LibrarianMom
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Posts posted by LibrarianMom
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My dd will be a first grader at our local public elementary in the fall. It is a small K-8 district that feeds into a larger high school district which combines our district, the larger "town" district, and two other smaller districts. The multiple districts is highly confusing and is part of the reason I afterschool. Our local elementary is great with caring teachers and a family atmosphere with the older kids looking out for the younger. Our daughter only had 15 in her class this year with the same in the other section.
In the fall ds will be enrolled in the early childhood pre-school at the same school, so he can receive OT and some other help. The nice thing about that is there will only be five in his class, it's free, he'll attende five days a week compared to two or three days at the church pre-school, and the teacher's aide is our next door neighbor.
I afterschool because I want to be involved in our children's education. Purchasing and following a curriculum or other materials (even loosely) helps keep me accountable for doing it. There is so much I wish I knew and that I want my children to learn. I agree with the earlier poster that many public school parents afterschool or at least parents of kids who are the top of their classes. Some parents shoot a basketball with their kids or make sure their children are signed up for the right sports team or camp. Others focus more on things of an academic nature.
LibrarianMom
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We used SIRS all the time... http://www.proquestk12.com/ I think it is free.
Some states provide schools and libraries with access to SIRS for free or reduced cost. Other schools and libraries choose to purchase access to databases like SIRS for several thousand dollars a year. SIRS is a great resource because instead of indexing every article in a large number of periodicals, SIRS only indexes select articles from magazines and newspapers that they feel are the best.
A nice free resource that provides access to a variety of resource types is Kidspace (http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/).
LibrarianMom
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Actually, my husband didn't have the chicken pox until he was in graduate school and had a really bad case. I had the chicken pox when I was two because my sister brought it home from school and still have scars. My kids were vaccinated because my mom has had shingles twice which is caused by the chicken pox virus. Even though you have had the chicken pox, the virus still lives inside of you and can cause shingles when reactivated.
What the school is doing probably isn't legal, but I can understand their rationale and reasoning for doing so. They probably think they are doing you a favor by not knowingly exposing your children.
LibrarianMom
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Many libraries provide a variety of databases that include all of the science magazines mentioned here and may others. These databases provide the full text article but not full page advertisements. Any advertisements are only partial ones included in PDF full text. Sometimes you need to inquire with your library about access, passwords, and other things, but then you can use the databases for a variety of research assignments and current events reading. Being familiar with how to use journal databases for research will also give your children a heads up when they go to college. I spend several class periods teaching college freshman at my institution about the various types of periodicals available and how to tell which are academic and appropriate to use.
LibrarianMom
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Everyone's suggestions have been wonderful. My dd is just finishing up ps kindergarten. We read a lot, write some, and play games. Let them take the lead. There are some days where you might do a whole lot and other days when nothing gets done and that's OK. Keep in mind that some items your child might enjoy and others that don't do the trick. For a long time, my dd ran and hid if I got out the Building Thinking Skills (now titled Hands-On Primary). Sometimes doing workbooks orally instead of written is important.
Now about that curriculum stockpile though, I'm right there with you. I can't resist a good deal. Why buy tomorrow what you can get cheap today? :tongue_smilie:
LibrarianMom
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I just purchased a copy of Artistic Pursuits 1 (Thanks Dawn!). I am so excited about using it with my dd and doing the projects myself too. I was wondering if other experienced users found it necessary to complete the units exactly in order or if you can pull the units concerning the ancient art to do when you are studying the appropriate time period. I think it shouldn't be a problem, but I wanted to make sure there isn't something important we would miss that way.
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Are you sure it was a certified librarian or an aide? Certified school librarians have teaching certificates plus a masters degree in library science. Unfortunately, many schools, particularly large districts will have one librarian over five or six elementary schools and then staff each library with simply an aide who isn't trained to really engage the students in any substantive kind of way. A true professional school librarian would not engage in what you described.
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Yesterday, I discovered that many Evan-Moor books are available in Google Books in Full View. They can't be downloaded and are marked copyright protected. However, if you want to look before you buy or for a book that's more of a resource/how-to you might find them very helpful.
LibrarianMom
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Your frirend might want to look at some of the math resources from Evan-Moor.com. Or she could look at Math Mammoth or Developmental Math to zero in on the specific skills her son needs to work on. Free options include http://www.math-drills.com/ and http://www.freemathworksheets.net/.
LibrarianMom
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We are working through Sonlight K right now. We use it as "afterschooling" with my dd who is in K this year. We have really enjoyed all the read-alouds so far and have also been reading all of the sequels. All of the sequels are making it take quite a bit longer. It doesn't seem disjointed to me because, in my understanding of Solight's plan, at this point the read-aloud stories aren't supposed to correlate with the history/geography. LA K is pretty basic focusing on letter sounds and basic CVC words so lots of people use it with with the Preschool core which I think is now called Core 4/5.
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We're hopefully going to speed up our pace just a bit. I've been using Sonlight Core K this year and will keep going. We'll hopefully write a bit each day to keep up our handwriting and work on more independent reading. It's amazing how much learning can be done while playing games and simply having fun.
LibrarianMom
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I do a mix of resources. When I'm using a packaged curriculum (I use Sonlight), I order from that company. I've ordered a variety of other new sources from Rainbow Resource and did most of my Christmas shopping through their company as well. However, I always check the for sale listings here, on other boards, and on Ebay.
LibrarianMom
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You have had so many good replies so far. I know that it is so hard to just focus on a few things. You'll also find that it will take longer to get through things. For example, we're do Sonlight Core C (K) this year and we're only on week 9 although we have read about a dozen other chapter books as well.
With children 3, 4, 6, 10, and 14, it looks like you'll have three in school and two in some kind of child care. Your 14 year old will probably have a lot of homework that will diminish afterschooling opportunities. The focus there will probably need to be encouraging good reading habits and helping with schoolwork and favorite interests. With your 10 year old, filling in the gaps of what the school provides will probably be your best bet particularly with lots of literature using read-alouds and books to read themselves.
I'm guessing that you'll want to work most closely with your 6 and 4 year olds. Those pre-K, K, and 1st grade years are crucial for getting down the basics. Again lots of read-alouds and games are going to be important. And with a 3 year old, just love them, cuddle, and read.
My 6 year old loves the Critical Thinking books which she calls "mind thinkers". However, she has suddenly taken an aversion to her Singapore math (EB 2A) and ETC. So I've taken to bribery and she gets 1 marble in her marble jar per page. She also gets marbles for her chores which she exchanges for privileges.
Housework wise: Your 14 year old and to some extent your 10 year old are big enough to take on a lot of chores. At 14, I made supper for our family every evening because my mom worked until 5:30 and hour away from home. I also did a lot of the cleaning just because I had to.
Best wishes as you sort out your plans.
LibrarianMom
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Tomie de Paola is my favorite author/illustrator. I'm not sure if he uses a particular method, but I think his pictures are marvelous. Many of his stories originate from his own upbringing and have roots in his Catholic upbringing.
LibrarianMom
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Dear fellow Afterschoolers,
This is more of a general forum question but since it is specific to afterschooling I thought I would post here. We currently after school our dd and plan to continue doing so. I do work full-time outside of the home, and my husband's job requires several evenings a week and every other Saturday. I'm finding it difficult to keep up on home maintenance (mostly the clutter), particularly if I want to do any afterschooling and spend productive time with my just turned three year old. Does anyone have any suggestions, resources, or routines they have tried?
LibrarianMom
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I swear by WorldCat.org. If you go to their advanced search page (http://worldcat.org/advancedsearch), down towards the bottom you can limit your search by Audience to Juvenile or non-Juvenile. Once you find a book, you can see what libraries near you have a copy. They have great list management tools as well.
If you are using Google Books, you may have some success when you combine the word juvenile with whatever topic you are searching. Sometimes though, as you found out, you find items that just mention juvenile instead of juvenile books. That's because Google Books does a search of the full text of the book when the entire text is available. Google Books is great when you just need to look at a little bit of a book and don't want to purchase or borrow, but for reading, I really like to hold it in my hand.
LibrarianMom
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The largest part of our afterschooling is providing and reading lots of great books and being intentional about how we use our after school time. Is it easy? No. Is it consistent? Not as often as I would like. Is it better than nothing? Absolutely!
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I echo the encouragement to look at the curriculum used in 1st and 4th grade at your local school. Perhaps you'll be able to borrow textbooks from the school or at least get a list of what texts they use that you can scout out elsewhere. Every year schools have students who transfer in from other school districts where students are ahead or behind where that school's students are. You might also check your state board of education website for a copy of the state standards for those grades.
As far as handwriting goes, encourage him to work on writing more neatly but don't sweat it too much.
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Currently, my husband and I afterschool our dd (K). For a variety of reasons, we frequently contemplate taking the plunge to homeschooling. However, I do want to continue working (I love my career and where work) and I need to (I have great health insurance that covers our kids and my husband doesn't). I do have the possibility of adjusting my schedule so I could take some mornings off alternating with my husband and I'm pretty sure I could find another homeschooling mom in our area or someone else who is willing to take care of my children in the afternoon. So, is there anyone out here in WTM-land (besides SWB) who works and can share how they manage?
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in learning more about shared teaching as well. Currently we are after schooling, but we are seriously considering moving to full-time homeschooling. Doing so would require both of us teaching on alternate mornings and then doing some evening work as well. Suggestions from those who have BTDT would be helpful.
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Reading Pathways is also by Dolores Hiskes. There are excerpts posted on their website http://www.dorbooks.com/index.html. It looks like it might be helpful for oral reading practice. Once I receive my ILL copies, I'll post a fuller description.
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I can't vouch for all of the titles listed here, but here are several lists I have found and marked for future reference.
Chronological List of Kid's History http://www.abookintime.com/
http://readingyourwaythroughhistory.com/
Historical Fiction for Children and Young Adults http://bookgirl3.tripod.com/historicalfiction.html
The next couple of links are good for all kinds of read-alouds, not just historical literature.
Database of Award Winning Children's Literature http://www.dawcl.com/
Children's Literature Comprehensive Database http://www.childrenslit.com/
is an excellent database that some libraries subscribe to. But there are many free resources available under the children's literature link in the menu bar.
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I have heard Phonics Pathways mentioned on these boards and other forums before. Today I decided to check them out and I'm interested in what I've read. I'm even more interested as I've found a really great deal on the two volumes (PM me if you'd like to know where). I know I could ILL a copy, but I'm not sure how long this deal is going to last. Now for my questions:
We've been using OPGTR and ETC which have been OK. DD is doing fairly well with CVC words and is learning some other words by sight. What is the advantage/benefits of one program over the other? If we used Phonics Pathways would we want to drop ETC? About how long should we expect it would take to work through Phonics Pathway?
Now for Reading Pathways, this items looks interesting for the extra reading practice and gradually building into larger words. Have any of you used this without using Phonics Pathways? Can it be used well without the phonics book or should they really be used in tandem? Is Reading Pathways good practice for adding to other more "fun" readers?
Any other suggestions or comments that you think might be helpful would be appreciated.
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use the following rotation:
Soupy Sunday during the winter and Salad Sunday during spring and summer
Meatless Monday
Crock-Pot Tuesday
Wacky Wednesday (anything goes; mostly leftovers)
Traditional Thursday (i.e. regular stuff like pasta)
Fishy Friday
Simmering Saturday (things that need to cook a long time)
I found this gave us lots of options. I put together a calendar to give more suggestions like Tuesday week 1 chicken in the crock-pot, week 2 beef, week 3, pork, week 4 meatless and I alternated so we didn't have all chicken one week.
This worked really well until my husband got a job where he works several evenings a week. I need to go back and figure out something again.
ETC Online?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Has anyone used ETC Online instead of the workbooks? My daughter resists the workbooks so I'm thinking maybe the computer format might work better but am interested in user feedback. I'll admit my interest has increased as I saw it's a current featured group buy at the Homeschooling Co-op.