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beachnut

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Everything posted by beachnut

  1. I'm new to the Michal Clay Thompson's language arts curriculum and just bought Essay Voyage. (I'll be using the Level 4 curriculum with my 8th grader, but it was recommended by RFP that we complete Essay Voyage 1st to ensure my DS has mastered essay writing skills.) So, I jumped into the Lesson 1 in the Teacher's Manual, only to discover that there is no explanation of the four level analysis, which seems to be at the heart of this program. Is there a file or link someone can post (perhaps a page or two from the Island or Town books) that explains the hows and whys of four-level anaylsis? I want to better understand this concept before I try to teach this to my son. Thank you! Lisa B.
  2. Our sons sound similar -- strong in language arts, a good reader, good memory for story details, etc. Your list is somewhat similar to mine, although I think you've got more poetry than I do. Here are a few that I plan to add to my son's American lit. reading list (some of which he'll read on his own, some of which we'll discuss & some of which he'll do some kind of project with -- writing, art, etc.): The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain The Legend of Rip Van Winkle, Washington Irving O Pioneers!, Willa Cather Our Town, Thornton Wilder The Red Badge of Courag, Stephen Crane The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne The Sea-Wolf, Jack London The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, James Thurber The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner The Story of My Life, Helen Keller Uncle Tom’s Cabi, Harriet Beecher Stowe Up From Slavery, Booker T. Washington
  3. Regardless of whether my boys are homeschooled or were in public school (they've done both), we always take a photo of them holding a little sign with the date of the first day of the school year (usually in August) and what grade they're in. We usually get bagels (and coffee for me!) from Panera Bread, although we do that quite a bit now, so I'm not sure how special that will be. ;)
  4. I've done similar activities with my DS (now 10), and he is still very active. You can make many subjects hands-on or active in some way. For example, for spelling, we'd do lots of active things to practice the weekly spelling words: bouncing tennis balls,writing with chalk on the sidewalk, writing in shaving cream, cooked spaghetti to "write" words in cursive, singing the words and even Simon Says. For math, we used lots of manipulatives and played dice and card games. For history we made projects, cooked recipes, drew pictures, created trivia games, listened & danced to period music, etc. I also had to be flexible in letting him do his work laying upside down on the couch, sitting on top of a table, standing up, sitting outside on the back porch, etc. Plus, it seems to help him concentrate to chew gum or play with a small toy (like a Hot Wheels car) while he does some work. Hope these ideas help!
  5. It's really hard to convince someone if they themselves don't believe it to be true. (Ever have a bad hair day, but your hubby keeps telling you, "It looks fine!"?) My 10yo gets like this, sometimes with math, which he's actually pretty good at. All I can do is encourage him, remind him of past math successes ("Remember when you learned your times tables in just a few weeks?") and explain that everyone gets better at things with practice, even if they're already good (like pro athletes). Sometimes he persists and other times he just gives up and we take a break and try again later. Lisa B.
  6. Thank you, all, for your positive feedback. I've been seriously questioning if we should "go all the way" in homeschooling, because of the potential disadvantage this might be when competing for scholarship money. I didn't want to look back -- when my boys were knee-deep in student loans -- and say, "Why didn't we just put the kids back into public school?" I knew I could rely on the wise voices of experience from other parents. Thanks so much for sharing your insights and encouragement.
  7. Does RS4K have a Level 2 Physics program? I wanted to use this with my 8th & 5th grader.
  8. Wow, I want to spend the summer at your house, Nan! ;) Great ideas! We do some of those things at our house during the summer with my sons (ages 10 & 13). My oldest DS is trying an online course for the first time this summer, so maybe that would be a fun thing to try, depending on your child's interests. If that is too "schoolish," why not encourage some in-depth, unstructured study of your child's interest or hobby, whether it's graphic design, botany, World War II, astronomy, auto mechanics, cooking, drama, soccer, or whatever? We've also been tapping into a lot of community resources -- farmer's markets, train exhibits, art workshops, outdoor jazz concerts, library programs, etc. And, although neither of my boys are into Scouting anymore, we still use their Scout books (and will begin looking into the merit badge series as they get older) for fun, independent, educational activities. We also do lots of reading, both independently and read-alouds. And the boys have taken a greater interest in chess lately, so they can start to master some strategy. Hope some of this inspires you.
  9. OK, you are all giving me much hope. I've seriously been doubting whether or not I should homeschool all the way thru 12th grade, or just stop at 10th/11th & send my DS back to public school for the last year or two, just to get that diploma from an accredited high school. I'm feeling much more confident that we can go thru 12th. Thanks for your insights!
  10. Does homeschooling thru high school reduce the student's chance of qualifying for many college scholarships? I know homeschoolers already face one obstacle just by not having a diploma from an accredited high school. It seems like we have to work harder than public/private school to prove our kids are college-ready. So gaining college admission is one hurdle. The 2nd hurdle is financing college. How do homeschoolers fare in winning some decent merit scholarships? By this, I mean that scholarship programs frequenlty specify that recipients attend or have graduated from an accredited high school, thereby placing homeschoolers out of the running for many opportunities. Anyone have any experience with this? Lisa B.
  11. This is really an off-shoot of my original question, but I wanted to share a fantastic website that will help me tremendously when I teach my son American Literature. It is http://www.neabigread.org/ created by the The National Endowment for the Arts. It includes tons of free materials, including reader and teacher guides with language arts lessons and activities, radio programs, video profiles, and information about book authors. It covers about 2-3 dozen classic books, such as "The Great Gatsby," "A Farewell to Arms," "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," "The Grapes of Wrath," etc. Sorry if this is off-topic from my original post, but I wanted to share this wonderful resource.
  12. Thanks for all the replies. I guess there is not really a cut-and-dry answer for this one. I'm just unsure if I'll be covering American literature again exclusively, since we'll be covering Ancient-Modern History & Literature over the next few years, and I wanted college admissions officers to see that my son did read, discuss and write about great American classics. Maybe I'll just count the literature portion of the class as a .5 credit English class called something like Survey of American Literature.
  13. I know, as homeschoolers, we determine what we teach our kids. But as I approach 8th grade, I'm wondering if some of our courses (language arts, history) would "count" as high school credit? For example, for 8th grade language arts, I'll be using MCT's series to teach grammer/writing/vocab and I'll also be teaching American literature (to coincide with our study of American History). How does what I'm doing differ from a regular/honors/gifted 8th grade class in public school? How can I "prove" that my homeschool language arts approach is on par with what my DS would learn in public school at the high school level (for 9th grade)? Is it a matter of depth in what I teach, the assignments I give my DS, the curriculum we use, the books he reads, etc.? Any advice? Lisa
  14. I was also wondering about the depth & comprehensiveness of the LOF series. I bought Fractions as a fun supplement, but I see the series also offers student workbooks to accompany each book to be used as a self-teaching guide. While we've enjoyed the story & do at least 2-3 of the bridges for each chapter simply for extra practice, I noticed there is not a lot of explanation of concepts. I'm not math-oriented myself, so as we move into more difficult math concepts, I would really need a more thorough explanation of each concept being learned. As for how long it takes us to get thru each book, we're using it strictly as a supplement, not our core curriculum, so we just pick it up and read it for fun when we need a break from serious math. At this rate, it will probably take us 3-6 months.
  15. I've never heard of Kapla blocks or the Capsela kits. Definitely worth checking out. And I think my son might get a kick out of the Rube Goldberg contraptions. Thanks for sharing these great ideas! I've been struggling to see his inventiveness as something other than a packrat who saves EVERYTHING (paper clips, empty containers, etc.), makes a mess and doesn't use most of his "collection" the way the things are intended to be used. I know he's being creative, so I'm trying to funnel his inventiveness into something a little more ... structured? I guess it's kind of like looking at some pieces of modern art and wondering "THAT'S art?" Just trying to keep an open-mind and encourage my Little McGyver.
  16. Thanks for the suggestions! Much appreciated. My son's birthday is in a few weeks, so I might buy him some of these things as gifts. I think he'd really like the computer game in particular.
  17. My 10yo son loves to build things (we've got Legos, K'Nex), but he usually doesn't like to follow directions if it's a set meant to create a particular model (like a Star Wars spaceship). He likes to just invent his own free-form structures. He also likes to construct "contraptions" out of lots of household things (paper clips, string, PVC pipe, duct tape, etc.) Can anyone offer me ideas/resources to nurture this type of creativity but perhaps in a more structured way? (i.e., We just bought Snap Circuits so he can build electronic things.) Or can you point me to some affordable educational resources for using Legos and/or K'Nex? Thanks!
  18. My 13yo bookworm likes to read adventure/fantasy, including classics, Newberry award winners & current literature: Robinson Crusoe The Giver Redwall The Little Prince Eragon Robin Hood A Wrinkle in Time And he still loves to read Roald Dahl.
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