[Is It Okay That I Love...Glee?]

I love Sue Sylvester. She says what I think before my mind has a chance to censor it.

[New small group at church. Not only are we the only homeschoolers]

DS's 2nd grade teacher (for the first half of the year) fully supported my decision to homeschool and told me that if she weren't a single mom she would HS her own DD.

 

You may be pleasantly surprised.

 

I wonder if they put you in that group because they know you are a teacher too.

[Want to cry: are Mondays extra hard for you and your hsers?]

Mondays are our best days. It only goes down hill from here. Honestly I believe part of it is my fault because I tend to stick around home Monday - Wednesday and focus only on school but by Thursday I need to run errands, catch up on work, clean, etc.... and by Friday it's a nightmare.

[Supplementing CLE Math with MM]

Do I just pick and choose from the Blue menu or would I be better off buying the Light Blue package deal? Do I just pick areas where I see weakness or do I get the whole enchilada?

[Thinking about ditching CLE LA next year. Suggestions?]

I chose CLE to remedialize DS but I am just not sure we are really getting anywhere. I wanted to do a one-stop LA program as I was feeling overwhelmed doing FLL, WWE and AAS. However, now I feel like this may have been a bad idea.

 

We've done FLL 1&2; he can regurgitate the rules but he just can't seem to apply them, particularly with spelling. He's OK with grammar and penmanship. We use SOTW and science for narrations, dictation, and copywork, and spelling aside he does OK. We've tried WWE but DS struggles so much with spelling that it brings both of us to tears.

 

Do I just need a different spelling program? We've tried AAS but that was not a good fit. DS rebelled against it as he hated the tiles. He felt it was all too babyish. I guess I could force it.

 

I know SWB recommends SWO or Spelling Power.

 

Thoughts?

[So, how do you play with your kids?]

I'm such a kid. I love to play.

 

Frequent indoor activities include board/card/dice games, Wii games, Playdoh, coloring, painting and crafts.

 

Frequent outdoor activities include bike rides, pushing them on swings, running races at the park, playing tennis, flying kites or airplanes, playing frisbee, kick ball/soccer, playing catch... I love to be outside, and I love sports.

 

Some days I play Barbie although I despise it. The kids love to dance and play air guitar so sometimes we put the music on and jump around like crazy people. Occasionally I'll get out the train tracks and we turn the living room into the Island of Sodor. Sometimes the Hotwheels, Legos, or Rokenbock sets come out too. Some days the living room becomes the beach and we have a picnic for lunch.

 

Other days I need to be a grown up and they are on their own. They are OK with that too.

[s/o: Friendly roll call(started by a newbie herself)]

I'm Michelle (38), married to my husband for 13 yrs in September. We have 3 kids (DSS turns 18 tomorrow, DS8 and DD4).

 

I never thought I would homeschool, but issues with the school system resulted in me bringing DS home in December '09. I like the idea of homeschooling but, because of all the turmoil in our house since January, I haven't found my groove yet. I will continue to re-evaluate our situation and determine what is best for our family. It appears we will continue to homeschool at least through next year. Honestly, after fighting with the school with regard to DSS (who may or may not graduate in June) and DS, I'm not sure I could in good conscience enroll my children in our local PS again.

 

I am a physical therapist and primarily work as a very part-time consultant right now. My husband retired from the Army, went to school, and started an IT business. I manage the business and he and the techs bring home the bacon.

 

I like to play the piano, read, surf the net, hike, camp, and be outside. I am a gym rat and my best days start with a good workout.

[Thinking of switching from CM to CLE for LA for almost 9 yo ds. Possible? Experience?]

And yet another option...;)

 

You could use CLE, but add narrations from history and/or science ala the WTM. That way you'd be giving him the more conventional method, but still have somewhat of a CM approach too. We use CLE, but I'm looking at adding WWE for history readings next year.

 

When our two middle dss were in their early elementary years, I used a mainly CM approach and had them narrate science and history. We switched to a more conventional method last year, but I found myself missing the many benefits of copywork, dictation, and narration, and plan to implement them again.

 

We use CLE LA but do use the SOTW narrations as copywork and then I have him do narrations/dictation from science or history IR or RA's. I also use CLE LA's "Words to Read" for extra spelling words as I feel their spelling lists are sparse. It has worked quite well.

[Minimus or Song School Latin for 3rd grade boy]

I think it's funny that one person likes SSL, one likes Minimus, and one suggests doing both. :lol:

 

I have read that with SSL you just need the student book with CD. What do I need for Minimum? Student, CD and TG or just the Student book?

[summer]

This is my first year of hs'ing. My plan is to continue with daily reading as well as light (10-20 mins each) math and LA's 3-5 days/wk so we don't lose too much ground. He will also have Cub Scout Resident camp, Bible camp, 2 weeks of Science camp, and a 2 week family vacation to WI thrown in.

[Minimus or Song School Latin for 3rd grade boy]

I know I have cooties but could use some opinions anyway.

[Completely hypothetical question about bucking state requirements]

I agree with staceyobu. It probably has less to do with education and more to do with CPS/legal issues.

[Minimus or Song School Latin for 3rd grade boy]

My son is not strong in spelling or grammar.

 

Which would be a better fit?

[SOTW coloring page question anyone?]

I am really mostly interested right now in the coloring pages for SOTW 1&2. Do I need the whole activity book or just the student pages to get the coloring pages?

 

TIA!

 

at peacehillpress.com. That's what I use to print off pages for my kiddos.

[How many days are you required to school?]

In WA we are required to provide " for a number of hours equivalent to the total annual program hours per grade level established for approved private schools" which upon first glance makes it seem like we are required to teach for 180 days/yr at 4-6 hrs/day but "The legislature recognizes that home-based instruction is less structured and more experiential than the instruction normally provided in a classroom setting. Therefore.... the nature and quantity of instructional and related educational activities shall be liberally construed."

[What are you reading? What are you reading aloud?]

Me: "The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King" by James Patterson, "The Lightning Thief" by Riordan, and "Bones to Ashes" by Kathy Reichs

 

DS8: "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," "Magic Treehouse Resource Guide: Ancient Rome and Pompeii," and various other books on Rome (history) and the Solar System (solar)

 

Readaloud: "The Witches" by Roald Dahl

[Are you done with the school year yet?]

I'm done. My son is done. Sadly, our work is not done.

 

We are hoping to finish Math and LA's by June 4th. Science and History will continue in a relaxed form until we are finished with SOTW1 and any scientific rabbit trails that DS is following.

[In what geographical region do you live?]

LOL! I laugh, because in the middle of the town we currently live in, there is a statue dedicated to all men that fought in wars, including "The War of Rebellion".

 

"The War of Northern Aggression" as those in Charleston, SC, like to call it!

[Would it be possible to cover SOTW 1 and 2 in one year w/6th grader?]

Do you feel this would be too much? I don't want to feel rushed, and do want to do extra reading and hands-on projects with my ds. He's not particularly fond of history, so I don't want him to feel like we're blasting through it. He is looking forward to the hands-on stuff. He's an average student. I'm not really looking for beefing it up, rather just making it enjoyable. He's only done American History up to this point.

 

Nan

 

We started SOTW1 in January and will be done in June. We read at least one book suggestion per chapter as well as the review questions, narrations, and maps. DS did the coloring pages while I read. We picked projects that looked fun (i.e. Lego pyramid, Assyrian seige tower, carving soap). Some weeks we did two chapters (for example, we the Qin Dynasty and Confucious in the same week). It didn't feel rushed and he totally enjoyed it.

[How am I doing for 3rd grade?]

Well... Honestly your list would overwhelm my DS (who will be a 3rd grader). It would be far more LA's (i.e. composition, grammar, handwriting, spelling) than he could tolerate. He doesn't see the point of LA for LA's sake and fights tooth and nail, but will read or be read to endlessly so we use a lot of books to correspond with SOTW and Science. I also use Sonlight's book lists. Anyway... We will use:

Math-CLE300

Science-per WTM guidelines as well as a health unit

History-SOTW2 with AG as well as an overview of US History through the Civil War

LAs- finish CLE200 and move through CLE300. Narrations and copywork with SOTW. Journaling and summaries per WTM.

Latin- Songschool Latin

Music- piano lesson, composer studies

Art- per WTM guidelines

[Did you call your MIL on Mother's Day?]

We had dinner at the inlaws. We live in the same neighborhood and have Sunday dinner together every week. They are wonderful people.

 

I called my mom on Friday because I knew she was going out of town for my sister-in-law's dad's funeral. I'll call her tomorrow afternoon when she gets back home since I couldn't reach her today (She doesn't have a cell phone and didn't know where she would be staying.).

[Going to Portland Again ?s for the locals]

I'm not a local (I'm from Olympia myself) but I know a few years ago you could ride a train from inside the zoo to Washington park playground and back to the zoo again. Made for a fun day.

 

I'll be watching this for other ideas!

[Definition of Homeschooler.]

It depends.

 

In Washington state, as I understand the laws:

 

If the child is registered for a full course load with a public school/charter/etc, then s/he is (legally) a public school student.

 

If s/he is registered for a partial course load s/he is a homeschooled student.

 

:iagree:

[Strengths and weaknesses of CLE]

It's because it is a review topic for CLE. Congruency is introduced in 1st grade and occasionally reviewed to retain the information. CLE introduces the topics very, very gently and before the student realizes it they are doing complex topics.

I find CLE very solid and it allows students to work independently. They choose teach the STUDENT gently and don't require the teacher to "spoon feed" them the topics. I think the teacher is more of a facilitator.

 

I'm a former public school teacher and I find their books to be rigorous and gentle.

 

I started with the 200 level and one day congruency just popped up in a 'we remember' section... That's the only time I recall wondering where that came from! I just took a few minutes to explain it to DS and we moved on.

 

I really like CLE Math. I think it's gentle and rigorous. DS is doing very well with it.

 

We also use CLE LA. I don't like it as much as I like the Math but I think that has more to do with the topic itself than with the curriculum. DS despises LA so I feel like I'm banging my head against the wall every day.

['Side effects' of homeschooling?]

I'm waiting for the positives to hit. I'm holding on to hope. My kids fight constantly. DS8 complains that DD4 is too much of a distraction because she is breathing. I don't know how he possibly survived PS if one little girl talking to herself in a corner is such a huge distraction that he can't focus, lol.