MyLittleWonders
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Posts posted by MyLittleWonders
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Absolutely love them. My best (guy) friend on college and I saw them three time, each time within five rows center stage. They put on the best shows. I was shocked when I heard Paul Hester was dead. :( Dh has learned to appreciate them but only because he knows how much I love them. ;)
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We tend to have one poem and one thing from Scripture going at a time. This next year I'm also adding one Q & A from catechism. We just introduce the next one when needed (in other words, we may be half-way through memorizing a poem while only on day 1 of a Scripture passage). I've never been big on memorizing lists - especially history or science - though the older two know pretty much all the grammar definitions from FLL and ds7 will start memorizing those as well. The Christmas all three boys memorized 'Twas the Night Before Christmas I realized that they were very capable of long things as long as I paced them. Given that, though, I don't select things just because they are long (or short). We are pretty purposeful about what we memorize (the whole good, true, and beautiful there).
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:grouphug: Praying for you Chucki!
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Thank you so much for your input--i appreciate it! If you wouldn't mind, how did the Circe thread influence your homeschooling, and why was it not in a good way?
Thanks!
The influence itself was good ... it made me really think quite a bit about what I was doing, how I was doing it, and why. It made me reignite my love, and our love as a family, of good literature. Interestingly enough, having the literature books scheduled in OM started us on that path. But, I also started feeling like I needed to pull from living books and not use spines or lesson plans (not that anyone was saying that but it was how I was interpreting it in our homeschool). So I pretty much decided against OM or anything else packaged and tried to go it on my own. We had a great time with literature, I didn't really change anything with Latin, spelling, or grammar. But, history and science especially were not scripted or planned at all. I mean, I did plan what I wanted to use book-wise, but really had no direction. I realized I don't do well without direction. ;) But, I am thankful for the experience because through it, I think I started to really understand the ideas behind the Circe thread. I know what I need to help me teach from a place of rest (or at least, I'm learning what I need). I like having something laid out because then I can tweak or change as I want or as we need, but I still have something to fall back onto if I need (and with four, one of whom is a very active and curious toddler, I need that safety net). So, this year coming up, I'm actually excited having lesson plans that give me an idea of pacing and topics, plus some independent-geared things for the older two boys to start stretching them.
And by the way, I've been keeping up with your other thread. I should respond there, but I'll put it here ... I know OM is Waldorf-inspired, but honestly, at least with the OM4, I did not "feel" it at all. Now, the younger grades were, which is one reason I didn't stick with it. But, I'm not a fan of Waldorf, but felt fine using OM4 (we didn't really use the art lessons at all ... maybe that is where some of the Waldorf-feeling comes from, nor did I use their math). It was a radical change from our more classical-centered routine, but it was a nice break for that year. I hope you can find something that will work for you and your kids next year. :)
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I just replied to that thread, but wanted to chime in here ... I used OM a long time ago (PreK/K/1st) and enjoyed it back then, but stopped using it as we tried to find our groove. I picked it up almost 2 years ago (ds-almost-12 was in 5th and ds9 was in 3rd) and really enjoyed it. I just ordered OM 4 for both boys, plus we didn't do everything with OM - I kept writing/spelling/grammar as we already had things going there, plus I didn't change our math (Singapore). But, we used their science, history, and literature, which was enough to shift our days and bring a bit of fun into what we were doing. I am not entirely sure why I didn't continue last year (well, the huge Circe thread made me rethink a lot and caused us to have a very interesting year (though not in necessarily a positive way, though I learned a lot about me as a teacher). Anyway, I do not regret our time with OM, and if we were changing over to a different prepackaged curriculum, I would probably have gone back to it this year. HTH :)
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I ended up doing this for next school year (we are using Catholic Heritage). I have used OM in the past - 4th grade - and really enjoyed it; we really needed a change that year and I did it with my oldest who was 5th at the time and middle who was 3rd at the time. We didn't do everything according to OM - I kept a few things the same - but what we did was enough to "shift" our days and our attitudes. This year I didn't order everything for each grade level, but by using the lesson plans and some of the spines/texts, I have reduced the mom-intensive time a bit. I feel that ds-almost-12 especially needs a bit more independence, and I need a bit more time to begin PreK with dd. Plus, I'm excited about what we are doing, what they will be learning, and the materials themselves, which I think alone makes a huge difference. We seemed to have lost our groove this last year and I'm looking forward to the "shift" again.
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Thank you for the link Margaret! :)
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Thank you so much Sixpence! I really appreciate the help. :) The map is great too!
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I've been trying to read about the fires burning in Colorado, but I have never been there so other than the mention of specific cities, I'm not sure if we will have any potential problems driving through. We are coming in on the 70 through Grand Junction, driving to Denver, and then will take the 76 to the Colorado/Nebraska border. Can anyone let me know if we are looking at potential problems in relation to current fires (not just traffic wise, but also are anything close enough to be a health-risk for those with environmental allergies)? Thanks! :)
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I used a comb binding machine for a long time and debated what to buy when the hole-cutters were beginning to dull. After reading a lot of threads, I went with the ProClick and love it. I love how things lie flat and I love how we can open it up to rearrange/add/subtract pages as needed. We haven't had a problem with opening/closing too many times; granted our books aren't very old yet, but one of my boys, especially, loves to zip and unzip his writing book. So far, so good. I bought mine on Amazon, but MyBinding sells them too, plus a 5/8" binding, and 3:1 pitch spirals for bigger projects.
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I wouldn't worry about it yet at this age either. We had a twenty-ten-er here too and now at almost seven he fully understands that it is really thirty. If you do want to start introducing him to the concepts without necessarily forcing him to yet let go of his numbers, get some Cuisinaire rods and let him build numbers, including the elusive twenty-ten. They also make great trains and steps and pyramids (we have fun building with our rods).
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At this point in my life (with a young one still), I would not want to go back to work full-time. Though dh would love to be home instead of going to work each day, I am pretty sure he would never ask. But, we are both teachers - he's a high school teacher and I'm a former elementary teacher. We also both have Master's and have taught as adjunct faculty at a local community college. I have made it very clear that I would never go back into the elementary classroom again. Given that he teaches in one of the highest paid districts around, and full-time pay at the local CC wouldn't come close to what he makes, I can't see us ever swapping places.
But, I do want to teach part time again somewhere in the future (I was going to email my former department head when I found out I was pregnant with dd). I don't even see me wanting to do a swap like that though even if I had *liked* my job before I stopped working. I really enjoy being home (though we both knew going into things that ultimately that was what I wanted to do and dh has always been supportive).
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It was hard at first when we went dairy free (the whole family; we were already gluten free). But, three years later and it's just a way of life. Like others have said, Daiya cheese is a good substitute (we just had "alfredo" sauce tonight), Earth Balance for butter, and we love almond milk (Whole Food's brand is the best in our opinion, followed by Silk's almond milk - all unsweetened/unflavored). I want to make our own this summer when I have time to think. ;) Dairy free has made a difference for us and is worth it, but I can't lie and say I don't wish I could just have some "real" cheese or sour cream (we don't substitute that one as I have yet to find something that is either soy free - we very low soy - and/or free of any artificial ingredients - we are also Feingold).
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We are aiming for 3-4 days of math, copywork, and read-aloud (plus they will have time, usually before bedtime, for quiet reading). Ds11 will be working through LoF PreAlgebra 1, ds9 will continue working through SM 4B, and ds6 will do some Miquon. Ds9 will be the only one that will need lessons from dh or I most of the time (we treat LoF as an independent supplement unless he asks for help). I'm making copywork books for them (finished the one for the older two), so they'll just have to turn to the next page, and we'll do a lot of audio books so we can all relax. In between, we'll have fun with field trips and such.
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We are looking to be driving through Chicago this summer and are wondering about the following areas (we stay at Residence Inn type places because with food allergies, we cook our own meals):
O'Hare
Schaumburg
Bloomingdale
Naperville/Warrenville
Lake Forest/Mettawa
We will be coming down from Minnesota and heading towards South Bend, IN, eventually onto Ohio, so we don't want to stray too far off of I-90 (I think that's the right one), or if we do, have easy access back to it. Any suggestions? :) Thanks!
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We use Thorne because they have the correct/methyl forms of B6, B12, and folate. I have always been very pleased with their products.
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I can't answer for Tablet Class or AoPS, but I can say that I began ds11 in SM 6A following SM 5, and stopped him rather quickly to out him in Lial's PreAlgebra. For my son, there wasn't enough practice with the concepts in Singapore. He is doing well in Lial's (pulling a pretty solid B average) and does LoF on the side (finishing Decimals and will start LoF PreA in a couple weeks). We will finish Lial's during 7th grade. I don't think skipping SM 6A/B h hindered him at all, and at least for him, it might have been a bit of a detriment as he just seemed to be done learning from the Singapore series.
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What worked for my oldest when he was seven and struggling was a mix between All About Spelling (we went quite slowly in the beginning) and Hooked on Phonics for readers. I didn't bother trying to line them up, but rather would work slowly through both - he heard it, wrote it, practiced reading it. It took a while to get him past the sounding out c-v-c words, but now in 6th grade, he's pretty much a grade-level reader.
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I need to finish The Writer's Jungle. At this point, I probably should start from the beginning.
I've also added a few more, one of which I've started now: Creator and Creation by Mary Daly.
I seriously need to stop buying books (and apparently even checking them out of the library)!
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:grouphug: I am so sorry. We have also had great success with GF (and CF), but it is a pain, especially when I was temporarily off of all nightshades. I felt like eating was seriously depressing. I second the idea of Feingold; that is easier in the bigger picture and made/makes huge differences for my middle son especially (a lot of anger/rage/oppositional stuff when exposed to anything artificial; we found out that even a minute amount is bad when I tried to give him some children's Advil and he took less than 1/4 teaspoon and reacted). From our experiences with Feingold, GF, and CF, it was about one month for systems to completely reset, but after a couple weeks, we could tell things were moving in the right direction. It's the same if anyone is exposed to something on the "illegal" list - about 30 days to fully clear but the behaviors start to calm down a bit by week two or three.
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I have not tried that (probably wouldn't work with mine for certain subjects as they need daily instruction, especially with math), but what I do try to do is have independent work that is meaningful for each child and then teach them separately - but, I only teach one subject at a time. So, during our "math" block, I will give ds11 a lesson, for instance, while ds9 and ds6 are working independently or with dd. That may mean they are doing penmanship, typing lesson on the computer, reading a book with dd, or something else. Sometimes ds9 will have a review exercise in his math, which means he can start his work right away too. Then I move on to ds9 and do the same while ds6 is doing another piece of independent work or reading/playing with dd or doing a math app on the iPad. In all, our math block takes about one hour, but I'm teaching the older two kids for about 15-20 minutes each. Ds6, at this level, can do most of his work while I'm there to field any questions as he's finishing Singapore 1B.
Later, after we've done some work together and taken a break, I'll do a different subject. This is where I would be able to potentially block schedule it - during content area. Next year we are going to use CHC's lesson plans for history and science, so I'll have to have some one-on-one time with each of them, but for my sanity, I'll probably alternate days with subjects and students instead of having them do both history and science every day as CHC plans it. I'm not 100% sure how it'll look, but given that they give one week of history for the text (at 5th and 7th grade) and one week for other history activities, for instance, the plan is to stretch the chapters over 2 weeks, giving me time to spend a couple days each week with each older boy while the other has "independent" work that day (reading the chapter, answering questions at the end). Ds6 will have to be fitted in there somewhere, but his "Tour the Continents" looks like a 1 day a week thing together.
So, a very long, and somewhat convoluted answer is this: for core subjects like math, I have to see each kid each day unless they have a review lesson. I make sure they have independent work while I'm teaching someone else. For content areas (history and math, for instance), the goal next year is to schedule ds11 M & W, for instance, for a "meeting," ds9 on T & Th, and then do ds6's social studies on Fridays. That's all theory though. ;) Up until now, we've tried to do content areas together, but the boys are getting more spread out as they get older and I feel better separating a bit.
By the way, I have my older two combined for writing, spelling, and Latin. Ds9 has always been a bit advanced and ds11 struggled in the beginning, which helps. Do you combine your 2nd and 3rd graders in any subjects, skill or content? Can they do any of the Seton or CHC materials independently? Can you block schedule the content areas but teach subjects like math daily, alleviating part of the problem while still making sure skill subjects are being taught/reinforced daily?
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I love her new hair-do! She looks fantastic!
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I am reading it to them and we discuss the Q & A part as well as the questions at the end of the chapter/lesson. But I have not yet had them memorize anything. I think I want them to though. Might help especially if our priest grants them "credit" for CCD based on what we do during homeschool without going to CCD at our parish. ;)
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I am. Dh and I were both Protestant/evangelical way back and then studied our way out of belief. It was a long, dry desert, but I found was back to the Church. Dh does not have any interest in converting. He does go with us to Mass, will pray with us, is interested in doing a Bible study together. But it's all just knowledge for him and not faith. I am slowly realizing through much prayer that I need to just be grateful for what he does with us and not be so upset about his lack of desire to convert. But there are times I'm just really bummed. I want him to walk with me rather than follow along behind me. I get tired of being the spiritual head of the family. When I focus on that, I lose hope. Then God reminds me to find the gifts and be thankful (this recent realization just happened this morning after quite a long time of hopelessness).
help me be realistic....need to decide something
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Chiming in late here, but what about this IPC text from Kolbe? (It's the first course/option - I can't get it to open on it's own page.) At least right now, I plan on doing it with ds12 in 9th grade in prep for a bio/chem/physics 10th/11th/12th progression (not sure about honors/AP/whatnot; he's not a STEM oriented kid).