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Jayne J

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Everything posted by Jayne J

  1. If you are interested in a modern, secular vision of a living books list, check out Build Your Library. She has thoroughly updated the Charlotte Mason approach--I find too many lists of books that are out of print and sometimes offensive in other CM type lists. The curriculum is essentially a reading list and suggested schedule, and I have found that a large majority of the books are available at my local library system. It is not complete--no math, little non-narration writing, and I feel the science needs some beefing up, but a great reinvention of the CM reading lists.
  2. We worked through a couple of these at an informal homeschooling group I belong too, and had a lot of fun. http://pbskids.org/designsquad/parentseducators/guides/
  3. Thanks for all the suggestions! If Writing Skills doesn't pan out, I know where to start looking for a replacement!
  4. Thanks for the heads up! I am planning to intersperse some fun creative writing from this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1118024311/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER DD has dyslexia and needs REALLY explicit, step-by-step instruction, so this seemed like the thing, but I agree that it could be dull-ish without something else to spice it up.
  5. Thank you! I hate buying the TM only to find it less than useful.
  6. I am looking at book 1 for my daughter who needs some explicit writing guidance, but the samples of the TM that I can find look more like teacher education than an integral part of the program. Yes? No?
  7. I am another who has always left correct answers unmarked and put check marks next to incorrect ones (life-long Pennsylvanian). That is how my teachers in school always did it. We also used check marks to indicate "complete/finished" and minus signs to indicate "incomplete" but the context was always obvious.
  8. I have a couple of very prolific artists here too. We have a color-coded file folder for each kid, where they stick any and all art they make (3D stuff is photographed). After 6 months or so the folder is stuffed full and we sit down together and sort it. Some becomes gifts for grandparents, some becomes wrapping paper for small gifts, some gets tossed, and their very favorite pieces get a new dated folder which goes into that child's storage bin for permanent storage.
  9. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/540167-so-minimalist-challenge/?do=findComment&comment=6151949 http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/559478-minimalist-school-supplies/?do=findComment&comment=6505948 http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/551774-my-new-minimalist-supply-list/?do=findComment&comment=6375118 http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/545948-another-minimalist-homeschool-thread/?do=findComment&comment=6254583 http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/546041-minimalist-challenge-roadschooling-with-onlymostly-hardcopy-books/?do=findComment&comment=6288956 Try running through some of these threads. Twigs catalogued many of Hunter's challenges in the first link, and I found a few more that may be relevant (and hopefully not repeats from Twigs' post!)
  10. I felt utterly shut out of the local homeschool scene (extremely conservative Christian) until I was lucky enough to stumble onto the 'underground' homeschool scene (by which I mean the secular/inclusive/eclectic/even-slightly-unschooly crowd). They seem to be sort of shadow worlds to each other--neither acknowledging the other, and never the twain shall meet LOL! At the risk of stereotyping, I would have found this group much more quickly had I been looking for them outside the box--whole foods markets, CSA pick-ups, yoga studios, alternative healing places, the local UU congregation, skate parks, music venues, local creative/maker type spaces. Kinda nebulous, but it never hurts to ask. This may be just my area though, so YMMV. Our group is a great mix of Christian, pagan/heathen, atheist, Buddhist, and who knows what else, and I feel extremely lucky to have found them. Best of luck to you!
  11. I was just coming in to recommend Gilgamesh myself. Surprisingly readable, relevant, and fun.
  12. Context is everything. I have one kid who would laugh her head off and think it was the funniest thing ever, and another who would be very upset, feeling like the target of bullying and meanness despite having a hilarious sense of (verbal) humor. I understand the humor, but don't personally enjoy that kind of joking. My mother's side of the family did things like that and it always made me feel a little picked on. But if it brings you all closer and makes you laugh together, go for it! :)
  13. Annual event here--I am in the middle of 'putting-away-the-books-from-this-school-year' an event which includes a lot of paper sorting, and dealing with broken crayons. And then completely reorganizing every shelf in every room, because the grammar books wouldn't all fit in the space allotted to them. And no matter how many shelves we add, it is the same story every year--how is that possible? If I am very, very lucky by the time it evolves into 'oh-my-goodness, did no one put a single art or craft supply away all year long?!' I will be too exhausted to start pulling things off the closet shelves...
  14. Yay! Just got back. I ended up with the Serenity/Hellboy/Alien mashup. The kids got two each, because they wore costumes. Sigh. I love free comic book day...
  15. Another INFJ here. I could have written your post Pinkmint! I keep waiting to finally hit my stride and feel like I have this homeschool/parenting thing down, and it has yet to happen. The rigid/creative is a constant struggle for me--I want to live this big, creative, messy life, but not until the living room is tidy and the dishes are put away. :laugh:
  16. Ahhh, OK. Thanks. I wondered if I was missing something, but what you wrote makes sense.
  17. We are going from MM7 (which is pre-algebra) into AOPS Introduction to Algebra. Are some of you going from MM (old)6/(new)7 into pre-algebra? That seems redundant, since old6/new7 covers most pre-algebra topics.
  18. We did. (Well, we are planning to...) We have done MM with all of ours from grade 2 up. My kids found MM overwhelming in 1st grade--we did Horizons instead, because they liked its colorful workbook pages--but we moved into MM in second grade. DS is finishing MM grade 7 this year, and we plan to move him into AOPS algebra next year. Dh (who oversees math) thinks that a more traditional, basic algebra 1 course would be boring and redundant. We both feel that MM gives a strong solid base and plan to continue to use it with our younger kids.
  19. Sorry Soror--I don't have a direct link. I used Pinterest to find a picture I liked and printed it out at the right size. If your kiddo doesn't like color/cut/paste, then the History Pockets may not work, but I thought I'd mention them, since they saved my bacon a couple of times when I did't have the time or energy to prepare something else on a Friday. LOL! Plus my youngest enjoys that kind of thing.
  20. We did an American Girl History study this year too. We covered Kaya, Felicity, Josefina, Kirsten, and Addy. We spent 6-8 weeks on each girl, reading all of each girls's books, the Welcome to ________'s World books, and the craft and cooking books (which were available at our library). We used the AG books as starting points to pick library books and activities--for Kaya we read more about the Nez Perce and Appaloosa horses, for Josefina the girls used onion skins to dye yarn and learn to weave, etc. I used the History Pockets books--Native Americans, Colonial America, and Moving West--to add some cut and paste/coloring activities, which my youngest loves. This year we did history in one chunk on Fridays. During the week, we would start our day with a chapter or two from the AG book, and then on Friday we would read a few spreads from the Welcome to so-and-so's World book as well. Usually I had a History Pocket activity or cooking/crafting activity planned, and we might read an extra book or two about special topics, or watch a video (Liberties Kids was a major player during the Felicity study). I also had the girls add each new AG to a map of the US with her name and date, to help keep it all together. I printed miniature versions of the characters and they glued them to a map of the US. We added major cities and other features, like the El Camino Real, the original and current Nez Perce territory, and Kirsten's journey to Minnesota, etc.
  21. Not classics, but DD enjoyed the Heidi Hecklebeck series and the Critter Club series
  22. Hey, I know I am late to the party, but I would love to be added! I've got a rising middle schooler and would love to join the group.
  23. We love the 10 Days in...(Europe, Africa, Asia, the US) games for geography.
  24. I know I am late to this party, but for future reference, this site is a great STEAM resource: http://steampoweredclassroom.com/ There is a resource guide, a blog, book reviews, and lots of other stuff!
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