*** Homeschool List ***

[DawnM]

Good grief at my typo. Sorry about that. I type fast and don't pay attention sometimes.

Dawn

Totally agree! We are definitely not "school at home" homeschoolers! I know that works for some folks and I'm not knocking it, but for us the flexibility is one of the best of many benefits!

 

[Ellester]

Good grief at my typo. Sorry about that. I type fast and don't pay attention sometimes.

Dawn

Fire up Mavis Beacon and practice! I knew what you meant and that's all that matters! Glad you had fun at Disney. January is such a great time to go! Hopefully we'll get to take advantage of those awesome homeschool rates sometime soon. We may have to move up our Oct. trip if the Sept. homeschool program is during a good time for us.

 

[earthfaries]

Ok, back from Disney.

We had a BLAST! We got the 5 day hoppers and 4 vouchers for DisneyQuest and Typhoon Lagoon for $141 each.

The boys loved the water park and DisneyQuest, but they all agreed that if it ended up being more than the $9 I paid for the 4 vouchers, they could leave it out.

We stayed at Orbit One for $179/7 nights and then did one night for $45 at a hotel through Priceline.

We didn't wait in line more than 20 min. for anything. We got on everything we wanted several times. The last day, Friday, was the start of MLK weekend and that was the day we ended up not sticking around long because it got crowded.

I already want to go back!

Dawn

Welcome back, glad you had a great time!

We got back late Monday night and I just finished unpacking yesterday. Weren't the crowd levels and weather wonderful!!!

I will only go in Jan. in between holidays from now on! I hope they offer this again next Jan.!!!

We went to MK last Wed. and Fri. What a difference! Friday when the crowds started to show for the holiday it was CRAZY! We left the park early~I just don't enjoy it in the crowds.

We had a wonderful time too SeaWorld was incredible!

We did go to 2 Y.E.S. programs. There weren't too many homeschoolers there actually.

The first one on Monday was Ocean Discoveries. It was 3 hours and we got to go behind the scenes at the Living Sea and Trevon learned a lot~it was interesting.

The next day was Everyday Chemistry. He really enjoyed that too.

The classes were a unique experience but next time we will leave them out, unless they offer the Backstage at La Nueba (sp) class or something different.

If anyone gets an email or anything about the Homeschool Days in the future, or is putting together a group to get the same cheap prices, please post it here.

At those prices we would love to go again, although it would be hard after that great weather last week to go in the heat again

 

[dvcbnd]

Did there used to be a homeschool thread on the DIS? I thought there was when I first joined but maybe not.


Great quotes about it being our job to teach our children. I loved the thread the other day on responses to relatives who question homeschooling. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1696134 I had seen the list of 25 responses somewhere else but hadn't saved it. This time I printed it off so I can pull it out when I need a good laugh.


Thanks for leading me to the above-mentioned thread. I have found it extremely helpful and supportive. I can't wait to read the list of 25 responses - I printed it out so that I would have it for future reference.

 

[GreatLakes5]

It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all.

Yes, we're in Pella. My DH and I were born and raised here, never lived anywhere else. Sometimes that's good, sometimes not so good. We weren't the best teenagers (who is?) and a lot of people remember that. There is always the constant feeling of being under a microscope.

There is no doubt that the Midwest makes good babies. We have dreams of escaping Iowa some day and moving to Florida.

Too funny - I'm in Grand Rapids - a Dutch mecca second only to Pella My DH's father was the principal at the school there for a time & all his siblings went to school there (my DH was too young). One of my best friends in college was a Pella girl who was also "well known"

We call it Dutch Bingo around here - always finding someone in some Dutch area that has a connection.

 

[earthfaries]

Can anyone recommend a great math curriculum? We haven't really used any before and I would like to have something with a teachers guide, books, etc. that will help me teach him because it is getting kinda complicated. I know there are so many different ones out there and was hoping that someone could tell me about a good one to use. Thanks!​

 

[GreatLakes5]

Can anyone recommend a great math curriculum? We haven't really used any before and I would like to have something with a teachers guide, books, etc. that will help me teach him because it is getting kinda complicated. I know there are so many different ones out there and was hoping that someone could tell me about a good one to use. Thanks!​

Oh will you get the responses!

We've tried a few. I tend to be mathematic, but I do think Saxon has a GREAT teacher's manual. There is a lot of review built into Saxon for the student - not that it has to be used. But judging especially by teachers guide and other books I think Saxon is really very complete.

I have one son on Saxon.

My other two use Horizons from Alpha Omega. Horizons moves faster - it's brighter, more colorful, and does not dwell on concepts. The teacher's manual is fine - not as in depth as Saxon but adequate for teaching.

Leah

 

[dutch_girl_scout]

Too funny - I'm in Grand Rapids - a Dutch mecca second only to Pella My DH's father was the principal at the school there for a time & all his siblings went to school there (my DH was too young). One of my best friends in college was a Pella girl who was also "well known"

We call it Dutch Bingo around here - always finding someone in some Dutch area that has a connection.

We have Dutch Bingo too!!! The sad thing is our last name is just our last name because DH's mom had that name when he was born (out of wedlock ) Try explaining that to people who ask who's your MIL, or are you related to ____ ?

Can anyone recommend a great math curriculum? We haven't really used any before and I would like to have something with a teachers guide, books, etc. that will help me teach him because it is getting kinda complicated. I know there are so many different ones out there and was hoping that someone could tell me about a good one to use. Thanks!​

If you're looking for your 11yo I would look at Teaching Textbooks, my DD12 is doing the pre-algebra and it's great because she can read the lesson in the book and if she doesn't understand it she can watch the lecture on CD. All the practice problem solutions are explained on the CD in lecture style, they work through the whole thing. They have programs from Math 6 through Pre-Calc.

 

[Ellester]

We use Math-U-See and have been very happy with it. The website (www.mathusee.com) has lots of info and I think you can order a free demo dvd.

 

[disneymom3]

Did there used to be a homeschool thread on the DIS? I thought there was when I first joined but maybe not.

Over time there have been many great threads, but most of us tend to come back to this one. It's hard to keep track otherwise. I for one, don't visit the family board except for this thread and hten once in awhile I scan through titles to see if there is anything homeschool related. What would be great is if we could convince the powers that be to have an actual subforum on the families board for homeschooling, but those powers that be don't seem interested in that idea. Beth has always been very supportive of homeschool threads on the family board and does respond quickly to concerns if someone comes on to pot stir an hsing thread.

As for math, I definitely recommend Teaching Textbooks, though I also really like Singapore IF you also get the teacher's manuals that are put out by Sonlight. I have my older one in TT now but she has primarily done Singapore up until now. We tried Saxon and didn't like it--too repetetive for us. My boys have done Moving with Math for K and then switched into Singapore but I am strongly strongly considering moving them into Math U See.

 

[DawnM]

We need our own forum!

Dawn

 

[DawnM]

We did the DisneyQuest and waterpark option and at Typhoon Lagoon you can swim with snorkles and see marine life, including tiger sharks! We did it and LOVED it!

Dawn

Welcome back, glad you had a great time!

We got back late Monday night and I just finished unpacking yesterday. Weren't the crowd levels and weather wonderful!!!

I will only go in Jan. in between holidays from now on! I hope they offer this again next Jan.!!!

We went to MK last Wed. and Fri. What a difference! Friday when the crowds started to show for the holiday it was CRAZY! We left the park early~I just don't enjoy it in the crowds.

We had a wonderful time too SeaWorld was incredible!

We did go to 2 Y.E.S. programs. There weren't too many homeschoolers there actually.

The first one on Monday was Ocean Discoveries. It was 3 hours and we got to go behind the scenes at the Living Sea and Trevon learned a lot~it was interesting.

The next day was Everyday Chemistry. He really enjoyed that too.

The classes were a unique experience but next time we will leave them out, unless they offer the Backstage at La Nueba (sp) class or something different.

If anyone gets an email or anything about the Homeschool Days in the future, or is putting together a group to get the same cheap prices, please post it here.

At those prices we would love to go again, although it would be hard after that great weather last week to go in the heat again

 

[lori1043]

Here is our "schedule"!!
I split our year up into 4 quarters and set goals" for myself and the kids. I put each week of the 9 week quarters onto notecards. It just has what lessons they have to complete by the end of the week. Recently, we make them week to week!!!

Anyway we start the week with the card and I try to pull out a bible verse that has to do with what is going on in life right now, but I can honestly tell you, it happends in spurts. I will do it a couple weeks then it tapers, then I pick back up, etc,etc...

We are NOT morning people, except DD10 will get up a bit earlier than DD8-so she will just read b/c we have a no TV rule during school hours-unless we are using it for education, which would be planned. So we get up somewhere b/t 8:30-9:30am, have a quick b/fast, get dressed(most of the time!!,) fix beds, brush teeth and start school about 10-10:30am. We always start with math and the rest we change up for variety.
On Tuesdays we get up a few minutes earlier b/c we have co-op at 1pm and I like to have the basics covered before we leave at 12:30.

We have lunch about 1pm, sometimes later. We usually have afternoons for unit study time or doing math games, reading out loud, library,etc...

But that is not daily-about 3 times a week or so.

I work on Fridays so they know what they have to complete-it works out nicely. We school almost year round. We take about 6 weeks in the summer and a month at Christmas, and this year we are taking 2 weeks at Mardi Gras instead of our normal 3-5 days.

A lot of times things get knocked off the list due to doc appts, or to take care/spend time with/of MIL or my dad. Sometimes we ditch school b/c we need a day off or I am in a cleaning mood!!! Sometimes a friend who homeschools has an appt so we have her kids and we all do school together and she does the same for me. It is GREAT to have a homeschool friend like that-even if you just need a day after a stressful event.

WDW in 4 days!!!

Lori

 

[DawnM]

We try to start by 9am and usually only go until noon unless we are doing projects or the kids want to do something.

We love it too because my DH doesn't get home until around 8pm. If we had to get up at 6am, like the school kids around here do (school starts at 7:30 and busses come before 7am) they wouldn't even see their dad during the week!!! They would have to go to bed when he got home.

Dawn

Here is our "schedule"!!
I split our year up into 4 quarters and set goals" for myself and the kids. I put each week of the 9 week quarters onto notecards. It just has what lessons they have to complete by the end of the week. Recently, we make them week to week!!!

Anyway we start the week with the card and I try to pull out a bible verse that has to do with what is going on in life right now, but I can honestly tell you, it happends in spurts. I will do it a couple weeks then it tapers, then I pick back up, etc,etc...

We are NOT morning people, except DD10 will get up a bit earlier than DD8-so she will just read b/c we have a no TV rule during school hours-unless we are using it for education, which would be planned. So we get up somewhere b/t 8:30-9:30am, have a quick b/fast, get dressed(most of the time!!,) fix beds, brush teeth and start school about 10-10:30am. We always start with math and the rest we change up for variety.
On Tuesdays we get up a few minutes earlier b/c we have co-op at 1pm and I like to have the basics covered before we leave at 12:30.

We have lunch about 1pm, sometimes later. We usually have afternoons for unit study time or doing math games, reading out loud, library,etc...

But that is not daily-about 3 times a week or so.

I work on Fridays so they know what they have to complete-it works out nicely. We school almost year round. We take about 6 weeks in the summer and a month at Christmas, and this year we are taking 2 weeks at Mardi Gras instead of our normal 3-5 days.

A lot of times things get knocked off the list due to doc appts, or to take care/spend time with/of MIL or my dad. Sometimes we ditch school b/c we need a day off or I am in a cleaning mood!!! Sometimes a friend who homeschools has an appt so we have her kids and we all do school together and she does the same for me. It is GREAT to have a homeschool friend like that-even if you just need a day after a stressful event.

WDW in 4 days!!!

Lori

 

[mamaloya]

Lori, ya'll sound just like us. I could have written that post.

BTW, this is what dd6 got in her fortune cookie today. "I learn by going where I have to go." Thought of you guys.

Also, 2.5 days before we leave!!!!!!!! I really don't see much schooling going on Monday and Tuesday. We leave Wednesday morning. I am hoping that get at least math done.

 

[shana1246]

I am a homeschooler of 4. Well 3 here pretty soon my oldest who is going into 9th soon is going to be going to PS. But when she does I will still be homeschooling a 7th,4th and 1st grader. I would defiently be interested in a homeschooler board.

 

[gracefor5]

I currently have a 4th grader, 2nd grader and a K. We homeschooled since the beginning. We don't know any different. Plenty of days I could pull my hair out, but hubby and I wouldn't change it for anything. We have a close family and I know homeschooling has been a part of it. You just can't help being close when you're stuck in the same house all day/every day (or in the car, since we seem to be on the road a lot.

 

[graygables]

The Bitter Homeschooler' s Wish List

There are predictable reactions when people find out we homeschool our
kids. So, when another group ran across this rant in a secular
Homeschooling Magazine, I had to laugh…hard…and share it with you all.
Consider yourself warned. We homeschoolers can be a scrappy bunch.

1. Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's
insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals,
would we admit it?

2. Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use
the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now.
Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization
means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and
pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we do
in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the
planet, and you can safely assume that we've got a decent grasp of
both concepts.

3. Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir
practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class,
4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to
socialize.

4. Don't assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for
the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.

5. If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV,
either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.

6. Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you
know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by
homeschooling. You're probably the same little bluebird of happiness
whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature
labor by telling them every
ghastly birth story you've ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.

7. We don't look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear
they're in public school. Please stop drilling our children like
potential oil fields to see if we're doing what you consider an
adequate job of homeschooling.

8. Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious.

9. Stop assuming that if we're religious, we must be homeschooling for
religious reasons.

10. We didn't go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing
of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling
just to annoy you. Really, this was a deeply personal decision,
tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of
our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your
own educational decisions.

11. Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my
credentials. I didn't have to complete a course in catering to
successfully cook dinner for my family; I don't need a degree in
teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in
the kind of chew-it-up-and- spit-it-out educational facility we call
public school left me with so little information in my memory banks
that I can't teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest
and dearest, maybe there's a reason I'm so reluctant to send my child
to school.

12. If my kid's only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can
possibly teach him what he'd learn in school, please understand that
you're calling me an idiot. Don't act shocked if I decide to respond
in kind.

13. Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in
"homeschool, " we never leave the house. We're the ones who go to the
amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the
off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and
holidays when it's crowded and icky.

14. Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in
homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every
day, just like your kid does. Even if we're into the "school" side of
education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can
burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we
don't have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.

15. Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my
kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced
revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to
school don't get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I'm one of them.
I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.

16. Don't ask my kid if she wouldn't rather go to school unless you
don't mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn't rather stay home and get
some sleep now and then.

17. Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think
it's some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you're horrified.
One of these days, I won't bother disagreeing with you any more.

18. If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class,
you're allowed to ask how we'll teach these subjects to our kids. If
you can't, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn't possibly do
a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.

19. Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child's teacher as
well as her parent. I don't see much difference between bossing my kid
around academically and bossing him around the way I do about
everything else.

20. Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious,
quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or
loud because he's homeschooled. It's not fair that all the kids who go
to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as
representative of anything but childhood.

21. Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because
she's homeschooled.

22. Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I
homeschool my kids.

23. Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I
homeschool my kids.

24. Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won't
get because they don't go to school, unless you want me to start
asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because
you went to school.

25. Here's a thought: If you can't say something nice about
homeschooling, shut up! (I prefer BE QUIET)

 

[lori1043]

Lori, ya'll sound just like us. I could have written that post.

BTW, this is what dd6 got in her fortune cookie today. "I learn by going where I have to go." Thought of you guys.

Also, 2.5 days before we leave!!!!!!!! I really don't see much schooling going on Monday and Tuesday. We leave Wednesday morning. I am hoping that get at least math done.

Hey Mamaloya!!

The Mardi gras break is turning into 3 weeks off due to my DH's brother passing away . He was 50. We bury him tomorrow. We finish packing Wednesday, and leave Thursday. EPCOT is not getting finished before we leave as we were to do Norway, Germany and the UK sometime b/t last Thursday and this Wednesday. But with his death, sadness and helping get stuff together for the funeral (and way overboard family get together afterward-per MIL). Plus I worked Friday. Today is major errand day-wash clothes, grocery for family thing after funeral, car in the shop, library, drop off info and copies for person teaching my co-op class while we are at funeral-and packing too!

Another blessing to HS'ing-being home with family during a yucky time, working together, not doing school, cooking together for someone else. But our bible study took care of us by cooking SO much it is unbeleivable-to have this week b/f our trip and bring to my MIL's. Still cooking something though!

Okay, I gotta get off this thing-see ya!!

Lori

 

[dvcbnd]

We need our own forum!

Dawn

I second that!
It would be great to have our own forum. I know that I'm on the DIS every day, sometimes multiple times a day, so it would be easier for me to get my hs'ing info while I was getting my disney fix at the same time.
(I admit - I'm an addict)