My3girls
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Posts posted by My3girls
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Ok, so I've been gone a while. We made the move from GA to NC, and with selling, buying, and home improvements, I'm just now getting to planning for next year. I'll have a 10th grader. Here's what I have for her schedule so far...
English 2- banned books themed
Geometry- Math without Borders
Chemistry- ?
Modern World History- The Classical Historian
German 3- GaVS
Band
What are you or did you use for Chemistry and why? I know there is a list pinned to the top of the forum, and I have looked. I'm having a hard time deciding. I am NOT a science person, but my daughter is. She did Campbell and Reese Biology this year with a Landry Academy Lab Intensive. She plans on majoring in a science field and going to vet school. I'm considering CK-12 with lab kit for Chemistry. I've looked at Holt, but I'm not sure that it's enough. This is her last year of science at home. She'll be Dual Enrolling for science after that at UNC Wilmington. I'd love to hear what worked for you and why. Thanks!
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DD14 is using Campbell and Reese Biology at home. She did the Landry Academy Biology Lab Intensive in August which included 14 labs with lab sheets and 1 formal write up. She is considering doing the Advanced Biology Lab Intensive in the spring. She does have an interest in the subject. She's a life/natural science kind of girl.
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We did this for about 3 years. Loved it. We have moved away from it to assignment books because of the curriculum changes we have made. Both systems are like magic and relieve so much stress. Glad you are having an easier time of it!
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Sounds just like my dd14 was in middle school. I think a lot has to do with hormonal brain fog. Her productivity has increased dramatically over just the past few months. She even starts school without my asking more often than not.
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I've just been thinking about this. I cannot say that there is anything we LOVE at the moment. However, some things that are working well...
Math Mammoth (dd10 gets frustrated with this, but she does well with it when I can get her to stop complaining. If I thought switching curriculums would stop the complainging, I would consider it, but she is just at that age when complaining is the thing to do, unfortunately.)
Math U See (dd11 is thriving with this. I think it's the simplistic format and the streamlined page layout that work so well for her.)
Foerster (dd14 really likes this book. I think it's a smidge on the easy side, but it's getting the job done and is pretty thorough)
DD10&11
History Odyssey Middle Ages (the girls do not care for it, but I like it because it is taking them outside of the comfort zone and really think about topics)
Science Odyssey Physics (the girls enjoy this, but I am getting really annoyed with the experiments... I am just not a science person)
IEW SWI-A (can't say it's a favorite of any of us, but I see improvement so we'll stick with it)
FLL (the girls like it because it's easy. I just don't think they are quite ready of AG so we'll finish this up and start AG next year)
SpellWell (we all like this one)
DD14
​​The Medieval World w/ study guide (total bust! Sorry Susan, but neither of us liked it. It's too fast and top heavy. We like to immerse in the time period a bit and learn about the average person not just the dynasties.)
OUP The Medieval Word Series and Pages from History w/ study guides (We started this in middle school and will just continue with some supplemental reading and documentaries.)
Campbell's Biology (this is tough and we're moving slower than I'd like.)
German 2 (GaVS... it's free and it checks the box. without daily conversational practice, I don't see her really learning a foreign language so this will work)
Shmoop learning guides and quizzes (working great to provide some extra in literature)
Vocabulary from Classical Roots (this is her 4th year using it. It's a wonderful resource)
Analytical Grammar Review (dd hates this, but for now, she'll continue to use it for reinforcement)
Shmoop Intro to Critical Writing and Reading (she is learning from this and it shows. she doesn't like writing curriculums period, but she said if she has to do one then this one is better than others we've tried)
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I loved Poe as a kid. The short stories are gruesome, macabre and oh so wonderful.
At age 10, The Pit and the Pendulum was my favorite. The Gold Bug is a great adventure story - pirate treasure, cryptic riddle, marvellous.
I'd not recommend The Murder in the Rue Morgue, though. That one is weird.
Lol My dd14 is reading that one, now. She read in his bographical information that this was a pre-cursor to Sherlock Holmes so she had to read that first and will be reading Hounds of the Baskerville next.
I personally think 10 is too young to really "get" Poe. If read for face value, his stories are not all that great. It's the psychological part that makes them so disturbing which, of course, is the joy of reading Poe.
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I have found, "We will go to the pool when your work is finished," works really well. Unfortunately, the pool is closed for the summer, now. :glare:
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I am asked about homeschooling frequently from people who are interested but not sure and from people who are making the leap I tell them about the challenges I had that I did not anticipate. It may or may not be a challenge that they encounter on their journey, but at least, they know it's a possibility. Here are some challenges that I recently shared with someone about to pull their child from public school.
1. Homeschooling will consume your life. It's not a do school for a few hours and be done deal. It's a lifestyle really.
2. Find people who share the life style or you will go insane, quickly. We lost all our public school friends fast because they're schedules were too full, too fast paced, and too inflexible. If we were not involved with the same activities, we didn't see them.
3. Your grocery bill will go up, because the kids are home everyday and the. food. is. right. there. They cannot withstand the temptation. My grocery shopping has drastically changed in frequency and what I buy to combat this.
4. My house is less clean and less organized. I thought before homeschooling that I would have MORE time to do household chores and projects when we started, but the reality is I have much less time.
5. Do your research to find a starting point, but be prepared for things to change because they will... repeatedly.
6. Make your budget bigger. I know all the blogs say you can do it for free or you can do it really cheap. The reality is the cheaper it is the more time you will spend organizing, supplementing, and tweaking it. Also, you will find there are just some things you have no business teaching. If I truly want my kids to learn art, music, and a foreign language then I am going to have to pay someone else to teach it. I know enough Spanish to order a beer and ask where the bathroom is; I can draw a stick figure, and I played the clarinet 25 years ago (it's not like a riding a bike). Everyone has their own Achilles heel; these are just mine.
I, also, shared what we have used, what worked, what didn't, and why, activities we have tried, who has the best homeschool days, etc... If someone is going to take the time to ask, I take the time to answer fully. I don't sugar coat things. I answer questions to the best of my ability. If I can't answer, I refer them to a resource or a person that may be able to. I am a huge advocate of homeschooling, and I love that people are curious and/or considering it for their family. I don't want them to get bad information. There are so many stereotypes and myths out there already. Most people I meet think we sit in front of a computer all day, have to submit our work to the state, and have no social outlets. When they find out what we really do, they all want to be homeschooled even the parents. lol
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I guess, I am odd man out. I think it is very hard. I tell people that yes, it's the hardest job that I have ever had and the most worthwhile. I find it very stressful to be solely responsible for my children's education. Of course, I started homeschooling 3 children at 3 different levels all at one time. I never had the ease into at pre-K and add another one in a couple of years that some have had. I think that would have been awesome and so wish we had been able to do that. I, also, wish that we had the funds to sign up for different classes and coops to take some of the upper level teaching burden off me. I wish my husband lived with us full time so that I had his everyday assistance. Unfortunately, I don't have any of that. I have 3 very strong willed intelligent girls with their own set of needs and quirks, I teach (guide really) all academic subjects and only pay for teachers for art and music (I find writing and science very difficult, especially.), and my husband works in the field 100% of the time to be able to afford for me to stay home and do this for our children.
All that being said, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love being home with my kids. I know they are getting one on one attention, they get remedial help immediately when needed, are mastering the material before advancing, aren't being spoon-fed the government agenda, and I am there when they need a hug (the best part). I have made friends that understand what I am going through and give me moral support, and thankfully, there were enough pioneers that I have tons of choices in curriculum and activities so I can find what suits us best. Everyone is capable of homeschooling, but it is hard work. Just because I love it doesn't mean it's easy.
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DD14 did Aops Pre-A over the course of 1.5 years. We decided not to continue with AoPS and have begun Foerster's Classic Edition. We like the explanations and the format. However, it's really easy for DD. For example, working with negative numbers is broken into 4 lessons, but DD could easily do this in 1 lesson. Does anyone have a game plan for combining lessons in this book? We talked about testing out of chapters, but I'm afraid we might miss some tidbit that will come back to haunt us later. Thoughts, ideas, anyone else combined lessons?
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Most community colleges have an adult education program that will help you to either get a High School Diploma or study for the GED. They don't really have prerequisites other than you don't have a High School Diploma and want one. I really think that would be your best course of action.
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My3girls and Chelli, do you mind if I ask what level your DD began with MUS? I am thinking I may have to go right back to Beta or Alpha to progress through quickly, but oh the cost!!!
I put my dd back to Gamma. I had her do the tests until we found her weak spot then did the full lessons. She finished it in about 4 months. We are doing the same with Delta but are running into week spots sooner so I anticipate it taking a little longer to get through.
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Switched my 6th grader half way through last year from MM to MUS, and she is finally making progress. It basically teaches math the "old" way, and has plenty of review.
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My 6th grader struggles with math. We switched from MM to MUS half through last year, and she is finally making real progress. I highly recommend it for struggling math students.
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Here is my review of Foerster's Algebra 1.
We used Foerster’s Algebra in 8th grade after completing MUS Algebra (easy) and LoF Algebra (challenging). With 20/20 hindsight, I wish I had done something different for 7th grade, perhaps MUS Algebra and Patty Paper Geometry. I was able to obtain the 1999 student book and 1999 teacher book used. I purchased the solutions manual new through Prentice Hall.
Pros:
- Clear, easy to understand explanations
- Explicit, step-by-step working through problems
- Sufficient practice and continual review of concepts
- Clear building upon and relationships between concepts
- Explicit demonstration of how to apply concepts to word problems
- Challenging, real-life word problems
- Solutions manual provides worked out solutions for every problem
- Solid preparation for ACT/SAT, sciences, college level math
- Amusing names in many word problems: Moe Delaune, Mary Thon, Fran Tick, etc.
- Math Without Borders DVDs available
Cons:
- None
Here is an example from Foerster’s Chapter 6 on the Quadratic Formula:
In Foerster's Chapter 6 they teach the quadratic formula. That's
x = [-b +- sqrt(b2-4ac)]/2a
(not easy to type here)
Within this chapter, they teach the vertical motion formula: d = rt - 5t(squared)
They have a section with 12 problems. The TM says to take 2 days to do these problems, but only do 3 problems a day. Here is the first one:
Football problem - A football is kicked into the air with an initial upward velocity of 25 meters per second (m/sec).
a. Calculate it's height after 2 seconds; 3 seconds
b. When will it be 20 meters above the ground?
c. Copy the diagram. Show the answers to part (a) in relationship to the 20 meters of part b.
d. When will the ball hit the ground?
We used 1999 student and teacher text. The solution manual was from the publisher and it had no date on it. It worked fine.
student 020132458X
teacher 0201324598
solution 0201861003
FWIW - I have a degree in math and ds is math-oriented.
This is what we are using this year, and after using AoPS Pre-A for the last 1.5 years, it is a breath of fresh air! Simple, straight forward, and thorough.
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We tried Great Courses, but dd14 couldn't stay awake for them. lol She loves Crash Course which is free on Youtube. I have CK12.org in my back pocket for if we need more, but so far so good.
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For one year World, one year American, and one year state and Civics, I'd check out Notgrass. I haven't used them, but I have a friend who has and she liked it. There sequence fits yours exaclty.
If your open for something different, I could recommend OUP The World in Ancient Times, OUP THe Medieval World, and OUP Pages from History for a 3 year comprehensive History. This would not include a civics or state study, though. I haven't found value in a state study, because my girls have lived in three different states already. I just cover state info with our geography. As for Civics, we are doing some extra work on the constitution and government along side our history.
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We're moving out of state in about 6 months, and I am worried that we will encounter some similar issues. Moving is hard on everyone, but especially, teenagers. Here's my daughter's line up when she was 13. Maybe, you can find something helpful in there. I wouldn't give up on a music teacher just yet. There has to be someone out there for Boy A, and Boy B might need a little science.
English... good books, vocabulary from classical roots, Analytical Grammar Season 3, IEW SWI-B
Math... AoPS Pre-Algebra
Science... Physical Science with GA Virtual School
HIstory... OUP The World in Ancient Times and The Medieval World plus a few good reads
German I... GA Virtual School
Band
Band is a homeschool coop and is the center of all 3 of my girls world's. It meets every Friday, and we are there for about 2-3 hours. I'm afraid they are going to have a really hard time giving that up next year for private lessons.
All my girls, also, participate in 4-H. Have you tried that? That would get them out of the house at least once a month with kids their age. Maybe, they could make some friends there that led to other activities. My oldest does archery, and her boyfriend (who also homeschools) does shotgun.
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I guess the times have changed. I remember having essay questions on tests in High School and College. Some of my college exams only had 2 or 3 questions on it, and I wrote pages and pages hurriedly. I just thought of them for some reason yesterday and had a mild panic because we really haven't worked on it at all.
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Do you have your students practice these? If so how? What subjects? Do you make up the questions or do you find them somewhere... where? When do you start? Any other thoughts or opinions on the topic are appreciated.
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We tried BFSU in second, and although I loved the premise, it didn't get done. What got done was Magic School Bus books and videos, library books, nature walks, and growing a garden. We studied life cycles, habitats, food chains and webs, and adaptations for the most part. We, also, did homeschool days at the aquarium. If only all our science went as well as 2nd grade science. lol
ETA: Oh, and we used BrainPop, Jr., too!
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I can't speak to the 1st grader schedule, but last year my 4th grader did about 3.5-4 hours of work each day. I was available for all of it, but actual direct teaching might have been about an hour. Our schedule was 10-2:30 or 3 with an hour for lunch.
Morning... Reading, math, Spellwell, Explode the Code
Afternoon... History (2 days), Science (2 days), Grammar, writing, Guitar
We threw in a documentary once or twice a week, as well.
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We just did the Landry Academy Biology Lab Intensive this week. My dd14 loved it. She, also, loves the crash course videos on youtube. I'm having her read Campbell and Reese's Biology, and she is doing the study guide with it. She may do the advanced Biology lab inteisive with Landry in the Spring.
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Well, our plan has been overhauled a smidge.
Lit & Comp (Horror/Dystopian)- Great Books, Vocab from Classical Roots, AG Review
Algebra 1- Foerster
Biology- Landry Academy Lab Intensive, Campbell 6th edition
German 2- GaVS
History- Mom made reading list, documentaries
Band- Music Coop
Possibly, a 1/2 credit in P.E. and art.
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2017-2018 6th Grade Planning Thread
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted · Edited by My3girls
I'm late to the party this year due to a big move.
Reading... Interest led with a little creative strewing and Figuratively Speaking
Language Arts... Analytical Grammar, Vocab from Classical Roots, and IEW Following Narnia
Math... Math Mammoth 5/6
Science... Holt Science & Technology Earth Science
History... Story of the World 2/3 with biographies
World Geography... Trail Guide to Geography
Art... Meet the Masters
Music... Guitar, chorus, and clarinet