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jamijoy

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Everything posted by jamijoy

  1. My youngest (of five children) is going into 2nd grade next year!!! Bible, History: My Father’s World Exploration to 1850 (with siblings) Science: Botany, Zoology (with siblings) Math: Singapore Math 1A/1B (or 1B/2A if she's ready) Language Arts: Language Lessons for Today 2, Spelling by Sound and Structure 2 Foreign Language: Getting Started with Spanish (with siblings) Music: Composer CD Study (with siblings) and Piano Lessons Extras: Gymnastics, Weekly PE Group, American Heritage Girls, Awana
  2. Bible, History: My Father’s World Exploration to 1850 (Exploring American History, In God We Trust, Building a City On a Hill, George Washington's World, The Last 500 Years, The Story of the World Volume 3, various read alouds) Science: Botany (Apologia), Zoology (World of Animals) Math: Singapore Math 4A/4B Language Arts: Language Lessons for Today 4, Institute of Excellence in Writing (All Things Fun and Fascinating), Spelling by Sound and Structure 4 Foreign Language: ? Music: Composer CD Study and Piano Lessons Computer: Typing online if still needed Extras: Gymnastics, Awana, American Heritage Girls, basketball and/or soccer and/or baseball
  3. We do formal school work four days a week. We do 'together time' subjects on the couch and the daily ones include Bible, history, Latin, our read-aloud, CNN Ten News, VP History, and science. Every other Tuesday, we watch a writing video (IEW). On Thursdays, we do art appreciation (a picture of a painting with information about it and the artist). After that, we do their independent subjects at the table that may or may not need my help. I give my kids planners with their assignments in them and they can do them in any order. They go down the list and if they don't have an assignment in a particular subject, they obviously move on to the next subject. As for a schedule, I write down everything in the ideal order, and then next to the subjects that aren't daily, I write those days in parentheses. Ours would look like: Bible History Latin Read-Aloud CNN Ten News VP History Art Appreciation (Th) Writing Video (T) Science Copywork (M) Math English (MTW) Latin Vocab Writing (TTh) Logic (MW) Coding Is that what you were asking?
  4. I'm not sure if this would solve anything since you want to do geography now, but we use the VPSP history as a family. MFW is our core history and since VPSP history doesn't line up exactly and we couldn't jump ahead, and my kids didn't want to stop using it, we are using it as a review and are dozens of lessons behind what we are learning in the MFW history we use. I use our Chromecast to put it on the TV and we watch the videos and answer questions together. My kids have to take turns playing the games and placing the medallions is a coveted job, but it works out fine. If you wanted to stick with it, you could use it as a family and add in whatever reading books you want. Since I've never used it alone for history, we've never used their reading suggestions, so I'm not sure what you'd need to add to get it to a 7th grade level. My kids really enjoy it though. P.S. I'm not sure why I'm having font size issues. It looks tiny to me so I made it bigger, but if it's huge to everyone else, I apologize.
  5. Yes. I'm not sure why people say the teenage years are bad. It's the preteen years. My oldest is now 15 and is mostly pleasant now, but from about 11-12.5, he was far from pleasant quite often. My now-13 year old son has always been my most laid back and we haven't had any issues with him thankfully. My now-11 year old son is going through these rough years right now, but in a different way than my oldest did. My oldest has a controlling personality and his issues were often that he wasn't in control. My 11 year old is super emotional and dramatic already and cries and gets upset all the time. He's not defiant or disrespectful, but gets so easily upset with my 13 year old, who is who he is best buds with. So he cries because of my 13 year old but still wants to hang out with him. It's great. So yah, they're all different. I have two girls who are 8 and 7 that we'll see how it goes with them in a few years.
  6. We've used MFW for several years. My oldest is in 10th grade and homeschooled using MFW from 2nd until 8th grade and then went into public high school. He's a smart kid so I've never doubted our homeschooling, but the only subject I wasn't sure how he did with was writing. Using Writing Strands and then Writing with Skill, along with the MFW required narrations, definitely made him a strong writer (at least compared to students in his school and our state). Like I said, he's a smart kid, and also very motivated, and after MFW recommendations, is a top ten student in his grade with all As for the past 1 1/2 years. My current 7th grader is also using MFW for middle school, although we are trying IEW writing this year, and he uses TT math for Algebra 1. He also learns easily, but isn't very motivated, although he surprises me with how much he retains. I think using MFW from the beginning with my kids helped me to ease into adjusting the expected workload for each child. I'm not sure what information you're looking for exactly, but I hope this has helped a bit.
  7. I'm teaching the IEW Speech Boot Camp in our small co-op this semester. It's a video led course geared towards 6th-12th graders and my 7th grader will be taking it. I'd like to do something more informal with my younger kids to get them used to public speaking...maybe getting together with a homeschooling friend a couple times a month for that purpose.
  8. I do have the new version and both the TWSS DVDs as well as the Student Intensive Writing Level B DVDs. I haven't viewed the student DVDs, so I guess I should do that to see what I think then. So I guess my main concern is if my 3rd grader can use the Level B DVDs successfully.
  9. IEW users...I have come to own the Teaching Writing: Structure and Skill DVDs/Binder as well as the Student Writing Intensive Level B. I'd like to use IEW with my 3rd, 5th, and 7th graders this year. I printed out the student sheets for level A for my 3rd grader (free on the website) but will watching the Level B DVDs be over her head? Would it be better to buy and have them all watch Level A DVDs for the sake of not watching two different DVDs each week, or to have my 7th grader watch Level B and get the Level A DVDs for my 3rd and 5th graders? Thanks for any advice.
  10. My 15 year old and I enjoyed them. There is a lot of cussing, especially in the third book. The love scenes are PG-13 I think. The Divergent Series is also good.
  11. I'm not sure how to best explain what I am asking, but I'll try. This is what I am looking for...an educational website or online curriculum company that has reading lists for grades levels and subjects but also gives access to the e-book to borrow/read. In my mind, I'm picturing something like Kindle Unlimited but organized a bit more educationally. So basically, there would be categories of books based on reading level and/or subject and you click on the title and the book downloads to read. Kindle Free Time also comes to mind, but that's only for little kids I believe. Even if it just gives access to a good choice of books on a reading list, that'd be great. I guess that wasn't so hard to explain. Does anyone know of anything like this?
  12. 3rd Grade: Bible, History: My Father’s World Rome to Reformation (The Story of the World Volume 2, Streams of Civilization, The Roman Empire, Augustus Caesar's World, Galen and the Gateway to Medicine, Usborne Medieval World, Usborne Ancient World, How the Bible Came to Us, Trial and Triumph, Read-Alouds: The Bronze Bow, Twice Freed, Dangerous Journey, The Door in the Wall) Science: Apologia Astronomy, Anatomy and Physiology (The Human Body for Every Kid, The Body Book, Usborne First Encyclopedia of the Human Body, The Wonderful Way Babies Are Made) Math: Singapore Math 3A & 3B, Beast Academy 2A & 2B Language Arts: Language Lessons for Today 3, Spelling by Sound and Structure 3, Mensa Excellence in Reading Grades K-3 List, Institute for Excellence in Writing? or Writing with Ease 3? Foreign Language: Spanish for Children, Duolingo, English from the Roots Up, Latin for Children (Thinker’s Cap Academy)?...probably not, but we just finished Getting Started with Latin and I hate to discontinue the skill... Music: Composer CD Study and Piano Lessons Computer: Dance Mat Typing (or ?) Art: Home Art Studio, God and the History of Art Physical Education: Weekly PE class, Gymnastics, Sports Teams
  13. Yes. At the zoo several years ago, I had a three year old and a 9 month old. We were going to get on the zoo train, so I parked the stroller, grabbed my purse, my diaper bag, my three year old's hand, and rushed to get in line. I was standing there in line for half a minute and felt like I was missing something and realized I had left my baby in the stroller, about 20 feet away. I felt horrible. Another time (which I forgot about when voting above but just remembered), I loaded my kids into our minivan to go get my dad from the airport. Ten minutes down the road, one of my kids asked where my then-eight year old son was. Whoops. He sits in the third row of our minivan in a spot I can't see well. We turned around to get him and he was just waiting in the house, looking out the window to see if we'd come back to get him. Not worried or anything. That was a couple years ago and I still make sure I check to make sure I have everyone I am supposed to have.
  14. I don't use FLL, but I schedule WWE twice a week, so we do days 1 & 2 on Tuesdays, and then days 3 & 4 on Thursdays. It doesn't take too long each day, and then we get a break on the other days.
  15. My dog destroys everything except Kong toys and this Hartz Dura Play Rocket toy. It's a type of soft flexible foam but somehow he hasn't destroyed it and we've had it for over a month. It squeaks though. Annoying, but my pup loves it. He's a lab mix.
  16. I homeschool four, grades Kinder through 6th. We usually finish with my big kids by lunch (so about 3 hours) and then I work with my Kinder girl for 30-60 minutes after lunch. I just do things in a certain order, not really at certain times. After my morning routine (devotion, walk dog, shower, etc.) we get started...so at about 8:30 at the earliest, 10:00 at the latest. My kids get breakfast on their own, do chores, and then have free time until we start school. We don't do each subject everyday, so I just skip whatever we don't have for the day (composer study is only on Tuesdays, art history is only two days a week, etc.) Together Time: Prayer, Psalm reading, Hymn singing, MFW Bible, poetry read aloud, novel read aloud, Greek & Latin, art history, composer study, history, science text & experiments Table Time: Science written work, history written work and activities, art Independent Time: Kids do math, English, writing, spelling, logic, keyboarding, Awana studying at their work areas. I call kids over to table one at a time to do subjects that need my teaching. Lunch Afternoon Time: Kids finish up anything they didn't finish. Kindergarten with my youngest daughter. Song School Spanish with my 2nd grader & Kinder girl Free Time & Extra Activities We have little to no school work on Fridays. We will start our homeschool group PE class in a few weeks and that is on Friday mornings. If we do a fiend trip during the week with our homeschool group (they like to schedule them on Thursdays), then we'll do school Friday afternoons.
  17. My 6th grade son finished Singapore Math 6A/B and needs to move on to pre-algebra. He is bright and learns quickly, but doesn't necessarily like math. He gets it done without much complaint, but does the minimum and only for the end result of being done so he can have free time (screen time on his iPad). I'm looking into curriculum that he can do on the computer that checks itself to help myself out a lot. I had a hard time grading everyone's math everyday this past school year. There doesn't seem to be very many options, so I'm looking at Teaching Textbooks and Alpha Omega Monarch/SOS, pre-algebra level. Does anyone have any opinions on these and which would be a better fit after Singapore? Are there any other computer based pre-algebra level math. Cost isn't really a concern.
  18. I have used MFW with my kids for 7 years now. We are on the first year of the cycle again (ECC), the second time through. My kids are 13, 11, 9, 6 & 5. Your three oldest are the perfect ages to combine into the Bible/history/science cycle. BTW, I don't think you would go through the curriculum more than 2 1/2 times. We used it from the beginning and will use it three complete times (but each child only goes through just over one cycle before high school.) MFW adds Progeny Press Literature Guides for 7th and 8th graders. I used a Rod & Staff Reading Comprehension workbook for my 2nd child one year because I thought he needed a bit of practice in that area. It's easy to add things like that since you need to choose your own math and language arts. They have recommendations, but it's a separate purchase so you can choose whatever you want, whenever you want. It's been two years, but remembering back, Ex-1850 combines narrations of history with map worksheets as well as state worksheets and summaries of each president in chronological order. There is also Bible verse copywork and dictation, science notebooking, and then whatever your language arts curriculum requires. Of course, your oldest will write more for history and science than your younger kids. While there aren't a huge amount of crafts and activities, there is enough without being overwhelming. I'm not sure what advice to offer regarding starting a new curriculum mid-year as I've never had to do that (we've used MFW from the beginning.) As for reviews, there's usually more people that will speak up for things they don't like rather than what they do, right? :) You may be able to find more users who like each curriculum at the company forums. I've seen the question before regarding how many people actually stick with MFW for multiple years, and that's when users tend to speak up. I'm sure it's the same for TOG and Biblioplan and everything else also.
  19. We used Florida Virtual School for his online Geometry Honors class. When our laptop died, we bought a new laptop with Windows 8, and we couldn't get everything imbedded with the geometry lessons to work reliably even after speaking with their technical support, so we had to end that class online. He did well with it and had a 92% when he stopped using it. He "got it" but it was harder to fully understand than Algebra 1. It was heavy on proofs right away and he'd have to spend a lot of time and thought on understanding the lessons. (I don't remember ever learning about proofs in my high school geometry!) He didn't care for the online format of math either, mainly because if he didn't understand something, there wasn't a teacher right there and he had to wait until he was available, so we will not go to another online math class. He does Spanish online and enjoys it, so I'm going to respect his wishes on this one. It looks like, for math, that he does best with me there re-learning it with him and explaining it. And I'm good with that. Saxon Algebra 1 was not too easy for him and by grading only his tests, he had a 86% average, although most of his mistakes were not in the algebraic part of it, but in simple math mistakes. He understood it, usually without any problem. We both liked Saxon Algebra 1. I've looked into AoPS and while he is strong in math, it didn't look like as good a fit, although I've never actually looked at a textbook for it. I think part of it is how esteemed it seems to be on this forum and I don't want to give him something so challenging that he doesn't do well. He's strong at math but not a genius. :) The reason I'm interested in what math texts may be counted as honors is for his transcript. He will be my first high schooler (this fall) so I'm a bit nervous about it now that it really counts. I do feel like Saxon is a good math education for him, but I want to make sure I find what's best for him to get into the college he wants to go to. I'm not sure what weight an honors class will have on a homeschool transcript, since I'm sure they will look more closely at the course description anyways. And I guess, besides that, the college he wants to go to right now (Univ. of Florida) requires the SAT 2 tests for the main subjects. Thanks for your help!
  20. My son used Saxon Algebra 1 at home, then went to an Honors Geometry class through a virtual school for one semester (but has to finish up at home due to computer technical reasons...he is now using Jacob's Geometry), and our plan was to use Saxon Algebra 2 at home next year. Now I'm thinking I may want to stick with honors math classes now since he did well during the time he took the online class. Which homeschool Algebra 2 textbooks (not online) would be considered honors?
  21. Has anyone used FLVS Geometry, either regular or honors? What format are the lessons in, text or video? My son has used Saxon Algebra 1 this year and did better using the DIVE CD rather than just reading through the lessons, so any thoughts on using FLVS Geometry when he's used to Saxon? Will it be like B&M school where there is an hour lesson and then another hour of homework? He has experience with Spanish and Guitar through FLVS. . We will be using Jacob's Geometry if we don't use FLVS Geometry. I'm wondering how different it could be. I'd like a rigorous course, but the accountability with FLVS is helpful as well.
  22. I was 17, he was 20 and we were both in college, me a freshman, he a junior. We were both in ROTC and met at a ROTC party. We started dating when I asked him over to hang out when classes were canceled due to Hurricane Irene in 1999 (not to be confused with Hurricane Irene of 2011). Dang, we should have named a kid after her. :)
  23. The above is true for myself, whether it's adoption, mission trips, Operation Christmas Child gifts, etc. The end result in fundraising for adoption is an orphan being placed into a forever family, giving that orphan love, medical care, education, and hope. To me, that trumps any tacky or uncomfortable feelings anyone might have.
  24. I also have a dd named Leah, pronounced Lee-uh. I had a childhood friend named Leia, pronouced Lay-uh, like in Star Wars.
  25. My ds is using Saxon Algebra 1 currently. He will use Jacob's Geometry for 8th grade and Saxon Algebra 2 for 9th. After that, I don't know. Maybe Saxon Advanced Math (Pre-Calculus) in 10th. I'll have to see where we are living at the time (military) and what sort of dual enrollment they offer, if any. I took Pre-Cal as a dual enrollment class, so I'd rather my son be able to do than that take it just for a high school credit. If he can get Calculus out of the way as well, that'd be great. I'm kind of scared to start thinking that my boy is getting close to high school age!
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