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CaneKev

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Everything posted by CaneKev

  1. This is excellent. I appreciate all of the wish lists. One stand out for me is the concentration on mastering the basics of one subject at a time (i.e. Phonics/Reading, then math basics, etc.) I really like that idea and see where it would make a much more independent learner.
  2. I have three older children, the youngest going into 7th grade. We have been homeschooling for 3 years now. While we have had some good experiences, much of what we used has simply replicated what they did in their charter school. So, now I have a 4 year old that will be starting soon. I want to make the schooling experience of my little one drastically different than his older siblings. If you were in my shoes, with no reason to use what you already have, what would you choose? I know that I need to really match the choice to the type of student he will be, but what I am really looking for here is what everyone has sat in their home dreaming of if they could do it all over again without constraints of money or time. I have already drooled over catalogs, but I definitely do not want to taint any opinions. We plan to start K-level activities as soon as he is ready.
  3. Sorry, I was not referring to Fifty Shades trilogy. I meant older, more challenging reading. Not necessarily heavy on the vocabulary side, but a little more serious story line.
  4. Thank you. We are looking to BJU for History and Literature next year. Both programs seem to be textbook style with a good deal of Ble integration. I have always avoided the complete curriculum companies, but ot seems that might be a good fit for my children.
  5. Thank you so much. I knew that I would get some good ideas here. I wonder sometimes if he is simply looking for a little bit more mature reading. He has similar interests to his older brother and seem to be less inclined to want to read/watch/listen to things that are more geared towards his own age. We are also looking to implement a daily planner rather than the quarterly subject ones - I think that he needs to have his day laid out on one page instead of multiple locations.
  6. Thanks for the advice. I am leaning towards getting Little hands now (I need to be remonded sometimes that I do not need to follow a public school year) and see how he responds. If he really grasps it, we can maybe move through it even over the summer. I agree that I don't want to push him - I'll just see how he responds.
  7. That is great - we are moving onto 5 acres next month. Actually, he seeems to be getting his math done in a reasonable amount of time now. I have introduced him to Khan Academy, so I think that helps. I am liking the advice that I am getting - I happen to have a great library system, so I can get to a lot of videos and audio lectures/books. I will look to integrate more of that going forward. Has anyone had a positive experience with unit study type programs for Tom Sawyers? If so, what programs?
  8. My son will turn 4 next month (May), and I wanted to try to find something for hime possibly next year. Because he is so far removed in age from his older siblings (12 - 14) I am looking at HOD. I wanted to have something for him that can be done in short bursts, introduces bible stories (something I was unable to do with my other children), and integrates subjects. I have been looking at MFW and Sonlight also, but HOD seems to me to be a good choice for just one child and will allow us to have everything scheduled as well. The dilema is that my little one is very much like his older twin siblings, who skipped K and moved straight into 1st grade. HE is already in the process of learning letters (phonics) numbers, and we read to him often. I am afraid that LHTH would not be enough, and he might be better off starting to go through LHHG. Any thoughts/help here will be greatly appreciated. I really hope for a homewschool experience with this one that is completely removed from the School-like experience that my older children have had. Thanks
  9. That is a good question - I believe that he is. He has listened to audio books, but can't seem to get through a physical book, and has enjoyed audio lectures while not moving through text books quickly. Basically, he is at a stage where he would rather be building legos, playing outside, or bathing in hot oil - anything to avoid school work. This is also the child that if told "You will sit there until you are done." will sit for hours. When Trail Guide for Learning was released I tried to convince my wife that Unit Studies might be good for him, but she did not like the price. I am just hoping to find something that he will jump on. As an experiment, I am going to try allowing him to finish this year's World History (which he is woefully behind in) by listening to the High School World History from the Teaching Company. We have had his pediatrician give an opinion, and she does not feel that he needs medication. If I had to really sum up his personality, it would be Tom Sawyer.
  10. I am a homeschool Dad that has been fortunate enough to stay very involved with my children as they homeschool, and this year I am noticing a significant lull in interest. My high schoolers were nice enough to inform me that they are more interested in textbook style curriculum, however my 6th grader has given me the impression that he has no interest in anything. This is my "lost in space" child that can take 2 - 3 hours to complete a math lesson as he stares out the window, at the floor, at anything other than his work. The other daily subjects are even more of a challenge. This is not a can't sit still child, but more of a can't concentrate child. Other than Science and Math (Apologia and Saxon) I am thinking that it is time to throw out everything and start new next year. I am looking for suggestions from everyone on what might be a good fit for a child that can easily sit through a 45 minute lecture on Baseball or watch a two hour documentary on penguins, but can't stay focused on reading a book or studying vocabulary words. I am open to anything, as long as I can keep my science and math. Thanks to everyone in advance for suggestions.
  11. I am a homeschool Dad, and have the blessing of having been very involved in my children's homeschool experience. Unfortunately, this year I am seeing very low motivation and interest from my children. I have spoken with my two 9th graders, and they explained that their favorite two courses are Apologia Biology and Apologia Algebra 2. Clearly they enjoy "textbook" style subjects. With this in mind, I am looking for some advice and suggestions for 10th grade next year - I really want this to get more interesting for both of them. Both will continue with Apologia and Saxon next year, but I will need to fill the other subjects: What we will be looking for ("textbookish"): World History Literature Writing/Vocab What did not work for us this year: Stobaugh History and Literature Writing Strands One last thing. I have been desperately looking for something good for my highschoolers for Bible/Worldview. They have never had a formal study, and I am seeing signs of doubt/questioning. Thanks to everyone that replies in advance.
  12. Sorry, I over simplified the problem. It was something similar to this. What number in 12,345 is in the same place as the 6 in 61.23. His initial answer was 2, which I understood, and after discussing it a bit, I asked him to read me the first number. That is where we went south.
  13. Saxon 7/6. He went through 6/5 last year with no issue. When he couldn't red me the number that we were looking at this morning I started to wonder if there is something else that I am missing. He seems to be melting down when we work with him.
  14. I am hoping that someone has had this experience and can talk me off of the ledge. I have a 6th grader, who is in his second year homeschooling. He is doing well overall, but I have been assigned to cover math as my wife has had some difficulty (now I understand better). The problem appears to be a total shut down. This is typical of what I am facing - the question is "what number is in the same place in one number as another?" After some confusion, I tried to simplify - what place is that number, what place in this other number matches. Finally, after wrong answers, I asked, please read me this number - 12,345... I got nothing, as if I was asking the square root of the cosine of pie. It is feeling more like a war, and I am convinced that he does understand. What now? Sometimes, when I ask for clarification of his answer he will change it randomly, as if I stated that it was wrong instead. This is one of those moments where I feel as if I made the wrong choice and broke my son.
  15. To clarify, this is my younger (10) child. I truely appreciate his relaxed overall demeanor, wonderful if we are sitting and watching a movie, or walking through a museum, but I will definitely not be pushing him into any sort of emergency response as a career. I just want to teach him to turn up the speed a bit on his school work and focus better on the task at hand.
  16. I have a child that is quite happy to spend 2 - 3 hours on a single (hour long) math lesson. This is true with everything, getting dressed, eating, etc. (I truely hope that he is never caught in a situation that requires speed). What I am wondering is if it is better to let him complete an assignment slowly, or cut him off at a pre-determined time and have him finish later.
  17. Thanks for the quick responses. We are fortunate to have great connections to a large number of teachers and friends that have homeschooled ahead of us, so finding the evaluator was the easy part. I wanted to make sure that I was submitting enough information. Although I am submitting on time, I did not leave myself any extra time in the case that I missed anything. :tongue_smilie:
  18. I am finished with my first year of homeschooling in Florida, and ready to have an evaluation completed by a teacher and submitted to the state. We received a reminder in the mail from the school board to submit on time. The reminder provides a sample form that indicates the need to attach a written evaluation to the teacher certified cover form, but on the FPEA website, there is only the form that records student info, teacher info, and a "pass to next grade" section. What do I need to submit?
  19. This was a great response everyone. I would like to get hold of Martin's reading list as well. I may try to contact Memoria this week. Thanks everyone.
  20. That is a good point, and I did mean for this to be a light topic, but I did not think to mentione that I would never lay this fear on my kids. I do often tell them that they have the potential to be leaders and in charge of their future. So I suppose the next thing will be to have them get the contact information for other homeschoolers or they won't have reliable help (sorry, I can't be at work today because I am waiting in line for the I-Phone 8).
  21. Now that I have yanked my kids from the corporatized public school that they were in and am confidently homeschooling I have stepped through the many fears and found good answers. I know that I can homeschool highschool, and believe that my children will get into college and do well there, but I have this recurring nightmare about their future in the workforce or as adults in general. Knowing that most of America is graduating high school barely able to read on level, I wonder who will be left to appreciate the education that our homeschoolers have had and grant them the opportunity to use it. I get the impression that most people coming out of college now are more concerned with their online social status and accessibility to the latest gaget than anything else, and many of these people will be in line to follow their parents as community and business leaders. I fear that there will be no one left to recognize the value of a solid education in five or ten years and our children will resent us for not spending more time teaching them how to tweet or prepare them for the rigors of online dating. :tongue_smilie: Of course, this is crazy, but I do wonder what the landscape will be for our homeschoolers as we try harder and harder to educate them while the majority of their peers are left in failing schools. Thoughts?
  22. No problem, the more the merrier. I am always fascinated by the Memoria catalog and their philosophy. Between this and Veritas Omnibus I go nuts looking to get this into my kids regular studies. My problem is that I pulled my twins out in 6th and they completed 7th at home next year, and this year their younger brother will start 5th at home (now that we are confident that we can do this). They don't have the years of classical-style education behind them. I hope to start Latin and Christian studies with the three of them this year, and may try to pull in the Greek Myths studies with my 5th grader. Next year I would like to get my older two using MP Logic. I do have a 2 year old also, he is going to get the whole MP treatment if I have anything to do with it. ;)
  23. Again, I received the new Memoria Press catalog, and, again I am looking for ways to incorporate it into my childrens' studies (Does everyone do this?). My question is, for those of you that are using more than just MP Latin or Logic, what are you using from Memoria and how does it fit into your overall curriculum? For example, the Famous Men books look great, I would imagine that they would coincide with similar studies from a MOH or SOTW sequence. What about the American Studies or the newer Literature Guides?
  24. Excellent point, thank you for the insight. I'll check out your suggestions.
  25. Additional information... My older two (twins) will be finishing up with All American History next, so we wanted to give their younger brother some world history. MOH, I see now, is also by Bright Ideas Press, and my wife, who will be teaching this, likes that idea. I did find a copy of SOTW at the library, and while we like it (ds is not an avid reader) it seemed that beefing this up for a middle schooler would be a bit of work. Based on what I see I lean towards MOH, but since I have been waivering so much I definitely wanted to get some opinions.
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