SebastianCat
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Posts posted by SebastianCat
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Since your kids are at the older end of the recommended age, I'd recommend you purchase the OLD IG and choose either the 4 or 5 day package based on whether you want the extra books. In the old guildes, the 4 day schedule is printed on one side of the page, with the 5 day schedule printed on the other side. We always followed the 4 day schedule but ordered the 5 day package, and used the extra books for "fun" reading or over holidays.
The "old" Core A is a fabulous 1st grade curriculum. Since SL seems to be promoting Core A as their "kindergarten" curriculum, they appear to have removed some of the more difficult books to adapt the curriculum to its intended audience. But I used Core A three years ago with a gifted 1st grader and we had a wonderful year.
If I was intending to use Core A for a 5 year old or wanted to use SL's LA package, I'd recommend buying the new IG next week. But if I was using it as a 1st grade curriculum, with older kids, or if I didn't want the LA, I'd buy the older version today.
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We used DEL when my kids were in kindergarten, age 5. The skills covered are much more kindergarten leven than what I'd consider "preschool." The first two books are very easy, and the last two books are very challenging. I wouldn't say they increased my kids' IQs one bit, but they did help ME to identify their strengths and weaknesses.
We've never used R&S so I can't directly compare; however, I have several friends who loved R&S for preschool.
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When I was in high school, my mom hit a red tail hawk with the car. She thought it was an owl for some reason, and wrapped it in her coat. I held it wrapped in the coat while she drove to the local nature center that also had an animal rehab program. When we got there, the naturalist flipped out that we had a red tail hawk in the car. He said it could have severely injured us had it "come to" and started flapping around. So, whatever you do, don't try to drive it to a center yourself! :tongue_smilie:
Wow - no, I don't really want to try to take it somewhere myself!
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If you've ever encountered injured wildlife on your property, can you share your experience?
We found this sandhill crane in our back yard today around lunchtime. It is lying down and hasn't tried to get up or move, other than lifting its head to look around, for almost 3 hours now. It looks like one of its legs might be injured by the way it sits.
My 9 year old DS discovered it, walked right up to it and "pet" it. (Yes, we did discuss why we really shouldn't try to touch wild animals after he told me that!)
We have a call into a local wildlife rehab place, but haven't gotten a call back yet.
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Boscopup, or anyone else :) do you think there is any way a first grader could tag along with core D if I added age appropriate books from TQ and some hands on? Not looking for him to "get the most out of it" but more just get a fun intro to uS history? Would something like that work for Core D and E? If it matters at all he loves the core B read alouds this year.
Disclaimer: I intentionally waited a year for my DD to turn 8 before we begin Core D. I started borrowing Core D books from our library to pre-read last year, and have now pre-read just about the entire Core. I haven't done Core D with my kids yet, but they'll be 10 & 8 when we begin in the fall.
As for your question, yes, a 6 year old could "tag along" in Core D. But the Landmark History spine will be WELL over a 6 year old's head. As will many of the deeper themes of some of the books. You would need to make some significant adjustments to hold a 6 year old's attention.
I would see if you could borrow the Landmark History book as well as The Witch of Blackbird Pond; Incans, Aztecs and Mayans; Walk the World's Rim; and Carry On, Mr. Bowditch from your library to pre-read before making your decision. Those are a few of the "heavier" books in Core D. Many of the books contain violence - war, patriotism, parents/siblings/friends dying, abandonment, human sacrifice, etc. If you think your 6 year old could handle that subject matter, then he might be able to tag along.
The Landmark History book readings are about twice as long as the Core B readings in CHOW. There are a few black and white pictures, but not on every page. The writing is much more abstract, with vocabulary on an adult level. I don't think either of my kids could have handled it at 6, and I think my soon-to-be-8 year old may struggle with some parts.
But there are many books that a 6 year old would enjoy. Not everything is written on an adult level! The Readers are essential to Core D, by the way. If your 6 year old can't read the Core D Regular Readers, he will miss a significant amount of history, and those are some of the "light" books in the Core. They also contain pieces of history (such as Pocahontas) that aren't covered anywhere else. If he can't read them independently, you'll need to treat them like Read Alouds and read them to him (or have the older sibling read aloud to him).
Sorry this is so rambling, but I hope it helps!
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How old are your kids?
SL sells a Core Tips CD with some suggestions for extra activities. I haven't used this, so I can't comment specifically, but I think they do have samples online.
For upper elementary or middle school aged kids, when you get to studying American History, Homeschool in the Woods' Time Travelers CDs are great. We plan to do 2-3 of them next year alongside SL Core D. But we will definitely be rearranging some and might drop a few books in order to do this.
You could always add lapbooks on your own. Homeschool Share has some free lapbooks that correlate to many books and time periods that SL covers, depending on the ages of your kids and what Cores you intend to do. That would take as little or as much time as you'd want to invest.
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We've done SL cores P4/5 through C, and I've been pre-reading D to begin this fall. IMO, Core C is PLENTY of "school" reading for the ages it's intended for. My kids are voracious readers, and we regularly visit the library for "fun" reading, which doesn't necessarily need to be at the same level as "school" reading.
The Readers are by far the smallest measure of reading in SL. The meat of the reading is done in the Core, and I thought Core C was plenty for my kids, who were a gifted 3rd grader and an above-average 1st grader when we did it. Core D is even meatier.
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I think I've read that they are good for 3rd-6th grades, but I have a friend who used them for a range of kids from K through 5th.
The program as a whole seems pretty easy to adapt to different ages. I don't think I would use it with a 1st grader by themselves, but certainly a 1st grader could get a lot out of "tagging along" with an older sibling.
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I'm also VERY interested in the whole idea of scanning workbooks onto the iPad. I spend my summers prepping ALL of our paperwork from workbooks - math, English, spelling, handwriting - and putting them into big 3-ring binders so I can just pull them out at the beginning of each week. We don't have an iPad yet, but if I could pull this off, it would save me a TON of paper and time. And justify purchasing an iPad to begin with. ;)
Specifically - where/how do you store the workbook pages? On the cloud? On a laptop?
Do you scan one page at a time, then save it as it's own file, or save the entire workbook as a whole file?
How big are the PDF files?
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We took a year off from SL this year and studied state history with a curriculum I put together myself. We had done cores P4/5 through C, and my 7 year old just wasn't quite ready for D. I'm SO glad I did it!
In our year away from SL, I realized that I really like putting my own stuff together and not being so pressured by the SL schedule. And my kids really love doing more hands-on activities.
So in the fall we will begin a hybrid of SL's Core D (using a previous year's IG that I purchased used) with HSITW's Time Travelers CDs. I *think* I'll use HSITW as my spine, and just add the SL books as they fit. If that goes well, we'll do the same thing for the time period that Core E covers the following year.
After that, I don't know what we'll do. I'm considering TOG as well.
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I use this recipe that I got from welcometomybrain.net. I have used a full bar of dove soap when I couldn't find Fels Naptha. I have one pretty stinky boy and my laundry comes out smelling good.
Water (hopefully you've got some of that around the house)
1/3 bar of Fels Naptha Soap (or my favorite - Zote soap)
1/2 cup washing soda (NOT baking soda - look in the detergent aisle)
1/2 cup Borax
A bucket that will hold 2 gallons
Grate the soap. I use my cheese grater. Mix it with about three pints of water in a saucepan. Heat on low until dissolved. Stir in washing soda and Borax. Stir until thickened and remove from heat. Add 1 quart of hot water to bucket. Add soap mixture and stir well. Fill bucket with hot water until you have about two gallons. Mix well again. Let set 24 hours, or until thickened.
It will be funky goopy. I use a big spoon to stir it up and then use a funnel to pour it into an old detergent container. I use 1/2 cup per load.
You can always add a drop of an essential oil like lavender that kills germs and smells nice if you want it to smell better. I put a drop or two of lavender in the laundry whenever someone has been sick.
1/2 cup of vinegar in your fabric softener dispenser is a pretty good fabric softener. But, somewhere I read that it can be bad for the seal on your washing machine or something (I'm sure you could google it).
I use the same recipe and love it! I keep a bottle of regular detergent on hand just for backup when I run out of the homemade stuff, and I can't stand the smell of the regular detergent anymore.
The only thing I find is that I do have to pretreat stains and "ring around the collar," but as long as I do that, the clothes come out totally clean.
This is the blog where I got the recipe. I've been using it for about a year or more, and love it. It costs me less than $1 per 2 gallons to make.
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I wouldn't worry about centerpieces, or decorations. Honestly, that stuff just gets trashed after the party anyway. If you're having the party at a restaurant, let them handle it. I do think it's a good idea to have someone make a cake, or to buy a special cake from a bakery if that doesn't work.
I would try to find ONE picture of your parents and take it to Walgreens or JoAnns and have it reprinted in a small poster size - like 16" x 20". Add a wide white or cream colored mat, and have everyone who attends the party sign it with well wishes or a note.
At the party, I'd ask for volunteers (and I'd specifically ask a couple people beforehand to volunteer) to stand up and tell what your parents have meant to them, or to give them general well wishes, etc. Let that be your entertainment.
I don't think I'd ask for cash. When we did my IL's 50th anniversary, we didn't specify gifts, and I don't think they received any. They got a lot of cards, but no gifts.
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Thank you for posting this about PayPal. And thank you for posting the link to the fee calculator. This thread has been eye-opening, and I have learned from it!
To the OP, I hope you get this resolved quickly.
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Question for those of who you have paid for the homeschool tracker plus upgrade.....
Does the "plus" version allow you to create an assignment without giving it a date? I have recenly downloaded the basic version of HST and can't see how to make an assignment without it being tied to a date.
I'd like to create assignments for next year over the summer, then assign dates to them as we go through the year. If it's going to be a week full of doctor appointments or we take a field trip, I'd like to assign fewer days worth of assignments. But I won't know those things until a week prior, and I really, really need to have all of the assignments themselves input over the summer, just without dates assigned.
I hope my question makes sense. Thanks for those who can help!
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I will be doing Core D in the fall with my kids who will be 10 & 8. Even with an 11 year old, I would lean toward doing the separate Core D, then Core E, UNLESS they have already studied a significant amount of American history, OR you live outside the U.S. and don't want to focus on American history for 2 full years. We have used SL for Cores P4/5 through C, and I generally tend to stay away from the condensed cores because they move so fast.
If you don't plan to use SL's LA, I would go ahead and purchase your IG now. If you do plan to use SL's LA, you may want to wait until they release the new packages. Purchasing the entire Core package will get you a discount on the price of books, plus a 10% discount and free shipping from SL for an entire year; however, you can find most of the books used for substantially less. I bought the entire Core used, but it took several months of piecemealing to find everything. Many of the books are classics that you should be able to find in the library, so that may be an option if your budget is limited.
SL has said that they are changing some of the book selections this year, so if it's important to you to have the "newest" selection of books, you might want to wait and purchase after they announce their changes.
The Readers that come with Core D have two options. The Advanced Readers include all of the Regular Readers plus some extras. The Readers do contain parts of history that aren't covered elsewhere in the Core.
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My kids LOVED it around 6. We also have it on audio CD and they still listen to it frequently, and they're now about to turn 10 & 8.
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I will totally agree with others. A Kindle is just like reading a book. Definitely go to Target or Best Buy and look at them in person. You will need a small book light if your kids will be reading in low-light situations, because there is no backlighting at all. I have a case with a book light that slides into the case for reading at bedtime.
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I would say something politely. My kids are very sensitive to sound effects from movies - enough to provoke nightmares. I know other parents & kids aren't as sensitive, but it can't hurt to ask.
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My DD had pneumonia when she was 3, and it was so severe she was sent to the hospital and was admitted for 8 days (3 of those in ICU). That has been our only experience with pneumonia, but it was bad enough that when they checked her oxygen saturation level in the ER, they brought her back to an exam room and immediately put her on oxygen.
I agree with others that the treatment your Dr. offered seemed standard for a typical case of pneumonia.
I would watch very closely for signs of labored breathing. If you suspect breathing problems, take your child right away to the ER and let them know that you've already had a diagnosis of pneumonia. The first thing they'll do is check his oxygen saturation level (it's a little clip the put on a fingertip, and is painless), and that level is key to knowing how bad the infection is.
I've known friends and family, and from our DD's experience I would agree, that pneumonia takes a LONG time to full recover from. I'd be cautious about exposing a child recovering from pneumonia to viruses and colds during that time, because the immune system may be compromised for a while.
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I would also check out Brandon Homeschool Fellowship.
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My 4th grade son types everything himself, but he almost always writes it out longhand first. We will be focusing more on learning to type over the summer, so that he can type fast enough to type rather than write on paper for the first draft.
ETA: He doesn't type all of his writing assignments, but I want to encourage him to type a bit more each year because it's a skill he'll need in the future. He's already discovered the joy of automated spell check, which he appreciates greatly!
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Background: My kids are currently in 4th & 2nd grades. We've done Sonlight Cores P4/5 through C, took a year off to study state history this year (that I put together myself), and plan to use HSITW Time Travelers with Sonlight D and E over the next 2 years.
I've always known I wanted to stay with Sonlight through Core E, but after that my plan has become "fuzzy." I've been looking at TOG, and wonder if it might fit the bill for future years. Specifically....
-How rigorous would TOG be for a child jumping into the dialectic stage after not having been using the Classical model, 4-year cycle per se, but who has done SL's Cores up through E?
-How much reading is involved in TOG compared to SL? How much is intended for the parent to read vs. the child reading himself?
-How much prep time is involved in TOG compared to SL?
-Which program's book selections do you or your children prefer, and why?
Thanks!
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I did Apologia Botany with my DS, then switched to Sonlight science for a year (which we hated - the books were good but it was too much jumping around), then to AIG's God's Design for Heaven and Earth, then back to Apologia Flying Creatures this year.
Personally, my kids & I can honestly say we prefer Apologia, but I do get tired when we study just...one...thing....ALLLL......year.....long.
Compared to Apologia, AIG is more textbook-y. The lessons are more concice in some ways, with a dryer tone, which some people like. It gets the job done without being too "conversational" in tone (like Apologia).
One thing I did not like about AIG was that it advertised that it was designed to be used for multiple ages. The "beginner" section of each chapter was too little for my DD, who was in 1st grade when we used it. The "regular" section of the chapter then repeated what was stated in the "beginner" section. So in trying to teach my 3rd and 1st graders together, it felt redundant. My science-loving DS liked AIG, while my non-science-loving DD did not like it.
So we've come back to Apologia and have had a pretty good year with Flying Creatures. We plan to do Swimming Creatures next year and Anatomy the year after, then I don't know what we'll do after that.
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Do you ever designate a particular gift? I thought one was able to do this, but when I called yesterday, the representative told me that I could request, but it wouldn't necessarily be honored. This was different from what I had previously heard. I sent money for my child's birthday, but I wanted it to include a book, and the rest could be used for anything. I was a little disappointed, and I'm not sure if the rep I spoke with was correct. I guess I would like my child to have a gift that was something I selected, not just money that can be used for anything. I don't like to give money gifts, even to my nieces and nephew in this country.
Also, one more question -- do you get an actual receipt for what was spent? Again, a friend told me she did, but I'm not sure this is still true, or perhaps it varies by country.
This is an example of what we've gotten back, in a letter written by the mom of the girl we sponsor in Honduras after we sent a $20 birthday gift last year:
"Jessica and I are very grateful for the money you sent. We received 379.57 lempiras and with that money Jessica asked if they could buy her some underwear, a blouse, some slacks, and a dress, and Jessica says that she's very happy with what they bought for her."
When I googled a currency calculator, today $20 is worth 381.18 Honduran lempiras. We don't always get a report from the child with those exact figures, but we always get some kind of acknowledgment of the gift. Sometimes our letters (from one child in Honduras and one child in Nicaragua) take 8-12 weeks to get to us, but we usually get letters about 4-5 weeks after they are written.
Anyone love Sonlight's Core A(K)?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
I used Core A for my DS when he was in 1st grade, and we LOVED it. I think the "old" version (the one you can purchase through this weekend) is fabulous for 1st grade or for older students, who have the life experience to process the deeper themes of the books.
It seems that SL is trying to market Core A as it's "kindergarten" curriculum now, so in doing they have removed some of the more difficult books in the version that will go on sale April 2.
For a student in the older end of the age bracket, I would recommend going with the old version (2011 or earlier) of Core A. I think your plan is excellent!