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Ida

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Everything posted by Ida

  1. It's been a while since I was a WTM regular, so I don't have a lot of experience with the newer format. I hope posting this here doesn't go against current board etiquette. I'm trying to respond to a wanted ad placed in the classifieds by womanintheshoe, but I get an error message saying she is not receiving messages. Not sure if her inbox is full or she has done something with her settings. Anyway, if you are womanintheshoe and are still looking for Latin Prep materials, feel free to message me. If you are someone who knows her (either virtually or IRL)and could let her know about this post, that would be much appreciated. Thanks, Ida
  2. I was actually planning to ask about this exact issue. That particular lesson looks like some good fodder for conversation. As secular homeschoolers we certainly don't believe that any search for meaning that doesn't involve a higher power is inherently self-absorbed. I do think we can learn from the lesson and talk about the ways in which we experience and convey significance, importance, and relevance. I do think the point of the lesson--that good literature seeks to reveal something about the deeper meaning of the human condition--is a good and important one. We can simply talk about how we, as non-Christians, can expand this concept beyond the confines of the Judeo-Christian context. The program still looks like it has a lot of potential. We are not quite ready for it yet, but I'm also keeping it on my "consider for the future" list. It's definitely interesting to hear about your observations and conversation with the author. Thanks for sharing.
  3. I went to an elite, New England, college prep boarding school. Every year the school admitted a small handful of PG (post graduate) students. This was a highlty selective high school, so the kids that were admitted were not "dumb" in anyway, but wanted an extra year of high school for a variety of reasons (which often, but not always, had something to do with sports). More preparation never hurts. Stick it on your transcript as a post-graduate year. If it includes solid, rigorous classes, I don't think it would look bad at all.
  4. I knew I wanted to homeschool before I had kids. I was always committed to homeschooling through 8th grade because I think middle school is such a tough environment at such a difficult developmental stage. I was confident that I could do k-8 at least as well as, if not better than, public school. I never really intended to homeschool high school though. If I had a kid who adamently wanted to continue homeschoooling beyond 8th, I would consider it, but they've sort of always known that going to high school was part of the plan. Some of my reasons, in no particular order: -I enjoy teaching, learning, and generally being with my kids (for the most part), but I hate being an administrator. I do not give grades or keep transcripts, and I have absolutely 0 interest in doing these things. You can get away with this with younger students, but not so much with high schoolers. -I believe that collaborative learning happens in a more meaningful way at the high school level than at earlier levels. Discussing concepts and ideas with a peer group at this stage can enhance their educational experience. (There are certainly ways to find opportunities for homeschooled highschoolers to get this too) -I want to have a transition period when my kids are stepping out into the world, responsible to other people, learning to navigate other systems, but still coming home to me at the end of the day. This may be more for my benefit, as a way of letting go gradually. We are districted for one of the worst schools in a not so great system. There was no way I was going to send my kids there, and I always said that if it came down to a choice between ******** High School or homeschool, we would, without a doubt, continue to homeschool. We are in an area with tons of magnet and charter options, so we entered several lotteries. We completely lucked out and got into our first choice charter, which I am still amazed and thrilled about. It definitely makes it easier to give up homeschooling when you feel good about the school they will be going to. This school has sibling preference, so, assuming ds 1 doesn't get kicked out in the first 2 years, I'm set for my next two kids who have a few years of homeschooling left. The mere thought of ever sending my kids to school used to make me so sad, but now, I'm really feeling ready for it. I'm not completely free from concerns about how the transition will go, but we'll take it as it comes.
  5. My history major husband taught high school history for 4 years before going back to get his PhD. He is now a university history professor. My history major father went on to law school after college and had a very successful career as a lawyer, state congressman, and judge. He feels that his background in history was very important in his later endeavors.
  6. I was also going to suggest the Blast Off with Logic series. Very gentle, but good stuff in there.
  7. I find Singapore Math extremely easy to implement. Explanations are very straight forward and exercises are not very long, so it's easy to move through quickly.
  8. Interesting, but I honestly most of what they talk about in the article does not in any way resemble what SM looks like in my house. A week on the numbers one and two? A song about 8 oranges? An hour on 82,566? And I can't for the life of me understand why teachers would need so much expensive training. Sure the bar diagrams can be a bit tricky until you get the hang of it, but other than that . . . One of my favorite things about Singapore is that it is short, sweet, and to the point.
  9. NEM 1. As far as I can recall, this isn't covered in the primary math series.
  10. Check out this website. Their cheapest compound microscope is $95. Shipping will drive the price a little over $100, but it looks like a good deal. I don't have experience with them, but I am planning to order one of their scopes in the next month or so. http://www.amscope.com/HighSchoolHP.html
  11. Dh, professor of history and education, also reccommends only doing selections, but says you should also read selections from the anti-federalist papers at the same time in order to understand the full debate.
  12. No experience yet, but I have been researching this exact same question and these exact same programs. We are using Chalkdust for algebra, but geometry just seems to be a different beast. I was never a math person, but I remember actually liking (and understanding) geometry. That doesn't mean I'm ready to teach it without a lot of hand holding. One thing I know from experience is that when we try to do a program that is supposed to be the best of the best, but I find it difficult to implement, it ends up not getting done. As my husband says, a mediocre program that gets done will inevitably be more effective than a top of the line one that sits on the shelf. I am strongly leaning towards TT for geometry because I know it will be easy to use and ds will be able to do it pretty independently. It's not as important to me that his geometry program be the most rigorous out there since it is not crucial to laying a foundation for higher level math in the same way algebra is. We switched from TT algebra I because I heard that it was not going to lay a strong enough foundation, but, as I said at the beginning, geometry is a different beast. I also find it reassuring that Jann in TX says TT geometry is an acceptable option although she does not generally endorse their algebra sequence. I think he will learn from it and it is the least likely to cause us undue frustration.
  13. I'd be interested in hearing how others have done this as well. I plan to start my 4th and 6th graders on Island level together in a couple of weeks, so :bigear:
  14. It sounds like Teaching Textbooks would be a good match for your needs. You probably already know about the rigor controversy surrounding that curriculum, but it sounds like it fits your requirements and plenty of people are perfectly happy with it. It is designed to be used independently by the student.
  15. I have the generic version of CD for 4th edition and the discs include lectures for 3 texts: Elementary, Intermediate, and combined. On the opening menu you click on which text you are using, then which lesson you want. Right now we are doing Elementary Algebra. Since I already have the disks, I will just get the textbook and answer key for Intermediate Algebra and we'll be all set.
  16. After some trial and error, we figured out that the best system for us is as follows. At the beginning of each new chapter ds and I sit down together and go through the chapter. For most of the examples, we cover up the answer, work it out together on paper, then compare our answers to the steps in the text. It is time consuming, but it really makes the rest of the work go much more smoothly and I actually know how to help him if he has trouble and I understand what I'm looking at when I do corrections. After this he watches the DVD. Sometimes I watch with him. Sometimes not. The DVD material really seems pretty simple after grappling with the text, but it definitely solidifies the concepts and occasionally something is preented in a slightly different way which helps things gel. At the beginning, I had him read through the chapter and watch the videos completely on his own, but once he hit new material, there were issues. I realized he didn't know how to read a math text and use the examples to learn how to apply a concept. He was also watching the videos too passively. It would not work for us to use the videos as the only presentation of new material.
  17. Mine are about 22" x 35". I got them a couple of years ago at Target for just under $20 each. I started out with smaller ones which I decided really were not going to work.
  18. Not really a schedule, but here's what we do. I started having ds read through the chapter by himself, but learned that, for my child anyway, that was a mistake, so now I sit down with him and we go through the chapter together, working through the examples and such. Then he watches the DVD lesson. I choose 20 practice problems for him, always odds since that's what I have the solutions to. I pick a handful from each section and try to get the more challenging ones. He does those and I check. If he seems to be struggling, I pick 20 more problems for the next day. If he gets it, we move on. When we get to the Review Exercises and I assign 20 problems. Again, if he has problems we figure out what's going on, review the material, and he gets another 20 problems the next day. He does all the problems fro the mid-chapter quizes and chapter tests. Since the first couple of chapters were review for him, I just had him read, watch the video lessons, and do the mid-chapter quizes and chapter tests. I don't know exactly how long it will take us to finish this way, but it lets us move at his pace. HTH, Ida
  19. I tried to do SWR, which would be considered more strictly OG than AAS. I even took a two day seminar on how to teach it, but I STILL got overwhelmed and bogged down by it when I actually tried to use it with my kiddos. The adequate program that gets implemented consistently will inevitably be more effective than the top of the line program that sits on the shelf because *I* can't handle it. It's an epiphany I have had several times over the years, but it has taken me a blessed long time to internalize this wisdom. AAS is the easiest program for me to use, so it gets done and my kids learn from it. If there's another program that you already have, that feels like a better fit for your educational philiosophy, and that you feel comfortable teaching, go for it! I don't think there is any one program in any dicipline that is absolutely the most thorough or rigorous or best program out there, and believe me I've had to learn this the hard way. I find AAS to be quite good and the most enjoyable program for me and my children use, so it fits my family's needs. Trust your instincts along with your understanding of your teaching style and your childrens' learning style, and do what excites you most.
  20. Dragon, Thanks for the details on how EV breaks down. Can you please tell me more about AAW? Does it only have the four longer writing projects, or are there other assignments in between? How long do you spend on each of the four big ones?
  21. I had never heard of Quizlet. Thanks for the tip. We will certainly plan to make use of that.
  22. Often in your second year you get a postcard asking you to VOLUNTARILY mail in paperwork at the end of the year or VOLUNTARILY meet with a representative of the NCDNPE. It implies that if you don't mail stuff in you have to do a visit, but that's not true. I know people who have met with DNPE in a neutral location like a library and said it was a perfectly friendly exchange. I have homeschooled in NC for years, never sent in the voluntary card, and never met with anyone with no negative consequences. Of course the state does have the right to demand proof of compliance, but that is extremely rare.
  23. Sorry if this qualifies as a hijack, but has anyone bought scopes from http://www.amscope.com? Anyone want to take a look and tell us if it's really as good a deal as it looks or which one would be best? I'm also in the market, know virtually nothing about microscopes, and appreciate the wisdom of the board.
  24. Well, would you just look at those beautiful links! It did work!
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