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Mommy of boys

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Everything posted by Mommy of boys

  1. Thank you Scrapbabe for that reply, it was helpful reading your reply. I plan on checking out that yahoo group. Do you feel like it's a lot of prep work for you or not too bad? It looks like it really does cover all the language arts and like it would really guide you through handwriting, reading, writing, and grammar all the way through. I've looked at A LOT of different programs and it looks wonderful. I purchased another program that took so much prep work that I resold it. I don't mind some, but I do want it laid out for me as far as what I'm supposed to do. Thanks!
  2. I'm really interested in using the new IEW K-2 materials, it looks like lesson plans, AAS and extras. Anyone used this?
  3. Thanks! I have Little Man in the Map and plan on using it sometime for k or 1st. How did you use it? Just reading from it on occasion or something different?
  4. I am wanting some ideas for history and geography. I'm planning to use Veritas Press for history and Bible starting in 2nd grade. This year we are doing K4 and doing very intermediate geography (geography continents and oceans songs and looking at maps and globes about once a week). We are also going through a Bible book from Genesis on. My thoughts are to do geography for K4 and K5 but I'm not set on a specific program. I'm not sure what to do with 1st grade- states and capitals (we may start in K), American history, state history??? I've even thought of adding some sort of missionary history? I've heard of Galloping the Globe, A Child's Geography and other stuff. Have you used any of these? How to use them- once a week? I know I'm planning very far ahead, but I really like curriculum planning! Thanks! The little man saw the icons and wanted me to put this one below :auto:
  5. We are doing a K4 year, my oldest just turned 5 and was not ready with his fine motor skills to start full kindergarten. I agree with many of the responses so far that you do what your child can based on his/her attention span. You want to stretch that throughout the year to prep them for 1st grade, but kindergarten shouldn't be overwhelming. We spend 20 minutes for circle time (review calendar, phonogram of the week, and numbers) and Bible story. He gets a break with a snack or some play time, then we do a reading lesson for about 20 minutes. Sometimes, in the afternoon we read books together and sometime during the week we usually paint, color, and do other fun stuff that helps with his fine motor skill development. He has also discovered starfall.com for reading and will spend 1/2 an hour on the computer playing it because he loves it so much! This works really well for us and is giving enough school time to prepare him for next year. I challenge him a little with his attention span, but I try to watch my time and make sure I'm not expecting too much.
  6. Heather, I have a question about VP Phonics Museum. I am considering using the whole set for Kindergarten next year. I've looked at a friend's Phonics Museum set and looked at the lessons. I am close to deciding to use Phonics Museum, but wanted to know if you were happy with it. I am familiar with Phonics Road that you have listed for 2nd grade (I'm also familiar with the approach) My question is, did Phonics Museum lack a lot in your opinion? Or was it a good intro to reading and spelling. And what do you think of Phonics Road and why did you add that in 2nd grade? Oh, the decision making of first round homeschooling. I guess my first kid will have to be my guinea pig:001_smile: But, we're having fun. Thank you for sharing your wisdom!
  7. I think I missed an important detail. Are you or your husband Chinese? I think it's great that they are learning Chinese and they'll know it really well learning it at a young age. It's a good idea to focus on weak areas if they are ahead in others. What a great thing about homeschooling, that we get to do this! I hope everything is going well! And, we received the Sonlight stuff in the mail today, everything looks great! We looked at all the books briefly and the kids are thrilled. I don't know who's more excited me, or them:lol: Thanks SOOOO much!:001_smile: Ashley
  8. Sounds like you both are working hard and he's learning a lot. He's probably ahead of most kids his age. Don't be discouraged. I'm in a couple of teaching positions, one with my own children and one with our kids at church on Wednesday night. One thing I've learned is that when I start to get discouraged as a teacher, it permeates the whole class. And on the flip side, if I show excitement and desire to do the activity or lesson, they show it too. I would take a good look at the curriculum and see where something needs to change possibly. I'd even talk to your son and see what subjects he absolutely dreads and see if something can be adjusted. You can't always cater to the child and they're going to have to do some things that require more work than they may want to put in, but you may find that there is an easy doable change that can be made. I'm only in the kindergarten years with mine, so I'm sure I'll hit this point with mine later. But I had a similiar situation figuring out if my four year old, turning 5 a couple of weeks after the public school cut off date was ready for K or not. I was pushing and he was complaining. I had to do some serious praying and the Lord showed us some areas to change. We're doing K-4 and we've found a "happy place" with school:) Keep going and have fun with him. One thought about handwriting...Is he writing in cursive or print? I didn't read all of the responses, to see if someone asked this. A lot of kids who struggle with print move on to Cursive and do great. A program I like is Cursive First. It goes along with Spell to Write and Read (SWR) that is the same approach as Phonics Road, but laid out differently. It's not as open and go, but we're using it because it fits us. For Cursive First, I like how they show that the cursive letters are just print letters "holding hands" Here's a link to an example on the SWR yahoo group that shows this. http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/UJNmTHv-MLQCsNmTswnaaVTzI2PvA_iMZOkEU62nxKZHwhbmOyjPRKSXWmqLX8dM2_3HSNMb5aM7wzK4lx0HlNwI9THdGfAon4Tj/Cursive%20penmanship/Cursive%20letters%20holding%20hands.jpg Cursive helps with dyslexia because all the letters move from left to right and you don't pick up your pencil when you write them. I hope it gets better and keep up the good work. Ashley :grouphug:
  9. Your plans look great! I love Sonlight and Apologia. I also like the cubscouts idea and piano. I don't know about Chinese, but just because I'm not familiar with it. I would just make sure you don't fall behind on the language arts (reading, writing, spelling), math, and Latin. If they have a good foundation in LA and math they can pick up on the others quickly. This is pretty impressive! It's great that your husband works on school with them. I'm sure that helps a lot. I hope it all goes well! We're looking forward to Sonlight:001_smile: Ashley
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