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lillehei

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Everything posted by lillehei

  1. I know this might not be a very popular option but after doing Sonlight for 2 years, I refuse to read aloud once they hit chapter books. We have abandoned SL and now do SOTW. I have my ds read along in SOTW with the CD and my dd and I just listen. After that I don't read aloud to them any more. I give them fun, pleasurable, chapter books that are on their reading level. My dd has a historical fiction that she helps me pick out assigned for the week and then can read for pleasure at night. We get lots of interesting books at the library for ds to skim or read on the time period we are studying. When my kids were little I read aloud to them a lot and I think that is an absolute must, but once chapter books roll around I like the independence they have reading to themselves. Have we had to skip some books that were too hard? Absolutely, but I find plenty of alternatives to SL read alouds on their reading level. We do like to talk about the book when they finish it, but in very broad terms. We chase a lot of rabbit holes online after discussions. I don't pre-read so dd will tell me what happened in the book and her favorite parts. Ds has reading comprehension issues so I don't press him too hard. We are working on that in other ways. We also put our kids to bed very early so we have time at night. Dd is 11 and ds is 9 but they have to be showered and in bed by 8:00 pm This gives them a chance to read for pleasure and to just decompress. It especially helps dh and I preserve our sanity. Yes, I HATE reading aloud and that is ok!
  2. We school most of the year so our schedule is as follows. All supplemental materials are on the subject that is being learned in each SOTW chapter: For the week: Historical fiction for dd 11 Easy library books for ds 9 Monday: Listen and Read One Chapter in SOTW (my ds follows along in the book with CDs) Review Questions in AG (part 1) Narration in AG (part 1) Tuesday: No school. Co-op Wednesday: Read supplemental material (Usborne for 9 yo ds and K 12 Human Odyssey or Kingfisher for dd 11) Review Question from AG (Part 2) Narrative from AG (Part 2) Thursday Mapping from AG or other sources Video through Netflix, Discovery Streaming Plus and online Friday: Test So, we do a chapter a week with lots of supplementing. I may switch around the schedule to accommodate my ds 9 who has some reading comprehension problems. The test is 5 days after the reading/audio and that might be too much. I love the idea of going slowly through the book so we can really dig deep into each chapter and subject. This will be our second week.
  3. We use Shurley English. The teacher's lesson is ll scripted out. It is a grammar AND writing series, but the writing is separate each week. It goes step by step, sentence by sentence through different writing skills. This week my kids did an expository paragraph and even I learned a lot.
  4. Congratulations! If you feel that your students are doing well, and you have the tests to prove it, I wouldn't worry. If you feel there are some gaps in the teaching like with punctuation, sentences, etc, I recommend Evan Moor's Daily Paragraph Editing workbook. It is really helping my 9 and 11 yo. Most Grammar products I have come across don't start until late elementary We just started Shurley English (after a year of unsuccessful Easy Grammar) but I think the free KISS Grammar would be great, too. Do you have the School House Rock DVDs? Those are fun. If you want to add some vocab, we love Wordly Wise. And even a natural speller can benefit from All About Spelling (my favorite subject now!). I feel you need to remember that what you are doing for your kids is amazing (and now you have test scores to prove it)! Life in elementary, for me, is learning through fun and the 3 Rs pulled in. I personally wouldn't push the math too hard. Some of math, I believe, has a maturity level that is needed to complete it. So, I am saying, don't mess with it! You know there are a lot of resources available if you start seeing them fall behind in any area. I think your dc are young, obviously bright and if they love school, don't change it. Have fun! Jen
  5. I posted something similar to this. We could only have gotten 3 of the 10 historical fiction books I was interested in via the Kindle Lending Library. Our library didn't have them either. I know she would love her "for fun" reading on there (and wouldn't take up a whole shelf of Warrior Cats) but I don't know if it is worth it if I can't use it for school books as well. My dd is 11 and ds is 9.
  6. We are going to get the plus edition in a few days from HSBC and use it with SOTW and other subjects. It will be $199 for the year. It looks great! We can't get free either, only SC and GA.
  7. Does anyone have luck finding historical fiction on their Kindle or the Lending Library? Or from your neighborhood library's online database? I had a Kindle respresentative look up the last 8-10 books I ordered for my 5th grader from Amazon in paperback and only 3 of them were there in Kindle. If you own a Kindle, is it worth it? Can you find the resources you need?
  8. Me too. CBD had it all done by lesson and measured out. Definitely worth it if you plan to do all the Try Its and Experiments in Human Anatomy. Unfortunately, we didn't do everything so we have stuff left over. It definitely was nice not to have to run out shopping for little amounts of things or get too much of something via an online retailer. For example, we have done a blood typing test and grown things in petri dishes. If I had to order those online the cost of shipping would be prohibitive. I am sorry I don't know more about Zoology or any of the other kits.
  9. We used Apologia Human Anatomy this year with a 9 and 11 yo. We learned a lot but it is not a good fit for my family. We are not YEC and as Apologia gets into the logic and rhetoric stages, I found it is even more "religious" from books people have let me borrow. If you feel at all that you don't want to mix faith and science then DON'T use Apologia! We are doing Science Fusion from HMH/Saxon Homeschool. http://www.hmheducation.com/sciencefusion-homeschool/
  10. You must have a big, good library. I haven't found any of the books I want so far at any of the libraries in my area. I do have the kindle app and have read a lot of classics on it for me, but not youth or kids historical fiction. Thanks for the suggestions!
  11. My dd 11 LOVES to read and is voraciously going through historical fiction. We have just started SOTW and she read her first historical fiction that I had scheduled for 2-3 weeks in one day. I have looked online, at the library, and other free sources and none of the titles that I want come up. Where do y'all get your books? So far I have bought them on Amazon. We have Prime (but not a Kindle) plus we get the 4 for 3 promotion. But it still is at least $20 for 4 books. Does the Kindle Lending Library have a lot of the titles of historical fiction out there on SOTW sites on it? Any help would great! Thanks, Jen
  12. I don't know what VP is but we love Hands and Hearts History Kits. They are for very crafty kids. http://handsandhearts.com/handsandheartshistorykits.aspx
  13. We got a big white board (maybe 4x3?) from Costco for under $20. Make sure it is magnetic :) We absolutely love AAS and moved my natural speller into it, starting at Level 1, after the success I had with my dysgraphic dd. I love the phonograms, rules, instruction, tiles...everything! I have learned so much! We don't always spell out every word they say to do with tiles but instead out loud. We are doing Level 1 with my 9 yo ds at 2 to 3 steps a day. My 11 yo dd is doing 1 step a day of Level 3. Good Luck!
  14. We use TT, which I think is great, and Life of Fred as supplemental material.
  15. I guess I am feeling insufficient because so many people talk about supplementing in Logic stage with HO or other series. But going back through the WTM book, I see that you are indeed right. I guess I shouldn't stress so much!
  16. My dd is over halfway through 5th grade and my ds in 3rd. We were with Sonlight in Cores F and B until they came to me in January at different times both crying about how much they didn't like it. I don't think homeschooling has to be all fun but I do want them to enjoy it. I certainly don't want them stressing and crying over it. That would put us right back where we were in public school before we pulled them out a couple years ago. I decided to use SOTW with them and this was our first week. They LOVE it! They thought listening to the CDs of the text was great and my ds retained so much more by both listening and following along in the text. We have scheduled review questions, narrations, supplemental reading (Usborne for my ds), mapping, a video or documentary and tests for every week. We will do one chapter a week. I know my dd needs more than just the SOTW text and activity guide. I have added to her schedule a historical fiction (about 1 a month or so for every major time period). I also added readings in K12 The Human Odyssey and Archeology Magazine that were put together by a WTM forum lady called Kate in Arabia. She is learning how to outline in a workbook by Remedia Press and when she finishes that in a couple months I was going to have her do some outlining as well. Now I think I am giving her too much. Some of the HO readings are over 20 pages long (but do line up perfectly with SOTW) and she wasn't enthused by it today or looking through the rest of the book. Would going through SOTW for the first time and really digging deep in maybe an encyclopedia and documentaries be enough for her? I am thinking of just dropping the HO schedule, have her read Kingfisher or Usborne (and eventually outline it) and she herself suggested more historical fiction because she loves to read. We are going to get Discovery Streaming Plus for videos and documentaries. Is that enough for her for the next 4 years? Thanks in advance for all your advice. I learn great things on this forum. Jen
  17. The Time Travelers Unit Studies from Homeschooling in the Woods are awesome! http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/TTS/
  18. I agree about the placement test. My 3rd grader is on the 4th grade set (and almost done!). Here is TT's 3rd grade placement test: http://184.168.83.81/Diagnostic/Math3.pdf BTW, we just LOVE TT!!
  19. Ugh. My dd did NOT like it. We ended sending it back at 18 weeks. She told me that week crying for the first time that she really was not enjoying herself. She hated the Eastern Hemisphere Explorer (researching fill in the blanks pages), the read alouds were dry and it was so draining on her. Now, I don't think school has to be fun and games, but I do want my dc to enjoy learning. We just switched to SOTW with K12 Human Odyssey and she is loving it! Core F was nice in that it exposed her to the 10/40 window and cultures that were very different from westerners. I liked the missionary stories but as a curriculum it was heavy and dry. I know some people say it is their favorite core but, honestly, it made us leave Sonlight permanently. I think of the 27 Reason Not to Use Sonlight list, after Core F we weren't even on the list anymore lol It definitely is a mature core so your ds is the perfect age. If he likes studying different cultures, both ancient and modern, he may love it. It just was not a good fit for our family.
  20. I would say a big magnetic whiteboard is a must. We don't have to set up tiles every day. We bought a big one from Costco for $20. I think it is 4 foot by 3 foot. We write our sentences on it as well. I LOVE AAS!
  21. My ds (9) has atrocious writing and cursive. I am not stressing it because he has done typing for 9 months now with a computer tutorial. I will continue to teach cursive for the next two years just to make sure he can read cursive. That is important to me. My husband is a PhD at NASA and has terrible writing as well. He says he never writes any more, just uses the computer. I figure if my dh is getting along with scribbling but being very computer literate, my ds will be fine. Of course, I do try and help him write better and have him do things over if they are illegible, but I am not stressing over it.
  22. America the Beautiful by Notgrass was one of the best curriculums I have ever come across. Another option would be to find a spine and then borrow ideas from Sonlight's D and E courses. They have some great books. (We did D+E our first year of homeschooling). I think it would be better to know how old your dc are so we can find some of the resources that have worked for us.
  23. I would do this as well. I haven't found any other spelling program close to AAS. We bought 2 white boards from Costco (on one has the tiles which you don't have to do). While sitting on the couch, we do all our spelling on the white boards (breaking words into syllables, labeling types of syllables, etc.) and she spells words, phrases and sentences on the plain white board (it's more fun than paper lol). This has been successful for both of my children. HTH, Jen
  24. Just read this. Here is a list by user Nakia that she has pulled together: Picture Books: Archeologists Dig for Clues Tut's Mummy: Lost and Found Pepi and the Secret Names (hieroglyphics) The Egyptian Cinderella The Trojan Horse The Great Wall of China Cleopatra (Stanley) The Librarian Who Measured the Earth China's Bravest Girl Readers/Read-Alouds: Mummies in the Morning A Place in the Sun Pharoahs of Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt: Tales of Gods and Goddesses Gilgamesh and the King The Revenge of Ishtar Last Quest of Gilgamesh The Golden Bull A Grain of Rice The Jungle Book The Cat Who Went to Heaven Ch'i-Lin Purse The Adventure of Spider Tirzah Exodus (Wildsmith) D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths The Aesop for Children In Search of a Homeland Tales of the Odyssey Theras and His Town Alexander the Great Triumph for Flavius Detectives in Togas Mystery of the Roman Ransom Augustus Caesar's World
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