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5Wizards

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Posts posted by 5Wizards

    Reflect on the school year -

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Have your dc completed any materials?

    Not yet as we're only about 9 weeks in.

     

    What are your favorite subjects to teach?

    DD1 History, DD2 Reading (just love to watch the progression and she's really motivated)

     

    How about the kid's favorite subjects?

    DD1 History and Chemistry

    DD2 Everything

     

    What changes really paid off this year?

    I'm trying to do more hands-on projects to make learning fun, and it's working. Math Mammoth has also been a fabulous addition.

     

    Do you predict changing materials next year?

    Yes, but I'm still in the exploratory phase. :lol:

     

    In what area has your dc grown the most this year?

    DD1 Math

    DD2 Learning how to read

     

    What areas are you still trying to find that match for?

    I'm always looking at everything. :tongue_smilie:

     

    What is your biggest homeschooling challenge this year?

    My 2 year old

     

    What projects or activities stand out so far?

    All of our history projects

    Am I the only crazy one buying for next year already?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    My child in K this year will be starting MM 1 in January, and I already have 2a and 2b purchased for her. I also bought WWE1 so I could check it out for next year (we need to work more on the physical act of writing before we start it.........otherwise I'd start now).

     

    I bought some early logic books for both DC for next year.

     

    I have been researching science and history options for my oldest. I still don't know what exactly I'll be doing, but I have picked up a few used books already to check them out. I've also purchased MM5 (a and b) although we're currently only in 3b. :tongue_smilie:

    choosing a homeschooling group

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    We attend a park day that is open to everyone, regardless of religion (or lack thereof), teaching style, etc.... We have unschoolers, school at home schoolers, and everything in between. We also have families that are very religious and others that are atheists. We have formed some wonderful friendships along the way with a wide variety of people, which makes me happy. Our main reason for attending is so that my kids can play with other kids and form friendships. I'm secure with my own teaching methods and have other places (like here) to find information and support.

    Cursive now or wait

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I started cursive during the 2nd half of the year in 1st grade with my oldest. Her printing was FAR from perfect. I think the cursive really helped her, and now she has great writing either way (4th). I plan to start my next with cursive when she hits the second half of first grade as well.

    Why do we homeschool??

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I chose academics, which is a big reason why we initially decided to homeschool. Both my husband and I were bored in school and wanted our children to develop a love of learning. Now that we've been homeschooling for over 4 years, one of the big reasons we continue to do so is because of the flexibility it allows us as well as the close family relationships we are growing. I love our life. :001_smile:

    How many men struggle with pornography?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted · Edited by 5Wizards

    Well, I don't know how many men look at it, but I'm willing to bet the farm (if I actually had a farm) that 90% of them aren't "struggling" with it. Some men may believe it's wrong, but I'm sure that a large percentage don't see any problem with it. I would think that a relatively small percentage of men are actually what would be considered "addicted" to it, rather than just looking at it for entertainment purposes.

     

    Cat

     

    :iagree:

     

    I personally don't mind people looking at porn on occasion, so I don't view it "as a problem." It's visual stimulation. No big deal.

    Hands-On Phonics Instruction?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I haven't seen this mentioned on the board before, but maybe it has been. My youngest took a class through our co-op that utilized secret stories phonics, and she loved it. That class ended 6-7 months ago, and just yesterday she brought up one of the "secrets." If I was struggling with

    her reading, or had a child who didn't enjoy learning how to read, I'd seriously consider buying this product.

     

    http://thesecretstories.com/about/

    What to do for Social Studies and Science for 1st grade?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Hi,

     

    I responded to your other thread about Calvert K (my oldest used it).

     

    With my current 5 year old, I am doing Elemental Science, Introduction to Science, and she LOVES it. We're taking pictures along the way for her notebook of the simple experiments we do (mostly from More Mudpies to Magnets). She also sits in on her sister's Real Science Odyssey (RSO) Chemistry and loves that too, but right now it's a little beyond her. Next year, I plan to either do RSO Biology or Elemental Science Biology, but I haven't decided yet which way I'll be going.

     

    For social studies, we are SLOWLY doing Story of the World Ancients. She listens to the CD of the chapter we're on (several times as she likes it), we read a few extra books sometimes, and we do some coloring, map coloring, discussion, and activities out of the activity book. My plan is to take 2 years with this as she is so young. She also really loves doing this, and I'm not worried about how much she gets out of it in the end as we plan to revisit the same time period again later. The important thing to me is that she is really enjoying everything that we are doing and getting exposure. Also, she really is understanding SOTW for the most part and can summarize the chapters pretty well at this point.

     

    For next year, I am also considering adding in a Geography component where we study a particular country each month (do activities, map, cook, etc....). She enjoys learning and "doing lessons" like her big sister.

    just another shameless plug for MCT

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    My Island level books arrived yesterday and I'm so excited! I spent some time today looking through the material and I haven't been disappointed so far. I really struggled about whether to start with Island or Town, but I'm happy I will be starting at the beginning (and then my other 2 kids can use the material later). We'll probably fly through some of it as my DD does have a good LA background, but that's ok. It looks like great fun! Woohoo!!!!!!

    Deciding if I want to use Calvert and either K or 1st?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I did Calvert K with my first and we breezed through it. We doubled up on lessons as it was very easy and finished around January, then moved on. I felt that it was good reinforcement for some of the skills she already had as well as introducing some stories/discussion ideas that I wouldn't have come up with on my own at the time. I originally planned to do the same with my second, but decided that I wanted to go a different direction with her. It was extremely helpful for me with my first as I had a baby at the time and I needed the structure to make sure that I did something with her. One of the things about 1st grade is that they do start cursive in the middle of the year, so that's a consideration. My K daughter is reading words with "ch," "sh," long vowel sounds, etc... already, so K would have been very boring for her in that respect as they don't touch on those things at all. I can't remember how much of a step up 1st grade is though as it was a long time ago (or at least seems like it! lol).

     

    If you do decide that you want to go with K, I have the K curriculum in good used condition (older version) that I'd be willing to sell. You can PM me if interested.

     

    Good luck making your decision.

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