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YsgolYGair

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Everything posted by YsgolYGair

  1. I'll ask this - what about doing all BJU distance learning for a while? I get that it's probably not the norm for folks here, but there are plenty of folks who do it, and love it. It doesn't have to be forever, but for a while, it would give you a much needed break of just monitoring and grading, the kids would get their education, and then maybe next year or the year after, you could get back into a more personal homeschool routine. For me, public school is just not an option. I would imagine for most of us on this board, we would find ourselves like Jessie Wise in the introduction to WTM - our kids are educated enough that they would be misfits in public school, so if I found myself in a situation like you described, BJU distance learning or A Beka Academy would be my temporary solution.
  2. Oh sorry, one more question just came to mind: do you all do full curricula for the content subjects? Or do you tend to keep things lighter than a single-language family would?
  3. Is that why we homeschoolers have so many children?? :) Eventually we'll get it right with someone, lol! ETA: Oh wait! Congratulations to you too! :)
  4. You all are brilliant! Just knowing that folks don't do it all is a relief in itself, but of course, the ideas are wonderful. My biggest problem is that my husband is the one who's fluent in all three languages, and I can only get by in Welsh. French... well, I have a few phrases. My son's spoken French is far superior to mine, though. We work through the assignments fairly well, and I even managed to teach him to read French, but it's very much a learn-together thing. I think I will begin to cut down on the English, though, since it does seem to dominate too much of our time, and start spend more time on Welsh and French. Even if I can't do everything in Welsh, I can do more than I am. I am learning as I go, though, so maybe by the time my youngest (due in July) is ready for school, I'll be able to start teaching classes through Welsh or French. Thank you all so much. This is quite a relief!
  5. But I seriously don't know how. Three languages, plus all the regular stuff. My son's only 7, and while he handles it fine because he's super easy going, it's just a load of work. We use first language resources for all three languages, and with spelling, grammar, reading, writing - it's overwhelming! How do multilingual cultures do this? (Anyone from Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg???) Do they just not study all the disciplines of each language? Do they combine things? How can I cut down some of the time and workload, or am I just being unrealistic, and this is what it takes??
  6. Just wanted to let you know that cursive is not as difficult as one would think. I have started both of mine in the K4 cursive book, and both are doing / have done brilliantly with it. I've begun to believe it's quite a bit easier than manuscript, in fact.
  7. I use the A Beka phonics program as a whole and I love it. It is thorough and interesting for children. We use the curriculum guide, Handbook for Reading, charts, Basic Phonics Flashcards, workbooks, and readers through first grade. (The charts and phonics flashcards really aren't necessary. It is possible to just use the Handbook for Reading for everything visual.) The lessons are not long in K4 or K5. In first grade, they get a bit longer.
  8. Thank you both for those great responses. My fear of the shallow was exactly that - that they'd come out if it with nothing at all. (Which is exactly how I came out of history survey courses even in college, come to think of it.) I think I will go the route of studying the main people and civilizations and leave the survey course for some college professor to tackle. Thanks again!!
  9. So I'm already starting to think about next year where I will be tackling Ancient / Old Testament history. I like writing my own curriculum, so I'm planning to do that again, but I'm trying to decide between more of a survey course, snippets of events, or to pick out just a handful of people and civilizations to study deeply. I really enjoy getting down and deep with things, but my husband suggested doing more of a survey to get an overall picture, so now I'm torn. What do you all do? What would you suggest?
  10. LOVE A Servant's Heart Year 1 (Geography / Habitats) - I wrote it myself, and in spite of that, I am loving it! BJU Press Math (My son LOVES math this year. First time ever. My daughter loves it, too, and looks forward to it.) A Beka Handwriting and Health, Safety and Manners 2, Phonics (K4 and 2nd) BJU Press English 2 (I don't know that grammar really is necessary at this age, but the writing chapters really are fantastic. I think long term, they will produce very good writers.) MEH... Spelling Workout (It's thorough and relatively simple, but there's certainly nothing inspiring about it.) YGP Welsh Year 2 - Also one I wrote, but it's nothing to write home about. It does the job, but I have no idea how to make it better. Nathan Vocabulaire CP - Again, does the job, nothing to write home about. No one's jumping up and down when it comes out.
  11. I am like this. I'm not ADD or anything else. But I am a creative and an opportunist (in a good way, I think). I'm currently creating my own version of a curriculum I couldn't afford. But, what started out as purely a monetary issue changed over time. I can afford that expensive curriculum now, but I'm still plugging away at mine. Why? Because the work I've done so far, I think it's actually better, and still loads cheaper, than the boxed curriculum I would have gotten. Why would I do the boxed curriculum now? So, for me, usually what starts out as a sort-of need, turns into something better or something more personal, and usually a business opportunity. This is how my crochet patterns work. There are loads of crochet patterns out there - why make my own? Because I needed something, and I thought I could make something different / better / more personal than what was out there. What started out as a sort-of need, turned into something better, and then a business opportunity. Now, I have income every month from crochet patterns I've designed. For a creative / opportunist like myself, it's not "re-inventing the wheel." It's taking the wheel and saying, "how can I make this more personal / better / smoother. I don't know if you've noticed this, but wheels have changed over time. They're alot smoother rides now. ;)
  12. Do you feel there is enough fact practice, or do I need to add that on my own? It's my one general concern with more conceptual based programs.
  13. French is a good and useful skill. If your children want to learn, but there's no money, at least show them to the language learning section at the library. If it costs a bit, let them earn the money to rent the materials themselves. With public libraries, learning can be very, very cheap!
  14. MEP is what he keeps asking for, and I do like it okay. (Certainly love the price!) Do you think that MEP is completely full without any supplementation at all? Or is there something you use along side of it?
  15. Thanks for the idea! Especially as the year comes to an end, hopefully there will be a good number of listings...
  16. I had a good conversation with my ds6, about what he'd like for his next year of schooling, and his answer for math curriculum was more puzzles and coloring, with a bit more hands on as well. He was not a great fan of MM, much as I might have liked it. :( He's the kind to not complain even if he's miserable, so in his case, it's important to me to listen to his requests and ideas. Any ideas on what curriculum might suit him?
  17. My personal rule is, if my child wants to learn something that's generally good for them, it is my responsibility to find a way! Let her know she can take French as well as Spanish, if she wants! :)
  18. That's what I'm trying out now.. looking what I can get on amazon.co.uk. But I'm looking at the American history year (2nd grade), and finding American things on the UK site isn't always as easy, lol! ETA: So far, it looks like Adventures would actually be cheaper if I just bought it and had it shipped to me. :( But ECC is looking promising doing it this way. Yay! It's still an unbelievable price, though... is it normal to spend this much on homeschool curriculum? I don't think I've spent nearly this much in the past, and I've bought a good amount considering he's only in first grade, lol!
  19. I have a couple of concerns and reservations, and I really appreciate anyone's thoughts on this. First off, this looks like the coolest program that would fit my oldest perfectly, more than any other program I've seen. But I'm international, and the cost of shipping is SO astronomical, it's prohibitive. They want $134 for shipping, plus there will likely be a large customs fee (possibly equal to the shipping fee), on top of the program cost. This sickens me to my stomach, because in addition, I still need to buy math, three LA's programs for this one child, plus one foreign language (his request). Any suggestions on getting this cost down, especially from any internationals?? It's really looking impossible at this point. :sad: The second thing I'm concerned about is just having so much to do. The languages aren't going on the chopping block and neither is math. Do you think MFW would be doable - reasonably enjoyably doable - for a mature 2nd grader? Given that the languages won't go away, we have to find a way of incorporating history and science somehow, at some point, anyway. I've asked him about what he wants in his education, and how he would prefer to be educated. His answer was, hands down, that he prefers to learn through reading. His next preference for his education was coloring / art / puzzles. And lastly, his least favourite was workbooks. We've been doing A Beka, so I'm really not surprised. Any amazing and wise thoughts out there? Or anyone know how to magically make the cost a LOT lower?? :bigear:
  20. I can only tell you what we have done with my oldest who is a fairly mature 6yo. We introduced Welsh reading at 3, English reading at 4, and French reading at 5 (he is still not fluent in French, but improving plenty). It's gone very well. Currently he's reading Welsh at Key Stage 2 level (7-11years), English at 3rd grade +, and French at CP level. His comprehension is lowest in French, but as he speaks more and adds more vocabulary, I'm convinced it will improve. If it were me, I'd plunge right into Spanish with a child who demonstrates comfort with academics. On the other hand, I'm taking it slower with my daughter who's currently 4. She does not demonstrate the same ability to concentrate, so we're spending more time on Welsh, and will push the other two languages back a year, possibly more, if necessary.
  21. Have you considered not giving him choices? Decision making is genuinely difficult for some folks, especially those with minds that see and analyse things more than others. I am like this... sometimes there's just too many factors to make a certain decision. In fact, I will regularly ask my husband to do so, because I get overwhelmed with the analysing and researching. It's something to consider just not giving him choices - at all, making all the decisions for him. He may feel very comforted by it.
  22. I really like BJU's Bible curriculum. It's not downloadable, but it is quite meaty and school-ish (as in, more study / theology than a devotional). You can get used copies on Amazon, or new ones from christianbook.com for reasonable international shipping. I just use the teacher's manual and the cd of songs / hymns, but there is a workbook you can get to go with the courses.
  23. Oh goodness me, these are positively inspiring and hilarious to read. I'm only through page 2, but now I know exactly where to come whenever I need a laugh!!! :D
  24. Memoria Press Enrichment Kit - Read Alouds, Music, Art, Crafts. It's not necessary, but the kids really enjoy it.
  25. I'm a conservative Christian, and I use Elemental Science, and I like it. Of the two programs that I've seen (Elemental Science Biology and Apologia Astronomy), I have preferred ES over Apologia. The only aspect of evolution we've had to deal with is in the books that they use for the course. I have just ignored those elements.
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