[How do you homeschool efficiently?]

I have found coop to be the worst enemy of efficiency.

 

If efficiency is your goal, I would cut coop out, or do at maximum one day.

THIS.

[What grade is fine to stop formal Spelling?]

I never used formal spelling with 4 of my 5 kids. If they spell well in their writing, a program is unnecessary, IMO.

[Audiobooks your preschooler loved]

At that age my small ones loved Jim Weiss CDs: especially Fairytale Favorites, Giants, Old Testament stories, and Famously Funny.

[Do you teach/encourage philosophy?]

Certainly not "no one." I teach philosophy and about 50% of the homeschoolers I know IRL teach it in some form.

[I am doing FLL 1/2 for the 4th time]

I will finish the whole series for the fifth time this year. The 2nd and 3rd times through were worst. Fourth and fifth were easier. In my opinion it is totally worth it.

[A general survey of the chat board about homeschooling]

DS#1: homeschooled K-12 (dual enrolled for 11th and 12th.)

DD#2: homeschooled K-10th, charter school 11th and 12th.

DD#3: homeschooled K-8th, charter school 9th-11th (current)

DS#4: homeschooled K-8th (current)

DS#5: homeschooled K-4th (current)

[Did your child go off to college and not know a single person on campus?]

Yep. Twice.

[How necessary is WWE?]

Well, since many of us old folk have been homeschooling with The Well-Trained Mind since before WWE was written, I would say it is not necessary. I began homeschooling in 2001 and followed the recommendations of the 1st Ed. of TWTM. We did use FLL and lots and lots of narration and copy work (more than what is in FLL.) We began Classical Writing in grade 3.

 

That system worked brilliantly. So much so, that even after WWE came out I refused to switch up what we do. I have graduated 2 who are now in college. They each scored perfectly on the English portion of the SAT. I say that simply to point out that any approach, done consistently and systematically, will be successful.

 

So, WWE works great for many people, but it is not the only right way - just like all other subjects and curriculum. Go with what is working for you and yours.

 

Nancy

[How long did it take to teach your child to read fluently?]

5 kids...anywhere from 18 months to 3 years.

[Calling musicians]

I personally love Kodaly for ear training/sight singing.

[So if you had kids 16 months apart and you wanted to teach them together...]

Well, I had the exact same set up a number of years ago. Boy 16 mo. older than girl. Kept them together for grammar, history, science, Latin, etc. Separate for phonics and math. Worked out great! They are now a freshman and sophomore in college. The question is the maturity of the younger. My daughter was mature - so it worked out well.

[Extracurriculars necessary littler ones?]

None of my five children did extracurriculars at that age. They all started something they were interested in somewhere around ages 8-10. They are all capable, bright, well-adjusted humans now. My preference was to be at home or out together as a family when they were young. I would definitely do it that way again.

[OPG, Phonics Pathways, The Reading Lesson]

Hmm... for those of you who use Phonics Pathways, do you do the games or the spelling notebook recommendation (recommended on p. 243)?   I just sat down to get ready for our phonics lesson today with OPG and realized that the way I was planning to do it really won't accomplish my goal of having something that is no-prep-sit-on-the-couch-and-get-'er-done. Reconsidering Phonics Pathway. 

 

No, we did neither.

[OPG, Phonics Pathways, The Reading Lesson]

I used PP with all five of mine. I chose it because we began homeschooling in 2001 and PP was what the first edition of WTM recommended. It is very much open-and-go. There is nothing to "wade through" in the beginning. Just start on p. 1 and do a page or two per day. It is simple and straight forward. The only phonetic symbols they introduce are long and short vowel signs. That is only briefly...they disappear quickly.

 

Each of my kids spent 18-24 months going through the book. They were very solid readers by the end.

 

Personally, I don't think you can really go wrong with any of your three choices. Sometimes the best thing is just to pick

one and go forward.

[Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization with FLL]

We absolutely adore IEWs poetry and have been using it for about 10 years. We just skipped the poetry in FLL (unless my kids really wanted to do it.) Generally speaking, it took about one year per level, although we did stretch the last level out a bit.

[Your favorite online classes?]

Lukeion classes are really excellent. Mrs. Barr is a phenomenal teacher!

[Books about music]

We love Zin, Zin, Zin! A Violin by Lloyd Moss.

[Managing your schedule with multiple students.]

It has been quite a while since my five were as young as yours but I sure do remember the sinking feeling! I will give you a bullet point list of what worked around here - but remember, it is going to be a busy, chaotic time any way you slice it. That's OK. It's just important to try and enjoy the ride  :laugh:

 

• Wake up earlier - it's amazing what 30-60 minutes of extra morning time can allow you to get done.
• Have simple/easy things prepared ahead of time for breakfast (frozen waffles, hard-boiled eggs, crock-pot oatmeal, muffins, breakfast casserole, smoothie packs, etc.)
• Teach during breakfast - for years we have done Bible, memory work, and read-alouds at breakfast time. They are still kinda sleepy and willing to sit still and listen.
• Stagger chore time - Right after breakfast send one off to do chores and have the others stagger independent work or time with you. Keep rotating the kids through chore time until they are all done. My kids really work during their chore time - vacuuming, sweeping, emptying or loading the dishwasher, laundry, dusting, watering plants, wiping down counters/sinks, etc.
• Have a place for them to put their work that needs to be checked and then get to it in spurts as you have little bits of time throughout the day. I like using a pretty basket that they can plop their workbooks/papers into. Just don't leave it all until the day is done or it won't get checked (voice of experience here!)
• Have a 30-minute mid-morning PE time - we used to spend 30 minutes from 9:45-10:15am every morning riding bikes, scootering, running around the block or jumping on the trampoline. This gives them that much-needed exercise and fresh air and gets the wiggles out.
• Follow this PE time with a protein-rich snack while you read aloud. (apples with peanut or almond butter, almond milk smoothies, cheese and crackers, etc). This will re-invigorate and get them through to lunch.
• Understand that interruptions are natural and normal for a household of small children. See them less as interruptions and more as the natural rhythm of the day. I don't mind if a child with a question comes and stands quietly next to me until I can give them my attention. Ask the child you are working with, "Work this problem/label all the nouns/practice memorizing this definition, etc while I help your sister for a minute." Or, if I am at a place with child A that an interruption would be detrimental I ask child B to move on to the next problem/sentence/whatever until I can help them. It is unrealistic to expect an "interruption-free" block of time with kids whose ages are in the single-digits.
• ALWAYS make time for one thing every day that is enjoyable (reading aloud, playing outside, baking, painting - whatever it is for you and yours.)
• And lastly, I will echo Goldilocks advice above. Simplify. Really. She said, "It is a balance between meeting their needs for academics, play, and having a mom who is available for a game/bike ride/making cookies/etc." Yes and yes! A frazzled, harried mom who is meeting all of the perceived academic needs of her children and making herself crazy doing it (again, experience talking...) is missing the boat. Less is more. Depth not breadth. However you want to describe it - you have YEARS left to meet their academic needs. Don't miss out on the fun and wonder and enjoyment of meeting the needs of your small childrens' hearts where they are right now. Now that I have graduated one and am about to graduate a second, I find it is not the academic needs beingmet along the way that stand out in our homeschooling journey. Those are great, but it is all the other interactions that truly warm my heart and theirs.

Good luck, God bless, and may you find your perfect balance.

 

 

[besides majors in preferred field of study what are (serious and not so serious) things your dc are looking for in a college...]

 

 

We have a family friend who has to have a serious ROTC program. Serious, as in, he probably will only apply to VA Tech and VMI, to be part of their corps of cadets. He visit other schools and decided that he couldn't attend a school where ROTC is just a tangential program. His top choice is USNA, but he has to have some backup.

 

This was my son exactly. He applied at USNA, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, and three other ROTC schools he was completely uninterested in. After getting the thin white envelope from USNA he chose Texas A&M for their Corps of Cadets program. He really enjoyed the atmosphere far more than the others. He also was interested in a school where the party atmosphere took a back seat to the academics. Because he was a National Merit Scholar, Texas A&M reduced the tuition to in-state and gave him a great scholarship - cheaper than other in-state schools.

 

My daughter is looking for a temperate climate and access to a big city. She has a few months left to actually decide, but these seem to be the big ones right now.

[AP scores are available this week]

Hi Nancy,

Can you tell me where he took the Chemistry class?  My daughter is signed up for AP Chemistry next year, but am not sure about the teacher.

Thanks, Judy

Hi Judy,

 

He took it locally at a charter school in town. The teacher was just out of college and just didn't quite have her wits about her. :-) Good luck to your daughter.

[AP scores are available this week]

DD (11th):

Art History: 5

APUSH: 5

 

DS (12th):

APUSH: 5

Lit. & Comp.: 5

Chem: 2 - super disappointed, but I'm proud of him for taking it. He hated the class, teacher, everything! He learned a ton, just didn't test well.

[Chores, if not happy at least accepting]

Well, my first suggestion is always, "Start young." The easiest possible thing is to start them in the chore habit early and be consistent, consistent, consistent. Starting mud-stream is a bit trickier.

 

What has been helpful around here is having a set chore time. For years we have had a morning and evening chore time. I call it and all five if my kids get to work. I have their lists on the inside of my pantry door so I can spot check and make sure things get done. Our rule is that you simply cannot move on to anything else until your chores are done. Period.

 

Then I time other things appropriately. Our morning chore time is after breakfast. My 8 year old loads the breakfast dishes into the dishwasher. I run the dishwasher after lunch and my 12 year old empties it at evening chore time. All of my kids over 11 years old do their own laundry (including towels). They each get a day where the washer/dryer are theirs. If they don't do their laundry they are out of luck until next week. They don't typically "forget" more than once :-)

 

The best advice anyone can give you is be consistent. My experience has always been that if I don't require it, they really just won't do it.

[Moms of 4 or more, what math do you use?]

I don't think it is the curriculum that matters as much as time management and mastering a familial flow. Learning how to teach one and having that child being disciplined enough to sit quietly and work independently or wait quietly with their questions without interrupting while I work with another child is the biggest hurdle. The kids learn to move on the questions they can answer without my help and then when I am available ask for assistance. If they can't do any more independently without help, they read another assignment, etc.

I agree. I have five here and have found that being consistent with the daily rhythm and expectations, as well as diligently reinforcing discipline in my kids so that they can work mostly without distraction while I work with others are more important than the curriculum itself.

[Dropping FLL3, need alternate grammar program]

Yeah, I agree with a pp...just drop the diagramming aspect of FLL3 if you don't want to do it. There's plenty in there even without the diagramming.

[Why do schools get out so early in the day??]

If I could like this 100 times I would!

 

School days in the US are already much longer than in many other countries.

Keeping kids for extra hours does not mean you can fill more academics into them - they can't work and concentrate for long periods of time just because you keep them in school for that long. They don't need "more hours on STEM projects"; they need competent math teachers and efficient instruction over an age appropriate time span during which they can concentrate. Which, as homeschooling parents know, is maybe 2-3 hours for elementary age kids - not seven!

 

Time for chat with friends and playing can be easily had after school on the kids' own time. I fail to see why that must prolong the school day.

 

 

Working parents can arrange for after school care. Many schools provide such care free of charge. But it is not the purpose of schools, and schools should focus on their original mission: education.

 

The long school day in this country - with nothing to show for academically! - was one of the things I hated about schools while my kids attended. Making it mandatory would be ridiculous.