Jump to content

Menu

Pretty in Pink

Members
  • Posts

    4,984
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Pretty in Pink

  1. 5/4 was the first edition of saxon that we used. we are currently wrapping up 6/5.

     

    the lesson is as follows:

     

    drill (a.k.a. timed practice or whatever you want to call it) takes 5 min. or less.

     

    oral practice (5-15 minutes) these are problems that the teacher calls out, designed to be figured out "in the students head"

     

    lesson (could be teacher or student taught)

     

    lesson practice (5-10 minutes) reviews the days lesson

     

    mixed review (25-30 problems)

     

    my son pretty much teaches himself, which is even easier if you get the DIVE cd, i am there to answer questions if he has any but that is rare. he corrects the previous days' lesson daily using the answer key, we meet on friday for a check in w/ teacher.

     

    i think saxon lends itself to independent study, though if it is new to your student you may need a transition period. hth!

  2. my oldest son is always looking for ways to earn extra cash. last year, when he was 8, he got permission to participate in our community's holiday craft fair (usually open only to older crafters, artists, etc). he sold paper art (i.e. origami, gift tags, ornaments, etc) not only did he make a tidy little profit, but he learned some other valuable lessons as well (follow thru on commitment, hard work ethic, etc). it was a GREAT experience for him!

  3. have not read the other replies so i may be repeating, but here are some ideas:

     

    school 4 days a weeks instead of 5.

    space your subjects so that you only do them a few days a week instead of every day. i.e., math 3x a week, science 2x, history 2/3x, etc.

    take a week off after every 9 week period.

     

    if you still finish up early, which we always do, you can either just jump right into next years work or have some other lesson planned. for example, i am planning a unit on elections for the end of summer. you might choose to tackle something else, like health or another elective type course. or you could just do daily review with new workbooks, etc. or you could prepare a reading list and have your kids do activities to correspond with their books: book reports, collages, dioramas, power point presentations, or whatever else you or they can come up with.

  4. i buy the books, because my son already uses the computer several times a week for his lessons, and also because discs are likely to get scratched up around our house and if i spent the money on the disc i'd be upset if it got ruined.

     

    i made a grid in MSWord that i print copies of so he doesn't write in the books.

  5. i like to blow mine out and flat iron too. it lasts me for four days and i usually wash on the 5th. never could have gotten away with that a few years ago but hey, one of the perks of getting a *bit* older, eh?

     

    when i do go curly, i apply leave-in to the ends, section it off with clips and use dove hairspray on each section. takes a good 2 hours to dry.

  6. singapore math workbooks for review a few days a week, but no new concepts.

     

    we are going to do a unit on elections. still looking at resources for that.

     

    both of my older boys will be taking swim lessons for at least one session, and we plan on going to the pool a few times a week as well.

     

    we may continue on with the next TOG unit, haven't decided yet.

  7. have you downloaded the 3 week egypt unit available on the tapestry site? trying it out for a few weeks may help you make your decision.

     

    i debated MFW and TOG, finally settling on tapestry, because we know that we want to continue in the upper grades and tapestry has that longevity. i really like the lesson plans as well, they are very detailed.

     

    if your budget allows you always have the option of ordering the books you need from the Lampstand Bookshelf. we ordered the spines as well as the books that fall under the "history in depth" category. it is more than i have spent on curriculum in the past, but then again, it is so much less than private school tuition. that's how we look at it anyway.

  8. our CM style is pretty laid back, but here's what we do:

     

    we have two blocks of lesson time during our day, 9 am thru noon, then again from 2 to 3ish pm.

     

    we use apologia science which if you are not familiar is a mastery approach. last year we did a whole year of astronomy. this year we are doing a whole year of zoology "flying creatures." i run an astronomy club for our HS group that meets monthly at our home as well. the apologia texts have so many experiments and hands on activities. my ds is out at least once a week poking around in nature for an assignment, but even when he's just out playing, he's always stopping to study bugs and stuff that he has studied.

     

    we do not read poetry daily, though my ds enjoys writing it and given a choice of writing assignments he often chooses to write a poem. he takes part in a poetry workshop that meets twice monthly.

     

    productive free time - as much for my own sanity as for their intellectual development, each child is required a minimum of 60 minutes quite time each day. my 4yo uses this time to "read," my 9yo is often off in his room working on an invention (he has a sketch book full of them and has even designed a logo for his "company" lol) or he likes to build web pages in MSWord, etc.

     

    when it comes to art we do lots of arts and crafts, though we try to save them for fridays which is a free day at our house. i also encourage my oldest to participate in art classes offered thru our HS group or community.

  9. i have read in many threads on this board about the planning involved w/ TOG but i just don't see it. can you please elaborate?

     

    granted, i just got mine in yesterday so i am still becoming familiar with it, and i only have one student at this point. but the lesson plans look really laid out, just select your student's level, do the basics, and choose a few extras. i see there is a bit of reading for the parent to do each week as well.

     

    i guess when i think of planning, i think of the days when i literally built my own unit studies from the ground up, now THAT my friends was planning! lol

     

    so, what sort of planning to you do w/ TOG, how long does it take, etc?

  10. i placed my order friday evening the the TOG bookshelf and paid for 2nd day UPS shipping which i thought would put my order here by today, tuesday, at the latest? am i wrong?

     

    i know UPS runs till 9 so maybe it will still come tonight. i'll be gone all day tomorrow but i will call to see if my order has shipped yet.

     

    just wondering if anyone else ordered express shipping and how long it took to arrive?

  11. i want to order TOG year 1 and i'm trying to figure out how much i need to order, aside from the 4 basic units. i do NOT want to spend my days chasing down books at the library. i'd rather just spend the money and have the books on hand. besides i will be reusing them with our other children later on so i don't mind the expense as much.

     

    what i'm wondering is, do you order all of the supplemental books, or do you pick and choose? the cost of the 4 units plus supplemental books, etc. was over 500.00. does that sound right? or would i be buying books that i don't need? now do you decide which ones to order?

     

    tia!

  12. hi all, i'm elizabeth. dh and i have three boys and baby on the way. this is our 5th year homeschooling.

     

     

    my dh is active duty Marine Corps. we just love the military lifestyle and have totally embraced all that it has to offer!

     

    anyway, i read TWTM last summer and it just clicked for me. this is our first year implementing a "classical" curriculum. we are strongly considering a switch to TOG at this point.

  13. we have a playstation 3, a gamecube, oldest ds has a nintendo DS (handheld), and middle ds has a leapster (handheld). the boys are not allowed to play the regular systems on weekdays at all, unless dad asks them to stay up a little late and play a game w/ him. he does that about once a week.

     

    they are allowed to use their handhelds from 8 - 9 p.m. when they are in their beds with just the reading lamp on, IF they finished their lessons and chores that day with no problems.

     

    we are pretty relaxed on the weekends and let them play off and on, i'd say they play 1-2 hours on saturday.

×
×
  • Create New...