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HomeScholar

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  1. My DS loves the Plato science, but the history is a whole different matter. Basically, he hates it. The format is totally different and after a few days my DS refused to bother with it further.
  2. This is his first draft (including grammar/spelling errors). Writing is his weakest subject, but he would like helpful feedback to improve. The Titanic was thought to be unsinkable, however that was proved wrong. The Titanic collided with a huge iceberg that ripped open the bottom of the ship. Captain John Smith didn’t notice the iceberg for a while because he was at a banquet with all of the other rich fellows. There weren’t a bunch of lifeboats because everybody believed that the titanic was unsinkable so they wouldn’t need them. Unfortunately, the rich fellows were put into the lifeboats first and much of the poor people were not notified that the ship was sinking, the poor folks did not notice because they were playing cards. Before hopping onto the lifeboats and abondaning the ship and poor, the Captain called in helicopters to try and rescue them all. Due to a horrible storm, the helicopters could not reach the ship in time and only rescued very few survivors. The Titanic and almost of all of its passengers sunk into the sea at 2:05 – 2:20 A.M. “The Titanic has sunk!†read the newspapers in huge text.
  3. We school year round, but we officially use the standard school calendar. In the summer we run a lighter schedule and have lots of outdoor time.
  4. My DS goes on a lot of outings during the summer, so we run a limited version of school. We'll mostly be working on WWS, AoPS, MCT, Latin, German and some fun hands on science labs.
  5. DS is very academically driven so we give him a large voice in his curriculum. He picked his own method of learning spelling so DH wouldn't try to change it. In general, DH leaves most of the "teaching" to me. He gives opinions, but never asks us to use a set method. DH knows we try things until DS finds one he likes. DS is a great speller apparently we are using the right method for him. There are other areas that are DH driven: scouting, camping, hiking, cycling, etc... I give my 2 cents occasionally, but it's mostly just commentary.
  6. My DS (11) Varies... Depending on what he is doing it could be anywhere :lol: We move around between the office/school, the kitchen bar, the couch, the dining table, the porch, the patio, the park, or sometimes on a comfy bed. Most of the time we are in the office/school. Astronomy is either on the patio for bookwork or laying in the yard looking up. :D He likes to read his Kindle on his bed or in the car.
  7. I stick with neutral colors for the walls and let stuff I put into a room bring it to life. It's easy to change the room when I want and I don't have to worry about changing fads. :tongue_smilie:
  8. What kids know and don't know at what age isn't the point, as every kid is different and every parent has different standards. The point is that sort of behavior has NO place at a scout meeting. Any boy who talks that way is not living up to his scout oath. We recently had a similar experience during a troop camp out, both in name calling and descriptions of adult nature activities. The SM didn't deal with the situation, so our DS (and several others) moved to another troop. The difference between troops was night and day. The old troop was nothing like Scouting should be and it was (imo) a direct result of poor leadership. The higher-ups were made aware of the issue and hopefully will deal with it. Consider finding a new troop. But please take the time to report the incident to your local council (if the SM isn't dealing with it someone else should). A bad troop gives all of scouting a bad name.
  9. :grouphug: I can relate; My DS(11) has been reverting lately, though he behaved better when he actually was 5/6. :glare: What's so bad is that it's the easy stuff that's setting him off. Math is fine, Writing is fine, but ask him to work on music or diagram and YIKES! I don't think I can stand a sassy, fuzzy, cranky, whiny, 11yr old much longer. :crying: Thankfully no full blown tantrums yet but pretty darn close. I'm really hoping it's due to his minor cold.
  10. Amazon prime is worth the cost for us. Not only do we use it for large purchases, but we use it for some every day stuff. Many times something is cheaper on Amazon by a few dollars, but when you add tax it's an even larger savings. Since we don't have to pay shipping, it's a good deal. 2 day air often arrives to us the very next day. And with the cost of gas, heck I'll take front door delivery! My DS has no clue of what life was like before the internet and Amazon. :lol:
  11. We started with Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox. My Ds found them fun and easy. We are now doing the Art of Argument. We also do Logic and critical thinking games and workbooks. We will probably move to Discovery of Deduction or Traditional Logic next year.
  12. We have told him he has to prioritize Latin and German first as his primary languages, but we will support his desire to learn the others. Does anyone have any suggestions for Greek or French that include grammar? With everything else he has going, he doesn't have time for an online class or to meet with a tutor. He needs something he can do as he has spare time. An elementary program is acceptable to get him started as he will be learning over several years. He prefers video but not Rosetta Stone. He hopes to go to France in HS so wants to start now.
  13. My DS enjoyed Fallacy Detective. We just started with AoA, which will probably be easier with the knowledge we are bringing from FD. Hopefully my DS will enjoy it, though it will take more work than FD.
  14. Short version: You probably can do without the extra student/teacher pages. It probably depends on your teaching/learning style. Longer version: My DS took K12's History program while he was still in PS. He enjoyed the textbook, but found most of the student sheets to be busy work. We didn't finish the K12 course because he was promoted to another grade, but we did get more than 1/2 way though the program. I kept the textbook but tossed out the pages we had left. When we started HSing we started with a college textbook which he enjoyed, but he missed the casual HO style. We decided to change back to HO and start the book over. We are now using it as our main world history spine. We discuss what we read and add-in videos, web materials and reference books as needed. Using this approach, we don't find anything lacking without the online chapter reviews/tests or student/teacher materials. You could use an oral review for comprehension or assign additional research/essay/etc. I suggest you purchase from Amazon, it's a faction of the price you'll pay purchasing from K12. We purchased "like new" and you could barely tell it had been used. Hope this helps someone. :001_smile:
  15. My DS11 was an accelerated learner in PS, but he never liked writing. He could do it to the satisfaction of the teachers, but he hated every bit of it. When we started HSing, I realized that while he could churn out papers, they weren't particularly good papers. :glare: Since he has started WWS, he has been having fun digging into his writing and playing with words. We spend more item on the parts than on the final result. He turned 11 in Jan and since then I've seen great leaps in his analytical abilities. His writing has taken a step up as well. So it's slow but it's coming. The best part is, that he likes writing now. I agree with Colleen, let him go at his own pace.
  16. There are so many hands on ways to learn about rocks that you don't need to worry about learning from a dry textbook. Use the textbook to give you the facts but get outside and learn hands on. Go explore a cave or mine, Start a rock collection, Grow crystals, Explore fossils at a museum, make your own Moh's chart, etc. If she likes jewelry try polishing rocks and make your own charms. Get creative and have fun. Science is interesting when you experience it and not just read about it. You don't need to "teach" it, so much as find outlets for her learning. Look around at what your community offers in the way of educational programs. You'll probably find a lot of free resources.
  17. He insists on learning all together, but is willing to start with elementary courses so he will have a slower but fun approach. He if does all 4 though high school, he should be solid on them and able to take other languages in college if he so desires. He's an excellent reader, loves spelling and vocabulary and is quick at memorization work, so with dedication he should be able to do it. I just never expected him to find language learning all that interesting. He's always been more interested in Math, Science and History. I'll check into the linguistics course and I'm heading to look at G3 next. I was never a fan of Rosetta Stone myself, but he used it in the past for German (we had free access for a few months) and learned a bit.
  18. :iagree: We started with the Elementary level for review and plan to work though all 6 in the order Bloggermom posted. We do one or 2 lessons a day along with our other writing. The lessons are quick and my DS has fun with them.
  19. My DS just told me he wants to learn several foreign languages; he wants to learn 4 languages at the same time.:001_huh: If you've seen my prior posts you'll know he's a learning addict and is a bit advanced but 4 at once!?! :confused: He has only done the smallest amount of Latin so far (very basic stuff). He wanted to see if he likes it and so far it's a hit. Then he decided Greek looks interesting. And since his father speaks German, he has to have that too. As if that wasn't enough, he wants to toss in French, since his grandmother likes it and gave him some French books. He mentioned Spanish as a future option but has no interest now. Now I really try to support his goals but :eek:. I only know English, and I can't even make the rolled R sounds so how am I going to do this? :crying: HELP! :willy_nilly:
  20. My son used Khan as he was learning Saxon PreAlgebra and found it helpful but he didn't like how quickly "mastery" was achieved when working the exercises. He didn't feel like he had a real mastery so when we found IXL he started using that for extra practice. By the time he achieved mastery in IXL he felt he really had a good understanding. For Algebra he tried Thinkwell but gave that up and is doing Khan with IXL and we ordered AoPS Intro to Algebra. He figures between the 3 he has all bases covered.
  21. My DS received a subscription to it during 5th grade at a big discount. He watched it quite a bit during "free" time, while he was still finding new things, but that didn't last that long. Mostly he had "fun" with it as the downloads quality wasn't really reliable to include it as "curriculum". He likes it enough that he requested we renew our sub and he watches something from time to time, but it's not something I assign. He loved watching Harold Syntax and a few other "cartoon" type shows that first year.
  22. We purchased ours on Amazon, they had the best price we could find at the time, especially since we don't pay for shipping.
  23. You know your child better than anyone else. :) If YOU disagree, then you probably are right. Don't feel pressured to change your curriculum because someone else doesn't agree. As long as your child is learning and making progress then be happy and don't fret over it. However, you might want to consider if there are other ways you can restructure your day so it flows more smoothly with multiple grades. :grouphug:
  24. I'd fix it up as a spare room and use it as a special space for the family. When she's home from college, it's all hers, but when she's away you can use it for sleepovers, girl's night, boy's night, or the like. If the garage is that large, maybe you can divide it into 2 areas: one area for sleeping and one for other activities. It sounds like a great area for slumber parties. :party:
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