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MamaMamaMama!!

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Everything posted by MamaMamaMama!!

  1. Worth my time? I've heard a lot about getting workbooks taken apart and hole punched then using page protectors for the kids to write on. Im considering doing that or having my older two kiddo's write the answers on seperate sheets of paper. What do you do for record keeping? Currently I just keep the workbooks for the year. But in theory I could just record "grades" for tests to show a completed lesson and plus they have history, science and some LA work in notebooks. This would be for spelling and math.
  2. I really like MFW K. The handwriting is as thorough as you make it. I used A Reason for Handwriting K along with it, but ONLY because I needed busy work for my third student while I worked with older ones. You really dont need it. The best part of MFW K is that its a gentle introduction to school for a young one but its very academically sound.
  3. One thing I like about My Fathers World is they are seperated when they are younger: K and 1st. Then from 2nd-8th they are all together. So for your kiddos fromt he ages in your siggie.. You'd have two years where your running 2 programs, then your middle would join the older.. then 4 years later you'd have all 3 kiddo's together for 2 years, then your oldest would be independent doing highschool, but you'd still have 2 in the same group!
  4. Im on my 3rd student to use PLL. DD finished the book two years ago, DS1 is doing the second part and DS2 has just started. It is a great reasource. I think the TM available at Rainbow Reasource is perfect! It really helped me understand, it also provided a book for me to look at while they had their book in front of them. We've learned to do some lessons orally (especially for boys), some lessons to spread over two or three days (you only need to complete 3 lessons a week to finish each section in a year). An example, we had a lesson on Trees. The questions were: Name 3 shade trees. Name 5 fruit trees.. ect. So I googled each question we looked at the different kinds of trees and copied the names for spelling. We also try to do MOST of the questions in complete sentences. We do not do dictation lessons or the memory work as our main curriculum does this already. The poems for memory I will have the children read aloud and we discuss the meaning. We might also draw a picture. We use dictation exercises for copywork. I use Beechick's model for copywork. Where you read aloud the selection, talk about the grammar, spelling, ect in the passage, then copy. In the first part I will copy on their notebook page leaving a space in between for them to copy underneath. HTH!
  5. I have 6 and one on the way only schooling 3, working with 4 starting in Feb. We've toyed around several times with individual curriculum.. But have found what is more us.. Together: My Fathers World Creation to Greeks with Story of the World 1 added in Individually: 2nd and 3rd grade use Primary Language Lessons 3x per week 4-6th use Intermediate Language Lessons 3x per week 4th grade starts Writing STrands 3 and we work through till Writing Strands 5 2x per week 2nd on up use Spelling by Sound and STructure 3x per week Math U See for math all the way through adding a few workbooks for time, money, and word problems occasionally 5x per week A reason for handwriting through 5th grade. 4x per week McGuffeys for Reading practice (daily in 1st and 2nd occasionally in 3rd on up) 3-5x per week depending. We use MFW for K and 1st as well with Math U See Primer then Alpha added in, Explode the Code when needed for extra practice, and A Reason For Handwriting as well. We do Individuals in the morning and MFW stuff in the afternoon during naptime! Grades are 5th, 3rd, 1st, K starting in Feb..plus 3yo, 1yo and baby in June <3
  6. You make two loops. One for independent studies and the other for together studies. Each have an allotted amount of time. So the first loop is say an hour and a half, you work through your list of assignments, cycling back if you have time, stopping where you are if you dont. Then you pack up, have a snack and start the together studies, doing them the same way. Basically the "loop" idea is you have a set time to work on school subjects. Instead of working till the days assignments are finished you work solidly till the school time is over! So if you finish more, yay! If you finish less, thats okay too. You do what you can for the time allotted. The key is to have a good solid lesson plan made in advance.
  7. Would you combine them? Example: Abeka LA and History with SOS Science and Math. Would you say there is ONE subject I should buy something different for in 6th grade? And if you were given SOS 4th and wanted to use it some, what would you find necessary to purchase? Example: Add Math U See and take off all quizes and tests from SOS math. Basically Im in a budget crunch for next year and need to use what is available for free and use our homeschool budget for what is necessary. I will have 4 students next year so keep that in mind as well. I'd like to spend $100 to $150 per student.
  8. Hi WTMers! Quick question for those of you who use or have used SOS. Im in a time/year in my life where I need things to be a little more hands off for me. So here are two scenario's in which Im thinking SOS might work for us. I need some opinions Scenario 1: SOS complete 5 subjects My Fathers world (Currently CTG) over two years Math U See as a supplement *this would allow school to always get done no matter whats going on in our lives AND would keep the CM/Classical elements that I find are important. Scenario 2: Continue with MFW as is keep Math U See for Math keep R&S spelling drop PLL/ILL SOS for LA and Science (which I think MFW CTG is lean on, and I have a hard time doing the hands on all the time) *This would supplement the areas we are having trouble in while keeping a lot of my goals for school. BUT that means when MOM cant teach then we dont do MFW.
  9. Yep if it aint broke dont fix it. SL and MFW and pretty different IMO. SL has a lot of time spent reading and not alot of time on projects. Where MFW's lessons are short and sweet. Love that part! SL is also WAY over priced even though you do get a TON of books. Its just a lot of money for the non-core subjects.. Where as with MFW for the price of the Sonlight Core (just history and read alouds) you get History AND Science AND Literature And Language ARts And Music and Art with My Fathers World. That is priceless to me. With multiple students I need to have more bang for my buck. I found myself spended over $1000 when I just had two in SL trying to get All subjects including Readers and LA, Math, Handwriting, Spelling ect. Where as with MFW I can spend around $650 for 3 kids this year for Math, Spelling,Writing, LA, Reading, Handwriting, History, Science, Music, Art AND REad Alouds. Of course it is a bit more work to go to the library but even with Sonlight we went every week for the kids own free reading. Its not much more work to pre-order all our Book Basket Books. And with MFW we get some great Writing practice with the notebooking. Not to mention World View. MFW's world view is much different than Sonlights.
  10. We answer based on their sunday school class. So when someone asks my kids what grade they are in I say "They mean what SS class your in".. And they answer appropriately. :) If I didnt have kiddos in SS I would answer based on the grade they are supposed to be in or are currently working on.. So my 6 yo would be in PS K this year but is doing 2nd grade work so I call him 1st grade. LOL. Clear as mud?
  11. Where would I go to have him evaluated? Im at a total loss. :confused:
  12. My second grade son has severe reversals and Im worried it might be more my fault then a learning disability. HOw will I know!? Like he writes most everything from bottom to top and also begins his letters from left to right. For example he starts a lower case g at the tail and crosses his T from right to left or sometimes does one side then the other. All his words are mushed together and are floating all over the place. But crazy thing is he taught himself cursive and can write his name beautifully! My strategy so far has been much like what I did with his sister at this age. All math pages with numbers reversed or illegible have to be rewritten. So in his workbook I circle the number and he rewrites it. We've taken some time to study each individual letter and write two lines of them daily (also have a Ker who benefits from this).. I ONLY correct his handwriting pages as I dont want to discourage him from studying (like with spelling and PLL books).. His little brother has descent handwriting and big sister does somethings awkwardly but has recovered now since she has started cursive. Should I just move him onto cursive? Go back and relearn letters? :bigear:
  13. thanks for knocking me back into reality!! LOL> Im seriously dreading highschool because then I'll have to start all over again!:lol:
  14. Isnt it wonderful? I actually dred highschool because Im good till about 9th grade.. LOL. Then I'll have to go "looking" and "learning" again.. Boo!
  15. I just dont have the energy to think about "new" curriculum any more!:glare: Its no fun but the truth! I like what I've chosen, its working, kids are learning.. And the ONLY thing I need to change is that our revised plan is leaving out ETC and I LOOOOVE ETC. Gotta fit it back in. But no interest in learning a new math program, or exploring new spelling program or pursuing another history curriculum.. :D
  16. The filing system is working GREAT over here! I absolutly LOVE it. My favorite part? Throwing out stuff we didnt get to during the week! And the kids love that part too! I dont know its just sooo easy! If only I could get in more than 2-3 days a week! The last month has been crazy! But we just work through our binders for 5 days and call it a week. :) Thanks WTM boards for showing me the filing system! Catholicmom had to laugh at the: "I am annoyed with the filing system because it keeps reminding me that i actually HAVE to do school work each day or we will get behind LOL. Im pregnant and super bored and tired and feel like being a blob all day... And the last thing i want to do is track the kids down to get them to do math and grammar" That was hilarious! And exactly what its done to me too!
  17. I would say it depends on if your children are learning and how long the lessons take. For a 10 min lesson 3 times a week I say push through.. If its longer, not so much. Also trying a different approach, re-reading the TM ect help me alot. Sometimes when we hate a cirriculum its more from user error than the cirriculum itself.
  18. MFW is all in one.. I dont know if its as meaty in literature as Sonlight unless your committed to using hte bookbasket which I am but my library is not so great. :) But we enjoy it and find we get a more CM style approach as the lessons are short. :)
  19. 1. We spend from 2-3 (occasionally 4) doing schoolwork. But I combine 3 students in that time. 2. For writing we are using WRiting With EAse 3 and also Intermediate Language Lessons. She does a WWE lesson two days a week and 4 days a week she does a ILL lesson. (it also has outlining as well as language, thats why I consider it writing.) Handwriting is still practiced daily.
  20. I hate it when these threads are so long. I never have time to read them all... My DH doesnt really care the brand of curriculum we use but he wants it to be semi-classical. When we first started I wanst very disciplined and he thought the kids werent learning.(and maybe they werent as much as they should) And he asked that we be more structured and have a consistent curriculum. I thought it was a great idea SOOOOO I said "If you have an opinion you need to research" and he asked for my top 3 curriculum choices. Basically what I thought I liked, could handle, and fit most of our children. So I gave him top 3's in all subjects. He made notes of what he liked or disliked about the curriculum.. and that was how we made our descriptions. The rest was up to me though. :tongue_smilie: So i set up schedules, when and how we will complete the work, how much we'll do and if something isnt working I talk about it with him and he helps me come to a solution. This works nicely for us. Because I dont feel like Im all alone and the burden is on me. I dont have Mom guilt and he doesnt criticize me or at least I dont see it as criticism anymore, because he's involved-ish. And Im not as flaky going back and forth because he actually KNOWS what Im talking about. He's also very active taking over portions of the school time or doing school when Im away and that in itself is very unique.
  21. What works for me is that DH made me sit down and make a final absolutely going to use it UNLESS someone has a HUGE issue learning from it curriculum plan. Basically the idea is that ANY plan can work for you if you are willing to play with it some. No curriculum choice can ever be perfect. You just have to find one that meets most of your needs. I made my "plan" for K-8th grade.. Then I figure I'll rehash and decide what I need to do for high-school from there.
  22. We've had a rough rough two weeks! But I posted anyway.. http://joyhomeschooling.blogspot.com/2010/08/week-4.html
  23. I have 5 kids with one one the way.. 3 are in school and I plan. But I dont write anything o ut. LOL. I ripe up workbooks and file everything and buy preplanned for everything else. For me my "planning" is directly related to the number of children because I can no longer just open and go do the next thing for 3 kdis and change diapers, make dinner and do laundry.. :) My plan helps.
  24. I took pics the other day I just havent gotten around to blogging about it. :)
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