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jrstarfleetacademy

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  1. Thanks to everyone for the information!!! We would definitely not be CM "purists", there are subjects/topics that my child isn't interested in. My ultimate goal is to start teaching her a more "self discovery" learning approach. Right now she relies of me to tell her/teach her everything. I'd like her to know how to find information on her own so that she can start more actively pursuing her interests. While CM doesn't sound "child lead" it does seem to urge the child to read and seek to understand what they read by narration/composition. I will check into Charlotte Mason's texts/philosophy more closely before I attempt to schedule/implement a plan. Thanks to Mandy in TNfor sharing your sample schedule!!!!
  2. I'm new to Charlotte Mason and am very interested in learning about it further. I've seen the book lists/suggestions on AO and Simply CM but I'm wondering how to make the transition from "boxed curriculum and workbooks" to books? Do you form comprehension questions/worksheets to check for understanding or just discuss? What about hands on projects or a history time line? .....? I'm a little overwhelmed with all the new information. Truthfully, the method is a little out of my comfort zone but am willing to try because I believe my kiddo would love it. Especially the nature study. I am planning for "grade 3" (age 9) and would like to know what a typical schedule looks like? Also, I'm not sure how to go about planning lessons because I LOVE teachers guides, scripted ones.....I don't have to worry so much about misinformation or doing something wrong. What would a quarterly or yearly plan look like? Is it just a book list or do you organize by topic or subject? I'm excited by everything I've read so far about CM and really want to dive in but I can't seem to find examples of application other than copywork and nature journals. Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated. TIA, you are all so helpful!
  3. Primary support sources: TWTM Forum, Secular Homeschool Families Facebook Group, Homeschooling an Only Facebook Group, Homeschool Families of St. Louis Yahoo and Live Activity Group. Co-Ops near us only take religious families so that leaves us out.
  4. Thanks again to everyone!!! You are all so helpful and I'm lucky to have such wonderful support.
  5. First off I want to thank everyone for their responses. All the homeschool families (both traditional and unschooling) we know and spend time with have gifted youngsters that do all these amazing projects and have children that spend copious amounts of time reading and learning on their own. I guess I got caught up in the comparison since my child is so different. That is my mistake and probably what is causing me to put so much pressure on her. I plan on testing this fall and only have placement tests as a basis for my conclusion that she is behind and, of course, the fact that she doesn't do any writing at all despite all my trying. She also says that she likes CLE Language Arts and Math after we have tried multiple curriculum in each subject so I'm not sure it is the curriculum. I didn't realize that there were homeschoolers that function on a no frills basic level. I'd like to take a more relaxed approach but can't be child led. She is so unmotivated that nothing would get done. Perhaps my problems stem from parenting issues rather than homeschooling ones. :( I'm just not good at it. I'd like to continue homeschooling but not at the expense of our relationship. Perhaps we will take a break from schooling or pare it down while I get my therapy and medication in order. I think we will both be better for it. Homeschooling is more difficult and stressful than I ever imagined. Thanks again everyone, I appreciate all the responses.
  6. It is not so much what she says (other than the standard "I'm bored", it is what she does....stomping feet, rolling eyes, doodling on the page, not paying attention (causing me to have to repeat several times) We have her interests pretty well covered. She chose US Geography, Chemistry, and Art Lab. Has soccer and dance once a week and explores industrial arts with her Dad on weekends. Outside of class she builds with legos (or any other material), tries to train our poodle to do tricks, bakes in the kitchen, and watches Gilligan's Island. Our relationship is pretty good except that I am bipolar and generally stressed. I have just started medication and therapy so I am hoping to be better soon. I feel like I'm stuck homeschooling because we won't send her back to public (calculators are standard issue starting in 1st and they use Everyday Math). I don't know if we just haven't been at it long enough or if homeschooling simply won't work for our family. Thanks for your reply.
  7. I am seriously considering sending the kiddo back to school in the fall. I have tried, in many ways, to engage my child outside of regular textbook learning. We take weekly field trips, weekly trips to the library, spend countless days outdoors and at park days with other homeschoolers. I even tried totally unschooling/CM for six months. Nothing. It surprises me that she doesn't care about learning anything since her Dad and myself are always enthusiastically reading/learning. School is something she checks off her to do list and isn't all that engaged in or out of class. We only school four days a week for about three hours and take a break every seven weeks for an entire week. We have been schooling for almost 2 years and she was previously in public for K and a small part of 1st. She is retaining and progressing but is below grade level since we basically lost six months of academics trying to figure out how to make unschooling work. She does math, language arts, and reading daily and chose the extra subjects of US geography, chemistry, and art. I'd like to school at least long enough to catch her up but we found a private school that has small combined (K and 1st, 2nd and 3rd...) class sizes so she would get individual attention. Homeschooling is stressing me out and it seems that I am constantly trying to get her to engage beyond answering questions in a workbook. I'm afraid it is going to strain our relationship. For info purposes, she is 8 and has no known learning challenges or giftedness. Has anyone else had to deal with this? Did you keep homeschooling? Does it get better? Help.... :banghead:
  8. Hi, I'm not sure if these would be below your DD's level but the Rookie Biographies series does have books on historical figures. We found ours at the library. Here is a partial list http://www.scholastic.com/tbw/quickSearch.do?N=0+%24&fq=Series%3A%5ERookie+Biographies%5E&Ntk=TBW_QuickSearch_SI&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial#cart/cleanup Hope this helps. I have a DD, age 8, that is a struggling reader. These books are short and to the point.
  9. No dyslexia or ld's here. My 8 year old is reading at an early to mid second grade level. Reading has been tough on her and she hates it. I make her read during school, books on or slightly below level to improve fluency before I move her up. I also have her read all her directions during school. After school I read aloud to her for about an hour a day. When we first started schooling I pushed reading really hard because it is such an essential skill. It frustrated both of us and I gave up and went back to the beginning with Pre K and K level books and hit phonics again. I realized that she just needed to do it on her own and at her own pace. I couldn't make her read and like it. I just pick up lots of library books and form my own comprehension questions to go with them. Her dad and I are avid readers and I trust, in time, that she will be too. I learned that comparing my kiddo to others was not a helpful exercise for my sanity. Good luck and try not to sweat it too much.
  10. **Totally didn't realize this was an old post. It seems to have struck a cord with people if it is still going.** AnonymousMom I totally feel your pain, or did anyway. Sorry so long. I brought my daughter home from ps nearly two years ago for a variety of reasons. I was in college at night for that first semester she was home and overall a sophomore in college. I knew after that semester that there was no way I could go to class and homeschool so I switched to online university studies. I had to change my program of study completely because (at the time) there were no English Language Arts and Literature programs online. I completed one semester in a new program online and I realized that I didn't love the program or online format. With no other options, I simply withdrew from school. Why am I telling you that? Because my stress and feeling of failure from leaving school were stacked on top of a problem that I have that I had never sought treatment for...bipolar. My moods had been up and down (very rapid cycles) for at least a decade, I was depressed and anxious as a teen, and I had terrible post partum depression. I'm also going to be very truthful here and I will probably be looked down upon for it. I never wanted to have children and was thrilled the day mine went off to Kinder. I felt like myself when she wasn't around, not "just mom". Since I didn't have college anymore I had nothing for myself, no time, and certainly no drive or energy to pour into writing. I also had tremendous trouble adjusting to life with my child around all day. A little about my kiddo - she is a pretty average learner that occasionally forgets things we have been covering for months and sometimes she needs alternate explanations that I can't give her so we turn to books and of course her dad. She is pretty easy going about most situations and has the coolest personality! I maintained a very tight rein on the bipolar for several months. It is exhausting to feel one way but act another and I would lose control of my frustration/anger a couple of times a month when she would completely forget something. That loss of control started getting more frequent and so did my anxiety until the point came that I would not leave the house at all. No going out. No grocery shopping. My hubby had to take our daughter to all her activities. I wouldn't even go outside in the yard. I spent weeks to months in jammies and frequently curled up in a ball and cried in the corner. Somehow, despite all that, I managed to hold it together to get through three hours of school per day. That was all strength I could muster. Throughout this time I always told my daughter how much I loved her and that what was going on was not her fault. Finally, in February of this year I visited my doctor and gyn. I had EVERYTHING checked...hormones, thyroid, diabetes....you name it, they poked me for it. I was convinced that it was something else, other than bipolar. Everything came back normal. I was shocked. In March, I joined my local gym and forced myself to go. It was "me" time and endorphins do wonders for general psychological health. In late April I checked into a behavioral health outpatient program and got on a mood stabilizer. I go to therapy twice a week for two hours. Just last week I held a special "class" for my husband and daughter in which I taught them both about depression, anxiety, and bipolar. I wanted to explain the whats and whys of my behavior. How I could be perfectly happy and enthusiastic one minute and angry or sobbing the next? They have also attended a class on how to live with someone that has bipolar. My daughter (age 8) has been a trooper working through this with me, she is right along side and cares very much about my health. Even though our kiddos and situations are a bit different I would encourage you to speak with them about your behavior and demonstrate how you get help (and of course get help). I will also say that kids are pretty resilient but I wouldn't let your anger continue like that. Prolonged exposure could have negative effects on their self perceptions and psychological health. One thing I would do immediately is find time for yourself, at least an hour a day. No kids. No chores. No responsibility. Just you. It helped me immensely when I started going to the gym. P.S. Our biggest educational problem was the curriculum we were using, it was leading to endless frustration. She wasn't retaining because she needed more review and "gentle" leaps in topics. Typically I would order secular curriculum but, on a whim, I ordered CLE Lightunits in Language Arts and Math. They were just want she needed!!! Everything is very straightforward for me to teach and her to learn. School is no longer stressful for either of us. P.S.S. Please let us know how you are doing. I wish you the best.
  11. I wouldn't sweat it too much, like another poster said, take it slower to ease back in to Saxon. I don't think a detour will do as much damage as you think. When we began schooling we curriculum hopped from Singapore to Envision to Right Start, back to Singapore then to Spectrum Math. In January of this year we started with Math Mammoth and in late March we moved to CLE. To put all of that switching in perspective, we only stuck with each anywhere from a month to three months. Something was always amiss. CLE has been amazing so far, we both love it. I started my daughter half a grade level back so she could get familiar with the format. I have every faith that she will catch up to "grade level" and potentially go beyond. The point is that she is learning, retaining, and applying what she has learned. Good luck.
  12. Still in the planning process and have started a few. We are going to try keeping track of progress with Mobymax and I may try standardized tests every fall and spring. So far we have: Math - CLE Language Arts - Moving from Wordly Wise 3000/GUM Grammar/Prompt, Plan, Write to CLE LA and probably CAP at some point Reading - Piling on the library books for fluency improvement and throwing in some comprehension short answers and maybe the occasional book report Science - RSO Chemistry Level 1 Geography/Map Skills - Maybe? Writing my own.... History - Timeline style, one person or event per quarter, interest based Art - Art Lab, Drawing Lab, Home Art Studio, ALL FUN! Activities - Dance (Jazz), Soccer, Violin or Flute (still deciding), Girls on the Run and Curiosity Hacked
  13. I didn't know it was considered ahead of the game and was worried about her being behind her peers in case she wants to attend public again (or the state of education in the US *magically* changes) What we have been doing to LA just isn't working well. Thanks. By the way, we LOVE Strayer too!!!
  14. We have started using CLE Math and really like it. I have been considering using CLE Language Arts. For those that use it, where did you start in relation to skill level? I know there are diagnostic tests and we have looked over them. My issue is that my daughter (age 8) does not have training in phonics but can correct sentences for punctuation and spelling as well as identify parts of speech. She is also just beginning to write paragraphs. I have a feeling that she would miss most, if not all, of the phonics related questions on the diagnostic tests. She attended public school for pre school, kinder, and part of first grade so she learned to read mostly by sight words. She is considered on grade level for reading at a 2.7. Should I go ahead and start at 100 (or later 100s)?? I like that it is comprehensive but I don't want to spend a whole year on phonics since she is reading just fine. Does phonics help with spelling? Any advice? Thanks :001_smile:
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