History...where to start? and math?

[KYinAZ]

I'm lost in the woods here!

 

Pulled DD out of ps after 4th grade; other DD out after kinder. Oldest had little to no formal history at all. This year we took it lightly, as we did not expect to homeschool! We spent quite with Columbus; skipped to the Puritans and reasons for the move to the New World; establishment of the colonies all the way up to the Declaration of Independence. Must say, love Jean Fritz to pull out when things get dry!

 

Trying to plan for (gulp) 6th grade and 2nd grade (pause for tears). Suggestions on history for 6th grade and 2nd grade???

Both get easily bored with workbooks after 15-20 minutes (at most).

 

Math: both are very strong with math. Oldest only wants to do calculations in her head. She is very easily bored with new concepts once she uses them once or twice - so I need creative ways to make sure they stick. I've found ps did not have her memorize the multiplication table and this has been a thorn in our side (thank you common core!). 

 

I know I'm all over the page here; my apologies.

 

Oh and oldest thrives on schedules, youngest not so much. Yikes!!

[OneStepAtATime]

:grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug:   Hang in there.  Lots of people have been in your shoes.  There are many options.

 

Can you go to a homeschooling convention?  That might help, if you can attend some seminars, actually pick up and look at materials, etc.

 

I would also read through a lot of threads that deal with these topics.  It might help you narrow down what you need.

 

There are many times many ways to approach this, so maybe reading through posts and asking more specific questions might net you some more useful answers.  Hopefully someone else will add something more useful.  :)

[serendipitous journey]

OP, what are the children using for math now?

[OneStepAtATime]

Also, write down what your long and short term goals are for homeschooling. Ask your kids, especially your older one, what THEIR goals are and if there are any areas of interest they would like to pursue. Build time in for those. Help your children work on things that interest them.

 

I would also seek out local homeschool groups. They may have a library or other resources, plus maybe some classes/field trips/clubs you can tap into.

[KYinAZ]

OP, what are the children using for math now?

Both just finished Math Mammoth light blue series for their respective grades. I did not have my oldest finish as I want to devote more time to geometry than that touched on in that set. I purchased Teaching Textbooks 6 for her, but she actually laughed at the content once she looked at the book. Most will be boring to her - just review. I was trying to break up the textbook approach to include computer which she seemed to like, when she tested on the TT site. She tested at the high 6-7 level, so I hesitated and got the 6.

[KYinAZ]

:grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug:   Hang in there.  Lots of people have been in your shoes.  There are many options.

 

Can you go to a homeschooling convention?  That might help, if you can attend some seminars, actually pick up and look at materials, etc.

 

I would also read through a lot of threads that deal with these topics.  It might help you narrow down what you need.

 

There are many times many ways to approach this, so maybe reading through posts and asking more specific questions might net you some more useful answers.  Hopefully someone else will add something more useful.   :)

You brought a smile to my face...I so needed the group hugs!! Homeschoolers are the absolute best. We had thought of homeschooling for years; my only regret now is that I didn't do it sooner. Thank you for the advice. I may try to get to the convention; its about 4 hours from here. The threads on here are golden! Hopefully I'll be able to better narrow my scope.

[OneStepAtATime]

Good luck! I truly recommend going to a convention. It can be awesome.

[HS Mom in NC]

6th grader-Greenleaf Guides for Famous Men of Ancient Egypt/Greece/Romeetc. series.  Get the study packages. http://www.greenleafpress.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=56&zenid=5511f8d813e6126ceae510af5e4215ed%C2%A0  It's all planned out with clear instructions for the student. Go chronologically since that kid has no background in history.

2nd grader-SOTW1: Ancients with the Activity Guide for SOTW 1. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=story+of+the+world+bauer

 

Then next year do SOTW 2: Middle Ages while the oldest is doing Greenleaf Guides for Famous Men of Middle Ages/Renaissance/Reformation (if you want to include religious studies from the time.) You can move them through the same time period and the oldest can work fairly indpendently while you work more closely with the youngest.

 

Each Greenleaf Guide has the whole unit planned out in about 30-33 assignments.  You can do at least 2-3 a week and cover Egypt/Greece and Rome, meanwhile your youngest can listen to you read aloud SOTW 1: Ancients 2-3 times a week and do narrations and copywork as suggested and demonstrated in the Activity Book.  You can get a read aloud per kid going (or find something they both might listen to, like myths or something) based on what they're studying.  The Activity Books have suggestions for each chapter.

[serendipitous journey]

Both just finished Math Mammoth light blue series for their respective grades. I did not have my oldest finish as I want to devote more time to geometry than that touched on in that set. I purchased Teaching Textbooks 6 for her, but she actually laughed at the content once she looked at the book. Most will be boring to her - just review. I was trying to break up the textbook approach to include computer which she seemed to like, when she tested on the TT site. She tested at the high 6-7 level, so I hesitated and got the 6.

 

Do you want the younger to continue in Math Mammoth? 

 

For the older, would you consider Singapore 6th grade, probably using the Intensive Practice supplement?  Or do you think she would be ready to tackle something like AoPS PreAlgebra -- she could do the pretest; this is a very thorough and intensive PreAlgebra program, and she should not expect to get all the problems right as she goes -- 70 - 80% would be mastery.  The page I linked has a pretest; it is under "Diagnostics" on the right side, labeled "Are You Ready?" 

[Junie]

For history this year, dd7 and dd8 and I did Abeka's 3rd grade history.  We didn't do any of the workbooks, just read the textbook together and I asked the questions at the end of the chapter.  Each chapter is a biography of a person in American History.  I don't like any of Abeka's other history books, but this one is great!!  I don't know how strong your daughter is as a reader, so I don't know if she would be ready for it on her own yet. My dd8 is a remedial reader; dd7 is advanced -- I read the book aloud to them because I didn't want dd8 to feel bad that she couldn't read it as well as dd7.

[KYinAZ]

Also, write down what your long and short term goals are for homeschooling. Ask your kids, especially your older one, what THEIR goals are and if there are any areas of interest they would like to pursue. Build time in for those. Help your children work on things that interest them.

 

I would also seek out local homeschool groups. They may have a library or other resources, plus maybe some classes/field trips/clubs you can tap into.

I have to be honest - I read this and read this in posts, forums, books, etc. and just shrugged it off. I have no idea why. This is on our list to sit and discuss this week. 

We will seek out local groups. We found one, but it just was not a good fit for myself or my oldest. 

 

Thank you for taking the time to help me along!

[KYinAZ]

I have to be honest - I read this and read this in posts, forums, books, etc. and just shrugged it off. I have no idea why. This is on our list to sit and discuss this week. 

We will seek out local groups. We found one, but it just was not a good fit for myself or my oldest. 

 

Thank you for taking the time to help me along!

[KYinAZ]

 

[KYinAZ]

Do you want the younger to continue in Math Mammoth? 

 

For the older, would you consider Singapore 6th grade, probably using the Intensive Practice supplement?  Or do you think she would be ready to tackle something like AoPS PreAlgebra -- she could do the pretest; this is a very thorough and intensive PreAlgebra program, and she should not expect to get all the problems right as she goes -- 70 - 80% would be mastery.  The page I linked has a pretest; it is under "Diagnostics" on the right side, labeled "Are You Ready?" 

I'm on the fence about Math Mammoth.

 

I think my older is ready to tackle something more challenging. I will definitely look into the link you provided. Thank you so much!

[KYinAZ]

6th grader-Greenleaf Guides for Famous Men of Ancient Egypt/Greece/Romeetc. series.  Get the study packages. http://www.greenleafpress.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=56&zenid=5511f8d813e6126ceae510af5e4215ed%C2%A0  It's all planned out with clear instructions for the student. Go chronologically since that kid has no background in history.

2nd grader-SOTW1: Ancients with the Activity Guide for SOTW 1. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=story+of+the+world+bauer

 

Then next year do SOTW 2: Middle Ages while the oldest is doing Greenleaf Guides for Famous Men of Middle Ages/Renaissance/Reformation (if you want to include religious studies from the time.) You can move them through the same time period and the oldest can work fairly indpendently while you work more closely with the youngest.

 

Each Greenleaf Guide has the whole unit planned out in about 30-33 assignments.  You can do at least 2-3 a week and cover Egypt/Greece and Rome, meanwhile your youngest can listen to you read aloud SOTW 1: Ancients 2-3 times a week and do narrations and copywork as suggested and demonstrated in the Activity Book.  You can get a read aloud per kid going (or find something they both might listen to, like myths or something) based on what they're studying.  The Activity Books have suggestions for each chapter.

Wow! Thank you so much. 

[KYinAZ]

For history this year, dd7 and dd8 and I did Abeka's 3rd grade history.  We didn't do any of the workbooks, just read the textbook together and I asked the questions at the end of the chapter.  Each chapter is a biography of a person in American History.  I don't like any of Abeka's other history books, but this one is great!!  I don't know how strong your daughter is as a reader, so I don't know if she would be ready for it on her own yet. My dd8 is a remedial reader; dd7 is advanced -- I read the book aloud to them because I didn't want dd8 to feel bad that she couldn't read it as well as dd7.

I will definitely look into it. Both are very strong readers.

Thank you so much!

[KYinAZ]

Good luck! I truly recommend going to a convention. It can be awesome.

I'm a little intimidated by the idea of it, to be honest. Plus ours is about 4 hours away, in July, in the Valley of the Sun - Phoenix. I still am toying around with it though. I'm definitely one of those people who needs the book in her hands to go through - especially with math; I'm a math nerd and somewhat picky in that area!

 

Thank you so much for your help.

[HS Mom in NC]

I suggest asking yourself what specifically you need right now (you may or may not find writing it down useful) and then compare that to what's available this year at the convention. 

 

Here's the AZ Homeschool Convention Workshop Description page: http://afhe.org/resources/forms/2015_convention/2015_workshop_descriptions.pdf

 

If you have a homeschool group near you it's OK to ask people in it if you can borrow a particular book or curriculum to look through for a few days or week or whatever.  I loan mine out all the time and I've borrowed plenty to flip through.

 

Here is the support group page for the state.  http://afhe.org/resources_support_groups.html

[Guest]

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Edited July 14, 2016 by Guest

[KYinAZ]

I suggest asking yourself what specifically you need right now (you may or may not find writing it down useful) and then compare that to what's available this year at the convention. 

 

Here's the AZ Homeschool Convention Workshop Description page: http://afhe.org/resources/forms/2015_convention/2015_workshop_descriptions.pdf

 

If you have a homeschool group near you it's OK to ask people in it if you can borrow a particular book or curriculum to look through for a few days or week or whatever.  I loan mine out all the time and I've borrowed plenty to flip through.

 

Here is the support group page for the state.  http://afhe.org/resources_support_groups.html

 

Thank you, thank you for all the information you provided. It has all been so very helpful. As I see AZ in your member name, curious to know if you've been to the Phoenix convention? If so, I'm curious if there are any used curriculum at the event before or prior. A dear friend is going to go with me next summer and we've never been, so trying to determine if we need to go a day before the convention starts and/or stay after. 

 

Thank you again for all the time you took in providing information for this newbie!