smudge Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Once DD is done with the school year in the PS (June 6), she will officially be a HS student! As well as her 5yr old sister. I have sketched out the HS year, starting later in June I will do 6 weeks on/1 week off kind of a schedule. This sounded manageable to me. I have FLL, and WWE already. DH wants to order Saxon books for math next payday, I also plan on getting SOTW-Ancients and then getting a copy of Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding. I have already been in contact with some local HS groups for the "all-important" socialization HS kids "miss out" on by not being in school. Now, my question, Is there any kind of please-hold-my-hand-while-I-do-this kind of first year HS manual that somewhat follows the Classical model? I tried searching, but kept getting sidetracked (didn't find anything on my question anyway). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Hello! I don't think there is a manual, but a lot of people here suggest starting slowly- In your first 6 week block (for example), hit the 3Rs, then add history in next, then science, then any other things you'd like- art, foreign language, Latin, etc, etc, after each new addition has been absorbed. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge Posted May 16, 2013 Author Share Posted May 16, 2013 Good idea! I was kind of thinking along those lines anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForeverFamily Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Congrats! Homeschooling is one of the best decisions we have made for our family. As far as a helpful manual goes The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer is fantastic. If you haven't read it yet I highly recommend you find a copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessed Mommy Posted May 16, 2013 Share Posted May 16, 2013 Duh! The Well Trained Mind! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Five More Minutes Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 Welcome and congrats! It sounds like you've got a good lineup of programs for next year. (We've used and enjoyed WWE, FLL, SOTW, and BFSU here!) I second (third?) the recommendation of The Well-Trained Mind. It will hold your hand for the next 12 years if need be! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge Posted May 17, 2013 Author Share Posted May 17, 2013 HAHA! Yes, a few weeks ago when DH and I were first starting to talk about this, I got a copy of WTM from the library. Read it, then promptly orderd my own copy. I am reading it again and going over it with a fine tooth comb and highlighting pertinent sections. I have got both girls a binder and we have started doing some "school" here and there. The 5yr old loves this! I find her math sheets on the internet and she works on them and puts them in her book. The 7yr old recently finished Mr Poppers' Penguins and I made her write some sentences on that. I have been combing the internet for various HS sites for ideas- my Pinterest board is growing exponentially! :laugh: Thanks for the replies and wish me luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 If you have questions, search the board. If you can't find the answer, post the question. I'm not sure about your eldest's age, but be forewarned there may be an adjustment period. Start slow and be flexible. Congratulations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Five More Minutes Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 The 5yr old loves this! I find her math sheets on the internet and she works on them and puts them in her book. The 7yr old recently finished Mr Poppers' Penguins and I made her write some sentences on that. I have been combing the internet for various HS sites for ideas- my Pinterest board is growing exponentially! :laugh: Thanks for the replies and wish me luck! Ooooh, if you're already playing with math with your 5 y/o, then have you seen Education Unboxed? Rosie's videos (all free) demonstrate activities and games that you can play with elementary students to build their math understanding. They are just excellent. All the best as you start this adventure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 It sounds like you are off to a good start. I second the recommendation to start with just a couple of subjects and then add in things as you go. By the time I got to the end of my first year, I had completely abandoned 3 of the programs that we had started with. (They just didn't turn out to be a good fit.) If I had made a more gradual start, I could have seen that some of what we were doing wasn't working before we got burned out. Also, be prepared to change what you are doing. Try not to fall into the trap where you have to finish everything because you are invested in it (financially, emotionally, etc.) Your kids are young, and you have time to experiment and find what works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzybluecheese Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 Once DD is done with the school year in the PS (June 6), she will officially be a HS student! As well as her 5yr old sister. I have sketched out the HS year, starting later in June I will do 6 weeks on/1 week off kind of a schedule. This sounded manageable to me. I have FLL, and WWE already. DH wants to order Saxon books for math next payday, I also plan on getting SOTW-Ancients and then getting a copy of Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding. I have already been in contact with some local HS groups for the "all-important" socialization HS kids "miss out" on by not being in school. Now, my question, Is there any kind of please-hold-my-hand-while-I-do-this kind of first year HS manual that somewhat follows the Classical model? I tried searching, but kept getting sidetracked (didn't find anything on my question anyway). This sounds like the way I started out homeschooling my 11 year old. Mostly, because I couldn't afford to buy everything at once. But also because my DD had a good bit of burnout from ps. (The 1st graders were expected to write full sentences with their vocabulary words.) I had my best friend, who talked me into hs, to help guide me and hold my hand. The only problem was that her children our so, so different than mine. That is something you need to expect. Your child will not fit perfectly in any WTM student mold, nor will you as a teacher. I think SWB even has a lecture on that. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikkistone Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 Congratulations! I'm kind of in the same boat as you! (pulling my 10, 8 and 6 year olds out of PS and homeschooling) Once you get your feet with a few subjects as suggested above, you can check out Easy Classical for guides on how to do the classical method where it's all laid out for you. A lot of the resources suggested in the guides are suggested in WTM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodhaven Posted May 18, 2013 Share Posted May 18, 2013 Great! Congratulations on your decision! Stay flexible and make adjustments as needed. Home educating our children is a great adventure, and time well spent! :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge Posted May 18, 2013 Author Share Posted May 18, 2013 Thanks one and all for the kind words and encouragement. Part of my decision was the fact that I only see my oldest for an hour a day, four days a week. I think lack of attention/contact with me has led to a lot of her "ADHD" trouble. And it would only get worse. SO- off we go, DH is totally on board and we are excited and ready to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threedogfarm Posted May 19, 2013 Share Posted May 19, 2013 I also highly recommend the Well Trained Mind as a hand-holding manual. Start with their suggestions, even if you don't like them at first, give them a fair try for a number of weeks before tweaking things (one at a time). I also recommend listening to the audio lectures from PHP. All of them are great but if you only want to start out with a couple here are some good choices: http://peacehillpress.com/what-is-literary-analysis-mp3.html (great overview of literary analysis--answered a lot of my questions about whether I should be asking more questions about what my children read, etc.) http://peacehillpress.com/elementary-grades-mp3.html (teaching writing in the elementary years) http://peacehillpress.com/educating-ourselves-as-we-educate-our-children-1.html SWB does a wonderful job presenting this material. She's down-to-earth, easy to listen to, and packs a lot of info into those lectures. Congratulations and good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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