This thread is great. Thanks for posting! BTW, what book are you referring to?

This thread is great. Thanks for posting!

Maybe we even need to just say, "Pass the bean dip" on this site too...sad. :tongue_smilie:

Luckily none of my kids are morning people either. :hurray: When we are not on break, I have been forcing myself to get up earlier. I do my own quiet time/prayer time before the kids wake up. I have had to force myself to get up at 7:30. It is not easy, but then I am ready and happy by the time they wake up around 8:30. I try to get school started by 9 or 9:30 so we can mostly be done by lunchtime. I have found that it gets easier and easier. Although I am still thankful that I don't have to get up at 6am to get them ready for school! :coolgleamA:

I am really sad that people on this board are beating each other up. Can't we have a civil conversation? I think that most of us would agree that public schools are failing our children or else why are we homeschooling? Honestly, there are good and bad aspects of the Common Core. I haven't read every single section, but I have read up until 2nd grade since that is where my kids are. The meteorologist Youtube video was about Everyday Math. The schools in our school district use it. There are a lot of problems with this curriculum IMHO. Parents almost unanimously hate it. The kids in our district are not being well educated. They cannot think and they cannot comprehend. It is a real problem. So much of the time is wasted during the day on popcorn parties, anti-bullying week, tolerance days, etc. That is my opinion based on talking to a lot of parents of kids in PS here. I think we need to stop browbeating each other. We all homeschool for different reasons and we should be trying to support each other rather than tear each other down. Some people (myself included) homeschool in large part so that their kids are not indoctrinated. (I also homeschool because I want to incorporate my faith into school and because I want better academics.) Some of us might not think indoctrination is happening at all. That doesn't mean that people should be mocked for believing that it is true. Too many posts contain these attacks now. It makes me not even want to come on the WTM boards anymore. I am looking for support as I homeschool my kids and advice on curricula. This board is growing toxic.

I loved that book.

Read Values Clarification if you want to be disturbed. I did A LOT of those activities when I was in school. I never knew they were using them to "mold" me. I got in on Kindle and had to stop reading it because I was so angry that I was used that way.

I recommend writing down all of the reasons that you want to homeschool. Why do you feel like it is the best decision for your family? What are your fears and worries? How can you address those. Then, take the plunge this year. As the year goes on, a lot of your fears and worries might never materialize. We homeschool on a year to year basis, but each year I get less and less likely to ever place my kids in PS. Homeschooling isn't easy, but it is a wonderful way to live your life. If it is the right decision for your family, God will give you the grace to persevere!

I would definitely not make a huge decision based on one standardized test. This was their first time testing and they had no preparation for the test. Also, if it makes you feel better our "amazing" local elementary school that people move just to go to has an average score of 37%. Standardized testing is not a completely accurate indicator of what kids know. Some kids don't test well. The test might have had a lot of things that your kids haven't covered yet. I wouldn't ignore the results, but I wouldn't panic either.

From what I have heard, there is as lot of review in middle school math. I wouldn't worry too much. It sounds like you have a good plan now so just keep working on it! It sounds very feasible to start Algebra in 9th grade. Just plug away at it!

I am always constantly reading CM's books, especially Book 6 (Philosophy of Education). I also love Ruth Beechick's books. Right now, I am reading Poetic Knowledge by James Taylor. This is not an easy read, but it really helps me to prioritize what I do with my young children. I just finished reading The War on Grammar which was an excellent read and a great book to help me know that a Classical education is the right one for my kids. It also led to a funny and confusing conversation with my seven year old about "when we had a war against grammar and what kind of tanks they used." :lol: When I am even remotely considering public school, I read something by John Taylor Gatto and am instantly cured of that! This summer, I plan on spending a lot of time reading spiritual reading and refreshing my soul. That always helps our homeschool!

I would try the Right Start games over the summer. My kids learned their facts this way.

I think this is so important. Some people want a scripted program and some don't. I am not beholden to the manual and I just use it as needed. I also do Miquon so I don't do RS every.single.day. I think that I would get burned out if I did that. We do RS 3 times a week. I absolutely love it. Maybe you could take a little time off and come back. A lot of people spend two years on RS B since it is so meaty.

We love Thornton Burgess too. Our favorites are Old Granny Fox, Bobby Coon, and Bowser the Hound. They are wonderful stories!!!

Thanks!

Please don't panic. Standardized tests are ridiculous, especially for a young child. That is why I chose to do a portfolio. I think that a lot of the spelling problems will work themselves out. I don't have any suggestions other than AAS, but I wish you the best of luck! And please don't beat yourself up!

These videos are a great and free resource. I have the SCM resources and I actually found these free videos to be easier to use information for me. We have implemented these techniques with great success so far. It is a lot of trial and error with individual kids as well!!!

I would look at TOG or RC Connecting with History to see how they use similar topics, but different books for both kids. This way, you can still discuss the same subjects, but each child can be reading at their own level. You could have a family read aloud and then your older child could supplement with her own readings as well. Or you could even have your older child could help "teach" the younger child. It will be great review for the older child as well!

Our library is so bad that I have stopped using it. I just buy lots and lots and lots of books! Now we have our own wonderful library. Being overseas might make that difficult. I would invest in a Kindle and read a lot of free ebooks!!!

Can you share some links on the picture books?

I was at that conference and totally missed it. I heard about it on the message board when I got home. The next year, neither one was at the conference and Ken Ham and his followers had their own conference one weekend apart from that conference in a neighboring town. It was just weird. As a Catholic, I am sure I am one of the "compromisers." I know that SWB handled herself very graciously and I respect that.

When do you start reading Plutarch and Shakespeare?

We have read so many of these books and have yet to read about Black Pussy. I have that particular book. I think Black Pussy Cat will be a good substitution. :lol:

First of all, definitely read this post!!! It is wonderful. Here is how we do it: We do circle time about 4 times per week. Each day we start with hymn study. We meet at the piano and practice a hymn. We usually add a new verse each week. Most of the time we also review another hymn. It is wonderful during mass when my kids know the songs!!! Then we move to the couch in the living room. We usually read three books: History 2X a week Nature study 2X a week Poetry 1-2X a week Fairy Tales and Folk Tales 2X a week Devotional books 2X a week Picture books of Old Testament stories 1X a week Picture books of Mythology 1X a week Science 1-2X a week We usually have about 10 different books read during any given week. Here is a typical day: Read 2 pages of D'Aulaire's Ben Franklin and have the kids narrate Read one of the Smithsonian Backyard picture books for nature study Read a poem to the kids from one of our anthologies We also do memorization during this time. We use the SCM method. We do poetry as well as Scripture. We will usually do memorization in the middle of doing the books to break it up. The whole thing takes less than 30 minutes and my kids love it. We will sometimes move to the kitchen table and do picture study once a week. When we do that, we will read a book about the artist during circle time. We used to do composer study, but now I just play the music while we do art. I am going to try and be more intentional about circle time this coming year. I am hoping to make a weekly schedule to be a little more organized. Sometimes I just don't get to it because I don't want the pain of getting the books so they are all on a bookshelf in the living room on the same shelf. Easy peasy!!!

You get to keep anything you buy or use your credits to buy whether or not you stay with audible. I have found it to be a good deal. I get lots of classics for very cheap when buying a free or very cheap kindle book first. They also run sales that are very good, although often they are books I am not interested in! Last month, they had 25% off all titles. This month, I got a free $10. I might not find it as good of a deal if I wasn't buying books for myself. I love the Modern Scholar series (very much like the Great Courses) and the SmartPass Shakespeare titles.