momto2Cs
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Posts posted by momto2Cs
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I'm 2 years in with my eldest.
Pros:
-We can focus on where he needs to focus. No worrying about basic gen ed requirements he already has down to fill up a "schedule."
-Plenty of free time for outside activities without being out of the house from dawn until well after dark.
-Little work for me beyond the initial planning stage, just weekly meetings and occasional help with things that stump him.
-More opportunities at his age plus he can seek them out on his own. I feel he has more experience moving in the adult world because he is homeschooled and was given more responsibility from a young age. He turns 16 in a couple of weeks and already has several job offers -- in a town notorious for not giving work opportunities to teens.
-Dual enrollment. As a homeschooler he doesn't have to take any high school classes once he is 16 or a junior, instead he can attend college full time and the state lotto funds pay for the first two years (public schoolers can only attend part time unless they get special permission from their counselor). His program and school of choice offers a 3 year bachelor. He already has a one year scholarship on top of dual enrollment. College is paid for except for books and lab fees.
Cons:
-Social stuff was tricky at first. It's been easier this second year because he took the initiative and he became comfortable with using a bus pass.
-Some things need a group setting, like music, and there always seems to be fewer choices for homeschoolers the older they get. Fortunately we have access to all public school electives through a special "parent cooperative" campus, but I have to jump through several hoops and reeducate the staff on homeschool laws every year to prevent them from trying to press him into a full time schedule.
-Constant worry that we are forgetting something vital even though his PSATs and college entrance exams were awesome. I know he hates science labs, but I still feel like we failed by not having a hardcore chemistry lab.
:iagree: :iagree: :iagree:
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We're doing a fairly loose study of world geography/cultures for my ds's 10th grade (and dd's 8th grade) year. I am looking for recommendations for books (fiction, nonfiction, travelogue, whatever) and movies and/or documentaries set in different locations around the world. I'm not looking for a textbook recommendation at this point. Resources can be vintage or modern.
Thanks!
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I am teaching remedial freshman comp this fall at the local university, and need to get my book order in by tomorrow. I am having a terrible time choosing which of two books to require. The college already requires all of them to get Emerging: Contemporary Readings for Writers, but I know I want them to have some more solid help with actually putting their writing together. Thoughts?
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My dd13, a rising 8th grader, is somewhat behind in math, about 2 grades. I would like to work on remediation for the next year or two, but am trying to decide which program to use. In the past, we have used primarily Saxon and Math Mammoth, as well as some Mastering Math Essentials with her. She does not like any of those programs (or I would go back to Saxon), so I am trying to find something that will work, AND that she can tolerate. She also really dislikes the looks of Teaching Textbooks. She's dyslexic, but that's another story.
Here is what I am looking at so far. Advice/feedback/suggestions more than welcome!
Maybe Lial's Basic College Math, but would that be overwhelming?
Other ideas?
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One thing I like for filling in gaps is the free math game, "Prodigy". It teaches math material from grade 1 to 8.
Thank you! I am trying to fill in gaps with my dd13, and this looks perfect!
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I am not sure how to address the issue of her just not doing things... that's a rough one, and hopefully someone here will chime in on that. For math remediation, I would get something like Lial's Basic College Math (an older, cheaper edition would work too). It is really good for kids that age, and if she is willing to apply herself, should help her catch up.
Does she understand the potential consequences of failing high school? It will affect everything -- career, potential college, etc. Are there any privileges you can take away from her until she buckles down a bit?
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This came to mind - Interactive Mathematics Program. I stumbled upon it when I was trying to find a fun and memorable way to teach integers to my kids. I watched this video and learned about IMP. It's a four year math program intended for high school. When I looked it up it's basically putting math in a story format that I find easy enough to use with kids younger than high school. The background on the math program is that the publishers are trying to teach students in a more concrete way and so it does not follow the traditional math course sequence of Alg.1, Geo, Alg. 2 and Calc. The books are loaded with ideas and I think there are a lot of fun stories that might appeal to your daughter.
Here's an excerpt of the story they are referring to in the video:
In a far-off place, there was once a team of amazing chefs who cooked up the most marvelous food ever imagined. They prepared their meals over a huge cauldron, and their work was very delicate and complex. During the cooking process, they frequently had to change the temperature of the cauldron in order to bring out the flavors and cook the food to perfection. They adjusted the temperature of the cooking either by adding special hot cubes or cold cubes to the cauldron or by removing some of the hot or cold cubes that were already in the cauldron. The cold cubes were similar to ice cubes except they didn’t melt, and the hot cubes were similar to charcoal briquettes, except they didn’t lose their heat. If the number of cold cubes in the cauldron was the same as the number of hot cubes, the temperature of the cauldron was 0° on their temperature scale. For each hot cube that was put into the cauldron, the temperature went up one degree; for each hot cube removed, the temperature went down one degree. Similarly, each cold cube put in lowered the temperature one degree and each cold cube removed raised it one degree. The chefs used positive and negative numbers to keep track of the changes they were making to the temperature. For example, suppose 4 hot cubes and 10 cold cubes were dumped into the cauldron. Then the temperature would be lowered by 6° altogether, since 4 of the 10 cold cubes would balance out the 4 hot cubes, leaving 6 cold cubes to lower the temperature 6°. They would write +4 + –10 = –6 to represent these actions and their overall result.
And here are links to the books I found on the Internet:
IMP 1 this link is not working for some reason so just type in "interactive mathematics program year 1" and click on the pdf file for the web address "rowlandblogs.org"
I do not have IMP 4
Check it out. :)
I just browsed through this a bit, and it looks like it would be such a good fit for my dd!
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Googling for other options, I found this, and it looks really cool!
Choose Your Own Adventure History Tasks-
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I really, really want to buy both the complete sets of history and science. I think they would fit in very well with our interest-led approach. But, do they ever have a sale?
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I know, I'm really late to this discussion. But having flirted with interest-led/unschooling for years now, we've officially headed off the rails, out of the box... except for math and language arts.
Currently, what this looks like is math and writing (spelling also for dyslexic dd) most days (4-5x weekly). I also read out loud almost every day, from a variety of books, based off current interests.
We're watching Downton Abbey, documentaries, plagues, and currently Anne Frank: The Whole Story for history
The kids are reading everything they can find on black holes (ds) and animals (dd) for science, plus we garden, do Citizen Science projects, etc. We're reading about micro-climates and DNA as well.
Ds is also spending an entire day a week this spring helping rebuild a 1940 Ford truck from the frame up.
Dd spends an entire day a week at my mom's, where she works on sewing and art projects, and sometimes baking projects too. She also volunteers weekly as a puppy petter, helping puppies that will be guide dogs get used to people.
Next year, it will be more of the same, plus possibly a lit study based off the show Once Upon a Time. And a little more focus on life skills.
Ds may be taking his first auto shop class at the junior college next fall, or astronomy and ???. He took Machine Tool Technology and 3D art earlier this year and loved it! He also wants to learn to weld, and to sew.
Dd wants to volunteer at the wildlife rescue center, now that she's old enough. That means we may also be fostering some wildlife next year! She's getting good at sewing dresses for her dolls, so might work on some more fashion design, and eventually, sewing for herself.
And we're expanding the garden, putting in rainwater caches/cisterns, and things of that sort.
Here's my recent blog post on what it looks like over a week. And I updated my signature to reflect current studies and books.
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Let's see...
Beyond Five in a Row?Homeschool in the Woods has both Project Passport and Time Travelers
Beautiful Feet maybe
Sidenote: the first two books I listed in my previous post are basically memoirs of homeschooling, from two very different parents who both took outside-the-box approaches with their kids.
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Let's see...
First off, you don't have to use textbooks. Except for math, and an occasional science textbook chosen by one of the kids, we don't. We still love read-alouds, and living books.
Some of my favorite homeschooling books, where you might find some inspiration:
The Year of Living Dangerously
What are her interests? Does she prefer books to hands-on projects? What about a curriculum that has a different focal point (such as Where the Brook and the River Meet, or world cultures, or ???)
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If you have an iPad or i-anything then E.O. Wilson's Life on Earth is well done and free. Tons of ancillary materials on iTunesU. We have really enjoyed it. I use the Critical Thinking Questions as tests.
Looks fascinating! Thanks!
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Current plans, subject to change as always...
DsAlmost15:
Definitely:
Finish Tabletclass Algebra, start Geometry
Writing across the curriculum, w/Writing With a Thesis as a guide, and some parts of Brave Writer Lifestyle
Fencing and parkour
Probably:
The Big History Project w/additional science, mainly biology
Auto shop (or other class/classes, but auto shop is his dream class) at junior college
Dd13:
Definitely:
Continue w/Math Mammoth and Math Essentials combo (pre-algebra)
Continue w/Spelling Workout
Brave Writer Lifestyle
Roller derby
Probably:
Mapping the World with Art, plus folk/fairy tales from studied regions
May sit in on Big History w/brother, will be doing biology
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Background:
dd13 has studied animals/zoology extensively. Id like to round out her biology background a bit next year (8th grade).
ds14 has studied physics, some chemistry, and not a lot of biology. I would like him to get a decent background in it next year (10th grade).
Is there any program/book out there that would work for both of them, so we could do it together? We'd like to do labs at home too, and I have a good microscope, slide materials, etc. I'd prefer secular recommendations, please.
Thanks!
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My ds is not planning on going the standard 4 year college route. He wants to be a mechanic. That is his dream, and his goal. Specifically, he wants to eventually specialize in restoring and modifying older cars, but he's willing to do general mechanic work until he gets to that level. He plans on getting his mechanic's certificate at the local junior (community) college.
How this affects high school is this -- he's already gotten one pre-req for the program out of the way through dual enrollment, and he'll hopefully get into the basic first-level auto shop class in the fall. At home, we focus on math, writing, and good literature, plus science/history rabbit trails. He also plans on taking the basic requirements for an associate's degree, which also act as transfer units should he decide to go the university route later. And this will help ensure he hits all the graduation "requirements" for our state. We'll do a semester of business math at some point, or he will take it through the JC.
My dd on the other hand, wants to be a wildlife biologist, which will require a four year degree, so I'm much more about prepping her for undergrad work at the JC.
Part of the reason we chose homeschooling was to give our kids space to explore passions. Both have known what they wanted to do since a very young age, and now it is my job to help facilitate that.
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This is the one I would recommend.
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For my darling, dyslexic dd:
Math: continue with Math Mammoth and Math Essentials combo, pre-algebra
Language Arts: Spelling Workout; BraveWriter Lifestyle; some writing instruction tbd
Foreign language: Probably Spanish with Mango languages through our library, or through Duolingo.
Literature: continued free reading. Family read-alouds, inspired (for 2016-17) by the show Once Upon a Time, plus various books of interest in science, history, geography, etc., as part of our Afternoon Basket.
Science and history, etc., are all interest led at this point.
I keep eying the Creek Edge task cards, but don't want to part with the money!
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We're studying history all together, but not from a pre-made source.
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My ds is going from Teaching Textbooks to TabletClass math. I emailed them for placement advice, and to ask if they have any sales coming up, since I missed the last one. John Zimmerman emailed me, asked if he could call, then spent half an hour on the phone with me, targeting where ds should be. He topped it off by giving me 12 months access for the six month price!
I love it when places offer such good customer service!
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A Wrinkle in Time
The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Downfall of Imperial Russia
LoTR: The Fellowship of the Ring (bedtime book)
The Royal Road to Romance (travelogue by Richard Halliburton)
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Thanks for the update! Sounds like a great 9th grade year, and it is super-fun hearing about unique choices!
Your line-up reminds me a bit of the homeschooling style in the book Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit High School and Get a Real Life and Education! :)
You might also find Cindy LaJoy's website, Blue Collar Homeschool, to have some tips and info that might be of interest.
Hope you all continue to have a fantastic first year of high school! Warmest regards, Lori D.
Both ds and I read that book! Very inspiring.
And I'll check out that website -- thanks!
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Since we're about halfway through the year, I thought I would update with how it is going!
During the fall, ds took two cc classes, one in Three Dimensional Art, and the other in Machine Tool Technology. He loved both, and did very well (straight A's).
He worked on plenty of free writing, as well as some more structured writing, and read voraciously (books of his own choosing).
He's doing very well with Teaching Textbooks Algebra.
As for history and science, we watched documentaries, read a few books... kind of a hands-off, easygoing approach.
This spring, he's taking just one class at the cc, Intro to Engineering.
He'll continue with his math program, and we've added in The Lively Art of Writing. He still reads like crazy, and we're reading some lit aloud, as a family.
For science, we're doing some hands-on suggestions from HHMI, and he's doing an online robotics course from Coursera (at a slightly relaxed pace).
For history, we're using Downton Abbey as a launching point for modern history. SO MUCH FUN!
He studies German on his own, off and on.
And, he'll be spending one day a week working with his best buddy and a gentleman who restores cars/trucks. They will be first rebuilding a 1940 Ford pickup.
While it does not follow a WTM approach, I think it is working beautifully for him. We're covering all our bases, some in a much more relaxed way than others; he's building strong basic skills (writing, math); and he's getting to explore options through the cc and this awesome hands-on opportunity. I want to thank each and every one of you for your feedback to my original post!
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Currently, for 9th grade:
Lively Art of Writing
I might use The Great Grammar Book with him as well, since I was just given a copy for tutoring.
Plans for 10th:
Writing across the curriculum
Maybe: Excavating English, for fun
11th-12th:
Writing across the curriculum, maybe a cc class (I know...that's outsourcing. But he's planning on working toward an AA bit by bit.)
Spelling advice... edited
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted · Edited by momto2Cs
My dd13 is not a natural speller... she still spells very phonetically. She wants an online spelling program that offers some game opportunities and is NOT Spelling City.
ETA: Software recommendations would be great too!
Any recommendations? She loves the Prodigy Math game, so I am hoping there is something like that out there for spelling!