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SuzySparkle

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  1. Is the best way to address this problem just to practice? Are there other drills or activities that would be more helpful? She also is a little weak in reading. Tests in the mid-80th percentile on standardized tests but reads slowly and with hesitation and rarely is motivated to do so on her own. I may have to end up having her tested, but the cost for a full evaluation is around $1,500 so I am looking to see what I can do to help her at home right now. She has mentioned wanting to attend middle school at some point to "have that experience," but I have seen the level of writing they do. It scares me to think of her struggling in that setting. I want to help her become more proficient in this visual motor area. Thanks! Susan
  2. I loved Night, but I read it and The Trial Of God along with some other works in a religion course. Very intense books. A 13-year-old would have to be pretty mature to handle those feelings IMHO. We're not there yet, so I haven't had to ask those questions of my dd.
  3. Thanks, I'll check that out. Just trying to decide if I should just stick with our free Basic access OR pay to add Plus to our Basic svc OR pay to add Science to our Basic svc.
  4. Here in SC, we get a free subscription to Discovery Education Streaming BASIC. HSBC is offer Streaming PLUS for $99 and Science for $129. I'm trying to decide if upgrading is worth it to us. What programs that you love do you NOT get with Basic? Are there additional teacher resources that only come with PLUS? We would probably use the service for History, Geography, and Science mainly, with a possibility of adding in Spanish and other interest-led topics. Thanks! Susan
  5. I pulled my kids out of school after my oldest dd's 4th grade year and my youngest dd's 1st grade year. During the 5 years my oldest was in ps, I volunteered heavily. When the younger was still at home, I would help in the library (because they let me bring my younger and AWAYS needed help). The year my youngest started K5, my oldest was in 3rd. I volunteered as room mom coordinating activities in both of their classrooms. We coordinated Friday lunch coverage for the teachers, making copies for the teachers, weekly Computer Lab coverage for the teachers, monthly SEEDS lessons (reading a book and leading relevant craft) in the classroom, as well as tutoring in reading for the 3rd grade class. This was in addition to the constant requests from the PTA for people to lead/sell everything from Chick-Fil-A biscuits in the carline to the Fall fun event. During the last year my dds were in school, the younger was in 1st and the older was in 4th. I agreed to take on a PTA chair position and then got roped into being room mom for BOTH rooms again because no one would volunteer for those jobs. It was a nightmare. I had stuff falling down all over the place, because I was also handling multiple extra curricular activities as well as church. I know some people manage to do it all, but I am not one of them. I guess I see this issue from both sides. It does make the teachers' jobs easier if they can get GOOD QUALITY help in the classroom. The time parents spend making copies and doing lunch and lab coverage gives them time to get to a few things that would otherwise need to be done after school or at home. However, it can be very frustrating for the parents who volunteer. I know people work, and I appreciate that their time is limited, but I felt like because I was able to stay home with my children and didn't work outside the home, there was much more pressure from the parent groups to pull my share and make up the excess to ensure our kids had the BEST school experience. I really didn't mind helping. I enjoyed it, but I think there is a lot of competition to have more volunteers/hours than the school down the road. And no matter how much you are there, it never seems to be enough. The same group of parents practically live at the school. If you are looking for some of them during school hours, you know to check the school log first. As to the issue of privacy, I would have to agree. Just by being in the school during work hours, I heard things that were probably not meant for parents to hear. I kept my mouth shut, but things do have a way of getting around when you have people in the school not bound by the same rules as the employees. The problem is the parents are a benefit when they're helping kids with reading or math, but that does mean they know who's struggling. We just felt like ps was a roller coaster of never-ending homework and constant fundraising. If my oldest was not having issues retaining what was being taught, we might have stuck it out. However, she was struggling. I thought about leaving the youngest in school because she was excelling and top of her class, but I figured we could even go farther with that at home and completely jump off the coaster. We're happier now. I don't miss the ride. And the funny thing is, the other mom with whom I did much PTA work is also homeschooling this year. (We have a large community of hs'ers in our area!)
  6. My 5th grader is in her first year of homeschooling. As far as I can tell, her grammar instruction in ps has been pretty light. We are in the first chapter and are really noticing how little she has been taught. That said, beginning in chapter 3, each part of speech has it's own chapter with thorough introduction. While the first two chapters may require some slowing down to work through them, I feel the rest will be easier on us because it's explained in depth. The stuff we're working on now is explained well, but it's her first introduction to some of it. Even with it being difficult, I would not have moved down a level. I think this is only hard now, because she has never been exposed to this level of grammar study. I am happy we chose English 5 for her and feel she will do well with it even with no prior R&S under her belt.
  7. Thanks! I just can't seem to work SOTW in a way that they find engaging, and the geography the 5th grader is doing is just busy work to her. She does it to get through it but it's not really thought-provoking to get since it doesn't tie into the history lesson. I thought with HO having it all mapped out, she might be more interested with all the tie-ins.
  8. Does anyone actually use it for all of these subjects without supplementation? We are struggling with reading, history, and geography. I thought I had everything planned out well, but I just can't seem to get into a good rhythm with my oldest who is currently doing 5th grade work. She requires a LOT of hand holding and still works very, very slowly. I find we are regularly running out of time and energy before we get to everything, and I'm wondering if HO Level 2 might be a solution for us. I saw on the sample that each lesson tells the student EXACTLY what to do and includes a checklist for them to be sure they have done all the work. Since it involves a good bit of reading, plus map work and writing/summarizing, I thought it might be able to be used to cover all 4 of the subjects above (reading, writing, history, geography). I also have Brave Writer and can use it later. If I could use HO Ancients L2 for the four subjects mentioned, then I think I could have more success with our schedule. We are having great success with Math Mammoth and with R&S for English and Spelling. We also are doing Dance Mat Typing, some Mind Benders puzzles, and Meet the Masters for art. We're a little bored with Harcourt Science, but I'm also looking into other science options. I just want to be sure we're thorough and not going too light for her grade level since we wants the option to attend middle school if she gets into the local VERY rigorous charter school (which is unlikely). I think I'm beginning to understand the appeal of unit studies. :)
  9. I just used the Meet the Masters Supply Lists. It recommended soy crayons AND watercolor crayons (Prang makes both of these), colored paper chalk (bought a brand in art supply -not kids section- of Hobby Lobby), soft pastels and oil pastels (got from same area of HL), and newsprint. I had to get the Prang stuff from Rainbow Resource because nobody in my area carries it in store. Bought the newsprint there also, then discovered that at AC Moore. (It's different from drawing or sketch paper. It's actually called newsprint.) I also got a set of inexpensive Tempura Art Brushes in a pack at HL, then bought a nicer set of brushes at a big discount for watercolors. For construction paper, I bought the Super Heavy weight. I think it was 70# paper. I was able to get some of what I needed locally, but I got the Prang stuff, 5 long sheets of tagboard (only sold 100 packs in store), black conical markers (Crayola), and fine line NON-permanent markers through Rainbow Resource. Half my order was backordered at first, but I called them about dates and most of it should be here today. (They sent the backordered stuff 2-day delivery.) You may already know some of this since you are already using the program! I knew NOTHING about art supplies so I just look for what's on that list. If I didn't know something (like watercolor crayons), I would search it on Amazon for the reviews even if I was planing to order elsewhere! Btw, we haven't started MTM yet because I wanted all my GOOD supplies here first!!!
  10. Ok. Found on ebay the hardcover in excellent condition and including the clean Student Pages for what I paid for a paperback. I'm sending the other one back. He listed it as a Like New hardcover and sent me a good used condition paperback for the same price!
  11. Also, I ordered the two other guides as well. They are coming softcover with a plainer blue front.
  12. The book I received is a textbook titled The Human Odyssey, Volume 1: Prehistory Through the Middle Ages, but it is a softcover book. When I looked at the K12 site, it showed only one hardcover purchase option. If your text is hardcover like the K12 book and the book I received is not but appears to be the same otherwise, I just wonder from where it came. It doesn't matter except that I ordered a hardcover book and received something else. I just don't want the seller to say "this is the only version of this book" when I make contact. Plus, the price I paid should be lower if there IS a hardcover since I wasn't comparing apples to apples. Thanks!
  13. I ordered a used copy from an Amazon seller with the listing being "hardcover." However, no one had pictures of it, and the book I got is a stiff cover but is not a hardcover. The seller also listed the book as "Like New," and it is not. However, the price was reasonable even among lesser listings so I plan to keep it and rate them accordingly for their overly generous assessment. :P
  14. I ordered a used copy from an Amazon seller with the listing being "hardcover." However, no one had pictures of it, and the book I got is a stiff cover but is not a hardcover. The seller also listed the book as "Like New," and it is not. However, the price was reasonable even among lesser listings so I plan to keep it and rate them accordingly for their overly generous assessment. :P
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