johnandtinagilbert
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Posts posted by johnandtinagilbert
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Purpose Games :) Matches wonderfully with TOG4 wk. 3
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Awwwww.... so sweet! :001_wub:
And you don't have to be up all night with him! Best of both worlds, eh? :D
EXACTLY! My girls have begged me to have another baby for some time. Now, we are all happy!
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After they can read and write, I incorporate the computer as drill and practice. Essentially, mapwork and flashcards.
Typing online lessons grade 4.
In about 5th grade, they start turning in typed assignments, as they are revising more and more and not re-writing is a real blessing.
Jr. High will bring tutorials in MS Office.
College requires a computer class, so they learn more then, too. My son, who is entering college this spring is getting a laptop. Sniff sniff. He's a big boy, now!
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Got my newest edition to the gang :) His name is Kirian and we love him already. I have the distinct pleasure of adoring him M-F while his momma goes to work. It is the most REFRESHING thing to have a baby in my house. I'm so, so, so, happy!
Since it's taking ages to upload his pic here, I kindly refer you to my blog. Enjoy his sweet smile!
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not alone at all. We've made at least a dozen changes :)
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when you have a large number of families, there is no such thing as like-minded. Christian means so many things.
Too much work for me to insure quality (just keepin' it real), with low return for effort. I used to spend about 7 hours per class for my science co-op I taught. I spend that planning about 5 weeks of school for my entire family.
No time for such once jr. high comes....we need the time at home
high school brings other outsourced activities.
I'm compelled to leadership wherever I go and I have no place on my plate for anything more.
bad behavior sticks like glue, so often times, I spend a day or two undoing the behaviors that stuck.
That's the "top of my head" list.
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We did do the preamble to the constitution and the bill of rights and they knew it at the time....i'm not sure if they'd remember it though.
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I'd work on doing more with homeschooled kids. Your description of your daughter was my son, but 10 times worse. As in, throwing fits, yelling, stomping, not speaking to me, etc. He did NOT want to be homeschooled again. But I formed my very own support group just for kids in middle school and he has made some GREAT friends. We meet once a week, and they chat on the phone, text, etc. It has made all the difference in the world. Now he feels sorry for the poor public schooled kids!!! I can't believe this is my son!
I'd figure out a way around the vehicle issues and make a group your biggest priority. Can you even have the group meet at your house, so you don't have to drive anywhere?
I'm hoping something like this will fall in front of me. I actually did start a TOG coop this year and we'll be working through a book club with the TOG books. Fingers crossed!
Oh, and there's a good chance we'll have a second vehicle in a handful of weeks. THANK GOD! That will surely help.
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Thank you. I keep hoping she'll hold on. We actually put our dc in college in 10th grade, so she's more than halfway there. I totally hear you, though. I wish I could find a suitable place, but I find too much "not for our family" anywhere but here.I know EXACTLY how you are feeling. :grouphug:This is the attitude I get from my 16yo. We did end up putting her into a Christian High school in 9th grade, and the truth is, it's better for her. She thrives on competition from the other students and does really well in this environment. This past year we moved in the middle of the school year and she had to be homeschooled. She was miserable. :glare:
It makes me feel like a failure because I really wanted to be able to homeschool my kids all the way through high school. Now, we are paying a lot of money for her to take 3 classes at a local University Model School. We can't afford to send her full time, but this will take care of Math, Science, and English. With so many other children that need my attention, deep down inside I know that I can't give her what this school can. That is hard for me to accept. :sad: I'm not saying this is your situation, I'm just sharing with you my experience. I know very well what it is to feel "bad, and angry, and unappreciated, and frustrated." My heart goes out to you.
I'm not offended. Asking someone to pray for a change of heart is not uncommon in a Christian community and not something that would offend my daughter. It probably resonates with others differently than it does you. That's okay, and it certainly doesn't offend me.Well, treading gently because I'm NOT really religious, but I don't think I would answer something like this with "pray that your attitude is changed." She probably needs to be heard out, and some sort of understanding of her feelings, even if you have made this decision for her, as is your right of course.But even though she doesn't get the final say, she's entitled to her feelings and opinions, and so I think you should hear them out, hear her reasons, reply to her reasons (as you already did), try to work together to figure out how you can help her get whatever she feels she is missing in a way that IS feasible (through homeschooling, which you've decided on) and try letting her be part of the decision making process to whatever extent you can.
But saying basically "Too bad, deal with it, you better pray God changes your attitude" is sort of... I don't know. I don't know if demeaning is the right word. But sort of like telling her that she isn't entitled to the feelings that she has when everyone is entitled to feel a certain way. And this kind of thing CAN be hard on kids. We as parents need to understand that and sympathize with it to some degree even if we aren't going to change our minds. My two cents, anyway. I hope it didn't come across as offensive!
Having said that, telling her to deal with it was not my finest moment. I can say, though, she came out of her room after spending about 20 min. in the bible and had a smile on her face and told me she knew I was right. She was just bored now that her friends were back in school (a whole 2 days).
Thanks for your input.
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This may NOT be an option for your, but....
My oldest was boohooing homeschooling and I was able to talk to a VERY homeschool friendly principal at one of the local public school. She offered to put him in a classroom for ONE day only.... one very long boring day. She was going to put him with the most strict teacher in the grade, who would wait for dead silence before continuing to teach, who would be instructed to make sure that it was especially unpleasant in her class that day.
We ended up visiting the classroom for about 30 minutes rather than actually enrolling...we lined up with the class and followed them to the library after the math lesson we watched.
After getting to the library, DS said, "mom, I do not need to come to PS tomorrow, I would rather be homeschooled, is that okay"
This was 3 years ago, he was only 6. He still remember this feeling. The other day I was talking to someone about a part time job that I am interested in, over heard me on the phone with the person in charge of hiring... wrote me a note "please do not go back to work mom, I will give up anything to not have to give up homeschooling and go to public school". I immediately asked to call the woman back and quickly explained to my son that this job would not take away from my most important job of raising my children!
My children truly feel bad for those children who MUST homeschool.
I wonder about this, only in truth, the school is not an option (gang violence, drugs...yes in middle school). I'll have to see what dh thinks of this idea.
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My daughter said to me this morning that she wants to go to school too. Unfortunately, in our town it's definitely not an option as they are horrible too. She asked why all the neighbor kids go to school if it's so horrible. I didn't have an answer for her.
We are leaving for vacation in two days and I reminded her that if she were in school, she wouldn't be able to go away for vacation. I also told her that she is VERY smart, and would be bored because they are learning things she already knows (which is true). That seemed to end the questions for now. Out of all my kids, she is the one that is VERY social and loves being around other kids. She went to summer camp and really enjoyed it. This morning I felt kind of like I was cheating her out of something by not letting her go to ps, although realistically I know that I am not. Parenting is not easy!
That's the case here, to. She's #4 of 5. Unfortunately, she's also very much a follower. She tends to pick up bad habits from others very easily. I imagine if she went to ps she'd change quickly and I would not be real happy about it.
Please pray for us. I don't ever want to hear her tell anyone how she hated home schooling growing up. It tears me up to read those sorts of things.
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:grouphug:
Maybe she just needed to vent and have a hug. Sometimes we can't talk people out of how they are feeling.
I've seen this growing on her. I've kind of watched and waited for minute it came out.
I could have been more supportive, though, you're right.
I guess I need to get my own emotions right before I deal with hers.
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Darling, yet Diva was miserable today during her Language Arts lesson.
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing."
"Then why the frumpy face all morning?"
"Nevermind."
"What is it? Obviously, something is bothering you."
"I HATE HOME SCHOOL! I want to go to public school."
"To be with your friends?"
"Yes."
"Why do you attend school?"
"To learn" really ugly face right now.
"When do you think you'll have time to hang out with your friends. You won't get to sit and talk with them the way you do on weekends or with your sister."
"We can have lunch together."
"True, but that's 20 minutes. You want to give up all the advantages of home schooling for 20 minutes? Do you really think you're going to be allowed to talk all day? You'll get in trouble for disrupting class."
sigh --- moan---sigh
"Well, you're not going now and most likely ever, so deal with it. If I were in your shoes, I'd pray and ask God to change your heart and attitude. Your education is not your decision, in ours, and we choose home schooling. I'm sorry this displeases you."
I walked out of the room. I wasn't mean. I was rather monotone, actually. I was sincere, too.
UGH! I know she's very social, but ps is NOT an option. The one here is HORRID...beyond horrid.
She's in sports year round, but has no lasting friends b/c most of the kids are busy and in public school. She loves dance and cheering, but we can't afford either AND (to keep it real) we find both dance and cheering immodest and inappropriate. Everything (and there has been a lot) we've looked into was scarcely dressed or made up for the stage and we're not okay with either. There is one Christian troupe, but WOWZA they are super expensive.
We go to church and she does have a good friend there, but she's also ps. Even the neighbor who she spends considerable time with: ps. Besides her sister, all of her close friends are ps.
We are in a field trip co-op but b/c of vehicle issues, there's not much interaction there.
I am unable to offer her anything else.
I feel bad. and angry. and unappreciated. and frustrated.
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I've heard a couple of the same complaints before.
Me: "I'm YOUR teacher, so you'd better get used to it." :tongue_smilie:
or
"ALL moms are teachers. I taught you how to eat/tie your shoes/go potty/etc. I'm going to continue to teach you many things."
or
"You don't need to be a doctor to know parts of the body. Everyone either knows or should learn about body parts."
"People can be more than one thing." Then list examples.
and
"Mommies know many, many things."
:iagree:
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Well, for dd6 I don't really want to speed up.
I just don't want to spend too much time with my older guys practicing and writing spelling words like :
black, clock, milk, duck, neck, pick, ask, rock, desk, snack
These are straight from the AAS 1 manual, step 19 out of 24 steps. The steps befor it are even easier. The 4th and 5th grader learned all of this when they were learning to read. that's why I'm wondering about jumping in at a higher level. They have been spelling these words correctly for some time.
Is there a reason to start at the beginning of level one with all?
I suggest the reason for starting from the beginning (level 3 of PR has a spelling review of the first 2 levels' words) b/c if you want to hit spelling, you need to start with a solid foundation. Having said that, is he good with the nature of English spelling? I.e. does he know the rules and how to apply them?
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I know Exactly what you mean. I don't love the canonizing, either. I think I'm just doing what I need to do as a parent.I'm annoyed by the relatives who couch their anti-homeschooling sentiments in terms of concern for my well-being. I'm annoyed by their attitude that I'm only obligated to be a full-time mom until my kids turn 5, and then I'm entitled to the 8-hour break so that I can "get things done."What they don't realize is that I actually enjoy homeschooling, and I'd rather be doing that than anything else "productive" I could be doing.
In our house, we would say, "Ooh, BURN!"One of the best answers I've heard is my dd's comment to the school board's president's dd, who was teasing her about hsing. The girl was hassling her about "missing out" and "not getting to do field trips". My dd pointed out that SHE'D been back East to Washington DC, the Smithsonian and Chincoteague Island and had gone to London, Amersterdam and Ireland earlier that year...
Boy, sometimes I wonder about the idiots part (:lol::D), but I sure am making an effort Not to Raise idiots. I'll do my very.best, though.You're not going to raise IDIOTS, are you? (Actual quote)Who's keeping track of what they learn?
How will they learn to get along in the real world?
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It's great that is feels like everyday -- that means you have raised your dc in a learning environment. GREAT JOB!
If it makes you feel better..decorate your classroom w/ traditional school stuff and enjoy a first classroom day!
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I have 3 dc that I will teach this year. ds 11, ds 9, and dd 6. The 6yo needs to learn to read and the two boys need to work on spelling. The older boys have had very little formal grammar (one year of R&S and one year of CC memory work-which really helped them, btw).
My dilemma is:
Do I put everyone into Phonics Road and catch reading for dd, spelling for all, and grammar for all; or do I use AAS (which has a more varied approach), WWE for all for writing, and R&S for grammar?
A lot of people have said that Phonics Road streamlines the LA program for their family because it covers spelling, reading, grammar and literary analysis. I'm wondering if it will be too much writing for dd to learn to read quickly enough, and a bit laborious, too. The older boys would be fine with the writing in PR.
However, I also wonder if doing all the different pieces of curriculum will be too time consuming, or have too much overlap, and a bit of redundancy.
Any comments? Help?
Hi. I'm gonna offer 2 suggestions:
1. HTTP for the eldest, b/c accelerating PR for an 11yo is a lot of work.
PR for the other 2, at their own paces. The 9yo can probably finish up 1& most of 2 in one year, then slowly go through PR3&4, which are levels more than years.
2. How fast do you intend to move with the eldest? If you're comfortable taking your time w/ PR, then I'd suggest starting at PR3with the oldest. There's a cost curve for your family in this....lots up front, but ready for later, iykwim. By owning PR1 for the others, you'll have everything you need. If you go this route, I suggest watching the PR1 videos first.
PR truly streamlines our day, not just b/c it's AIO, but also because it's so thorough that we don't have to teach all language arts subjects daily. My boys (8&9yo; 3rd, 4th grades) do level 3 right now at a pace of each area (spelling, grammar, literature/writing) 3x per week. It makes our school days super easy. PR is truly effective and has taught me how to be a better teacher, so it's very easy to implement PR methods into all areas of school. Even though we don't do "grammar" 5 days a week, we get a ton of writing practice in other areas.
The AAS/WWE/FLL is a great line-up for certain, *I* enjoy PR more as a teacher and I love, love, love that it covers all my LA needs from spelling all the way to word study and vocabulary. Streamlining is a beautiful thing!
There are tons of examples of PR on my blog. I consider it the cream of the crop (no offense to the other fine programs or wonderful author's of such).
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You're too kind. I offend often enough, for sure :) I suppose I do make a little effort since we're online. IRL, I'm a little more brash but people know it's my committed/seriousness that pushes kinda hard sometimes :)I see your objections and I think this is more about your worldview vs. his. Not so much about the writing program itself....which is the reason for the thread (no?).
Take care.
QUOTE]
Tina, every time I see one of your posts, you always manage to be polite while still making your point. You're my hero! I want to learn from you! :001_smile: I usually manage to offend someone while trying to agree with them! Ha!
Head Mistress Gilbert here...:tongue_smilie: :lol::lol::lol: ashamed? Never. Proud to offer a prestigious classical education -- daily. It's not like any college will actually believe we were an academy anymore than Bill believes AP. (totally smiling and laughing out loud)This made me smile a little considering the large number of "Something Something Homeschool ACADEMY's" I see on this boardI agree with you - that is why we call ourselves Lastname Homeschool - I'm not ashamed that I am just a "homeschool" and not something more prestigious :tongue_smilie:
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You misrepresent my objection, one which I made quite clearly.
My problem is not with Andrew Pudewa's lack of a degree (although his lack of higher education does raise concerns) it is with the claim that he is the "Director" of an "Institute." It clearly is not the case.
When people make these sorts of misrepresentations about themselves, and they also promote people like Oliver DeMille who has misrepresented his credentials (and who runs a diploma mill) it raises doubts in my mind as to issues of character.
Add all the worldview components that some may find refreshing (but I don't) and an education model that I find unappealing, and I'm left with little to like.
I'm more than a little surprised that people don't have a problem with the man's claim to be the Director of an Institute, when there is no such Institute. Does this inflation (understatement) of his job description sit well with you?
Bill
Hi, Bill. I hope you're well. It's been a long while.
Gotta say, on this one, I'm the Head Mistress of Gilbert Academy. Sounds fancy for a reason...more b/c I like it than for sales; but I get it. He's a home schooler. We like nice, academic sounding names, sometimes.
Honestly,
:iagree:I have always just thought that Institute for Excellence in Writing is the name of his company and as director of the institute, Andrew is the president of his company. It honestly has never occurred to me that there might be or should be a brick and mortar institute or that Andrew has attempted to imply that there is one.I see your objections and I think this is more about your worldview vs. his. Not so much about the writing program itself....which is the reason for the thread (no?).
Take care.
OP: Who cares what grade a CC tutor gives your dd? Really? Do you have to legally submit or something? Congratulate your daughter on a job well done and explain to her how it is when someone else teaches her: she has to meet their standards, and that might be a little different than what she's used to. Sounds like a great opportunity to s.t.r.e.t.c.h. her. I hope it works out well for you both.
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I want to pipe in here with a nodding head; not from experience of success (we're just getting in there), but rather the other end, when my lack of participation, encouragement and involvement bit me.
Last year I let my son work independently from his choice of math materials. I let him decide on his Algebra program from several I found suitable. Initially, I followed through very little and just let him be, believing he was doing well and needed the space (for various other reasons).
Wrong.
Even though he can work through other areas with ease and free flying for daily work, this particular subject matter is not his love.
I should have been there daily b/c I already know he doesn't love math. We have changed that up (about midway last year), but boy oh boy, did I learn this lesson the hard way.
Back to nodding...those two are right as rain. :iagree:
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Holey Cards :)
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WTM, of course.
The Phonics Road - never learned so much about the English language, vocab word roots, grammar, handwriting, cursive, and writing instruction.
Tapestry of Grace - has made me a better humanities teacher and given me the confidence to create a living books unit study for multi-learning levels for about any subject.
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The Phonics Road because after you accelerate through level 1 (building her phonemic awareness and working on beginning level spelling and grammar), you'll have all of your language arts covered for the rest of grammar school. Literature (beginning analysis), writing, spelling, reading instruction, vocabulary, intro. word study (word roots) and handwriting. The complete instruction will keep you moving forward without missing a step.
I had a struggling reader who is now in PR3 and I watched him improve quickly using PR. He's now extremely proficient in reading and writing and is a vastly improved speller. He thinks through words if he needs to and uses the spelling rules as taught to figure things out. He knows grammar well and recognizes words as language in a whole new way. He was a late bloomer. I also suspect some auditory issues. Either way, he's doing well with PR.
It's not colorful, but we move through songs and via getting up to write on boards.
It's effective. It takes effort to use this at an accelerated pace, but b/c the program is so thorough, all 4 levels can get you through elementary school (some use it for middle school remediation), so you won't have to accelerate much b/c she's so young.
Hope this makes sense. Best wishes on finding the right program for your family.
Look what I got this week! A baby!
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Aw. :grouphug: Thank you. If you knew where I came from, you'd understand. If it was not for the same sort of kindness offered me, I'd not be the same person today. God is creative in how he uses and places His people. It's my blessing and while some days are a little burdensome, it's usually b/c I have slacked somewhere, not b/c of my wonderful additions. God loves me enough to share with me!