SW in IL
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Posts posted by SW in IL
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I have both of the older IEW Mini-Book sets (A and B). We've had them for so long that I'm not even sure if either set is complete... Or if there were any instructions for using them.
Can someone who has/has used them please tell me what each set is supposed to include, how it originally came, and whether it had any kind of instruction sheet/sheets? Also, can anyone fill me in on how they are used?
I'm planning out using SWI/TWSS with DS starting in January. We have a workbook that I bought and I just finishing adding a week's worth of assignments that says the paragraphs are from Mini-Book Set A. I'm wondering if I should add in (or at least be prepared to add in if DS seems to need the extra practice) the Mini-Books. Both the paragraphs in the workbook and the ones in my Mini-Book A set are on loons but they are different ones.
Thanks,
Sue
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I guess I mean more within the same district. We have 2 high schools in our district and one is so much more homeschooler friendly than the other. But we have to "use" the one that DC would attend and can't take them to the other school. You'd think it being the same district, with the same policies, it would be the same regardless of which school you go to.
I actually know of one lady who literally moved across the street to be on the other side of the dividing line because the other school is much more homeschooler friendly. Go figure.
Sue
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You're automatically added to their email list. I bought a bundle of 2 high school math courses (Basic Math and Algebra 1) when it was cheaper to buy the pack than it would have been to buy Basic Math by itself (which was the course we wanted). A week later, I got email saying that Superstar Student was on sale really cheap (like $40), so I bought that. Now, I get emails every few weeks or so listing specials. I think I'm slowly going to buy the courses that I think we'll use when I have the extra money and when they're on sale. By the time we're ready for a course, hopefully it'll be here waiting for us.
Sue
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Right now we're using The Teaching Company's Basic Math and Superstar Student courses to get DS caught up and to teach him basic study skills, but I'm thinking about later adding in some of the other courses. I was looking through their catalog last night and several of the courses look interesting.
Can someone tell me about the difficulty of the "regular" courses versus the high school ones? Also, I had read or heard about a program to go along with TTC courses that had a schedule, questions (possibly just the ones in the booklet but I think it expanded on them), writing assignments, final exams, etc. Basically everything needed to turn it from a video course into something more comprehensive and documentable (is that a word?) for homeschoolers. I'm not sure if it was just something that a parent made for their own child/children or if it's something that can be purchased.
Any advice for using TTC Courses? Or course recommendations?
Thanks,
Sue
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A friend's son totally homeschooled himself using Lifepacs, from 5th or 6th grade through high school. My friend would literally give him the Lifepacs and say do them, and he would. Her 2 grand-daughters are now being homeschooled in the same manner and it looks as though her 2 grandsons might follow suit.
We tried using SOS and Lifepacs with DS but he's not responsible enough (yet?) to do his schoolwork without mom hovering and telling him "It's time to do math now." We switched back to an eclectic mix of programs which includes some independent work in order to try to get DS to take more initiative and responsibility for his education.
Overall, it seems that those kids with more of a vision of where they want to go in life do better working independently. Those like DS who have trouble thinking about what they want to do next week seem to be unable to work without set assignments (broken down by day) and without mom (or dad or whomever) hovering.
Sue
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My daugther (public schooled) could not figure out word problems no matter what we did. Making lists of what "we" already knew, the information given... diagrams, charts, pictures, manipulatives... Nothing seemed to help. That even went for "easy" word problems in elementary grade math classes. Her older step sister once told her that world problems were impossible and apparently she took that piece of sage advice a bit too far. This was an otherwise intelligent young lady.
My son can figure out word problems easier than those written out in problem format but he does have a bit of trouble converting a problem from word to number. We're still doing catch-up (basic operations) so I'm not sure how it'll play out in the more advanced math coursesm, but we still use the same basics with him... Figure out what you know and what you need to know, then go from there.
Not much help here, I guess.
Sue
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along with your relationship with the school and that of homeschoolers in general.
My friend's daughter took 2 or 3 classes at their local high school. That school is very used to homeschoolers taking lab sciences and general electives. She had no problem whatsoever registering, getting transcripts, etc.
A friend's son was unable to even get an appointment to talk to the guidance counselor about college prep/admissions in a district where they claim to be homeschooler friendly and say that they welcome homeschoolers in all the classes. Another friend (in the same district) gave up after trying to register her daughter for one or two classes.
I haven't yet decided what, if anything, we'll outsource to our local high school (yet a different school than the ones mentioned above). I know of a few homeschoolers who have breezed through their registration without much more than a bit of the eyelid and others who have had to jump through hoops to get so much as a hello. When I called and then went in person to ask for a copy of their student handbook, I was told that I'd have to print out the online version as the "don't make them available to the community." But I know of other homeschoolers who were easily able to obtain a copy.
Makes me wish there was some kind of uniformity between schools out here when it comes to dealing with homeschoolers.
Sue
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I grew up with a friend named Hope. Her sisters (I kid you not) were Faith and Charity.
My ex's best friend growing up was a guy named... Auto Mo Bile. His dad called him Chevy (the friend preferred Mo).
A friend's sister is a NICU nurse and she told my friend that they had twins born there (this was about a year or two ago... maybe more) named Deneice (prononced like Denise) and Denephew. I had heard about those "names" as a joke some years back but it wouldn't suprise me.
I, too, have heard of the "jello" names... Lemonjello, Orangejello... I remember seeing those kids on Oprah (many, many years ago).
I've known more than one person named Christmas and one named Christmas Snow (Snow being the middle name, not the last). I always wondered if that was after Krissy on Three's Company or because she was born on Christmas Eve.
I know of a few Miracles, and one Surprise.
Maybe it's just our way of looking at things... We're Jewish and growing up I knew kids named Shalom (the standard greeting), Tova (good), Bracha or Baruch (blessing or blessed), Ben Zion (son of Israel), Israel, and many more that I can't think of right now.
Sue
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I was wondering if you could share a bit on LL8 and Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings. DS is doing his "pre-freshman" year (getting caught up and ready for high school level work) this year and we don't like our Lit program.
Do LL8 and LOTR mesh together fairly well? Did y'all do LL7? Do you need to do LL7 prior to LL8?
Thanks,
Sue
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...that he's so convinced the restaurant made him sick last time, that he made himself sick... Self-fulfilling prophecy. I say this with all the sympathy of someone who's been there, done that. I was a bit older than your son when that happened to me. We ate at this place that had the best ribs. We all got ribs. Little me ended up sick -- throwing up. I was convinced the restaurant made me sick. I was so convinced of it, that whenever I ate there for years, I'd throw up afterwards. My parents tried logic on me to no avail. The funny thing, for me, was that it was a small chain of restaurants and it was only the location closest to use that "made me sick." I could eat at any of the others in the chain perfectly fine.
I still am that way with Olive Garden (of all places!). I ate there one time, came home and spent the night throwing up. Logically, I know that it was conincidence. I've eaten at Olive Garden a few times since then and every time I "get" an upset stomach (though I haven't thrown up since that first time). I know it's all in my head but that doesn't stop me from "being sick" every time we eat at Olive Garden.
Don't know what to tell you to help your DS. But I wouldn't worry too much unless he's still throwing up in the morning.
Sue
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and we had to come up with lots of nutritious snacks for him... We didn't want to be filling him with empty carbs or plain ol' junk but for a while it seemed like he was hungry all the time. At the same time we were living with a vegan so many of his snacks ended up being vegan so as not to leave out the friend.
Here are a couple of ideas:
Peanut Butter sandwich
Hummus usually with pita bread or pita crackers
Tofu scramble (tofu "scrambled" with various veggies... mushrooms and onions were DS's favorites)
We'd make a "dip" out of refried beans, enchilada sauce and canned diced tomatoes and have that with tortilla chips
"Minestrone" soup (which is really a vegetable & bean soup... we call it minestrone because we use the minestrone recipe but leave out the pasta) or other kinds of soups
Hope this gives you a few ideas,
Sue
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I hope this isn't too far out of line. A friend's son is retaking his ACT test in the morning. The last few times he's taken it, he hasn't done very well because he's gotten sick... We think it's mostly nerves and just having trouble handling the pressure.
If anyone would be willing to pray that he gets through the test without becoming ill (and maybe that he does well on the test), we'd really appreciate it.
His name is David.
Thanks,
Sue
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Our friends like in a very small town (less than 500 people) located over an hour north of Little Rock. Little Rock has the closest airport, bus and train station, but there is no taxi that runs to anywhere near where they live.
Sue
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I've been invited to go to visit friends for Christmas. DS will be spending a week or so with his dad so I'm considering going. I've been taking Amtrak but can't this time because I can only get a ride to/from the station (in Arkansas) on certain days. Amtrak is usually the cheapest option, coming in at around $85 each way. Round trip... Chicago to Little Rock (AR) to Chicago.
I'm looking into my other options... Bus, Airlines, renting a car. Was wondering if anyone had any advice or could recommend a place.
Thanks,
Sue
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though I'm still not sure what we're going to do. I just dug out our Progeny Press guide for The Hobbit. I'm the one who is actually reading that at the moment, but I think DS would enjoy it.
Reading aloud to DS is a trial. I'll remind him to turn off the cell phone, but invariably, he "forgets" and the phone goes off a few minutes into the reading. Next comes a 5 minute bathroom break, followed by an urgent need to test his blood (DS is diabetic) or get a drink. Right about then, my mom usually comes into the room and asks what we're doing, then proceeds to go and turn on the TV (at a volume level loud enough that the neighbors can hear it but she claims she still can't hear it while sitting in the same room). By the time 15 minutes or so has elapsed, DS claims he has no idea what I've just read and declares that he's too old for me to read to him. The only time I can actually get him to listen is when we're both too tired to really do much thinking/learning/teaching effectively.
Anyway, we do have Teaching the Classics, though we never used it so I'll take another look at that. And I'll dig out my copy of TWEM. I'm definitely going to see if anyone I know has a copy of Figuratively Speaking that I can take a look at.
Has anyone used the High School Level Lightning Literature programs? Maybe we can jump in there and supplement with other guides?
I prefer to have the program laid out for me, because we're more likely to get it done. It seems like there's always some sort of craziness going on around here and by the time I plan out how to do something we run out of time to actually do it.
Oh, and to answer the questions... DS is 15 but doing mostly junior high level work this year to get caught up. We're figuring on it taking 5 years for DS to complete high school, so we consider this year to be his pre-freshman year. I've yet to be able to figure out his learning style... Can learning styles vary by subject? Anyway, that's a topic for another day and another post.
Sue
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I guess I'll just keep plugging along as we have been. Around here most of our homeschooling friends, homeschool by running their kids around to classes. DS's friend (also 15yo) has Chemistry class 4 days a week, Russian Literature 1 day/week, Algebra (or maybe Geometry) a couple days a week, etc. That's fairly typical for the other families of high school age kids in our homeschool group.
The other group of people we know are those who use prepackaged curriculum and they hand their kids the work and say "do it" (and the kids do!)... The 3 or 4 people I'm thinking of are all using Lifepacs. Maybe that curriculum just lends itself to that style of instruction? Though I do also know a couple of people who throw high school textbooks at their kids and have them do a chapter a week and every Friday give the kid a test and check over their work.
Anyway... Guess I'll start a new thread and see what ideas I can get for planners since I need to get to work mapping out a new schedule.
Sue
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We're currently using Windows to the World for literature but neither DS nor I seem to be too interested/taken by the program. DS doesn't have much of a grasp of literary concepts (such as plot, characterization, setting etc.) so that might be why. I'm wondering if we should try Lightning Literature (possibly starting with their 7th grade program) and either stick with that or switch back to Windows to the World once he gets more of foundation.
Other things we're considering using (possibly in addition to Lightning Lit or Windows) are Progeny Press Guides (which we have used a bit of in the past but apparently nothing much "stuck"), Novel Ties (or maybe it's Novel Units? I just ordered 2 that were on sale for $2 each), and/or Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings.
Thanks,
Sue
P.S. For the most part, we're not going to be doing the writing portions of any lit program for the time being. DS never has had much writing instruction and we're starting fresh with IEW (SWI/TWSS) and will be working through that for a bit before adding much writing into literature or any other subject.
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We're planning on it taking 5 years for DS to complete high school since he is behind. This year, I consider to be his pre-freshman year and hope to have him doing pretty much all high school level work by next school year.
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I definitely need help... DS (15) is doing a combination of catch-up and high school level work. At a glance...
Basic Math (Teaching Company High School Course)
Language Arts/English/writing (5th grade spelling, grammar, & writing; 6th grade vocabulary; penmanship/copywork)
Literature (High school level but we're probably going to switch to a different program)
Science (High School)
American Government (High School)
Introduction to Computers (using the textbook that our local community college uses)
The main problem I'm having is in getting DS to do the work. None of it is too hard for him and when he puts his mind to it, he breezes through pretty much everything. For the most part, though, he simply refuses to do the work unless I schedule out everything. He wants me to write out assignments for every subject for every day...
Math: Watch Lesson 3: Long Division; Do even numbered problems on page xx of the workbook.
Grammar: Lessons 41 & 42
Spelling: Lesson 17
Vocabulary: Lesson 7
Penmanship: Pages 24-27 in Practice Book
Literature: Continue to work on Annotating <name of story>
etc.
It seems to me that, by this point in his school career, I should be able to just say "here's your grammar book... Have the book done by January 15th... If you don't understand something, come and ask me." And then check up on his progress. But when I've tried to do that, the work doesn't get done... at all... ever.
Do others have to schedule every subject, every day? And, finally, what kind of plan books do y'all use for scheduling high schoolers? I'm in desperate need of some organization/planning help.
Thanks,
Sue
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DD is 16, is my ex's biological daughter and has always lived with my ex.
DS is 15, is my ex's biological son and has always lived with me.
Ex cut himself and DD out of Grandma J's life when DD was about 7 or 8. The only contact DD's had with Grandma J has been through me, until now. Every year, ex would send all gifts back to Grandma J until she finally gave up and started buying bonds for DD for birthday/holiday presents.
Ex has another child (DD and DS's half brother - about 8 years old) who lives with his second ex-wife... Half-bro got a Wii to keep at his mom's!
DD got a Wii to keep at her house.
Ex's sister's 2 kids and 1 step-daughter (all grown) got their own Wii's. Ex's other sister's 4 (grown) kids got their own Wii's. Ex's step-brother's 2 kids (pre-teens) got a Wii that they have to share.
DS knows all about this... DD told him that Grandma J got her a Wii and when we called Grandma J, Grandma J listed off all the family members who were getting Wii's. I even asked Grandma J, Does <DS> get one?, but received no answer.
The broken PS2 is coming from DD (and ex?). Not sure if this is their way of "rubbing it in" (they know I can't afford to buy a Wii) or if it's DD's way of trying to make DS feel less left out. At first I thought she felt bad, but then why tell DS not only that she got a Wii, but that Grandma J got Wii's for "everyone in the family."
I've simply told DS that I don't know why she didn't get him a Wii, especially after she told him that "everyone" got Wii's.
Gotta run,
Sue
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A box of candy, flowers. I love the idea of a gift card for the local car wash... That's definitely going to be added to my idea list for my mom. And a new idea this year... A friend told me about a book of recipes for "Microwave Mug Cakes"... I'd never heard of them before but did look at the book on amazon (http://www.amazon.com/101-Recipes-Microwave-Cakes-Single-Serving/dp/0984228500/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260256679&sr=8-1). I'm going to take a look at my friend's copy some time this week and may do what one reviewer on amazon suggested... Get MIL a copy of the cookbook and a nice mug.
HTH,
Sue
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My daughter (16yo, lives with my ex) called us just after Thanksgiving to tell us that Grandma J (ex's mom) got "everyone in the family" a Wii for Christmas... And it seems that Grandma did get Wii's for everyone... except DS. Not sure why my son got left out, especially since my ex hadn't talked to anyone in his family for years (maybe it's a way to get back in his good graces? but then why buy for the other grandkids and not my son?). We talked to Grandma J but didn't get an apology or an explanation... She said that she bought 10 Wii's and gave them to "all" the grandkids... Well, DS is one of her grandkids and didn't get a Wii.
To top things off, my daughter said that they're giving DS their old, broken PS2 for Christmas ("Maybe you can fix it so C can use it" she says... I know nothing about these systems, not even how to hook them up to the TV!).
I've been the one to take both DS and DD to see Grandma J at least once a year because my ex refuses to speak to or see his parents. He's returned (to them) every other present they've given DD for about 8 years!
Any thoughts or ideas on how to handle this?
Thanks,
Sue
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DS has never done much writing and I want him to learn a bit of research and to start doing more writing. I remember that my oldest (public schooled) came home with handouts to make it easier to write reports. She had handouts for most every type of writing, from science experiments to poetry to fiction. At the moment, the things that would go best with our curriculum would be a form for writing biographies and one for writing reports on different countries (from a historical viewpoint).
Does anyone have any ideas for some sort of form that I could print out and then DS could use it for a way to jump-start writing the reports? Or any other ideas for helping DS get started writing simple reports?
Thanks,
Sue
p.s. DS is 15 but is doing junior high level work
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4 credits in math
4 credits in social studies
4 credits in English
4 credits in science
1 credit in PE (though he did PE all 4 years)
1/2 credit in health (required by the state)
1/2 credit in speech (required by the state)
2 credits in foreign language
Then we added in "electives" which included courses such as Accounting, American Literature, British Literature, Art, Home Economics, Chef's Course I & II, International Foods, Professional Cooking I & II, C.S. Lewis & Narnia, J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter, and Classical Mythology.
Some schools might consider the culinary classes as being extra-curricular, but we included them as curricular since he's hoping to attend culinary school after doing a few years at a liberal arts college.
HTH,
Sue
Not accepted at the college of his choice?
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
My friend's DS got his letter of rejection today and is understandably upset. He was told that the college accepts pretty much anyone. He submitted all the required paperwork, though his ACT scores were a bit low (he was sick when he originally took the test so he retook the ACT last Saturday and the new scores will be sent to the college).
Anything he can do? I suggested waiting until his new scores come in and if he did significantly better maybe he can ask them to reconsider. Is that a good idea? Do colleges possibly reject people based on their need for financial aid (the application asked if they'd be applying for need-based aid and they said yes, plus the questions asked at the interview mainly had to do with financial aid)? What reasons are there that colleges reject applicants?
Thanks,
Sue