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Aletheia Academy

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  • Location
    California
  • Interests
    Cooking, Scrapbooking, Music
  1. Thank you! Those ladies have offered some beautiful work! Any other sources of free notbook covers out there?
  2. Can anyone point me to beautiful, colorful, free notebook covers, pretty please? Subject areas I am interested in include, Old Testament, Ancient Egypt, Language Arts, Nature, Math, Greek, Latin, and French. Notebookpages.com didn't seem to have what I was looking for- maybe it was the free part... I would appreciate any help. Thank you!
  3. It's not to early to begin Spell to Write and Read. This would provide a very strong foundation for language arts in general. Similarly, you might choose to begin a formal math curriculum such as Singapore or MUS depending on your daughter's learning style. Other than that, I would suggest a lot of read alouds. AmblesideOnline has some excellent suggestions. Keep it simple; have fun; *and* nurture her desire to learn. There is no need to push hard. Just keep pace with her ability and interest.
  4. I do have a teaching credential in CA. I think I read that that qualifies me to evaluate a portfolio, if not to administer a test. I am not against testing; I would like my dc to participate in objective tests. I just want to have some certainty that they are being tested at an appropriate level, and I want to have some idea of the format and content of the test. I am much more familiar with secondary level tests. Thanks for the info, Stephanie. :-)
  5. I'm not sure how she would test...I would need to see some sample questions, I guess. I'm sure I can find some info online if/when the time comes. Do you think submitting a portfolio or evaluation would somehow "flag" our homeschool in a negative way?
  6. Oh, thank you, Ladies, for all of your responses. It is helpful to hear from real people who are actually homeschooling rather than just obtaining information from a website. The museums and cultural activities are definitely a draw. I grew up on the east coast and am excited about the possibility of taking my kids to see colonial Willamsburg, Jamestown, etc. I would be so happy to experience a colorful autumn and enjoy a white Christmas. Could live without the humidity. Would miss the fantastic year-round produce here in CA. I would love to hear from as many folks who are interested in responding. If we move, I'll need to develop a social network from scratch. Thank you again for your time and encouragement.
  7. Greetings! There is a possibility we may be relocating to the Arlington/Fairfax County, VA area by the end of the 2010 calendar year. Would anyone be willing to share general info related to their homeschooling experience, i.e. which option you use, your testing experiences, local support groups you would recommend? I have reviewed the legal options for homeschooling as explained on the HSLDA website. Do most people you know send the notice to the school district and test? This would be new for us, as CA does not require testing. I am nervous because my dd would be required to test early in 2011 (I think) and she's not quite reading yet and we'll only be starting a formal math curricuum in September. She turns 6 in July. My ds will be in the middle/end of his 2nd grade year at that time. I am curious about the structure and content of the test for younger elementary grades. Nothing is imminent, but I am a planner. I want to know what I'm in for. I would appreciate any information. Thank you kindly.
  8. I spend some time before each school year creating a detailed subject-by-subject list of what we would like to accomplish. I plan for 3 12-week terms (that include @ 2 weeks off in each term) and 1 8-week term (summer). This is my broad plan, sort of a checklist. Then each day we have school, I record in an inexpensive planner what we actually accomplished that day with page numbers, chapter numbers, etc. For the 3 R's, I simply put one foot in front of the other, keeping an eye on that broad plan. For the other subjects, I do my best to stay on track but don't stress out if it doesn't work out exactly as planned.
  9. Hmmm...that's an interesting idea. I use my cast iron skillet quite a lot. I have used it to make Dutch baby pancakes in the oven, but that recipe calls for a good amount of melted butter. I do know that when I use my cast iron skillet a lot and keep it well-seasoned, it is virtually non-stick. Here are my suggestions if you decide to try this. Make sure your skillet is well-seasoned. Use a bit of olive oil to coat the bottom of the skillet before you add the dough. Parcook your dough on 1 side for 5 min and then flip it over before adding toppings. Otherwise, I think the crust may burn before the pizza is cooked. I just bet it works.
  10. I'm almost finished buying for next year; I took advantage of the Border's Educator's sale and bought most everything for 20% off. Next year, we'll be starting the VP Old Testament/Ancient Egypt Bible and History course. I bought most of those resources as well as the scripted lesson plans so those weekly lessons are already planned. Ca-CHING! As for the rest, I have Song School Greek, MUS Beta for ds, our GDI and ETC workbooks. I need Rod and Staff Beginning Arithmetic for dd, WWE Workbook 2 and student pages for Workbook 1, Lingua Angelica, and some CA history resouces for co-op. We are pretty well-set for next year. BTW, does anyone know if Peace Hill Press has any sale or free shipping promotions coming up?
  11. Absolutely! I am certain you have a plethora of resources for reviewing the concepts in Primer in an informal (or formal) way. :-)
  12. I agree with Cadam that the Primer level is really unnecessary, unless you and he just have a strong desire to have something that looks and feels formal. I do not think it is a bad idea to pull from another curriculum now and then to check for understanding, especially if you already have it. I don't think you *need* the completer block set, but I am glad to have it. It is fun to make stacks of those red hundred blocks! Re CWP, I got that suggestion from this board a while back, and I think I have 3 or 4 levels ready to go. Somebody recommended to start that @ the time of Beta. Again, it's an enrichment. MUS has word problems with every lesson practice page, and I find those to be helpful.
  13. You know, that has really varied. I began Alpha with him last year in K because he met all the prerequisite skills and he really wanted to do school. It was s-l-o-w going last year. We only made it through half the lessons. I really took that mastery concept to heart and did *not* move on until he really got it. Whatever "it" was at the moment. His understanding of the concept of place value seemed to be a long time in coming. I just kept it light and did not pressure at all. I wanted math to be a positive experience for him. I really do think place value is a difficult concept for a little person to comprehend. This year, he has been zooming through the rest of Alpha with no problem. If I pushed him a little harder, we could probably be in Beta already; however, it just is a lot easier on him and me when he is more developmentally prepared to understand the concepts. That's why I have filled in here and there with those other resources I mentioned. He will finish Alpha in the next few weeks, I'm sure, but I am just going to spend the summer using the review sheets that are left over*, using those other resources, and I will probably add in the Singapore Challenging Word Problems just for fun. Again, these are supplemental resources to enrich his learning, not to make up for anything MUS lacks. *Last year we used almost every sheet the lesson provided and I sometimes had to download extra review sheets from the MUS website. Now he is getting 100% on the first two sheets, and we just move on. There is much to be said for readiness. I would have lost nothing by waiting a year to begin the program, but like I said ds was motivated to begin, and I was very careful not to frustrate. So, to answer your question directly...we might spend 20-25 minutes to introduce the lesson with the video, work on the first sheet, and review math facts. The next lesson usually has been taking @ 15 minutes to complete another practice sheet and review math facts. The rest of the week we will do another practice sheet if necessary, use our supplemental resources, or move ahead. He has good momentum now, so I think we'll just plow ahead over the next month and finish Alpha.
  14. Memorizing math facts are part of the lessons. If you drill regularly, over-reliance on the manipulatives should not be a problem. The manipulatives are integral to the program; they help make the math concepts concrete so kids can "see" and understand the concepts. For my ds, the manipulatives have definintely helped create meaning. He is a tactile, kinesthetic sort of guy. My understanding is that over time and as kids progress through the program, they use the manipulatives less. I will not be using MUS with my dd when she begins first grade in the fall because manipulatives generally don't help create meaning for her. She just seems to be wired differently. I am going to be using Rod and Staff with her. The beauty of homeschooling is being able to choose curriculum that suits each child best. :-)
  15. I use MUS with my ds (7). I have found it to be a solid program, and I find the scope and sequence to be sound. I do not think it is necessary to supplement MUS with a separate complete program, but I do use Mind Benders Beginning A-1 and First Time Analogies between chapters. We also have taken breaks of a few weeks here and there with MUS and I will use those other materials during those times.
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