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lea_lpz

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Everything posted by lea_lpz

  1. My dd is 9 and we just started her 4th grade year. I also have a 1st grader. How many hours a day do you do school with your 4th grader? How much of it is direct teaching and how much is the child working independently? We also have twin 5 month olds and 2 1/2 year old. After having them in March we went on survival mode and pared down on school doing a "light schedule" for the last 6 months. Typically we'd do about 2 hrs of school a day. Now I'm trying to get us back on a "regular schedule." Right now we usually---- Start with a half hour morning time---CNN student news, Bible Story, prayer, overview of day, going over independent work with my 4th grader My dd starts independent work---45-60 min We have a mid-morning break / snack My dd takes toddler outside for a walk and to play and I work with 1st grader on Lang, math, and his bible lesson---45-60 min My 1st grader watches a show with toddler or plays with her and I work with dd9 on reviewing her independent work and correcting any errors, math, composition or grammar, and our Bible study---about am hour Lunch break then nap for babies and toddler At this point we are trying to do our chapter read alouds, Spanish and other subjects and maybe have my dd9 do a bit more independent work but we don't seem to be fitting all this in. A lot of times I'm still trying to work on basics like math and writing with dd. I usually have an 1 1/2 window for the kids to nap. We don't seem to get all in before they are up. I'd like my dd to do another 1/2 hr to 45 min of independent work then but I seem to lose her momentum. Any ideas or tips? Is this a realistic schedule? I think it's partly they've been doing a light schedule for awhile and so I'm getting resistance from them. They are used to being done by lunch and are not being cooperative about doing anything in the afternoon.
  2. My dd is 9 and we just started her 4th grade year. I also have a 1st grader. How many hours a day do you do school with your 4th grader? How much of it is direct teaching and how much is the child working independently? We also have twin 5 month olds and 2 1/2 year old. After having them in March we went on survival mode and pared down on school doing a "light schedule" for the last 6 months. Typically we'd do about 2 hrs of school a day. Now I'm trying to get us back on a "regular schedule." Right now we usually---- Start with a half hour morning time---CNN student news, Bible Story, prayer, overview of day, going over independent work with my 4th grader My dd starts independent work---45-60 min We have a mid-morning break / snack My dd takes toddler outside for a walk and to play and I work with 1st grader on Lang, math, and his bible lesson---45-60 min My 1st grader watches a show with toddler or plays with her and I work with dd9 on reviewing her independent work and correcting any errors, math, composition or grammar, and our Bible study---about am hour Lunch break then nap for babies and toddler At this point we are trying to do our chapter read alouds, Spanish and other subjects and maybe have my dd9 do a bit more independent work but we don't seem to be fitting all this in. A lot of times I'm still trying to work on basics like math and writing with dd. I usually have an 1 1/2 window for the kids to nap. We don't seem to get all in before they are up. I'd like my dd to do another 1/2 hr to 45 min of independent work then but I seem to lose her momentum. Any ideas or tips? Is this a realistic schedule? I think it's partly they've been doing a light schedule for awhile and so I'm getting resistance from them. They are used to being done by lunch and are not being cooperative about doing anything in the afternoon.
  3. That explains the piano. If you guys all enjoy taking lessons and having lunch with dad I might keep that. My ideas are that is too much work to get done with how much you are out. I would probably drop CC if you feel it's more a supplement or do less science and history at home and utilize CC more for that. If you already feel stressed, I would add more to your day so I would skip the bible study but probably keep the tennis for PE. Could that be moved to the afternoon? On piano days, I'd assign them some independent work to do well you do your lesson and maybe do some one on one with each child. Could you try some "car school" practicing maybe your Latin and listen to an audio book while you drive. If they don't get carsick maybe they could bring a clipboard and do a bit of work and bring a book to read. Utilizing an 1 1/2 in the car round trip could help them get a lot done! I'd probably do science 2x a week and history 2x a week. I'd try to get down to only 1 "out day a week." For reading at their age, I'd just do reading books related to the science and history topics they are studying and through in some art and music books here and there. Then I'd schedule on free choice reading. My kids do book basket for 15-20 minutes a day, reading books on our history topic or science, about 4 days a week, independently. Then they do about 20 minutes minimum of free reading whatever they got at the library or from their own collection. They usually like to read longer than that.
  4. This is what sort of typically stops me from joining CC. I much prefer a 4 or 6 year history cycle. We did early American History up through the Civil Wat this year and plan to do something different. We are going to do a Little House study doing a book a month then pick back up with the 1900's to modern next year focusing on US History. I don't know that CC will compliment my plans or that I want to change them to go along with CC. On the other hand it's tough finding other co-ops or starting one. And I have a toddler and twin infants, so I feel like we need something to help keep us on track, and I have a 4th grader that would benefit from Essentials and the whole group setting / instruction from someone besides mom. I thought well maybe it'll cover my basis for doing classical and then allow us freedom to take a longer stroll through US history / follow rabbit trail, etc
  5. I think not wanting to get all the kids out of the house early is a totally valid reason! It sounds like you are on the fence and need a push lol.... So you will only have one school age child and he'll be in 3rd. He's reading above grade level. Ok I think it's very doable. He can likely get set on a routine to do independent work if he's reading well. My dd is in 3rd and can do about an hour and a half of her work on her own. She does her phonics, spelling, handwriting, math exercises, free reading and book basket (subject based readings) on her own. Some days this is all she does because our days are crazy, aside from Bible and me reading a chapter book aloud. We have a two year old and I just had my 3 week old twins plus I have a k'er. If we can do that and I can do Lang and math with my k'er I feel we're pushing along. Not to say we don't get to the other stuff---the field trips, science, history, grammar, handicrafts, music, art, park days, library days, nature journals, etcetera....we do...but we have our days with a full house of littles....
  6. Curious. I will have a 1st and 4th grader. What do you do with CC at home? Do you study the same history at home? Do you treat it like memory work and do your own thing?
  7. This is so my son! He's all about get the basics done and then doing his own learning by building, exiting outside, watching science shows, and asking me to do science expertiments or inventing his own. I had him start k at 6 and really glad I did. K looked very different with him then with dd. But that's ok!
  8. We did this for 1st. We had very light "Bible history" in 1st. In 2nd we did a light overview of early US history from exploration through the 1812. It was mainly good books and hand on crafts. This year for 3rd we are up to a 3 hour school day. One hour of that's independent. "Light school" is very much a consequence of me being pregnant during 1st, having a newborn in 2nd, being pregnant in 3rd with twins, and now the newborn twins are home, so we'll continue to keep things "light". Next year my goal for dd in 4th is 2 hours independent work and 2 hours with mom. I will have an hour one in one with my 1st grader for math & Lang and he'll tag along for a 30-60 min with dd's stuff but not all.
  9. I am very like you. Love history, literature, art, handicrafts, cooking , and music. We read science books, write in our science journal and watch science videos but I am not great at doing hands on science or nature journaling. I just had twins and decided to sign them up for a homeschool science class that takes place at a local park. They'll get the hands on science and nature time. I'll back it up at home with books and shows on the topic and get them to do a journal page.
  10. I'm so excited that MFW has revamped their preschool program! I used the preschool toy package with my ds when he was 3/4 and rounded it out with BFIAR and Rod and Staff books, but this looks so fun! Has anyone been a pilot family or used All Aboard? How did it work for you? I have a 2 year old and newborn twins so I'll get my use out if it? Do you think all aboard at 2.5 is too young? That means we'd do voyage at around 3.5.
  11. 2 year old- all aboard the animal train (for two's) 1st grader- mfw 1st math, Lang, and Bible only 4th- Singapore math, Rod and Staff Spelling, language lessons for today, and finish explode the code books (might finish this year) Both- Prairie Primer as core and La Clase Divertida level 3
  12. Hahaha! Yes I can see how that would sound confusing. A brief states study focusing on geography, culture and a bit more contemporary in focus and a state study of California as we are Californians that would explore California history.
  13. Or does doing a state study survey over a year while simotanously doing California history sound like over kill? I'm looking at this one--- http://weefolkart.com/state-studies-overview/ It consists of two 9-week units but if spread out over a year maybe it would be doable?
  14. Thank you Kinsa and blue goat! This is why I asked here. It's hard to find someone to have a conversation about making nfp more effective when they look at you like "of course you got pregnant doing that you whack a doodle! That's what people did in the old days. Backward, anti-feminist women." I think understanding my body is empowering and their really are unpleasant side effects for I believe most women with long term b/c use ie the pill. I mean how could taking hormones for 20+ years not negatively impact you?
  15. Bravo! Well put. I think this nails it. I'm introverted and when my kids were little and especially when we first started homeschooling I did feel the need to try to do what all the other moms were doing--- running around from one activity to another, but it always made me feel stressed, on edge, and snappy with my kids. Life had other plan for me (namely a baby followed by a twin pregnancy 15 months later). I now enjoy that my children only have to formal commitments a week. They have a weekly horse riding lesson together on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning dd8 takes ballet and ds6 has a swim lesson. DH takes ds and I take dd. That's it. We have a homeschool group we actively participate in on average once a week for a park day or field trip, but it's all optional which is nice because I don't feel obliged if we don't feel like signing up for every field trip or making every park day. I enjoy spending time at home most afternoons and evenings. It gives me time to do some tidying, laundry and make dinner without feeling rushed and I enjoy it a lot more. I'm happy at home with homecooked meals and reasonably clean home.
  16. Please explain. This sounds interesting. I think we're both exceptionally fertile. Based on how easily we've conceived trying or not my guess is his little guys just keep swimming and my eggs live a good 48 hours. We've only half heartedly tried for 2/5 pregnancies, no charting or anything like that, and this is before I did nfp. I'm only 31, and I have conceived 4 babies in 3 years. Clearly we can't keep going at this rate.
  17. My period when I tracked was fairly regular. I averaged a 28 day cycle with about a 5 day range if seeing occasionally 27 days or up to 31 in the course of the year I tracked with well over half being 28 days and the rest being generally close to there. I think my only wild card is the cycles I hyperovulate, so that's what I am most interested in trying to figure out---how does that impact my success if I do commit to BBT and tracking symptoms / cycle / mucus. Looking back in retrospect my cycle when I conceived the twins was a bit unusual and followed a pattern I see about every 6 months or so, usually ovulatory bleeding, with cramps, and a longer than usual cycle, followed by a heavier than usual period. I conceived the twins naturally.
  18. I'm allergic to regular condoms and would need to use lamb skin, or at least that's what I used 10 years ago when that was an issue.
  19. Hi--- After getting pregnant on the pill, having a miscarriage at 14 weeks, and just having general side effects such as low libido and PMDD and lots of rapid unexplained weight gain, I felt like I was done with the pill. This was March 2013. Three months later I conceived my rainbow baby, after gaining energy, losing weight and regaining my libido (thus baby) and decided not to go back on the pill after dd was born March 2014. I read Taking Charge of Your Fertility and felt I had a good handle on my cycle, though I didn't chart my basal am temp. I did track my period, check my cervix mucus and I tend to experience ovulatory cramping and occasionally bleeding (light) so I thought all was well and my cycle was fairly predictable. This all worked for a year. Maybe I got over confident but fast forward to last July. I remember expecting ovulation to happen on time, I had abstained a good 5 days pre the "big O" from sex and then I remember being at my kids swim lessons, feeling the cramping, going to the bathro and having light bleeding and thinking, ok, I am going to ovulate. All signs pointed to yes, so again avoided the next few days and thought all was well..... Then I was a good 5 days late. So I took my pregnancy test, thought perhaps something is just wonky since my 15 month old weaned a few months before, and got a very faint positive. Still didn't believe this was happening but ok. Another week went by and I decided to go ahead and do a test with my dr. It was positive. I thought ok how's that even possible? We didn't have sex at all near or on ovulation. Fast foreword to my first on appointment. I was based on the first day of my last period 9 weeks. They did an in office sonogram. Turns out I was only 7 weeks, with twins. So I never saw any red flags of ovulation at that point at all! I mean I wasn't looking out for them either at that point but really nothing. Now I'm wondering about whether I should continue NFP or dh will be getting a vasactomy after the twins are born. We already have 3 children together and my dh has a son. Anyone have any ideas on what happened or use nfp and hyper ovulate? I have no family history of twins and had no idea I would conceive twins. They are fraternal, so this increases my over all odds of ovulating more than one egg in a cycle. My twins are due march 2016.
  20. For your 1st grader? I wouldn't worry about history yet. Most schools don 't start formal history until 4th grade anyhow. You could do local history or what people do sort of thing going a more social studies route. For 1st grade we did "Ancients" with MFW 1st which does a very basic ancient history overview through their Bible notebook / reader and some accompaning activities and a timeline. It was "just enough". Or just get some picture books at her level to go along with the 4th grader's topics each week to read a couple times a week and then let her tag along for any hands on projects, watch DVDs, eyc
  21. Explode the Code series. My only phonics experience with my kids is mfw k & 1st phonics which I used with dd8 and am using with ds6 now. When dd was in 2nd we started ETC book 3 as review of some of the stuff covered in 1st for practice. She's in 3rd and on book 6 right now. She'll likely complete the series before beginning 4th next fall. I bought book 1/2 for ds to supplement for k. My kids like the books but I actually preferred the mfw phonics for k/1. After 2nd they are nice since they are open and go and can be done independently.
  22. I wanted to chime in and say we're planning to do the Prairie Primee for 4th next year with my dd with with a tag along 1st grader. There's a FB page if you are into that! Neat to be doing it with a boy. I hope you have a fun year. I have no experience with the other mentioned programs but we've done mfw for k, 1, and Adventures in US History and am really excited to do The All Aboard series with my youngest dd. We'll likely do it in a year or so.
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