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dewdropfairy

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Posts posted by dewdropfairy

  1. I read a book a few years ago called "Charlotte's Rose" it was about a girl who helped care for a baby on the trail that lead to Salt Lake City (I don't know which one that was). It did have the death of the baby's mother in childbirth in the beginning but other than that it was quite upbeat. And reread the Little House Books.

     

    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).

  2. I've always been curious about Sonlight but too turned off by it's evangelical/providential leanings. I've also been scared off by all the talk of lack of retention. Also, weird conspiracy theories and wacky science, oh my...

    But, my dd loves nothing and I mean nothing more than snuggling on the couch with me and a book. This is the Sonlight image. Maybe it would be perfect. Now that there is a secular version seems an obvious choice. Memoria Press is working fine, but she doesn't love it and the thought of her loving school makes me yearn to try.

    Wisdom?

    Ps- I really lean boxed curriculum, I'm such a square!

     

    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.

  3. 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. :)

  4. Isn't there a movie based on Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH? I think I remember watching one once. I loved that book; It really appealed to the engineer in me.

     

     

    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.

     

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

     

     

  8. 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? 

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. ^ 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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