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caedmyn

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Everything posted by caedmyn

  1. What age is ideal to start using Biblioplan? It looks like it uses MOH & SOTW for spines and it seems like those are generally recommended for kids that are in 2nd grade at least. I know SOTW 1 is too advanced for my 5.5 YO anyway.
  2. Has anyone blogged about (or know of a blog about) designing your own Bible-based unit studies? I'm considering trying to do something simple for my 5 YO.
  3. This is my first year too, but FWIW my plan for afterschooling my 5.5 YO DD while she goes to K is to use Five in a Row and some Miquon Math. I think there should be enough flexibility in FIAR to only do it two days a week if it ends up being too much to do it 4-5 days a week, and it sounds like you can tailor the program to do as much or as little each day as you want. Miquon will probably be a couple of days a week too. I want to do a fair amount of read-alouds and having pretty minimal scheduled schoolwork should allow enough time to do that.
  4. I'll have to comparison shop a bit and see where the best overall price is I guess. There is NO WAY I am going to a library sale with a 5 YO, 2 YO, and 9 month old though! I'd rather pay a bit more for the convenience and stressfree experience of online shopping! I wish we had a better library system. Ours only has 3 of the books in FIAR #1. The library in the town I used to live has all but 3-4 newest ones (or at least, they're the ones that are really only available new). I could get them from interlibrary loan, but it might be worth just buying them if I want to use FIAR more than one with DD or again with my younger 2 kids. Too many decisions!
  5. So the used books at Powells are in good condition generally? They don't rate their condition like other used bookstores I've seen and I'd rather pay a little more and get a nicer copy that won't fall apart so quickly, so I'm not sure about ordering from them.
  6. How did it go? Were you able to do actual AFTER-schooling or was your child too tired? I'm afraid I'll buy curriculum and then find that my DD is too tired from school to want to do anything else, and I don't see doing much extra schoolwork on the weekends. She'll be going to a private school for half a day (7:45 to 12:30). K there doesn't involve much play. Well I guess some sit-quietly-and-play stuff like puzzles and coloring, but not independent or even somewhat directed play. FWIW I'm thinking about getting FIAR for her and doing some Miquon math as well (2-3 days a week for the math).
  7. Seriously, how? I've spent way too many hours already and I STILL can't decide...and this is just for afterschooling for kindergarten! I'm horribly indecisive and there are entirely too many choices!
  8. I'm specifically looking for the books for FIAR. Is there a large online used bookstore (besides Amazon) that only sells from their store so you can combine shipping? Shipping ends up being as much or more than the books on the sites I've checked!
  9. Is there a short, easy to read general guide to classical education? If I have to read the Well-Trained Mind I'll never learn about it...it overwhelmed me back in the days when I had a lot of time to read and only one child and now that I have little time to read and three small children, there's not a chance I'll read through it.
  10. We have been reading SOTW 1 but I think it's a little over her head at this point. She seems to like it but I'd rather be reading her something she can absorb. Is there anything other there similar to SOTW but geared for younger children? I'd also be interested in any recommendations for a good American history book for a younger child.
  11. I think I will choose something else for now and save SOTW for later, if for no other reason than it's frustrating for me when she doesn't retain anything. I don't have much energy to put toward afterschooling so I'd rather be able to feel like she's gaining something from me just reading the book IYKWIM.
  12. Yup it's me:) I will have to take you up on that offer one of these days:D
  13. So at about what age would the average child start retaining some information from it? We're using it for afterschooling and I feel like if she's not retaining anything, that time might be better spent just reading good books, or even some of the "easier to understand" books from the supplemental reading list. Or is there a more age-appropriate general history book for a 5 year old?
  14. DD is 5.5 and pretty bright (IMO anyway) and used to read-alouds and learning. She's very inquisitive (the cat that curiosity killed doesn't have a thing on her!). We've finished the first 5 chapters of SOTW 1 and read whatever related books our library has (2-3 per chapter so far) and she's interested in it, but if I mention something we read a couple of weeks later she has no idea what I'm talking about. Is that a sign that she's not really ready to absorb information from that level of a book? Or just typical for a 5 YO? I'm not sure whether to keep going to with or wait a year or two.
  15. Subbing for ideas. I got Miquon to use for afterschooling my 5 YO (she'll use Saxon in school) but I haven't been able to motivate myself to start her on it. It's requires too much...figuring it out on my part I guess.
  16. I'd do it. I probably wouldn't buy 4-5 years out, but just a couple of years for a good deal & something I was pretty sure I'd use (or if not could resell and break even or close to it).
  17. My 5.5 YO will be starting school this year. It's a 20-25 minute drive each way to get her to school (private school) and I was thinking I'd like to use some of that time to help her learn Spanish. Any suggestions on a good program-on-CD? Something accompanied by a book would be fine too...
  18. I'd like to do some afterschooling with my 5 year old next year and am having trouble deciding between Story of the World volume 1 and a Child's History of the World. I've heard that there are some inaccuracies in SOTW. I've heard a few negative things about Child's History of the World as well, and I can't decide which to use. We'd primarily just be reading it out loud, though I might be interested in doing some mapping along with it. Also, if we do go with SOTW, is the activity guide really necessary?
  19. My kids are 7 mo, 2.5, and 5. We try to do just one day a week with activities (grocery shopping, play dates, etc) but there's another 3-4 times a week we have to go into town for church, mid-week Bible study, and usually some other church-related function. It is easier if we stay home as much as possible...just not always possible!
  20. I used to be a pretty disciplined person, when I only had myself & DH to worry about. Now that we have 3 small children and a bunch of activities I find it hard to accomplish very much and feel like I'm constantly running from one thing to the next without finishing very much. I know that's fairly normal when you have young children, but I think I would get a lot more done if I were a little more disciplined. How do you train yourself to be more disciplined? I'm sure there are ways...
  21. Yes they do need an average amount of sleep, not less than average. I think maybe a longer-than-usual wind-down might help. DD does go to sleep earlier & easier if I don't make her take a nap, though she does get kind of weepy without one so I think she could still use one at least some of the time. I sometimes have trouble shutting down my brain to fall asleep, though at this point I'm generally so tired I fall asleep quickly. I also tend to have a really hard time shutting off my brain & falling back asleep in the middle of the night after I get woken up by the baby (after about 4-5 hours of sleep that is). I try to think of something pretty mindless like counting or something to go back to sleep. DH can fall asleep at the drop of a hat and totally does not understand why the rest of us can't. He says the kids will go to sleep when they are tired...HAH! Not.
  22. Is there any correlation with bright children having a harder time than more average children falling asleep? I feel like I am the world's worst parent in the sleep department. My 5 YO DD & 2.5 YO DS both take HOURS to fall asleep at night. It's not because they're not tired or need less sleep than average. We've tried bedtime routines, white noise, and about everything else I've ever read in a "how to get your child to sleep" book. Now I'm wondering if maybe bright children who aren't challenged enough during the day have more trouble falling asleep. Probably grasping at straws, but I'm rather desperate. Is there something I could/should be doing in the daytime that might make it easier for them to fall asleep? I don't do much in the way of challenging activities with them, I'm barely functional with 5-6 hours of broken sleep a night due to a 7 month old who's an even worse sleeper than his siblings:banghead:I'd say they're both bright, I don't know if they're "gifted" or not. DD is one of those kids who asks a million questions and wants to know everything about everything. DS1 is a very intense, very active child who is into EVERYTHING all the time. If I take my eyes off him for a second he's dumping ketchup into a glass, pouring water from the water cooler on the floor, climbing out the (daylight) basement window, or whatever else pops into his head. I'm sure as soon as he gets the manual dexterity I'll find him dismantling the toaster oven and things like that.
  23. My 5 year old DD will start going to a private school next year that use A.C.E (Accelerated Christian Education) curriculum and Saxon math. She already knows how to read and write. I'd like to come up with an afterschooling program that focuses on the areas that I feel A.C.E. is weak in (history, science, and literature & writing). I'm kind of at a loss on where to begin though! I have looked a little bit at the Sonlight programs and that seems like the type of program I'd prefer, mostly reading and discussion. So my questions... 1. Any suggestions on where to look for or how to put together a program like that to supplement history & science? 2. If anyone is familiar with A.C.E. curriculum I'm open to suggestions on other areas or suggestions to work on to supplement it. 3. Any other suggestions or links to good reads on starting afterschooling would be appreciated!
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