Excelsior! Academy
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Posts posted by Excelsior! Academy
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Have you considered Phonics Pathways? He may know phonics and how to read, but it has visual tracking exercises. It greatly helped my 5th grade dd that had "education induced dyslexia." I diagnosed it after researching and not having the greatest public school experience. I figured she would be embarrassed, but after explaining we were training eye muscles that had been trained incorrectly she was fine. She could actually see improvement herself!
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Have you considered keeping Saxon and just skipping the meeting? That's what we do. I just make sure to skim occasionally to make sure I've covered any concepts introduced this way.
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Saxon K is fine for a 4yo. Just plan on maybe combining a couple of lessons, especially in the beginning. My 4yo loves it! There were a couple of concepts that were a little confusing to her, so we skipped them. It is more about learning through play at this age anyway. We'll cover any missed skills later.
P.S. This is not to imply in any way that Saxon is not complete. I am only refering to what we may have missed due to *me* skipping a couple of lessons in the K book.
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I am so going to use that response at the right time. Thanks for the story!
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We do VP. We did not find it until our 2nd year of hs, so our actual 1st cycle will take us 6 years. We are shortening this to a 4 year cycle when the older two hit Omnibus. Our plan is to line up the 5 year cycle for the younger two with Omnibus and have the older two do a year of modern "classical" literature like the Scarlet Letter and Gone With the Wind.
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I can't get the link to work. Would you mind posting it again, so I could cut and paste? Thank you.
I had FIAR and gave it away. It was neat, but I would find myself waiting for books through the library or not getting to the library in time for the next unit.
We do have everything in the HWT program. I am wanting something else, too. Handwriting Without Tears has been our all time favorite program.
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We love it. I personally don't like the idea of video school for *my* children, but I love DIVE. He explains the lessons in a way that is really engaging. He also gives different examples than what is in the book. If your children don't understand after watching his lesson, they can then work the examples in the book.
Pros: If a child is stuck on a concept they can rewind to the proper lesson and watch examples worked through.
It explains math from a Christian standpoint. "Science is the language of God, and math is the language of science."
The kids love that I let them use the computer during school time.
They are required to write everything on the screen. They write on the whiteboard while watching, giving them more review.
Cons: A parent might be tempted to not read the lesson with the child or ahead of the child, thus, not learning Saxon's teaching methods.
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This will be our first year not to send one of our kiddos to Pre-K. While they all learned a lot, it was mainly social. We have that aspect covered;)so I am not concerned so much about that.
I would love a preschool in a box that is very teacher friendly. I gather from several sorces for our K and up curriculum, but want something put together for me for preschool. Yes, I know they can just play, but I have a 4yo that begs for work. I figure that if I have a preschool program then dd4 will "feel" like she's doing school.
Things I have considered are My Father's World, Rod and Staff, and Phonics Museum. Anyone use any of these? What are other choices that you may have used and liked? What are some I should avoid?
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My oldest 3 all started in the public school system. My second oldest was tested by the district and skipped a grade. She probably could've skipped two, but there is NO way I would've allowed her to do that! That said mine are very aware of their grade levels. Now that we are homeschooling, it is hard to remove that. It is also the first question anyone asks of them.
I honestly wish it were not that way because I think they need to stay at home as long as they need to to mature and learn.
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Wow! The results surprised me. I think I may need to learn more about each candidate.
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I make a "to do" list every day for my 2 children (4th and 7th grade). As we complete each subject they cross it off. Lately it seems like our list is getting longer and longer. At times I feel like we are doing too much but on the other hand I want to cover a lot of subjects.
I'm curious how many subjects you have your child do each day. We typically have 14-16 items do do per day M, TU and TH and about 10 on Wed. and Fri with an occasional Friday off.
Would you mind listing these? I am curious to see how you itemize. Our list seems fairly small compared to yours. Most days we accomplish Bible, Latin, copywork, English grammar, math, history, piano, and science. The girls are doing art and reading on their own, so I am not including that as part of our school day. We also do current events, writing, and other subjects once a week.
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We moved ours in our van. Granted it is a spinett, so a little smaller than most. We had to lay ours on its back which is a big no-no, but okay for short periods of time. You NEED a piano dolly and probably 4-6 strong men to move it. I would also suggest a piece of wood to lay over any steps if you have any up to your porch. Rent a U-Haul if you need to.
Don't forget to avoid outside walls when you actually find a place for it in your house. It is not as important now that we tend to have better insulation in our houses than in the past, but a consideration. Don't under any circumstances place it over or near a floor vent. Unless, of course, you would like to rework the whole thing in a few years!:D
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If you are on a seriously tight budget check out Hillybilly Housewife. She has some desperation menus. If you are on a moderate tight budget check out e-mealz. They email you menus and grocery lists weekly. They promise to keep the basic meal plan around $75 a week. It does cost $15 every three months and it is store specific. They have 11 different plans to choose from.
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Chocolate. Good chocolate. I hoard it. I hide it. I eat it to keep me sane.
I've had trouble convincing my DH that I NEED it.
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Well, since you asked. I believe that homeschooling for us means staying home. And, no, we are not antisocial. Up until last year the girls did competitive gymnastics, we had 1 in public school, I worked full time, many field trips, etc. This year all we do is church related activites. We do average a monthly field trip, but not always with the same group of kiddos.
It has been like a breath of fresh air. The kids are happier, DH is happier, *I* am happier. I was scared when we pulled out of everything that it would limit our opportunities. Wrong! We have had many, and even turn down more than we take. Do what feels right for your family. You will be glad you did.
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Say, "Hey, I'll be right back." Then put down the phone and walk off for an hour or two!:)
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I just cover the meeting type things at other times. I make sure we are skip counting, counting money, patterning, and know our calendar concepts. I think they are valuable skills, but you can find your own way to teach them.
To make a long story short, we skip the meeting, but I skim occasionally to know when to introduce certain skills that are not introduced in the lesson.
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Our state requires citizenship, state history, and other subjects. While we have no reporting process or even testing I make sure these things are touched on every year. We will do a year where we will intensely study our state's history, but right now I'm satisfied with a couple of field trips with documentation. I meet the requirement by taking them to the state's capital and viewing a couple local historical museums. They will keep soveniers like a thank you note from a state representative or an essay they wrote about their day. If you did something like this in your required subject it would take you a day or two tops, yet you could still show proof that you met your requirements until you decided to cover it further. Just a thought.
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Thank you all. I didn't realize that many did 4 day weeks. I like the idea of going year round and just taking off December and May. I still would like to get to a point where our year starts in January versus August. Maybe this would be a way to transition into that.
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I am curious how you get it ALL in. I would love to have a light day.
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Our long term goal is to have each child be able to read Latin authors like Virgil, etc. in their original language.
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I only removed my last child last year, so right now I only have cons. But I would encourage you to do some research to present to the school district about homeschooled athletes who compete on public school teams. Like this year's heisman trophy winner who was homeschooled K-12. He even has a law named after him. Just a thought.
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A couple of options for you if you continue with Saxon.
Write in the book since they are paperback. We did this last year, although we are not this year.
Use the provided graph paper. You do have to photocopy it, but it is sectioned off for each problem. Makes lining up numbers a breeze!
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We do some immunizations with the kiddos. The more I research I do the more selective I've become. We don't do the HPV one, for example. Or the Chicken Pox one, but have been known to seek out those with Chicken Pox for exposure!:eek::D
My DH used to work for a vet. He knows what the dog needs when he needs it, so he goes to the local pet supply place, buys them, and administers them himself. The main thing you HAVE to know is the real weight. We had a dog that we thought was 85 lbs. When we weighed it it was only 60. Big dosage difference.
how do I make a great baked potato?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
I agree! Just scrub, poke, and put directly on the oven rack at 400 for 1 hour. No wrapping with foil, just the best potato ever!