[Pacing for FLL level 1? (& comparing to Queen LLEC)]

You can easily start FLL2 with a second grader. They cover the same information just faster.

[How much help rewriting fable in WR]

I did Fable with my two older kids last year. For the first story Each girl started by making a story board. Basically drawing scenes from the story in order. This helped them think their stories through. Then they each dictated their stories to me. The next day they read their story and did a little rewriting. by the end of the book they no longer needed to storyboard and were capable of writing everything by themselves. We really enjoyed W&R and are excited to do the next book!

[What color hair is this?]

Looks like my oldest's hair! I just call it brown.

[Dreambox questions]

There is no teaching. Sometimes the concepts are so gradual that the kids pick up on it. My girls learned degrees like that. My girls would not be able to use it as a standalone.

[Do you know this word without looking it up]

Yes, because of Dora.

[What do you wish your parents had saved?]

Tucked away with family photos my mom kept report cards, standardized tests, newspaper clippings, and a couple random kindergarten projects. Which is funny because I remember making those projects! I was really into kindergarten. School really went down hill from there. Besides that everything I have is stuff I kept. We didn't have much and my mom says she never got ride of anything. My brother and I would trash stuff as we aged. I saved a lunch box full of McDonald's toys and my girls loved those as toddlers. It was the first figures/barbies they owned. Those got so much play! I let them play outside in the mud and eventually had to garbage them. Fun while it lasted.

 

I'm saving a bunch of stuff so far. I have a lot of old homeschool stuff too. Hopefully I'll weed it out as they age.

[What am I missing?]

This is actually the only fundraiser I have ever heard of that I would want to participate in! I would love an excuse to get subway. Around here it's usually tubs of cookie dough or freezer pizza kits.

[s/o hours in a year?]

I'm in Michigan and have no rules concerning hours or days.

[How to encourage a writer?]

I taught a creative writing class at a co-op once and we used Chris Van Allsburg's "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" as our jumping off point. The class was a big hit!

 

The book is basically a series of beautiful illustrations each with a single line. The writer then takes the illustration, the line, and creates a story of their own to accompany it :).

 

Some examples...

 

 

 

 

There is a whole community of folks who write and share their stories to go along with illustrations..some famous writers have even joined in on the fun.

 

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/harrisburdick/introduction.html

Wow! I love this. Thanks so much 😀

[The Henry Ford Museum]

The Museum is easily a one day thing. I think your dad would be fine if he can do a 1/2 mile. They have places to sit and lunch areas for breaks. The Village is much bigger with lots of walking. That takes a long day but no more than that. The Dearborn Inn is nice.

[Book Recommendations for String Reader Going into 1st Grade]

Ivy and Bean? They are easy reading but very funny and have lots of pictures.

 

The shorter Roald Dahl books often have many pictures.

 

There is a Pippi Longstocking edition drawn by Lauren Child which had slightly large print. My oldest loved it in first grade!

[Finds Counting Boring]

Chutes and Ladders is played on a 100s board. We have a princess one my girls liked to play on when younger. Since she likes numbers she might be inclined to play with it for extra practice.

[I've lost my potty training optimism.]

My youngest potty trained herself at 20 months. She took her diaper off and went pee in her sisters tiny potty. She had like one or two tiny accidents after that. I'd give it a try!

[Favorite educational YouTube resources?]

Oh we love Art Hub for Kids!!! Having a kid drawing is genius. Makes it so accessible to perfectionist kids.

[Birthday gift or not?]

I would not. It doesn't really feel like a birthday present. I would probably give them the kindles and give the birthday girl a kindle gift card. Or just get her something else too. We aren't into huge presents so I'm not thinking more than $15. Just something extra.

[Latin for lower elementary]

For second grade I'd do Song School then move on to something more in depth in 3rd. Song school is really fun and easy to implement.

[S/O Kids guide: homeschool podcast episodes your kids have enjoyed?]

My girls have liked Pam Barnhill's Your Morning basket and some of the Homeschooling Snapshots. They may not pay attention to the whole thing but listen on and off. It's nice to Know others are educating in similar ways. This is actually really helpful for my eight year old who struggles with anxiety. We don't know anyone IRL who does many read alouds, morning times, or classical style education. They especially love the ending of the Read Aloud revival podcast and will coming running into my room when they hear the kids voices lol.

[Freezing egg McMuffin type breakfast, homemade]

I've found that making breakfast burritos turns out much better for us. Currently husband takes one out of the freezer every morning so that it can thaw for 24hours. Then he reheats in the oven for 5 minutes. The Amy's brand makes lots of burritos including breakfast types so I usually copy their ideas or buy when on sale. There's a really yummy samosa one with potatoes and peas.

[Did you name your homeschool?]

We did for fun. Sometimes I use it when ordering school supplies. The girls love that! We have a griffin for a mascot named Todd. They are trying to create a school song they can all agree on. There is also a lot of arguing over colors. Too much Harry Potter me thinks.

 

 

Oh! We are Boekind Girls Prep

[A Kid's Guide to HSing?!?!]

My girls often listen in on my home education podcasts. They are usually understandable even for my youngest and pretty short listening. You can Choose what topics are relevant for you easily that way too.

[Do you repeat the SOTW cycle?]

I'm not 100% though! Hopefully someone will know for sure 😀

[Do you repeat the SOTW cycle?]

I don't remember SWB saying to just redo her books for those years. I thought her recommendation was to redo the history cycle.

 

It probably also depends on how you do SOTW. I think that by the time one gets to 7-8th grade they would need a bit more than just the one book.

 

For 4th and 5th I would be fine with SOTW ancients, read alouds, and some narrations, review questions or tests done however often you feel is needed.

[So if you had kids 16 months apart and you wanted to teach them together...]

My oldest and middle are 16 months apart. The baby came 18 months after that. I started them separately but middle daughter caught up to oldest by the end of first grade. They do all subjects together. Youngest does her math, logic, reading, and spelling separate. I combine all the girls for science, history, grammar and read alouds.

[Do you say "cr*p" or Holy cr*p? (CC)]

I do not say crap. It sounds/looks weird to me. I don't know why.

 

I skip right to sh*t or the F word at home. In public I'd probably say "oh no"

[in your normal speech, do these words rhyme?]

I am in Michigan and I use a long e. What about -ing- words? I taught my girls that with a long e as well. It was ang(long a) ing (long e) and ank (long a) ink(long e)