[7 Sisters Homeschool?]

We have been using their Public Speaking course at our co-op and have enjoyed it.

[Favorite enrichment co-op classes?]

A favorite from last year: Puppet Theater for grades K-2. The kids learned all about theater, wrote their own play, made their own sock puppets, made their own stage/props and put on a show at the end. A good way to engage kids who are too afraid of public speaking/acting.

 

Art classes are always a hit with my kids. Our co-op has been using the Meet the Masters program successfully with all age groups Kinder and above.

 

A class I'm excited to be teaching this coming year: Math Discovery. One class for grades K-2 and another for grades 3-5. We will be exploring various math topics using games, puzzles, manipulatives, etc. The topics are not grade specific, so kids with a range of skill levels can participate. Some topics include: symmetry, fractals, functions, money, codes, patterns, grids/co variance.

[Curricula to combine kids]

Thank you so much for your responses. I am looking into all these options.

[Curricula to combine kids]

I'm looking for suggestions for a curriculum to combine my two middle children, who will be in 1st grade and Kindergarten next year. The subjects I want to combine them in are: history/social studies, geography, Bible, literature, and possibly science. I like all inclusive curriculums (as long as they meet my needs) and my style is a mix of Charlotte Mason and Classical.

[Please help me beta test new reading grade level test]

I had my two older girls take the tests.

The oldest is in 5th grade. She scored 7.9 on your test and 10th grade level on the NRRF (missed 1 on 10th grade section and 3 on the 12 grade).

 

My other girl is in Kindergarten. She scored 1.5 on your test and got 4 wrong on the 1 section and 5 wrong on the 2 section of the NRRF.

[Math 5/4 for 4th grader?]

My 4th grader just finished the 5/4 book today. FYI, there are math fact practice tests at the beginning of every single lesson and test, so the kids get plenty of it as part of this curriculum.

[2yo reading letters??]

My youngest knew all his letters and sounds by 18 months. Now he is 2.5 and he has forgotten a few of them because he doesn't really use them. He hasn't gotten to the point where he understands what they are for and how to blend them.

[Need advice about Living Books Curriculum]

Thanks for your response. I guess I'll just give it a shot and see how it goes.

[Ideas for a sweet 4 year old boy]

If you want a Christian curriculum, I recommend Heart of Dakota Little Hands to Heaven. It sounds like it would be just about right for him.

[Need advice about Living Books Curriculum]

I am wanting to try LBC in the fall with my DD8 (She will turn 9 by the fall). I've done the research and think it would be a good fit for her. Here is my dilemma: she will technically be in the 4th grade this year. However, due to the fact that we have already covered a lot of the history and all of the science that LBC has scheduled for grade 4, I am thinking of getting the Grade 5 curriculum for her instead. If she is a strong reader, is there any reason I should stay away from Grade 5 for her?

 

Thanks!

[Mongolian spots]

My oldest had a big one on her bottom. I still remember the babysitter telling me in a very concerned voice that she noticed a large bruise when she changed the baby's diaper. I'm glad she talked to me first and didn't call CPS!

[What do you use for workboxes? Pictures please!]

We no longer use these, since DD does better with a list now, but we used to use magazine holders like these:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Bankers-Magazine-Holders-Letter-10723/dp/B000J09BKG

 

I didn't have a lot of room for boxes or bins, so this worked well. Any large items that didn't fit, I just left on the table and put a note in the magazine holder.

[Classical private school (part time)]

I'm very curious as how these kinds of schools work, as I am looking at possibly doing something similar. Does the school assign work to be done at home?

 

Yes, the school teaches classes once or twice a week and then assigns work to be done at home the rest of the week. The school we are looking into does all subjects except math, penmanship, and spelling. And if you are in the program, you have to use all of their curriculum; you can't pick and choose classes. The only choice you have is that you can choose art instead of grammar on the day you attend school, but you are still required to do their chosen grammar curriculum at home and return the work/ tests to the school for grading But other schools may work differently.

[Classical private school (part time)]

I posted yesterday asking about a similar situation (except the school we are considering is once a week), so search for my thread for more opinions. Right now it sounds like a good idea. I realize I am giving up control of almost all of dd's curriculum, but I don't mind that at this point and I agree with the curriculum the school uses for the most part. I think it would be a good fit for my dd (who also has asthma, by the way- one of the main reasons we began homeschooling). Good luck in your decision.

[Experience with once-a-week school (possibly similar to CC)]

First, I know very little about Classical Conversations so I am not sure how similar my topic is to CC.

 

I recently discovered a local classical school which meets once a week and teaches all major subjects (except math, spelling and penmanship). The student is then expected to complete homework before the following week's meeting. I think DD would enjoy this, but I am unsure of how much daily work this would be for her. It does line up with our educational philosophy for the most part (I have a bit more of a Charlotte Mason bend).

 

Does anyone have any experiences with this type of school set up? What are some things I should be aware of/ ask about/ consider before committing to this?

 

Thanks

[This curriculum doesn't exist, right? Lit package for sotw?]

Have you looked at Biblioplan?

They don't sell book packages, but their guides schedule SOTW and related books.

[What do you do when both you and your child hate handwriting as a subject?]

I wouldn't worry about it at all, if she's just turning 5. She's a perfectly normal 4 year old, actually quite advanced for her age in fine motor skills it sounds like to me, and I'd just lay off of it. My dd, who is 6, had trouble with HW too, and I had to FORCE myself to be patient, and looked at my own HW when I was her age, and relaxed about it all. I kept on with some gentle work every day, for K, but didn't push so much she just hated it, which is the way we were headed. Now that she's approaching 1st grade, things are getting better. I also practiced the "do one with your best effort and you can stop" method.

 

I agree with this.

[Third Grade Science]

NOEO?

[Non bi-lingual, young kids mixing in 2nd language with 1st?]

I've known several families whose children spoke more than one language. They all rarely mixed up the words between languages. My own children are mainly English speakers, but do know a decent amount of Russian and some Spanish. They do not mix up the languages. I wouldn't worry about it. Especially at your kids' ages, their English language is already pretty well established.

[Doing school outside?]

I let DD8 do her independent school work outside but it doesn't work when I try to do read to all the kids out there. They get too distracted.

[Curricula for "something different" for summer--Recommendations?]

How about a unit study or two?

Check out Amanda Bennett's site if you need ideas.

[Did anyone NOT use a program to teach reading?]

I did not use a program with either my oldest or my middle DD (she is 4 and began reading a few months ago). We read a phonics-based easy reader every day (we have a selection) and as new things come up, I just explain them. I really considered using a program with her, but she's doing great on her own, so I'll probably just leave well enough alone.

[What does the "breadwinner" in your house do?]

DH is an embedded systems engineer and owns his own consulting business. He has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.

[Sonlight in the Younger Years]

I have mixed feelings about Sonlight. I liked some of the book selections a lot, as did my kids. Some of them were too "old" for the kids, imo. My oldest is sensitive and was disturbed by the concepts introduced in some of the PreK books. We also hated switching books every 5 minutes. But at the time I was too much of a box checker to deviate from the schedule.

 

I still have my PreK SL books and we'll be rereading them next year. However, I won't be following the SL schedule and I will omit some of the books altogether.

[If your child already knows cursive]

I started requiring DD8 to use cursive in most (almost all) her official school work and she has improved in that area tremendously. Granted, I don't require her to write a lot in general. My philosophy is that I'd rather she write something short, but well. In her creative writing assignments (making up stories and such) I allow her to use print if she prefers since her stories tend to get really long. She has really become a lot more comfortable with her cursive since I began requiring it for almost all her work.