mschickie
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Posts posted by mschickie
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I got Hoizons for 1st grade health and hated it. It was very much focused on a classroom setting. I have heard great things about Total Health. I used Abeka for my 10th grader a few years ago and it was pretty good. It was well laid out and pretty easy to follow.
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I used Horizons for Phonics. Dd really enjoyed it and it really worked. I did not use their readers just the workbooks. Very easy to follow but also good solid material.
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Latin for Children is supposed to be a very good one too. Another hs Mom told me about that one and I think that is what we will be using.
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If you want something that is a literature based you could try Beautiful Feet. Notgrass is also a good one that has history, literature and Bible components.
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I read The Chosen when I was a freshman in hs. I fell in love with Potok's writing. I have read all of his books. I have always felt a great respect for the more orthodox follwers of Judaism. I think I was able to take more away from the books because I grew up in Brooklyn. I knew the neighborhoods being discussed and could picture the people.
I aslo enjoyed the movie version of The Chosen but it was not as good as the book.
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Where ever you move they might have a deal with a local college where your high schoolers can take college classes for free. Out district has that and homeschoolers are eligible to participate in the program. Kids can also take classes at the cc but you normally have to pay for them. I know a bunch of kids who have (or are) taking classes at the local cc and their parents are counting them on their IHIP.
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I am currently using Sonlight LA 2 (regular readers). The way the week goes is day one: copy work, day two: apply which is sometimes punctuation, or reviewing synonyms/antonyms, day three: usually a planning/brainstorming day for writting, day four: actual writing assignment, day five: optional writting assignment. There is also a spelling list for the week. They do have a schedule for Explode the Code but I chose to go with Horizons instead of that.
I am using this with my 7yr old right now. Dd is doing very well with the spelling. She is understanding adjectives, synonyms, antonyms... She still needs help with her creative writing but then again she is still techincally a 1st grader so she will get there. The approach is more of a natural approach. Most days it does not take us long, day 4 and 5 (if we do it) take her the longest.
Hope that helps.
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NY really is not that hard once you get used to it. If you are a Christian I would suggest joining a local LEAH chapter. LEAH puts on great conventions (they have one big one in Rochester and then one down on LI too). You can usually do your testing through the chapter too.
You will not need to show the ps any of your records from IL. Here is a link to a good packet from my local district. http://www.rhnet.org/files/479/Manual%202009-2010.pdf It pretty much lays out hsing in NY. You will need to send a letter of intent once you move into the district. They will send you paperwork (you do not need to use theirs but they are required to send you a form). You send back the IHIP (plan of what you are going to use and when you plan to submit quarterly reports. Quarterly reports you just say how they are doing. For your high school students you will need to take a standardized test every year. For grades 4-8 it is a standardized test every other year and a written evaluation.
If you have any other questions just ask.
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Reall?? I actually found hs cheaper than our elementary stuff. I have been able to get most of the hs books used while alot of the elementary stuff is workbooks. I have spent a little more on outside classes this year for our high schooler but I think if I add up the activities for dd they still cost more than the ones for sd.
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We are using it right now. Sd is enjoying it. I think it has a good variety of films and the question are pretty indepth. We are also using some of the extended actitivites so she is reading some of the books and stories too.
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Check out Horizons for Math. They use a spiral approach and the sheets are colorful which can be appealing to little kids. We did Horizons 1 last year and dd loved it. The lessons are not too long and all the concepts are reinforced through out the year.
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There are always trade offs but there is no reason you can not provide a quality education at the high school level. Science labs can be done at home or if you have a homeschool co-op nearby you might be able to do them there. We have done both biology and chemistry at home with no problems. This year sd is going to do physics. Many homeschoolers in our area also take college classes starting in their jr year. In our district homeschoolers even qualify to take courses at no charge at 2 different local colleges (top ranking colleges too). Sd did not choose to do that but maybe when the time comes dd will want to do that. Sd has not missed much of anything by not going to the public school except being around the wrong crowd and we are glad she is out of that. She attends a prom every year and this year she will be walking in a graduataion ceremony. Hope that helps reassure you a little.
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We are doing core 1 now. Just the core 1 stuff takes about 1- 1 1/2 hrs (including LA). If you throw in Math, phonics, handwritting and science then the entire day takes about 3 hrs for us.
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We have two cats. If you can get two kittens at the same time that would be better than getting one now and then one latter. There is a few years difference between our cats and they do not like each other, they tolerate each other but there is some fighting.
As for breeds of cats I would highly recommend a British Blue (British Shorthair http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Shorthair ). They are the most loving cats I have ever met. Ours did not even mind when dd was younger and would lay on him. He is just such a loving cat it is unbelievable. That breed will be my first choice in the future.
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BJU is pretty good basic high school text. I would not suggest Abeka at all. You could also look at some basic textbooks used in colleges such as American Promise or American Nation (by Garrety, I like this one alot and they have a good support website), for Western Civ, there is Western Heritage (by Kagan) which is really good.
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You need to have a discussion with the principal and the head of the math dept. I would ask to look at the test they gave her and also bring a copy of the last test you took at home. You might also bring the 8/7 book so they can see what she has covered. I think if you do this now they will be willing to move her to the proper class.
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There is a good chance that it is a form letter. I know that is what ours sends out. They also send a copy of an IHIP/Annual Plan and have "suggested" dates for the quarterly reports. I usually turn mine in sometime in vacinity of those dates even though I homeschool year round. There is no need for the district to know when I have our vacation days as long as I am completing enough hours by the end of the year.
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Homeschooling in NY looks worse on paper than it actually is. The IHIP and quarterlies really are not bad at all. Occassionally you will get a superintendent who thinks you need to do more than the law states but that is what HSLDA is for :) If you are christian I would suggest joining a local LEAH chapter if you move to WNY. LEAH has a great convention that is held in June. It is in Rochester which is only about an hour hour and 1/2 away from Buffalo. I am over in Rochester but the Buffalo area is nice too.
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There is a ton of stuff to do in the WNY area. We are over in Rochester which is about 1hr away from Syracuse. We have a good zoo, Science museum, Genese Country Village and Museum, Susan B. Anthony house, George Eastman House and there are a ton of other things too. I am a member of a LEAH chapter and would highly recommend it along with the convention.
Hope the interview went well.
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I have used both Abeka and BJU at the high school level. I would go for BJU. The only "negative" that I found with BJU is that there is sometimes a harsh edge or negativity when dealing with the Roman Catholic Church (I was raised Catholic and some of my friends are Catholic). I used those small sections to teach about perspective with history. Abeka was pretty acurate but not as engaging as BJU. BJU also has the activities manuals which are really good. The test for BJU are also better than Abeka's. As a former history teacher I found myself compelled to create new tests for the Abeka program but I was fine with the BJU tests.
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YES! The course is constantly reviewing previous material. I think it is necessary that the kids complete each problem to get the continual reinforcement that is part of Saxon's methodology. If you are not completing each problem you are taking away from the reinforcement and the building process. I can say that by doing all the problems sd really cemented her skills.
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I would do the British Lit with World History too. Electives can be pretty much anything. Some ideas are, home economics, college and careers, computers, art, foriegn language(especially if she is planning on college),public speaking, drama, automotive care,scrapbooking (can be considered an art course photography/paper crafting)... that is about all that is poping to mind right now but I am sure there are plenty more out there.
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I use hst+ for sd(12th this year yikes). She also has a planner. She used that last year for long term assignments. She liked the print out but her time management still needs work. We are going to use the planner this year for her to set times each day to schedule her work. When she knows she is doing math from 10-10:30, hist 10:30-11 she does much better. I know that tracker has this feature but since the order will change each day we figure it would be easier in the planner.
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We just used BJU's American History. Sd really liked it. We had used Abeka for World History the year before and she hated that. The student activities book for BJU really helped alot too. I had looked at Notgrass and Beautiful Feet but those were too much reading for her. As a former high school History teacher I also think that as a textbook goes BJU's is pretty well set up. I would not say it was an honors book but a good standard History. Their tests are also pretty well laid out. I could not stand Abeka's test and ended up making my own up last year
Homeschooling in NY? What is it like.
in K-8 Curriculum Board
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Ny looks much worse on paper than it really is. The letter of intent just needs to be one line stating that you are going to homeschool. Your IHIP/annual Plan just tells the grade or age of the child, the dates you plan on turning in your quarterlies (you decide them even if the district provides suggested ones) and a list of the curriculum you are planning on using or how you are planning on homeschooling. I just give a list of the books I plan on using.
Quarterlies for elementary are easy just a summary of what you have covered and how the child is doing. My standard response is at or above grade level since dd normally is. You just need a total number of hours. The school district can ask for documentation of that but usually the hours on the quarterly are considered enough. For high school it is recommended that you provide a grade and the hours per subject/class. This is more because colleges will occassionally ask for that from homeschoolers.
If you complete all the requirements and paperwork through 12 grade (even though you can stop submitting after 16) you can request a letter of completion from the district. We got ours for sd about a week after we submitted her final quarterly.
The paperwork usually takes me only about 10-15 minutes to complete. I know some folks who hand deliever them or mail them by certified mail. We either fax or email ours. I would suggest making sure you are part of HSLDA just incase you have a bad district or there is a new person who does not understand the regs. Usually one call from HSLDA clears everything up. NY does have a very active homeschool groups too. By us there are lots of homeschool groups, co-ops, sports and just other opportunities.
What area are you looking at moving to? WNY does get some snow but rarely is it enough to shut it down. I love it up here since we really get to see all the seasons.