Hi All! I've been reminiscing lately because my ds (19) is now a freshman in college. He's the only child, so I'm almost an empty-nester (he still comes home during weekends to see his girlfriend). Back then, I participated mainly in the afterschooling forum. Looking back at my posts in this forum exhausts me, lol. I had a lot of energy back then! I really miss those times. If I have future grandkids, I'll come back here and participate again. In the meantime, I'll be busy enjoying a lot more free time, making some $ working, and looking forward to the day that I can fully come back here. Good luck everyone in your afterschooling!

For K-5, I afterschooled history, math, writing, and literature. I was most consistent in the summers--this helped out for the following school year. For example, instead of spending 45 minutes on challenging homework problems, it would only take my ds 10 minutes. This freed up time for him to play with neighborhood kids and play minecraft during the schoolyear. For extracurriculars, I'm very particular with what I register him for. For example, he likes basketball and soccer, but I opted to register him for Ayso soccer because both the practices and games were in town. He occasionally brings up joining school basketball (with pressure from friends), but I explain to him again the reasons for why we're not doing it (It's 3 months during the Winter, involves driving to several towns, and unpredictable scheduling due to tournament brackets). Recreational soccer is only 2 months in the Fall and 2 months in the Spring but the scheduling is consistent. He's also in both school band & choir, and private piano. B & C meet on alternate days before the school day, so he gets up 1 hour earlier. Piano he's been doing since K so it's been a part of his routine. Afterschooling, all year, since K has helped out a lot because he is not struggling at all during the school year. He'll be in junior high this upcoming Fall and I'm sure that I won't have time to do all the above subjects... I don't know what's going to happen. I asked a similar question as you a few weeks ago and have had 0 responses.

I found out through a Facebook page for my son's k-8 school, that the homework for grades 6-8 is minimal. This is good news to me because I would like to afterschool more than just history and l.a. I've been doing some research on Latin and logic curricula and I think I may have found which ones to buy. However, I have never afterschooled both subjects. How are they like? I'll be dropping math. I'm hoping to do l.a., history, latin, and logic.

I don't know if ds is above grade level in any subject, but according to the results of school wide testing, he's above expectations. I volunteered at my son's K-8 school yesterday, and I was able to chat with a mom who has a child in jr. high. She thought that language arts was weak at that level. So, I think I'm going to continue with afterschooling writing. I'm also thinking of adding grammar and reading for 6th grade. We did both consistently for 3 years, but stopped.

Have you tried opening your browser with firefox? That's how it worked for me.

My ds is in 5th grade, and in the past few years, I've been afterschooling history, math, and writing. I'm not as consistent as I would like. What can I expect in the junior high years? I would like to continue what I've been doing but I'm not sure if I'll have the time.

My ds10 does three right now and will be adding one more later this month. I find that I have time for them by having an organized calendar system and by communicating with my husband. Two years ago I started using an online calendar system which is linked to my hubby's online calendar, which helps because it reminds us of the activities and it also effectively communicates any changes in appointments and practices. We take him to practices ourselves, most of the time hubby and I take turns. There are days when we all go out as a family. During his trombone and piano lessons, I usually pass the time by reading a book I've assigned to him, go on facebook on my phone, or google interesting articles. He is also in beginner's band in school. It isn't an after school activity. He gets pulled-out of math class once or twice a week for 45 minutes per session. Their math class is 90 minutes long so he misses half of the math instruction. However, we've been afterschooling math since he was in K so he doesn't miss much. The most time-consuming and stressful activity he will have this year is basketball, which starts in mid-October until the end of February. He really enjoys being on the team with his friends but he gets flustered at times because he isn't a natural at sports. Unfortunately, when he was growing up we didn't have as much time to enroll him in local sports programs. There was too much focus on music and academics. Also, since 4th grade basketball only has volunteer coaches, we are at the mercy of the volunteer coach's schedule. It is very last minute and cause havoc in our schedules. It also requires travel time because they play 6 area elementary schools. It is nerve racking and at the same time very rewarding for him. It is an activity that actually challenges him, but it also gives him the biggest rewards - overcoming them. Fortunately though, music and academics come naturally to him. Being in band, and having private piano & trombone lessons is second nature to him. We are still trying to be better at practicing at home. His trombone instructor would like him to practice Everyday. We are struggling with that one. Piano practice at home is 3 times per week. Afterschooling all the subjects I have planned for him doesn't happen everyday. However, we do an afterschool activity 6 times per week. He either does MEP math, read classic literature, or read SOTW. He always finds time for Minecraft, Legos, and playing with his best friend everyday. I can honestly say that afterschooling at a very young age has really helped.

All of the plans above are excellent. I love it! This place doesn't make me feel like a freak :lol: This summer we're going to do a lot of catching up. Our afterschooling has fallen by the wayside due to my husband & I being involved in a school referendum committee. It was very time consuming but it was well worth it. It passed 58% vs. 42% in a town that hasn't supported school referenda for a couple decades. :001_smile: We're going to catch-up on: Math Singapore Math 1B Grammar FLL Level 2 Reading TWTM 2nd Grade Reading List (Medieval) History Starting on SOTW 1 Architecture We are visiting: * Brickworld Chicago, Adam Reed Tucker will hopefully be there. My son loves his Lego Architecture designs. * Farnsworth House in Plano, IL. * John Hancock observatory, IL. * Empire State Building * NY Times Building

I'm going to try this. Thanx!

LOL! I just clicked on your blog and the image that popped up is so familiar. It's that same Canterbury Tales book that I borrowed from the kid's section of the library :lol: It is going to be returned, Asap :auto: I will check out your recommendation for Mary Pope Osborne's book. Thanx :001_smile:

LillyMama, I like your idea! :)

I've been attempting to afterschool some of the books in the TWTM Reading List to my 2nd grader this past year (starts on p. 74, newest edition). I've been reading most of them to him because the language in the recommended texts are a little advanced for him. I didn't have an issue with any of the Ancients (First Grade) until I came across: English, Irish, and Welsh fairy tales. I had borrowed 3 books from the library. I eyeballed the books and concluded that one was too challenging. I set that one aside. The other 2 seemed just fine. Until I started to read it to myself! I found that most of the tales were, imo, demeaning to women. The women in the stories were either witches, manipulative, old and mean, seductress, been beaten by men, etc. I decided to skip English, Irish, and Welsh fairy tales! So then I started Medieval/Early Renaissance (Second Grade). I started with Beowulf (Michelle Szobody). That was fine. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Michael Morpurgo) - this consisted of a witch and a seductress but the rest of the author's storytelling was very good so I decided to go ahead with this one. I'm now moving on to Canterbury Tales. Here are some of the sentences that bother me: "The advice of women is often fatal." "Now I'll tell you about my fifth husband, God save his soul. He was so mean to me that I still feel the pain in my ribs, and will till my dying day. But he was also so loving that although he beat me in every bone, he could soon win my love again." Should I still go ahead and read these to him? Of course I will explain to him that women should be respected and that they are not all manipulative fatal witches. Or do you think that these images of women will be imbedded in his subconscious forever?

You've gotta be exaggerating here. How many Korean kids did you ask? I can't believe that they all replied "sleeping and eating". Are you sure that they understood what you meant and it wasn't lost in translation? Like, instead of asking them "What are your hobbies?" It could've came across as "What is important for you to always do?" WOW. Is this rampant in Asia? There was a time when China was sophisticated and invented vast amounts of technology. For the past few hundred years, Europe & the US has been taking the spotlight. I agree with you here. I also believe that it takes a balance of discipline + innovation to move a nation forward. I don't think Asian cultures reward innovation as much as the US does, so Asia has a long way to go before they become dominant again. The US rewards innovative people...that's how we got the Einsteins of the world to jump ship. But, if we also don't stress discipline...innovative people will have a hard time following through on ideas. Ideas may never come to fruition. :party: :drool::biggrinjester::hat:<---- A group of very creative people whose ideas never came to fruition because they never followed through.

Tonight we're staying up late to watch the skies for some meteors! Astronomer's forecast is great: 10% clear skies, above average air transparency and darkness reigns (no moon). I'd like for my ds to see a couple of meteors from the delta aquarids.

Act, and you shall have dinner; wait, and you shall be dinner. -Gowron, Klingon proverb, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine In this galaxy there’s a mathematical probability of three million Earth-type planets. And in the universe, three million million galaxies like this. And in all that, and perhaps more...only one of each of us. -Dr. McCoy, Star Trek, “Balance of Terror†It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life. -Captain Picard to Data, Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Peak Performance†The truth is usually just an excuse for a lack of imagination. -Garak, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Live long and prosper.

age/grade: almost 8 / will be in 2nd grade (started at 5.5 yrs) teacher's qualifications: don't know, highly recommended by family Lesson length: 30 min. Lesson frequency: Once a week Monthly cost: $60 Region where you live: Midwest

This is going to sound bad, so I need to do some explaining first. I've always had a challenge getting him interested in any of the fairy tales and any of the classic children's books when he was younger. During 1st grade I tried reading to him some books such as Charlotte's Web with no luck. He just didn't seem interested. He has no problems reading about his interests...mostly planetary books. He can read, talk & draw for hours about all the moons in the solar system. That's when I gave up choosing books for him. I let him read what he wanted. He loves to read the Animated Transformers comic novels & has read each one of them. For a while I was worried about that because it uses fragmented sentences. However, ds is able to recognize the improper grammar....I think it's because we use first language lessons on a regular basis. However, that is not his summer reading. One day in 1st grade, he brought home a beginner chapter book...disappeared into his room for 30 minutes. All I could hear was his laughter here & there. He loved the book so much that he kept borrowing different titles of the same series at his school library! For the summer, I decided to buy him a whole set of..... The Junie B. Jones series :eek: The series is definitely not for someone who is weak in grammar. There are parts where it's so horrible! Such as: "Then me and that Grace springed into action!"

I use McGuffey (3rd ecl. reader) for spelling, vocab and oral reading. My ds is a natural speller & disliked the Spelling Workout books. I had to give it up once we got to the middle of book B because he kept complaining. Since I had the McGuffey book already, I decided to use it for spelling as well. The words are a little bit challenging for him but he doesn't mind and actually seems to enjoy the challenge. I've never used the first ecl. reader for McGuffey so I can't comment on that.

I like the name "Mommy Camp" :D I will think of a similar name to make my 'schooling' sound more interesting to my ds!

I'm going to continue with grammar & math. Last summer we did both subjects. I'd like to be more consisent this time around. Ds will continue with weekly piano lessons. Practice is already consistent (at least 4x/week). This summer I'd like to be more consistent on theory and do it weekly. Swimming lessons are at 4x/week. He was doing this 2x/week during the schoolyear and really loves it. We will try karate 1x/week this summer. I actually thought about making our own "patch/badge" program. I was driven almost nuts thinking on how it would work. I finally decided that the 2 activities I would focus the most this summer are: *Fishing *Astronomy He became interested in fishing because of the Wii game, Animal Crossing. We took him fishing at a local forest preserve lake. We also took him to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Throughout the summer, we would like to expose him to as much fishing topics as possible. I'm going to think of each experience as a "patch" earned. Maybe if he stays interested for a few years, he can learn how to cook a freshly caught fish....I could then award him a badge called "Poseidon", or something like that :glare:

In the private school that your son attended, the teachers may not have been able to handle teaching 28 second graders in 1 classroom. Your son may have been mentally exhausted and stressed due to the class size. How big was the classroom? Was the insulation and carpeting adequate enough to minimize distractions from noise (too much echoing may be a distraction)? It could be the teachers, but it could be the environment also. In the public school, are you able to network with involved parents so that your child can interact with their children? Also, it may be that the parents of that school are too busy with work and responsibilities to be able to involve themselves in school. Both my parents worked minimum-wage hourly jobs while trying to raise 4 kids. They worked 6 days a week from 11a-10p everyday. It was hard for them to find the time to be involved with their type of work hours and the fact that they were paid hourly. Any missed workday meant that there was no income. They also had to worry about taking care of my grandparents who lived with us. My involvement in my son's school life is entirely different from my experience growing up. I'm thankful that I have wonderful bosses who trust me to make my own schedule. When I volunteer at school or when I take my son to the state parks and museums, I make sure to have the day off by making sure that other employees are making things run smoothly at work. I'm also thankful to be making a salary that is decent so that my husband can stay home and help with afterschooling and household responsibilities. My parents may not have had the time to be involved in school but they loved us unconditionally and they cared. I was self-motivated enough to obtain an associates degree. I used to study in my parent's car because our small house was too noisy. I also feel that my standards are very high when it comes to my son's education. He goes to a grade school that is not well funded. This is the reason why I'm afterschooling. I also make sure that he interacts with a group of homeschoolers, which is 1 hour away from us.

One of my talents is teaching. I use it at home with my ds and at work. I consistently find myself trying to hone my teaching methods to help my ds and employees become better at their jobs/studies.

I'm also in a similar situation. I'm the breadwinner because of my husband's health issues. My ds also goes to a school that doesn't meet my "classical standards". Since we don't have time to afterschool every subject, I had to decide which subject we would do Consistently. I decided on: Grammar: We're using FLL. It doesn't take very long & it is scripted. My husband is able to handle this. Arts: Music. Ds takes piano lessons once a week. He is also involved in a children's choir once a week. We take him to see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra once per year (family series). Math: I use as a main source SM 2-3 times per week. I occasionally throw-in a couple of MEP worksheets. I bought SOTW vol 1 but we are not on a consistent schedule with it. So we've decided to focus on English, Math and Music. History once in a while.

My ds loves Animal Crossing (and so do I). It involves reading so it's a title that he may enjoy in the future.

We have a Yamaha YPG-635 keyboard which we bought from a music store. We later found out that the exact same digital keyboard can be bought at Walmart under the model DGX-630. It costs less money too. My ds7 loves this keyboard. He uses the 'pitch bend' feature to make his songs sound 'different'. IMO a keyboard can help Some kids fall in love with music. My ds especially loves to practice his assignments and also to make his own music. I think that the smaller size of a keyboard compared to a piano is also an advantage for kids. My ds piano teacher doesn't mind that we don't have a real piano at home. We're not in it for competitions, more for fostering creativity. Most likey we will be buying a real piano in the next few years, if ds is still interested.