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dewdropfairy

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Everything posted by dewdropfairy

  1. Well, *I* was public schooled and didn't start FL until 8th grade and it was one of my biggest regrets academically, so I've made it a priority in elementary for my kids. Research indicates younger kids just have a great capacity for learning language. But that may not be what is best for your family.
  2. Also, I was able to sub the math level for another and that was no problem. :)
  3. It's huge. I'm very excited to see what it's like for this year. Got it for my 4th Grader. :) Anyone else using it this year?
  4. Charlotte's Rose is a great book, but it's a four hanky tearjerker. I wouldn't recommend it to a sensitive child (I was one myself). The baby's mother dies, but so does the main character's mother and all of her siblings in infancy (prior to the beginning of the story but mentioned throughout).
  5. Not secular. I avoid a lot of popular curricula because of religious content.
  6. Bookshark is new for this upcoming school year, so no one has used it yet under that title. I ordered their 4th grade program and I'm excited to get it. It was beta tested by a school district homeschool support program under the name Brightflash, so maybe someone here has used it as that? I'm not sure if the content is different or if it was strictly a name change.
  7. Pretty sure I got one of those when I was in HS, back in the stone age. Scam for sure.
  8. Another book I read around the same time as I read Number the Stars was The Endless Steppe. I liked them both. It's also about WWII, though from a different vantage point (a girl and her family being exiled to Siberia).
  9. My 11 year old is loving Harry Potter right now. He also really enjoyed The Hobbit, so we will probably move on to LOTR when he has finished HP.
  10. We've had a stressful year, so I've gone from piecing together to buying "school in a box" for the upcoming year. I'm going to try really, really, hard not to tweak because I need the break. I like your mantra "perfect is the enemy of done". I'm going to remind myself of that. Hang in there, it will get better. :)
  11. I make it a point to not think during the summer. Beach reads only. I just finished The Sugar Queen and am now starting on the Outlander series at the recommendation of a friend.
  12. Also, my younger son really enjoyed reading The Hobbit, but you may want to be careful about that one. The reading level is more 6th-7th grade. My 3rd grader loved it, but he loves the movies so already related well to the characters. A kid who doesn't already love Tolkien's stuff may find it hard to slog through.
  13. Roald Dahl, Mr. Popper's Penguins, the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle series, and the Ramona books helped my younger break through from reluctant reader to one who doesn't complain too loudly anymore. Series are often great for kids because they are familiar with the characters so they feel comfortable reading the books.
  14. I know there's a cartoon adaptation, I watched it as a kid. One of my favorite book/movie combos is Princess Bride. One of the few that I enjoyed the movie (almost) as much as the book.
  15. I attended *someone's* presentation of "Writing Across the Curriculum" from IEW and while the workshop wasn't especially sales-pitchy, it was bone dry. I can't say for sure that it was Laura House's presentation, though she does look familiar. I've since seen it offered at other conventions and I've steered clear.
  16. How about Le Petit Prince in its original language? :)
  17. Sometimes I have the older two read to the toddler and that works well. They try to teach her things on their own as well. Once I tried to get my older boy help his younger brother understand long division (because my hands were full) and that was an unmitigated disaster. I think sibling rivalry with the two that are close in age put the kibosh on that ever happening again with those two.
  18. Thanks for the feedback. It is nice to hear from those who have used it successfully. I'll look into those other options if this doesn't do it for us, but I think it will.
  19. It certainly doesn't look as though you've left anything out, but not having the 8 and 10 year olds studying the same subjects/time periods in Science/History/Art just seems like more work for you. (And that is a lot of work on your list to begin with). Those are subjects where it's so easy to combine subject matter and just expect higher levels of output for the older one.
  20. Pretty much anything written by a Bronte. Which is sacrilege considering my favorite literature is 19th century British. :leaving: They're just so overwrought emotionally, and I really hate some of the characters (especially the ones I know I'm not supposed to love, like Cathy and Heathcliff). I won't deny that they are very well written, especially considering the circumstances in which the girls were brought up, but that doesn't mean I enjoy reading them. I also hate reading most series. I get bored with the author's style and the characters after the first book or two. Harry Potter is one of the rare exceptions.
  21. We're burned out, we need a break. But I don't want my kids to stop thinking. So I'm assigning independent reading, piano, and easy French review for the summer. I also want to do some math review, and for the younger, have him memorize his multiplication tables. I bought the paid version of Timez Attack (despite my previous commitment to never buy a product that misspells its own name. :glare: ) and I'm looking for those that have used it that can tell me whether you think it will help me with my goals or not. They're having a grand old time using it so far (I can almost see them thinking "I can't believe mom thinks this is math homework!) but I'm wondering about efficacy. I'm not worried about the older. As long as he's thinking, he's already solid on math facts. But it's been a struggle with the younger. We've tried Times Tales and XtraMath and they were both a bomb for him. Thoughts?
  22. We're using it for elementary French. In my opinion, it's great for speaking, pronunciation, and understanding the language, but you really need to add grammar and more writing. I'm fine not supplementing at elementary because my primary goal is exposure to the language but as we move into Middle/High school I'll be looking for a different program.
  23. What made the question easy for me to answer is what we planned for the upcoming school year. I'm having a new baby right about when we will be starting the new school year, and in order to preserve my sanity we are dispensing with non-necessary subjects until I have my feet back underneath me. I feel like we will reasonably be able to get the "non-negotiables" done and then when things settle down we can add back in electives.
  24. In addition to the 3 R's and history, music (starting with piano, they may move on to other instruments) and foreign language at the elementary level. FL will continue through High School, but music is negotiable once they've had a few years if they really insist on giving it up. Foreign travel is also important to us, but I don't really consider it a school non-negotiable. One of the reasons we choose to homeschool is to make travel possible, and I believe it is an enriching experience for the kids as well, so of course we bring them along.
  25. ^ Yeah what regentrude said. My son is due to take Alg 1 in 7th grade, but I'm not adding it to his transcript. We are using a program that transcripts our courses for us, but even if we weren't, I wouldn't. The program doesn't count Alg 1 taken before 8th grade toward graduation requirements. I'm cool with that. Like regentrude said, I'm not planning on having him take Alg 1 then rest on his laurels once he finishes Alg 2 and Geometry. He'll be doing higher level math courses, because that is what colleges want to see, not that a student completed them early and then decided to take a break.
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