Not sure on your plans, but the WTM Academy is offering high school literature.

Not sure on your plans, but the WTM Academy is offering an American History course.

We used 100 EZ Lessons, and finished it. My daughter liked the program. She hated BOB books. We used 100 EZ Lessons for no more than 10 minutes a day, at bedtime, with special cuddles while we read together. Took us about 6 months to work through it, and then she *still* wouldn't read out loud (leveled readers). So then I bought the Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading new, and a very used copy of Phonics Pathways for $4, and did a 5 minute lesson per day with each, for a year. No leveled readers, etc. But, her father reads 30 minutes a day at bedtime, on stuff way above her reading level. Now, nearly 20 months after we started this reading thing, she's voluntarily reading 3rd/4th grade books out loud to her sister, which is beautiful. I'm afraid to make a big deal out of it for fear that she'll stop.

If you can do an app, there are several nice ones. I see good things about Stack The States.

I was searching for commentary on the boards about the Academy. Hi! Yes, I think they're prepared to shuffle instructors a bit depending on enrollment, which is probably why they haven't posted specific instructors. For example, I do history, but I can also do non-lab sciences, if need be. :)

Dropbox & external hard drive

Right now, I pick the "spines." Example: ES Biology. I provide multiple options for supplements: would you like to read this book or that book from the library? Later, I will encourage her to seek out the supplements herself. By the time she's in high school, I will expect her to do research on the spines and I will exercise veto power.

Me three (or four!) I cannot imagine HSing without the Hive!

I would wonder about the test design. Did they change the format, or the style of test (from norm-referenced to criterion-referenced, for example)? FWIW, the state of WV, and most other states, used the CTBS test for *years*. It is a norm-referenced test (39%ile means that your child did better than 39% of test takers). It got replaced by criterion referenced tests when NCLB came around. RTT has created PARCC and Smarter Balance. criterion-referenced tests involve a cutscore, where the test taker passes if their score exceeds the cut-score and fails if it does not (the ACT, for example) norm-referenced test (NRT) identifies whether the test taker performed better or worse than other historical, test takers (E.g., IQ tests) ipsative assessment is the practice of assessing present performance against the prior performance of the person being assessed (what most teachers do) ​Mostly from Wikipedia Slightly off topic, but here's a good explanation of cut scores: http://www.washingto...s-are-selected/ Hope that helps!

Yes, but I'm not an expert or anything. I'm betting Ellie and farrarwilliams would be the ones to listen to there. :)

About 3rd/4th grade, students switch from learning-to-read to reading-to-learn. For me, that reading level was when my daughter started to voluntarily pick up books to read. Before that, it was like pulling teeth--and frankly, other than daily 10-minute phonics lessons after dinner, I didn't ask her to read anything. I wanted her to think of reading as enjoyable, rather than a battleground. It took us about 20 months of solid, daily, short phonics lessons (flashcards --> 100 EZ Lessons -> PP & OPGTR simultaneously) to get her to the point where she voluntarily, spontaneously picked up Yertle the Turtle and easily read it to her baby sister. (I almost cried in joy--but I didn't, because I didn't want to spook her!)

:iagree: Children are generally myopic until age 9ish. DD can read a lot of stuff she can't see. Kindle was a compromise, because she can enlarge the font. I bought her these Greek mythology comic books, and was so embarrassed because I unveiled them as this huge, awesome gift---and she couldn't see the words, because the font was too small. :banghead: So I put them on a shelf for later, and acceded to my husband's wish for a Kindle for her. *sigh*

:iagree:

I love your 12DD teaching DS5! Awesomeness! Here's what I keep around the house: washable:crayons markers colored pencils regular pencils giant packs of construction paper glue glitter glue glue sticks oil pastels chalk window crayons tissue paper pipe cleaners washable tempera paint (I buy it by the quart) stickers stencils cheap little notebooks scissors cheap little plaster figures for painting popsicle sticks Acrylic Adhesive Jewels yarn lots of cheap paintbrushes some of those paint-your-own suncatchers & paint a rainbow loom felt a yarn needle with prior, case-by-case permission, access to my stash of fabric scraps

We have a paint-your-own-pottery place locally, and on Tuesdays after PS lets out, they offer a really nice art class for $10. They do a little bio of a particular artist, talk about their art, and then do a project based on that artist's style. Maybe you can find something like that locally? Or find a local professional artist and offer them $10 to do a weekly lesson? etc. I'm also working in projects from Art Lab, Discovering Great Artists, and a CU Chicago lesson for when I don't have $40 a month to spend on lessons or the weather is dreadful, etc. I'm also thinking seriously about Drawing With Children, but I was going to wait until my daughter was closer to your daughter's age.

I'd bet you're spending a lot of time on transitions, especially with 3 kids, one of whom is an active baby. This is what I do, and your mileage may vary. Other than oral reading, my DD and I knock it out in about an hour. I have the books stacked on the dining room table in the order I want to use them--first one on top. Everything is prepped ahead of time (which can, to be fair, take me up to an hour). I sit with the baby (who is nursing or otherwise quiet) in my lap, sit my DD next to me, pick up the textbook (which is already Post-It noted to the correct page), open it to the right page, supervise the work in a super-focused fashion, and close the book. Then I put it on the done pile, check it off the list (yes, I have an actual checklist), and move on. We do: FLL MWF WWE M-F SP A M-F SOTW read aloud Monday/map work Wednesday/timeline Friday AO poem memorization M-F Logic T Singapore Math M-F ES Biology Read aloud MTR, Narration MTWR, Project MTRF We're also tagging in OPGTR & PP for a total of 5 min, just to finish it off On Tuesdays, we do an art/craft project that's not included in the "about an hour" routine, and Thursdays we do a music project that's not included. I hang out in the next room while she practices typing for 10 min MWF. If the baby is fussing, we hold off until she's either napping or nursing or hanging quietly in her bassinet for a few minutes. The key for me is to prep, and then move through with laser focus while the baby is quiet. ETA: Which isn't to say that we never do anything educational the rest of the day. Daddy reads to her for a solid 30+ min at bedtime, she begs for Jim Weiss in the car, we watch educational shows sometimes, she spends a good deal of time puttering in the yard in the mud and learning to identify birds with grandma, etc. She goes to art classes, and swimming and soccer in their seasons, and so on. We have a museum membership and I try to make it at least once a month, we go to plays, etc. But none of it is seatwork, and I don't really "track" that kind of thing.

Sounds like you know what you want to cover. :) Someone showed me a link of Beginning Geography on the web as a PDF, and I downloaded it. It's pretty much all worksheets. This is what I did last year for her for K, and it was totally spontaneous for the most part. Your mileage may vary. :) In geography: We have a cheap, free world map and a free US map on the wall at her height (I donated money to some organizations that sent freebies), and so anytime an area came up, we'd go look at it. Then, if it were some place that we'd visited, I'd let her draw/highlight our route to the area. I let her play with tracking us via GPS on Google Maps on my phone as we drive somewhere on long trips. I wrote off to all the state tourism boards and asked for free maps and tourist packets, and handed those out a week for her to flip through. (She wasn't impressed, but maybe another child would be?) I had a tablecloth of blue fish, and overlaid it with a shower curtain that was a world map. At dinnertime, we'd talk about what animals lived where, or where family members are living, etc. We made a big deal every time we crossed a city, county, and state line (we live near all three). We always get maps at the museum and the zoo and so on, and she locates where we are on the map as we go through. In civics: I take her with me to vote (all the ladies at the church that is my polling place just dote on little kids). Then we talk about what voting is, and why it's important, and what government does. When I get the car inspected, we talk about why I have to do that, and why I pay money to have it done, and so on. We visited a fire station, and we go to the public library, and the post office, and I talk about public institutions and how they (institutionally, and individually) help people. Our local law enforcement agencies put on a community day at a local park, and we visited, and explored the inside of an ambulance, and a police car, and met a police dog, and so on. (She was terrified of the dog after watching a practice attack run, so beware!) This year, in first, I want to do a more formal geography, so we're emphasizing the maps that are in the SOTW activity book. I want to get her a globe, and use that to point out the areas, and talk a little more about cardinal directions and so on.

I know topics flow on message boards, but I am a little surprised that my question about unstructured free play for children degenerated into discussing into my shortcomings. I started the thread because I was irritated, and I certainly don't need any more irritation. If that's what y'all want to discuss, go for it, but I'm not following this thread any more.

For history: http://www.classicalhouseoflearning.com/grammar-stage-literature.html Science: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AooAASdkVSlWdFdkMkRYTkE4dzJrOTdDY0Z0ZURncEE#gid=5

My problem with this is that it's something that kids can work out for themselves. If I hadn't just spend the better part of the last two hours being with this mom while she constantly did this, I wouldn't have felt the need to step up. And, if she'd just made a flat statement, I probably would have let the correction of my child go. But the other parent can't stop herself from starting these discussions designed to trap my child into admitting that she was wrong about something (and her child is right!), and further interfering with play. My child is generally not bossy like that--in fact, it's the other child who only wants to play what he wants, when he wants. I didn't step up during the ridiculous argument about who said what when, for example. ETA: And then, when my child revealed that she was just concerned about the other child, she got no acknowledgement for being concerned, or that the other child could handle the risk, etc. Just that continued pushiness about how her child can do what he wants, when he wants!

I'm a little OCD, so I'll share what works for me. First, I think of what I want to teach. For me, I lurked on the thread for that grade, re-read relevant sections of WTM, reviewed the state's CSOs and meditated on it a bit until I decided what I wanted. Then, I tried to choose the best curricula for that subject that I felt confident I could do. For example, I love BFSU, and I really wanted to do it, and did lots of research, but ultimately decided it wasn't practical with a newborn. So I went with Elemental Science Classical Grammar Stage Biology instead, because it's pretty much open-and-go, and that's what I need right now. I don't think I need lesson plans, because I'm planning on just doing the next lesson, pretty much. We'll go til we finish the book, and then we'll start the next book. I thought I wanted to do a whole year's worth of planning, but I couldn't find any software I liked that I felt comfy with and didn't have an enormous learning curve. So then I cogitated some more, and ended up with a daily checklist. I wanted to make sure I hit everything that I needed/wanted when I wanted it, and could keep some kind of record of what I did, without being too complicated. Hope this helps! Lesson 5.doc g1 checklist.doc

That's a totally good point. Upon reflection, what I found so frustrating about this playdate was that there were no conflicts that they couldn't have worked out by themselves. Lots of times, she would just stop our conversation and ask the kids what they were doing, as if they had to provide a report on their activities! They weren't arguing, they weren't even disagreeing, there was no conflict--she just wanted her son to report on what they were doing--and we were sitting right there! I really appreciate your response. It's so difficult for me to talk to the other parent about this, because the one time we had a conversation about the affect of ASD, she actually got so upset that she abruptly ended the playdate. I have other friends with ASD kids, kids who are much more affected than her child, and I don't observe this constant mediation of interaction with other children--and they're willing to talk to me about what they're worried about in terms of social interaction. In this case, the other child is six, but they've known each other since they were four. They've had hours-long unstructured playdates in the past--about once a week all summer, last summer. The other child's parent actually volunteered at their private preschool and kindergarten as a full-time aide for 6 months because she felt like her child was wasn't getting enough/appropriate attention from the teacher. It's not like we don't have experience hanging out with them, or that my daughter doesn't have experience in dealing with this mother. It bothers me to think that NT kids have to be "taught" or (in the other mother's parlance) "trained" to hang out with their kids. That puts the onus for the entire situation on the other child(ren), and I don't think that's fair--or in any child's best interest, long term. My child is no angel, but when we're at other people's houses, we play what they want to play--and when we have guests, we play what they want to play. And when we don't want to play any more, we go home. Perhaps if the other mother was willing to discuss this with me, I'd feel less favorable about limiting contact, but this constant interference in their play drives me bonkers. I think that this is part of what irritates me. I know she's the mom, and that she values her own child, but the focus is always on her child and what her child wants and/or needs. She has these rules for how the kids are allowed to play, and she doesn't hesitate to impose them on my child--even at my house, in front of me! Without prior discussion! When it isn't a health or safety issue, and the kids are not in conflict! I hadn't realized until you all discussed this how much it irritates me. That made me stop and think a bit, and I really appreciate the honesty. But, I don't expect her child to be an angel, or behave beautifully. And, remember, he's really high-functioning--so much so that she's sending him to private school in part because the public school system and the local autism support center wouldn't provide him with services because he's so high-functioning. There are different degrees of issues. Thank you for the compliment. I tend to remove us from the situation as well--especially when it's my child that's misbehaving. I have picked her up and carried her off because she was the one climbing up the slide. ;) She was so angry and embarrassed that it never happened again. But, I think it's important to hang with non-family members because they're less likely to overlook poor behavior. IMHO. That said, I certainly understand limiting contact with poorly behaved children! Yes, perhaps that's part of what irritates me so much. If you want to run a PE class, go for it. :) I think we're just going to do specific activities from now on. I wouldn't even be upset if that happened to my daughter--I'd put some of the onus on my child not to tease this particular kid anymore, but also, kids have meltdowns. It happens. Life goes on. I do not understand the point of arguing with a child, though. *rolling eyes* That seems to be a pretty common opinion, and as a friend reminded me, my child likely wouldn't get much unstructured time if she was in PS. It's not like HS creates this situation, or that PS automatically creates kids with good social skills. You know, I didn't see my child's behavior like that, but you're absolutely right. FWIW, upon recollection, I'm impressed at how well my child didn't lose her temper. :) See, I don't think the other child really does. I've babysit him before for the other parent, and he did just fine without her. I guess that's part of why it irritates me so much. As for the emphasis, part of the reason I was irritated was that I was the one who asked why she shouldn't. The other mom didn't allow her child the chance to respond to mine. (Or ignore her ;) ) She just started in on my kid. I had to jump in to allow my child the chance to defend herself. The kids really could have handled this themselves, either by her child ignoring or confronting mine, or just moving on. FWIW, it wasn't that either wasn't allowed to roll down the hill, it was that my child was concerned for the other child, and got verbally confronted for expressing her concern, although granted she didn't continue "___, Stop!" with "____, Stop! You could get hurt!" I hate to tell my child not to worry about other people getting hurt when they do something foolish, but that's a good life lesson--you can't save everyone! Truthfully, my child did calmly disagree, but the other parent just wouldn't accept the disagreement. IIRC, she actually started to get up from her chair to move towards my child to further confront her! You betcha. I'm trying to work on those close relationships, but I don't think my nerves can take this one. ;)

Good point! I totally agree that they need experiences to learn to work things out amongst themselves..... and, IIRC, at no point yesterday did either child come and ask for assistance resolving an issue. I mean, if they wanted help, I'd provide what I thought appropriate, or if it got out of hand (tears, violence-other-than-playful-roughhousing, general nastiness to each other) I'd step in....but that didn't happen either. It's those experiences to work things out that I want for my child. My SIL didn't even blink. I, OTOH, have shown my in-laws the door for verbally reducing my preschool age DD to a quivering heap of tears on the floor, hiding under a blanket, in less than 10 minutes of interaction. Note that this is a kid who has a meltdown once every three or four months--she doesn't faze easily.

LOL! Love it! My kid came out of the womb with tact. I don't know where she gets it! I'm glad it's not just me! Part of the problem is that I'm not sure what to say to a parent like that, or how to say it! That is a really good point! Love the differing perspectives. Part of it, for me though, is that I want her to have that ability to make friends in casual situations that lead to casual get togethers later, KWIM? I sure wish the parks around here were populated with kids. We have great parks, and almost never have any children at them. Yeah, I mean, I don't want kids running riot in my kid's classes. Well, this is a touchy subject. I mean, I agree with you in theory, but in practice, sometimes I find it's just easier to smile and nod. That said, I live in a very rural and very socially conservative area, so disagreeing with an adult (like my in-laws) is a Bad Thing. I think it's ridiculous, but I've seen my MIL backhand my niece for arguing with her mother. That sort of gratuitous rudeness to children is something else that goes on PS here that makes me shudder. To me, it's amazing that my child is as tactful as she is -- truthfully, I don't know where she gets it, 'cause it's not from me! :)

More backstory: I had a baby in March, so we've been home a lot. Less so than with my first, but since we weren't in a co-op this spring, my daughter has been home with just me and the baby for company most of the time. I want her to have some free-form play time, but.... We had a play date with friends that we've known for a couple of years, yesterday, and I was ready to pull my hair out by the end. Granted, the other child is a high-functioning autistic kid, and granted the parent could *not* bring herself to let them play without directing their interactions....but at one point, my child was actually arguing with the other parent about what she'd said to her child (when the other parent wasn't even there to hear what my child had and had not said). I was really surprised that my child would do that. Then I was wondering...is my child being poorly socialized? Does she need more unstructured play time to practice these skills? How much is enough? *sigh* Part of the problem is that the other child *never* does anything wrong. *rolling eyes* They were in the back yard, and the other child was rolling down the hill, and my child goes, "___, stop! Stop!" and the other parent goes, "_____ can roll down the hill." The other parent then tries to pressure my child into acknowledging that she can't tell other children what to do. So I go, "Why do you want ____ to stop?" My child goes, "He might roll into the gravel, and that hurts!!" Instead of acknowledging that my child was trying to help her child, the other parent was all, "____ knows how to roll down a hill...." The other parent always immediately assumes that the other kids are being mean, when it's not even the case. Furthermore, I would never presume to correct some other child's behavior unless it was a safety issue--as in, "You might want to put down the large knife." Or, "do your parents know where you are?" Part of learning how to get along in life is dealing with people who are mean, and my kid needs to know how to deal with other children who are Not Nice. Occasionally if the other child brings a problem to me, I might disagree with him. But by feeling free to correct other children on how to interact with her child, and training *them* on the *right* way, she pretty much guarantees that her child never has to adjust his behavior. IMHO. It's gotten worse as they've gotten older Earlier in the afternoon of the playdate, she was all arguing with my child, along the lines of "You didn't tell him that you wanted to go outside." My child had (and I trusted to know that), but the other parent hadn't heard her, so she assumed that my child was (charitably) mistaken or lying. My child was insisting that she had indeed discussed it with her child, but the other parent was not having any of it, and not until her child said, "Yes, she did mom" (he was sitting listening to this whole thing, as if it were par for the course) did the other parent back down, and then she didn't even apologize! I mean, I don't know what/how to say something to the other parent when she gets like that. I don't want my daughter to get sassy with other adults, but on the other hand...?! Then, later, like today, I feel guilty that I didn't back my daughter up, and that maybe we should just stick to structured play dates with them (lessons, etc). So then I got thinking--we don't really have many (any?) local friends who are willing to do unstructured play dates that we like at all. I don't think lessons are the same thing, you know what I mean? and just seeing kids at lessons isn't the same thing as free-form social skills. So while I think it's important, do other families think it's important? Am I overthinking this? How much of this do kids need? How much should they get? Etc