Homeschooling Again
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Posts posted by Homeschooling Again
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Looks cool! I'll see what ds 8 thinks and maybe get him the first book. Very cool!!!
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Perhaps someone close to your home has fertilized her garden with manure? Also, some blossoming trees smell bad -- ours in front of our house sells like cat pee for three days in the spring.
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We're finishing up Vol 2 and we'll go back from the beginning and go over them all before beginning with Vol. 3. That'll likely inspire ds to want to go through his entire History binder up to now so that he can impress himself!! :)
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My opinion is that age span makes the relationship unequal. I'd call that inappropriate and depending upon what they were doing, perhaps not abuse.
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We're struggling with a decision about ds' school next year (4th grade). I'd like the hive's feedback and insight.
Background
A year ago January I began afterschooling my second grade ds with a classical curriculum. We also worked over the summer. I continued afterschooling him for the first half of third grade then was able to part-time homeschool him since January. It's been great. I'd say he's overall about 3/4 of a year behind WTM's calendar.
I need to go from part-time work to full-time work soon, however, so won't be able to part-time hs him next year. (Not sure when this change'll come, but we're hoping sometime in early- to mid-summer.) I found that afterschooling became a lot tougher in 3 grade and expect it'll be even moreso in 4th. I also felt like the situation wasn't altogether fair to ds since he was doing an additional 1 1/2 hours of work in addition to going to PS and doing homework. He's also starting piano lessons in a few weeks, so that'll take up time as well.
The Dilemma
We are fortunate enough to have 3 (yes, THREE) Classical Christian schools within a 10-mile radius of our home. I've visited with them all and am very impressed with their curricula, teachers, students, etc. It's of course more expensive than public school, but doable -- especially with me working full-time.
There is one school that's very, very close -- ds could conceivably ride him bike to and from. It's facilities are gorgeous, I've sat in on several classes and have been very impressed, the people have been extremely kind and helpful, and a parent called me to discuss her child's experience and we talked for a super long time. There are so many things about it that I like.
The problem is that I am not sure how well ds will transition and acclimate himself to the environment. The class size is tiny -- 6 students as compared with 26. They wear uniforms, which are adorable but decidedly uncool. The boys must have short hair (my ds would have to cut his Beatles haircut). They only have gym twice a week (but I'm not concerned about phys ed since he's extremely active, is in extracurricular sports, and they have recess) -- gym being ds' favorite "subject." We are Christian (at least ds and I are -- dh is agnostic), but liberals. The majority of the school (particularly administration) is evangelical. They would not indoctrinate him nor tell him he's a sinner, etc. -- on the contrary, they stress service and reflection, love, and virtue. Nevertheless, dh is particularly concerned about how ds will get along in such a religious environment.
So, I want to send him to this school, think it's extremely important that he get a classical education, it's close, and it's affordable (perhaps with a bit of pinching), but dh is lukewarm at best and ds has threatened mutiny. DS makes friends easily, but he wouldn't know anyone from the new school (unless we were able to get together with the incoming fourth grade class over the summer -- which is something I'd try to do this summer).
What would you guys do??? Reading this post over it seems obvious to me that the right choice is the classical school, but I'm concerned about dh adn ds' concerns.
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:lol: I still remember that exact scene as well!
ETA: That was in the Sweet Valley High books...The Sweet Valley Twins is when they were a bit younger...
I remember that too! I wouldn't recommend these books (though I read them and am and have always been an avid reader). I don't think these books prevented me from reading assigned books or even good books (I read a lot of Bronte, Hemingway, and Steinbeck as a teenager) and I never got into romance novels, but, wait, I guess I did get into romance novels ... Shel something I think was the author's name -- lots of sex in those books. Also I read those horrible books about the kids locked in the attic.
I don't like the content of the SVH books and can think of a ton of other books girls should read instead. I really, really don't think they are good for girls' self esteem. Instead, I think they prepare girls for following stuff like 90210 and being materialistic. They are worse than comic books because they are written as though their absurd lifestyle is attainable.
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I would pick up Classic Starts books (lots of other series like that too) from the library. My ds has read abridged versions of Huck Finn, 20,000 Leauges Under the Sea, Robinson Crusoe, etc. (He apparently likes adventure books!) The content of course is great -- definitely not babyish -- and he'll likely be aware at 10 that these are adult titles.
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American Girl by Tom Petty.
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1. My ds watches the Simpsons, Naked Gun movies, and loves Dumb and Dumber.
2. I swear in front of ds and have "taught" him to flip the bird (tho he is only allowed to do it with me ... still, don't think I'll be getting any Mother of the Year awards with that one).
3. I hide in my bedroom several hours a week to read and nap.
4. Many times at around 6 when dh asks about dinner I look up from my tv or book or computer and say "you're on your own" then go back to what I'm doing.
5. I sometimes buy a coffee from Starbucks, park my car a few streets away from home, and talk for an hour on my cell with my mom.
6. I'm addicted to Judge Judy.
7. I have plenty more but won't share them on the Internet.
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Definitely Latin and Spanish (now -- Latin formally, Spanish informally) and I would love him (and me) to start to learn Greek in HS. I'd also love French, but who knows ....
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It's just gonna get dirty again.
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I have an 8 year old ds (turning 9 next month). He has had regular chores since around age 5 (at 4 and earlier, he'd clean up to the "clean up song" we made up). Now he does the dishes (loads and unloads the dishwasher and starts it and helps wash or dry when there are too many dishes for the washer). He cleans the dog waste from the backyard every day and makes sure the cat box is clean. He takes out the compost, garbage, and recycling. He straightens the house with us, vacuums when asked, straightens his room when needed, brings his laundry to the basement once or twice a week for me to do, cleans his bathroom a couple of times a month, and sweeps when told to. When we do a major cleaning he does what we tell him to. He also sometimes walks and brushes the dog.
For all of that we pay him $4/week. Mind you, he's an only child and wants for nothing, really. He's required to put some of his money (usually birthday cash) into the bank and keep a $25 minimum. Plus he donates a few dollars now and again to his favorite local charity or to our church.
Very occasionally we'll give him an extra job to do for extra money. Yesterday he helped us clean out the garden beds and we paid him $7 for about 2 hours worth of work (with lots of breaks). Plus I took him to his favorite place for a huge frozen yogurt with loads of goodies in it.
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As an Episcopalian and what I've read from the others jibes with our church. Incidentally anyone can take communion at my church -- regardless of whether you've been baptized or anything.
My son is going to take his "First Communion" in a few weeks. There will be a special ceremony for the kids and we're having family and friends come in from all over to celebrate afterwards.
As for chewing the wafer, my last priest encouraged me to chew it so that I can experience the eucharist in an active way. I do and it helps me to get my mind around the sacrifice (but I think most people sort of let the wafer dissolve on the tongue).
I always drink from the chalice unless I'm sick, then I dip. I love the communal feeling of drinking directly from the cup.
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Ds just finished FLL 1&2 today after 13 months! We start level 3 on Monday. Hooray!:001_smile:
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When your ds wants you to read him Bible stories while he takes a warm bath for recess because the stories are "cool."
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I read Climbing Parnassus and feel absolutely sure that teaching my ds Greek when he's in HS (and learning myself) will be a great benefit to him. The author talks about reading Homer in the original and that sounds like in and of itself to be a worthy goal. It's an interesting read and I'd recommend it if you're on the fence.
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I'm a liberal. (FYI! :001_smile:)
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I'm confused and can't find the answer (admittedly I only made a quick attempt). Why is the book for classically teaching our kids called The Well-Trained Mind while the one for getting a classical education through a reading course called The Well-Educated Mind? In all of my reading about classical education (again, admittedly not much), they talk about the goal being education rather than training.
Just curious if anyone knows.
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How exciting to have an opera singer in your family. Have a wonderful at the recital!!!!!
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I started my ds with FLL 1 when he was halfway through second grade. I skipped lots of stuff that was too young for him, but a year later he's a few lessons from the end of FLL 1&2 and I'm very glad we started from the beginning. It takes some time to memorize all of the definitions. I'm looking at the FLL 3 and see that there are some review lessons (like, for example, lesson 2), so I assume the same to be true with FLL 4. I wouldn't want to start with a higher book. Instead I'd advise flying through a lower book (if the child can do that). There's no shame is being a fourth grader going through FLL 1&2 because he'll gain that foundation you seek. I haven't told my ds that "1&2" = first and second grade, because frankly I don't think it does. I know for a fact that his third grade peers don't know the difference between a preposition and a conjunction (which is taught in FLL 1&2). Even if I had an eighth grader who hadn't had formal grammar, I would start him out with FLL 1&2. Note that kids begin sentence diagramming in FLL 3, so starting out with 4, I suspect, would be confusing.
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And miss Alexander the Great and the Rome? No way!!! I would, if nothing else, simply read through the first book as you would, perhaps, a bedtime story. It's too interesting and fun not to finish!! :001_smile: (But certainly not the end of the world by any means if you don't.)
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I'm PT HSing my ds8 (3 grade) and when we began this in January, I told him he'd get recess like he did in ps (which he still attends in the a.m.). I do give him a lunch and recess at the ouset (oftentimes we're running errands), and find that he does need a 20 min break during our 2 1/2 hour session. Does anyone else do this? Is it structured (i.e. every day at the same time for the same amount of time) or more loosey-goosey? Also, he's an only child, so no playmates (except me at times and his dog); what sort of activities would you all suggest?
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If you figure it out, will you post?
Has anyone seen Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
DS 9 went yesterday with his friends (girl 6, boy 8) and they loved it.