has it down packed before we move on? I review what we learned the day before but he doesn't get it right. It can take us an 1 1/2 or longer to just get through the phonics part. I get fustrated and he gets tired of listening after a while.
What is the correct way of handling this? If he doesn't remember the letter and sound should I dtay with that letter and for how long? or do I just keep moving forward each day with a different letter. Today we didn't finish phonics because he was having such a hard time and it was driving us crazy. We are up to the letter I, so do I stop now and review the last 9 letters or just keep going?
Isn't it a waste of time to keep going on if he is not learning it, well remebering it. To introduce a new letter a day is alot to learn don't you think, or am I wrong, I don't know HELP.

Thank You, Maria

Maria,

Do NOT spend more than 20 minutes at a time working on phonics with him if he is struggling. You will burn him out. Do not move on if he does not get the sound. There is no point. If he does not read until he is 10, then he doesn't. My dd struggled as well and we fought so hard with phonics that she hated school. I backed off and changed programs and she slowly began reading and now, at 11, loves it.

Here are my tips. Make it tactile-kinesthetic. That means touching and moving. It helps it "click". Use claydough, sandpaper letters, pudding. Use a paintrush dipped in washable paint and paint the fence with the giant letter as you make the sound. Use rocks to make the letter on the ground as he says the sound. Use chalk on the side walk and let him walk over the letter.

Lauri (look on cbd.com) makes some great alphabet puzzles that are tactile.

Oh, and also have him watch how you form your mouth as you say the sound. Make sure he is forming his mouth the correct way when he says it as well.

If he is good at the other subjects, focus on them for now. The more you push phonics the more he is going to hate it. Today's society focuses on early reading, but that is not what is important. What is important is that they get it eventually, and love it.

Have fun and relax. The more you make it fun, the more he will want to do. That is why we homeschool so we can have fun and work at each child's own pace.

 

[mamaloya]

OH, btw, why are you on your 9th letter after only 10 days of school? I am not familiar with horizons, but you should only be doing 1 letter per week. Any more than that is overkill.

I use My Father's World and the letters are not presented alphabetically but in the order that they should be best able to absorb them. The link is www.mfwbooks.com . Their Kindergarten program is the best I have seen for phonics. It also includes all the subjects in one. You will only spend 1 hour a day on the formal stuff a day or less yet your child will be reading by the end of the year. Only short vowel words mind you, but reading with ease. I wish I had had it with my dd11. My ds7 blew through it with ease. My dd6 struggles like my dd11 did at her age, but using MFW, makes it much less so. There are no tears. The techniques they use automatically are the ones I eventually used with dd11 on my own after much stress.

OK, I will shut up now. If you have any questions, just ask and I will try to answer them.

 

[lori1043]

Antree- here is some HOPE, that is what I may be able to offer. Everyone's advice is great and I agree with them, don't push it. It is not about doing public/private school at home, it is about being able to learn with him and about HOW he learns, and providing what he needs to learn whatever it may be.
DD7 was a very reluctant reader. I tend to want to keep that schedule and do what I did that worked for DD9. But I found out after half the school year went by with frustration and being baffled about WHAT to do, my kindergardner was NOT her sister. DD7 is more of an auditory learner. She need to hear it and see my mouth make the words(like mentioned already). I found that while I worked with the older on on math, she could go sit in front of the TV or PC and watch the Leap Frog DVD's/games and get more out of that. THEN we could talk about the letters, phonics she heard on the DVD. I stopped her on LLATL(which has everything balled into 1 program) 'cause it just wasn't working for her. I switched to my own hodge podge of things. She watched the Leap Frog DVD's, she played the Leap Frog Phonics programs on the Leap Pad(with readers), we read one page a day in Abeka's "Handbook for Reading", used a LLATL reader that matched up with the lesson, and used Explode the Code for extra lessons and to have her learn how to use a workbook. I read to her as much as I could/can and she sees us read constantly. It may not be the best way to go, but I was desperate as it was January when we started all this and I felt we just started over again.

Anyway- this was 2 years ago -and now she is JUST getting to the point she will pick up a book without me prompting her. She reads on her own in bed at night now too. I almost cried b/c at co-op the other day, she volunteered to read a paragraph in front of 16 kids and 4 s-she did GREAT!!! It was about the colonies-history. I was thrilled and felt like the past 2 years are FINALLY coming together for her as far as reading goes. She just wasnt ready and I pushed a bit. Until I learned from a few good friends, to take it easy, it will come to her. And it did.

Sorry so long-Lori

 

[graygables]

Isn't it a waste of time to keep going on if he is not learning it, well remebering it. To introduce a new letter a day is alot to learn don't you think, or am I wrong, I don't know HELP.

As a former English/high school remedial reading teacher, turned homeschooler, now leaning toward unschooling, here's my input...

I used the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with both of mine early on. Now 8yo picked up on it in a snap. Now 11yo didn't pick up on it at all. She has some learning issues, including dyslexia. She had a terrible time equating a sound with a symbol. After she had some vision therapy, her reading skills dramatically improved, but I can say that this child will simply never be a reader. Reading isn't everyone's thing. Being ABLE to read is a must, a basic life skill. WANTING to read for pleasure is another thing entirely and it's important to understand that. Seems like all the moms always want to compare what little Jenny and Johnny are reading. Just b/c I read the entire works of Shakespeare over the summer between 5th and 6th grades does NOT mean that my DD will want to do the same. I'm lucky if she'll get through a Hannah Montana book without coercion.

I also think that reading the "classics" is highly overrated in the scheme of things. I can promise you that my students who came into class showing me their gunshot scars lives were NOT all that improved by understanding the nuances of The Scarlet Letter and yet, they were still forced to "read" it. Stepping on a soapbox here...IMO, the primary grades should be devoted to teaching LIFE SKILLS. Basic reading, consumer math, cooking skills, geography, social studies in that it is important to understand the workings of the nation in which you live. Grammar, algebra, advanced geometry, etc needs to be reserved for the middle and upper school years, once a child has learned the basics he needs to survive.

Once I eased off my DDs (we were in a virtual charter school), their entire outlook toward learning changed; it was no longer a chore, it is an adventure. 11yo came in today asking if I could print her a blank map of the US so she could fill in all the states' abbreviations and color in where the Mississippi river is. 8yo asked why a Right Whale was called a Right Whale. Once they were removed from the paradigm of "school thinking", they suddenly are learning things in new and different ways at a much more rapid pace.

Another thing...my 11yo is still struggling, too, with cursive. She can copy it, but it's a foreign language to her...she's been unable to make the connections between some of the manuscript and the cursive letters. What comes easily for some does NOT necessarily come easily for others and the beauty of home/unschooling is that it doesn't HAVE to.

So, my suggestion would be to just step away from the phonics right now. Clearly, he's not ready for it yet, so spend more time on play and incorporating the rhythm of language into it. Check out 100 Easy Lessons and see if he may respond to that. If not, just PLAY for awhile.

 

[meandtheguys2]

Just a quick thought... My youngest didn't start to really "get" letters until he was 7. At 8 he is reading above grade level. Sometimes they just aren't ready earlier.

 

[nuzmom]

I just want to say that I also recommend the Leap Frog DVDs. I think they're called "letter factory" 1 and 2. Anyway, they're a VERY fun way to supplement a phonics program. We like the letter factory book for the leap pad, too. It follows what was learned in the video. Here's an example of what I like about it - the letter "b" blows bubbles and that's how the sound of b is made, the letter "j" likes to jump he "j, j, j, jumps!!!", the "a" is a scared cat and says "aaaahhhh" when he's scared.

I also agree to not push reading too much. Enjoy the variety of other skills your child will enjoy learning. Also, read, read, read to your child. Get him to LOVE books. Wanting to read them on his own will naturally come after that.

One last thing that worked for us. Do one letter a week. Wear a shirt with that letter on it somewhere, find road sign with that letter, eat food that begins with that letter, make the letter out of bread/playdoh, etc. Try to just help him recognize the letter, you can introduce the sound it makes, but just look at it as something FUN to do, not "school work".

Enjoy kindergarten!!! What a fun, non-pressured, hands on, time it is!!!

 

[lori1043]

I LOVE all these suggestions!!!

BTW- my DD7 STILL sind the Laep Pad song in her head for whatever phonics rule she is learning-it's too cute. She just learns easier by listening to it-esp. in a song!!
There is a great CD that used to be put out by Discovery Toys called "Sounds Like Fun"-it is VERY monotonous to hear, but my kids remember a LOT off that CD. All the letters and sounds ,plus math concepts, and a couple nursery rhymes are on it.

Lori

 

[mom2boys]

Please add me to the list.

Actually I have one homeschooler and one public school student. It makes for a very interesting/tricky situation sometimes.

 

[antree]

Thank you all for all the suggestions, I am going to try it all. I am going to back off to one letter a week. And I am going to look into everything else that was suggested.
The reason we are up to the 9th letter is that is how the books work. When I looked at the end of our first Phonics book I couldn't believe what they expected him to know, If he can't get one sound there is no way he is going to get three sounds at once.

We do the Starfall and he does like that. So I am going to have him do more of it.
My son is Great in Math and so interested in Science. So I am going to work more on those subjects.
He loves having books read to him and can memorize the paragraph so he thinks he read it.
We just finished the 5 senses, he wants to move on so we are going to try animals next and their habitat. He is interested in the solar system, animals, Dinosours and The Presidents.

I know I worry to much about what people think. And since he is having trouble with the letter sounds, people wonder am I doing the right thing with home schooling.
I do have to remember to take it at our own pace and not to worry.

Thank You for reminding me of that.

Maria

 

[belle22]

Also you may want to look into zoophonics.com they link animals with sounds.

I would love a list of topics to teach my 5 year old. We have went over the 5 senses. What other topics do you teach your child?

 

[lori1043]

You will get there when it comes to worrying about what others think. Just keep this in your head and heart-"I am doing the right thing for MY child". If you DH agrees and supports you, you should be able to proudly stand on that.

My moment that made me feel the MOST confident ever,was ,when going through family issues last year, and wondering out loud to my DH if we should just put them in school-he looked at me and said, "I have NO doubt that homeschooling is the RIGHT thing for our family. God gave it to us and will get us through any rough time. Look what He has done already"(refering to our familys' journey into childhood cancer-see my siggy).I said, "okay" and went about my business!! I was taken back by it b/c DH was the one who was most worried about having "weird children" if we homeschooled. But he agreed to give it a try 2 years ago. Here we are, 25% the way through our third year!
Lori