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nicholsonhomeschool

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  1. I recently emailed with Derek Owens about this. He told me that he highly recommends that a student has completed pre-algebra before starting Physical Science. Hope that helps!
  2. Thank you for sharing all of your experiences -- it is incredibly comforting to think that this is just another way of doing things. I love the jump rope/trampoline ideas. I tried to convince my husband to take him for a run in the morning, but, guess what, DH isn't a morning person either! I'm trying to go with the flow a little bit and just deal with the fact that school might not be all neatly put away until the end of the day. Thanks for the thoughts and encouragement!
  3. A little background... I've been home schooling my two boys (11 & 9) for six years. At this point, I consider myself fairly experienced and thought I had it all worked out. But, this year my younger son is giving me a run for my money. He is very resistant to doing his school work in the morning. He fights me at every turn -- he has made me question my fundamental belief that home schooling is a great thing for my family. For the last week, I've let go of most of the morning struggle. I gave him chores and the Narnia series and told him that, instead of disrupting his brother's lessons, he could either clean or read. In the evening, I have picked some of the lessons back up and have been shocked that he is willing to finish his school work efficiently and quietly (mostly). I am a morning person. It makes me very anxious to leave work for the evening (also, I teach every afternoon and am exhausted in the evenings). Does anyone else have a child who works better in the late afternoon/evening? It is also interesting that he swims every afternoon for an hour-and-a-half. Maybe the physical exertion is helpful for his attention? I would be so grateful for any feedback or reflections. Thanks! Lee
  4. We used FLL in 4th alongside a gentle start in Latin, studied Latin in 5th with no grammar supplement, and then switched to Latin Road which incorporates Latin and Grammar.
  5. We enjoyed R.E.A.L. Science for the early elementary grades. I don't think it has a lot of fluff, but maybe I'm not sure what you mean by fluff. Something to check out...
  6. I use AAS with two children who are in different levels - it is pretty easy. Sometimes I goof and call out a word from the higher level to the younger child and we get a laugh.
  7. My guys (8 and 10) love the science magazine, Odyssey.
  8. My advice is to jump ahead -- FLL is awesome, but it also is quite repetitive. You are not like to "miss" anything. But I have another question... we have completed FLL 4and WWE 4 and I'm pretty sure we're going to start WWS in the fall. Is there a good grammar program that would work well with WWS? I just want something that will keep us up on what we know -- I don't really want to be a grammar olympian. Or will grammar be integrated in WWS? Thanks for any thoughts, Lee
  9. We are working on getting our multiplication facts nailed down too. For SOME reason, my son hates hates flashcards. He melts into a puddle at the sight of them. However, inexplicably, he doesn't mind post-it notes. I took a bunch, wrote facts on one side and stuck them all over the school table. We play different games -- he picks them up in any order and gives me the product, or I say, "find all of the one whose product is 10," or I line them up in a long line and he has to go in order. I have no idea why this is preferable to the nice store-bought flash cards, but just in case it might work for someone else, I thought I'd share... Today we scattered the flash cards on the floor. That seemed to work better -- he could move around more. But I love the idea of playing war. It's on the plan for tomorrow morning!
  10. Uh oh. I have an almost-10-year-old and we're in the fog. I'm frightened that this could last a while... But, seriously, one thing that has helped me is to give him some heavy physical tasks to do. Instead of getting into a debate about whether we say "beGINing" or "BEginning" (he was arguing for the latter), I ask him to go shovel compost into the garden for 20 minutes, or run up and down the street 7 times, or just do anything away from me and outside and with high exertion. Sometimes it seems to clear the fog and get the brain whirring again. Thanks for the reassurance that we might come through this!
  11. I have sons in 2nd and 4th grades and we are working through Trail Guide to World Geography. My 2nd grader is a little younger than the recommended age, but he's enjoying it. I could see us cycling back through it next year -- it has questions and activities aimed at different age groups, so we could pick up a lot of things we didn't do this year. I know there is a younger version (Galloping the Globe), but I wanted something that would hold my older son's attention. Lee
  12. Thanks for all of the advice -- it is all great. Oddly, I brought it up with my son today and his response was something like, "What I'm doing is fine. I'd rather do science all day, but..." Maybe I'm just getting used to a 9-year-old. But, I'm definitely going to implement these ideas!
  13. Thanks for the link, Amy! This looks exciting and I agree that he needs to help pick it out. Also in GA, Lee
  14. I like the literature idea -- my son is a big reader. Do you go through and choose vocab from the book he's reading? And is the writing assignment a traditional book report? Or do you link it to something outside of the book? Thanks sharing!
  15. My older son is 9 and we have been happily working along for four-and-a-half years. We have used largely the same curricula for the duration: MUS, AAS, SOTW, WWE, FLL. Lately, I've been feeling like he is getting in a bit of rut. He's not bored, and he's doing well and moving along in everything (ok, there are days I think that the dictation in WWE is going to send us all over the edge, but we make it). But more and more, I feel like he's just getting it done. The joy isn't there as often. Yesterday I was talking to some of my traditional school friends who were saying that 4th grade can be a time of change -- independence in fits and starts, wanting to individuate -- and a light went off in my head that maybe I need to offer something new and different. A unit study came to mind. Get up, do math, and then spend the bulk of the morning researching a topic, creating a project, doing something other than the math-spelling-grammar-history-writing routine. I have to say this would be hard for me. I am a by-the-book, finish all 36 lessons, spreadsheet-toting kind of mama. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Does anyone have suggestions for unit studies? Or does anyone want to suggest that we just keep plugging along and get through the doldrums of January? I'm all ears! Lee
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