amyc78
-
Posts
309 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by amyc78
-
-
We did 4 lessons a week in level 1, now in level 2 we spend one full day for review and then do 2 new lessons a week
-
One awesome suggestion I heard this weekend particularly for littles is to take a picture of the different parts of their room and other areas in their clean state and tape that picture nearby so they have a reference for what mom expects when she says 'pick up your room' or 'tidy the school table'. Their job is to make the real space match the picture. I think this will be so helpful for my 5 year old who thinks piling everything on her vanity is how to clean her room :)
-
Thank you so much for all of the great feedback and info!! I think I understand about half of what I've read :). Good to know about the servers. We are keeping it to the iPad for now, so no servers or connected play. And he can only play it for an hour on Saturdays as a (very effective) incentive for showing self control and a willing attitude in school and co-op during the week. This is our first real foray into video games outside of learning apps, and I am realizing how proactive I am going to have to be in the coming years to stay in sync with what he is doing/playing/etc. It's a very different world than the Mario Bros and Oregon Trail I grew up with!
-
My DS8 played Minecraft at his cousins a few weeks ago and has been begging to play it again ever since. We bought the Creative version for the iPad and he is allowed to play it for 1 hour every Saturday as a reward for a good week at school and co-op. I can tell it could be highly addictive for him and so limiting time is important, but I want to know if I should be aware of any content issues? I have asked a few other parents and have heard that Survivor is the violent version but Creative is ok… I did notice he was killing cows with a bow and arrow to "eat" and I thought that was strange… I'm going to have DH play a few rounds and get his thoughts on it but he doesn't always have the same reservations about media that I have….
Anyway, sorry to ramble but just wondered if any parents out there had issues with Minecraft and what those were. Thanks!!
-
I err on the side of rigid type A when it comes to keeping a clean and orderly house, and I am actually trying to take steps to lighten up in this area, HOWEVER, I also know that I am mentally more present and less distracted when the house is picked up. One thing that has helped in a HUGE way is after breakfast each morning, my kids (ages 5 and 7) get a "Morning Checklist" that they are expected to complete in a timely manner (if they dawdle- and they often do!- they get warnings and may risk losing privileges such as screen time, part of their allowance, etc). On the checklist is:
Breakfast, Vitamins and Devotions with Daddy
Clean up Breakfast Area
Morning Chore (whatever I assign- feed pets, empty dishwasher, bring dirty laundry down, etc)
Make Bed and Pick up Room
Get Dressed, Brush Teeth and Hair
Tidy School Room
Help Pick Up Downstairs (basically run through the house collecting shoes, toys, books, etc)
Empty Room Basket (they each have their own basket that sits on the stairs where I put clean folded laundry and any items that need to be taken to their room)
Quiet Time with God
Outside Time (the reason for this, other than fresh air and all that good stuff :) is that once they've picked up, they need to go outside or else they will immediately start pulling stuff out and making new messes!)
This is all done by 8:30 (my kids are early risers around 6:30 am) and then I feel clear enough to start school. We also pick up together mid-day and then they have an afternoon checklist (put away school stuff, afternoon chore of Mommy's choosing, set the table, etc) that must be complete before they get their 30 minutes of screen time. Like I said, sometimes I feel rigid with all of this and so I am trying to relax about certain things- if they want to make a mess in their room during the day, I'm trying to let it go.
Other things that help me relax a little- if I don't have time to get to the breakfast dishes, I run a sink of hot soapy water for them to soak in. I don;t know why but this feels better than a sink full of dirty dishes. And if laundry is staring me in the face, I pile it in laundry baskets and put it in our guest room and shut the door. I try to do crafts and play-doh on a picnic blanket to contain the mess. And I'm trying to train my kids to have one thing out at a time and clean that up before pulling something else out.
-
Thanks everyone! I've decided to sell it and go back to a more simplified program. My daughter does like to write on a whiteboard so we'll continue that. I also plan to keep
AAS, although I tweak it a lot too. I can use more hand holding trying to teach spelling to a dyslexic child.
Can i ask which program you decided to go back to?
-
This may be TOTALLY wishful thinking but I thought I'd try. Does anyone know of a resource that sells craft kits that are US History or Geography focused? I was able to find a pre-packaged Indian headdress kit that we loved- it had EVERYTHING, just open and go, and I thought how nice it would be if we could find similar kits for our studies on Colonial America, the Pilgrims, Revolutionary War, etc. Besides History Pockets, any suggestions?
-
I'm just starting to look at Getty Dubay, I actually think DD would like it better than traditional HW programs since it seems to be easier for her to curve and slant letters than to draw straight lines, not sure if this is a left-handed thing or not.
-
Thanks for all the feedback!! I *think* my final decision is:
AAR 1 (we already own AAS for DS8 and we've done AAR pre, she likes it, no learning curve for me, minimal prep and we can move as fast or slow as necessary)
Literature based packs from 1+1+1 (these cover reading, literature, basic maths, games, crafts, etc and DD loves them!)
Creative expression assignments from SL K
I See Sam and BOB books readers
The only thing I'm stuck on now is handwriting. ETC has a decent amount of writing but AAR doesn't… I plan on having her write some of her AAR words because I think it helps with reading. Do I still need to add something like HWOT? She's a lefty if that matters
-
I'm interested in this as well. We cover a little bit of classical drawing in CC- perspective, shading, etc but I would love for DS to learn more. He has shown a real interest and giftedness in drawing in particular
-
I should add that we won't do all of the above every day, we do kindergarten 3-4 days a week for about an hour, then spend the rest of our time on other subjects, free play, etc.
-
We are 2 weeks into our school year and my 'trial and error' phase is wrapping up- time to make some decisions for DD5! Here is what I am thinking...
LANGUAGE ARTS:
AAR 1 at whatever pace suits us
ETC 1, 2, 3
Sight word activities from 1+1+1=1
Various handwriting activities (no formal curriculum)
Creative expression assignments from SL K
Supplemental readers- BOB books and I See Sam
MATH:
No formal curriculum but various manipulative games and apps to teach place value, addition, subtraction, etc plus some Kumon workbooks on telling time, measurement and money
EVERYTHING ELSE:
We do Bible, CC, history, science, geography, arts and crafts, field trips, tennis, gymnastics and Readalouds as a family
My goal for her this year is to build a solid foundation in reading and math concepts so that she is ready for 1st grade language arts and Math U See Alpha next year.
Thoughts?
-
My curriculum plate is FULL :) but my kids love science, especially DS8. We have pretty much exhausted all of the Wild Kratts and Magic School Bus episodes. He also loves Blue Planet. Are there any science curriculums (or just really great series or documentaries) that are mostly DVD based? A Biblical worldview would be a huge plus as well…
-
I am thinking about getting AIG God's Design for Life, The Human Body… any thoughts on this? Do you have to do the lessons in order or can you jump around? About how long does each lesson take? I have a K-er and a 2nd grader and Science is kind of an extra this year as we are really focusing a lot on History and Geography
-
Thanks all!! We have some great books, we're actually almost done with this unit and I wanted a fun movie night to finish up. Too bad they're not old enough for Last of the Mohicans or Dances with Wolves!
-
My kids are 5 and 8, looking for a movie to tie in with our study of Native Americans, all I can come up with so far is Pocahontas and Spirit...
-
Looking for some websites or iPad apps for my kindergartener to use during her 'screen time' that focuses on basic math concepts. Suggestions?
-
Following
-
This is a drop off deal, thanks for the replies! I'm thinking $50 a month would be a good goal
-
A friend of mine is helping to start a PE co-op class for homeschoolers at our local wellness center. She is not sure what to charge and so I was wondering what other PE co-op fees are? This would be a 2.5 hour weekly class for 5-8 yr olds that covers various sports, physical activity, health, wellness and safety education, etc.
-
This year I'm planning a special breakfast (waffles have been requested 😊), followed by our normal family devotions but I'm going to ask my husband to lead us in a special time of prayer for our school year. Then the kids get First Day bins filled with new school supplies and I'm stealing the idea of a letter from me to each child. Next we'll take pictures, fill out a first day questionnaire, and then go over our 'syllabus' for the year. After that we'll read some new books I've saved for that day and play a game together, then a picnic lunch with Daddy. We'll ease into our subjects, mostly review and getting used to the routine. And over the course of the first week, each child will write / dictate a paper on Summer Memories.
-
Anybody found any good Readalouds for the first day of school that aren't totally classroom focused? Would love some ideas to read to mine on our first day! Doesn't *have* to be just about school either... My kids are starting kindergarten and 2nd grade
-
@tanikit what is the method similar to AAS that takes less time?? Interested!! :)
-
I'm interested to see what more experienced homeschoolers say. DS7.5 is a natural reader so after kindergarten phonics, we just went into AAS 1 and read appropriate level readers. We are now halfway thru AAS2 and starting 2nd grade. He seems to be doing fine so far, because he was such a natural reader he did not memorize a lot of the phonics rules but he is learning them now in AAS.
ETA: DS doesn't have ADHD but he is a wiggly little boy and making him sit through a long formal phonics lesson when he was already reading so well would have been torture. We save the torture for math and spelling instead :)
All about spelling
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Do you mind explaining how you do LA on a loop? Do you rotate out with grammar, spelling, etc?