ladyinthegarden
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Posts posted by ladyinthegarden
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I've done a little bit of everything. From traditional to interest-based baskets. Last year I gave the DS4 a little bunny puppet and the DS10 took up with it, the DS4 didn't care anything for it. This year the DS4 was snuggling a bunny in the store a few days ago because he has watched his brother do it for a year. I purchased plenty of bunnies this year. ;)
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My oldest learned to read around 3 1/2 because he was ready. I didn't really push or do anything formal. My four-year-old is learning on his own timing. He plays all day long, and I point out colors, numbers, letters when the occasion arises. I do not plan to do anything more than that until he is ready for it. When they are ready you will know better than anyone else. I have found that it's much easier to teach a concept when a child is ready for it. You can spend a year teaching a child addition, or five minutes when they are ready. I feel my main job is to be a human balance between childhood and education. Today my ten-year-old was arguing with a documentary he was watching about dinosaurs because they got a few things wrong. I've never bought an official dinosaur curriculum. :smilielol5:
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I found Evan-Moor workbooks when I began homeschooling in 1st grade. The workbooks are superior to most other educational workbooks. They don't contain loads of errors, like some of the cheaper workbooks. If you have a kid that loves doing map work the daily geography book is thick and will last the entire year if you want. I've never used these but I have heard good things about flash kids complete curriculum workbooks. http://www.homeschool-curriculum-savings.com/homeschool-review-flash-kids-curriculum-all-grades.html For the price of them you could use just what you need and leave the rest, they are thick because they have several hundred pages.
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I keep a binder for our health records and personal items. I haven't tried putting manuals in binders. It would be nice to take them off the shelf, and flip through them when you need one on occasion.
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Yes, my children are in Kindergarten (twins) and 2nd grade, and we definitely do not structure our school or our lives around a strong History emphasis. Here's what we do instead:
- English -- Our #1 academic priority is building skills in English: listening, speaking, reading, penmanship (cursive), spelling, vocabulary, grammar & mechanics, memorization (poetry), copywork, dictation, narration, composition
- Math -- Our #2 academic priority is building skills in Math
These two areas of skill-building are the most important blocks in our structure. The next level, with a focus on content that matters to us, includes Bible & Literature/Poetry.
- Bible -- We read the Bible, read through a children's Bible story book, sing hymns, memorize psalms, and so on.
- Literature & Poetry -- We read aloud from chapter books, fables, myths, children's classics, picture books, poetry, and listen to many full-length audiobooks.
At the third level, we focus again on building skills (2nd grade only), in Latin, Greek, Music, and French:
- Latin & Greek -- a very basic introduction to Latin, Latin/Greek roots, and the Greek alphabet
- Music -- introductory music theory + in-home instrument lessons & practice
- French -- introductory oral/aural French, introductory French reading & copywork, listening to French songs
Next, as time permits, we work our way through more content as a group:
- Geography -- We learn US Geography (maps, songs, puzzles).
- History -- We read aloud through US History (all the books in a box, arranged chronologically).
- Science -- We read through a spine and other books (Earth Science).
- Nature Study -- We spend as much time outdoors as weather permits.
As you can see, History is quite far down our list of things to do in K-2nd. That doesn't mean we don't invest in resources for it, nor does it mean we take a slipshod approach to it when time does permit. What it means is that, if we must pass on History for the day in order to build skills in English and Math, or cover content in Bible and Literature, or (again) build skills in other skill subjects, then we will pass on History without panic. The study of History, though important in some ways, is not the organizing principle of our curricular structure in the primary grades. Furthermore, it is only one category of content, neither more nor less important than learning about sedimentary rocks in Science or the name and habitat of a wildflower in Nature Study or the states of New England in Geography. HTH.
This reminds me of a book I recently read called Record of a School. The school was skill based as well, history and content was added here and there, but not a focus. This is a good post. I'm glad you didn't delete it.
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Everything I've read by John Holt gives me inspiration to think outside of the box. I think if you put everything he wrote about together there is a universal message that outweighs educational philosophy. The message for me is to not be confined to the box.
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For us the playground has always been the best place to teach social skills. We took DS to the playground frequently since he was a toddler. I observed interactions he had with others. If he was not doing something right I corrected it immediately. Parents are the best curriculum for social skills.
I have found that kids also need guidance about who they play with or befriend. Not everyone is worth your time. That holds true in adult relationships as well. I never had this sort of mentoring when I was growing up and have struggled with relationships.
One day we were at the park, and there was a kid throwing the wood chips at the playground at my DS, they were flying toward his face. He was just standing there waiting for her to stop, so he could play with her. The parents (two adults) were sitting on the swing watching this, and said nothing to their child. I walked over to him and told him not to play with her. Instead of correcting the child on the spot, they picked her up and left the playground.
We had another lesson recently with some neighborhood kids who wanted to befriend him because of something he owns. He can now discern a true friend from someone who just wants something from him. He also learned about how people use manipulation to try to get what they desire.
I read Teaching the Trivium by Harvey Bluedorn a few years ago, and he suggest no unsupervised playtime with other children. I thought the advice about unsupervised play was extreme. I grew up running wild; the only adult supervision I had was during dinner. I'm beginning to see the wisdom in that advice. I think putting time in supervising the kids playing is time well spent. I think the pay-off will come later on when they are able to handle themselves without you.
My DS has interest that are odd to other boys his age. However, through those interest he has attracted friendships from like-minded people. There is great advantages for a child with a sense of individuality. I think my own DS has formed skills as a leader through his individuality. He has other kids who follow him around learning from him. He teaches them like he is a retired professor. He has also formed a friendship with an elderly neighbor. They have long chats in the yard about everything. He calls her his friend. It's so sweet to watch them interact.
I think he would be fine, and you could use the community to your advantage. I liked the advice in post #5.
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You need to eat chocolate, take bubble baths, and drink wine... Maybe even call in a maid... This is the daydream I have about what I would do if I were not homeschooling!
If I wanted to keep him in school I would look for enrichment type activites. Maybe some audio books, SOTW audio, and ect. You could throw in some memory work to work on at his pace. When my oldest went to school we didn't have a schedule or curriculum, but we did things together for enrichment.
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I wanted to do nature studies and make beautiful journals, but I just could not inspire my DS to do it. He studies nature in his own way, and I have accepted that. He has literally memorized field guides. I also bought the books with nature call cd's in them. I have suffered through hours of those in my house. At one point the house sounded like the Amazon for days.
I feel guilty about music. I have introduced various genres of music over the years, and he has developed a good taste in music. I think I would have wasted my time and money on music lessons earlier because he just wasn't ready. I think now that he has an appreciation of music; lessons with an instrument will be more productive.
The truth be told about homeschooling; it's impossible to do a million subjects a year for years and years! Unless you outsource to other people, and have an exceptional support system. We have been a military family for the entire time we have homeschooled. I have learned to focus like a lasar beam on the most important subjects.
I just read recently that children who have only had one year of latin test better than all others who have not. I can't remember where I read that because I read so much. So even if you did only one year of latin there may have been a benefit you can't see for your DC.
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You could also try using the methods described in The Core by Leigh Bortins http://www.classicalconversations.com/articles/globetrotting-the-core-of-geography
The atlas she recommends is bargained priced at amazon right now, I can't get the link to the product to work for some reason, DK Compact Atlas of the World. If they like drawing this would be perfect, it's simple and cheap.
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The best things I have ever purchased for science have been field guides, experiment books, magazines, and documentaries. Just having these items around the house has been almost the entire elementary science curriculum. One study lead to another with almost no direction from me. Although I do make sure we have a fresh batch of science books on various topics regularly.
Last year my DS made a request to replace field guides we had because he already knew everything in them. I replaced them with thicker field guides. I didn't start with the ones published for children. I began collecting them from the bargain bins at various book stores, our first set of books was probably under $30.
If you don't have a subscription to Ranger Rick magazine I highly recommend it. Almost every week we watch the Nature program on PBS, this has spilled over into Nova and the rest of the evening PBS programs. I also grab documentaries at the local warehouse club. We started out using the library for science books, but now we purchase many as well. Some of the books I purchased a year ago look like they were dug up with the Dead Sea scrolls, because they have been carried around and used so much.
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Thank you to everyone for the recommended books on this thread. I wanted to add a book I recently read to the list. It's free on google books as well. I gleaned a lot of insight from reading it. The book is called Record of a School and it's about Amos Bronson Alcott's school, he was Louisa May Alcott's father. http://books.google.com/books?id=-rsMAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false If you have read everything else about classical education this book will make lightbulbs go off in your head. :)
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I suggest letting him listen to audio books regularly, and study word roots. For the comprehension and reading she might try using a reader like McGuffey, or Elson Readers, to gradually increase his level. He may also benefit the most from spiraling curriculum since he needs regular review.
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I got the idea from someone to use the language options on your DVD's for spanish or french. Use their favorite movies so they already know the english words to the story. Just let it play in the background like your listening to music. You could also try introducing a few words a week in context to current events in your house. I think after a gentle nudge he will be more open to the idea of learning a new language.
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I didn't use a math curriculum for 1-4. I bought workbooks to use leisurely, we used the scope and sequence from them. We also used manipulatives, games, real clocks, and I taught measurements using measurement tools (the DS loved it). This year we started on Saxon 5/4. I have learned to dissect the book for our sanity. When I first looked at Saxon years ago I hated the look of it, truthfully I didn't like any math curriculum I looked at.
The DS tells me he likes Saxon math. Today he did more problems than I required of him because one of them appealed to him. We probably could have began with Saxon 6/5. Honestly, the results have been good for us. It was scary going this route because it was my first time homeschooling. I kept telling myself, it's 1st (2nd, 3rd, 4th) grade math I can't mess that up. :)
I recently ordered a few Life of Fred books for the oldest, fractions and decimals. I think I will be using the elementary set for the younger child along with manipulatives. Then begin Saxon around 5/4 or 6/5.
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I'm completely talking out of my...... because I have never used Sonlight. I have been a Charlotte Mason style homeschooler for awhile now. I don't know the reading schedule of sonlight, but what about spreading it out over the entire year? Then you could read some of the books during the summer. We always have a book that we are reading the entire year.
I don't make schedules for reading anymore. We accomplish more than I would have planned, if I was still planning. You could also give yourself a break from reading books with audio books. If you are reading classics you could look for them on www.librivox.org. The audio on librivox is free, we have used it many times. We also use the audio books at our library. Audio books are better than sliced bread in this house!
If you are reading a biography of an individual you could try to find something at librivox for the particular subject instead of reading the suggested book. There is a site called The Baldwin Online Children's Literature Project @ www.mainlesson.com. I was using this site to find books then searching for them at librivox. It takes the guess work out of choosing what is appropriate.
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I believe this issue is about motivation. I've had similar problems as well. I suspected that my oldest would do more in public school because of the motivation of the entire classroom. I sent him to school last year and guess what? He did more writing, and certain subjects he was lagging at home he did exceptionally well with at school. I have racked my brain for solutions to this. I plan to be more goal orientated, and focus on the basics without dragging things out. Some curriculum just drags things out so much. So I make sure he knows what he needs to, and I let him do just a little review without doing every question. There is something about sitting amoung others that are doing the same task as you that motivates you to keep going. So I plan to try the video lessons for Student Intensive Writing. I think it simulates a classroom. I've also started sitting next to him for most of the day. I get him involved in a lesson, then I get up to do things as needed. We do grammar lessons orally a lot. I have also been having conversations on various topics during the day. I haven't tried this yet, but I'm planning to stretch our school year out with less bookwork day to day. Our environment is so different at home, I think trying to work the way the school does with a certain amount of days compounded with a set curriculum is hard. Everyone on this forum has a super duper curriculum, they have analyzed it, put it through a strainer, and created a masterpiece. I think it's ok if it takes more time to get the most out of it.
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Last year I let my oldest go to 3rd grade. I went about a week before school and spoke to the principal. We didn't do any testing and I didn't show him anything we had done. We just had a polite conversation and I told him what grade I thought would be best. Let me tell you, I was shaking like a leaf the first day. Homeschooling is sometimes a grand experiment. He adjusted just fine. Some of the curriculum was super easy, and some was challenging. No matter what you've used unless it's the very same as the school there will be bits here and there to fill in. It may take time to get the hand of a new curriculum. It will work out for you though, it did for us. In just one quarter he was doing very well. If you are worried about math for the next year maybe you should look into the Life of Fred books for the summer.
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I choose my vehicles based on safety first, then gas milage. Maybe you can narrow it based on a set of standards similar to this. I purchased an Impala a few years ago mainly because of the safety. We were hit a few years later when a driver ran a stop sign, and hit my side of the car with the entire family in the car. His his brand new car was a complete loss, he had it for three days. Our car had about $5,000 in damage. We are still driving it.
I noticed there was a difference in the safety ratings from last years model and this year, so if you are buying used or a program car you might want to keep that in mind. I was looking at the SUV's last fall.
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We do a variety of craft materials using shrinky dinks, clay, felt, pom poms, wiggle eyes, string, sticks, yarn, and pipe cleaners. I have a plastic file box with a lid full of this stuff, and he creates his own projects. We let our boy whittle with supervision. He had to learn the rules of carrying a knife, and how to treat it first. We've had no issues. We also get out the wood burner in the summer, and use that outside. We also have Steven Caney's Ultimate Building Book, and several books by Daniel C. Beard. If your boys like outdoorsy projects they would enjoy Daniel C. Beard books. My DS also has a side business making survival bracelets with paracord. So we spend time learning many different knots. I plan to give him a box of hand tools this summer. Last summer my DH and DS used an old broom handle and tree limb to make a wood mallet. Every kid in my back yard used this tool all summer long. It was even used to build a bridge with sticks.
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Go to the grocery store with a list every single time. Make a rule to not buy anything not on the list. It will become habit, and prevent you from looking at things you are not there for. I have also found that if I unclutter my house, I become more unwilling to bring in new things to clutter it up. I can't tell you how many times I have said no to new things because I just don't want the mess. I would open the door and let a burglar take it all if they would just knock on the door and ask for it.
I clean my entire house with vinegar now. I even made a shower spray using vinegar and tea tree oil. The vinegar smell goes away after it dries, and then your house smells fresh. The first time I cleaned this kitchen with just vinegar, we left the house for a few hours and came back through the kitchen door, the difference was amazing. It was like a cleaning company had been there scrubbing away the entire time we were gone. Instead of spending $20 for cleaning products I spend $2+. I also purchase essential oils from Eden's Garden and have my favorite mixtures. The plus side of using it on your countertops (don't use it on marble) is that your kids can eat off the counter without you fearing cleaning chemicals. I have terrible sinus issues sometimes and it has made cleaning during those days tolerable.
We have shampoo monsters in our house that use too much at once, pour your shampoo in a pump bottle. We cut our shampoo cost down to a fourth of what we were spending. I was buying it once every week or two, now it's once a month or longer. I did this with the conditioner too. We recycle the foaming bathroom hand soap bottles too. It takes only a few squirts of hand soap (3-5) and the rest warm water to fill the bottle. This way the kids can wash, wash, wash their hands with all the soap they want and it only cost me pennies. I have done this with the dishwashing liquid too because the DH uses too much at once. Any liquid works with the dish liquid but the concentrated soap works best because it makes a better foam. A small $1 bottle of dish liquid last for nearly a month now. I'm considering trying this with the kids bath wash next! I may put the liquid laundry soap in a pump when I can find a bottle that is suitable for that.
My DH had a terrible habit of eating out a lot. I splurge sometimes at the grocery store just enough to satisfy those cravings, a $5 steak can save us the $50 restaurant bill.
Some people don't know this but you can still get basic TV channels with an antenna on a HDTV. I have had conversations with people in line at the store while buying antennas that didn't know this. Some of the better ones can be triangled for a stronger signal too. We have more than one but we don't have them triangled right now.
I won't make an internet purchase without a coupon most of the time. I use retailmenot and tjoos for coupons. Occasionally, I find them in other places. I had a terrible habit of browsing stores (offline) I like to shop in. Now I shop seasonally at my favorite shops about four times a year. I break it down in trips for different family members. I have developed the same will power I have at the grocery store. It was amazing how much money changing that habit recouped. It forces you to think about what you and your family really needs. It stops me from buying too much children's clothing as well. I also plan for the outing by printing coupons first.
For years I have been cutting my own hair. One day I got irritated waiting for my DH to get a basic military cut and brought him home to give him a cut. I've been doing it every since. Last year I splurged for a good set of hair cutting scissors. I plan to get a good set of electric clippers next (suggestions welcomed).
I buy curriculum in my head first before I click through the cart and purchase it. I make a list, research it, mull over it casually, until the lightbulb goes off in my head. I don't spend every waking moment thinking about it. It just occurs to me that we really need it or this will work for us, most of the time it happens when I'm doing things unrelated. I have ditched many things that I might have otherwised purchased instantly.
Our cell phone bill was getting out of hand so I had the DH call to take everything off of it. We also had the internet and texting disabled. You can do that to prevent incoming text and to prevent accidently hitting the internet. The bill was cut in half. People can send me messages through my free email account if they don't want to call. We are old school here. ;)
My DH made a joke about me during the recession saying, "What recession?", like I was thinking that. I was raised by a single parent who was raised by parents that lived through the depression era.
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I would love to hear someones answer to this as well. :bigear:
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um, why is creative writing mindless?
Creative writing is not mindless, but creative writing lessons can be. I said I don't want to do mindless creative writing LESSONS.
“I don't want to waste valuable time working on a plethora of mindless creative writing lessonsâ€
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I've been traveling this road myself lately. I think I have concluded I like Susan Wise Bauer's writing philosophy. I've realized I don't want to waste valuable time working on a plethora of mindless creative writing lessons, when we can be strengthening valuable skills. The best post I read lately was from this thread http://forums.welltr...rts-curriculum/, Sonnet_25 reposted an old post from Ruth in NZ. It was exactly the post I needed.
I'm trying to figure out HOW to fix our homeschool.
in General Education Discussion Board
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Fantastic post, Mango. I couldn't have said it better. I have began to focus on skills. Everything else branching out from that is enrichment. You can afford to do this with classical education because the knowledge is not being spoon fed in little chunks. Next year we will put reading, writing, and math above everything else. I plan to not to schedule every subject every day. I made a six day schedule to make subjects revolve regularly without doing more than we can handle in one day. Some books may not get finished, but they are not the skill based subjects. They are also not grade specific curriculums, and can carry over into the next level (we won't be missing anything). Plus what we are doing would technically be classified as a gifted program. I'm all about student progress these days. I don't want to drill every subject every day, and say that he completed everything. I would rather him be the next skill level in the areas that matter. Use the curriculum, don't let it use you.