Guest Krista Lueders Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Hi, I'm Krista and am new to home schooling. I have two children, Jeremy (7) and Helayna (5). I decided about a month ago that we were going to pull them from public school and start home schooling after Christmas. We recently moved from my hometown, where I knew everyone in the schools and the kids were thriving, to a larger suburb of Dallas where I don't know anyone and the kids aren't doing great in school. My daughter was learning how to read in Pre-K last year and has spent the first semester of Kinder learning her ABC's and letter sounds. She had also started learning simple addition and subtraction in her old school and knows how to count past 100 and this semester has been all about learning to count to 20. I am pretty disappointed in the schools up here. And my son, even though he's been getting all A's in the second grade, but they spent 2-3 weeks learning how to do double digit addition and subtraction by counting out on a 100 chart and starting from the left column then doing the right column. It was confusing. And then once the kids finally got that method, they went back and taught them the right way to do the math, starting with the ones column, then the tens, etc. They still haven't started carrying in addition, but have started borrowing in subtraction. It was a waste of time and my son is smarter than that. So, we decided to let them finish the semester and then start with the new year. They're both very excited about it! My daughter asked me this morning if we can start school, now that Christmas is over. I love how excited they get about learning and want to fully take advantage of that, instead of letting them get frustrated in a classroom where they are being held down by their peers. A little about myself, I am a stay at home mom and seamstress. I've been working on starting a business with my sewing to help with our family's income. I have a passion for costuming, especially historical costuming. My focus when sewing for myself is the Tudor/Elizabethan time period. I also love anything to do with fantasy, particularly fairies. It helps that I have a little girl who is also a big fan of fairies. I have recently designed some fairy costumes that, to my knowledge, are unique in how they're made. So I'm going to be using that in my business. I'll be focusing on girls' princess and fairy costumes. We live in a state with three big Renaissance Festivals throughout the year, so I will be able to target potential customers at the different faires that we go to. I'm really excited about the direction my family is headed in 2013. It's going to be a good year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSUBuckeye Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Welcome! It sounds like homeschooling will be a better academic fit for your kids than their current school. Don't worry about high expectations when you're just getting started. A good two hours of learning is more than they seem to be getting now, and yet you won't get frustrated and feel like a failure. Enjoy the successes and work toward having more and more of them, but don't dwell on your perceived failures starting off. You talked a lot about math, and I don't know if you've selected a curriculum yet. Popular ones for the mathy folks here include RightStart (it's teacher-led, scripted, heavy on manipulatives and learning with an abacus, place value, but it's expensive), Singapore (well-regarded, textbook/workbook/word problem book combo), Miquon (math play program that demonstrates the concepts through cuisenaire rods rather than focusing only on memorizing without understanding), and Math Mammoth (created by a long-time math tutor, it has explanations directed to the student on the top of the page, tries to achieve deep understanding, and has plenty of worksheets. It's solidly mathy, similar to Singapore, but benefits from being able to download it and print it or use it on your tablet as needed). MEP math is the new British curriculum, free online with teacher lesson plans included. Many people use it as their math program, or pick the harder problems and enjoy it as additional "puzzle math." And in a year, your son might find Beast Academy 3 a fun and formidable challenge. Your interest in European history makes me think you might like Story of the World. It's a four-year elementary sequence that goes from ancient history, middle ages, early modern, and modern history. There's an audio version if you have a lot of long car rides in your life, or a book version if you plan to use it as a read-aloud and use it in a more in-depth manner. Traditionally, public schools don't teach world history at all, so this is a resource that should bring entirely new content to your kids. And don't forget to use your local library! Other English geeks may have reading/phonics/grammar suggestions for you, but for me, there was nothing I couldn't learn from enough good books piled high. Books and math sound like a solid elementary education to me, even with nothing else added ;-) That reminds me: you might want to check out Sonlight's history/literature core and use the books as a supplemental reading list, but I wouldn't purchase a new core outright without testing out the books to see if you like their style first. It's a Christian-based company that can also be used secularly. Ambleside online is also a free online book resource, but a bit old-fashioned. There are others, too, but I've probably worn you out already with suggestions... Also, the Magic School Bus is a fun science Dvd series to have available for those times when you simply must put your kids in front of the TV or else the dinner will burn. Wish you the best of luck on your new journey! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Krista Lueders Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Thanks! I actually just bought the Magic School Bus DVDs on Amazon while they were on sale and my kids love them! I've been looking at a few different curriculum options, but haven't bought any yet. I have a few different work books for them in the grades that they're in to start with and I'll be adding to it as I go. We live with my boyfriend (we're planning on getting married, but not until we're debt free. We're Dave Ramsey followers and are working our debt snowball) and he's a HUGE math and computer nerd and he wants to do a lot of their schooling when it comes to those subjects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Welcome to the boards, Krista! Best of luck to you in all of these new adventures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stacyt30 Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 I am in the same boat as you Krista. I just pulled my 2 schooled-aged children out of public to home school. It has been overwhelming but rewarding as well. Best of luck to you in your endeavors. Stacy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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