2_girls_mommy
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Posts posted by 2_girls_mommy
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No, but I almost did. But then I remembered that is not what I am there for. Our church is not a denomination that has a lot of hsers in general. I have only met people online that are from our denom that hs.
We go to a small church, and the people are all close and talk. We have only been members for 3 years, and are still kind of newbies. But I am drawn to this church and feel God led us there. I decided to stick with it. I am glad I did. After a day earlier this year like you have described I almost left.
I finally decided I would have to put on a brave face, and blaze the trail. No, I cannot get hs fellowship there. I get that other places. I look at it kind of like I did long term breastfeeding way back when. I feel like I am making the path a little easier for the next brave soul who comes after me. People thought it was weird to see me breastfeed in public an older baby. Hopefully we are normal enough that they will now judge a little less :) Things have gone smoothly since. I just don't discuss it with people there anymore who I know do not approve.
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My kids are the same age difference as yours. So I had a 4 and a 2 yr old not long ago.
I also had a very advanced 4 yr old too at one point. I agree w/ what the others are saying about you will be ok w/out planning. Mine read by the end of the year, with no formal phonics, and learned math by herself up to multiplication and division in real life situations.
For her preK year (which would have equaled P.S. k or mid first grade according to my P.S teacher mom) we did a workbook of her letters and sounds even though she was picking it up naturally just to be orderly about it.
For math, she had a big dry erase math book that we would work in whenever she wanted. She could do math addition problems w/ a number line into very high numbers by the end of the year, along w/regular K stuff. She could count over 100, etc. Just by doing this informally. We usually broke this out when the 2 yr old napped, laying on my bed together. Of course we worked constantly in real life situations on math.
For Science, we had a science journal (a notebook that we wrote and drew in about places we had been like the zoo or a farm or whatever and she illustrated.) And we read tons of books from the library.
For History/Social Studies stuff we read and went to museums and library classes. For music they attended a preschool music class and of course we listened and danced to music daily.
That was it for "curriculum." She was able to jump into 1st grade work for K easily. She also likes structure and schoolwork. But for her formal "schooltime" she sat at the table for 10 min. copying her letters on a workbook page. The rest of the day was broken up by regular structure: 2 regular storytimes at naptime and bedtime which inclued poetry and anything/everything we got our hands on, and tons of other learning (songs, rhymes, out of the house excursions, playdates, etc.)
I haven't used your Bible program, so I don't know how much planning it needs. But if you don't get to all of it, I wouldn't worry about it. Do it when it is fun and when it comes naturally, and when you are looking for something fun to do with them. Ease into the hsing. You will get your groove and will be better at planning as they get older and when it is really necessary. It sounds to me like you are doing great with her already :)
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Great replies. Lots of my favorites have made the list.
I also love Annabel Lee, but that's more of a personal thing, not one i would foist on my dc
Me too!! I memorized it in 8th grade when we got to pick any poem we wanted, and I still love it!! Don't know why it appealed so much, but it just did/does...
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I said Classical, because that is the goal. I use the Well Trained Mind as my main guide, and plan to use it more to the letter as the kids get older. I will need more guidance in the coming years than I do now.
We do use the occasional unit study or lapbook for fun and change of pace, and have used some traditional materials. But the overall plan and schedule is TWTM. Our one lapbook last year was a St. Patrick's day one. It fit well into our Ancients study chronologically, and was just a fun detour into Ireland in March. We took a break from SOTW 1 during Nov. to explore the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving. We will continue that kind of thing as long as my children are young.
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We are going to start cursive mid year this year (2nd grade.) I know as a kid in P.S. I didn't learn until 3rd. I can't think of any reason to start in 1st as a general rule.
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I was going to say it is a cultural difference. Our neighbors across the street are very family oriented people of a different nationality than us. We go to their bday parties and such, even though we speak a different language. Their children are younger than ours and are up VERY late every night. Later than me. Dh will tell me they are outside playing (with their family) when he is out late doing something. They are toddlers. The only thing I can think of is that they must all take long naps during the afternoons to stay out that late and be awake. The parents both work too, so they may sleep during the day at a babysitter's house, and spend family time at night.
So far they are young enough they do not come ask my kids to play that late. They just wave across the street when we are going in to bed at 7:00 or 8:00 and they are just getting started for the night:001_smile: It could be an issue in later years though. We also live in a city.
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I don't know what else you are using for L.A, but I will tell you what we used anyway. DD6 did Rod and Staff reading for 1st grade last year. The reading level was actually below her reading level, but it is all Bible Stories and it didn't take long to complete each day. The T.M had daily ideas for vocabulary, comprehension, and other skills that I liked. It went well with doing SOTW 1. It had a couple of the same Bible stories (Joseph, Moses, Jesus) but with more detail and more of what came between the few major events in SOTW.
I haven't used R&S reading 2, so I am not sure what stories are covered in it. Might be worth a look.
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I have an advanced reader like yours, but she always had a great focus and was very attentive during stories. I also have an almost 5 yr. old who is not reading.
I agree with the others who have said go back to reading shorter books to work on narration and focus. My dd6 can read anything, but that doesn't stop me from reading outloud daily to her from all kinds of books including picture books. If your older dd says she wants to read it, or she doesn't want you to read it you could always tell her you are reading it to the younger one. Then make it lots of fun, and ask the younger one questions about the pictures and the story. In my house that would definitely draw the other one in. All I have to do is start reading aloud and everyone comes near around here :)
We read things out loud constantly that my 6 yr old could read herself. Sometimes I will have her read aloud too at bedtime, then it is my turn.
Examples of what we are reading: I am reading Stuart Little aloud a chapter at a time. DD6 already read it, but she still listens in. She can ask questions about words she didn't get that way, and hear the way they should sound. We are reading from What Your 2nd grader needs to know about Insects. So I read a section of that and other picture books about insects. We have a book of Bedtime Stories that are just sweet moral stories that we read from often too. Last night dh did read a chapter of Peter Pan aloud and dd6 was very intrigued. We may finish that, but she is almost 7. I am not too sure my 4 yr old liked it as much. Anyway, just some ideas.. Try several shorter books at a time and work on narration (or at her age, leading questions) with those maybe.
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We love Rod and Staff math. It is not expensive, and it works well. You have to buy T.Ms and workbooks for 1st & 2nd grade, after that no more workbooks. You would be able to completely reuse the 4th grade book w/your younger child when she gets there. I would look around for used copies of the T.Ms and 4th grade book. Then you would only have to order the workbooks from R&S.
We will be doing math 1 w/my youngest dd this year, and I can't wait to do it again. We had so much fun and success doing it the first time w/my oldest.
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My dd6 was reading fluently and silently chapter books at the end of K with complete comprehension. She tells me about her books after she has read them, and can use that knowledge in other places. She was reading Bob type books way before K. She began sounding out words on her own at 3, before I had even gone over how to with her. I don't think she is the norm.
I am about to start K w/my next dd. She is going on 5 this month and is beginning to sound out every single CVC word in her BOB books. She is in a much different place starting K than her sis was. Only time will tell where she is in a year. I don't know if she will take off one day as some have described, or continue to move forward in short steps. We shall see!
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Exactly, that is what I was trying to say too:001_smile: I don't think it matters where you start w/those. So if you start her in Ancients now in 3rd grade, she would do middle ages in 4th. So then when she starts 5th grade (logic stage) she would just continue w/the history rotation where she is, but do the logic stage work which is the outlining, etc. instead of just SOTW 3. She will still hit the History & Science topics 2 times, and some of them 3 times. It doesn't really matter where you start with them, just what level of work you are doing with them.
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It is difficult for the person you asked probably only because they felt they made you uncomfortable... It is their reality, and it really depends on where they are in their grieving process as to whether or not just mentioning the child is going to upset them. And only time can really determine that.
I lost a child too, and it does not pain me to mention her. It has been many years, and I still think of myself as having had 3 children. I often talk about her, my pregnancy with her and whatnot when comparing and talking about those things of my other children. It does make some people uncomfortable when they first hear I have lost a child. But it has been so many years, and I know she is with God and better off and I have peace with it. So it would not have bothered me except I would have felt bad that it bothered you.
Even earlier in my grieving process, I would have rather talked about her than not. It was hard enough that she was gone, but then not to be able to talk about her as if she had lived was really difficult. When an older person dies, many people have known and been affected by them. People tell stories and conversations they remember about them. When an infant or young child dies, only the parents in some cases have really known the child, and others don't talk about them often as they don't know what to say. It is a hard thing to deal with.
Anyway, not trying to ramble. I just know the other side of your difficult conversation. How to keep it light, but answer the question? It is hard to keep it light when you have gone through something like that. But do not be afraid to talk about it with them if they seem open to it. It may be just what they need. If not, they will walk away or let you know somehow.
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I think she discusses starting in the middle in WTM. I believe you can start history from the beginning with the Ancients if you want, or start year 3. Then when you get to the next stage (logic) you just begin where you are, but do the logic level work instead of the grammar stage work. So if you want to, go ahead and start the Ancients and Life Science or Middle Ages and Earth/Space Science. If you read the book, it is not set in stone as for the timeline.
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I looked at some of those other threads and the lists of all the subjects being taught for 1st grade had me overwhelmed. I'd like to stick with reading/phonics daily, math daily or a few times a week, and then maybe science and social studies each a couple times a week (in small doses)
What we did for first is still in my signature line. It may look like a lot, but really we did what you are talking about. We did math daily 4 days a week on avg. We did reading and phonics 3-4 days a week. History was 2-3 days and Science was 1 or 2 days with reading of these two subjects going on whenever we wanted. For Art and Music we aimed for once a week. It was more than we did for K the year before, but was very doable.
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I do not think reading things out of chronological order is going to confuse your children one bit. I would hold off on the official history rotation until 1st grade. In the meantime I would keep reading whatever he/she likes. My dds love Little House books too, and we have only done the ancients in history.
For K we read Magic Treehouse books aloud until dd could do it alone. We read tons of picture books on all things. I did some unit studies from homeschoolshare which are similar to five in a row units. Just tons of fun stuff. We would pick a topic and read lots on it, fiction and non fiction, readers for her and read alouds for me. Topics included things like zoo animals, apples & harvesttime, plants and seeds, whichever holiday was near, etc.
I cannot comment on Black Ships Before Troy, except to say that I picked it up at the library when it came up in SOTW vol. 1, and decided against it. DD read some easy readers on Troy instead. I myself glanced at it and decided it was too long, but did not actually read it.
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Mine does pizza delivery off and on for quick cash as a 2nd job. He brings home cash and pizza, and then a minimum wage check later on. They are always hiring, and once he has proven himself for a company they let him work only once a week, or whenever he wants to. They all have problems keeping reliable workers and are always thrilled to have him!
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We used the book, What Your First Grader Needs to Know this year and a Wee Sings America C.D. I followed the music section of WYFGNTK and read a section once a week or so, and followed up with any suggested books or projects it suggested. Then we learned the songs listed in the book. Most of them I still knew the tunes to. Some of them I found in some of our children's C.Ds. that we have, and a couple I had to skip altogether. Then we listened to the Wee Sings America songs tons. It has a book of the words and music that my dd could use to practice with. I remember tons of the songs from my own elementary music class in P.S. We had a great musical year, and I already bought 2 more Wee sings C.D.'s for next year and a copy of What Your 2nd Grader Needs to Know. (For learning a little music theory we are using Rod and Staff's music. We just do a lesson from it first before we do the rest.)
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One thing you could do is go ahead and stay chronological by doing Ancients first, but add in some stories as the American holidays come up. So, you could tell a brief story about Columbus in October and do a little craft that day, read about the first Thanksgiving (traditional) in November, and cover George Washington in February. That's almost chronological order, too! lol
That is exactly what we did this past year. I took the week off from SOTW at Thanksgiving, and we did traditional 1st grade & preK Thanksgiving stuff. We read lots of books, did some crafts (pilgrim hats & indian vests, etc.) On President's day we read about several presidents and narrated about them, and did a craft. We read a book about Martin Luther King Jr. on his day. At other times just in our reading we read about Harriet Tubman & slavery, the Boston Tea Party, Phyllis Wheatley, & other Early American stuff. We will keep it up like that until we reach SOTW vol. 4, and then we will be more formal w/American History.
The only problem I had w/SOTW vol. 1 being too gory for my girls was when we read the story of Oddyseous. My 4 yr old was frightened of the Cyclops threatening to eat him. (I think that was Oddyseous.. can't remember exactly) My 6 yr old had no problems with anything. By taking a week off here and there we are working through June on SOTWthough, and we finished our other subjects in May.
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We use Rod and Staff math, and we easily spend 45-60 min on each lesson going over the oral lesson in the T.M and examples and then the workbook. My dd did the 2nd grade this past year, and it has 3 worksheets and one extra worksheet a day. She didn't always do the extra one, but most of the time we did.
As for memorizing, R&S builds this into their lessons. They (the children) recite the facts they are working on daily. So this would be in the "in order" part. You could easily add that by having your child recite daily a certain amount of facts. Once they have that part down, you could move on to the next fact family. As for flashcards, we do them randomly daily. This is in addition to the lesson in the book and the workbook, but I count it in the time allotment. I do them randomly since she is memorizing them in order, and this gives her practice putting the facts to use "out of order."
To memorize subtraction, facts it is in the fact families. She memorized the facts like this: 8+2=10, 2+8=10, 10-8=2, 10-2=8. This was in the 1st grade math up to 10. Then she spent 2nd grade memorizing up to 18.
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Bob books
Rod and Staff math 1
Rod and Staff ABC workbooks
Rod and Staff Bible nurture reading and phonics sec. 1 of 1st grade
Science, I have a preschool material science book that is lots of fun, and an Usborne Science in the Kitchen book.
History, she follows along w/older sis' SOTW
Music, she follows w/sis & I got her some WEE sings C.D.s
And we read from library books and What Your K'er Needs to Know for fun.
This is what I have on tap for my up and coming Ker in the fall. She will start the 1st grade reading and phonics 2nd semester after she completes her ABC workbooks (3 left to go!)
My older dd got through section 2 of the phonics and reading before spring of her K year and finished up the rest for first grade. But this dd is not going into K as strong of a reader as she was, so we will take it slowly.
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I start by planning the whole year, broken down into months. So by the time I am done I have each mo. planned out. I start with math and L.A. stuff as they generally have the most lesson plans. Then I divide them up by the no. of months I want to do school (10 for us), and get an avg. # of lessons I will need to accomplish each mo. to reach my goal of finishing the books at the end of my school year. I like to do 4 days a week (and next year we are thinking of joining a co-op, so it will have to be 4 days.) So on avg. I need dd to finish 16 lessons of math and L.A. stuff a mon. Then I do the same w/music, history, basically anything w/chapters. So I want to finish 4 chapters of music & history a month. For Science, I jot ideas of which topics we will be covering that month. So Aug. will look something like this:
math lessons #1-16
phonics lessons #1-16
English lessons #1-14
history chapters #1-4
music chapters #1-4
Art (list SOTW projects or any plans I have)
Science begin Earth Science (any specific topics I will list too..)
P.E. dance class
This gives me a guideline for the year, and at the end of each month I can assess where we really are and decide if the plan is working, or if I need to double up on lessons or find one or two review that I can skip to catch up or whatever.
We are not sticklers to this by any means, but it helps to have a plan. Last year we got a little behind in music and history. We spent more time on some chapters than just a week. So in May we doubled up on music lessons to finish our book, and we are continuing history over the summer to finish SOTW 1 before we start SOTW 2 in Aug. Obviously, I have to do some more work before we start each week, namely get library books for Science and History and glance over SOTW and Art projects to see what we will do and gather supplies. I made copies daily before we started something last year. This year to save time I am considering copying all of SOTW before we start.
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I agree, either would work. But I would just go ahead and start w/ vol. 1 at the beginning. We are finishing it up now, and it is a lot of fun. Both of mine got a lot out of it.
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Hi! I will have a 2nd and Ker this year too. Although I can't be too much help because my kids are opposite of yours. My 2nd grader is above average in most things, and my Ker is my one who is not too interested in school related things. So I can't give you any help w/your phonics problem. I will be figuring out what works for my younger this year. I am trying R&S as I used it with my older. But we used it with her after she was already reading since she, like your younger son, picked up reading on her own.
Anyway, I was going to address this:
History - SOTW 1 w/ AG along with Biblioplan (I have read this is really to start with a 1st grader so am wondering if this is okay or I should use something else or just wait until 4th)
I don't do Biblioplan, but I do use SOTW. I followed the plan for multiple children that is laid out in TWTM. I went ahead and started vol. 1 when my oldest dd was in 1st grade (and the younger was in preK.) The youngest got a lot out of it just by being around while we read and doing any coloring or projects that she wanted. I just chalked it up to exposure for her. We will be in vol. 2 this year for K& 2nd, and I will still not require much of my Ker for this. Then when the youngest starts 1st, we will be in vol. 3 together and that is when her official rotation will begin.
So if you are ready to start vol.1 now, do it, and don't worry about waiting. The youngest one will get exposure to it and will pick up a lot. Then just continue on in the rotation so that they are always in the same time period. You may need to just require different levels of work from them.. more writing for the older, and additional reading for her as they get older.
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Are you talking about the terms poster?
No, I am wondering about the one where you make rows of ocean creatures for each row of the times table. I didn't start making it yet like the previous poster did, but I could tell by reading about it that is going to be a monster to make, and just big in general. I don't have wall space for something like that all year. That is why I was wondering if anyone had come up with a smaller one that worked, so that I could stick with the ocean theme.
Have you changed churches because...
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
Oh, and nobody has ever said anything to my kids or in front of my kids... that would be different. My problems came up in our adult only Bible study. I quit a women's one completely as most of the women work outside the home, and are opposed to SAHMs in general. I only attend mixed Bible studies w/dh now and our adult Sun. school class... where issues have come up. But we have made friendships and have enough mutual respect in there for differences of opinion to be ok. Although like I said, there was one bad day...
If I felt someone was making my dds feel bad, that would be a whole different story.