Seriously? Barbara Boxer has tried to ban homeschooling in the United States? Can you give me a cite or link so I can follow that? I've never heard of this. Thanks.

Tight spirals in math are not recommended and is seen as one of the major reasons American children are so far behind in math, according to a 2006 National Mathematics Advisory Board study. Several other research papers point to the same thing. See http://www.nctm.org/news/content.aspx?id=11952 The conclusion is that children attempting to learn math on a spiral are forever approaching a new topic, going over it a few times and moving on without ever having mastered any part of it. The NCTM recommends the mastery approach where a child achieves some form of mastery over a topic before moving on. The only "mastery approach" math curriculum I know is Singapore Math. I know there are others out there, but very few. In general, everyone is stuck with the same broken useless math system we've been using since the '60's.

What a great idea!:hurray:

We use tin cans. I measure the height and circumference, then create a paper cover in my printer, cut it out and paste it on the can. Last year I found some great graphics online and used them. Everybody asks me where I "bought" the pencil holders. The cans that flip open with the little tab (some tomato cans and soup cans) are best. They don't leave a sharp edge.

Vocabulary skills are learned by reading excellent books and listening to adults using advanced vocabulary. Vocabulary books came into vogue when reading good books went out of vogue. I have a fifth grader with a high school vocabulary who has never seen a vocabulary book in his life. His father and I have above average vocabularies. We stop and explain words every time he asks about a new one. We read excellent books together that stretch our vocabulary. Nothing else is required.

Yes, we're currently meeting at each others houses, but we've had to scale way back. Last year we had 20-30 kids. This year, we've just had to gather the closest 3 or 4 families and meet with them. Everybody else has had to create small pods close to home or just do without.

Where do you find space for your co-op to meet that is not in a church? We have a secular co-op and we teach evolution, so no Christian church will have us even drive by their parking lot. :( The UU church won't rent classrooms to a group that doesn't have it's own insurance policy. We're just a bunch of moms trying to teach our kids together -- we're not incorporated and we don't have funds to pay thousands a year in insurance in any event. Has anyone been faced with this dilemma? If so, where did you end up meeting? We've been allowed to meet at a public park with a small classroom in the past, but it's far from everyone, hot and dusty. Any ideas?

So true. It takes us anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes to complete a lesson plus the exercises.

I wonder where it went -- from the posts about it, it looks great, but it looks like Webmonkey tood it down when they moved. :( I've gotten great ideas for the web design portion and I'm checking out some books form the library. I'm hoping to get even more suggestions. I really want this to work well for the kids. Thanks in advance.

We did story of the Orchestra with our co-op and it was a big hit. That was two years ago when ds was in third grade. For fourth and fifth grade (we just began fifth grade) we're doing 8 great masters, one each month. We do each master four times (once a week). We use books form the library, classicsforkids.com and other freebies. If you'd like to see how we do it, look under my sig and download the enrichment curriculum from my co-op. It spells everything out. Last, be sure you have wonderful music of all kinds playing in your house. I download pieces from each composer and put them in my iPod. This first month we're doing Vivaldi, and my son hums the first movement from The Four Seasons when he's playing Legos and he doesn't even realize it.

Sending your little one to school with a social anxiety problem that has not been resolved would be a mistake IMHO. For one thing, how is he going to learn if he's anxious and uncomfortable? The social anxiety issue has to be addressed by a professional. Until that's resolved, your home is the best place for him to do any actual learning. Sending him to school is not going to help him with the anxiety. It will make it worse. Good grief, you can send a regular kid with no anxieties to school and within six months they can be a basket case. Keep your little guy home where he is safe, teach him yourself. You'll never regret it.

Hmmm... looks good, I'll try to find out more about it. Thanks.

I'm hoping someone can recommend a book or books to teach late grammar and middle school age kids to build a personal website.

We prefer Usborne. We've had both, but the Usborne is what works for us.

Start with Junior Analytical Grammar. It take 11 weeks. You can then move on to Analytical grammar next year or later on this year if you feel he needs the extra work.

I skip the writing section. We do enough writing with our other subjects.

This year's curriculum looks like this: 11 Weeks of Junior Analytical Grammar, followed by 18 weeks of Classical Writing Aesop B - This takes care of all the mechanics and then some. Spelling Workout D-F (we're in the middle of D now) Reading (this year I've chosen the Mike Venezia books on the U.S. Presidents which are written at fifth grade level. There is also always a book he's in the middle of -- right now we're working on the third Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Penmanship - I create my own worksheets with StarWriter. I use material from spelling, history, science, whatever needs "practice" goes in the penmanship worksheets. World History (Susan Wise Baeuer's Story of the World Volume III - Early Modern Times). We work along the activity guide, but don't do everything. We do the questions and maps, some coloring pages (although he thinks they're too "goofy" this year so he's making his own drawings). He narrates each story, then types up his narrations (typing and word processing practice). American History - We're going to read through The American Story: 100 True Tales from American History by Jeniffer Armstrong. This ties in nicely with our readers on the American presidents. We will read 3 stories each week. Biology - Real Science4Kids Biology level 1. I am augmenting this with age appropriate books on cells, DNA, evolution and biographies of scientists that added something to biology. Since I'm teaching this at co-op, I'm coming up with all sorts of additional activities and experiments. Math - Teaching Textbooks 5. At last -- math is an independent subject this year! Literature. At this age, literature should be exclusively for enjoyment IMHO. I've created a list of children's classics with my son's help. I borrowed CD's for most of them from the library and put them in my iPod. I bought some I couldn't borrow. We talk about the stories, figure out motives, use words like "setting" and "characters," but there is no "work" associated with reading (that he's figured out yet). He doesn't even have to do his own reading. He listens to the books while he colors or we cuddle up in bed or the couch and listen. It goes with us on car trips, he listens when he plays legos, he listens before going to bed. Literature is nothing but delicious at this house. Art Appreciation - We're studying 8 great masters from the Renaissance to tie in with our World History. One master every four weeks - plus we've thrown in an architect for good measure. We'll use the Mike Venezia books, as well as other age appropriate books. Art - I'll use the books How to Teach Art to Children from Evan-Moore. Music Appreciation - Again, 8 great masters, more Mike Venezia books, tons of beautiful music on the iPod every day, and a visit to classicsforkids.com for each master. Music - piano lessons once a week plus daily practice Latin - Finish Minimus: Starting Out in Latin and Minimus Secundus. We use the audio CD and a book called Learning Latin through Mythology which ties in beautifully with the Minimus program. Logic - This is his last grammar stage pre-logic year. We'll do Red Herring Mysteries and several other books on critical thinking, puzzles, etc. I get most of my stuff from the Critical Thinking Company. Typing - Typing Tutor Deluxe. I had to fold and pay money for something we could have gotten for free online. The BBC has a great typing tutor online for kids, but ds has rebelled against all things "cute" like dancing little old old ladies. Spanish - Rosetta Stone. He hears Spanish every day, so it's not like he's learning a new language. We're working on pronunciation and vocabulary. He does it about 15 minutes a day and I see big progress. Swimming - twice a week We work Monday to Thursday from 8am to 12noon with plenty of "go outside and run around" breaks. We take care of "busy" work then. After lunch, we have a one hour or so session, but it's all the fun stuff -- art, music, science labs. Fridays we reserve for doing stuff with friends. Co-op, play dates, movie nights, socializing, etc. This stuff spills over into the weekend and it's basically three days of play, play and more play. We also have a standing Tuesday afternoon Skate Date with our co-op friends. The curricula for World History, American History, Biology, Latin, Art Appreciation and Music Appreciation was developed for my co-op. (We make it available free for anyone to download, so if you're interested, there's a link in my signature.) I pulled the rest together. It seems like a lot, but it's really not. We never work more than five hours a day and that includes a quick jump in the pool or running around outside with the dogs when he gets fidgety. Most of the subjects are 15-20 minutes with Science, History and Math being the longest at 30-40 minutes. We do science two days and history two days, so it's one or the other.

I am looking for a curriculum that covers email, website design and general internet skills to teach 4th through 7th graders. I'm a professional web developer, so I know the information. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to parse it and present it to kids so they'll understand. I need a book or courseware. Any ideas? I'd love to hear how you taught your kids to email, surf and build a simple website. :bigear::bigear::bigear::bigear::bigear: Thanks!

The world IS violent and full of corruption. I guess having ****ed all humanity for all eternity on account of one woman wasn't helpful. The concept of god is not necessary for good morals and standards. Atheists are perfectly capable of having good morals. And if you watch the news at all, you'll agree that god-fearing people are capable of disgraceful, indecent behavior. How many TV preachers have gone down in flames? I don't need to believe in a god to be decent or have perfect morals. The entire story of Adam and Eve and God punishing all of humanity for the "sins" of one woman just doesn't wash. Frankly, when we covered creation myths and I told my son the story of Adam and Even, his question to me was: "Wow! What a mean god. He didn't love his people at all. Why would anyone pray to him?"

:iagree:

An hour seems like a lot. We've just begun fifth grade here also, and only math takes 40 minutes. Everything else takes between 15 to 30 minutes. Some of our subjects, like spelling, pre-logic, typing, penmanship, etc., take only 15 minutes. What curricula are you teaching this year? We do a morning session between 8:00 and 12:00. This morning session includes several 5-10 minute breaks for the little guy to go outside and run around with his dogs or jump in the pool for a quick swim. After lunch we work again for another hour or hour and a half. This afternoon session is for all the "fun" stuff. This year that's art and art appreciation, music appreciation and crafts. "Fun" changes from year to year as one would expect. In all cases, we're done by 2:00 latest every day. We only work Monday through Thursday, 40 weeks. Fridays are for field trips, co-op, play dates, piano lessons, and whatever else he wants to do.

Very nifty! Thanks, I'll pass it on to my co-op. :hurray::thumbup1::hurray::thumbup1::hurray:

I'd like to see a copy of this letter. Of course, I'm sure this letter will be "unavailable" to post here. These lies are circulated by well-meaning people (sometimes) who are told by "family friends," etc. If such a letter had ever, *ever* exsited it would have been blared to the four winds by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and the rest of their ilk. I challenge the person that posted this to produce a copy of that letter.

We use Minimus. It teaches macrons from page 1.

My son went catatonic with SOTW-1 in first grade. We struggled a few weeks with it and I put it away. We pulled it out in second grade and suddenly it was his favorite subject. :confused: What I did was find interesting story books to read to him about Egypt, Rome, and Greece. We drew pictures and did some of the projects, maps and cloring pages from the Activity Book. That worked. Sometimes a kid is simply not ready for a subject. I'd say, wait until you get to the mummies and the good stuff. If your little guy is still not interested, drop it and try again next year.