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8Arrows4theLord

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Everything posted by 8Arrows4theLord

  1. Please calm down. I am sorry if I offended you. I was just stating what a teacher told me. She was a very respected teacher and had many years of experience. It was not meant to be an insult or anything to offend anyone. Just information. All children are different, and develop differently. Birthdates are just one factor in deciding if a child is ready for school or not. If the child is mature and ready to do the work, then birthdates are not an issue. This is why we homeschool- so we as parents can say, yes my child is ready or no they are not. We do not have to follow the predetermined set of standards the public school system sets. And I do agree that not all late spring/ summer or even premie kids are at a disadvantage. My oldest is a end of May kid, and she learned to read at 3 yrs old.
  2. I wish we would have found a friendly co-op a lot earlier in our homeschooling. We had a bad co-op experience when we first started, but we couldn't find another one close to us. We haven't been in co-op for several years. I think my children would have benefitted from a more structured setting for some classes and would have had a larger friend circle, if we would have participated in a co-op. It is sad when homeschoolers get nasty to each other. We are all different, but all are trying to do the best we can for our kids. I am glad to read about all the really great co-ops out there!
  3. Congrats a little late on a new baby! They do throw a wrench into your plans for school, but they are so cute! :laugh: As for history, move on and don't worry about it. They will cover all that material again when they get to High School age. SOTW is meant to expose the child to history, not mastery of the subject. If you really feel bad, you could get some good historical fiction, biographies, kids history books about different important times/ people from the library and have your kids read them for free reading.
  4. My oldest used the R&S 2nd gr. book at 6 yrs. old. She had no problems with it, but we did a lot of it orally and she was reading at a 4-5th gr. level. We had not done any grammar before starting it. Yes, R&S gets harder as the books advance, but you can always slow down when it gets hard. 5th grade is one of the hardest books, lots of new material. One nice thing about starting the series early: she has scored perfect or near perfect scores in grammar on all of her standardized tests since 3rd grade. Just to clarify, she was my only one (so far) who was advanced enough to use the books this early. My others weren't ready till 2nd or 3rd grade to start R&S grammar. Didn't realize this was an older thread. Hope things are going well! :001_smile:
  5. Sonlight cores G & H use the Story of the world books as their history spines. I have however done a little of what you are asking. We are finishing up core E this year. Here's a few ways I added SOTW 4. -*Get the SOTW workbooks- we used a lot of the maps in there. Sonlight's maps are not good. We also used the worksheets, questions, and activities in them. Great books! -Pick and choose the parts of SOTW that match what you are doing in Sonlight -DO NOT try to do all of the lessons in both unless you want to extend the books for 2+ yrs. (it took us 2 yrs. to get through E with supplementing) -Sonlight has a fair amount of reading in the Landmark books, Children's Encyclopedia of Am. Hist., and the Usborne World Wars book -Core E drags the Civil War out for a very long time and skimps over other time periods- Perfect use for SOTW -We often did SOTW work on Fridays, instead of the optional day 5 work. -Skip the Sounding Forth the Trumpet books- they are dry and need a lot of editing. My kids hated them. -Enjoy the wonderful readers! :wub: - one warning about some of the E readers: a few can be disturbing to young children. Here are a few that are good books but should be previewed first: Bruchko, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, Old Yeller, & Shades of Gray. Enjoy your school year! :001_smile:
  6. I worked as an aide for a PS 1st gr. teacher for several years. Here is a little of what she told me about when kids start school. She could always point out the "summer babies" and premies. She said they often had to work harder to keep up with the regular fall and winter kids. Kids born early should be grouped with other kids that were born when they were due. That month early makes a big difference in their development. A premie due in August, but born in June, should be thought of as an August baby for school. Often when kept in pre K that extra year, the summer kids had a much better school experience in K, and better academic performance in 1st gr.. I remembered her comments when our DD turned 5, 1 week before the PS cut off. She just wasn't ready for a full K year, so we scaled it back. We will continue over the summer and next school year with our pre-K/ K books until she is ready to move on. This will give her the time to mature emotionally, for her fine motor skills to improve, and to get a solid base in phonics. For all of my children I have set their grade level by their lowest Math or Reading level. That way they could be working ahead in what they are good at, but working at grade level for their slower subject. My 9 1/2 yr. old is just finishing 2nd grade because of a reading problem, but he is thriving and able to keep up in Sunday school. Being a non reading 1st grader can be embarrassing for some children, even in SS, when asked to read and they can't. I would red shirt a young child who isn't mature enough or one who isn't able to work at the expected grade level. One nice thing is that homeschoolers can skip grades later, when their late bloomers blossom.
  7. They have helped our children keep all their work together and neat. The schedule in the front is truly what I bought them for, though! :001_smile: The schedule is very nicely laid out and makes the books easier to use. We have used them for G. Science up through Chemistry.
  8. Congrats on your 1st year of homeschooling! :thumbup: Sounds like you have 2 amazing girls! I agree with the posts above that say to start the next level even if it is not the new school year. You never know what will happen later. Let them fly now and have that cushion later to slow down if they need. Take some breaks as needed, but keep going. Let them explore their favorite subjects in depth and work through the core subjects as able. Have you invested in a microscope, telescope, or a chemistry set to supplement your science? I agree with what Job, Dragonflier, and Ellie posted. We also have promoted to new grade levels at different times of the year, much to the confusion of our poor school district officials! :001_smile: There are many options for advanced students in middle school and high school. They will have so many more opportunities open to them later! Let them spread their wings wide and soar!
  9. Some kids take to narration naturally, but others really need to work at it. If he has only been narrating for less than a year, then he is still new at this. Several narrations a day may just be too much for him. Perhaps you could try narrating one subject a day, in the way suggested above by the attatchedmoma. She has some good ideas! Then for his other subjects have him "narrate" in a more creative way. My kids have all enjoyed drawing a picture or diagram about something they learned, learning a song about the topic, or even drawing a comic strip about the events in the lesson. If he gets frustrated getting all his words on paper, you could tell him you will be his "secretary" for the session and he is to dictate his narration to you. Keep the narration passages short and simple to give him confidence. Then increase them as he gets better. We never narrate read a louds, it takes the joy from them.
  10. My teen son really enjoyed reading The World Wars book by Usborne.
  11. Could you try a small folding table pushed up to the nook table and benches. Keeping toddlers in high chairs for as long as possible has also helped us.
  12. I was afraid of them for years. Then we had a huge crop of green beans. My friend came over and taught me how to use hers. It was so easy! Now I use mine a lot. The food doesn't have to be mushy if you follow the cooking directions. It takes a little practice, but it has saved me a lot of time. Just be sure to use a new modern pressure cooker with a one piece pressure weight. The older ones with dials have to be calibrated regularly to keep them accurate. Also as mentioned above, follow the directions exactly, especially if you are canning.
  13. I say "creak" , my husband says "crick" ! :laugh:
  14. Khan is notorious for viruses and other bugs. Run a thorough scan of your computer for viruses, malware, and spyware. Some of the programs have viruses attached to them. We also have not been able to log on with our older Mac. Does your other computer have a current browser? Hope you can figure out the problem.
  15. We are Church of God Bible quizzers. Lots of fun! :hurray:
  16. My oldest also did this at 3 and was reading really well at the end. Not going to repeat what Mom2Bee wrote, she said it perfectly. We continued at 4 yrs. old with lots of library books and worked through the R&S Bible readers & Christian Light readers. Happy reading!
  17. We have used Sonlight history with success with our dyslexic boys. We added narrations, picture/diagrams drawing, and projects to expand the history to do more than reading and discussion. Plus we watch movies or clips on-line to expand. Nice thing about Sonlight is that it has such a broad age range and uses interesting materials. My 13 yr. old is finishing up core E and has enjoyed it- his favorite book has been the World Wars book by Usborne.
  18. Phonics, Reading good books with a little narration work, Handwriting and a little copy work, and family read alouds- that sounds like a nice for a little one. We added FLL 1, but I agree it isn't necessary. :001_smile:
  19. We have found learning facts as triplets have mostly eliminated the finger counting. R&S math 2 introduces triplets, but there are triangle flash cards that do the same thing without having to switch curriculum. Basically a triplet is 3 #s that make several facts. (5) 2, 3 is the triplet for 2+3 = 5, 3+2 = 5, 5-2 =3, & 5-3 =2.
  20. Spunky Math has small pictures to color in the workbook. Saxon 2 has activities that involve coloring also. But truthfully, I would supplement whatever math curriculum you have been using if it is working for him. Too much switching early on isn't good, you get holes. Here are a few ideas, maybe one will work: Have him Trace pattern blocks in patterns and color them it. Print out a coloring sheet for him and then make math problems to solve as a color by number (the answers would tell what color). Trace pennies, dimes, ect.. and then have him color in the correct coins to match a certain amount. Use Tanagrams to make complex designs to color. Use a hundreds # chart and have him color all the even #s, count by 3's or which ever counting sequence you want to work on. Have him draw a parking lot or several with X # spaces. Then he "drives" X # of matchbox cars that need to park in his lot(s).Have him figure out how many cars won't fit or how many he could still park in there (this works with all sorts of problems by changing the grouping of cars or placement in lots to cover +,-, x, or division). There are several book with math games and activities you may be able to find at the library. Hope he continues to enjoy his coloring! Mine still do a lot of coloring as picture narrations for reading. They grow up so fast! :001_smile:
  21. Here are a few my children have enjoyed not many picture books but good ones: Ages 1-10+ Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories (not Biographies, but all true stories of how God worked in kids lives) have pictures Ages4+ Missionary Stories with the Millers (some stories may bother sensitive children), Mildred Martin I Heard Good News Today by Cornelia Lehn Older children/ read alouds (sensitive children may not do well with some sections) God's Ambassadors ISBN 1-58660-131-8 Christian Heroes : Then & Now series (we have quite a few of these and they are well done)
  22. If your son has used Saxon in the past stick with it. If not it may be hard to jump in- use a placement test to see what book he should use. My daughter switched to TT after having problems part way into Saxon Alg. 1. She finished 3 "books" of TT ( Alg.1, Geom., & Alg. 2) and wishes we had stuck with Saxon. She recently started Saxon Adv. math w/ Art Reed's DVDs and has learned so much! She likes how he's a real guy, not some sterilized perfect teacher, and says he explains the concepts well. Her SAT prep scores increased just from several weeks of using the Saxon book. She feels TT didn't cover enough material to prepare her well for the PSAT. If we had known about Art Reed's DVDs earlier, we probably wouldn't have made the switch to TT. I have not heard many positive comments about the DIVE cds. If your son is not looking at college TT will give him the basics. If he is college bound- Saxon is hard, but he will be better prepared for the SAT. Hope our experience helps you decide. :001_smile: If you haven't used Saxon before Sonlight.com has math placement tests you can print out for free under their math section.
  23. Sonlight uses SOTW as their spine for their 6th and 7th grade cores (G & H). Are you doing the extra reading suggested in the workbook? That really fleshes things out and bumps up the level. We read the lesson orally, did the map work, answered the questions orally, and either drew a picture or wrote about what they learned for each section. We also did the extra readings listed or read books on related topics on other days. I'm planning to use SOTW 1& possibly 2 for my two middle school students and 3 younger ones, as a family history class this year. We will do the work above together, then added extra projects and reports will bump up the level for the older ones. If she is having trouble reading, work with her. If she is just being grumpy, try to liven things up with some extra readings from Usborne's Book of World History, Time Traveler books, You Wouldn't Want to... series, or some good children's biographies. Sometimes they just need a change of pace for a bit. Ask if she wants to study a certain topic a little more. Check out books, activity books, and movies about that topic from the library. Hope you can find something that helps. :001_smile:
  24. As a supplement for learning math facts you could try the triangle flash cards. They drill the facts as triplets- Whole number is 5 its parts are 2 & 3. So triplet (5)2 3 would be: 2+3=5, 3+2=5, 5-2=3, 5-3=2 you learn 4 facts with one triplet. I also agree about putting skip counting to music.
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