craftyerin
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Posts posted by craftyerin
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$9 and change!
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yep. alternate who starts, and let the one who isn't up add anything they want to add after the first kid goes.
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This past year, my best friend used Earlybird while I used Essentials, so I've been able to do some comparison. Both have instructions for lesson at the bottom of the workbook pages, so even if you go with Earlybird, you don't need the textbook. Otherwise, the Earlybird book is colorful and has more cut & paste type activities (cut these shapes out and use them to…) where Essentials has none of that. I think you can choose based on the general craftiness of your kiddo. For by boys, Essentials was perfect.
I also found this blog post comparing them, which may be helpful: http://www.blueskiesacademy.com/2011/03/singapore-earlybird-versus-essential-math/
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I was in the same boat this year with my twin Kers. They started K reading at a ~2nd grade level and are now reading reading at a 3rd-4th grade level. They finished Phonics Pathways midyear and went to just reading aloud to me daily for fluency practice, and we started spelling. I started them in AAS 1 in October and we lasted about 3 weeks before discontinuing it. They were bored to tears with the ease and pace of AAS 1. It was FAR too easy for such natural readers and spellers. I moved them to Spalding and it's been MUCH better. It's still a program that reinforces their phonics knowledge, but it's much easier to move to pace to where they're interested and learning instead of bored. Plus, it's much less expensive. ;)
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Volumes 1-3 are all the same level, with volume 4 being more advanced for kids on the upper end of the age range (like 7-9yos than 4-8). Mine are too young for volume 4 but I've been using volumes 1-3 with mine for the past 2 years. My favorite is volume 2. More of our favorites have come from it than from volumes 1 and 3. They're all fantastic, though, and my favorite way to do FIAR is definitely picking and choosing from multiple volumes!
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Picture study done exactly as Sonya Schaefer from SimplyCharlotteMason describes here:
I've used SCM's picture study portfolios or a cut-apart calendar. Both work well. We usually grab a library book or two on the artist when we start a new one.
Composer study this year has been more hit and miss. We worked our way through Story of the Orchestra and spent some time listening to Carnival of the Animals and the Nutcracker. I still want to do Peter and the Wolf this year. Next year we'll choose specific composers to study and listen to them at mealtimes, in the car, etc, probably along with some resources like the Classical Kids CDs.
I am to spend a little bit of time on Monday mornings on either artist or composer study, alternating between them every other week, usually over breakfast. It doesn't have to be complicated!
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I'm going to give it a go next year! Y1 with my will-be 1st graders. I've been looking through the list, the suggested schedule, the tweaks I want to make, and yeah, I'm going to have to drop some of it. I'm going to have to make some priority decisions. But I'm excited to give it a try!
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yep, hold the pencils. I have some of those kids myself. ;)
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No reason that I can see! We did it briefly, it felt like a waste of everyone's time, so we stopped.
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Brilliant!!
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Our OT practically danced a jig when she heard that I was already using HWT at home with my 6yo son. She was going to so strongly suggest it. It's what their whole practice uses. In the 6mos since he started OT, he really has gotten SO much better.
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We LOVE our trampoline. Serious life saver with energetic little boys. Our rules are 2 at a time, no flips, and no other kids without specific permission from both their parents and me, and they must abide by our rules.
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One horizontal row on my giant Ikea expedit bookshelf (that mostly holds school stuff) holds picture books. The paper back books are in the baskets on either end, the hard bound books are on the middle 3 cubes.
The sling bookshelf is for library books. The small dark brown basket is for audio books (it gets carried all over the house for use during rest time, etc). The other basket holds books that specifically coordinate with our unit study.
We also have one shelf on the bookcase in the TV room that holds chapter books. We're just now starting to amass a collection of those, though. My kids also each have a small basket or shelf in their room to keep a few books in for bed time or rest time reading. They rotate those out as they please with others that we own or that they have gotten from the library.My kids know where all the different books go and are responsible for helping me put them away. There is always a pile on the coffee table, the couch, the floor in the living room, etc, of the ones that have been looked at in the last 48 hours or so. We try to make a quick dash to return them to their rightful homes every 2-3 days. -
navigable :thumbup1:
DH makes fun of me because I cannot see or hear of a river and not ponder aloud whether or not it is navigable. I just like to say it!
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I am getting rid of ours during my current decluttering spree. My youngest kids are 5.5, but really, the kitchen has never been a popular plaything here. They like to play with the food and pots and pans for picnic or tea party or with play doh, but they have never "cooked" in the kitchen. Go figure.
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My 5.5yo boy asked to learn cursive and I got him the New American cursive book to work through. He likes it and he's doing well with it.
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Still debating some.
Leaning toward a (tweaked) AO Y1, along with:
DS: MEP1, something (undetermined) for reading/spelling, Queen's language lessons (level TBD)
twins: MiF 1, continue Spalding for spelling, Queen's language lessons for the very young
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I am planning to use MiF for 1st grade. I was given the textbooks by a fried who finished with them. I bought the workbooks on Rainbow Resource, and I plan to browse the TE online before each new chapter (it's free to look at samples of the entire teacher's edition). If I hadn't been given MiF, I probably would have continued with Singapore. We've been using Singapore for kinder. Really, I don't think you can go wrong.
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I read several people on here suggest Essentials over Earlybird. I have never seen Earlybird in person, so I can't honestly compare, but I was very happy with Essentials. I did find these blogs post helpful when I was making my decision. http://www.blueskiesacademy.com/2011/03/singapore-earlybird-versus-essential-math/ and http://www.exodusbooks.com/category.aspx?id=7532
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We much prefer the wooden ones. I use them with 3 kids and we have two small group sets. These: http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-Cuisenaire-Small-Group/dp/B000F8R5N2
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Yes, discontinuing, but replacing with comparable product. http://gizmodo.com/heres-why-ikea-is-discontinuing-everyones-favorite-sh-1527126312
I have six different Expedit pieces and adore them. I have never used one as a room divider, but I absolutely would, in the right house/layout/circumstance.
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The delightful learning blog has a post with her schedule for coordinating AAR 1 with AAS 1. I' going to try her schedule with one of mine. I'd link, but it's a pain on my phone. Google should work well though.
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To an extent. Trial and error is the way to go. We had a small room, smallest in our house as a school room for the first 2 years and it just ended up as the black hole, although it did have a door that shut. It was small and we didn't want to be shut up all day in the smallest room.
DH and I had an Ah Ha moment. We are a homeschool family. The kids and I are the ones who spend most of our time in our house, so it should be set up in a way that works best for us most of the time. We converted the "formal living room" into our living room and the family room off of our kitchen became our school room. It is bright and airy and central to the whole house and we use it all the time. I can't shut it away, and anyone who stops by for a cup of coffee can see that we homeschool. At this stage in life it works really well. We still end up everywhere (reading aloud always ends up in my bedroom), but we put our things back, the house is tidier, and our space is central.
yep, yep! In this house, the only option for a school room was a room separate from the rest of the main living areas. We expect a move in 12-18mos though, and my plan for the house hunt is something with both a living room and a den, so that I can make the one closest to the kitchen the school room, and make the other the TV/game room. Sounds perfect for our lifestyle!
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We live here in NOLA. You've got the bulk of the ones I'd recommend on your list or in the first reply. The WWII museum is fantastic, but very graphic, if your kids would be bothered by that. The docents recommended we skip the entire second floor of the museum due to the graphic nature of the photographs of the Asian front. But, my kids are much younger.
Look up when the St Patrick's Day parade(s) are, too. I haven't looked yet. Catching a parade is always a good option for entertainment in NOLA!
Can we talk Kindergarten math?
in PreK and K
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We did Singapore Essential Math and loved it! Although with the c-rod stuff that comes with MFW K, you might enjoy Miquon and/or the videos at educationunboxed.com