Ditto - very eye-opening

It's all in what you make it! Using the curriculum guide, I try to make sure that we have talked about at home (at least in general) all of the info BEFORE we go to CC. (So for the week before we talked about the digestive system in class, we read books about it, watched the Magic School Bus about it, etc. etc.) So when they got to class, they already had a basic idea of what those things were. I'm not going to say I manage to get that done for everything, but I try for pre-exposure. I will admit that I have completely ignored the Latin for my kindergarteners, though moms of older kids at our CC group say that they questioned it at our age but are so glad now that they learned it. I would agree that adding poetry would be a great addition, but it's so much a matter of taste. It would be very hard for them to choose appropriate pieces. The first 2 weeks we were at CC, I was thinking this is "this is absurd - there is no way that they can possibly learn all this, retain it, and get anything out of it". By the 3rd & 4th weeks, my kids were getting the hang of it. At this point, I wouldn't call it easy, but it certainly isn't the big deal I thought it was. I try to choose read-alouds ahead of time that relate to what we will be learning at CC. The tutor introduces the material, and then we review it once at home. After that, we just listen to the CD in the car, and they have it down. Yes, I am saying that my 6.5 year olds are easily learning & remembering these massive quantities of information - much more easily than I am. I find myself having to refer to my notes repeatedly, or ask one of the kids. I assume that by listening to the CD once through every month or so, they should retain this info long-term. Only time will tell of course...

I LOVE RightStart! It tells you EXACTLY what materials to pull out and EXACTLY what to say. Really gives the kids a great understanding of foundational math concepts. But it is not textbooky at all!!! Lots of manipulatives and hands-on, non-worksheet math.

I agree with the above. I have my smiley face on and I do my best to promote an enjoyable learning environment, but it's hard if one kid decides to be a pain. Bad attitudes are contagious. I usually give one mini-lecture/warning ("we are all trying to have fun learning about _____ - please don't ruin it for the rest of us"). After that, that kid gets sent to sit on the porch or garage step (depending on the weather). They make up the work while the other children are doing their afternoon activities - swimming, gymnastics, playing outside, etc. Each kid has tried me once - after that, they have been a lot better about making a fast attitude adjustment! I also talk to them often about how good they have it. One day last week when it was 35 degrees, we were doing school in front of the fire in our PJs, and we talked about how the kids going to "regular school" had to get up 2 hours before us and go out in the cold and so on - "we are so lucky!". We talk too about how annoying it would be for them to listen to me whine and complain every time I did my work (laundry, dishes, etc.), and it is equally annoying for me to listen to them whine & complain! They loved getting a demonstration of me doing my work in full whine/huff/complain-mode! They thought it was hilarious. Then we talked about how Mommy has to do her work whether she wants to or not, and so do they - might as well have fun/a good attitude doing it!

The Learning Box Preschool - it's the definition of open & go, with GREAT crafts!!! We LOVED it! So much so that I thought about ordering it for another year even though we are way too old at this point! Fun books, fun activities, and GREAT crafts! Did I mention the crafts? You open the month's curriculum workbook to that day (Day 2, etc.), find the baggie labeled Day 2, and everything you need is in there - if you need 2 green pipe cleaners and a scoop of rice, it's in there! Awesome for those of us who would never get it together enough to collect it all!

Depends on what they have in their hands. With playdough, they are supposed to build something representing what I am reading about, and they each get a minute to tell the group about it afterward. (So if we are reading about Vikings, they can build a ship, or a Viking hat or whatever.) If it is coloring, I try to have a coloring sheet that relates to what I am reading about. During reading lessons, we have toys specifically designed for fidgeting with (squeeze balls, stress balls, etc.). They keep the hands busy, but aren't interesting enough to send them off into imagination land. http://www.trainerswarehouse.com/Fiddles-Fidget-Toys/products/108/ Toys designed for use with imagination (Legos, dolls, etc.) tend to not mix well with readalouds around here.

We LOVE "Leading Little Ones to God". Also, if you are looking for DVDs, "What's In the Bible With Buck Denver" is great!!

The only time it gets challenging is when your kid doesn't progress at a normal rate. I have been reviewing like 6 chapters of OPGTR for several months now - we are just stuck there, and I don't want to move on before they are ready. If I were just noting on the TOC, it wouldn't look like I was doing anything as we haven't moved forward, but in my journal it becomes very clear that we are doing reading every day - we are just camping out. "M still struggling with xxxx - repeat lesson xx."

By "here" I meant the people in my local homeschool group, not "here" on this forum. Sorry - not clear!

If you buy ONE Kindle book, can it be read by several different kids on several different Kindles at the same time?

That's what most of the people here do. They keep copies of TOC of each resource in a notebook, and just date each lesson as they do it. You may need a separate attendance log if you do that, just to make it easy to go back and count days.

I think you are probably making this harder than you have to. My "Lesson Plan" is the same every week: General - Leading Little Ones to God lesson - 5 days per week - calendar / weather / patterning - 5 days per week - memory work - 5 days per week Language Arts - Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading - 5 days per week - Handwriting Without Tears lesson - 5 days per week Math - RightStart math lesson - 2 days per week - Miquon Orange math lesson - 1 day per week - MEP math lesson - 1 day per week Other - history readaloud - 2 days per week - science readaloud - 2 days per week - Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding - one lesson per week (may be broken up into multiple days) Separate from my Lesson Plan is my Journal. (LP is what I intend to do in the future, J is showing what we actually did.) My journal is a printed chart with the subjects/curriculum listed down the left side, and the days of the week printed across the top, and I write down as we go exactly what we did. "Lesson 24" or "reviewed mechanics of writing Letter H" or "workbook page 42-43" or whatever. My "Lesson Plan" covers the basics only. Figure out the minimum you HAVE to do, and put that in your Lesson Plan and prioritize those things, then figure out anything else that you would LIKE to do and put those on the sheet you actually record on as you go. In most states, the HAVE TOs are reading, writing, math, history & science. You may WANT to add logic, piano, foreign language, etc., but start slowly and only do the HAVE TOs at first! Add in the optional stuff later.

If you are already familiar with SWB's writing methods via her speeches & the WTM book, would it be OK to just get the WWE workbook? Or do you need both? I plan to do WWE with 4 kids - do I need 4 workbooks? Or is this something where I should buy 1 for me to read out of and just hand out plain writing paper for the kids to do the exercises?

Thanks!!

The uppercase letters are usually taught first b/c they are a lot easier to write (all start at the same point, same height, just a few basic building blocks to all letters, etc. etc.). The lowercase letters are a lot harder - I would be really hesitant to start with those. I feel your pain on the kid who learned them incorrectly. My youngest wanted to write when her older siblings were learning, and I thought she was too young for handwriting lessons so I didn't give them when she asked. She was determined to learn anyway, and figured out letter approximations on her own. After that, she had zero interest in learning from Mommy how to do it correctly as she thought she already knew how. It has been a total thorn in my side! I still haven't quite figured out how to remediate this situation. Not helpful, I know. Sorry!

You have two choices: - you've told her - you can just quit answering - you can explain in more detail & try to convince her. "If I were a teacher at a public school, would you think I should chat on the phone during school hours? My kids' education is just as valuable as those children's. This is my JOB, even though I don't have a principal watching over me. I HAVE to teach my kids. If it is an emergency, it's fine to call, but otherwise, I just cannot drop my child in the middle of a math lesson to chat. I value our friendship, but I don't feel like you are respecting my work or my family by continuing to call during school hours when I have asked numerous times that you wait until after 3."

We have therapy appointments 4 days a week, and they are a hike. We usually listen to memory work CDs one way, and watch educational DVDs on the way home. We have memorized all the educational DVDs we have, and are in desperate need of some new material. What's your fav for the kindergarten/1st grade age group? Any topic from reading to Bible to science to anything else - all suggestions appreciated!

I just looked these up - what great finds!!! Thanks for the heads up!!

If I work hard to cook dinner, if my children insult the food it does not make me happy. They have learned that if they don't like it, they should keep their mouths shut rather than be rude. Same deal with homeschooling. I am working hard to give them a great education. Some days it is a lot of fun, and some days it is not, but regardless, it is a lot of work for me. It is a priviledge to have a Mommy who loves you so much that she teaches you at home, and you don't insult her by complaining about your work. If there are legitimate concerns, of course they should be discussed respectfully, but just whining "this is boring" is unacceptable. Also, my kids (6 year olds) know that not everyone understands and approves of homeschooling, and they know that we put on our smiley faces for other people. If there are concerns to be discussed, they are to bring those concerns to DH or I. (I don't know if it is really necessary to go on about concerns to most kids - mine have some challenges, and so I do want them to feel comfortable coming and talking to us if needed.) My kids have been trained that when someone asks about school, they are to smile, act happy, and enthusiastically say "we learned the coolest thing this morning - did you know that <insert history or science lesson>?". Yes it is fake, but whatever. So is saying "fine thanks, how are you?"! It's a social skill!

Sorry - should have been more clear. We have the teacher's manual, slates, magna boards, wooden pieces, etc. - everything for HWOT. I am wondering if I need the TM to effectively implement the Handwriting Clinic program.

So you didn't need the instructor's manual? We are going through the HWOT preschool workbook for the THIRD time with my fine motor-challenged kiddos. They really need one more runthrough with instruction to truly get it, but are bored with it at this point. If all the instructions are in the student workbook, I may get that, but if I would have to buy another teacher's manual, that might be the deal breaker!

I have both. I love the activities in FIAR, but it just seems to scattered. Organizing by country seems to make me more comfortable with it. If you get Sonlight, don't get the language arts, and do get the arts supplement. I can't remember who sells that - it is somebody separate - but it is great!

I have 2 kids who didn't appear to have a dominant hand. We decided that as long as getting 1/2 the practice with each hand wasn't causing them to get behind, we wouldn't worry about it. At some point, both began worrying that they weren't as good at coloring as other kids. (Although they colored as much as others, each hand only had had 1/2 the practice so neither hand was as skilled as it would have been if they spent all their time with that hand.) At that point, we chose for them. We chose right, only because in our society it is a lot more convenient. If there truly isn't a dominant hand, you might as well pick right. But I wouldn't pick one until you have to, just in case one emerges later. Some kids are closer to age 6 before truly choosing. The only place that my kids have found that being ambidextrous is truly a problem is swimming. Learning freestyle has been a nightmare! Keeping up a kick, windmill arms, then turning to breathe to the side is a lot to remember at once, and they need to practice consistently on one side to get it. We finally put a bracelet on the arm that they were supposed to breathe to. That helped one kid, but the other continues to struggle. We figured out recently she was taking it off and playing with it while waiting her turn, and it wasn't always going back on the same wrist, so I know that's part of the problem. Hopefully we will get past this soon!

Everybody says read First Grade Diary, and go from there. I read that, and thought it sounded great, but I still just couldn't quite wrap my head around exactly what to do! The way I finally managed to get started was to buy one extra Orange book, and then COPY instructions from the Lab Sheet Annotations into the related Orange book page. I think there were maybe 5 different things to do on each page - I just wrote them all in a numbered list. Did that for maybe the first 10 Orange book pages. Then the kids and I did those, with me calling the instructions from my book and them working. After that, the First Grade Diary was actually useful! :)

My MIL is a retired English teacher. It wouldn't have been her preference for us to HS, but she knows that it is our decision, and she can go along with it or get out of the way, so when we announced that we were doing it for sure, she offered to assist with Latin, French, and writing as need be. Her best friend was a 1st grade teacher, and my MIL is always wanting to check with the friend about everything. My own parents are NOT supportive at all. I was very close to my mom before this, and it has ruined our relationship. I can't say one thing to her without it turning into her getting in digs on HSing. "My kids sure were wild at the park tonight!" "Well, they are just so lonely at home without other kids - they just haven't had a chance to learn those social skills!" (This was this summer - my kids went to preschool, so they hadn't even missed any public school yet!) To get past the initial resentment over HSing, I told my parents that it was primarily so that my children could continue to get physical, occupational, and vision therapy, which they would not have time to do if they went to traditional school. Now every time I see my parents, they are asking how much longer til we finish therapy. (They don't approve of all this therapy either. They are in total denial.) And the big question - what are we going to do with my youngest (who is completely typical, and so not in any therapies). I told them over Thanksgiving that we would probably homeschool for next year as well so we could finish our therapies, and I would probably keep all 4 just to avoid having to run too many different schedules. Cue Grandma's nostril flaring & sighing.