In the DE Loom, scroll down and you'll see"Workbook Content Unit 1" etc. You can copy, cut paste from there.

We belong to an African Methodist Episcopal Church...yup, we're white...even have 2 sets of blue eyes amongst the children. Not only do my dc show up, but as they say at church, they also "show out for God." (that means "showing off" in a good way). My eldest, nearly 16yo son, stood up in TEEN WORD (youth bible study) and spoke about never even kissing a girl and his desire to stay pure for his wife. He leads the youth group; plays guitar for the church regularly; recently Won the high school bible bowl (probably the first caucasin to do so in AME church history); runs track and cross country for the local high school; spends bible study time with the grown men at church; leads a classroom for younger children; is respected as a leader at Boy Scouts and has already received letters of rec. for camp counselor positions next summer. Geez...for an unsocialized home schooler, he sure does handle social situations of size, color, and activity in a wide variety. #2...King of Style. This kid is super cute and loved by all the girls. He has that pop star handsomeness about him. He's attacked by girls wherever we go. He smiles at them, even let's one of them call him, "Boo." but he still fits right in, not acting on physical impulse, but enjoys all his friends at youth. Gosh, this unsocialized home schooler even talks on the phone to friends from Boy Scouts. Golly, he sure talks a lot for an unsocialized home schooler. Oh, and his favorite ladies at church are 2 old women..one in her late 70s and the other in early 80s. He talks with them, carries their things, and helps me make pumpkin bread for them. He also spends a lot of time with my pastor....I think he's in training by the Lord to be a pastor (shhh don't tell him that). He's thinking about attending a black college. How's that for being social...he can handle a culture outside of his own. Last week he decided to write an essay about the cambrian explosion. My neighbor read it and said (really) "How do you teach him to write like that." She was blown away at the content and structure of his essay. He's 14. *I* found it to be appropriate for him, she was blown away. She was an honors student locally, with AP and DE classes, yet she confesses she couldn't express herself like he did. It really blew her mind. #3 My shy girl is the kindest girl I know. She is a true and faithful friend. If you saw all the help she gives me and then saw the lack of help other girls her age offer, you'd know she was not like all the other girls. #4. DD said...."I'm a nerd and I'm proud of it!" She LOVES books and wants to study in school for a long time. She's not sure what she wants to be when she grows up, but it will involve a doctorate. This girl has more self-confidence than any person I know (too much sometimes :tongue_smilie:). NOT the shy and unable home school stereotype AT ALL. #5. Spoiled baby and current momma's boy. He still wants hugs and kisses from me all day. Is that normal for 9yo boys? He's so much like most 9yo boys that other than his general knowledge, curious spirit, and playful nature (which I have found are all plucked out of most active boys by age 9), one would never know anything academic about it...he's all about activities. Whomever wants to plays sports (all of them currently), they do drama at church, and each have a group of some sort (scouts, craft, bible, book club). ALL of them articulate better than their PS peers. You can honestly tell the difference in my children and others and the differences are Positive. They are respected by their peers and offer respect in return (very unusual for teens). Not perfect (we Surely have some issues), but overall, they stay out of serious trouble and make good choices. I heart them. I'm proud of their boldness for Christ...it is not easy being the cream in a large pot of coffee (we sometimes are targets for racial hate), but they stand tall in who they are and that speaks for itself.

I make them read a TON for school and hope they enjoy it, but if they want to read in their free time...fluff or not, then nope. I'm always just happy when they Want to read! Ds read every Bionicle book available this summer and I've got no problem with that!

My 3rd grade math teacher was AWeSOME! I use his game....I call out numbers and they have to figure them out in their head. I keep track via my fingers behind my back and they get a chance to answer whenever I say I'm finished. It's fun!

That gets me too..the testing I mean. PS teachers hate testing, yet they want us to have some too. Okay. I usually say that, too....how many homeschoolers have you met? I love that expression. It cracks me up every.time. My polite way of saying that is, "It's definitely not for everyone."

:iagree:

I giggled :) Then I read the whole article. PS is such BS. (sorry for the language my friends, it's just so suitable). So, I'll just say it...DUH. ALL things start in the home...or don't start there and a Ker is behind before (s)he starts. READ to your kids daily...read, read, read. Play games to introduce math concepts. Don't let it take 20 years before you or a state school figures it out. The responsibility for *Every.Child's.Education* STARTS AND FINISHES at HOME. My home schooling friends, you'd be sick to see the lack of foundation impoverished kids get. Sick.to.your.stomach.

The reason to dislike R&S (which IS thorough and great for people who like to fill in blanks and move on....in the sense of practice, not handwriting) is the DREAD that follows. My son dubbed it Rottin' Staff b/c it is SOOOO boring. Sure, they learn all about grammar from it, but it sure didn't make them enjoy or inspired to Use what they learned. We have found a better way for the next lot that makes LA much less dreadful. I'm an old English teacher at heart and I dreaded it, too, for the record.

/a/ and /e/ and even /i/ and /e/ get confused a lot initially. She might hear /et/ and is really thinking through. Personally, I'd drop the double program and stick with WRTR. I prefer a solid foundation over reading quickly. I believe for many the foundation keeps them reading well and the early reading is memorization.

I know just what you mean. My church goes on and on about how well my kids read....um, they can read b/c they're supposed to learn how. Of course they can.

I do. When people ask me what I do for a living and I'm don't really know them and I'm sure I don't really care if they know my business, I say, "I teach at a charter school for grades K-12." It works for me.

Here is what the author of The Phonics Road says :)

Sounds like a blessing of full hands! Glad to help. I got most of my stuff from the veterans here and irl. Homeschoolers are a wonderfully sharing community!

Glad you brought that up. We did talk about that. That's why we went with, "Both hands were bumped and jerked by shoppers." We felt like "by shoppers" covered people were everywhere, but you're so right. Scholastic has a great Idiom Dictionary that we enjoy. It would have been a nice time to pull it out.

I understood her. I was just sighing for her. I think the 100ez will complicate what she's already going to teach, encourage guessing, and probably be a point of frustration. 100ezl is a LOT for a preschool class. I would not use the duo...I'd stick with SWR or a spin off...

:iagree: Wow. That's somebody to unfriend. :)

HOD is somewhat as they schedule many of the same materials. Elemental Science does the science.

Your timeline sounds right :) Just stop for a second and think about what you used last year for organizational resources. Be sure not to reinvent anything unnecessarily. I started designing daily schedule pages for some reason then had a clue and pulled up the ones from last year. I made a few quick adjustments and we're good!

Hugh sigh. We went this way and had lots of appearance of reading...then the 4th grade gap was more chasmlike.

what a moron...sorry, but come one. I'm happy you continue to mess with your children. oh no! Not smart kids. Those pesky home schoolers! Front desk....yeah, I'll bet I can describe her down to the T. It's amazing and sad when people are shocked to see well behaved children.

It certainly is. I keep finding all the things I thought I knew, and how they've changed...then changed again. Time is a great teacher, for sure. I miss those sweet days at the library for school, then the park for lunch. They were little! Time sure does fly, too! Stingy teacher.

We often spend time outdoors when the weather is nice. It is wonderful to have a change of scenery. It's too hot for that right now, though, so we move from the school house to the media room to the couch....once it cools, though, we'll go outside again. I make sure we have many nice sitting areas around our home. We can't go too far most of the time b/c we are way more than 1 dc :) It might be a bit much hauling 9 kids around town. :D

We're up. Hope we get some more posts to read this week :) My kiddos love to see the art of others since we're such newbies at doing actual art! Here's Lines Part 2.

Not at all dumb. Yes, they are working in the am and early afternoon while I am working with others. The 8th--10th graders use DVD math, logic, and latin programs, so they get to work by 9am (their required start time) and when we come back together for meetings, we go over their daily lessons and I review old vocab, etc. They may also have a FLVS class (FL Virtual school) High schoolers use TOG and Apologia Bio + Living books for history and science. They are given their assignments in advance via a syllabus/lesson plan that breaks down weekly responsibilities and daily lessons as applicable. It is their responsibility to manage their school hours, but they must keep on a daily schedule of lessons, as I provide. My 8th grader dd, for example can work at her own pace and in whatever order and be successful. My 9th grade ds, on the other hand, must operate in "periods" and have "homework" if he hasn't finished in the allotted period (45m--1hour). He needs the structure. So, they are working while I am with the LL. The middle school girls have their materials and schedule for science and TOG also, so they work on each of those and wait for our meeting for discussion. So, at this point, I am more of an overseer and follow up for management and review more than teaching for their DVD classes, but I still lecture for High School Science, Literature, and TOG where necessary (not always weekly for science). The three older ones also use WriteShop, so that is a completely teacher time subject. I must (re)model on certain days, dictation on others, but then they go off on their own to complete the writing assignments. Then, at our meetings, we go over editing individually.

I'd have to be a in special mood for it, for certain. In a similar way, I let a Home Depot employee have it comically once. When my 5 dc were with me in their spots on the cart being angels she said, "Don't you know what causes that?" Totally unoriginal, btw. "Yes, we do. And we really like it." She blushed and said nothing more than have a nice day. It was priceless. I felt redeemed for all the times someone commented about family size or home schooling. It was a glorious, victorious moment!