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Ecclecticmum

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Posts posted by Ecclecticmum

  1. I love the look of:

     

    Bright Beginnings Preschool Curriculum - $40 two books, every subject (including bible, health, hygiene, maths, everything!) means more money spent on extras and supplies!

     

    Mother Goose storytime Curriculum - Looks fun, everything needed sent.

     

    Preschool in a box - Not sure exactly what its called, but there is a program that sends out a tub a month and have every single supply you need and the lesson plans. Full of Arts and Crafts

     

    123LearnCurriculum.com - Pay site for preschool centres/teachers. I actually just purchased this for the Manners/Hygiene/Dental stuff.

     

    PreK Curriculum by Confessions of a Homeschooler - Lots of Fun and good Ideas

     

    1+1+1=1 - Tot Books and Tot Packs (free)

     

    countingcoconuts.blogspot.com - Montessori based homeschooling with Sensory Tubs and Trays

     

    Sonlight P3/4 - List of books, books and activity ideas

     

    I think I covered about every price range and eventuality there. Can't help with more bible/religion based programs though (like horizons etc) because I have never looked into them.

     

    HTH xxx

  2. definately under 2 hours -5 days a week. This only includes "core" subjects and includes setting up, sitting down fuss time.

     

    But our schooling is different, we have lots of elective subjects, and include preschool activities, crafts, dramatic play, open ended art. The program I created was specifically meant to keep the children occupied all day long, from the moment we get up, till their father gets home. Since we're in the middle of "holidays" right now, if I took pictures of my house, you would understand why I use something to keep them occupied, but not limit their imagination. They create mess & havoc if "bored" or being imaginative their own way, like dressing up in my nightwear or pulling all the clothes off the shelves etc.

     

    So our school days start with chores, then core subjects, then electives & fun and end with chores :p The health, safety & manners curriculum I am doing up at the moment for instance, as well as include actual learning materials will e.g. for Dentist they will be doing a unit study about teeth & caring for them, but also do fun crafts (like painting teeth) activities (like flossing "teeth" using megablocks, playdoh and yarn) and have a weekly center under our whiteboard for dramatic play (so a dentist office kit). We include silly activities like spray painting (with a spray bottle, sheet and food dye) and sensory tubs.

     

    So anyway, for the core subjects (LA, Maths, Science & Reading History), including set up, fidgeting and without any activities (so no SOTW activites or Science Experiments), would probably be 1-2 hrs a day, 5 days a week.

     

    Edited to add: I have a 1st grader, a Pre-K'er and a Pre-Pre-K'er :p

  3. I'm both a non-touch & touchy feely :D I'm just super weird I guess.

     

    Basically I prefer to initiate the hugs/affection. If anyone climbs into my lap without me pulling them there its a 50/50 situation. I have to be in the right mindset. I can get very grouchy/irritated at the kids constantly wanting to be carried/hugs etc. And I have sensitive skin, so a child who is wriggling a little leaves me feeling like I have been punched.

     

    Its the same with DH, its better for me to initiate the affection :tongue_smilie: If he leans down and suprises me with a peck, I literally flinch, and yes, wipe it off like a 2yo. If he hugs me then I can end up freezing and pushing away. And the worst is if he rubs is fingers/hand up and down my arm. Anywhere where theres a constant flicking/rubbing back and forth motion like that, it give me ants and my automatic reaction is to lash out (push, shove, punch, its automatic, my hand just flies out to remove the offending thing from me LOL)

     

    But then again, thinking psychologically, I was abused as a child, so this could be the root of that. I prefer to be in control of the contact and someone just coming up and cutting off my options leaves me out of control.

     

    BUT on the other hand, I am a very affectionate person. I am known for giving lots of hugs, kisses, tickles, playing around, snuggling, lap cuddles etc. And yes, I am very affectionate to DH too (I think I was a leech on him last night whilst we were making dinner, with constant "I love you's" and kisses & hugs. So I don't believe my children or DH are missing out on any affection, just the difference of initiation, and if I am not in the right mindset for hugs etc for my kids, they either understand and go off to play or wear me down (cry, whinge etc, so are obviously tired, and sometimes its just easier to go with it) I have found the best thing when I am not in the mood for hugs is to sit in my comfy computer chair, sit forward a bit and place the child in question behind me, I then life up my t-shirt slightly and they are happy curling against my back and rubbing my back for skin to skin contact, which my back for some reason, is less hostile then the front of me :lol: so it allows them when they are tired to "snuggle" without me feeling like every nerve end is on fire.

     

    Because I have littlies, I have to figure out lots of compromises, so another thing that works is when they want to be carried, I instead hold their hands and spin them round or dance with them, they usually forget about the hug and go back to playing with their siblings all smiles.

     

    Edited to add: I also use a quilt year round, I prefer the heaviness of the quilt. I also don't like it tucked it, I wrap it round me so I look like a giant caterpillar :lol:

  4. Yep. You are definately not the only one. I'm in the late stages of scheduling everything now, and of course 2 days ago, I ended up backtracking with several subjects and completely changing them (i.e. Maths - instead of skipping Part B, I have gone back to decide we're going to do it. Phonics - Scrapped ETC, and decided to add in AAR instead. Spelling - Due to adding AAR, We'll be delaying AAS till mid year) but I have promised myself this is my last change ever for this year! Its hard to schedule things if there constantly being scrapped and added!

  5. I'm doing AAR Pre-Level 1 with my two youngest (3 & 4) this year, and AAR Level 1 with my eldest (6).

     

    I'll also be doing AAS with Miss 6. She'll start AAS when she's about halfway through Level 1 of AAR,

     

    AAS goes a bit slow for reading, AAR is the one meant for reading, due to this the correlations set up better if you use AAS behind AAR.

     

    No idea about PAL or Phonics road though.

     

    Others we've tried (and disliked for personal reasons, so may suit your family) are Explode the Code, Happy Phonics & The Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading.

  6. I do find with the more "fun" math books, the child tend to be distracted easily, even ones that aren't so fun (ETC phonics for example) my daughter will just start colouring every line picture on the page :glare:

     

    I do prefer to have more than one math program going, it allows different perspectives and is good for reinforcement without adding to much extra bulk. This year we're doing part B of a 2yr Singapore Math programme and to add supplements I have brought in "different" things. Instead of another workbook we have two living maths books, One is "Math Lessons for a living education Book 1" from Queen Homeschooling, its about 2 children on a farm I believe. The other is Life of Freds Elementary series. These can reinforce math lessons without too much extra writing. We also have a singapore math game that shes allowed to play around with once every two weeks.

     

    So if your child prefers workbooks and is happy, I don't see the problem. If you want to add extra reinforcements in, there is MEP and Math Mammoth, you can just print out appropriate worksheets. If he's game/computer minded, a maths game to play with every now and again is always fun and different, or if you like reading together, a living maths book could be good.

     

    But if everythings going fine, I wouldn't rock the boat :) xxx

  7. This is going to take a lot of my small mental abilities to explain today (I have a splitting headache that involves me not moving more than a millimeter !)

     

    We were using filing crates last year, but due to problems with that (needing more than 1 crate, the metal of the files grating on my nerves, papers curling etc) this year we are going with binders.

     

    I have a teachers binder that has my calendar in it (dated) this is mainly for household and myself, it also has "Resources" (stuff that can't be divided into weeks, lapbook templates that are for mutiple weeks, alphabet posters for pre-k curriculum etc) and a few other bits and pieces in there. That binder usually remains open to the appropriate calendar week.

     

    Next I have binders labelled 1-6 each carrying 6 weeks worth of materials, at the front of each week is a file folder with a tab attached showing the week, behind that is a sonlight inspired planner for that week. I never date these planners, its all just week 1, day 1 etc. It's very sonlight looking with notes on the subjects behind it, behind that is supply lists for the week (books needed, movies needed, supplies needed etc) All materials are hole punched and in there ready. Each child has their own "colour" so a sticker is put on the back bottom corner of any worksheet (red dot etc) to show who the worksheet belongs to.

     

    Next I have the weekly guide binder, I take a week out of the other binders and plonk it in here. The File Folder is put at the pack of the pile of papers, and the supplies list is put "inside" it. The planner stays upfront. I also have a clipboard if I want to clip the planner on there and leave the notes section open in the binder, so I don't have to constantly "flip" pages. A few more file folders with tabs divide the materials by day in the weekly binder (day 1, day2 etc). I cross/tick items we've done off the planner as we go, and the materials/worksheets that are done go into that days "folder" inside the binder, and are put behind the weekly folder, at the end of the week, I put each lot of days into the weekly folder in order, and plonk it in my "to file" box (I file this stuff about every 4-6 weeks) the daily empty dividers/fodlers stay in the weekly guide binder.

     

    Now to the bit your really after. The supplies list and any other extraeneous (sp? lol) stuff is removed. Now because two of my kids are young, they just follow on with DD, but they do have they're own "planner" sheet. I have two copies of the young ones planner sheets, and I have the normal sheets for the weekly plans. I have 3 big binders, each labelled with their inital and their colour. Each binder gets the weekly plan and the associated stuff put behind it in order. That way I have a detailed record of what we did and the worksheets. I practically keep everything lol. Since everything (including reading and oral plans) are listed on that planner in some form or another, it shows everything we do. If I fill up the binder, I get another one. I don't label more than their name till the end of the school year, at that time I put the school year/s and the number (1 of 2) if there is more than one binder. At this time, I will also collect up all the workbooks done, and these are just placed inside, in the front of the binder. I then wrap bands etc around the binder to hold it closed, and its stored on top of the back bookshelves in the library room.

     

    I know its not exactly the answer you were after, but since you after ideas, hopefully this helps in some way :) I refuse to date anything as we school year round (and sometime if unexpected events crop up, it may take us 3 days to do "day 1". I also do not like constantly "flipping" back and forth in a binder, so as such I have the teachers binder I can leave open to dated calendar and the weekly guide that stays open to the undated lesson plan. The dated calendar does not record anything school related and is more for momma (but things like school trips/events that have dates do get put on that calendar.

     

    Note - We live in a region/place where there is no real homeschooling requirements, so to that end I do overplan and overrecord far more than I need to, but on the other end of the spectrum, those with requirements may have to add an attendance chart and other requirements to the teachers binder.

     

    HTH xxx

  8. Haven't read replies. :001_huh:

     

    We start "kinder/prep" (year before grade 1, Im over telling because it seems to be called something different everywhere I go lol) the year the child turns 6 (our "school" years out here in Aus are Jan-Dec though, not july-june or whatever it is for US).

     

    So for prep/kinder year they have basics - Maths (Singapore Math 2yr kinder programme- Part A), Phonics (Explode the Code Primers), A social studies workbook from an Aus place that starts with about Me & my family. Other than that we read lots and lots of books based on introducing thems (berenstein bears big book of science, books about people around the world, classics etc)

     

    BEFORE that year we do arts & crafts, sensory/montessori play, All About Reading Pre-Level 1, and the Pre-K curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler, we also have a big "extra" preschool Singapore Math book, and if they feel like doing that (when big sis is doing Maths) they can. Since I have a child in Grade 1, plans for this year are based round her, the young-uns just follow on, so they do get to do geography, history etc.

     

    If I was in the US three programs I would look at would be:

     

    Mother Goose Story time curriculum (monthly kits)

    Bright Beginnings Preschool Curriculum (book)

    Little Passports (monthly geography program)

     

    I know all thats probably not much help in the area your after, but hopefully gives you some ideas of things to try.

     

    For montessori, one of the best sites is:

     

    countingcoconuts.blogspot.com

  9. Here's ones we used and brief thoughts

     

    Happy Phonics - Too much time to intitally set everything up, everythings higgledy-piggledy. But if you child is more of an interactive games child, this may be worth the time to do

     

    Explode the Code - Quite monotonous (at least the primers are) its basically one big giant copywork. Great for a perfect Paula who likes to check all the boxes, repeat until perfect etc or for a very workbook based child. If your child is half/half perhaps using the activities suggested in the teachers guide and the extras as a more thorough session may help

     

    AAR - Pre-level is very fun and great for children to be excited over the alphabet, lots of crafts and activities. AAR 1+ I just have the books for now, so not that interesting, not sure if the teachers guides are out yet, so maybe preview those if they are.

     

    AAS - Very interactive and hands-on based, but with a workbook "feel". This could work for almost any child type, and with everything, if the mums excited about teaching it, the fun can be catching! :p

     

    K4 Curriculum & Pre-K4 by Confessions of a homeschooler - Interactive, hands on, lots of activities.

     

    Clicknread phonics - Online website based, good as a supplement, very good with no distractions, but still fun

     

    smartyants.com - Online website based. Is fun, but has way too many distractions, its easy for a child to spend an hour on there without doing one lesson (spending most of their time changing the outfits, watching the book movies etc)

     

    HTH xxx

  10. Um.....I am going to get this answer all kinds of wrong, so please forgive me. I know what I am talking about, just forgotten how to explain it exactly in words.

     

    Its supposedly been shown Latin can help you understand other languages easier later on, it also still has a lot of current day words in science, so this can also help you out with that subject. It also teaches the um...way words are structurised and can give more of an understanding to language in general. I think that pretty much sums it up. Sorry if it didn't make any sense...I need more caffeine in order to jumpstart my broken brain lol.

     

    I believe it recommends starting Latin in the 2nd/3rd grade in WTM. We have decided to start in 1st grade with Rosetta Stone (V3 program) but we use it as a more informal basis rather than rigorous formal training. She's allowed upto 1 hour once a week to play with the program, as its self instructed, it just gives her basic understanding and a way to introduce her to the language, if she learns more than an "introduction" I'm all too pleased, but I have set no groundrules or expectations for now.

     

    HTH xxx (And sorry if I got anything wrong, I'm off to get some caffeine now :tongue_smilie: )

  11. We started off following Sonlight's schedule, I soon threw that to the backburner (i'm not a jump-around person by nature, so the constant jumping from book to book annoyed me).

     

    For now during informal h/s, the only read alouds we do is at bedtime. DH does the bedtime routine, so the books are a mish-mash of assortments, anything from Mater's Tales to Charlie & the Chocolate Factory lol. DH just finished reading Charlie last week, so there now back to shoter picture books for a bit.

     

    For next term, we have 1 Picture based readaloud, a 3 chapters of a Chapter book scheduled for each week. Plus whatever DH reads to them of a night (which can be upto 5 picture books or 7 chapters of chapter book). Plus 20 minutes on Mondays & Wednesdays for me to concentrate on readers with A (actually getting her to read to me). This doesn't seem like much compared to others, BUT with SOTW & Science, Geography and other subjects, all of these have extension books we plan to read, so our schedule is quite literature based anyway. The only reason I added readalouds to our schedule is so we could have some "fun" books that aren't tied to any particular subject. We also use the readlouds as jumping off point for movies, docos, youtube searching, and crafts.

     

    HTH xxx

  12. I don't, but my daughter is only at the end of Kindy. I may look into grading her in the future.

     

    I don't believe grading is necessary, as since we're homeschooling, I'm working right along side her, so I realize what needs to be worked on, and what she's "ace-ing" (sp? lol). Grading doesn't give much detail to me, what I do though, is pre & post "tests" so I can see what areas she is weak on, I re-explain to her about the ones she got wrong, and add further revisions for those sections into our schedule.

     

    In summary - I don't grade, but every now and again, I do test, just to help ME with an overall picture of where she's at.

     

    Every homeschooling family is different and there are lots of hs families that grade.

  13. Our eldest will start 1st grade shortly.

     

    She can't write yet, I'd say she probably could do it by halfway through 1st grade, but it would be simple & short.

     

    Right now she just sums it up for me in her own words and I type it up (she talks pretty fast, and my poor handwriting can't keep up with it) She's good at either doing a short or long summary this way.

  14. Yep what the above said, they love clean, loose hair, so keep hair braided and oily (stops them being able to cling to hair). I am very sensitive to lice, if one child in what seems to be 1km has it, I'll get it.

     

    We had a very serious hard to get rid of problem a couple of years ago, after mutiple treatings, when it slowed down, we transferred over to tea tree shampoo, once weekly on the kids hair, and I used it as my only shampoo, we haven't had a re-infestation since.

     

    I love tea tree shampoo for that very reason :)

  15. We use Colgates Milk Teeth, the one meant for little kids.

     

    No toothpaste should be used before 2yrs of age. From 4-6months start using a face washer to gently rub gums to get them used to brushing, there are also finger brushes that go on your finger with silicone or something brushes that can be used, just gently massage gums/teeth. From 12mnths they can start learning about brushing their teeth. Up until 5-8yrs of age the parent should always go over the childs mouth again, as there's always a spot the child will miss.

     

    From 2yrs toothpaste can be used, but until they learn to spit it out properly always use a toothpaste meant for toddlers and useabout a babys smallest fingerail worth, not a dollop. For Children 5+ an amount half the size of a baby pea is sufficient, and really it does not need to be used more than 2 times a week (especially in children whom hate toothpaste)

     

    Brushing is better than not brushing, the main thing of brushing your teeth is to gently massage teeth & gums (and tongues) and to prevent buildup of plaque or bits of stuck food that may cause cavities. 2 minutes of brushing in the morning and again at night would be sufficient. Do not exceed 6-8 minutes of brushing a day, as this in itself can cause other problems. Just concentrate on flicking up between the teeth to dislodge food and circle mssaging round whole tooth to dislodge any build-up especially near the gum-line.

     

    :grouphug:

  16. We use an eclectic approach here, so I fold in various bits that I think would suit us.

     

    We follow a loose guideline for WTM, but include traditional schoolwork, CM, Montessori, natural learning, electronics and a few other bits into our overall plan.

     

    If we could I would also purchase the beautiful montessori puzzles (like Lifecycles, trees etc) but these are a bit out of our price range.

     

    To give you an idea, here's what I currently have from Montessori included in next terms curriculum:

     

    - Dressing Frames (DIY from Photoframes and baby clothes)

    - Continent Boxes

    - Spin Off from Continent Boxes (using the same approach, but for other subjects too)

    - Sensory Tubs

    - Practical Life Trays/Exercises/Lessons (we're very big on Montessori's practical life stuff)

    - Imagination Tubs (tubs filled with odds and ends for playing)

    - Flashcards from Montessori for Everyone for Continent Boxes, plan to add real life version to match them up with.

     

    What we use from WTM:

     

    - General Guidelines for each year (so next term is Ancients yr1)

    - Elemental Science

    - SOTW 1 & AB

    - SWB's WWE & FLL

    - OPGTR as a reference tool

     

    Theres probably a few bits I have forgotten. As I said, I also take parts from many other "styles" and a big batch from my own "style" as we are a very arts minded household, we like big fun messes, painting/drawing, and lots of creative outlets.

     

    Don't know whether I answered your question or have just gone off on a tangent (pretty normal for me) but hopefully I have helped somewhat.

     

    I think the best style is made from lots of research, and thinking about what your children like best, and meshing it together to create your own glorious curriculum suited just for your family :grouphug:

  17. We use it.

     

    If you have Singapore maths and/or Explode the Code, there's not much point to it IMO.

     

    It has stuff like same/different (i.e. tap your foot then the chair) is that noise the same or different? Finding the "hidden" animals and general stuff like that. Explode the code has find the different object, and follow the line to get to the letter, and SM has same/different bigger/smaller and all sorts of comparisons.

     

    Really, I would give it a miss, even if you did not do anything formal, it would all be covered. My 2yo knows big/small, can see the tiger in those pictures and can follow a line, and knows different sounds, and she hasn't touched those books.

     

    To me, its just busy work. We got it because it came with Sonlight core we purchased before we had decided what we were doing. So we may/may not finish it off for DD5, but I won't be purchasing it again.

     

    If the child needs help with comparisons, auditory skills, and patterns, and you don't want to purchase other programs (like maths or phonics) then it would probably suit, elsewise, most of these skills are either covered naturally or through other programs.

     

    HTH xxx :)

  18. COunt yourself lucky if you don't understand it.

     

    I understand it only too well. Anything that is some type of box/bowl is automatically counted as a potty. I have to have eyes in the back of my head and divide myself into 3 to follow each child. Since that is not possible, I come across many gross things *ugh*

     

    My littlest has the makings of a great gymnast as she can contort herself into many positions in order to pee in any number of non-potty things.

     

    My favourite was the strainer.....suffice to say, she was very surprised and came screaming up to me that "my wee wee DISAPPEARED MUMMY!" yep, indeed it did, all over the persian rug.

     

    My other favourite thing is the "what the?" moments you have where everything you know about the universe, and science is kapooted by the fact that a toy car comes flying down when you switch the fan on (how do the children manage to get a toy car to sit right on top of the fan blade in a room with a high ceiling?) :001_huh:

     

    And another mystery....a cup of DD's water can flood the entire kitchen :001_huh: yeh, me too. No idea.

     

    No watch as the Master (me) kills this thread :tongue_smilie:

  19. If you decide not to go with Artistic Pursuits, I would highly recommend the Maryann Kohl books.

     

    Other than that your list sounds good. One suggestion would be (if possible) to download samples of a few different curriculums for Maths and/or phonics, then have your children try them out, this can help you determine which one is better suited for them

     

    xxx

  20. Being Rural, and near diary farming, horses, etc, we have problems with mice, so have to keep everything sealed for sanitary reasons,(theres a mouse sitting outside staring at me right now lol).

     

    I just use the clear plastic pencil jars, for each different kind of marker, pencil etc, these are then laid sideways into a tub marked with "Kids supplies" and put in my teachers closet.

     

    My whiteboard markers etc are in a ziplock bag at chest level in an open tub.

     

    I owuld love ot have everything organised for easier use, but unfortunately then the mice become interested in the cupboard. Suffice to say that cupbaord is entirely filled with labelled tubs. Cardboard is banned, except for the archive boxes I have on the very top shelf.

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