craftyerin
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Posts posted by craftyerin
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I taught at a Classical school in Austin for 4 years (pre-kids) and we used SOTW. We had the ancients in 3rd grade and used volume 1 of SOTW along with some of the activities in the AG, and a mish-mash of other books/curricula including some Veritas Press stuff. We didn't use any other PHP materials, though.
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Another one on the fence. I've almost decided no, but I can't quite work up enough decision to email the director and tell her so (we're currently on the list for next year). The big pro for me is knowing other area homeschoolers--we literally know none with kids our kids' ages. I visited it and really liked it, but I also think it's too much, too soon for my age group. My oldest will be a young 5 and my twins young 4s in the fall. My oldest is ADHD and will really struggle to behave in a structured environment for 3 hours. I dread thinking about how much I'll have to focus on him and his behavior. I don't really want to give up a full day every week to it either. Not when we're still in MOPs and my DH is off every other Friday. Plus I really want PK to be fun and outing-full, not all school. Yeah, I'm pretty sure we aren't doing it. Probably in 1st or 2nd. But not yet.
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my kids will all be working at PK level in the fall and we plan to have fun with FIAR, which will be new for us, and continue with AAR pre-1 and HWT PK, both of which we started this spring.
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Pre-kids, I taught 3rd grade at a school that used Saxon a year ahead, so my class had 5/4. I found that roughly a quarter of my class struggled in January/February, when we started long division. The bulk of them pulled through in the end with some extra help.
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I have twin 3yos plus a 4yo and they all stopped napping right around their 3rd birthdays. So, it's been nearly a year that naps are few and far between in my house. We do an hour to 1.5 hours of rest time every afternoon. I have to split them into 3 rooms for it to work, though. My boys share, and so I send one of them to the play room and the other is in their room. They stay in their rooms and play quietly (sort-of), only coming out to potty. They know rest time is over when their stoplight clocks turn green. I cannot recommend the stoplight clocks enough.
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We have this set along with a box of plastic cookie cutters. Both came in easter baskets last year. ;) My kids are big fans.
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Make sure you go to the Audubon Zoo :) And have the kids wear a bathing suit under their clothes, so they can play in the water on Monkey Hill, inside the zoo. Plus, they have a small water park there now, oh man, the kids had a blast!! But do it on the week day, or it will be crowded!
It will be crowded regardless! I have never seen crowds like the NOLA zoo and aquarium generate! We go to both regularly, though, and the way to beat the crowds is to get there when they open (10am) and go BACKWARDS. At the zoo, hang an immediate left and walk straight to the back of the zoo, and then do the exhibits in reverse order of how everyone else goes through them. At the aquarium, it's a loop. You're intended to turn left and go through clockwise. Do it in counterclockwise starting on the right. Seriously. You'll have the zoo to yourself if you do this, and a much more pleasant experience at both places.
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We're in NOLA. No beaches right around here, but head east to Mississippi or Alabama and there are decent ones.
eta: good for you for bringing the kids to vacation in New Orleans! It's SUCH a wonderful family destination, and I can never seem to convince people of that!
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I read through the other replies (should have done that before I posted the first time!) and I agree with the mama who said not to push too hard on the pencil-to-paper writing. The beautiful thing about HWT at the PK level is that it is mostly manipulative. We do the letter as many ways as we can think of without writing--wood letter pieces, paint bags, roll-a-dough, in a tray of rice, etc. before we get out the chalk or pencil. They love writing, and I think it's mostly because I let them play with letters so much that it's in no way a chore. One of mine has a nice pencil grip (the near 5yo). My near 4yos have issues. My daughter wraps her thumb (we're working on it) and my son still likes to hold his pencil in a fist. He really resists a tripod grip. Again, we're working on it, but slowly. We've actually decided not to do the workbook at all until we've been through and "learned" all the letters just with the tools above. We'll do the workbook pages on the next pass through.
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No experience on the rest, but we use HWT pre-K and love it. I have the wooden letter pieces, capital letter cards, the chalkboard, roll-a-dough, and stamp-n-see, along with the workbook. My kids aren't into the stamp-n-see, but we use the rest regularly. Ditto the others on cutting up your own sponges and breaking your own chalk for the wet-dry-try on the chalkboard. I'm glad I bought the wood letter pieces instead of making my own. At $33, they're worth it to not have to make them, IMO, although there is a template in the PK manual. There is also a template for eyes, nose, and hands for Mat Man. I cut them out of craft foam and my kids LOVE making him. Oh, I have the CD, too, but we almost never listen to it.
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I have an near identical list of "subjects" for my three, who fall into the same age/stage category as yours. A typical week for us looks like this:
Calendar, then:
Monday: AAR pre-level lesson, including the coloring page
Tuesday: HWT lesson (I do the letter that we're on in AAR instead of in HWT order, though). We just do the manipulatives on this day.
Wednesday: Kumon workbooks (folding, cutting, tracing--we have several)
Thursday: HWT workbook page
(that takes 10-20 min, depending on the day)
After they've done the above, I turn them loose to choose an activity off the shelf. This is where I have other things I'd like them to experience and work on, but I don't want to "teach". I rotate shelf items weekly. This week, the items on the shelf are:
lacing beads
dry erase uppercase letter cards with a marker
age 3-4 Brainquest cards--they LOVE these
counting bears for sorting and patterning
two puzzles
a few connect-the-dots in sheet protectors with a dry erase marker
a few mazes in sheet protectors
a few pages of a PK math workbook in sheet protectors
They'll spread out and work on those things for 20+ minutes, and when they lose interest, we're done for the day. It works great for us!
We read aloud before rest time and bedtime, and pull out board games, paint, playdoh, etc. after rest time in the afternoons, as they request.
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All of my kiddos will be in pre-k next year, and I visited the open house at our CC. I have almost decided NOT to do it. We've decided on FIAR as our main curriculum for next year, along with (continuing) AAR pre-level and HWT pre-k. We already lose one day every two weeks to MOPs, and another day to my DH being off every other Friday, so giving up 2 more days in a 2 week period for CC doesn't appeal. Especially when I think I'll spend the whole policing the behavior and activity level of my oldest. I love the concept, but I think we'll save it for when we're a little older, out of MOPs, etc.
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AAR Pre-1
HWT Get Ready for School
MUS Primer or really any early math would work. Just don't stress and have fun.
LOTS and LOTS of reading together on the couch! Great book lists can be found online if you need help with that.
This is pretty much what we're doing for PK4. AAR pre-level, HTW pre-k, lots of reading and I'm still deciding on a pre-math.
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My kids are all pre-K (two 3.5yos and one 4.5yo). We do AAR pre-level, HWT pre-K, and are reading the SL P3/4 core. We rarely do more than 2 of those on the same day, and are VERY loose right now, during the holidays.
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I was just glad it was something lighthearted instead of you guys arguing again!:lol:
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The store that I have purchased the most from is this one:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/adrienneengar?ref=seller_info
gorgeous crochet patterns, and every one I've used has worked up perfectly.
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I have a singleton followed 12 mos later by twins, and even though we're not school age yet, I plan to do most everything together. The developmental space between them is just not large enough for me to bother splitting things up. So yes! I'd teach it together!
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My three are dressing as a jazz trio. LOL My 3yo son wanted to be a trumpet player. We live in NOLA, and he loves seeing the jazz street performers in the french quarter. Since the other 2 didn't have strong opinions, I'm going to do that for everyone. Boys in black pants with white shirts and bow ties, my girl in a flapper dress, all with toy instruments (sax, trumpet, clarinet).
Last year, they were were Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, and Woody from Toy Story. That was cute.
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I have both, at the same time. My singleton is 2 days shy of 12 months older than my twins (I guess the three of them are Irish triplets?). The combo is so completely difficult that it's hard to pick out which part is hardest (the 12 month space, or the twins). I think the twins, but I really can't tell. It's killer!! And fun. :D
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We saw two sacs on a 6w u/s, after using clomid, so we would have been stupid to be too surprised. ;) It's a WILD ride, but super fun!
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We are dairy free, and I find it relatively straightforward. If you completely eliminate cheese and use almond milk (or your other preferred milk sub) and earth balance for butter, everything else is pretty easily substituted. Read labels carefully on snacks and packaged foods. Otherwise, we don't eat differently than we did before eliminating dairy.
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I bought these based on price and reviews, and have been VERY happy with them. We've had them probably 5mos and they're washing up softer and softer.
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download betterfacebook.net
it's a browser add-on that will let you customize a lot more of your settings. doesn't make it perfect, but helps a lot!
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Love it! We use it mostly for diapers (well, now pull ups) and some gluten free snack foods for DS4 to have in child-care situations where goldfish are the norm (Sunday School, MOPs, etc).
What is it like homeschooling twins?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Just getting started here, with a house full of preschoolers. I have a nearly-5yo who is adopted and a nearly-4yo b/g twins who are biological. They currently run on about the same "level" as my oldest is VERY busy and a little immature, and my twins are pretty mature and motivated. I expect that we'll be able to school most things together. We're working on PK level things right now, and having a blast with our little "class". :D