Ecclecticmum
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Posts posted by Ecclecticmum
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Our projects tend to be more integrated into our day, taking them out of that context just makes them look weird. I will, however, try to give a few examples of things we have done that can sort of be pulled away from the cross-curricular life vortex they are from.
Most of these are just Atlas' projects:
- Created a lifesize Guillotine (obviously no sharp blade, used grey card instead)
- Created her own soap bubble recipe
- Self-taught via imitation how to create simple meals
- Wrote up a weekly shopping list by herself
- Created a faux flower garden with individual flower varieties (inside garden, using foam, crepe, etc complete with fence)
- Created a new boardgame
- Made fairy tale characters
- Created room-size symmetrical web using yarn copying a spiders web photo
- Made a playscene for her hospital
- Made up a desert diorama using real plants and sand
- Experimented with seeds & pots (creating different conditions to view outcome)
- Made a birds nest
- Took care of a millipede she caught (that thing was HUGE *shudder*)
- Made cards & letters for all holidays & family
- Created a stationary set
- Dissected a stick insect
- Experimented with Ants (different foods/ant lines/outcomes etc)
- Burnt Paper with Magnifying Glass
- Created costumes for all 3 children
- Mummified an apple (that was gross....lol)
- Drew up a comic book
- Created her own nature journal used for noting down birds/bird spotting.
- Made up a height chart & measures herself & the other 2 kids frequently.
There are many, many more, but thats all I can remember right now. All of these were unprompted life-learning projects. She just found out/got interested in something and proceeded to create it. About half of them were done after our discussions we have. She would (or one of the other kids) would come up with a questions, and so we would end up discussing it. None of the prompted projects/school projects are listed there.
To be fair, all my daughter does is one form of project or another so she always has about 3-5 larger projects on the go at any one time (like the guillotine) and then also does smaller projects several times a day (like science experiments/upkeep, cards, lists, natural language skills etc).
Chaos is the one who does dismantling projects, so he usually has one project at a time set up on his table. Right now, he's taken apart his toy car, because it is no longer working. So he fiddles and tries to fix it, and asks us for replacement parts if he's figured it out. Sometimes he'll make up a costume or two for himself (simple, basic, recyclable ones)
Eve is mostly into recipes right now. She's the kitchen helper.
Its nice to add a few projects here and there for the kids, but if you ever go fully into project mode, just be warned that projects aren't "pretty". There's always unfinished projects laying about waiting to be finished off, science experiments EVERYWHERE in various stages of finished. Lots of disaster projects happen, and have to be fixed. And sometimes to projects get so big they taken over a room (like the web project, which took over the whole atelier and half the dining....and is still up, as she's experimenting with wear & tear using the cats as her flies/spiders, to see how much damage occurs in a certain period of time). Its fine to say the projects are limited to this room, and must be cleaned up at the end of the day, but to me, this limits the childs chance of experimenting, and some projects either can't be moved out of sight, or may break if attempted to be moved whilst unfinished. Luckily, our house isn't a showhouse, nor is it a neighbour convention. DH likes the house to be his private domain, to escape work (he's on call 24/7) so visitors don't happen, which makes it easier for the kids to get the chance to go all out..
Hope that helps in some form
xxx :D
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Thanks Everyone.
After sleeping on it, I've managed to calm down a bit.
I honestly don't think I should have to turn around and tell people why he's reacting the way he is, they *should* (but obviously don't) just be able to mind their business enough to be polite and keep their mouth closed. IMO, its a family matter, not something I should have to splash about (plus the fact he could hear, and end up using it as an excuse other times). I may eventually have to end up resorting to that (obviously, is he had broken something in the store, I would of come back after he was settled, explained, and paid for the broken item.)
The local news is, unfortunately, not an option (although I may have nice dreams thinking of that, lol). Its a small closely-knitted community, if you shun one of the operators, everyone else will shun you....which would make going to get bread & milk a drama. The only available option is just not to visit there, DH told me the hardware shop down the road from it apparently has storage stuff, so I won't really be missing out on anything (and if I want $2 shop type places, we'll just have to travel half an hour in either direction of our house.) The local town is more convenience than anything else (we also need the vet place there as well, taking the animals on a hour round trip, plus waiting room is doable, but really, practically impossible in Summer).
Either my powers of observation are off the chart, or the people yesterday had thick skulls. It was obvious it wasn't a simple tantrum (my 4yo has chucked some doozy tantrums, and they look nothing like that, nor would I have approached the situation in the same way). My 7yo has chucked some dramatized tanty's too.
Little kids have no shields between them and the world, like adults do. His was too much sensory input (overload) and not having his items to hide behind. I tend to not have a shield (or armour) either. I can logically look back at situation, or look at situation from afar, but if I am in amidst it, I feel everything way too much.
Sue G - I LOVE what your husband would of said. If my hubby said that, I probably would of fallen on the floor laughing. He has a british accent, and combined with that "speech" he would of sounded quite...snobbish, lol. I often find new catchphrases/sentences I beg him to say, the latest obviously being my signature, which set me off into hysterical giggles. I think I may use your speech in my head, just imagine my husband saying it, and I think I shall be able to walk out of there with a smile on my face.
I'm going to go find hubby and show him that speech. I know its not taken in the way you meant it, but its sincerely cheered me up.....I wonder if I can get him to say it? (perhaps with "I've arrived" as the greeting/beginning) :laugh:
:grouphug: Thank you to all who replied, it's so nice to be able to come to a place that no only automatically understands what I went through, but offers suggestions, and ways to look at it from a different POV. Thank you.
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I am so completely livid right now.
Chaos had a meltdown of MAMMOTH proportions. After everything calmed down, I figured out the trigger, and it was my fault, not his. Anyway..
I was in the local variety store that I am not fond of visiting (the shopkeeper there is rather dour and rude) to pick up a tote for my math stuff. DS ended up having a really, really big meltdown. Complete with screaming, kicking and was basically losing the plot. When he gets into that mode, he is STRONG. Like I think he could possibly lift a car (well not that strong, but ends up about twice as strong as me) So I had to catch him, and somehow lift him up when he had gone all rigid, and as carefully as I could (he was at that point where hurting himself either by accident or deliberately was a great risk) quickly got him through the aisle and out the door (whilst DH took care of purchasing the stuff).
Once I got him out of "ground zero" he calmed a bit and I held him in a strong hug till DH & the other two kids came out, then proceeded to pick him up at a weird angle (he was still tense & resisting) got him down the street, hurt my ankle a bit when he wiggled/tensed whilst I was on the edge of the pavement, and got him into the car, where both DH & I had to hold him firmly, whilst we got him in his seat. As soon as the seatbelt was on, he calmed more and finally broke a smile when I gave him my sunglasses.
So all in all, I was thrilled with the fact everything got handled quite efficiently, he didn't get hurt, and that I found the trigger and realized what set it off (its been ages since he had a meltdown in public, and about a year since he's had one anywhere that was that big). I realized he didn't have his "fiddle" and his "hug" (he always needs two things when we go out, something to have in his hand, to fiddle with, and something that makes him "secure" like sunglasses or a soft teddy or big jumper etc) I could of smacked my head realizing I had somehow forgot those things today (it becomes an auto thing for him to grab them, so I haven't had to concentrate really on making sure he has them). So overall I was completely happy.
:rant:
What I was not happy about was the comments. Really rude comments. I had to listen to two different people on my way out who said stuff that made me almost lose my cool. But I just managed to keep my temper in check, and concentrate on Chaos, and making sure he was okay.
When we got back to the car, I found out other than the two people I had to ignore, the shopkeeper was discussing Chaos to another customer in front (and apparently saying some things that DH didn't even want to repeat to me) then when DH was being rung up, the shopkeeper said "he's your boy isn't he?" DH nodded, and she replied with (in, apparently, what was a really snide voice, and DH does not usually pick up that sort of thing from others which means she must of been radiating it) "Normal people do something about that, don't you know?" :cursing: I was > < this close to going back there, and giving her a piece of my mind.
Why is it people just think that your being a bad parent? That they automatically assume everything is fine and that your child is just a brat? My two other children were standing there acting a good as gold. I am just so sick of people who have nothing nice to say and know NOTHING about our situation, opening their mouths and letting stuff fly out of it that have no business being said at all.
It makes me go through a rainbow of emotions, none of them nice, to have to "overhear" (not that these people are whispering, more like practically shouting it) what they have decided & judged from a two second glimpse into our life. Not to mention the fact my son may overhear those comments! I'm needing to beg for patience & understanding right now, because I lost it all, dealing with those people :sneaky2:
Never, EVER going to that shop again either :mad:
:sad: I'm a mess right now, I keep hovering in between anger & crying. :crying:
Thanks for "listening".
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Brer Rabbit. Alice in Wonderland.
Brer Rabbit bored both the children & I
Alice in Wonderland, the kids kind of liked it, but I was tripping over my tongue trying to read it. It felt a bit like listening to Yoda.
Milly Molly Mandy I quite liked, the children didn't.
My eldest daughters loving The Wise Enchanter, and my youngest loves Tiptoes Lightly. I haven't actually read Pippi Longstockings I don't think) but I used to love the movie when I was younger....I hope its not like Alice in Wonderland, and ruins the movie for me (although to be absolutely fair, I think I just have a bad copy/version of Alice, one of those cheap classic reprints. I'm going to try looking on Amazon to find a better rated version for Alice.
There's been a couple of picture books that I've hated reading aloud. I don't remember the names of those though. Stuff that was recommended in good lit lists, then has people dying all over the place, or puppies dying.......I don't like puppies being hurt or dying in a book. Who would think up a childrens book like that? Theres been about 4 or 5 picture books, and after I've finished reading them, I've been crying for one reason or another, so they ended up getting tossed, very quickly, hence why I don't know their names.
I don't like Don Quixote much. Love the actual story, I don't like the way its written. It feels somewhere between stilted and listening to someone waffle off the storyline. And yes, I did read it "aloud" to my kids. It was a good way to get them to sleep quickly :leaving:
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Edited to add: for the sake of the conversation very basic competency in math/reading/writing is assumed.
So since LA/Math is included (5 subject then? lol) mine would be:
Science
Australian History/Culture & Aboriginal History
Creative Thinking
....ha! thats close to what we're doing now (there's "always" other subjects, but apart from the 3R's I tend to focus on the above three.)
If we weren't including 3'Rs it would of course be:
Language Arts
Math
Science
:lurk5:
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Just to add - there are different calvet "versions" and they tend to have different reviews. So if you are after a particular one, it would be better to elaborate (I found this problem when I was searching for reviews for calvert a while ago).
Apparently theres a core standards/your particular state version, which would be similar to the S&S of your local school, this one might be the one available "free" through your particular state. Another is the actual school itself, another is getting calvert yourself/paying yourself by purchasing from their online shop, which splits into two separate streams one with ATS and one classic.
It confused me too :huh:
I am thinking from what I have heard, if you like what they say, and their samples, the online pay-it-yourself version is good, people seem to like it (it is a lot of dollars though). The school itself & its curriculum is apparently quite rigorous (on the side of over-rigorous) and the "free" through your state ones not many people seem to like.
I hope that helps :confused1: :leaving:
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That's what I'd do if I were really curious. The only down side to that is the costs associated with enrollment. Here you have to have to have a physical exam, dental exam, and eye exam. If you already do those and they have been paid for then no extra cost. If not, then yeah that might just be too expensive.
So....what would happen if I was a peg-leg with missing teeth and a glass eye.....would I fail the student entrance? :huh:
Or are they checking for gas capsules hidden in teeth now? :confused1: How weird (then again, I know nothing about US schools, so perhaps there is a good reason for it).
Here, you either have to have the vacc certificate showing you got the 4yr vax, or a doctors certificate showing exemption from the vax, and have completed a "healthy check" exam (which is to make sure no abuse is happening in the household of any sort, and to catch LD's or problems early, like DS's speech delays etc) it consists of filling out a couple of questions related to the child (can your child speak? does he eat well?) and they glance at that, glance at the child, ask you "all good?" and thats the stamp of approval and end of that.
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I use a crystal stick after showering, and if i need extra at some point, I either wash underarms, dry and re-apply or I use a roll-on tea tree or eucalyptus stick.
I save the bodysprays for going out. I can't use body sprays or normal deod. at home as we have a big bee/wasp drama here, and they are naturally attracted to me. If I add scented or bodysprays, they think I'm honey......
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Yes, I'm an overplanner and I'm looking at the years ahead trying to decide what I want for my kids. Here are some questions I'm struggling with:
What is the advantage of accelerating in math?
I'm not sure of the exact question here *blush*. Math (to me) is extremely important. Every job requires math in some form or another, and when your talking about certain careers/fields, math is extremely important. So to me, I want my child to fully understand all the ins and outs of math.
Should we learn 2, even 3 languages in these early years?
Really, to me its not important, but we will be learning two or three languages before they finish, they'll start with french (Romantic), move onto Latin (Romantic) and finish with German (Germanic). I want them to learn both a Germanic thread and a Romance/Latin thread. French I am starting off with next year, and it won't move more than basic conversational and songs (no worksheets). Latin will come from root-words, so won't be conversational, just more learning root/scientific words. German they will learn basic phrases and passable basic conversation. So nothing is towards getting a "good root" in some language, they are just languages I have chosen on my personal preference and research. Since all will be very basic, and not take too long, later on down the road, they can have the option of learning a language in depth (I would suggest something like Madarin or Cantonese, as a large amount of jobs available in the cities requires speakers of those languages, so its more of an economic/future job standpoint, to help keep their options open further)
Should I give more time to art and music instruction?
To me, a well-rounded student is important. So, I believe, a child (no matter their gender) should try doing (and finishing a project) in every field of the arts (dance, pottery, painting, playing an instrument, theatre) it allows them to try their hand at stuff they may be good at or may fail abysmally, but pride happens when they finish their project, because they persisted. It also helps them understand that the arts are important, and gives a respect towards professional artists. I could go on and on about this field, but I have left it at th very basics (we don't just do the projects, but explain about that particular field, see professional versions of whatever project they are on, meet the artists etc) I think developing a good ear and music appreciation can help out with other more academic skills as well (and in their jobs later on in life). I think schooling should be an equal mix of academics and the arts (and just plain silly family time, but thats a whole other subject)
What about habit training- should that take precedence over everything else?
I assume you are talking biblically? In which case, I cannot respond. If you are just talking about values and character, I think this is *very* important. Manners, truth, a natural awe for the world, social graces, respect etc, should be instilled in the child from the very beginning (by being a role model for them to imitate from the very first, followed by practical life skills either naturally woven into your life or if you need help, something like a character/homemaking program). I cannot say enough, how important actually teaching your child homemaking is, whether they are a boy or a girl. To me this is *the* most important thing (or in other houses, I would put this one step behind bible, of course). Any child will eventually be out on their own, tending their own house, and I can say, this is one area, imitation is not enough. The child needs to *know* be involved, understand all the ins & outs, times/schedules/rotations. My mother kept a rather clean house, knew how to take care of it, knew about stains & curtain washing, bed tucking, mattress rotations & times, because she was properly taught & told from her mother. My mother provided a role model to me, made a chance for imitation (which is fine for "character" the children learn enough of the do's and don'ts from watching how you act), but never, ever taught me...anything. She just expected me to know how to clean my room, to know how to put out a kitchen fire (thats a whole 'other story, but anyway), to know how to make a bed. And yes, I had watched her make the bed, but it doesn't matter. What I needed was for her to say "the mattresses get turned every 2 weeks, the curtains get washed in netting and put on a wool wash, I hand wash the rugs outside at the end of the season, this is how you make a bed, pull this bit here, flip this, turn this here". When I moved in on my own (and even now) I flummox about the place, and I truly believe, had my mother actually taught me as her mother taught her, I would be as practical and timely as my mother with homemaking & scheduling. Instead I'm like a chicken with its head cut-off. Food for thought anyway :p
We all know there is not enough time to focus on everything, so how do you decide what is most important in your homeschool?
To me (especially in the current state of events. I received a letter from the real estate ages ago that looked like a teen SMSing) the 3R's are the most important. (Reading & Writing, because they are the basics of communication. Math because nearly every job requires math in some form or another, and more jobs are requiring higher math)
Next is Science, because, even year, more and more jobs require a deep understanding of science. Having a great understanding of science (and of course, the precious high grades on a test) also keeps the field wide open for what your child wants to do (Veterinary, Medical, Research, Chemists, etc require good grades to continue to a school for those, as well as a lot of others I cannot think of right now with that beeping tractor beep-beeping across the road).
Right behind science is a good grasp of Creative thinking. With the state of the world, and how everything is changing so quickly, the future workers will require a great bit of outside the box thinking skills.
I feel like I am giving a lot of time/energy to things that are not necessarily part of MY goals for the kids, though they may be someone else's, and I'm just trying to make our future path a little clearer. Anyone have thoughts?
It sounds like you need to step away from everything and just think. I try to think of what will actually help my kids in two ways.
The very basic thing is if they want to be an artist or have some hobby that they can't used to provide for them, so they are happy to just be a trash collector, or a janitor, or checkout person or something really simple that fits around their hobby. What skills will they need at the minimum to happily live their life with a basic job, and a passionate hobby they might want to get off the ground?
To me, this was the 3r's. Math to be able to budget, communication skills for social & business reasons & creative thinking, to come up with possibilities/solutions. Character training so they can get along with others and fit into any circle they wish to be in and Homemaking so they can live independantly.
Now what if they wanted to go further? What fields are there? Now obviously there are a lot.
IMO, I decided an overview of history was fine. They can easily learn more history if they need too, and we would never be able to cover every bit of history and have them retain it anyway.
Science however, requires a good understanding from the very beginning, and opens a lot more doors. Logic/Debate & Critical Thinking Skills can help them go a little further into these sorts of fields too. Know how to research & self-educate. A knowledge of the main (not every) but the main books people tend to talk about (Oliver Twist, Edgar Allan Poe, Shakespeare, I really can't think with that tractor, but lets say top 20-50 classic most talked about books). Vast knowledge of technology, machinery & computers (towards 5/6th grade an emphasis will be put on technology right beside science) A couple of classic movies for literary analysis, furthering those writing skills, an overview of the arts, and one language that will further their ability in the job market (which, as I said, here would be mandarin or cantonese)
Obviously the skies the limit here, but thats what I thought from most basic (I.e. most important) to what will help my child succeed in whatever path he/she may choose.
So I sat down, forgot every book I read about what you "should" give your child, and just thought about the job market in 20years and what I could do to help them in that. In the end, you are educating them to get the job they want and to be happy in the life they lead. :001_smile:
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From slowly working my way through the RS archives, it seems to be 5/50/40/5
5 being the people who jump ship way beforehand (although there is likely more, most don't post about jumping ship on the RS group)
50 being the ones who go on to Videotext as recommend in RS.
40 being the ones who go on to AoPS stuff.
Final 5 being people who do some mixture or something else (either textbook+videotext, Teaching Textbooks, Chalkdust, Textbooks, etc)
HTH xxx
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We don't have a homeschool room *gasp*
we have the verandah we're we do messy play (has a seat for me, plastic tables and chairs for the kids, plus a wooden play kitchen they use for mud parties, pretending and storing. I also plonked a 4 drawer filing cabinet out there, and put all the dirt/seeds, paints and other supplies in there).
We have the old loungeroom which is now a room thats empty except for a spare bed (for daytime naps, or playing or whatever) and that room is used for building their big projects (cubby houses etc).
Then they have their spire, which is where they can play/pretend, read or hangout.
And finally there is the Atelier, for their main projects.
One day I will take photos, preferably after I have re-painted the walls (the person who had this house before we bought it was insane. The WHOLE kitchen is mint green. Everything. Then in the spire, they have covered blue halfway up the walls. The lounge has faux wood pannelling that looks like something out of a bad 80's movie, the kids bedroom is a very sharp purple, and in the Atelier they painted one wall blue, and its across from the mint green kitchen. I think they were colourblind, its almost as bad as my mums house that she purchased was (why would someone paint a stairway neon orange and the landing people, with a red and green kitchen? People who don't have coloursense, should not be allowed paint or interior design choices (that includes me, but even I wouldn't do something that ugly).
I finally found an idea for a colour scheme for the Atelier & kitchen (since removing the green would require removing the whole kitchen) so now know how to focus the colours in both rooms in order to make it look less of an eyesore (and the green barnyard curtains on the kitchen window will be the first to go.)
So nope, no pictures from me, rofl. One day, maybe *crosses fingers*
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I was reading fluently (chapter books, no stumbles) before I arrived in Kindergarten. I apparently just taught myself, my mother had no idea how I did it, rofl.
Once the teacher found out, I was the one reading to the class (book facing them, so I was reading the book "upside down" and still reading fine). The teacher was amazed, but I was never put in any program. Developmentally, I was still a child. My writing was big and scrawly, I loved to write stories, and the teacher was fine with "handling" me (although she had been a teacher for over 20 years at that point, and loved to teach).
My brother was the complete opposite. I had to help/tutor him with his reading when he was 20/21 (I was around 11/12 at the time) so it really wasn't an environment based thing (or might have been, who knows. My brother was the only planned one in the family, I was the mistake/accident, so I was pretty much a Matilda, having to take care of myself, which may have made me somehow learn to read because I "needed" to in order to function/deal. I loved escaping into books growing up, and mostly read from an old collection of books my parents had stored away (including lots of long fiction books, australian history/bushranger non-fictions and humour books from the late 1800's that spelled stuff like "laff" and was not funny at all, rofl)
I really think that anything inside a wide range is normal, and that it can widely differ based on home environment, the type of schooling and support the child is receiving, their access to books that interest them, and learning problems. It really makes a very wide boundary.
If the child is showing signs of giftedness from the beginning, and the parent is paying attention, its more likely the parent will try to find a program or school that would fit him/her well or may try hs-ing. So there can, of course, be more variables because of that. Other parents who are busy "know" there child is going to be educated by the school they will go to, so may not do pre-reading activities with them, other parents are so busy they may not read to the child much.
So it may seem like early averages are happening in homeschool, but its probably because the interaction between parents and child is higher, otherwise the children (unless in the case of teaching themselves, like me) don't learn to read until the teacher provides instruction.
So in that field, people like me are the odd ducks out (how do you teach a child that has already been taught? It scares the teacher in some form, and they cannot deal with it, so say "I don't know what to do with your child". In the homeschooling field, its rejoiced, hugged & celebrated, and after that brief period, you move on, the child can move at either its own pace, or the parents mixed pace. In a school, the sardines must wait for the "go ahead" to learn. Everyone must learn at one pace, those who fly past & fall behind are swiftly removed to keep the pace cohesive and orderly.
Disclaimer: All are my own opinions, from my weird mind. Take with a large dose of salt. No offence is meant to teachers, schools, homeschoolers, bears or the octopus sitting in the corner (although he is giving me the evil eye).
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Sounds fine to me.
Ours has gone something like this:
2011- World Cultures/Intro to People & Customs. A Smattering of Ancient Egypt.
2012- Mainly Ancient Egypt. A Smattering of Dinosaurs, Stone Age, Roman & Greek. Also touched briefly upon the Great Wall.
2013 - Introduction to Australian History, Mostly Focusing on the Dreamtime/Aboriginals. Next we will be reading "The Story of Australia", then will hopefully focus on whatever we come across in Konos, if we take that route, if not, a mixture/overview of history from Greeks till now.
2014? No idea. Probably mixture from Konos. For Aus History, probably visiting local museums and the Aboriginal Cultural Centre.
I'd say from 5th-8th grade, they will do a proper chronological overview of history as more of an independant study. 9th & 10th will focus on Australian History & Current Australian events, I believe (not my choice, to pass yr10 they have to go through an institution of some sort, so I was planning to start their yr10 in yr9, so they can either fly through it quickly, or have the chance to follow their interests alongside the boring materials we have to use. Once they pass the yr10 course, they'll have the choice of doing distance education for year 12, going to tafe and doing year 12 there, or focusing on their interests for another year (what would be their yr10/11 depending on how fast they finished the course) before going for their yr12 course.
So I only really get to teach upto yr8 :( Which is a pity as they miss out on some really quality, but fun, curricula at that age, in order to do the boring fill-in-the blanks stupidity that comes from the workbooks they will have to do.
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Our library (and we are counted as low-tech area) has an online website, and I can order/hold stuff from throughout the region, plus all the way down to near the city. Our library is the size of a large caravan....and looks like one too. rofl.
Its quite terrible (including the inter-loans), and doesn't have anything we usually want. I just have to use keywords instead and try to find something worthwhile that can somehow be a replacement for whatever we need.
We used to have a LARGE charity store (like mall sized, seperate departments, huge) and most of their books were $1, and there were obviously a lot of homeschooling families & teachers who somehow donated stuff to there, as I found a lot of good stuff. Unfortunately, it closed down. We used to do most of our shopping/supplies/clothes shop there, and still haven't found a replacement place. Now about twice a year, I get the chance to go to the other charity stores and find a book or two.
Consequently, our home "library" is mostly made up from a mix of two of Sonlights cores and the hauls we got at the charity shop. Other than that, when purchasing curricula/resources secondhand off someone, I keep an eye out on their classifieds to see if they have any cheap worthwhile books. And I made it a new rule that once a month I purchase a book or two (picture or picture & a chapter) from bookdepository, based off of a reading book list I have.
So I mostly try to purchase here & there. I ocassionally order from the library, but considering it takes 1-2 weeks for lackluster books to arrive, I don't use it much (the books that are at the library either consist of outdated non-fiction, comic books/really bad young kids books, or stuff meant for teachers like "Fire Trucks! Here's the fire-engine toot-toot!"
My purchase this month is a couple of graphic novels from an online 2nd hand bookshop, to hopefully interest DS (he's very visual) So I managed to find graphic versions of a few books like narnia.
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Gosh.....nope, I'm speechless :huh:
We're in Aus (so totally different here, or my experience at least). I toured & interviewed at various private & public schools before deciding the school I thought Atlas would be happiest at (which was a public school). Times for tours were usually set-up outside of school hours (late afternoon). It allowed us to see the classrooms and speak to the teacher and/or principal without bothering the students (here, at least, there is always a couple of teachers hanging around after school lets out, either doing papers/collecting stuff, fixing up their classroom, and the principal usually goes later).
So, from my view if they said that to me, unless there was a good reason I wanted my children to go there, therefore I am willing to give the school a "second chance" and try to reason with someone, I would of just gone "prrrpppph :glare: to them".
Nothing is free, so even in a public school, your still going to be shelling out a lot of $$$ for anything from uniforms, to trips, school levies they seem to attach to everything, books, pencils, etc. I'm not going to enrol my kid (whose education is my responsibility whether I actually educate the myself or not) to a school I know nothing about. :glare:
The school we chose of Atlas was perfect, she even received a little personalized card from the teacher, and a "counting down to school" placement giving parents ideas of what to do to make sure their child is ready. Before that I had her at a lovely local preschool, where the main teacher was very sweet and helpful, especially when Atlas ended up being diagnosed with Type1 diabetes.
The reason to pull her from that school was two-fold. One, we moved and it would of been a big problem to get her to school (she would of hardly been home except to sleep), and the next was the laws I looked into regarding schools & diabetes. We had a mini-problem at the daycare where they checked her ketones instead of her blood, and found it 0.01 (which considering they thought it was her blood, would of meant she was dead or in a coma) and didn't call us.
The problem we found was they can watch over her diabetes, but the teachers obviously do not have time to micro-manage. At the age of 6, she would of been responsible for checking her levels, giving any extra injections and keeping an eye on thing. The teachers aren't allowed to touch her diabetes stuff, and if she went low and dropped, they can't do anything, if she went comatose, they would have to call an ambulance, then me. Only the paramedics or myself have the "authority", apparently, to give her glucogen. So had she dropped, they would of just been standing there watching her go comatose, whilst awaiting an ambulance, and you'd have to hope they noticed it happen right away. That was enough for me. I now have two kids with type1, and no way am I putting them in school (if they want to, I may think about it once they get more into their teens, but obviously they have to be really responsible teens, which doesn't happen. I've heard bad stories about Diabetics when they get to teen years, either forgetting or frosting their levels in the book) They're young, its hard enough to get them to understand or remind them they can't go out with barefeet due to the Dbts. I really can't see Atlas giving herself extra injections or calling me to explain a level mid-class.
So what i am saying, is my mind may be skewed due to having to keep an eye on medical problems, which makes me more paranoid, but (IMO) if they didn't want to just show me, in some way or form, their school (and I'm easy going, I'm happy to just walk around when class is letting out peekin' around for a few minutes before asking the teacher one or two questions. And I'm happy to (well, not happy, but I understand the security precautions in the US, so) to be checked to make sure I don't have some sort of weapon on me.) But I don't like to be told I cannot view something until I'm already a part of it.
Is there the option of just enrolling, then viewing, then pulling the enrolment? :laugh:
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I do youngest to oldest for each subject.
So our day goes a little like this (for 3-4 days a week, the other 1-4 days a week are just more random lol):
Heres a "perfect" day:
Breakfast/Mommy Quiet Time (Mom needs time to figure out she's actually alive and walking around, I am *NOT* a morning person)
Eve-Reading/Pre-Reading
Chaos-Speech Therapy/Language Skills
Atlas - Reading
Morning Tea/Mommy Quiet Time
Eve-Maths
Chaos-Maths
Atlas-Maths
Lunch/Mommy Quiet Time
Afternoon- Unit Studies/Play all together with break for Afternoon Tea/Mom Quiet Time
Dinner/Family Time
Free Play
Bed
What actually happens:
Breakfast: Kids refuse to eat, Eve screams over getting her injections and hides, kids fight, I break them up, Atlas argues with Chaos, I break them up, someone spills their breakfast, I clean it up, etc. I try to go "wake up" but continuously am bothered by kids
Do reading, being interrupted by other kids between & during teaching
Do Maths, being interrupted by other kids between & during teaching
At some point, slap random stuff down and pronounce it morning tea/lunch/afternoon tea.
Look at unit study and pronounce it interesting, but so not going to happen.
Hide in bathroom for 2 minutes of peace.
At some point during the day, find myself quoting really random, weird things "Chaos, no! not that bone, it has dog poop on it....go find another one and bury it in the sandpit"
Finally get to sit down 2 minutes before DH gets home when kids decide to play in the garden. DH comes home, notices me sitting down and says "so I guess you didn't get anything done today"
Fall asleep dreaming of revenge to DH.
:leaving:
Okay, well thats not what happens all the time, rofl, but what happens on the really bad days....which today is turning out to be.
Must go, little child having a tantrum. :huh:
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I gave up for Secular Science, lol.
I'm planning to purchase KONOS, which has science in it (obviously creationist slant), I'll be reading NEE & BFSU, so may add that down the line, and might do RS4K and Science Activity Bags at the end of the year. I also just purchase experiment books now based on my kids current interests (so right now its more of a chemistry bent, and a few physics bits, explosive science). Next year I was looking at Exploration Education.
Any really secular science programs I have found are either meant for classrooms (and thus difficult to use, and rather dumbed down) or are reeeaalllly boring. At my kids age its more about interesting them in science, and the secular programs out there just aren't going to do that.
The only other options are those that have a particular view, but pull all ideas of their view from the program (like BFSU & RS4K).
Oh, we also have lentil science and have been looking at getting the book for the loupes - Private Eye.
So I tend to just do a big mix of various stuff. I have no idea what I am going to do later on down the track when I need to start going formal. I was thinking Konos, with teacher views from BFSU/NEE, Lentil Science & RS4K. (Konos being our main (or BFSU if that works out) kids do Lentil Science when they want (I have to re-setup the station), and RS4K for end of year unit study).
Previous stuff we've dabbled in has been Aha Science! Happy Scientist, Elemental Science & Real Science Odyssey (and probably other stuff like brainpop, etc that I have forgotten.)
I'm planning to re-look into Aha! Science, as its rather independant (I may keep Happy Scientist too) I have a few lil problems that means I have to take it easy and I get sick quite often, so along with the old (old!) laptop that was donated to DH via his work, it might be something for them to do on days when I'm not that crash hot.
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Me likey it :D
I like being involved with my kids, I like games, they love manipulatives & games. To me, any program is "teacher intensive" because you are the teacher, and your meant to concrete the concept for them, guide them along so to speak (hopefully I'm making sense, I have lil miss whingy beside me going on about her horse doco movie (after lunch is apparently *too long to wait*) and its driving me a little batty so i can't think)
I think the main reasons are:
1. It doesn't seem to have the same feel as the rest of the WTM recommendations, so there is less likely to be people using it here, than stuff like Saxon, Singapore etc, that actually proclaim rigorous drills and repetition.
2. The set-up is expensive. A lot of people don't want to fork out the money in case it doesn't work out. Compared to buying a $10 student text, theres a fair difference.
3. Its a lot easier to throw (well, not literally, of course, you know what I mean :p lol) a workbook at a child and tell them to go do it in the other room. (perhaps whilst you sip coffee and post on the WTM forums........the thought is tempting, isn't it? :laugh: )
4. Basically, there actually are (forgive my grammar right now, everything seems upside down to me, brain definitely broke on that last shriek) quite a number of people who use RS on here, they just don't tend to post about it much or frequent other areas (Gen Ed, Chat Board, Learning Challenges etc)
IMO its a good strong program, and I'm excited to use it. Its what I was looking for when I went down the SM road (but that has now taught my daughter some bad habits). To me SM is more confusing...too many different books. To use the program the way it was suggested, I would have 5 seperate books all open... :svengo: I just look at that and think "why?"
I think of it more like a history experience to know what works. For instance, think about your childhood. Yes, by now (after many, many years of schooling) pretty much everyone can answer automatically to what 5+5 or 10+10 is, what else they know veers off from there in different people. If you think about your childhood, do you remember the drilling, gazillion worksheets or any other seperate classes from school? Or do you remember licking an ice-cream, running through the sprinklers, water fights, games with the family..that sort of thing? The times of moving & playing you remember more than 3rd grade english class??? :scared: Yep. :tongue_smilie: Moving = Learning, and as Rightstart says Games are to math as Books are to reading. One must have a real life application that interests the child in order to easily further the childs learning. Instead of flashcards and drills that leave a child in tears, you have family time, playing games and laughing :thumbup:
Now, I don't know if any of that made sense, or if it answers your question *at all* (perhaps I should of waited till horse documentary was on to reply :tongue_smilie: ) Oh, and disclaimer: Everything was my own personal opinion from my weird, rambling mind, and should be taken with a grain of salt, two tablets and call me in the morning :willy_nilly:
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I had the first one and LOVED it. To me (for some reason in my head) it reminded me of halfway between LOF and SM (I suppose because its living math, and I had to copy pages in the back of the book (cards, pieces etc).
I would of stayed with it, but my daughters not a "living math books" kinda gal. She wants stuff straight up, no stories. I liked it better than LOF, I suppose because, to me, LOF felt a bit more boyish, whereas ML4LE feels more neutral.
If you love living math books and problems, I think you really can't go wrong with Queens ones, but as I said, I didn't get to use it much :(
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The Waldorf Student Reading List used to be the best $8 you could spend (a little booklet): http://www.amazon.com/Waldorf-Student-Reading-Pamela-Fenner/dp/0964783207
Its now been updated (its small enough to fit in your handbag, but nice and fat and filled with LOTS of book reccs) to Make Way for Reading: Great Books from Kindergarten to Eighth Grade: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0964783258/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=1535523702&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0964783207&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0BYPASD320KC9X3C0QSZ
A unique, age-appropriate collection of familiar and little-known gems.
This annotated resource is a treasury of recommended reading for families, teaches, librarians, booksellers and anyone who wants to share a love of books with children.
This list helps families to select the right book for the right moment to accompany their child's changing interests and development.
Contents include:
Picture Books; Grades 1-3, 4-5, 6-8;
Biographies; Mythology Legends and Folklore; Celebrations, Games, Music, Crafts and Other Activities. Indexes of Titles, Authors, Illustrators, Series, Anthologies, Subjects and Waldorf Curriculum Blocks.
Its indexed and cross-referenced very well. I love my book, its over 300 pages of brilliant suggestions. I actually ended up going on a rabbit trail through suggested books (looking up the books I liked on Book Depository, and then looking at books by that same author)
I found this: Mr Goethe's Garden
Mr. Goethe's Garden tells the story of a unique friendship between an inquisitive young girl, Irena, and her neighbor--the elderly, world-famous play-wright, artist and natural scientist, Johann von Goethe. Irena visits Mr. Goethe in his well-tended garden where he teaches her to draw and to observe the world of nature in a special way. Set in the 1830s, this book was inspired by Goethe's life and his botanical treatise "The Metamorphosis of the Plant. Exquisitely sensitive illustrations and elegant text reveal the intricate wonders of the plant kingdom. As the bonds of friendship deepen between Irena and her wise neighbor, she experiences a new way of seeing the natural cycle of the plant--from seed to flower to fruit and to seed again. "Like friends, plants tell you their secrets only when they know you care. Just practice listening with your eyes, and one day when you least expect it, you will see with your heart and be swept up into nature's dance." An informative afterword describes the life of Goethe and his many accomplishments.Its a sweet little book, and I love the magical side of it, so do my kids :)
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Do you mean these? They have a different name but are the same thing. And from Book Dep so no problem shipping here. :D
http://www.bookdepos...g/9781604189278
I've looked at that clickbinder on Amazon UK many times but can't quite bring myself to spend the $$ on it. Did you order the spines from Amazon also?
Thanks for the cube link, but I need 4 in each a different colour, the differentiated & reading cubes tend to be multiple colours on one block. Eventually I'll find some, when I want something, I tend to scour the internet rofl. I'm planning to use them as giant dice. I can change the face of them, DS can throw them and not wreck/hurt anything, and they don't disappear under the fridge or through the floorboards lol.
The spines I might of ended up ordering from them (in hindsight) but I knew I could get them from my local office place (figures....they sell the spines, but nothing to punch them with rofl). When I went to look, I saw the price they wanted for the spines and balked, so purchased from a local seller on eBay instead (I'm not sure with post whether I would of saved anything from the UK to here anyway).
I have to get on the desktop computer today at some point and start printing :D Proclick spines are actually the only spines I like, I hate comb-binding & spirals, they drive me nuts! The Proclick was one of those purchases I knew would be extremely used here, and come in very handy, but because of the cost, plus the fact it was a "want" and not a need, I kept putting it off. I'm so excited to finally have it (after wanting it for more than a year)! I tend to collect lots of PDFs, so only end up printing out one or two sheets from each and forgetting I have them, now I can make my own books, workbooks, activity books and journals! yey!
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We were doing a mix of Real Science Odyssey & Elemental Science, with Brainpop, Aha! Science, and The Happy Scientist.
Now I'm travelling down the BFSU route, rofl. I don't know whether I will *use* it, I've more purchased BFSU & NEE as teacher reading. We may end up doing a BFSU day down the road, time will tell.
RSO & Elemental Science are both nice programs. RSO is more lab-by and nicer looking (read-more professional & fun) worksheets, obviously because its a commercial program. Elemental Science is inspired by WTM, so follows those guidelines with a more CM feel.
Brainpop, I never had my kids do the questions, they just watched the robot. I just felt the price wasn't justified using as is. If you used the questionnaires, plus the teacher lesson plans section & ideas, who knows, it might be great. So we cancelled that (had a contract we couldn't cancel till a year had passed......stupid me rofl) finally.
Aha! Science is computer based. I can't tell you much about it, really, as I haven't used it in depth. Its a couple of dollars a year (I think $15?) It allows you to choose interactive lessons for the child. Dropping it into their assignment box. I've actually been meaning to look more into it before I cancel it, as we now have an extra laptop for A. and it could be something for her (I also subscribed to a few other things through Sky Learning platform that I can't recollect right now).
Happy Scientist is slowly changing and getting more and more organized. I basically just chose a video, we'd all watch it. And thats that. rofl. Either the kids would say "that was interesting" or they would go further with discussions, or doing the experiment themself, by themself. Most of the time they were wanting to do whatever experiment he had shown and asking for the supplies (cream for the butter video, umbrella for the tree video etc).
Another one to possibly look into is The Private Eye. Its a book, and jewellers loupes. We have the loupes (but not the book). It seems like a really interesting program, and if still available near the end of the year from RR, I might grab the book.
Other than that the only one I can think of is that interactive science. I'm pretty sure its secular. Its a mix of textbook/workbook/computer/interactive I think it was Pearsons who does it? There was a whole big shebang on here about it (complete with links to sample sites) about a year ago. It looks similar to Pearsons one, but it may not be the same. Ah! I think it might be Science Fusion!
Another option is Real Science 4 kids. I think its pretty much open and go.
As for how classically or BFSUfully these choices are, I have no idea :huh: :hat:
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I'm in Aus, so ordered "clickbinder" which is the A4 version of the pro-click.
Ordered it from here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001TPU2OO/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
That was the only one that would send to my address (has to be a street address, though, not a PO box, I tried that first). Either the Aus/UK dollar has changed a lot since I last looked ($150AU with shipping last time) or I managed to find another supplier, lol.
I still can't find a photo-block-stacking-cube place that will send to me though :( I'm having a bugger of a time with the things I want of late. Everything either refuses to ship to me, or is completely out of print and as scarce as hens teeth.
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I may be indisposed for a few hours days weeks for a long time, whilst I pro-click everything in site, and print more stuff to pro-click.
Precious.......
I only have 100 spines :( Oh what will I do?
*snort* rofl.
Theres apparently (by the sounds of the grumpiness of the PO guy) a big package waiting for me at there too. One can always tell on the grumpy radar, as to how much mail I have. This one must be a BIG box, because the mail guy that comes to DH's work was asked to take the PO guys box to DH, mail guy refused, and PO guy was even more grumpy, according to mail guy. Its like a full-blown soap opera over here :laugh:
Poor PO guy, he really doesn't like us having a box at his country teeny little Post Office. :closedeyes:
How do YOU teach letter sounds?
in PreK and K
Posted
We tried multiple different things and its just didn't work with retention.
So now we're going to be using Bearing Away, with our own "tiles".
So it will consist daily of:
- Book along the lines of OPGTR (just simple AIO book) called Bearing Away
- Flashcards
- Sandpaper Letter Cards
We've tried ETC, OPGTR, Fitzroy ABC, Leapfrog Videos, and the retention just doesn't remain, so now we're onto something like daily drilling with flashcards, and using the sandpaper letters to trace the letter before shes "awarded" a flashcard.