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Mrs Twain

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  1. Most of us would like our kids to develop strong character, good relationships, and faith, but I won't talk about that now. I think you are looking for how to make specific academic goals, so I will talk about that. First off, what has helped me most is using the free, downloadable, grade-by-grade sequence from the Core Knowledge Foundation. It has detailed lists of knowledge and skills to be obtained for each grade. Of course, you don't have to follow it directly, but it can give you a good idea at what you are aiming for in fourth grade, for example. You can get it here: http://www.coreknowledge.org/download-the-sequence I am planning to homeschool my kids K-8, and my goals include trying to give them a certain knowledge base (primarily thinking of history and science in this category) and making them competent in certain skills (reading, writing, math, test taking). Here are my list of subjects and some notes: Math Choose a good curriculum and stay with it. If it is deficient, supplement it rather than changing to a different program. For example, if you need more drill at math facts, add in flashcards or speed test worksheets. Writing Includes grammar, penmanship, spelling, writing organization and style. This is where The Core Knowledge Foundation has helped me quite a bit because it lists what kind of writing to work up to in each grade. I have mainly used IEW writing, but I also supplement with other programs and writing activities to meet my goals for each year. Reading Includes how to read, reading comprehension, vocabulary, literature analysis, and a list of books that are considered assumed background knowledge. For an example of the latter, our culture expects us to be familiar with Tom Sawyer if this story or character were mentioned in a conversation, so you would want your child to read that book at some point. The Core Knowledge list provides a list of books by grade that are "assumed background knowledge." You could use that to help you make your own reading list. Science My goal from K-5 is to provide a wide-ranging introduction to science. I want to give the child an interest in science and familiarity with many basic facts, but I don't require tests and memorization at this point. In 6-8th grades, I use BJU online science courses which do require textbook learning, memorization, and testing. This will hopefully prepare my kids for high school level science. History My goal for K-8 is for my kids to have a basic general world history timeline in their heads and a basic understanding of important events in world history. My kids memorize the CC history timeline and history sentences. I have also read them a world history overview book every year during the first half of the school year. I hope in this way that they will have a general overview of world history so that when they get to high school, the general events will be familiar and they can add in detailed knowledge to the scaffolding they have in their brains. I don't require memorization of lists of Pharaohs, for example. I also read my children an American history overview every year during the second half of the school year. I want them to be very familiar with the history of their own country. I have also had my kids do various history lapbooks to try to get more in depth knowledge of certain historical events. Other subjects Some (such as speech, geography, and test practice) I do with my kids every year. For others I add in a unit or short course every so often. Speech Logic Test Practice Geography (content knowledge, map skills, map drawing) Health Art, Art appreciation Music, Music appreciation Civics/Government Basic Economics State knowledge and history Typing Computer skills/Programming Foreign Language (I use Duolingo (free online) until my kids take a formal language course in 7th grade) Library skills (The rest are mainly middle school skills:) Research skills/Note taking Study skills Tests Independent project outside of my homeschool Online class/Outside Class
  2. Things that make a difference from birth to kindergarten age are talking to your baby in full sentences, using good vocabulary, reading books to your baby, etc. Look at E.D. Hirsch's research. Many people think that if we just had public preschool, all the differences between kids with different home situations could be erased. Public preschool can fix everything! LOL. I sincerely wish it could, but the reality is the way the parents educate the children from birth to five is what primarily impacts how they will do in school when they show up there. What I would like to do is start a program with inner city moms where I work with them to do the kinds of things the upper income moms are doing at home with their babies.
  3. I would agree with point number three that the schools should have more vocational Ed programs. That would be very useful and beneficial to large numbers of students. The first two points are rather vague. Universal preschool hasn't proved to help in our country. We need "better teachers" is also not helpful--especially when we need to pay them a lot more money for teaching a lot less hours--and oh, by the way they all need to be educated at the top universities in the country. ??? How about we need more school choice, including more charter schools and homeschooling? That would increase competition and improve the education system. That would help more than some statement like, "We need better teachers."
  4. We winged it/wang it/wung it (grammar???) last year, and it worked great. I let my daughter pick one mystery per week. On day 1 she watched the video. On day 2 she did an experiment. On day 3 she did a worksheet. On day 4 she wrote a journal page telling what she learned, drew a picture about it, and then presented that to me. On day 5 she read a library book about a science topic. This year if I am more on the ball, I will try to find library books on the topic she learned about that week. This worked well, and my daughter learned quite a bit of science. Besides that she loved the program and what she was learning which I found most valuable of all.
  5. I had six months free last year for my 3rd grader, and the program was excellent. I was happy to purchase a membership for this coming year so I could support this company that is working so hard to meet a real need in homeschooling science.
  6. I think you are looking for Rod and Staff English. Once in a while my husband will fill in for me to teach a grammar lesson. Even though he knows very little grammar, the program is so scripted and easy to teach that he has had no problem, even with R&S 7 which is quite an in depth grammar course.
  7. Someone mentioned Johnny Tremain. It is one of our favorites.
  8. My middle schooler had read a lot, too, but in 7th last year and in 8th this year I chise some books for us to read and discuss together. The main book we had a detailed discussion about in 7th was To Kill a Mockingbird. Also include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (and Huck Finn) if your student hasn't read those yet. Also Watership Down was a great story. For 8th, I picked out the books below. I am not very knowledgable about literature, and I decided on them after reading various posters' middle school lit lists. The Yearling Pollyanna The Princess and the Goblin Sea Wolf Master and Commander The Golden Key Hamlet
  9. My kids do CC Foundations during which they do a 2-3 minute oral presentation every week. My middle school kid joined a local Stoa speech club and participated in tournaments in 7th and 8th grades which has been outstanding for him.
  10. People generally like things they are good at, so helping children become competent at math will likely produce more positive emotions. Some aspects of teaching which make kids better at math involve requiring lots of drilling of math facts, speed tests, and plenty of daily practice with an excellent quality math program. These are the factors that equip kids to be competent at math and therefore lead to enjoyment of the subject.
  11. THANK YOU SO MUCH for posting this. I did not see the change.
  12. As much as I liked BFSU, my chikd is learning a lot more from Mystery Science. And Mystery Science is a whole lot easier to teach and much more engaging.
  13. For the 6th grader, you could do BJU distance learning online science 6 course. It is a science overview and a very high quality, excellent course. Then just have fun doing Mystery Science with the your 3rd grader.
  14. This is a fun old thread. Just a comment-- We really enjoyed using Dolciani 1988 along with the Teachers Edition. We especially liked the "enriched course" assignments as outlined in the TE.
  15. We just do Foundations so it is not quite as much as others are paying.
  16. I agree with Lewelma. Dictate short phrases, exaggerating the pronunciation with problem words. This is the kind of exercise that has been effective with one of my kids who needed work on spelling.
  17. I agree about not starting CC that young. My kids have gone to CC Foundations for the last three years, and my advice is to start when your child is about 3rd grade (if you are planning to enroll). My CC is very well run, but not all are. You should certainly visit first to make sure the quality of the program is high. This is what I get out of CC Foundations: --Much more memory work than I could do by myself at home. --Weekly 2-3 minute oral presentations --a little extra science, art, and music --more friends, including weekly lunch and playground time together -- learning the pledge of Allegiance My kids only do Foundations and not Essentials or Challenge.
  18. Mystery science is very much like BFSU except that it gets done.
  19. I recommend starting with IEW's linguistic development through poetry memorization book. It was written for people like you. Also get a book that only has poems by Robert Louis Stevenson. I bet you and your kids may actually start liking poetry after you read these.
  20. I didn't know there was a difference between religious and secular geography courses. You should look at this: http://map-of-the-whole-world.weebly.com/ This year my son has learned how to draw the continents, USA (48 states), South America, and Europe. We ended the school year about halfway through Asia. Next year we will finish Asia and learn Africa and whatever else there is in the program. I love it.
  21. I read DP (the whole thing) some time ago, and ever since then I have tried to figure out who the protagonist and antagonist are in the books I read. What happens is I come up with different ideas than the "right" ones according to people such as these authors, or else I can't figure them out at all. I just assumed it is because I am a dense science-type that doesn't get literature...
  22. If I were going to do CC at home, I would not buy the Foundation Guide or the tin whistle, or subscribe to CC Connected online. I would probably buy the stack of memory work flash cards. I would also consider buying other items from CC such as the history timeline cards, science cards, laminated map, and multiplication flash cards (if your child is old enough). In addition I would do a good quality English program such as R&S English to take advantage of the English grammar memory work. I would also read history book(s) that correlate with the history memory work.
  23. CC Connected (the website where you download files) changed their access to the official songs they produce so that you have a pay monthly to listen to them. There is no way (that I could figure out) to download the official CC memory work songs such as the timeline song. You can still download the songs and files individual members post. If you have access to the songs with the app or the CD, you shouldn't have an issue, though.
  24. You are hanging out in the right place. LOL
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