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HappyClassical

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Everything posted by HappyClassical

  1. Ok, if I say it here then it must be for realsies. I'm doing the whole year of planning and prep now bc I have house sale/new house to move into and baby due in September. Some of these things we have already started but for simplicity. No curriculum for the toddler... Lol. I didn't list the additional books we are using here like encyclopedic spines. DD - 1st Grade Language Arts - FLL1, WWE, Reading Pathways, AAS1/spelling workout A, Reading Eggs online, CHOLL for integration with History, handwriting worksheets in Zaner Bloser style I got from TpT - she'll get plenty of handwriting practice from other subjects. Math - RS-B supplementing with MM, Mathseeds and Splashmath online. History/geography - SOTW 1 with the AG, Evan Moore Beginning Geography Science - Sassafras Zoology and Anatomy with pieces from Elemental as well as lesson build outs of my own, Discovery Science Streaming. For botany, it's all by me. Spanish - BJU Pasaporte al Espanol Level 1-2 Music - Piano Lessons, Worlds Greatest Composers Volume I by CoaH Bible - CLE Bible 100 series, Day by Day Bible, and Making Brothers &Sisters Best Friends Memory Work/Enrichment - Classical Conversations; using the binder style lapbooks from Wisdom & Righteousness; I already printed everything and sorted it so it's ready to use. Sports/physical fitness - Tennis, Kung Fu, Homeschool Family Fitness activities (book from sonlight) DS - PK/Kinder Language Arts - Phonics Pathways, Reading Eggs online, Worksheets from TpT, Phonics Pathways Games book. He will also be attending vision therapy related to a visual sequential memory delay. Reading Eggs online Math - RS-A, Mathseeds online Following along with DD in History, Science, Spanish, Bible, And music appreciation. He has violin lessons instead of piano. Starting tennis and already does Kung Fu with big sis. Going to CC as well. For my son, I make him subject binders like DD, but I remove worksheets and activities above his age. So, he may have an extra maze or coloring sheet where DD needs to write or have other related work.
  2. I can't speak for using them as a supplement too much, but we've started using them with RSB and I think they are great. And I schedule everything we do. You could right in appropriate games based on the concept you are studying or reviewing if you are a schedule person.
  3. I don't have a specific number, but I check classified for lots and then buy a bunch used at a time. I then sort by topic and if we don't use them, we will re-sell, donate, etc. I also buy lots and lots of Usborne books because I enjoy their content presentation and quality and my kids adore them. I actually became a rep - just to get the discount. As for games, we buy games new. We play a wide variety of games depending on what skills the kids needs to work on or just for variety and reward time. I often try to buy games that are either a level lower or a level higher than the kids rather than right on target because it seems to either relax them (level lower), or challenge them (level higher), than just bore them. We have been playing a lot of memory and math related games lately... I should get some that engage reading skills... thinking out loud.
  4. We are using it as a spine of sorts, but not as our complete curriculum - as others have chimed, I don't think the science has the substance to stand alone. I purchased the story/novel, the sci dat log book, and the lesson guide. I am using this alongside lots of supplemental books and activities, which I am building myself, Discovery Science streaming, as well as the Usborne Science Encyclopedia. The book is not something I would put on our literature list - but I read it and all of the other material and think it will be fun and engaging for my PK5er and First grader... It will be read to my children at before bedtime a few times a week, and our actual science lessons and activities will build from that during the day.
  5. I had this same issue previously. I emailed them through "Contact Us" and they had fixed the issue for me in less than 24 hours.
  6. Seconding the others, no notification but received within a week. Also, their customer service is very responsive and friendly.
  7. Seconding the others, no notification but received within a week. Also, their customer service is very responsive and friendly.
  8. I have Elemental and also their other program by same company - Sassafras; we are using that as our spine this year with me supplementing and adding in some things from Elemental, and we use Discovery science Streaming alongside science as the video and information quality is great. I can't speak for nancy Larson though...
  9. This is what I find - if I can keep up with all the housework and meal making and grocery shipping, then the kids are more overwhelming. If I keep up with the kids, the house work suffers some - but the kids are happy. For that reason, I prefer the housekeeper. I have one once a week, and where I live it costs 80-100 for that one day which is usually about 4-6 hours of cleaning. At one point, we decided to get a mothers helper but I wasn't planning to ever leave my kids alone with her. It lasted two weeks before I let her go bc I just didn't want her there. Besides that I just missed the housekeeper who came in and out and made the home easy for me to maintain the rest of the week. Mothers helpers in my area (South Florida) are cheaper than nannies or babysitters because you are usually there with a MH, and their pay depends on how many hours. For a few hours a week, it would be in the range of 15-30 dollars here. Towards the higher end because of having multiple younger children. You can use care.com to screen applicants and conduct background checks if this is something you think you will want long term. My husband works a lot as well but instead of coming home extremely late, he works Saturday as well. I now have a few hours per week where I can do whatever I want while he watches kids. Maybe manicure, hair cut, solitary grocery shopping, sewing or just taking a nap. It's a couple hours and it's only once a week but it's a blessing! Everything will work out for you.
  10. I'm starting CC in the Fall, going to two practicums this summer and training as a tutor. I have a baby due in September so I hemmed and hawed a lot about whether I would go to community or just continue using the materials. I will be a substitute tutor since with a newborn I can't be an all the time tutor, so maybe I'll get a little back on my investment. Coop classes in my area run 300-450.00 per semester for 3 or 4 classes.. So the cost is about the same. I like the materials, the people, and I like the socialization. The community I'm joining doesn't have a nursery so the littles stay with you (I love this), so you may want to ask if you are required to put your littles in nursery. It's not always required even if the offer it. You could also ask about being a substitute. It is expensive but if you believe in the value and can afford it, I would. :-)
  11. 200.00 or less you should be looking for Something used of you want it be high quality and last a long time. Are you near a university? Call them up and see if they have any older microscopes they might want to give or sell, or you give a donation and they give you a microscope. I got an 800.00 microscope for - 150.00 donation. They often have slides too - which I think I've mentioned on another thread here. Can't hurt to ask.
  12. The Day by Day bible For kids is the next step from this one and is laid out in a more traditional format. I have both as recently bought from classifieds here and recommend one of these based on their reading levels, especially the day by day for kids if they are ready for it since it seems they have already went through the story styles. Sorry for grammar - on iphone.
  13. I have the text and not the workbook. I wanted to be able to integrate the lessons into other subjects literature so I feel like it will work better for our family. I haven't seen the inside of the workbooks, tho. IMHO,The text is very well laid out and simple to follow so you could just use the lessons with reading that he enjoys. :-) I would just plan in advance because otherwise you might get overwhelmed planning the lessons around your (or his) chosen literature.
  14. For me, sometimes. MUS wasn't worth it, but RS is immediate wonderment in my house so totally worth the high cost. And since this post is about cost of curriculum, I can say that I don't put much thought into the cost of curriculum when I'm determining if I want to buy it so these reflections are in retrospect. AAR had great components but we didn't need a lot of the activites, bc my DD really started to despise the cutting and pasting etc. and I found it to be pricey for what was included. We are using Reading Pathways next year (very cheap but proven effective). CLE Bible is consumable but I can do it without the TG making it super affordable - about 3 bucks per 16 lesson workbook - great program. Spanish - BJU - insanely expensive but beautiful and appealing and integrates bible verses. TG is open and go. Ask me a year from now if it's worth it though - since it remains to be seen how it will affect the kids fluency Language Arts - CHOLL saved me a lot of time planning for the coming year and was FREE. Just the cost of books you buy and SOTW (which I find affordable). R.E.A.L science - I really didn't like this program. I felt like I could pull topics and gather better info free from Pinterest links. I know a lot of people rave about it but it actually made me start pushing my science educator mom to write curriculum. We are using sassafras as a spine next year. Those are just a few examples of great curriculum and not great at different ends of the price scale and the same goes for online supplements and tools too. HST online planner - 100% worth the cost ABCmouse - not worth it SplashMath - amazing! ReadingEggs/mathseeds - awesome! IXL - not worth it with the others on the market now.
  15. We did MUS with Singapore for first grade math when my DD was in kinder. We dumped them. I agree with others that MUS is not a good fit. We are now on RSb ( the 2nd edition which just came out recently) which has much less worksheets but tons of varied manipulatives and games. It has some Singapore philosophy behind it, but is quite different. It's twacher intensive but my DD is loving it. We will also be using RSAwith my son who will be K5, is advanced in certain areas but has a very weak visual sequential memory and the vision therapist reviewed RS and likes the early abacus introduction and games. For my DD, we are using MM worksheets as review for mastery where needed (RS leans spiral), and Splashmath for online review.
  16. I'm going to go Sassafras Science this coming year, Supercharged ecamp for the summer, And my own add ins. I'm able to work those with our Old Earth Perspective. We did R.e.a.l science last year and found it lacking and boring, but many like it. Reasons.org has a page on it's sight about OE friendly curriculums.
  17. My DD6 finished AAR 1, we adapted the program to for her needs when she couldn't take a lot of the activities anymore. With the reader books, she memorized them before being able to fluently read them. We supplement with the Usborne Very First Reading set (link in signature). As for the cards, we still are not fluent in all the cards consistently so we shuffle through them for constant review. I gauge her progression more on how well she moves through a variety of readers, than on the cards. We won't be using AAR 2, but are moving to Reading Pathways and AAS1, maybe with some Spelling Power thrown in.
  18. Thanks for this link. Great!
  19. As others have mentioned, combine the read Alouds and move the high priority subjects front and center - math is probably the best way to start the day and puts kids in an academic mindset. We use time in the car for listening to books, music we may be learning about, and for SOTW: I don't read it. We also have DVD players in the car, so the kids will start watching some of the bJU Spanish lessons in there too. We are activity heavy so I have to maximize our time traveling. I mention this because thinking about all your minutes (even the ones on the way to other places) can free up time in your schedule. We eat simple breakfasts and I read Bible during that time. My husband handles devotions at night before bed. Crafty type projects can be done during lunch with simple finger foods. I use a MOTH schedule and it has helped keep my days on track and ensure I have things for each child to be doing through your the day even though no day ever works out exactly as scheduled. Also, don't be afraid to pair up and older child with a younger one. If your 9 yo has assigned reading time, they can read to the youngest giving you 1-on-1 time with the middle child. My DD6 has been spending 10 minutes a day practicing math facts with my son. That's enough time for me to mostly prep lunch. The DD6 or DD4 feeds the baby his oatmeal while I make their breakfast. Realizing that we are all a little team and I don't have to do every single thing has been a blessing for us. You will find your groove - don't worry.
  20. Tedd Arnold books are ones my kids love. No Jumping on the Bed is probably his most famous, but we love his books.
  21. With my 4yo and dd in kinder last year... We listened to SOTW vol 1 on the way to places and looked in the Usborne Encyclopedias we had and took a casual approach. This coming year (pk5er and 1st grade), we are doing SOTW1 with AG and additional supplements. My younger one will not be doing the writing exercises. They really enjoyed the audiobook.
  22. I second Lisa. If you aren't sure why he hates it, I would try to probe more. My kids and I, are mathy, but I switched curriculums bc DD found it repetitive and I found she wasn't absorbing the new foundation well, which was holding us back. I would ask: do you hate the worksheets or the lessons? Do you like math games? Do you like learning the same concept or lots of topics at once? Hope that helps
  23. We hated MUS pretty quickly... I didn't think having worksheets ask what color is the 7 block etc was very useful long term. It was also just toooo mastery for me and my DD. We are now switching over to RS B (we school year round, and my dd will be first grade in fall but is advanced in math), and am also going to do RS with my rising mathy pk5er (who is delayed in alphabet and writing but already knows a lot of addition math facts). Rightstart is very different from MUS and has a lot less worksheets and a lot more games; and abacus work. I will be supplementing it with Math Mammoth, which I had no interest in, but I like having a review from a mastery perspective, DD likes splashmath.com and the problem format is the same. So, will MUS prepare your kids for college? I dunno, but I've read the same things you have. I didn't like MUS, but I know switching math if it works for you might not make sense. I can't speak for Saxon. But I figured I'd just add to your confusion and throw two more names in the mix. 😋
  24. I was raised christian but we did not attend church or discuss religion. It came later in life. Prior to really becoming a christian and accepting Jesus Christ into my life, I doubted evolution theories. I'm an old Earth Creationist. I also find Big Bang to be highly plausible and don't believe Big Bang to be exclusive of God is creator. I do not believe man evolved from apes. I try to choose neutral curriculum choices. I do not use Apologia because it is so heavily YE. I also avoid texts which push evolution. Otherwise, I just address controversial topics or omit them because my children are very young. I'd likely fall under the Baptist and conservative denomination- not all baptists are YE, not all people who believe in the bible literally are YE. And quite frankly- I know a great many wonderful christians who believe YE or OE; this topic really was not such a hot button until the 1900s when leaders in the Seventh Day Adventist movement made it so. The major creeds and doctrine prior to that didn't state any explicit YE statements. In formulating your own beliefs, answersingenesis.org (YE) and reasons.org (OE) are good places to start. There are also resources in evolutionary theism out there as well, however; that reasoning is very far off from my religious beliefs and scientific beliefs so I don't have a great website for you.
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