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threedogfarm

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Everything posted by threedogfarm

  1. I think the above posters have lots of good ideas. I'll share what has worked in our family. We've been doing this for the past three years and since we are still doing it, I am considering it successful: We have a spelling blue book that has a red line down the center of each page. Both children have two books--one for savings and one for savings. Money that is given for birthdays, jobs, etc. gets divided 50/50 between the two books. The left side of the book will list the date and the "source" of the money and the right side has the balance and the money that's being added (or subtracted). I use the books for a couple reasons: 1. I hate money "floating" around the house and being hidden in spots that end up getting forgotten about. 2. Great reinforcement for math skills. 3. I don't use the bank b/c then I'd have two more statements coming in every month AND that would mean a trip to the bank to take out any spending money. 4. I never have to look for hard cash to pay my kids with. To earn money in our house you need to have a job. There are weekly jobs available and once-in-a-while jobs available. Summer is a great time for jobs b/c we have a huge garden. I pay my children a "working wage" because I do not buy them any toys, etc. They have to do that themselves. It's amazing how many fewer toys and misc. stuff comes in the house b/c my children have to buy it themselves. It's also great to go to the store and not have to worry about all the questions, "Can you buy me this?" "Why not?" "Please?????" Now all I have to say, "Do you have enough money in your spending account?" My daughter actually bought her dog a beautiful sheep skin pelt for Christmas because that's what she wanted to spend her money on. She also has purchased velcro to make her Schleich horses some blankets as well as some more Schleich horses. My son likes legos and that's where most of his spending money goes. Their spending money is their spending money and I do not preach or question them about it. Occasionally I will help them think through a decision but I never tell them no. I feel that by making them put 50% in their savings account, I have already exercised significant parental control on their earned money. I always write on the receipt whose responsible for the purchase so that it can then be logged into their spending book. It's amazing. My kids actually like to have a "cushion" in their spending money book "just in case" they find something unexpected. I think that's sound money management!
  2. My kids want to camp out all summer in a canvas tent that they plan to make, just like the kids in Swallows and Amazons (except it won't be an island in the middle of the lake--it will be be beside our pond instead). I, of course, wonder if they really will do that, but I whole-heartedly support this. I think this would be ideal for everyone involved. I am happy to join them at their camp fire every night if I am invited. . .I just want to be able to go in and sleep in my own bed at night. BTW--my kids are not crazy about camps--that's fine with me because they can be really expensive around here and I hate doing all the running around to drop them off and then pick up them up.
  3. We use them mostly for pleasure reading. . .but I have read a couple aloud for history-related read-aloud choices and they were big hits. They would be quick reads for you to do yourself and you could decide the age range. My daughter was 8 when I started reading them. That's more b/c that was the age she was when she started becoming interested in taking them out of the library (they have the whole series). Enjoy!
  4. Ummm, I was THAT parent. . . :lol: And that's why I sometimes claim homeschooling is easier than sending the kids to public school (oh, and I really disliked preparing lunches and snacks too).
  5. Am I the only one getting a "502 Bad Gateway" error for these links? I manually entered the address as well and had the same error. . .Is there something I am doing wrong? TIA
  6. I saw that another poster said that How to Spell was like AAS. I don't know anything about AAS but we use How to Spell and it is VERY cost effective. I like how it teaches the spelling rules, syllabication, and has dictation built in (we also do dictation with WWE but in the case of HTS I do not coach proper spelling. If they can spell the words properly from dictation then you know they can spell the words!). Also it doesn't have word lists to go from. There are sight word lists that need to be memorized but that is unavoidable. Your children will learn WHY some words have "ch" at the end instead of "tch" and which ones are the exception. I like that because it makes sense to me. You use the teacher's manual through all four levels and we don't write in the workbooks because it is easy to just use a comp book (so if you have multiple children you're not buying the workbook over and over again). It's quick and easy and not very teacher intensive. The most teacher intensive lesson would be: read this rule aloud to your teacher. Read this list of words to your teacher. Or "dictate some of the sentences and/or phrases on p. 37 to the student". I would not try to teach just from the teacher's manual--I found it to be very confusing to come up with my own program but very easy to use with the workbooks (I haven't found the additional answer keys necessary). http://www.rainbowresource.com/searchspring.php?q=how+to+teach+spelling or http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find/1372008130?Ntt=how+to+teach+spelling&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCG&nav_search=1&cms=1 Also note, these lessons really do not take a lot of time so don't expect this to be a filler while you work with another child. There isn't a lot of busy work with this program. Good luck with your search.
  7. I bolded a bit of your text and that's what I'm responding to. Do you really need to add more? I know FLL might be easy and quick but often times those are the things that my children do not mind doing every day. Approach it like you would math: if you child gets the concept you don't always need to do every problem on the page. You don't always need to add to a program to challenge a child or make it last longer. Think about your to-do list: sometimes you look forward to doing the boring, quick chore which is almost pleasant because it is so easy and straightforward compared to the other things you have to do that day. I think my children see FLL as a "break" in their studies. Also consider going up to FLL2. I don't have FLL1-3 anymore but if I remember correctly FLL1 and 2 were pretty similar except 2 went through the topics a little faster. . . FWIW: We did grammarland (about half of it) as a change of pace to FLL. When I brought it up later as a way to finish my kids said, "No!" They preferred the no frills, get-it-done pace of FLL. Go figure. Sometimes kids just don't want any material gussied up.
  8. I really liked Hunter's post about not "pretending to be a scientist". We do a fair amount of BFSU here but the lessons go so quickly and to be honest, seem a little forced. I have finally figured out that we are just teaching concepts and discussing vocabulary terms and I'm OK with that. So science is more of a discussion around here. I also realized that I'm doing a lot more science around here without even realizing it. I assign "science" as part of independent work. At first it started out as just nature journal (using the Nature Connection book as inspiration along with Naturally Curious (which was written by a local author--aren't we lucky?!?) and then I veered off into individual topics when then nature journaling seemed to get stale. . . My son is now reading an old book called "The History of Geology" and I assign reading pages and then drawings, addn'l reading in the encyclopedia, diagrams, explanations, etc. My daughter loves all things nature so I am continuing her nature study with Margaret Waring Buck books (which can easily be found at the library or used--the drawing are BEAUTIFUL and accessible!). She is given assignments to find certain leaves, certain weeds, draw birds, we'll be making a birdhouse, etc. The "assignments" that take me only about 10 minutes to create at the beginning of the week. So is this "real science" as it would be pursued by curriculum? No, definitely not. But my children are getting exposed to things that they are interested in, they are learning to do more open ended, independent work and I am easily able to tailor it to their interests since I don't have an agenda. History is sooooo much easier because it isn't as open ended. But if you take Hunter's words to heart I think you will feel much better about not buying a curriculum and just choosing a spine that will last a few weeks and seeing where it leads you. Really, this is not time consuming nor is it expensive. But it is very satisfying, both for me and my children.
  9. My children are one year apart with Singapore (with my daughter also doing Miquon). I buy one textbook and two workbooks. I tried to have my son not write in the workbook but it just didn't work out that well. We do have a separate "scratch" book which he uses for the text book and for extra workspace but it is sooooo much easier for him to write in the workbook. It does seem wasteful in terms of paper but it just works better this way for us.
  10. Thank you in advance for beta testing it--we'll be starting WWS1 next year. WWS4 will probably be ready by the time we're there!
  11. The Penderwicks. There's three books in the series. We have really, really enjoyed the series.
  12. We use the How To Teach Spelling program here and syllabication is taught throughout the program (it has the rules). I have found this program to be really, really helpful both for teaching spelling and for reading aloud to pronounce words they don't know. They now can sound out long words and they don't think twice about making an attempt at a word, without any prompts from me. My daughter used to just try to guess her way through the word or say a word that was similarly spelled instead of trying to sound out the word. I feel that the rules have given her the skills to stretch herself.
  13. I love this idea! I do not want to search the internet for images to print for the timeline (not only for the sake of time but I think that makes it more about me with the finish product instead of the student) but taking photos of the kids with their projects--love that idea--and it will motivate me to do more projects! Thanks for the suggestion!
  14. I use Excel or Word to make the templates. Then I hand write in my plans. It's not about looking cool--it's about being functional and efficient (but you can have great colors, pretty tables, fabulous fonts and borders with those programs--especially Word (or OpenOffice). Keep it simple!
  15. I haven't heard the word "bored" in my house in years. Whenever I used to hear it, I would assign chores--like cleaning the bathroom. I think the cure for boredom is not finding something for your children to do but to have them entertain themselves. Yes, I can keep my children busy, but they know they don't want to do what I would suggest so they do not come to me saying they have nothing to do. And yes, my kids do clean their bathroom, their rooms, etc. But it's not what they want to do with their free time. I do notice, however, that structure really helps them with keeping themselves busy. Having hours on end stretch out in front of them every day can be a bit much and it does lead to arguments and angst. My children have actually been embracing "room time" this year-- that quiet time that SWB and JW write about in the WTM. We do it for only 1-1.5 hours daily but it is down time for all of us and breaks up the afternoon.
  16. I only have two children but I do agree about needing separate space. Do you have to do the work in the school room? Is the kitchen or living room or dining room a bigger or more wide open space. I think I would be stir crazy in an 11x14 room with 5 kids! We do school in our kitchen. We can do work at the table (which has built in leaves to be extended if necessary but way too big to leave out permanently). There is also a desk and the kitchen island. So if someone is "jiggling" the table, they are asked to work separately at the desk or the island. If that doesn't work, I would second the idea of cardboard work stations. You can purchase actual cardboard work carrels which might work better than the trifold poster board (my kids would have way too much fun trying to knock them down). We have them if the kids need more "privacy" while working and they are great for still life's for art. They fold up nicely and quickly too--we store them under the couch when not in use.
  17. Maybe he remembered those times and cherished them BECAUSE they were limited (only fifteen minutes).
  18. I do not have book 1 but I have compared 2 and 3 and they do not follow the same sequence. They both go over some of the same material but not in the same order or depth. Each lesson is fairly easy and quick to present and then the work can be done independently. I would not try to sequence a 1st and 4th grader together because then the workbooks would not match up. You might be able to do it without the workbooks but I don't have enough of a grasp on this system to want to do this on my own.
  19. I am interested to hear what other people have to say about this idea. My first thought when I read the idea is that it would be wonderful to do this but then I sat back for a moment to reflect on how to implement a study day. Would this type of day or part of a day really work? Is this something that is beneficial to us? I would have to say no. My son is emerging from the grammar stage though, not quite out of it yet and my daughter is in the grammar stage. Built-in review is good for us (memory work, reviewing where we are in history both in time and place, math is spiral, spelling is constant, grammar is spiral as well) but I do not think that my children are ready to reflect on their learning. So I'm not sure, if this be time well spent for us. However, I do find that learning has been easier and deeper when we take the time after lunch to have "room time" a quiet hour or so where everyone is doing something separately per WTM. I like the down time and my children actually look forward to it. Is it a coincidence that they are retaining more info this year since we implemented this? Or is their maturity? I don't know but this time has been great for all of us.
  20. Hi Wonder! I use HTTS with my two children. I started with it last year and I thought that jumping in at level 3 would be fine (they are good spellers and were in grade 2/3 and grade 4) but I found that after about a month, I took a step back and went back to Level 2. Level 2 is supposed to be for grade 2 and Level 3 is supposed to be for grades 4-6. I originally thought that level 2 would be too easy based on samples I saw with sight word lists, etc. and for the most part my children had no problem with the sight words. However, I found that certain concepts like syllables were more on their level in Level 2 than Level 3. Your signature shows that your daughter is in 4th grade so you might want to consider Level 2. That is, unless your daughter has been exposed to a lot of the concepts in HTTS. A lot of the same rules will be gone over again but I felt like my children were not understanding certain things until we went back a level and then, of course, everything made better sense. FWIW, I really like this program and prefer it to other programs that have word lists that the student is expected to study for the week or have different kinds of drills. This program is straight forward and easy to implement (to get started I suggest just starting with the workbook and read the corresponding pages in the teacher's manual--I had the hardest time just going from the teacher's manual). I don't even have my children write in the workbook. If necessary we'll do the lesson orally (or I'll read the words and they'll write them in the book--once you see some of the lessons this should make sense) or they will work on it independently where appropriate and use their spelling composition book.
  21. My dc do a lot of their nature journal as part of their independent work daily (they do independent work for an hour b/c I slot that time to work with the other child). I started the year out doing the Nature Connection worksheets that I tweaked and I have those in a folder. I thought I would use these exclusively through the year but I found that my kids were finding this a bit monotonous so I decided to tweak that plan and add in other things. I put a task or plan for each day of the week in their independent work journal. Today my daughter drew a bird that nested in trees (blue jay) and a bird that nested in shrub (hummingbird). Yesterday she had read about these birds in the book In Yards and Gardens by Margaret Buck Waring (beautiful drawings, very accessible reading with lots of great info--these are old books from the 50's, 60's, 70's). My son is reading from an ancient book called A History of Geology and he drew a cross section of a volcano today. Last week my daughter was sent out to find three different kinds of edible weeds (all found in my garden beds of course) and three different leaves from trees. All of these were easily identifiable from the Waring book (if you live in the Northeast I would definitely recommend these books). We pressed them and tomorrow during project time she'll make a poster. I'm not too concerned about how we're pressing things but we do have a press which did a fabulous job. I know that that drawing a volcano cross section isn't really "nature journaling" but I'm using the study of geology as a way to figure out how to study rocks with my son (which is a huge interest of his). My suggestion is to just start. I used the Nature Connection book to start and then followed my children's interest. I was surprised at the things that that interested them and that they wanted to do different things (which I shouldn't have been surprised about at all). My dc didn't say, "I would prefer to do this. . ." but instead listened to what they were excited about and followed that. . . Naturally Curious is a wonderful book and is essentially a highly edited, beautifully put together nature journal for the north east for twelve months. If it's applicable to your area, read it and see what you think. What's so wonderful about this book is that the author didn't follow one particular animal/plant for twelve months but instead focused on what might be interesting to see that month. It was very freeing and satisfying to see that kind of approach in print. Just remember, the pages won't necessarily look pretty to start BUT when taken as a whole, the journals look gorgeous. I thumbed through my daughter's today and I can't believe how much she produced in just six weeks.
  22. I'm teaching my children to type right now and I am reminded yet AGAIN that typing was the most important class I took in high school (and I was told NOT to take it because I was an honors student and it would not be useful in the future. HA!). I wish bookkeeping had been available because that would have come in handy too. And in spite of all the software available to make bookkeeping and accounting "easier", you still have to have a background in bookkeeping to use the software properly.
  23. We are in our third year of homeschooling and our third year of grammar (FLL4). I can understand where the OP is coming from--really is this necessary so early? But we kept on with our lessons because they were short and painless. Now that we're in FLL4 and starting up with sentence diagraming almost immediately (we did this last year but things are ramping up quickly this year) and I am so happy that we introduced grammar in little bites over the past two years. My children know their basic parts of speech, punctuation, sentence types, etc. Now we're getting into the little details but the basic structure is there so it isn't overwhelming. Also, grammar is a part of their school day, every day. It always has been so there is no argument about why we're doing this now. One more thing, having this very basic structure from two years of simple instruction has changed the way my children read. My daughter especially likes to point out when things don't make sense in a book she's reading (choice of word, verb tense, etc.). They are also eager to learn more about a word because they have a framework to construct around it. I can't imagine starting to learn vocabulary on a more formal basis or even in a casual way without having a good understanding of the parts of speech. So, is learning grammar essential at a younger age? I think it is because it makes things so much easier in the future. I kept telling myself that it was just a few minutes a day and now I can see that those few minutes really paid off. FWIW, I did like how FLL combined memorization, letter writing, dictionary skills, etc. all together. Now we're even getting into proofreading marks. Wow! There's no way I could have pulled all of this together myself.
  24. I forgot to add my own recommendations: some nice thick precut cards (smaller than index cards and blank on both sides), dice, sculpey, heavy paper/cardboard and the kids can make their own games. The sculpey can be for the playing pieces, and the rest is self explanatory. My kids have had a lot of fun making their own games based on the premise of their favorite games. It is a very interesting process b/c they spend a lot time making the game and when we finally play the game they see where things go right and where the rules (or the board, or the cards, etc.). Then they make adjustments and it keeps going like that. They love it and it really makes family game night into an adventure. They have also made games based on card games (like Gamewright) too. My daughter loves Horseshow and she made her own cards (which took a long time b/c she did a lot drawing for the horses). And that's another suggestion: Gamewright games for the older set. Some are really great. We also like the games by Aristopoly (they have multi-levels--Herd Your Horses is a real favorite).
  25. Lisa, Thanks for the recommendation of this book. It's been sitting on my bookshelf (complements of my mom--she's a retired 4th grade teacher). I didn't even remember I had it until I clicked on your amazon link and I saw the cover. At least I was able to find it quickly since I have been very good about keeping my books organized--it was in the math section. And the K'nex recommendation--great! My son will have a blast with this.
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