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Mandylubug

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Posts posted by Mandylubug

    Google Classroom- Who is creating their own online courses?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I use it for everything. With my older kids, I used OneNote, then switched to Trello for the boys, but last year I jumped to Google Classroom. It's a perfect fit for my youngest, especially. He has special needs (he doesn't have a learning disability), and uses Google docs for the majority of his written work. I already create his written assignments in docs or on Google Slides and we collaborate through Drive, so using Google Classroom was a pretty natural transition.

     

    For my older son, who only has a few courses at home with me, I have each course in a different classroom. I put the syllabus in the about section for each class, along with links to related websites we'll use all semester. Then each course has topics labeled Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, etc. I transfer the weekly assignments from my syllabus to a Google Slides template and post it as an assignment with the correct week as the topic with Friday as the due date. I use the "schedule" feature to set up future weeks. For his stuff, I plan in 18 week semesters.

     

    For my younger son, I just have one class for everything. He also has assignments listed by weekly topics, and a topic for daily work. The about section has links to documents with course related passwords, and curriculum course sites and his reading log (created in Google forms, so the results go straight into a Google sheet). 

     

    I hope this makes sense. It was super fast and easy to set up, and it works really well for us! I'm a huge nerd. :D

     

    makes great sense. So glad to hear it is working well for you, too :) I showed my girls next weeks set up for them and they seem excited about it all being together for them in one spot. It doesn't seem like it will take me any more time than usual, just a different way of organizing it.

     

    thanks for sharing how you are using it. I haven't used Google Slides for anything as of late. But nice to know it works well.

    Google Classroom- Who is creating their own online courses?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted · Edited by Mandylubug

    I use it for my science class that I teach at my co-op. It's not worth my time to do that for just my family. However it is a good platform for organizing a class and scheduling. There's nothing wrong with you doing that if you enjoy setting things up that way. For own on studies, we are more open and go. It's quick enough for me to just let him work through quizlet or go through a youtube playlist.

    Thanks. I actually set it up today. I have twins that are working on the same subject and sharing a textbook. So one is always waiting for their turn. We had been doing the next thing plus me digging here or there and showing them a video. And juggling both of them and their siblings doing other things and remembering who has completed what, it's nice to have it planned out digitally and they can work ahead while waiting to read or move on to another topic without me having to remember to show one of them a video about the topic.

     

    This just helps me preplan it a bit. I have all of their work for chapter four planned out. Only took me maybe an hour to plan it out and that included my learning curve. Two forms for their review questions. Two informative videos and this chapter quizlet list and end of chapter review all linked within the stream. With them being dyslexic, computer work and typing their work specifically is fantastic for them when incorporated with reading from a book. It is the perfect balance.

     

    I will just keep digging for youtubers to subscribe to for me to dig deeper for them.

    Google Classroom- Who is creating their own online courses?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Hey guys! It has been a bit since I have posted but I do love this forum. Y'all are always so knowledgable..

     

    Anyway, I would love to hear from any one that is utilizing Google Classroom to aid in your children and their courses. We have really enjoyed the DIVE math format of lectures and then textbook assignments.. and my boys are utilizing their Biology course that also incorporates Quizlet, videos and labs in addition to a textbook spine..

     

    So, I am planning on creating a Google Classroom for my girls, utilizing their Life Science text as spine, and incorporating Quizlet, Google Forms for review questions and tests..and linking to supplemental youtube videos of each topic..

     

    Would love recommendations, words of wisdom, etc..

    • Like 1

    Brave Writer Users.. starting with The Arrow?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    We are currently using Spelling Wisdom and Using Language Wisely. My girls are 10, have dyslexia and behind in the writing/grammar/spelling department. They were bored with AAS. So, we are taking a break from that and just enjoying spelling incorporated into our copywork/dictation for a bit. However, their writing input needs to increase.

     

    I am considering trying out Brave Writer's methods. I think it would fit well with our CM studies. I don't want to jump feet in and buy The Writer's Jungle, Partnered Writing and The Arrow all at once. Budget won't allow.

     

    IF I tried just one month of The Arrow and subscribed to The Brave Writers Life style email list, would this give me a good idea into this method?

     

    I also assume this would replace SW and ULW.

    Do you keep a stocked living book library?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I am looking at doing this because our library here is rather disappointing. We are "super users" when I can find what I'm looking for but otherwise, I find myself adding things to my wishlist.

     

    After we move next week, I'm placing a gigantic order for books. My Amazon carts and wishlists are very full.

     

    Haha mine too. I use amazon to preview and make a list (very long). Many times I end up buying on thriftbooks or abebooks though.

    Do you keep a stocked living book library?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Are your kids the type who will read what they're told, or do they have lots of opinions? I bought things ahead, and my dd has gone a totally different direction. The things she self-selects are MUCH more interesting and rigorous frankly. I wouldn't bother.

     

    You want high school to reflect their interests and pursuits, which means to an extent it needs to unfold as they grow. It's not like the lower grades where you just tell them what to read and they read it.

    They do fairly well with assigned readings. Every now and then they complain and I will re-evaluate. I allowed two books to be dropped this year. There are so many great options, I don't see boring them to death.

    Do you keep a stocked living book library?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    We have tons and tons of books of various types. But not nearly enough and I need to shore it up some.

     

    May I ask why you do not utilize your public library?

     

    We are known as "power users" at ours...lol. At any given time, I may have 50 or more books checked out from the two different library systems we are part of.

    I have personally banned myself. One year I spent 150 in fines. The next over 300. $450 in fines to a library that sucks. We are 20 miles out and I rarely actually find what we need. It makes more sense to just invest in a home library. With four kids, living a decent distance away and still having to purchase books just makes sense. Not to mention, my kids seem to get attached to books and then ask me to buy them after they've read the library book.

    Do you keep a stocked living book library?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Hi y'all! I've been absent for a bit. We have been homeschooling more CM style this year and I've been mainly on those pages/groups for a bit as we adjust. I somewhat know what I am doing next school year :p HOWEVER, I am looking towards high school.

     

    I have nearly 20 pages of great living science, history, literature choices for high school and they all sound great. I want to keep a well rounded selection for my kids to select from and am now just considering to start buying up a few books every month and placing them on the shelf for future use.

     

    This goes against my normal style of buying per term or per year but I like them to connect with what they are reading, if it is boring, I want them to find another selection.

     

    I must mention we also do not utilize our public library.

     

    Am I setting myself up for failure? We had a couple books that were flops this year. Our geography and living history family selection was BORING. I had to wait for replacements to come in and they are okay. But I would really like to have choices at our finger tips without having to go browse a library or order online.

    It finally happened

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    I find myself typically one of the youngest mom's with the older kids in our co-op..it is strange. Many mom's fit the marriage and kids after college and career stereotype which I do not. I'm 33 with a 13 year old.

    • Like 1

    Josh Duggar in the news yet again

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Hah. I am naturally much more inclined to cover myself than he would prefer. I think he'd prefer a cami with four inches of cleavage, no bra, and a two-sizes too small pencil skirt at all times than the sundresses I normally wear in August. And he'd be fine with wearing that to church. He does not care. Sometimes when I insist on changing out of workout clothes before running errands he looks puzzled.

    Mine is the same way. Mine tells me often to take off the mom clothes, lol.

    • Like 2
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