brookspr
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Posts posted by brookspr
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I am going to use SL with my 10 year old son next year, I purchased a used Core G instructors guide off of ebay (2011 edition). We will use it for history, and I already have science, language arts, and math curriculum in place. We will do Core G and H over two years and then start Trisms, which is what I will start my 12 year old daughter on next year. My son may do some of the Trisms History Makers lessons that correspond with the SL history just to see if he enjoys the way Trisms is set up. We will also be using the IEW writing program along side of Sonlight, since I purchased it with the Trisms program.
I should preface all of that by saying we are new to homeschooling and my kids have been in public school up until this point. My son loves to read, and also enjoys history, so I thought the Sonlight program was the best way to get our feet wet with homeschooling. My daughter also loves to read, and history is her favorite class at school, but I felt she really needed more than Sonlight would offer since we only have 5-6 years ahead of us before college. I love the fact each of the Trisms lessons are self-directed and focused on research and writing. The program can be an all-in-one if you want (minus math). We will supplement science as well, since DH and I both have backgrounds in science.
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I, too, have health anxiety and I found a wonderful book that might help if you find it is interfering with your everyday life. It's called Overcoming Health Anxiety by Owens and Antony. My library had it. It gives some great advice on how to not let health anxiety take over your life. There are some good tips and exercises to do in there that can really make a difference, along with some advice on how to manage stress.
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I have been working for the past few months on our plans to homeschool our kids next year. DS is 10 and in 5th grade, DD is 12 and in 7th grade, and they are both in public school. I have most of our curriculum in place after talking to each child about their interests and learning styles. Both kids are excited to start and so am I, but I have one looming question that I can't seem to shake.
Since both kids have been in public school for some time, would it look odd on a transcript or college application if we schooled for an extra year before they decided they wanted to attend college? We are looking ahead, mostly for dd since she is closer to HS age, and finding so many things she would love to study. I just wonder if they look at her application and transcripts, would they want to know why she wasn't applying to school a year "late"? Would she be at a disadvantage because she had an extra year of study, or would that be an advantage because of the same reason?
I keep telling myself this is a stupid question, we (want to) homeschool so we have controlled flexibility with our children's education. But I don't want to get to the end and find out, whoops, we made a mistake! It's not like kids in public HS can just stay an extra year so they can learn more. Or maybe they can and I've never heard of anyone doing it?
My son has a late birthday and, because we moved to IL from CT where the cutoff dates differ by 4 months, I would have no problem schooling him for an extra year. He is the youngest in his class right now and would be in 4th grade if we lived here when he started kindergarten.
I know some kids take a year off in between HS and college, so again, I think I'm just being paranoid. But I want some confirmation of my paranoia!
Thanks!
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Exercise is the first choice for me. Yoga, pilates, cardio, even just a 10 minute walk around the neighborhood with the dog helps. Deep breathing from the belly also helps, sit or lay down and put your hand on your belly as you breathe in for 4-6 counts, then out for 4-6 counts. I also take Vitamin C and drink lemon balm tea which can calm nerves and decrease cortisol (stress hormone).
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I just got a new IEW catalog yesterday and was so excited to see this in there!
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They are expensive, but I was able to find a 6' long, 3" thick mat on Craigslist for $100. It was in like new condition. I would try there first. Also possibly inquire at your local school, gym or YMCA where they may be replacing them often, as Terri mentioned above.
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We made a cell out of jello. I just searched "edible cell" on Pinterest. There were tons of example with links on there.
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We did get the wool/cotton combo mattress for both kids. I think the website says the wool makes the mattresses fire resistant, although don't quote me on that. One thing I have read about their mattresses, and I can attest to it with a loft bed (both kids have a loft bed from IKEA), is you have to have a good support underneath the mattress or it will sag. We put extra wood supports along the bottom of the frame and also put a foam pad underneath the mattress to keep it from sagging. If you are putting the mattress on an already existing box spring that shouldn't be a problem. We also purchased the organic padded mattress covers.
Next time they have a sale I'll be purchasing a futon mattress for our basement futon. They really are great quality and I loved the fact that the mattress smelled natural rather than like chemicals.
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Chicago is a super-fun city with kids of any age. There are all sorts of museums (Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, Art Institute of Chicago), there are trolly/bus/segway tours you can take (weather dependent), boat tours or lunch/dinner cruises from Navy Pier, sporting events, the list goes on and on. Also check out the website Free Things to do in Chicago, there are lots of free concerts and events that go on here year round. The spring/summer is the best time to visit, but there is plenty to do no matter what the season!
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I have purchased several mattresses from White Lotus. They are an online company. Shipping is free. They have both green and organic mattresses in cotton, wool, or a blend. Also mattresses with a "green" foam insert. The green options don't seem to be more expensive than a good quality mattress from a department store. They also sell pillows and futon mattresses. They occasionally have 25% off sales that they announce on Facebook and probably other social media.
www.whitelotus.net
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I think the only way I would enter into a situation like this is if the family were very close friends and we co-taught the kids. For example, a friend and I have talked about having her kids do science and math with us (DH and I have chemistry degrees and hubby teaches math to our kids) but she would teach history and language arts/grammar. So far our schedules just don't give us enough time to do it, but I can't imagine being responsible for someone else's full education. It's stressful enough teaching our own kids!
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I have about 5 raised beds at my house, plus two community garden plots thru a church nearby. I want to organize my garden so I can maximize my bounty but also control bugs (VERY hard to do at a community garden) and grow things that are not easily purchased at the farmers market. I am on the board at our farmers market, so I am there just about every week in the summer. I loved growing onions last year, I am still using ones I harvested. Zucchini is so easy it's a no-brainer. I've planted green beans twice and NEVER harvested any. Last year I had so many beetles on the plants I gave up. I've also been unsuccessful with potatoes, so I hope to try again this year and actually get more than 6 :) I planted garlic in the fall so I hope to have lots of that next year.
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Exercise, yoga, listening to music, walking the dog, calling a friend. Deep breathing from the diaphram is supposed to help. I also try to meditate a few times a week. Everyday would be ideal but it just doesn't happen.
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My son has a late September birthday and we lived in Connecticut when he started kindergarten. The cutoff there was December 31st, so he easily made it and his preschool teacher said he would be fine, which he was. Right before he started 3rd grade we moved to Illinois, where the cutoff is September 1st. He started 3rd grade at 8 years old (turning 9 a month later) but had kids in his class that were a whole year older than he was. He is at or above grade level in all subjects, but needs lots of help with organizational skills and time management. We will be homeschooling starting next year when he would be entering middle school as a 6th grader.
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I can't get the link to work.
Kiddo's 2 chums from way back had birthdays a week and 2 weeks after him and were redshirted for K. They are now finishing 4th grade. If we started in April, kiddo would have a couple of months of 4th and then start 5th 4 weeks after turning 11. His old chums will be starting 5th 3 and 2 weeks after turning 11, so it can't be all THAT unusual.
I am looking at the expectations of, e.g. math at the end of 4th. He can do almost all of it. If I put him in 5th now, for 2 months and then started in 6th as he was turning 11, his math would not be up to were they claim their students are. SM has not even broached co-ordinates yet, and we haven't gotten to dividing fractions yet, at all.
Sorry, see my new post, I thought you were talking about starting him in 4th grade this fall, not before the school year ends this year. My bad!
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I think I misunderstood. I thought you were waiting to start him in 4th grade in the fall. If you are putting him in before this school year ends, then 4th grade is probably reasonable. I'm sure at the end of the school year you will have time to re-evaluate how it went and could work with the school district if that wasn't a good fit.
Here we start middle school in 6th grade, which is another reason I'm wanting to homeschool. My son is not well organized, and having 7 different teachers and a hectic daily schedule will not work well with his personality. I sure do wish 6th grade were still part of elementary school like it was when I went!
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I think they will most likely give him a battery of tests to determine what grade he should be placed in. I'm sure they will take his age into account as well. Here in IL he would be put into 6th grade if he were turning 11 this July. My son would be going into 6th grade next year (although we are starting homeschooling after this year) and he will be 11 in September. We moved here from CT in 2010, and the cutoff there was Dec 31st (had to be 5 before then to start K) My son's birthday is in late September. Here the cutoff is August or Sept. 1st, but because he had passed 2nd grade in CT, they placed him in 3rd grade at 7 years old and he turned 8 three weeks later. Because of this he has kids in his class that are a whole year older than he is. Academically he is on target for math and ahead in reading, but needs help with organization and writing and is on the small side for his age so there are kids that are quite a bit bigger than he is as well.
I think an 11 year old would be in at least 5th grade. Even if he is at a 4th grade reading level, schools have many tools to help kids that need a boost in reading. He certainly won't be the only kid in the class behind grade level in reading. My son went from below 3rd grade to 5th grade reading level in 4th grade because he had a wonderful teacher and she really pushed him. His teacher this year has oral discussions with my son about books that he reads because he isn't great at writing his thoughts down but has deep insights about the books he reads. She will be working with him on expressing those thoughts on paper. It's one reason I really want to homeschool, the schools use test scores to determine placement in junior high, and although he is very smart, his test scores don't show it. He needs work on organizing his thoughts and being able to express them in complete and detailed sentences. We will be using IEW next year to help him with this.
I would talk to the school and teachers from each grade first. Our district has the curriculum guides for each grade posted on their website, so you might be able to see what each grade will study or ask the school for hardcopies if they are not available online.
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Check out this website, I have both of the books and use them often. You can make bread in 5 minutes a day. Ok, a little misleading, but esentially it takes very little time. You make a large batch of dough which only takes about 10 minutes for most recipes (no kneading required) and the dough stays in the fridge for up to two weeks. You take hunks off as needed and form your bread (loaves, rolls, etc...), let it rise and bake. I mostly use recipes from the Healthy Breads in 5 Minutes book because we eat very little white flour.
I also usually end up just making all of the loaves at once and freezing them because I don't have room for a bucket of dough in my fridge. You will need a good sized lidded container for the dough. I have also found that, although the recipes may say it makes 5 loaves, the most I can get out of them is 3 large loaves. But they are always delicious!
http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com
Oops, just saw that Kathy posted the same thing above. So I can second that the recipes are easy and always come out good!
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If you have a good library, you can just buy the instructors guide and the consumable materials and borrow the books from the library as you need them. Kind of a pain, but cuts down on the cost considerably. If the library doesn't have one or two of the books, it's not the end of the world. The great thing about homeschooling is you can be flexible. I know there were a few "dud" books in one of the cores we did and I just substituted another book on the same subject.
We are lucky that we have a good library that also has a reciprocal program to many of the neighboring town libraries, so if we can't find it here it is usually at one of the other libraries. We also have a store called Half Price Books where I can get many of the books on the cheap.
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Our library has a large selection of the Great Courses on DVD and CD, so you might want to check and see if your library has them first.
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I wish we could tell you it will be 60 and sunny when you come, but as the posters above mentioned, it could be ANYTHING on any given day. Last year we were eating dinner on the porch on St. Patricks Day, the weather was so nice. In April, it snowed. Definitely just check the 10 day forecast before you come and dress accordingly. It is always a bit cooler by the lake, and usually windier as well. Definitely try to get to the museums, Science and Industry, Adler Planetarium and the Shedd Aquarium are our favorites. I believe you can buy a pass to many of the museums bundled together at a discount. Also check out the website Free Things to do in Chicago. They have some fun stuff for kids. Go up to the top of the Sears Tower (now called Willis tower, but nobody from Chicago calls it that) and take a boat ride along the river or Lake Michigan. If you like baseball, the season will have started and the Cubs (yay!) or Sox (boo!) will be playing.
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I use the library for story-type books, but purchase books that will be used as reference material or might be needed long-term. I have found many great books at a store called Half Price Books. They have a nice clearance section and I have found many good books for $1-2. They also have an online store.
Our library also has e-books for free check out and we can read them on the iPad or computer. We can also check books out from many of our neighboring libraries, so if our library doesn't have something we need, there is a good chance one of the other ones will.
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I, too, have noticed that the number of items for sale, and I think posts to many of the forums in general, have decreased since the new format was put in place. I know I asked a question about an item and the seller wasn't used to the new format. Someone PM'd her and she sold the item to them. No big deal, but I think the new format is less user friendly for sure.
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I would not be happy if I knew another parent sent their child to school when they were contagious with anything, regardless of whether the fever/symptoms were bad enough according to school rules to be sent home. Chances are she will be coughing and spreading her germs all around the classroom for others to catch. Any child with a fever and sore throat should stay home until the fever is gone for 24 hours without medication. I know my own kids wouldn't be able to concentrate at school with those symptoms anyways, and chances are the fever will go over 100 if she is running around, going out to recess, and being active instead of resting.
Help with IEW?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
You can also look for used copies on ebay and vegsource.com, as well as in the classifieds on this forum. The good thing is, if you do buy them new, you would still be able to sell them after you were done for a fairly good price. I paid around $100 for the Teacher/Student Intensive Course + SWI B for my two children (10,12yo) to use, which was a really good price.