Phonics pathways? Similar layout to Ordinary Parents but not scripted.

Thank you. I am printing this out to read on mornings when I am tired, everyone is in a bad mood, and I'm struggling to get started...

My boys both LOVED the Roger Lancelyn Green one. I think they read it in ... late elementary/early middle school maybe? They love all of his books, actually.

I agree with the previous posters who said he probably hasn't processed his friend's death. Goodness gracious! That is a lot for a 5 yo to deal with. Also, it did look like he has a lot of school work to do, going from your signature. Maybe back off for a while and let him do more comforting play and reading aloud and running outside and just generally letting him feel safe and happy. My 5 yo does about 30-60 minutes of "school" a day, not counting me reading to her or doing art/crafts, or our together time. And she is a girl who likes "schooly" stuff. My boys couldn't have done even that much at 5. Take a deep breath and enjoy! It is so short.

The thing I like about them is you can read multiple chapters in a book before you have to stop, so they're great for interesting books that you don't want to put down. It depends on the age and what you want to use them for, really. I have the Hobbit/LotR one, and it is pretty good. I also have the Bronze Bow, and it is good too, but not as full as the Tolkien one. You could do a lot with it or just use it for discussions. They are reasonably priced, too. I don't do a lot of lit guides, but I do like these. It gives some good discussion questions you could use for writing or further reading, and I know the Tolkien one has vocabulary words in it. It seems more in depth than the others I've seen. HTH

I don't know about most people, but my oldest used SM through 6, then we went straight to Foerster's Algebra I (with no problem and with no preAlgebra, I just went ahead and taught him the couple of topics that he hadn't done yet). I love SM, and my kids have all done well with it. I struggled with the decision to switch for a long time before deciding. For us it came down to this. We live in an area where the public schools use integrated math curriculum for high school, but it looks like they will be switching back to Alg I/Geo/etc. in a couple of years. All of the private schools & home school hybrid schools around here use the traditional Alg. I sequence. We weren't sure exactly what we would do for high school, but doing a traditional sequence makes it possible for us to put him in classes for upper level math in high school. I've done calculus, but I'd rather not do it again, and at the rate he's going now, the year he will need it I'll also be teaching an 8th grader, a 6th grader, and a 4th grader. If he was doing Singapore still, it would be a pain to deal with the schools trying to figure out where he should go, if we wanted to sign him up for math classes somewhere. So it was a very practical decision.

:lol::lol: Off topic ... one of my little ones said something about do you have to be married to have a baby and I said, no, but it's better. Then another one piped up and said, "But how do you know WHEN you'll get pregnant, so you can make sure you get married first?" :001_huh: Uh, time for a talk...

I tried to quote but I couldn't for some reason. I am normally not all that into food playing into these things, but someone mentioned protein... I was watching my friend's son once who was always the sweetest kid, kind to others, etc. She said if he starts acting weird to give him this chicken she brought. I thought she was crazy, this kid is awesome! And what in the world difference does chicken make?? Well, sure enough, a couple of hours later, he almost knocks my (younger than him) son off the swings and has this almost wild look in his eyes -- weird! I said, "X, would you like some chicken?" He looked at me with this pitiful look and said, yes. He ate his protein and sat down and a few minutes later was back to his sweet self. I had no idea food (or lack of a certain kind) could do that to a person. I will never doubt it again! (I don't know if that had anything to do with your daughter's tantrums, it just reminded me of this when I read about the protein.)

I use library books for economics and civics. I have a degree in Economics and I have found more than enough engaging books for kids at the library, though that would (of course) depend on your library system. I search for books by topic and author (Amazon sometimes can help get started finding books or authors on specific topics), then I read them for myself and decide which ones I like for which kid. Then I schedule them out by six weeks. For example, weeks 1-6 may be a book on some economics topic. Then weeks 7-12 may be civics. This way we cover three solid topics in each subject every year and have plenty of time to discuss it together, rather than making it another "subject" that I try to fit in my already overcrowded day.

We did a round of ancients, middle ages, early modern, modern the first time around, then ancients and middle ages again. Then I decided my kids knew lots of world history but were lacking in US history, so this year we did a whole year of US history, fitting in some modern world history here and there, as it relates to the US. We haven't covered all the world history we would have if we had done it like WTM (which is the first cycle we did), but we have really learned and gotten into American history. And we learned the States and US geography.

Killer Angels --my 13yos read it this year and couldn't put it down. Have you ever seen Turn Homeward Hannalee? It would be an easy read for an 8th grader, but it is based on actual events about the mill workers in Roswell, GA, who were sent to work up north against their will. The main character (obviously) is a girl, but my boys both liked it.

Math, Phonics, Handwriting. Maybe 30 minutes to an hour a day? But that wouldn't count me reading to her or her doing art/crafts or piano practice. Or another sibling reading to her, or participating in our family "together time" when we read the Bible, pray, read and memorize poetry/Bible verses/creeds, etc. I can't imagine those who are doing 5 hours of K a day. I find if I keep the tv off, education happens for that age.

I think it depends on what you think the Communion/Eucharist actually is. If it is truly the body and blood of Christ, it is not going to make you sick. If it is just a community/unity/spiritual thing, why not? Or if it is the Spiritual but not the physical Presence...

For what it's worth, my oldest went from U.S. Edition Singapore 6 to Algebra I without a problem. I don't know the differences, but I already have the books so my younger children will be in the same edition. I figure if it ain't broke, don't fix it.:) It's not like math has changed between editions...

:iagree: This reminds me of a relative who was discussing her Kindergartener's Mandarin public school class. She went on and on about how this 5 or 6yo knew how to count to 100 in Mandarin. Uh, that's all she can do after 2 months of this? (And how would you know if she got one wrong? Isn't that a very tonal language -- where different pitches mean different things?) If you (or someone your child is frequently around) have or are willing to learn one of these languages and speak or read it to your child, by all means, go ahead. Otherwise, IMHO it's just a cool thing to say, and I wouldn't want to waste my time on it.

This may have been said already, but the Teacher's Manuals are hard to find, so I'd find one first and then buy the book that matches it. I do like having the TM; it has some extra problems and suggestions.

I have taught this book 4 times and never used the HIG for level one. I get the textbook and do that as the lessons orally or on a white board, then use the workbook for practice. I do have the HIG for levels 2-6, but I don't use it much (except to grade in a hurry) until level 3.

You'd have to show me multiple peer-reviewed scientific studies to prove this to me. I lived in Western Europe and this was not my experience at all. And I think maybe upward mobility needs to be defined here. It could mean several different things. I'm not sure I really understand what you're asking, though.

(deep breath) My 13yos had a football coach who really emphasized to the boys "will you get to heaven?" and so my son kept wanting to know who would make it and how could he know he would, etc. I told him, "Getting to heaven is NOT like getting a ticket to Six Flags -- whoever got a ticket gets to go in, and the rest of you are locked out. It's more like they are giving out free tickets but you actually have to accept your ticket and WALK INTO THE PARK!" Why are we concerned about who will and who will not "get to heaven"? What is heaven? IMHO, heaven is being in constant communion with God. Who will be in constant communion with God? Jesus was clear (IMHO) that whoever really wants to be with God forever, will be. "Whoever comes to me I will not turn away," He said. No one will be left out who wants to be included. C.S. Lewis said there are 2 kinds of people. Those who (in the end) say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God (in the end) says, "thy will be done." There is no way we can know what is in someone else's heart. That is between that person and God. We need to look at our own heart, and ask ourselves, am I seeking the Lord my God with all of my heart and soul and mind and strength, or am I seeking my own way? Do I mean it when I say I want God? Am I willing to do whatever I have to do to be near Him?

It's a good start. I would go back and talk about length of sentences, how to combine some to make it more interesting, etc. This is how I teach writing, going through and always finding something to improve. My kids know there will always be more than one draft. You might want to talk through insects again and come up with some more sentences, too. Good luck!

You should make "school spirit" t-shirts. You could be the "Yes, we are still homeschooling" School or "I'm still paying taxes but I'm not using the services so just take my money and leave me alone" School or "None of Your Business" Academy...:lol:

Full disclosure: I have used Prima Latina, Minimus, Lively Latin I, First Form, Second Form, and Henle I. Question: Do you know any Latin yourself, and how good is your 5th grader in English grammar? If you know some Latin yourself, and your 5th grader is pretty good in English grammar, there is no reason he can't do a high school program like Henle. If not, Lively Latin has a good amount of English grammar and is not difficult at all to teach for a parent who doesn't know Latin. Minimus is fun, but my kids learned more from Lively Latin. The sequence I have settled on is starting Latin in 3rd using Lively Latin (reading Minimus for fun), then switching to Henle in 4th.

We started using graph paper, one number per square, and that made a huge improvement.

We school at the kitchen table. Each kid has a box with their books in it in a bookshelf in the next room. The teacher books and other books that aren't specific to one kid are on another bookshelf in the next room.

I agree, I don't think that is the right book. I don't know what the solutions manual looks like but that doesn't look right. I have the teacher's guide and it looks exactly like the student book. I bought it used from someone here. Did you search here?