craftyerin
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Posts posted by craftyerin
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I know you said no Singapore, but the kindergarten Essential Math workbooks could not be more user friendly. C-rods or unifix cubes, counters, and you're good to go. There are instructions at the bottom of the page about what to do in the lesson, no extra books or anything. KA and KB are available at Rainbow Resource for $10.30 each . http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/sku/045230/007407eaa241619fcc5eb103
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Didn't for us. It actually made it worse! We found that none of us had any interest in spending the morning in one room altogether, so we didn't use our homeschool room. We preferred to do school in the kitchen, in the living room, at the dining room table, etc. So the homeschool room became a place we had to send someone to get this or that, and then all the school stuff just ended up sitting in piles around on the table or kitchen island because no one wanted to carry it all back to the school room and put it away at the end of every day. If I was using a room adjacent to the main living areas, say a formal dining room or something, I could see it working. But the spare room we had was the converted garage, so it was pretty isolated from the rest of the house. I gave up and moved all the school stuff back to the living room on one giant 5x5 Ikea Expedit bookshelf. Now everything is a couple of steps away, so it's much less painful to clean up when school's over. Much better. :thumbup1:
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That's my plan. I did geography/social studies through FIAR in PK and K. Next year we're doing American for 1st. I plan to start SOTW in 2nd. The classical school I taught at pre-kids and pre-homeschooling had random social studies (community, etc) in K, American in 1st, OT/Ancient Egypt in 2nd, Greece/Rome in 3rd, and the equivalent of SOTW 2-4 in grades 4, 5, and 6. I loved that and prefer it to starting in 1st and doing all of the ancients in one year. We plan to wait, and then to slow it down as well.
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It really is a matter of perspective! I'm from DFW and have lived in Houston all but the last 2 years of my adult/mom life, and would prefer Houston to Dallas (but not to FW, necessarily).
We are from Houston and have been in Dallas since 2001. I *definitely* say Dallas.
Drivers aren't nearly as bad. disagree, I think Dallas drivers are WAY worse
Commutes are reasonable comparatively. entirely depends on housing budget and office location
Plenty to do. Active homeschool groups, great sports/fine arts opportunities. at least equally true in Houston
Nicer in general (though I'm sure there are better and worse places in both, the middle is nicer up here). again, I disagree
The weather is better up here (though I hate cold and snow, there is still very little of either most years. It isn't AS hot and humid as Houston.) I think the summers are worse, despite the relative lack of humidity in Dallas, and the winters are harsher. Houston's summers are painful, yes, but the winters are mild and marvelous!
It is just generally more pleasant up here (not that there aren't idiots here like anywhere, just fewer maybe). again, disagree. LOL
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Does anyone here know anything about electricity?
I know it sucks when we have a hurricane and it's out for a week!
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Our library has a ton of picture books with audio and we started with those. We listened to months and months of those before I tried a chapter book. Now, we always have a chapter book going in the car. We've down Charlotte's Web and the vast majority of Beverly Cleary's titles--started with the Mouse and the Motorcycle series, then did all of the Henry and Ribsy ones, and now we're on our 4th of 5th Ramona. But at 3.5, we were just getting started, and doing shorter books with an accompanying book to look through while they listened. Makes car rides so much more fun!
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It's a well known but little discussed dirty secret about home schooling. Some kids don't like it. Some kids don't like 'school' despite the one on one tuition, the sleep-ins, the customised curriculum, the efforts Mom goes to to make things 'fun'. Even when Mom does CM style short lessons, they'd rather play.
It doesn't mean the child is stupid. It doesn't mean the mom has failed.
If a child is under 7, I'd consider that normal :)
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I also have two school lovers. So I know it's not me :)
Yep. I have both, too. With my whiny one, when he pulls out the "I don't like school" or "I don't want to do school" or "You're not a real teacher and you can't make me" he gets a deadpan, "I know. What do you want to do next. Handwriting? Math?" No emotion, no persuading. Just the facts. You don't have to like it, but you do have to do it. 99% of the time, once he gets going, he's FINE, can rock through it, and gets to run off and play for the rest of the day.
eta: My whiny one is my 6.5yo 1st grader, too, and he only HAS to write handwriting/copywork. I am happy to scribe for math or anything else that requires written work. He just doesn't have the stamina to do all that writing on his own.
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BFIAR could work. We never used it, so I have no experience personally, but I know that on the FIAR FB page or forum, that's the answer you'd get if you asked that question. It gets asked a lot. ;) We are happy FIAR users, but that's definitely 4-5+, not for 3yos. There is a full downloadable unit on the FIAR website that you could try and see if it's what you're looking for. I think it's for Goodnight Moon? Seems like a book that most everyone has, so it makes a good trial. http://fiveinarow.com/before-five-in-a-row/
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double post, sorry!
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Things I used as a teacher that are popular with homeschoolers but are NOT for me:
Saxon
R&S English
any elementary grade textbook for science, history, or literature, especially if published by BJU
Other things I'm not interested in that are extremely popular among my friends:
Classical Conversations
Math-U-See
Abeka
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I think there is an evolution.
What you will want several years from now will be different from what you want now.
I agree that the needs change based on the age/stage.
My kids are only a couple of years ahead of yours and we have already found this to be true. In fact, we had a gorgeous dedicated school room as recently as a year ago, and no longer have one at all. :lol:
We found that we didn't like being in a different part of the house than where "life" happens. None of us liked being shut up in one room together all morning. We much preferred doing school near the kitchen for snacks, near the laundry room and other stuff that I needed to keep my eyes on, etc. School ebbs and flows a lot better for us that way. We now have all of our school stuff in our main living room, tacky as it looks (although, really, the only thing atypical for living room decor is my giant wall map. My bookshelves look at least relative typical for the space). The TV and games and such moved to the former "school room" to make room for school in the main living room, and we bought a second couch. Now we have a comfy place to sit in our living/school room and in our TV/game room. It has been perfect for us.
All that to say that while I understand not wanting to set up a space that will be used temporarily, I really suggest setting things up the way you need them NOW and not worrying about what life/school will be like the future. It's too hard to know what you'll need in another stage of life.
I hadn't thought about feet dangling. Is that just a comfort thing? Or because it can be distracting? I guess that eliminates a large dinner table/craft table.
We do our school work at a the kitchen table using Ikea junior chairs. Highly recommend them. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/childrens_ikea/18733/
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I used a bunch of the components with the PK book when we did it last year (wood letter pieces and cards, etc), but with the K book this year, we've just used the workbook, the chalk boards, and the Letter School app on my iPhone. Typical daily instruction looks like this:
turn to appropriate workbook page, look at letter formation demonstrated at the top and discuss
finger trace a few times
do the letter on the chalkboard and/or app to practice
have kid tell me correct formation as they finger trace one more time at the top of workbook page
kid does the workbook page
have kid show me which letter the think they wrote the "prettiest" and circle it
get a sticker and move on
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We're just getting started, but the things we've used that I would ABSOLUTELY use again if I were to ever have another PK-Ker were:
AAR pre-reading--We loved Ziggy the Zebra! That whole program just rocked for us.
FIAR, which was also mentioned in the "biggest mistakes" thread by several, but has been just fantastic here
Phonics Pathways took my twins to solid, fluent readers at lightening speed. Didn't work AT ALL for my oldest DS, though
HWT, also mentioned by several in the "mistakes" thread, but has yielded great results with no tears here
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I just finished this series for fun and loved them! Yes, they are dark, but in a Roald Dahl sort of way. They're clever and funny, not depressing. Although there are deaths in most every book, they are not gruesome or graphic. They do get SUPER repetitive and I was sort of tired of the plot by the 9th or 10th book, but I finished the whole series and am glad I did. I would definitely allow girls as old as your two read them.
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Now I'm curious!!!
oh, I was just babbling. I figured you didn't need my stream of consciousness thoughts about the three areas. LOL I do consider them three areas, though (Dallas and suburbs, FW and suburbs, and Houston and suburbs), as Dallas and FW are pretty different culturally. I would personally rank them:
FW
Houston
Dallas
But as far as homeschooling goes? Any will be good!
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I have always liked my name. It's one that people have heard of, but is not overly popular. I do get annoyed at people who want to spell it like a boy (Aaron), but generally, yes, I like it.
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nm, not helpful
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:iagree:
Yep. She nailed it. I grew up in the DFW area (Arlington, specifically) and have many friends who homeschool there, including my brother and his wife. I have lived most recently in Houston (Sugar Land, specifically), and have many friends who homeschool there. We're nearing the end of a job stint in New Orleans, and I can't wait to get back to Texas for more homeschooling opportunities. We'll be moving back to Houston, but both areas have TONS of options.
Houston is muggier, for sure, but I prefer the more temperate weather there to the swings in DFW. DFW is colder in the winter and hotter in the summer than Houston, but overall less humid.
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My brother and I went to the same large state university, about 3 hours from home. He was a freshman when I was a senior, and I loved being able to grab coffee with him or running into him around town. We went to different churches, and ran in different social circles, so we were never in each other's hair, but got to see each other when we wanted and ride home together for holidays. I saw no disadvantages. I loved having him there!
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Thanks for all the comments! Just to give an idea, my other kids are Eliot, Ivy, and Roslyn.
Margot is starting to grow on me, the more I think about it. The other names that DH rejected from my list were:
Daphne (my fave... I've been trying to get him to ok it for four kids now...)
Fern
Tess or Tessa
Scarlett
Hazel
Joyce
Nora
Phyllis
Lucy
Vita
Love your style! Our top 3 for my daughter were Hazel, Nora, and Ivy. Went with Hazel. Margaret was an early contender (MIL's name) and I would have nicknamed it Margot or Greta. Fern and Tess are two that I floated and my DH shot down, too. Spoil sports. :p
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I have someone clean every other week. I do as little as I can get away with in between. LOL
Daily:
kitchen cleaning
wipe down bathroom surfaces (no scrubbing)
run a broom under table and bar for crumbs
laundry
As needed:
vacuum and other floor spot cleaning
potty bowl cleaning as needed (it's always needed in kids' bath in between visits from Linda, not always in mine)
I never touch appliances, tubs, or any dusting or scrubbing in between Linda visits. I want it to be worth what I'm paying her, so I leave those tasks for her!
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I love Margot. But I like old fashioned names.
Yep! My daughter is Hazel. Totally an old lady name. That's not a deterrent to me. ;)
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I have K and 1st graders this year and we're using FIAR together for lit, history/social studies, science, and art, and doing LA and math separately on their levels. It's been a great year! I blog about it, if you're curious what it can look like. Link is in my signature.
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We also use FIAR here, for K and 1st. The others have answered your questions well, I think, but I thought I'd add my blog link, and the link to the very active FIAR Facebook page, which is a great place to ask more detailed questions if you have them:
K/1 math curriculum for non math non teachery parent
in K-8 Curriculum Board
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There is not placement test for Singapore K levels. There is a scope and sequence on Singapore's website, though. We found KA to be really easy, my twins finished it before they officially began kindergarten. It wouldn't surprise me if she could start at KB.