*** Homeschool List ***

[Teresa Pitman]

I didn't mean it to sound condescending, and I apologize if it did.

I wasn't trying to say that I'm a perfect parent, just that I couldn't speak from experience on the rewards and punishments question because I don't do things that way. That's why I mentioned the research instead.

I'm sorry if the message came across badly, it honestly wasn't intended that way.

Teresa

 

[disneymom3]

I didn't read your response as condescending but I am intrigued in how you raise your children without consequences. I can see the rewards/punishment thing, but the consequences has me baffled. Life just has consequences--I make a late payment, they charge me more, you don't turn in the assignment on time, your boss is mad or you lose your job ect. Could you explain what you mean?

Nuzmom--we found the same thing happening with our DS. We were not using the earning time concept mainly because I find I just don't follow through well with that kind of stuff and I didn't want the kids to earn too much time--more than I was comfortable with. Our problem was that DS5 was asking all of the time, ALL of the time if they could play Playstation. It was the first thing he greeted his dad with when he walked in the door. (It is "Daddy's" game.) What we went to is that we have a specific day of the week that is Playstation day. For us this falls on Saturday. On that day, all three kids get to play Playstation with Dad and they spend about 2 hours total at it. It has gotten to the point that there are a lot of weeks that get skipped. Most times, DS is not so obsessive about it as he was.

I really think that there are just some kids who are wired differently than others and that for some the audiovisual thing can really seem to consume them. For us, that is what it seemed like was happening with DS. Good luck with this. If it were totally up to me, that Playstation would be on ebay so it fast it would make your head spin! DH asked for it for Christmas last year, and let's just say I was not a happy camper when his parents gave it to him. (Especially since we were broke at the time and the work clothes and other things that were on the list I had seen were a lot more practical. THAT is a whole other thread though!)

 

[TNKBELL]

I have really struggled with the video game saga myself!! It started out 30 minutes a day per child, but then they began sharing time and trading minutes and it got so complicated for me that we just switched to Saturday only...well they were so obsessed with it that if we had to do anything else on Saturday, they drug thier heels and grumbled and complained the whole time about how they had to get back home and play video games! And on other days all they talked about or played(pretending) was video games, I know I'll never get the Mario bros. theme song out of my head! That was it for me! We are on a break from video games completely! I don't know when or if they will play them again, I haven't decided. They are allowed to play educational games like V-smile and Leapster and several computer games. And they have actually started to talk about the Saints we are learning about and the Chronicles of Narnia I am currently reading. I really just felt like obsession can be very unhealthy and I needed to step in, we all have to make decisions about what we feel is best for our own situation and it helps to get input from such supportive homeschoolers!! Thanks Oh and of course, the playstation and nintendo came from well-meaning relatives who attempt to give my poor(unsocialized) children some normalcey!

 

[disneymom3]

Tnkbell--I so agree! I don't want to sound like a nutcase, but I really think there is something so unhealthy about those games. It is like they are addicting like gambling. It doesn't effect some people, but then some they are just soooo drawn in. It kind of scares me really. I have no problem with my kids playing Leapster or learning computer games which can also be totally fun, I just don't like that mindless vacantness that consumes my son.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I definitely agree that "consequences" are just part of life. What I meant is I don't "use" them - I don't make up consequences for the things my children do. To my mind, those are punishments under a different name. But of course if they go outside with no mittens, their hands will get cold. That's not me punishing them, that's just Canada in the winter...

My concerns about video games are that some are very violent, and that if a child is spending long hours playing them, that takes away from interactions with others and from getting any exercise. Of course, you can say the same about reading, and we rarely worry about our kids reading too much!

I don't think the games are "mindless" though, at least not in the way that TV seems to be. They often involve a lot of strategy and skill, and the child is really concentrating on the game. I think that is part of the appeal.

When my four kids were arguing with each other about watching TV and playing video games, I asked them to work out a solution. The idea they came up with was that each person would have a designated day. On that day, the designated child could pick the TV show or play video games and the others waited until their day rolled around. This worked out really well for us - in part, I suspect, because they came up with the idea on their own.

Teresa

 

[Praise2Him]

My boys are 20 and 17. They got their first Nintendo when the oldest was 4 and have been through just about every system made since then, including the Xbox 360 that just came out.

My personal opinion is that if I had to do it over again, we would never have one. They are way too addicting and I don't like most of the games (violence, etc.) We started out very innocently - educational games, Disney, etc., but the older they get, the harder it is to find those (that they want to play).

Of course, that's just me...they would totally disagree. And one positive is that my DS20 got his first job at Electronics Boutique selling video games and systems because he knows so much about them!

 

[Baytoven]

This is our 7th year homeschooling our 3 kids!

 

[laceemouse]

We don't have video game systems. My husband thinks they are a waste of time, money, and energy. We do have computers (obviously) and educational games for them. Sometimes the kids have asked for a gaming system but dh always says NO. I can see haw you could start off limiting time and being careful about which games but it would get harder to do that over time. We prefer for our kids to read, ect.

 

[disneymom3]

Just to let all on this thread know, I have a separate thread regarding tickets for the week of Feb 5th. If you are going to be in WDW then, we can band together and get a group rate with 10 or more kids of $134 for a 5 day hopper. PM me if you are interested. For more info on the discount, you can see the Homeschool Days thread.

 

[Living with the Land]

I am looking for a beginner spanish curriculum for my DD6. She was taught spanish in pre-school but her new school doesn't offer it until 4th grade so we are planning on homeschooling it. Does anyone have any links or recommendations about really good curriculum.

Thanks, Holly

 

[jaycns]

We have used PowerGlide Spanish with great sucess (and my kids love it).

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

we use "the learnables". A friend who majored in Spanish in College, worked in translations and in Mexico for a few years and is fluent (Though she says technically she is not b/c only native speakers can be fluent) recommended this to me. Native speakers are used so pronunciation is exact. It is learning by immersion and listening.

My daughter loves it. It has games and tests--I let her move onto the next unit when she has aced the test for the unit she is on.

http://www.learnables.com/

We use the computer software--and for her age, we do not use the handwritten materials.

 

[Living with the Land]

Thanks so much we will check these out. I hope it's okay if I check back once we start working. We are excited to get started, she loved spanish last year and misses it a lot.

Holly

 

[mommymonster]

I would love it! I homeschool my dd.

 

[disneymom3]

Holly, you may also want to look into Rosetta Stone. If you have learned a foreign language yourself, it goes about it very differently and it is not the way I had personally intended to teach my kids, but it is highly respected. Also, many library systems have it available for their patrons for free. We are able to log in and use it online.

Feel free to pop in anytime!

 

[disneymom3]

Hi guys,
Just wanted to give this a bump and see how everyone is doing. We are getting back into the swing of things after having a rough Feb. We had our vacation which was lots of fun, but my mom passed away while we were on our trip which occassioned an emergency trip out to CA and all that that entails. We managed to get back into school this last week.

I am facing a dilemma right now in my choice of co-op. Looking seriously at not continuing next year. We have been with this same group for four years, so it is hard to think of quitting. However, we do history and this year I have just gotten really tired of having to follow the pace of the group instead of being able to skim over the things that our family doesn't have more interest in and not be able to really stop and sink into the things we want to cover more. For instance, in the next couple of months, we are spending the same amount of time on the African Kingdoms as we are on the entire Renneisance. (Which I obviously need to study since I never know how to spell that.) Then there is the fact that my middle one is the only one of our family who really has social peers in the group. DD and youngest DS have such small classes that it is hardly worth mentioning. (There are two other kids in each class.)

So, how are all the rest of you doing? Getting set for the end of the year? Anyone school through the summer? We are going to be going to Yellowstone in the fall so this summer we are going to work on some projects to learn about that--different types of rocks, geothermal activity, animal habitats and activities, etc.

Anyone going to any spring conferences? I am heading out to one in April. Hoping DH will be able to join me for at least the Sat of it.

 

[mommymonster]

Hello,

I am sorry to hear about your mom. I lost my mom too back in 94. I am taking an unschooling approach right now with my 4.5 yr old. I try to get in about 3 days of formal lessons and then the rest of the days is more of a relaxed atmosphere.

I am dying to go to a conference but haven't really heard of any.

Lisa

 

[Carrie Ellis]

Hi everyone! I think I posted on this thread about 4 months ago! We moved West of Atlanta, GA, at the end of November. I loved reading have homeschool discussions! Anyone out there on the Dis that live West of Atlanta???

Hope this thread stays active.


I have 4 kids-2 sets of twins. I homeschool my first set and the second set will start next year.

 

[pigget74]

Looking in to homeschooling. My son has a language disorder and we are looking into Math U See for math and abekka or christian liberty for the rest.

 

[Carrie Ellis]

We use Christian Liberty. I like them alot. We do the Administrative plan (I believe that is what it is called). With this plan they grade test and keep a report card for you. I mail the test in clumps to them. Whenever we get a bunch done! ha! They also have another plan called the Family plan were you keep your own records. It is about $100 cheaper.