blue daisy
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Posts posted by blue daisy
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What did your kids read for school this past year? Or what are you planning to have them read next year? I love reading lists! :) (Please share age/grade level too). I haven't really started lists yet, but they're all doing ELTL so I'll start there. (Some of the books on those lists we recently read too.)
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Just finished Tuck Everlasting, now reading Along Came Galileo and random chapters from Winnie the Pooh. I have The Year of Billy Miller checked out, but I'm not sure what I want to do with that yet.
I thought I'd requested Ella Enchanted, but apparently not. The Saturdays is also on my list.
Oh, Winnie the Pooh! It's been a few years since we've read through the whole thing. I think we need to do that this year. :)
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These are so fun to read. Thanks for sharing, and keep 'em coming! :)
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I'm so glad you posted this! I was planning to teach my children Spanish because I thought it would be so much more useful. However, I myself studied French for 6 years and would feel so much more comfortable teaching them that. We'll see what they want to do when the time comes but I'm thinking I should be more flexible and take interests into account.
PS - my daughter loves Fancy Nancy too. She loves to say "Ooh la la!!" lol
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I'd love to hear what your family is reading together right now. :)
We're visiting the ocean in a few weeks, so we're currently reading Seabird and I have the Burgess Seashore Book ready after that. When we kick off our school year in August, I am planning to read The Hobbit (so excited to share this with them!)
I'm about to start looking through books lists to write up a list of read alouds I want to do this year, and I'd love to hear what your family is enjoying too!
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I think I will give that a try so that I can get exactly what I want on each page. No more, no less. :)
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Hope that works
One is the group plans page for 5 days.
The other is the individual child plan for 5 days. The little initial on the left indicates which child.
I then fill In With pen the exact plans each week as we approach.
This is super helpful. Did you just create the template yourself?
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Anyone else? I'm especially interested in your planner (not student planners) with how you organize your week for multiple kiddos. Thanks!!!
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I think it looks great. The only thing I might add is an occasional art lesson. This could tie into history and be as infrequent as once a month. If you are interested in some resources, I could steer you that way, or it could be an occasional thing you pull off Pinterest. Or you can just go over supplies and some basics and let them have fun. Even watching the Bob Ross shows just added to Netflix or some art history books or drawing or Usborne books from the library. There are lots of options. I don't want to overwhelm you, but you might consider something for a fun Friday.
I'd give you more feedback on LA, but I haven't used those programs. But they are solid programs. Don't be anxious. You can be confident that you did your research and made a decision for good reasons. Curriculum can be tweaked to fit what you want to teach. It's just a tool, not a contract. I hope you have a great year!
To the bolded - thank you! I needed to be reminded of that!! :)
Yes to art. I have some ideas and plan to add that and music in after we get our main subjects into a routine. I like the idea of fun Friday. :)
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Thanks all! Language arts is the area I'm just not as sure about. Am I hitting the pieces I need to hit without doing too much? All my kids seem to be natural readers and spellers so far so I don't want to add extra programs just for the sake of doing them... But am I doing enough?
The plan is to get math and reading going on a routine then add others as we can (or as toddler allows us! lol)
If you read my other thread last week about being anxious, this is kind of what I'm talking about although I'm far less anxious than I was last week. :)
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Only 2 kids, but here's mine--maybe something will spark some ideas!
Thanks MerryAtHope! It is definitely helpful to see how others have done it! :)
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:lol:
sorry...I could not resist!
LOL. Thanks. :laugh:
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Would you mind sharing a photo of a week in your planner, especially if you have a bunch of kiddos? I'm trying to figure out how to write out weekly plans for my 3 (eventually 4) and I'm very visual so it helps me to see how others have done this.
Or if there's a previous thread like this, can you direct me to it?
Thanks!!!
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This is what I have planned for our first year. I already have most of this, still need to order language arts, so any suggestions on that are appreciated. Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about this plan. It think it provides enough structure and rigor without totally overwhelming us in our first year. Thoughts?
DS11, 6th grade
math - accelerated class for gifted kids at local univ. If this becomes too much for him, we'll pull out and do AOPS.
reading list, still working on
IEW
ELTL 5? (Is this overkill with IEW)
Elemental Science Physics
SOTW1 with siblings because I already have it, will add some additional readings
He's in piano lessons and Scouts and wants to add cello lessons.
DS8, 3rd grade
BA finish 3, start 4
reading list, still working on
ELTL 3
ETC 8, then probably start a word study/word origins program
Cursive handwriting
He enjoys writing stories on his own so we'll just stick to that for now, practice editing, etc.
follow with brother for science, get out into nature
SOTW1
piano lessons and Scouts
DD6, 1st grade
Singapore1 and Miquon
read aloud to me daily
Progressive Phonics
ETC 3 and 4
ELTL 1
Handwriting
She writes/spells pretty well. I think I will do spelling lists from her writing and to go along with ETC and ELTL.
read books and explore nature for science
SOTW1
she takes dance classes and wants to start Girl Scouts
2 year old wreaking havoc while we do all of the above :)
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Work with the kid you've got.
This! I am definitely trying to remember this.
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^^ my point above, is that the priorities are the priorities and you'll never get these years back. cuddling and reading together isn't the "lazy" way or the "easy" way---it's the BEST way to form a lifelong relationship of a son or daughter who discussses issues with Mom. It's the training of a human who understands the value of primary sources, good literature and proper grammar. It's also making a human being who knows how to rest and cuddle up when sick, tired, overwhelmed and find a safe happy healthy place in a good book. Please know that the advice we give to "cuddle up and read from great literature" is the best advice we can think of and something you will never, ever ever regret.
I absolutely believe that!!! :)
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OK, then if I were in your situation I'd focus on finding essential curriculum for the oldest first and give myself permission to not worry about the rest until I was done with that. I'd figure out LA and then math and then order it so it's in my hands when I need to plan later. Then I'd do that for the rest of of reading school aged kids. If someone isn't reading yet, figure out phonics instead of LA for them along with math. Then you're in business.
Next I'd figure out history and science curriculum for the oldest. Then for the younger kids with the possibility of combining kids in mind-that may not work out with the oldest, but maybe with younger kids I could keep them together.
If there are other subjects I wanted to add, I'd get those next or I might skip them and wait until I had things more planned out in my core subjects before I spent time scrutinizing and planning extras. I think curriculum selection is best done when you're not schooling yet. By the time I've taught kids and have littles demanding my attention, I'd find it hard to think much about curriculum. I'd rather do it during summer break.
I don't plan math because I don't allow my children to move to the next lesson unless they're scoring 95% or better on the current lesson. Some lessons they get right away and some they need more practice in, so I schedule a certain amount of time per day they have to be on task in math. How far they get is how far they get. Phonics is another subject like that. I just do the next thing until it's mastered and then move on. Kids vary widely when it comes to reading and math there's really no predicting it.
LA curriculum usually has lessons in it. I use Learning English with Literature which has 108 lessons. They include narration, copywork, dictation, sentence diagramming, memory work, etc. They're short and sweet. That means 3 lessons per week for a standard 36 week school year. Since I choose to school for only 36 weeks a year, that works for me. When I want to complete a curriculum in a year and the number of lessons aren't evenly divisible by 36 I look at my school calendar. For example, let's say my science curriculum has 95 lessons. If you divide 95 by 36 you get 2.6. So, what I'd do is aim for 2-3 lessons per week, depending on what's going on that week. Thanksgiving week may just need 1 and the week before each break are weeks where 2 lessons make more sense than 3. Or you could plan 3 a week until they're all done and run out of science before the end of the year and have a lighter load at the end of the year.
Personality comes in to play with planning and researching options, so think about what generally makes you happier and calmer. Do you generally like more things planned out or do you generally like to plug away at the next thing until it's done? If you are going to plan I suggest planning by the week because the days in each week can vary widely. Some days you just hit a brick wall, so knowing you need to get a certain number of lessons done in a week to have you wherever it is you want to be at some point in the future gives you time to bump secondary stuff to tomorrow and still be on track. Having a daily routine helps. Routines tend to put the emphasis on the order of things where as daily schedules tend to put the emphasis on a certain time which can be, to some people, oppressive and to others very helpful. Again, personality comes into play.
Thank you - this is so helpful! Your post is helping me reframe my thoughts and focus on priorities. I think we've got math figured out. I'm going to get LA planned this week, then work on the extras. We are traveling for most of July so I want to have my curriculum ordered asap and hopefully have most of it in my hands by July so I can take it with me and start my long range planning. I don't think I'm going to schedule out every week, at least not at the beginning but keep it more of a "do the next thing" schedule, at least for the subjects (math ) that lend themselves to that. And the others, well I will plan by the week as I can but remember to be flexible as we go along, like you said. Again, thank you for your advice. :)
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Language Arts stresses me out too! There are so many possible pieces - Grammar, writing, mechanics, vocabulary, penmanship, diagramming, literature, reading, spelling, and on and on it seems! Last year I decided to pick one or two LA priorities for each child and not worry about the rest. For my younger two that was reading. I used LOE for phonics with readers for extra practice and that's it. Our focus was reading - and we made a ton of practice on that! - and I didn't worry about anything that wasn't included in LOE (which included some penmanship and spelling).
For my older two the focus was writing and spelling. We used IEW (TWSS only using what we were doing for history and science to write from) and Spelling Power. Again, they made a ton of progress. Later, after we got the writing going, we added in some grammar with ILL that a friend had given me. This year we'll keep the focus on writing and grammar by doing Fix-It Grammar, TWSS, and Spelling Power.
At some point we'll focus on other aspects of LA but for now these are the priorities and I'm trying to stay focused on them.
Excellent advice. I need to learn to prioritize and not feel like I have to hit the ground running doing every piece of every subject.
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My 6 year old likes Milly-Molly-Mandy. I'm planning to read the first Little House book and Charlotte''s Web to her this year.
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Ok, I'll just throw you out a divergent thought, just because that's me. I would drop one of the Rs and bring in one of the joy subjects. :) Seriously. My dd LIVED for history. Actually, she still does. To remove history from her day, from her life, is like asking her to stop BREATHING. She used to CRY when we did not do history.
So I would start slowly by skipping one of the three Rs and bring in whatever is their favorite joy subject, probably history or science. If that's what they need for joy, make sure it's in there. Are you really interested in doing the rest of that list, or was that all hyperbole? LOL We did latin and languages, and it's fine. Do you do Bible or some kind of joint thing? Happily, some of the really basic latin programs are easy to do together orally, and they would actually span all your kids, believe it or not. If the 2 yo is verbal, she could/would probably do it along!
But to actually go really CM, like with all those separate subjects, that's a lot of transitions and waiting around for mom. At the Opera This is a WONDERFUL book on opera I used at the age of your oldest. Also we had some summaries by Clyde Bulla that were really good. Bulla also did Stories of Gilbert and Sullivan Operas So then you just have them read one a week and then pull it up on youtube to watch! There are still places that do productions of these, and you could get cds. We have a university in our state that does them in the summer, so we've gone up for a few. They're kinda pricey, but they're wonderful.
I'm not saying to bog yourself down with more ideas, sorry. I'm more just showing that *simple* things done with relatively independently, with structure, with consistency, actually can be really nice and really inspiring! We did a Shakespeare study around then with the Ambrose productions and free guides. You can do *simple* things like that, where you pick something and just do a dab each week. I *personally* would not go gung ho for the whole CM, picture study, sit around the table thing. Maybe that really works for some people, and you know your family best! I'm just saying if you want a simpler way, something where you just write it on the checklist and it gets done, that's how you could do it. It was really good for us, and now dd seeks out opera on her own. She listens to it while she does her math, etc., and that's how it all started, with that inexpensive book by Fiery. :)
LOL, I was mostly just kidding about that list of extras. I think there are a lot of cool things people here are doing with their kids and I hope to incorporate more down the road but I'm starting out slow. 3Rs, some science and history, read alouds, and yes I would like to do some Bible study with them too, but even that might be put off a bit, or we might just start with a little Bible reading every day and keep it simple.
I will check out the rest of your resources tomorrow. Thanks! :)
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You didn't ask, but I would suggest something like IEW, where you can get a two-fer. The oldest two can watch the videos, bam, done.
Remember, you don't have to over plan. Just do *enough*. When you have bright kids with SN, do just enough and let them have room then to do other things with their budding skills. They might realize they want to start a blog, join forums for a special interest, participate in contests, etc. So when you do curriculum that is sort of *enough* without being really like WOW we scheduled the whole year!, you leave them room for that.
LOL, see my response to your other post.
IEW is high on the list for my 11 year old. :)
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Ok, could I suggest you start a thread on LC or Gen and put in the title that you're asking for BEST TIPS FOR HOMESCHOOLING WITH ADHD AND ASD... :)
Seriously, you can probably save yourself a few headaches if you do that. My dd17 has ADHD and my ds7 has the triple combo--ASD, ADHD, and SLDs. We're a little in the fun house around here.
So me, when I read your comment about wanting to be more relaxed and them thinking like school, lots of structure, THAT is what I'm telling you. You SHOULD give them that structure!!!! Do NOT listen to people who have not dealt with that degree of disabilities and try to make their set-up look like the Duggars or something. Not that you would. But even Sonlight or somebody else's picture. You are going to have to be REALISTIC about the structure THEY need to succed.
The word, the single biggest word for success in homeschooling with those SN is structure. Even people who unschool those disabilities (and yes, it can be done) have structure. And they tend to have less kids when they do that and not a toddler underfoot. So I would strongly encourage you to have a sit down with them, get realistic about what structures they need to succeed, what they want to learn, what role they want to have, where they want to be, what time they envision themselves doing this, what amount of supervision they see, etc. Then of course you reality check all that.
You can get your relaxed vibe in. With my dd, I've had this crazy mixture of structured and relaxed, sort of half and half. I structure anything she can't make happen for herself, and I let her drive anything she can. She's now interning in a costume collection, designing costumes, preparing to apply to a really great program that she hopes to get into! It really can work! But you'll have to find some balance there and it's really going to vary with the kid. Since they're USED to structure, I would give it to them. Give them the amount of structure they need to succeed. When moms say oh I want relaxed, sometimes it's really a copout. This is going to be HARD WORK. It's going to blow your mind. So don't chicken out, don't skimp. Give them the structure they're asking for. It will be better that way. You'll still give them time to pursue their passions, etc.
And seriously, start that thread. We haven't had one in a long while and it will be good. :)
This is excellent advice. And I really appreciate it. I just want to clarify that we do follow a general structure/routine around here and I see that continuing as we start homeschooling. When I said relaxed, I meant in the *amount* of work/subjects we do. So I plan to focus on the 3Rs, add a little science and history, but not stress myself our trying to get in foreign languages, Latin, music/composer study, artist study, literature analysis, basketweaving, etc. All the things that look fun but that we don't NEED to do right now. :) Is that a little clearer? I will start that thread soon. :) You have given me a lot of advice previously on the LC board and I truly appreciate it. :)
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When my youngest was about 4 we told him he couldn't leave his bedroom til his clock said "6:00" .... yeah that worked until he decided that he could just CHANGE his clock to 6:00. UGHHH
LOL! Clever guy!
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You're homeschooling for the first time with 3 school aged kids and a toddler. That's a lot. Those of us who homeschooled all the way through started out with one kid doing a little phonics, math and handwriting the first year with a toddler and maybe an infant so our anxiety levels about our first years would've been very different.
I'm not completely clear in your post about what's causing your anxiety. Is it choosing a curriculum? Is it the scheduling itself? Is it homeschooling in general? Are you worried about juggling academics with 4 kids at different levels? Those are all different and should be addressed very differently. So if you could please elaborate more we may be able to help you more specifically.
If it's choosing curriculum, remember that there probably aren't any terrible, horrible, awful, no good, very bad choices. In ps kids get the one curriculum approved by The Powers That Be without any thought of their individual differences and most are doing fine. Children in the homeschooling community are getting solid math instruction whether they're using Saxon, Singapore, Math U See, Horizons, CLE, Teaching Textbooks, or whatever. Do many people switch math curriculum at some point? Yes. I'd bet math is probably the subject where the most people make at least one change. Let that reassure you that changes can be made in the future if whichever option you end up choosing doesn't work out as well as you liked. Make sure your spouse is aware that changes are commonly made and budget accordingly. Don't equate curriculum change with failure, it's not. Everyone makes changes in something at some point, even......ps. As a matter of fact, changes have been the norm over the last century in ps.
Are you mathy? Do you want to do the instruction yourself? Do any of your children seem mathy? Did you struggle with math? Do you dislike it? Would you rather not do the instructing? Do you have a child who struggles with math? How you answer those questions should be factored into curriculum shopping. Whether or not you want someone else doing some or all of the math instruction on some sort of video should be considered. Whether or not you want math manipulatives incorporated into instruction and practice will influence your choice too. How much of the record keeping you want to do vs. how much you want a computer to do it will carry weight.
I think language arts (LA) is probably the second most switched curriculum. There's quite a range of them. What's included and how it's taught in LA can vary widely from one curriculum to the other. Maybe the first thing to ask is, have you found anything lacking in your own LA education? Was there something you think should've been included, but wasn't? Narration, dictation, copywork, grammar, sentence diagramming, outlining, composition, dictionary skills, thesaurus skills, vocabulary, phonics, spelling, and all that can be included in LA. Do you want all of those things or do you consider some of them unnecessary? How are you at LA? Do you enjoy LA? How about each of your kids? Do you want your children to identify grammar concepts in sentences someone else wrote or prefer an approach where your child has to come up with their own sentences that show they understand grammar concepts? That kind of thing.
Being able to somewhat articulate what you do and don't want in a curriculum can help you make more confident decisions up front. Keeping mental or written track of what specifically is working and what specifically isn't working as you go through the year(s) will give you a better sense of whether or not sticking with the curriculum you have or making a change makes sense. If you decide to make a change in the next year or two or three, you're more likely to find something that meets your needs because you know specifically what you do and don't need. There are no guarantees in life, even in well researched options, but the odds are better the more you've thought about it.
What are your priorities? Let's say life goes crazy your second week in and the day it all starts happening you have time and emotional energy to get 2 subjects done. Which 2 would they be? OK, now imagine the crazy dies down some more and you have the time to do a half day. What would make your list of subjects to get done on a 1/2 day? Now imagine things have calmed down even more, but they're not back to normal yet, what would be included in your 3/4 day? Knowing that kind of thing up front makes it a less stressful when the tidal wave hits.
It can work that way within a subject and within a lesson too. Let's take LA. Let's pretend you planned out your year by the week. You know that this week things are going to be challenging in some way, so you look at this week's LA and you decide to cut some of it out. Typically what a child needs more practice in goes right to the top. Review or more practice in something the child has a good handle on goes to the bottom. The most important used skill or two covered that week moves up the priority list and the least important, least used skills covered that week move down the list. That can happen within a lesson for the day also. Being able to prioritize the most important thing keeps you on track while dropping the lesser things with a clear conscience.
When it comes to scheduling, what do you mean? Are you interested in having it all scheduled and planned out for all subjects and all kids? Are there some subjects you want planned out and others to be done as you please or in a do the next thing kind of way? Does loop scheduling appeal to you at all for some or all subjects? Sometimes, just knowing how many times a week you need to do a subject is enough to keep you on track to make sure you get through a certain amount by a certain time. Sometimes scheduling it all out gets you where you want to be.
Right now I'm stressed about choosing curriculum for everyone. I'm trying to focus on that but my mind keeps jumping to the next few things (long range planning, or how I'm going to plan out a day, how I'm going to keep the toddler busy while teaching the older kids, etc.) So I'm just a little (or a lot) overwhelmed thinking about all of these different aspects of homeschooling. I'm starting from scratch and with three kids including a middle schooler, there are just a lot of decisions to make. I know we can change our minds but I'm hoping to avoid wasting time and money. :)
Language arts seems to be my biggest issue right now. There are so many pieces and I want to make sure we're covering what we're "supposed to" cover without overwhelming my kids. I am slowly getting a feel for what I want to do, and I'm learning that it's a process figuring this stuff out. :)
I really appreciate your advice about finding my priorities. That is very helpful as I work through the planning process and I hope I remember it when we're in the thick of things and I can't always get it all done. Thank you!
What are you currently reading aloud with your family?
in General Education Discussion Board
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One of our all time favorites!