Good idea! I never even thought of doing chin ups, etc, on the monkey bars... duh. We could at least do that.

I know a lot of mamas will say lessons, lessons, lessons... BUT it just seems that there are some "traditional PE skills" that are not going to be covered by taking a lesson here and a lesson there. Lessons are so specific to one sport usually. I wish there were something more well-rounded like a "homeschool gym class." Otherwise, where will kids learn to play kickball? Or do a relay race? Or try pull-ups? Or learn the long jump? Or learn to play dodgeball? Or try the uneven bars? I mean, in my gym class as a kid, though I thought they were worthless at the time, I was exposed to a lot of things that were valuable and just stuff everyone should know in our culture... dodgeball, kickball, the basics of many sports, rope climbing, climbing the peg board, we even did a segment on gymnastics and I remember doing somersault races, doing the uneven bars, etc. I'm sure there's a lot more that I can't remember. I've had my boys (ages almost-9 & 10) take swim lessons in the past, and they were on a Rec Soccer team. They ride bikes, jump on their pogo stick (lol), and play outside, but I still think they are not as coordinated as they would be if they were in school. They are pretty clumsy, to be honest, and though I was never a traditional "athlete" I was strong and was a cheerleader, could do cartwheels, back bends and all that stuff, was involved in track and field... And dh was VERY athletic in school and was the forward on his basketball team, very good soccer player, etc. So as stereotypical as it is, I really think my kids' physical fitness and agility is affected by homeschooling and I feel like I'm dropping the ball somehow (no pun intended, lol). How can I fix this without signing them up 15 sets of lessons? Does anyone do a phys. ed. program? I know I could buy a book, but how on earth can I teach the kids how to play kickball without a group of kids? :001_unsure:

We JUST got done using the one from Insect Lore. We released our butterflies a few days ago. Nothing major you need to know. It's all in the instructions and it's pretty simple. It does say to remove the frass (poop) and silk strands from the chrysalises when you put them in the habitat. When I did it, it was SOooo gross, lol. I was using a q-tip to try to remove the silk webs that were all over the chrysalises and as I was tugging on it (trying to be gentle - but dang those things were sticky!) the chrysalises started moving and flapping around!! It was so freaky! I started shrieking and yelling "eeeww!! eeew!" and so thankfully dh came in and finished it, LOL. I was not expecting that weirdness. The caterpillars were also grosser than I expected and pooped ALL over in their little cup. Woo hoo. Overall a grosser experience than I expected, lol, but once they became butterflies I was happy. We fed ours oranges, too, and they seemed to like it. They also liked fresh flowers (but you have to know which ones butterflies will eat from). We put an orange in my front garden and released the butterflies there to see if any would hang out. One of them did hang out and eat the orange and was sticking its tongue in the damp ground for some reason for at least a half hour. The kids had fun.

This seems like a strange way to start testing to me. I was having my ds tested for LDs by a licensed clinical psychologist who I privately hired and he never mentioned coming to my home. He did a series of tests in his office. Why would the psychologist not ask to come to my home if this was standard procedure for diagnosing an LD? I would contact a homeschool support group in your area (or at least your state), or contact HSLDA and just ask what options you have for getting your child tested without involving the school district. I'm sure they'd be happy to help. I would not get involved with the school district unless absolutely necessary. I think there has to be another way to get your child tested for LDs. I would probably back out and think about it. She may be really nice and not "up to" anything, but you never know so many variables 1) who she will bring along, 2) who she will discuss results with (possibly someone very anti-homeschooling), 3) who will suggest she come again, and again, and again... perhaps for slightly different reasons having more to do with your homeschool than looking for LD symptoms, 4) if she will be sick one day and another person will come in her place who isn't so friendly... I know that may sound paranoid but I've heard too many stories so I think you should proceed with caution. Once you give a mouse a cookie... ETA: I think it would be a little less suspicious (though I'd still be wary) if they had already done testing and narrowed it down to a behavioral issue like ADHD. But a house visit right off the bat seems strange and a bit much.

Mine uses Teaching Textbooks. It is interactive enough that it may keep him focused on the task at hand.

Good. I was afraid you were going to say "no duh." :)

That's what I was thinking. :001_smile: I would say it has an above-average amount of review. I just looked up a random lesson in the TT book and there were the typical 5 practice problems (a, b, c, d, e) and then a set of problems 1-20. Of those 20 problems, 6 of them had to do with what was learned that lesson and the other 14 were all from previous lessons. I think that's one of the great things about TT... if you make sure your dc is doing well on every single lesson (scoring 90% or more), there is SO much review that there's no way they can end up with a big learning gap at the end of the level.

I know I always have to pipe up when people are talking about TT being "behind." There was another thread about this recently. You may find it if you search "Teaching Textbooks missing concepts." Though I hear these rumors repeatedly, we have still never heard anyone explain what concepts are missing or exactly which areas are behind in TT. I just don't see it. I have an especially hard time believing TT is behind by almost 2 years. There are always going to be some difference in scope and sequence because all math programs are obviously not identical, but 2 years would be crazy. My ds is doing long division in TT4 right now and that seems to be completely normal from what I know about 4th grade math. If it were 2 years behind that would mean most kids are doing long multiplication and long division with remainders in 2nd grade. Come on. (Not speaking to you, Momto8...) Silly, IMO. People often compare TT to MUS as if MUS covers topics at a more appropriate grade levels, which I never understand since MUS doesn't cover long division until 4th either (because this is very normal, I'd say). As far as fractions, MUS is even more "behind" if anything because MUS doesn't cover fractions until 5th grade (Epsilon). I think this is completely fine and makes logical sense considering the way MUS is laid out. I'm not saying this is not OK. I'm just saying that it doesn't make much sense to compare TT as the "behind" program and MUS as the higher standard. So, point being, just take the "TT is behind" stuff with a giant grain of salt. I don't know that a supplement is even necessary but if you do decide to use one, my advice would be to use something that IS a supplement or lends itself to that easily... like MCP Math, or Khan Academy, or some free stuff off the internet. Some people would have you buy a whole other math curriculum which I think would be overkill. If you *did* need to use a whole other curriculum as a "supplement", what's the point of using the first program, ya know? Just my 2 cents. In your situation, I would follow the TT placement instructions for TT 7: The student is probably ready for Math 7 if he/she makes the following scores on the two sections. 10 or more correct on Section 1 (problems 1 – 15) and 8 or more correct on Section 2 (problems 16 – 30), If the student’s score falls below this level, the Math 6 Teaching Textbook is probably a better starting point. If you could see that it really is only a few concepts from the TT 7 placement test that she's missing, perhaps you could hit those specific skills over the summer and then give her the placement test again? Then at least you could be a bit more confident about putting her in TT 7. Remember that the placement tests are designed to cover material up to the level you're looking at to make sure they are ready to start that level. So breezing through the placement test for TT6 doesn't mean that she will already know all the concepts taught in TT6 and it will be redundant. It would mean that she's well-prepared to start TT6. Ya know?

Thanks! I'm going to save this post in my email so I can refer to it when I get SS in the mail and can look it over. Sooo is it a bad idea to do SS simultaneously with 2 kids? Especially with one kid who's dyslexic and one who's not? :glare:

I would love for you to elaborate on your method somewhere (though I don't want to hijack this thread and make it ALL about SS). I just ordered SS again and I think the first time I used it I made the mistakes you mentioned. I thought that's how the instructions presented it (test, correct, test)? Maybe I'm remembering wrong. Either way, I want to make the most of SS this time. My ds is dyslexic and I've heard it's effective for those kids. I really hope I can avoid needless frustration this time.

I totally agree. One of my pet-peeves is homeschoolers who stick their nose in the air whenever someone asks (being friendly!) if the kids are excited about "Christmas vacation" or what have you, referring to them being in public school. They laugh about their kids rolling their eyes at people (since when is it cool to be rude?) and are ready for a fight anytime someone asks about homeschooling or mentions the local school. Yet in my experience, I have had a LOT of people gather that my kids are homeschooled because we're out when otherwise they'd be in public school, and when I don't stick my nose up at them, out comes all kinds of compliments about my kids' behavior, praises about how great homeschooling is for kids, or stories about relatives and friends of theirs who homeschool their kids, too! A decade ago I could understand feeling a bit defensive, but nowadays attitudes have changed so much and everybody knows somebody who homeschools. Not everyone agrees with it, but I've never had someone look at me like I had 3 eyes yet...

No, you are not dense at all. I totally agree. When people "enroll" their kids in homeschooling they are often pulling 3 kids out of public school at a time, while enrollment in public school is naturally going to be more steady because it's the default, like you said. The only way it would grow suddenly is if people start having a ton more kids or start leaving private schools for public schools en masse (bahahaha :lol: ). But what IS meaningful, is that the number of homeschoolers has grown by 75% since 1999. That's crazy!! I know when I was in high school we were sitting in class (home room?) wondering where so-and-so was and someone said they were doing "homeschool." I remember thinking this was some kind of oxymoron and never heard of such a thing in my life. What could this mean? But why isn't so-and-so in school? And how is this possible? And could this be illegal? And... and... Huh? :confused1: So I know first-hand that's how unheard of homeschooling was in 1998.

I am in NYS as well. You definitely do not have to note which common core standards are covered in your IHIP. Even before the common core thing, public school requirements were not the same as requirements for homeschoolers. So this is not a new thing. Don't worry about it. It doesn't apply to us as homeschoolers at all. New York State homeschoolers have a set regulations all their own and those are all you need to worry about. If you are unsure what that entails, I highly recommend ordering a LEAH Regulatory Manual which is specifically for NYS homeschoolers. You don't have to know anything about LEAH or be a member in order to buy their manual. It discusses practical tips on how to wisely deal with your school district, lists date deadlines, de-mystifies the regulations, has a copy of the actual regulations, a list of FAQs, sample quarterly reports, etc. I have mine in a binder and still consult it every year. http://www.leah.org/resources/regulatory-manual/

Resurrecting this thread from a few months ago to share my 5th grade plans (I ordered the main part of our curricula today so I'm excited!): Sonlight 4-Day Core D (American History) with Advanced Readers - woo hoo! So glad to finally get to studying the U.S. of A.! :patriot: Sonlight LA (didn't like it before but might as well try out the new LA since it's included) Sequential Spelling Rosetta Stone Latin Level 1 (new this year! Don't know a *thing* about Latin.) Teaching Textbooks Math 5 Mathtacular 3 (as a supplement) CHC handwriting CHC Behold & See Science CHC various saints stories / Catholic literature Wordly Wise 3000 (forgot to order that from Sonlight. Doh) Seriously considering IEW's TWSS/SWI-A Faith & Life online for catechism The bolded is what I've already ordered and so is a done deal. :001_smile: I think ds10 will LOVE all the SL readers and read-alouds. I got the "advanced readers" just so he can move faster through the readers like I know he will and still have something to read.

I think what he is talking about in the video sounds like "persuasive writing," but gone a little too far in some respects (using disrespectful language like "nag" about your mom is not OK, IMO). I also think that the "social advocacy" stuff is a bit beyond what most 1st graders can comprehend and seems a little silly to me to use that as a theme in 1st grade. In 1st grade kids are also not able to differentiate persuasive writing from the logical fallacy "argumentum ad passiones" (aka appeal to emotion) and I think the line is being blurred. It does seem that the ZB book is encouraging kids to appeal to emotion with or without a valid argument. Part of the reason could definitely be a 1st grader's ability, but then I would say save these discussions for when they are in the logic stage and can understand the points being made.

Summer break always comes with relief and a dose of guilt. The relief is always hampered by my knowing that "I didn't get to the end of the book!" or whatever. Per my other post, you can see that I'm going to continue having my dc do 1 math lesson a day to finish that. Other than that, we will quit everything else. But in reality, it doesn't even make sense for me to expect to be finished with, say, our Science book which I just bought a new level of a few months ago. So of course we aren't done. It still "bugs" me, but I know it's irrational. Just take a break. Use the time to chill, relax, and take time to plan next year in such a way that will make getting things done a bit more feasible. Sometimes it gets to a point where going on really isn't helping anyone anyway. You will feel better when you start again afresh.

*sigh* Yeah, I should probably have him keep going with 1 math lesson a day through the summer. He might practically get done with this level in time to start the new one (I planned to start within the first couple weeks of August to get a head start since I have a new baby due at the beginning of Sept). But it will only be 1 math lesson every day so hopefully I won't hear much complaining about it.

With only 7 official days left of school in order to make our 180 days required, I'm thinking about all the books that will be left undone unless I make the kids keep going (in which case there will be some broken hearts). But I'm kind of thinking starting TT5 with the previous level unfinished won't be that big of a deal since it's a spiral program and will probably have tons of review. Am I right? Is it feasible to just move to TT 5 in the fall without finishing TT 4?

Ellie, do you or anyone else know what "survey" edition means? Does "CAT-E/survey" version indicate an end of the year test, or a placement test? I don't really know what the title means, lol.

Hm! I actually tried the CAT online from Christian Liberty Press like a week ago and I'm certain they *do* say to order for the grade the child is going *into.* But after torturing my ds10 with a few sections and realizing it was WAAAAY harder than last year's paper CAT that I ordered from Seton, I decided to waste that 25 bucks and order the paper CAT from Seton again. Sidenote (maybe?): I know that the CLP online CAT is the 1970 edition, whereas the paper CAT from SetonTesting.com is the CAT-E/survey edition. CLP did say that the 1970 version had a bit "higher standards" but I didn't think it would be THAT significant... Yowzer. A dramatic difference, I'd say. Anyhoo, I don't want to confuse the issue, but these are definitely different editions, so maybe Ellie is right? I can't find on Seton's site where they say what grade level to order. Wish I knew for sure. I am also sending results in to our school district this year (I'm in NY) so I don't want to have him take the whole test and find out it's the wrong grade level! grr I *think* ordered the grade my kids were in from Seton last year, but I'm not 100% positive. But last year I didn't have to turn it in so it didn't really matter...

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions!! I will definitely have to look all these up.

My kids didn't have facts memorized by the end of 1st grade. I wouldn't worry about it and just move on.

I thought sure this would be on the site, but I can't find it. I'm ordering the CAT through SetonTesting.com TIA

Pregnancy, expecting your period, low or high blood sugar...

I like Motherhood Maternity for pants and skirts because I'm picky about waist bands. I love their "secret fit belly" waists on bottoms. But for other stuff Old Navy is the cheapest I've found, while also being stylish and having a pretty good selection. Old Navy also has some simple T shirts that I am wearing (I'm over 6 months pregnant). I think they are called "vintage soft tees." I'm 5'5", currently 150 lbs, and wearing a Large and it fits fine over my belly and is super comfy. It sucks in around the belly a bit so it doesn't just hang there like some T shirts would. They are pretty cheap (7-10 bucks) so cheaper than most maternity shirts and you can wear them after the baby during the postpartum period or for PJs later. Just a thought.