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hedwigtheowl

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Posts posted by hedwigtheowl

  1. Sigh. I really don't want to go at all. I hate crowds and standing in line! 

     

    But my daughter really wants to go, has been begging for years, and I have agreed.

     

    If I go in January, what is the quietest week and should I still expect significant lines? 

     

    Did you travel independently or on a tour e.g. AAA?

    • Like 1
  2. I don't know if there is a booklist required for withdrawal. I'll look into it. We're in Ohio. Anyone know?

     

     

    I lie in Ohio. There is a standard withdrawal form (NOI for Notice of Intent) and you have to supply a curriculum. At the end of the school year you have either a portfolio assessed by a certified teacher or you do standardized testing. If you Google PEACH in Xenia they have everything online. It's accurate and free. I used there sample forms and had no problems.

     

    I was in your friend's situation. I made the decision to hs three weeks before the start of the school year. I did some intensive internet research and pulled together a curriculum in a week which I have since revised. You can deviate from your submitted curriculum. 

     

    Where I live in Ohio there are several Facebook hs groups which were a lifesaver for me. 

     

    ​I don't think at your friend's grade level it is that complicated. 

    • Like 2
  3. I was the same as your friend when my son was in high school.

     

    BUT, I did intervene as soon as I saw a problem (tutor for math, classes for the SAT). And I went to all the teacher evenings so I was aware of his progress.

     

    My son was also extremely organized and conscientious. 

     

    If it isn't broken....

     

    My daughter is an entirely different case: sensitive, miserable at school, not developing well. Hence I am now homeschooling. 

  4. Please let me know when you solve this. I had a conversation with a veteran home-schooler today about this same problem.

     

    For math, she recommended a math game. I am using Math Ninja but there are many options for math drill.

     

    I also use a star-chart. So there is a reward for being accurate.

     

    From your child's point-of-view he probably can't see the reason why he needs to be accurate. In the meantime I would work on an incentive-based system. 

  5. I am doing Spanish because I think it is the most useful language in the US even though I am fluent in French and studied Latin in HS.

     

    I started with Duolingo. It is not a complete program but it builds confidence, it is fun and quick and they pick up useful vocabulary quickly.

     

    One of my reasons for home-schooling was to be able to start a language earlier. My daughter is 9 and I think that is late. 7 is a great age to start, the earlier the better. I have a friend whose daughter started Spanish at 5. She followed the Rosetta Stone program. At age 11 she has enrolled in her first year of Spanish at Community College. 

     

     

    • Like 1
  6. Can you explain to him *why* he has to summarize? Like someday he is going to have to explain something to someone else, and even if he can remember all the details, the other person will only be able to remember a few details. He needs to give the other person only the most important details. Summarizing isn't just something we do to torture people with photographic memories. (Although it can sure feel that way!)

     

     

    You can make this into a game. Aliens arrive from another planet. He needs to explain something to them. But they have tiny memories and they they can only remember four sentences.

  7. About how much time do your 4th / 5th graders spend on bookwork per day?  How is that broken down by subject?  Trying to figure out if we are at all within the normal range - thanks!

     

    Currently, we spend about:

    1.5 hrs math (Singapore Standards)

    2.5 hrs writing / grammar / spelling / literature (IEW, Shurley Grammar, SWR)

    0.5 to 1 hr history (MOH for big kids, SOTW for baby)

    0.5 to 1 hr science 

    0.5 hr Prima Latina & greek mythology (only one kid - my fast finisher)

     

    0.5 hr typing practice

    0.5 hr piano

     

    1+ hr free reading

     

    Reasonable?  Or way too much?  It seems like everybody else finishes so fast.  What is too long?

     

    That is long in my opinion and you still don't have art, PE or general music in there! But it's also comparable to a British academic private school i(n my experience) so it depends on what your point of comparison is. I would cut down the Language Arts and maybe the math if your child is finding it onerous.

  8. Are you using their on-screen keyboard? It won't let you type the answers in using your keyboard unless they are one digit. You need to click the on-screen numbers and symbols.

     

     

    You are right. OK. I have the very bottom edge of a virtual keyboard at the bottom of my screen. But it is overlaid with instructions from a fairy.

     

    I can't get the keyboard to appear.

     

    I'm losing my mind!

  9. I have a 4th grader and I would completely drop the Shakespeare and poetry. And I would dial back the spelling. It sounds as if you are putting too much pressure on both of you. Breathe. You have plenty of time.

     

    Your daughter has to want to read. That is what will help her most with spelling. I think too much structured "literature" too young can kill a love of reading. I let my daughter pretty much read whatever she wants. I have found that she has naturally graduated to better books, she has read the first three Harry Potter, but she still picks up Junie B Jones when she is in the mood. 

     

    When I was in school I read quite a lot of "junk" books but I am still reading many years later... 

    • Like 1
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