Help me help ddil homeschool next year

[Lady Florida.]

Hello, many (most?) of you probably don't know me because I spend all my WTM forum time on the Chat Board or social groups these days, but I've been here under a few different names for nearly 20 years. I'm just letting you know fwiw. 

I'm cross posting this to the Chat Board and the General Ed. 

 

Florida has mandated in person school for the 20-21 school year and dss/ddil aren't comfortable with that. Our 2yo granddaughter with Down Syndrome, while not immune compromised, is immune deficient and sending her six and eight year old brothers to school terrifies us all. 

Although they schooled at home for the rest of the 2019-20 year they know that's not what real homeschooling looks like. And ddil asked me for advice. With my homeschooled kid turning 23 in six weeks I'm so far removed from homeschooling young ones that I don't know what to recommend to her. I'm not even sure if some of the stuff we used back then is still available. 

They plan to homeschool for the full 2020-21 school year but unless they find that homeschooling is amazing, they'll go to school the following year assuming there's a vaccine. They learned during crisis schooling (her term) that sitting at a computer watching videos all day is not what they want to do. But they need to mostly keep up with the state and their county's grade standards so they can easily go back to school whenever that happens. Probably (they hope) 2021-22. They're open to part virtual school but don't want everything to be online.

Any suggestions? What are the good homeschool sites these days (besides these forums). Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. 

If you're in Florida, they live in Osceola County so if you know of a facebook group she can join I'd appreciate that info too. 

ETA: She'll want secular materials.

Edited July 10, 2020 by Lady Florida.

[umsami]

Six and eight are great ages to combine. :). Torchlight is one curriculum she might enjoy.

Honestly, the main focus is going to be math and reading as I'm sure you know. Not much has changed there.  All About Reading and Logic of English are two programs to look at. Both are phonics-based.  LOE also provides handwriting. 

For math, RightStart might work. Although it's teacher intensive (all math is at that age), it's also scripted which can help for new homeschooling Moms.  Singapore is another favorite for early grades as is Miquon (but IMHO more difficult to teach.)  There's always Saxon, too, which is scripted. 

If she's fine with Christian content, CLE (Christian Light Education) sells those light units which are an easy low cost way to see if you like their approach. 

Handwriting....I like Handwriting without Tears, but I don't think one needs all of the manipulatives and such. 

One thing she can do in Florida, is enroll part-time in FLVS. You can do as many or few courses you want as a homeschooler.  

[Lady Florida.]

39 minutes ago, umsami said:

Six and eight are great ages to combine. :). Torchlight is one curriculum she might enjoy.

Honestly, the main focus is going to be math and reading as I'm sure you know. Not much has changed there.  All About Reading and Logic of English are two programs to look at. Both are phonics-based.  LOE also provides handwriting. 

For math, RightStart might work. Although it's teacher intensive (all math is at that age), it's also scripted which can help for new homeschooling Moms.  Singapore is another favorite for early grades as is Miquon (but IMHO more difficult to teach.)  There's always Saxon, too, which is scripted. 

If she's fine with Christian content, CLE (Christian Light Education) sells those light units which are an easy low cost way to see if you like their approach. 

Handwriting....I like Handwriting without Tears, but I don't think one needs all of the manipulatives and such. 

One thing she can do in Florida, is enroll part-time in FLVS. You can do as many or few courses you want as a homeschooler.  

Thanks, and thanks for mentioning Christian content. See? I've been gone so long I forget to say things like it needs to be 100% secular. 🙂 

They don't want FLVS unless you can just do a few classes. Is that possible for elementary? By the time FLVS existed and allowed homeschoolers to take classes ds was already middle school age. I told her to look into whether or not they can just take what they want at those ages. Really though, their experience with online school turned them off even though dil knows it's partly because it was all so sudden and thrown on them.

[umsami]

Everything else I mentioned is secular.

They now do offer flex (one course or more) with FLVS for elementary. I would keep that as a last minute option. https://www.flvs.net/elementary  I have no idea how the classes are, though...although there are some sample lessons.  Most districts have an option to do Connections Academy and a K12 option, but those are full-time AFAIK. 

Oak Meadow is secular and pretty complete. It's very gentle for those ages, too.... which may/may not appeal if they're planning to return the next year.

I really enjoyed Torchlight. Many of the books you can get at the library and it works well for multi-age groups. https://torchlightcurriculum.com/torchlight/

There's also Build Your Library which is like a secular Sonlight. (Sonlight has their own secular version called Bookshark). https://buildyourlibrary.com/

https://www.bookshark.com/

Rainbow Resources has "secular" kits which may appeal...both a cheap/basic version and more normal one. https://www.rainbowresource.com/category/5673/Secular-Packages.html

The "economy" packages are not completely secular as far as I can tell...but might give some good ideas. https://www.rainbowresource.com/category/8769/Rainbow-Curriculum-Starter-Packages.html

Math Mammoth is a great, affordable math curriculum, but it doesn't start until first grade.

Edited July 10, 2020 by umsami

[Syllieann]

There is also moving beyond the page, which is secular and aligns to standards for many states.  I really like the 7-9 age language arts.  I haven't used the other subjects.

https://www.movingbeyondthepage.com

Edited July 10, 2020 by Syllieann

[wendyroo]

Is the 6 year old going into first grade?  Is he reading?

While I understand her worries about the kids being "on level" when they go back to school, I honestly would not fret about that much.  A little bit of school goes a long way at those ages...if she can consistently implement a little reading, writing and math everyday, and makes sure to read to them, they will be fine the following year.

If I were setting up schooling for kids of those ages, I would probably do something like this:
Math - Math Mammoth (which is Common Core aligned), doing about half the problems on each page unless one of the boys struggles with a concept.

Writing - Writing with Ease 1 with both of them together and Evan-Moor writing workbooks: probably Super Sentences for the 6 year old and Paragraphs for the 8 year old, or perhaps Text-Based Writing.

Reading - The 8 year old reads from an appropriate novel.  The 6 year old learns to read from Mom, or reads to Mom, or reads independently and then talks to Mom about what he read...depending on reading level.

Science - Read science picture books aloud, plus watch Magic School Bus, Bill Nye, etc.  Perhaps add Mystery Science if she wants.

History - Read history picture books aloud, or Who Was biographies or one of the Story of the World books to both of them.

Life Skills - I would keep the school load low and use this year to teach a lot of life skills.  We love Kids Cook Real Food.  Get them helping with laundry and cleaning bathrooms.  Play lots of board games.  Go on nature walks.  I think this could be a great bonding opportunity for all the kids, a chance for them to play and adventure and make shared memories together before the boys go back to school.

[Syllieann]

Another thought is studies weekly for science and social studies.  That might allay her fears about standards and keeping up.  And although I think real books are ideal for elementary learning nobody knows it the library will be fully functioning in fall.  Even if they are functioning, maybe it's not the greatest idea to be sharing books if they are trying to keep up a hard quarantine.  https://www.studiesweekly.com/product/

I agree that math mammoth would be great for this situation.  You might also want to take a look at Evan moor daily six trait writing in addition to those listed by Wendy.