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grace'smom

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Posts posted by grace'smom

  1. I read the Well Trained Mind and found these boards long before my daughter started her kindergarten homeschool year. This board was critical in building myself up with the assurance that this CAN be done and that it might be a better option even in a GOOD school district. I have found homeschoolers in my area but a lot of times they were so different than me in their reasons and desires to homeschool that we didn't fit in... There were few personal connections and no one that I would have felt comfortable calling on for support.

     

    I think for the "anxious, newbie, wondering if they are making a big mistake homeschooling families," this board could be critical. This board was my cheerleader when I had to tell all of my friends that Grace wasn't going to school for kindergarten and face their reactions (some good, some not so good, some pretty ugly). It was my reassurance when the special needs preK teachers at Grace's local school were pushing me to put her in kindergarten and warning me that "she would drive me crazy within the first year," LOL. And it was my therapy when the anxiety about whether I was making a mistake got too high. Without the board I would have felt like our home was an island of crazy people in a sea of public school families. This board normalized the thought and process of homeschooling for me, and I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to take that first year baby step on my own... Now that we've gotten through kindergarten I think I could continue to homeschool without the board, but I don't believe I would have been confident enough to begin without it.

  2. Hey guys: I was wondering if you could look over our first grade plans as of right now and tell me if you think they are enough, or too much, etc... My daughter takes a LONG time to get work done because she needs to bounce off the wall between each subject (sometimes during each subject) so I am a little worried that we won't be able to get all of this done without her going insane. I do NOT want to burn her out by throwing too many subjects at her. After all, she's only in first grade! But I also don't want to shortchange her... I'm sure many of you can understand my feelings. It's such a push and pull of not enough or too much, and I worry that if I put too much on the plate my good intentions will fall apart in some subjects. So- gently- can you tell me if there's something I can cut out or something I really need to add into this schedule/goal list?

     

    Math: Rightstart Level B/Math Mammoth supplement as needed

     

    Language Arts: Phonics Road Level 1 and WWE Year 1 according to the teacher’s manual and using history book selections (NOT the workbook, just from the teacher's guide). Also, we'll probably end up in PR level 2 by January because we're already doing PR1. Oh, she also reads aloud to me every day for 15 minutes from a book of her choosing.

     

    History: Library picture book selections that match up to the Classical Conversations schedule. Read the (3-5) books, do a coloring page and a sentence or summary about two of the books per week. Also, Pioneers and Patriots and other longer read alouds as desired.

     

    Science: BFSU- probably only two lessons per month because it seems the lessons take two weeks. We take a week to read preliminary book literature and then the following week we do the lesson and experiments. Also for science- Read a selection of library books (1-2) that match up to the Classical Conversations schedule.

     

    Religion: Telling God’s Story one lesson per week is the goal.

     

    Literature: We could follow the Ambleside online first year program, but I’m not sure if it’s necessary on top of all the history books? I really like the selections though…

     

    Foreign Language: Do we have to, LOL? We could keep up with Salsa Spanish but, to be completely honest, I find that I easily forget to do it and DD acts like I'm torturing her when we watch the videos. We could do Song School Latin but I’m not sure I want to do that before second grade.

     

    Art- Artistic Pursuits Level One once per week.

     

    Music: Nothing on the books yet… got any ideas? Necessary?

     

    Memory Work: Classical Conversations co op. It does cover SOME music and art appreciation but we didn’t put too much effort into the fine arts last year. We may be able to do more this year since we don’t have to learn everything from scratch.

     

     

     

    Did I forget anything? Is it overloaded? Is it enough?

     

     

     

    Thanks so much for any advice!!!

     

    Hailey

  3. We got it last year and my DD didn't like it. The videos went to fast for her and she didn't like to have to pause it. There are IPAD apps that do similar instruction and she's done well with those. She taps the screen when she's ready to move on to the next portion.

     

    Nevermind- I just went back and realized it does have a lesson section where it doesn't move so fast... Oops. Guess we'll try again!

  4. I like WWE 1 for the added exposure to literature. If you plan to go through PR 1 and 2 then FLL is completely unnecessary and doing FLL before PR will make PR harder to get through, IMO (because it will then feel unnecessary at times).

     

    Your best bet is to get through PR 1 as scheduled or slightly faster... then you will get to plenty of grammar in PR 2.

     

    We found it difficult to stick to PR because we started with PR 1 in 2nd grade with a student who excels in LA. I personally feel that the sooner one starts PR the better. It is so hard to stick to if your child isn't right on grade level (1st for PR 1 and 2nd for PR 2). It is also advanced in spelling, a little behind and haphazard in writing, and about the same in grammar if you compare it to TWTM sequence.

     

    Thank you so much for your helpful comments. So, in your opinion, if PR was combined with WWE you'd have an all around solid combination? Sorry if I'm hijacking the thread....

  5. We love Phonics Road. Here are some thread titles that might interest you, including one comparing the grammar in FLL to the grammar in PR. I love that we are marking our sentences in PR 2, getting ready for diagramming.

     

    I am not sure if we will use Latin Road, but a strong foundation in phonics, spelling, literature, writing, vocabulary and etymology is my goal!

     

    Oh, I am a big fan of WWE and you can use WWE level one with PR level one. :)

     

    Do you think WWE1 is necessary or just a good bonus? Also, do you use FLL with Phonics Road 1 as well? We had FLL 1/2 and Phonics Road 1, and I was trying to figure out if I should use them both or if FLL would be redundant. Also, if WWE1 would be a good purchase considering that we are planning to go through all PR levels, or if it would just be added unnecessary work. Of course, I also sometimes dream of jumping ship to MCT too, but that's another story, LOL.

  6. I'd try to find a used foundations guide and the audio CD. I would not purchase the cards. I second the idea to join the CC Community. It's only 6.00 a month and it can get you by without the cards for a year. I think the audio CD is really important if you guys travel around town a lot during the week. We were able to get a lot of Grace's memory work done in the car every week. You can download the audio songs from the CC file sharing forum if you have the time and inclination.

  7. :iagree:with Justamouse. This church sounds seriously dysfunctional. It sounds like there's been a lot of negative stuff going on and you just happened to walk into the middle of it. Are there other members that are as new as you guys are to this church? How are they treated by the other church members?

     

    :grouphug:

  8. OK- I got more info and I'm hoping someone might know what this means...

     

    Her high immunoglobulin is IgA and the number is 250. The number is supposed to be around 124, from what I can tell...

    http://allergynotes.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-are-normal-serum-immunoglobulin.html

     

    Does anyone know what this might indicate? We got an appointment in two weeks, so we'll be in quickly. I probably shouldn't even be trying to figure this out before the appointment- it can't do any good...

  9. Celiac Disease is the first thing that comes to my mind with what you have described, even with a negative Celiac panel. Actually, the latest research shows that blood testing is notoriously negative even WITH Celiac going on. I highly, highly recommend the genetic testing for Celiac to fully screen it out.

     

    Thanks, I will bring that up at the gastro visit. I'm sure they will want to rule it out with another procedure. I know it's tricky to catch...

  10. Thanks guys- I got a stomach bug right after I posted this and I've been down and out a couple days. I think I'm going to just go with the idea that the doctor is just trying to be thorough in her work. I am not sure which immunoglobulin she is speaking of, but I know there's some reason she wants DD to be seen by a gastroenterologist quickly. They are calling to set up the appointment this week so they can get us in more quickly, so when they call with the date I will ask them which immunoglobulin it is they are speaking of and what the number level is... I'm actually kind of glad I got that stomach bug. It kept me busy being sick that I couldn't worry about this, and now it doesn't seem so bad. Go figure!

     

    Besides the allergies, Grace seems really healthy. She has some ADD symptoms and some sensory processing stuff, but the neighbor told me the other day that she is a "tornado" because she's so active and busy. I really just can't believe there could be something really wrong. I just can't look at her and think she's sick when she's bouncing off the wall, LOL. She's got to be fine if she can hang from the ceiling! Right?

  11. Hey guys,

    My DD has a wide range of food allergies and abdominal pain from time to time, as well as digestional issues here and there. Her doctor ordered a celiac screening and it came back negative, but she called me personally today and said she wants Grace to see a gastroenterologist because she said she has abnormally high immunoglobin levels. The doctor is having her office contact the gastro doctor because it's usually a six month wait and she needs to get Grace in sooner, but she couldn't, or wouldn't, tell me what the levels might indicate.

     

    I'm a little nervous because I got a personal phone call from the doctor, and she's a great doctor, but I just didn't expect that. Does anyone know what this could mean? I googled and it just showed a bunch of adult diseases like lupus and such... she's too young for that and she's not in any serious pain.

     

    Thanks,

    Hailey

  12. I love your room! I love the scalloped shades, the big whiteboard, the shelving, just the room and the big bright space. So awesome! Cute and peaceful! I love rooms where I can just spread out on the floor.:D

     

    Thanks, I'll pass that compliment on to my DH, who built it all. He always says that if we win the lottery he'll quit his job and go into carpentry. Unfortunately, we don't play the lottery :lol:!

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