Mommy to monkeys
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Posts posted by Mommy to monkeys
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I know! My oldest informed me a few weeks ago that he had read every chapter book on our shelves (which in not a small amount). I often find stacks of books, even ones too "easy" in his room when he has nothing else to do.
We go through the exact same thing.
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You know, I can handle 10 board books (we probably have 20?), I can handle the 20-40 picture books, (I'm thinking we have less than 40. One rubbermaid tub full here), but the idea of having less than 40 chapter books around gives me chest pain. My readers READ. And I tire of paying their library fees. I'll be back with our board and picture books titles later. :)
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HITS:
CLE math (as always!)
Apologia General ScienceAbeka science for my younger kids
WWE
Pentime Handwriting Books
An Afternoon and bedtime "Morning Time" that we refer to as "family hour" including, Bible memory work, poetry, Hymns, Reading the Bible aloud, read alouds (one chapter book geared toward the middles and one geared toward the olders)
MISSES:
Apologia Science for my 5th grader. She did it for a week, declared it boring, and requested to go back to Abeka.
Me trying to teach my kids to write without a complete program. I tried to pull ideas from online and from Write Stuff Adventure, but I need more exact step by step instructions to work with. I've been trying for years to teach writing organically and failing. I am not an intuitive free spirit. IEW SWIB is in the mail.
So-so:
We are using LOTS of CLE subjects this year. The math is up in the hit category, but we also have the LA, Bible, Social Studies, and Reading. IT GETS DONE, but I do feel a bit like I'm drowning in light units and answer keys. And even though THEY are spending a lot of time on the work, I'm missing the discussions and being on the same topic.-
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We plan on going into Saxon Algebra 1 after level 700. (We're using Khan to supplement)
Sounds like you have a solid plan in place! Good luck!
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For Magic School Bus, check ex-library or library bound copies. These are durable, hardcover books. New, they're expensive, but you can sometimes find them used. The downside is that it can be hard to find a nice copy that actually got removed from a library collection. For some reason, they tend to get loved to destruction there, too.
There's a reason for that. They are awesome. ALL of my kids have loved these. I credit these books for getting my book phobic son to actually enjoy reading.
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Heart of Dakota or My Father's World? Those would cover both but also cover more subjects
Truthquest history perhaps
Grapevine Bible Studies
Bible Study Guide for all Ages
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Would you care to share where you were able to buy these as a complete set?
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I have several cloth copies of that book. It is the best.book.ever. If you want to know what integrity, honor, and self-sacrifice look like, read that book.
I have read the Good Master--in fact, I own a copy--but it did not affect me the way the Chestry Oak does. I cry the ugly cry through the whole book. I am not making that up, lol.
I read it for the first time when I was in high school, and I enjoyed it, but it didn't live in my heart until I read it as an adult. I read it aloud to each of my daughters when they were about 9yo; we'd sit on the sofa, I with a big cloth napkin in hand, and I'd say, "Dear, Mommy is going to cry in this chapter." "Dear, Mommy is going to cry big sobs in this chapter." They cried with me, but I don't know if it was because they really got it or if they were crying with me, lol.
And. . .you've sold me on buying it. I love reading books that make me cry.
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Oh my goodness! I love this so much! I'd do it!
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Well, after agonizing over this for well over a month, I believe I'll be going with IEW. I've been listening to some of the free seminars by Andrew Pudewa and I'm sold. My ISTJ self feels like I may actually be able to teach writing in this may.
I'm thinking SWI-B would work for my 5th and 7th graders. My daughter is almost 11, so she's an older 5th grader and writing is her strength. My son's weakness is writing, so I think placing them together would work for this subject.
Thoughts are still welcome.
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I think 5-7 is too wide a spread. My 5-yo's do maybe 5 minutes. My 7-yo's do around 35.
I agree with this.
As my 5 year old doesn't do ANY math yet, I put in totals for my 7 year old. ;)
7 year old- about 20 minutes
10 year old- about 30-40 minutes
12 year old- right at an hour
All my totals were the most common category. I guess that means I can take a deep breath.
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I have a love/hate relationship with the library. The one we go to is pretty small, but it pulls from 64 other libraries for inter-library loan. I love that. I hate that there is no rhyme nor reason for how long it takes the books to come in AND that I have only 48 hours to pick them up. If I have multiple books on hold, I'm making several trips to the library. For the gas I spend in going there (I'm rural), I figure I might as well just buy the books!
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Little House series
Chronicles of Narnia
Caddie Woodlawn
Those are definitely not to be missed.
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I used PP to teach my 3rd dc how to read. We did about 5-10 minutes a day in the book. We used some of the games as they came up. When he had trouble with a particular page, we'd review it again. If he still had trouble with it the next day, we'd break from it for a couple of days and do explode the code and BOB books for a change of pace.
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Morning Meeting
Group Work
Brain Trust
Melding of Minds
Launch Pad
We call it family time, but I may have to start calling it Brain Trust. :lol:
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I'm thinking this particularly struck me due to my background. No, I don't think my kids will be ruined for life because they read it, but I still don't think I'm going to keep these books around for "free reading".
I'm one of those parents who really WANTS to like those older books, but is finding them very frustrating for a number of reasons including both tone and content. I guess I'm not as old-fashioned as I fancy myself to be.
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I just went and read the entire poem in context from that lesson. While I agree those statements are so dated and not stated well, the entire context of the point isn't about children not being loved as being their own fault or being unpopular at school is the the person's fault. The poem is about being open and generous to the needs of others around. Being popular at school in the context and time this is written isn't what being popular today is, and the context isn't about not being loved by friends is different than what it seems taken out of context. The poem is about the natural consequences one may come to by being someone who never gives consideration to those around them. Being inconsiderate naturally lends to not having many friends and not being popular (popular not meaning what today's middle high school definition of popular means). In today's context it may equate to being a young child who grabs shared toys and yells "Mine! Mine! Mine!" and the kids around him or her no longer want to play with that child. The poem is basically saying, if you are someone who only looks after your own needs and never is kind to those around, it will make you unpopular and not loved by peers. It isn't conveying love as a deep heart emotion that is a need of every human being. It is conveying moreso a message, "if people don't love to be around you, it is your own fault" in the context of being someone who inconsiderate. Now today, people are unloved and unpopular just because they are too short or too tall or their eyes are blue. But, this poem is not talking about that.
I really don't mean to be controversial, and I agree the language should be less judgemental. But, I just wanted clarify what is meant in that poem by unloved and unpopular. It still may be harsh and not right. It's just that I initially took the not loved and unpopular quotes as being different than what the poem probably means. The language is not relevant for today, I know.
I did purposely mention where it was found so everyone could see it for themselves. The intention of the lesson was good. If you want a friend, BE a friend. BUT they did a cruddy job of teaching that. Ew. Just ew.
And I don't there's any possible context that would make me ok with the quotes I mentioned. There were more along those lines in that passage.
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Wow. That's not even logical---surely if I can fail to be "amiable," others can fail to be loving towards me. It happens in abusive relationships all the time.
This made me think of abuse as well. My skin literally crawled when I read this.
I know there are different editions of McGuffey. Is this revised, original, etc?
It says "revised edition" on the outside. Brown spine and orangey cover with blue words.
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I've had the orange and brown McGuffey readers in my house for years and I admittedly haven't done a lot with them other than simply let my children read them.
I decided to peruse them a bit today as I was considering having my son practice reading aloud from them for reading practice.
I just happened to start reading in Lesson 59 in the 4th reader and here is a quote (emphasis mine)
"5. I have sometimes heard a girl say, "I know that I am very unpopular at school." Now, this plainly shows that she is not amiable.
6. If you companions do not love you, it is your own fault. They can not help loving you if you will be kind and friendly. If you are not loved, it is a good proof that you do not deserve to be loved."
What the heck kind of garbage have I been giving my kids to read?! Now, I haven't read through the whole lot of these books, but if this lesson is indicative of what's in there then. ..well, no thank you.
I get the point of what they're trying to teach here. It's good to be a nice person, but EVERYONE deserves to be loved.
*steps off soapbox*
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This was so great. I don't fit the "classical homeschooling" family mold and yet I always enjoy hearing her wisdom as well as her down to earth demeanor.
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I think the spelling is fine, but my kids have been decent spellers. I've gone back and forth over the years between CLE LA and CTGE with Modern Speller, so I haven't used a real "spelling program"
If you find you don't like the spelling, you can always add spelling workout back in.
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PA isn;t scary. Really!
It's the portfolio and having to physical deal with another human being ie the evaluator tha makes me feel :crying: . We do a lot of read and narrate, look at field guides, look at maps etc in the younger years. That's not exactly good fodder for a portfolio. In NY, I can just put down the topics covered without having to produce anything.
If you're thinking about moving to PA, do consider all of the other advantages to living here. RebelYell is right that it depends on the specific district. Ours is generally very good (when we had to turn in portfolios to them, they would leave little complimentary post-it notes for us), but they occasionally get confused and need to be reminded of the law. The actual person who handles homeschoolers seems to know the law, but I've had people on the phone from the district who don't, which is probably to be expected. But down the road, in our same county, there is a district that is notoriously difficult, or at least it was for several years. I didn't know that when we bought our house, but I'm awfully glad we didn't find a house in that district that we liked in our price range. Ask around as much as possible before you settle on a house.
It's Lancaster County that I'd like to move to. (No, I'm not considering becoming Amish. . .) I know there is a good homeschool population there.
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NY's law has lots of words, but really, when you look carefully at what it actually says, it's not that bad. Even I could hs there. :D
I agree. I'm in NY and it's not that bad. It's Pennsylvania that terrifies me. I just happen to be thinking about moving there. . .
I'm having twins
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Yeah! Congratulations! Twins are truly special.
When my twins were born, I had a 2 year old, a not quite 4 year old, a 7 year old, and a 9 year old.
Those first few months were a bit of a blur for me. I know we took a whole month off after they were born and had planned for more. . .but we all needed the normalcy of some kind of schedule. It felt GOOD to start back up again. The rest of that year we stayed very consistent with our 3r's subjects. I think we put in time comparable to what you're looking for. Honestly, the homeschooling wasn't as hard as I thought it would be once the twins were a few months old and on a sleeping schedule. They slept a LOT and were happy to be talked to and played with by the other kids who gladly oooo-ed and aaahhh-ed over them. (They still do this.) Yes, it was crazy, but it's doable. Take ANY help you can get in those first few months, though, and feel no guilt.
I warn you that homeschooling when your twins are toddlers will be exceedingly more difficult than when they are infants. Age 2 for twins practically had me in the funny farm, but at 3 they have gotten easier. A little. ;)
I am so happy for you! Twins are terrifying but also a unique and amazing experience.
edited to add: part of why my early months went so well was that my boys stayed in so long. I went 38+ weeks and they were 7lbs each with no health issues. Rest and eat your protein. ;)