Homeschool Challenge: 80's and 90's Style K-12 Curriculum in a Box for $2000

[Hunter]

Here is your challenge:

1. You have $2,000.00 to spend on curriculum.

2. The following will be also be supplied: a new 5G cellphone, a new LTE LG Gpad Tablet (Android 9, 4 GB ram, 32 GB hardrive, additional SD card storage 64GB), and bluetooth keyboard and mouse for mom. Some sort of Magenta LTE/5G plan that is unlimited but throttled after "heavy" use, and includes 5-20 GB of hotspot wifi for the Kindle Fire Tablets. Each younger child will have a new Kindle Fire 10 plus tablet (4GB Ram, 32 GB hardrive, 64GB SD card) with keyboard, but not the additional Microsoft 365 package. Grades 11-12 will have an LG Gpad tablet package identical to mom's. Home wifi is NOT included or available. Younger children will not have data/wifi beyond the very limited hotspot wifi from mom's cell phone.

3. All books must fit into TWO regular sized Bankers Boxes.  https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/287154/Bankers-Box-StorFile-Standard-Duty-Storage/

4. Your curriculum must be for all of pre-K through grade 10. Free online community college classes and required textbooks will be supplied for grades 11-12, but the students must do their best to complete their lessons with the LG Gpad tablets supplied and whatever you choose to add from the $2,000.

Your curriculum must be 80's or 90's inspired and currently in print. You may use something that was not yet available in the 80's and 90's but it must be similar to something that was available in some way.

This is a generic gift package idea for experienced homeschooling families suddenly displaced by Covid in some way and forced to suddenly move into cramped and temporary quarters. They will have arrived with nothing but a single carry-on sized bag each.

 

[Porridge]

my brain exploded reading stipulation #2 and all the tech parameters.

let the games begin!

[Shoeless]

I'd sell all the tech stuff and buy more books and another banker's box, for starters. 

Edited June 6, 2021 by MissLemon

[Hunter]

9 minutes ago, WTM said:

my brain exploded reading stipulation #2 and all the tech parameters.

let the games begin!

LOL!! Only because I know people will ask! This is the best affordable package for a family without wifi that I  could come up with.

Edited June 6, 2021 by Hunter

[Hunter]

Excuse my typos and multiple edits, and any weird or rude seeming responses. I am using crap for technology and I am losing my eyesight.

[Hunter]

8 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

I'd sell all the tech stuff and buy more books, for starters. 

LOL. I tried to come up with a balance of some tech, but to use as little of the available funds as possible on tech. And factor in the realistic scenario of no wifi.

Displaced families must have access to government agencies and banking online. Mail does not get forwarded properly since Covid, and updating addresses is sometimes impossible for months.

[Shoeless]

It's an interesting thought experiment.  I would fail at stuffing everything into 2 boxes, though.  

Having $2k to spend on curriculum feels lavish to me!  The first few years we hardly spent anything. We had a couple of colourful workbooks that kiddo liked so he could "do school", and that was the extent of our curriculum for PK through grade 1. Maybe even grade 2. What did we do for grade 2?! We must have done something, but I don't remember.  We read a lot of books! I know that much. 

[Hunter]

2K can be lavish, especially for people with access to decades of collected books in a large home library and wifi and cable TV and a desktop computer and printer. What if you needed to choose resources for someone ELSE to start from scratch in a hotel room? Or in a single bedroom of the home of a relative who really did not want them there? Or what if YOU had to flee and start over in a strange place with little more than the clothes on your backs?

Covid is so much more than a virus for SOME families. Some people's lives have improved. But others have lost everything or are about to lose everything.

I chosen this combination of resources and funds based on some real life scenarios that I have watched real people face this year.

For many people displaced by Covid, two boxes is far more lavish than the $2K, especially if they cannot take two boxes with them where they go next, and have to leave them behind.

Edited June 6, 2021 by Hunter

[Shoeless]

33 minutes ago, Hunter said:

2K can be lavish, especially for people with access to decades of collected books in a large home library and wifi and cable TV and a desktop computer and printer. What if you needed to choose resources for someone ELSE to start from scratch in a hotel room? Or in a single bedroom of the home of a relative who really did not want them there? Or what if YOU had to flee and start over in a strange place with little more than the clothes on your backs?

Covid is so much more than a virus for SOME families. Some people's lives have improved. But others have lost everything or are about to lose everything.

I chosen this combination of resources and funds based on some real life scenarios that I have watched real people face this year.

For many people displaced by Covid, two boxes is far more lavish than the $2K, especially if they cannot take two boxes with them where they go next, and have to leave them behind.

Well, I have fled a bad situation to live in a slightly less bad situation with a relative that did not want me there, with little more than the clothes on my back.  Do I get bonus points for doing it in the middle of a blizzard?  (I know, I know...uphill, both ways, in the snow! But that's how it went down. Can't control the weather.)  When I left, I wasn't trying to prepare for the entirety of life for the next 12 years.  

I did not start homeschooling with a large home library, either.  But you wouldn't have known that, or any of the above paragraph, either.   

If I was trying to help someone in a similar situation, I would put together what they could use for the next year, maybe 2, depending on how many kids they had and the kids ages.  I don't think it would be helpful or useful to give the mom of a pre-schooler a book on, say, Algebra to be used 8-10 years in the future. Especially since they may not be able to drag 2 boxes of stuff to the next stop on their journey.  If I had $2k to blow on a gift, I'd just give them the $2k and let them decide how to best use it. 

I'll bow out now.  I suspect I'm ruining the fun. 😉 

Edited June 6, 2021 by MissLemon

[HomeAgain]

I'll bite.
Box 1:

Phonics and Spelling: Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons ($20),  The ABC's and All Their Tricks - $20

Reading: Set of Elson readers, primer through 8 (8 books at about $140 for the set)

Writing: IEW Teaching With Structure & Style dvds/online membership ($190)  The initial lessons can be done using the Elson readers for model stories

Elementary Science: Handbook of Nature Study: $30 new 

Math: Ray's Arithmetic 8 volume set, set of cuisenaire rods if I could squeeze them in

 

Box 2:

History: Kingfisher history encyclopedia ($25)

Middle/high integrated: TRISMS, 2 levels ($350)

Guidebook/lesson planning: The Well Trained Mind

Art: Drawing With Children ($25)

Language: Signing Naturally w/dvd ($30, 150 page book) OR Berlitz cds/book set

 

In a pinch, I might substitute most of the above for 3-4 KONOS manuals, splitting between elementary and high school.  I'd keep phonics and math, but let the rest be more integrated in a unit study approach using the library as much as possible and the internet when the library wasn't available.

There is no grammar included in my approach.  I'd have to see how much room I had in the box before adding maybe Harvey's or another slim volume. Music also doesn't fit in the box, so I don't know how I'd handle that. 

 

[Hunter]

This challenge is different than the ones we participated in years ago. When we planned before, all threats were less specific and far less likely to happen, and we believed that afterwards would be so messed up that we would not be expecting much of ourselves. Because some people are making a PROFIT in this pandemic, while others are losing everything, people are feeling pressure to perform at a high level no matter what. People are stilled worried about MLA citation rules, and maybe MORE so than ever.

Technology has advanced since our old challenges, for better and for worse. When we did the underground bunker thread, 13 inch e-ink note-taking devices hadn't been invented yet.

MissLemon, all of K-12, with enough money for all those grades, is designed to put large families and families with more expensive ages on an even playing field with those people with just a single little one. We can all read about and write about all the grades. If two boxes and $2K equals all grades, then one box and $1K equals about 1/2 the grades, which is similar to the amount of a stim check or some other type of pandemic relief package.

MissLemon, your been-there-done-that experience in invaluable to you and to others here. Yes, you get points for that!

Homeagain, you get major points for being the first person to post a curriculum and it is an AWESOME one! I totally forgot about the Elson readers!

 

[Hunter]

Handbook of Nature Study is definitely going on my list too. I have learned how to use that book, even in a climate that does not include most of the species highlighted in the book.

Nearsightedness rates in children has increased since the start of the pandemic as children are forced to study for so many hours a day on small screens. I am trying to figure out how I want to address this with my choices. HONS is one of the ways.

[lulalu]

Phonics/spelling- Phonics Pathways 

Math- Miquon and all the Gattegno books the books take you all the way through Algebra 

Rod and Staff English books up to 8th grade 

But I don't think 2,000 would be enough to cover all the literature books. I buy most of our books used, but we read a lot. Literature would cover history and science. 

 

 

 

 

[Zoo Keeper]

Just reminding myself to think about this and come up with something to post later...

[historically accurate]

I'd probably pack:

PreK: I'd pack nothing - I'd build learning toys as I went. My kids did math through playing store using empty pantry boxes glued shut. 

K-3: Ruth Beechick's 3 guides (I don't know if these are still in print), some cuisinaire rods, Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading 

4-6: Ray's Arithmetic, GrammarLand (Another - is this still in print - I just printed off the internet years ago), Story of the World, Minimus Latin

7-10: Jacob's Algebra & Geometry, The Elements of Style, K12 Human Odyssey, Henle Latin, This needs more, but I'm at a loss for small storage space/high impact options... 

All Ages: some sort of nature study guide, a rock guide, a plant guide, an animal guide, a star guide, something like Anatomy & Physiology Made Easy, Exploratopia. A World Atlas, A US Atlas, Spelling Power

And then I'd shove in a lot of literature and art supplies around the edges of the box.

Do I have access to some literature at a library? If so, I'd pack Before Five in a Row or FIAR volume 1 in for PreK, but I don't have space for the corresponding books. Would I be able to access them on the tech maybe?

[Hunter]

2 hours ago, historically accurate said:

Do I have access to some literature at a library? If so, I'd pack Before Five in a Row or FIAR volume 1 in for PreK, but I don't have space for the corresponding books. Would I be able to access them on the tech maybe?

The things that I did not specify are unknown to all of us. The world changes by the day. The rules of the challenge assume you will have consistent access to what I specified for the tech. I gave that excruciating detail to be kind, not mean, because in real life that might be what people immediately set up. At the present time, with what I know, that would be a smart choice.

Depending on your t-mobile plan, you have about 100 GB (before getting throttled) to stream on each the tablet and the phone; you have 5-20 GB  hotspot to share with the kid's Kindle tablets, so they can download a kindle book or upload a document for safekeeping, but not stream much at all. Sometimes, you can also download to your phone or tablet and then transfer manually if you have the right adapter and a thumb drive. Sometimes you can access wifi, somewhere, maybe and Kindle tablets can store movies for a month.

In real life, when tech is involved, we get nasty surprises. We cannot always do what we expected to do.

And since the pandemic, we cannot depend on government agencies and stores and libraries to be open. And it is hard to predict when we will lose access and for how long.

What can you tolerate falling apart? Only you know that. What makes you feel safe to think you WOULD have if you had NOTHING else? What do you love and what brings you joy?

People are slow to let go of worries that no longer apply. I have not seen anyone, yet, reduce the amount of worry over MLA citation and margin rules, no matter how unlikely they think their kid is going back to school, soon. If anything, people are buckling down on worrying about EVERYTHING that only matters in context of "getting back to normal". It is too scary to contemplate that won't happen, even to the people that know it can't.

This challenge is different than the old ones. It brings emotions to the surface for some of us. It is too real.

Edited June 6, 2021 by Hunter

[MeaganS]

You guys are including a lot of books that are free online. Since they have tablets, I wouldn't spend money and space on those and just maybe preload them... 

Edited June 6, 2021 by MeaganS

[Hunter]

3 hours ago, lulalu said:

Phonics/spelling- Phonics Pathways 

Math- Miquon and all the Gattegno books the books take you all the way through Algebra 

Rod and Staff English books up to 8th grade 

But I don't think 2,000 would be enough to cover all the literature books. I buy most of our books used, but we read a lot. Literature would cover history and science. 

 

 

 

 

Gattegno is new to me. Interesting.

[Hunter]

2 hours ago, historically accurate said:

I'd probably pack:

PreK: I'd pack nothing - I'd build learning toys as I went. My kids did math through playing store using empty pantry boxes glued shut. 

K-3: Ruth Beechick's 3 guides (I don't know if these are still in print), some cuisinaire rods, Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading 

4-6: Ray's Arithmetic, GrammarLand (Another - is this still in print - I just printed off the internet years ago), Story of the World, Minimus Latin

7-10: Jacob's Algebra & Geometry, The Elements of Style, K12 Human Odyssey, Henle Latin, This needs more, but I'm at a loss for small storage space/high impact options... 

All Ages: some sort of nature study guide, a rock guide, a plant guide, an animal guide, a star guide, something like Anatomy & Physiology Made Easy, Exploratopia. A World Atlas, A US Atlas, Spelling Power

And then I'd shove in a lot of literature and art supplies around the edges of the box.

Do I have access to some literature at a library? If so, I'd pack Before Five in a Row or FIAR volume 1 in for PreK, but I don't have space for the corresponding books. Would I be able to access them on the tech maybe?

Grammarland and Henle: Hmm. Thanks for bringing those back to my attention.

[Hunter]

8 minutes ago, MeaganS said:

You guys are including a lot of books that are free online. Since they have tablets, I wouldn't spend money and space on those and just maybe preload them... 

Yup, I included a tablet for each kid. The base storage is 32 GB. There is a 64GB card, which is never as good as the base storage. And then there is manual transfer, which is even less reliable. Mom's got some decent data to work with, but but such crap for a tablet, that minimizes what she can do with that data. T-mobile sells that tablet for $100.00 sometimes if they like you, and the data plan for $20. There are videos on the deal. It is something for not much investment. You've got SOMETHING to work with to access "free" stuff.

[lewelma]

Ooooh, I've just checked, and MEP maths went online in 1995. So I would print it ALL - K to 10th. Best program ever. But that printing would probably take up $500 of my budget, but worth it!

I'm struggling to find out if KISS grammar was available in the 90s.  It was *well* established by 2005, so I'm guessing yes. 🙂 I'd print that too.

[HomeAgain]

16 minutes ago, MeaganS said:

You guys are including a lot of books that are free online. Since they have tablets, I wouldn't spend money and space on those and just maybe preload them... 

I included them, even though they're free pdfs, because the book version is really better for the student.  The Elson Readers, for example, have word lists for Primer-2, and discussion questions in the back for 3-4, while 5and on requires flipping back through the stories/poems to really utilize them.  Math books need the ability to go back and forth easily.

For something else, like Grammar Land, I do have the pdf, and it's a fine way to do it (and have), but if I was using that, I'd really want the book and use the tablet for the work file I made to go with the book.  If I have the book on the tablet I have to print the work pages.

[Hunter]

With $2K, you could buy tech to access more stuff. Since our old challenges there are large screen e-ink tablets now. None with 5G though. The only 5G enabled e-ink tablet that I know about is actually a Chinese Hisense phone that does not work as a PHONE on t-mobile (or any US carrier) that has dropped their 3G. The LTE and 5G PHONE bands are not compatible.

There are 5G laptops for about $1K. The data plans are more than the $20.00 plan for LG Gpad, though! T-mobile offers that plan as a tease to seduce you into upgrading. It is like living in a tiny home. Some of us could thrive with the LG Gpad and some could not.

There is an option to buy more tech and less books.

Edited June 6, 2021 by Hunter

[Hunter]

19 minutes ago, lewelma said:

Ooooh, I've just checked, and MEP maths went online in 1995. So I would print it ALL - K to 10th. Best program ever. But that printing would probably take up $500 of my budget, but worth it!

I'm struggling to find out if KISS grammar was available in the 90s.  It was *well* established by 2005, so I'm guessing yes. 🙂 I'd print that too.

Things can be newer as long as you can justify that they are oldschool inspired in some way.

I think I am going to use Layers of Learning. The family style learning method is identical to curricula that are out of print.

INSPIRED was designed to HELP not hinder you!!!

Edited June 6, 2021 by Hunter

[Hunter]

11 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

I included them, even though they're free pdfs, because the book version is really better for the student.  The Elson Readers, for example, have word lists for Primer-2, and discussion questions in the back for 3-4, while 5and on requires flipping back through the stories/poems to really utilize them.  Math books need the ability to go back and forth easily.

For something else, like Grammar Land, I do have the pdf, and it's a fine way to do it (and have), but if I was using that, I'd really want the book and use the tablet for the work file I made to go with the book.  If I have the book on the tablet I have to print the work pages.

The news is reporting eye strain and record  levels of severe nearsightedness in children this year. 

[Hunter]

The point of this challenge is make us all think outside our box, and hear about things that we would not have otherwise known about.

USE this challenge to help yourself or someone else in some way.

 

[Ellie]

19 hours ago, Hunter said:

Here is your challenge:

1. You have $2,000.00 to spend on curriculum.

2. The following will be also be supplied: a new 5G cellphone, a new LTE LG Gpad Tablet (Android 9, 4 GB ram, 32 GB hardrive, additional SD card storage 64GB), and bluetooth keyboard and mouse for mom. Some sort of Magenta LTE/5G plan that is unlimited but throttled after "heavy" use, and includes 5-20 GB of hotspot wifi for the Kindle Fire Tablets. Each younger child will have a new Kindle Fire 10 plus tablet (4GB Ram, 32 GB hardrive, 64GB SD card) with keyboard, but not the additional Microsoft 365 package. Grades 11-12 will have an LG Gpad tablet package identical to mom's. Home wifi is NOT included or available. Younger children will not have data/wifi beyond the very limited hotspot wifi from mom's cell phone.

3. All books must fit into TWO regular sized Bankers Boxes.  https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/287154/Bankers-Box-StorFile-Standard-Duty-Storage/

4. Your curriculum must be for all of pre-K through grade 10. Free online community college classes and required textbooks will be supplied for grades 11-12, but the students must do their best to complete their lessons with the LG Gpad tablets supplied and whatever you choose to add from the $2,000.

Your curriculum must be 80's or 90's inspired and currently in print. You may use something that was not yet available in the 80's and 90's but it must be similar to something that was available in some way.

This is a generic gift package idea for experienced homeschooling families suddenly displaced by Covid in some way and forced to suddenly move into cramped and temporary quarters. They will have arrived with nothing but a single carry-on sized bag each.

 

For literacy, children through about 8 or 9yo: Spalding (1 copy Writing Road to Reading, 4th edition; 1 set of phonogram cards; about $40 total)

A set of Elson readers. Or McGuffy readers

1 complete set of the original Writing Strands (out of print, but still available from different used-book sites)

Ray's Arithmetics

Harvey's Grammars

Lots of notebook paper (looseleaf) and several three-ring notebooks; pencils, pencil sharpeners, fountain pens, ink cartridges

 

[lulalu]

41 minutes ago, Hunter said:

Gattegno is new to me. Interesting.

You can buy hard copies of his books they vary in price but $15 to $20 or you can read free online. 

Book 3 has been discontinued since the units are no longer used (British money and measurements) 

He uses cuisenaire rods to teach math. 

[Hunter]

3 minutes ago, Ellie said:

For literacy, children through about 8 or 9yo: Spalding (1 copy Writing Road to Reading, 4th edition; 1 set of phonogram cards; about $40 total)

A set of Elson readers. Or McGuffy readers

1 complete set of the original Writing Strands (out of print, but still available from different used-book sites)

Ray's Arithmetics

Harvey's Grammars

Lots of notebook paper (looseleaf) and several three-ring notebooks; pencils, pencil sharpeners, fountain pens, ink cartridges

 

Ellie gets to break the rules about OOP for Spalding, because she is Ellie. She earned it!

I want to 100% stick for still in print for MY choices. This is hard for me. And it has a ripple effect, across my entire group of choices. I must give myself room to use "inspired" somewhere, if I can only use items that are still in print.

[Hunter]

2 minutes ago, lulalu said:

You can buy hard copies of his books they vary in price but $15 to $20 or you can read free online. 

Book 3 has been discontinued since the units are no longer used (British money and measurements) 

He uses cuisenaire rods to teach math. 

Thank you!

[lulalu]

Oh, also Getting Started with Latin and Keep Going with Latin 

 

[Hunter]

I am a huge fan of Spalding handwriting. I may have to add the 6th edition book just for the handwriting. Years ago, I thought the 6th edition handwriting instructions were superior, but they are not. Romalda had perfected her work. She knew what she was doing. Some very minor things needed updating because the WORLD changed, but the basic method does not need updating.

Ellie gets to list Spalding 4th on her list, but I can't. There are few things that I am grieving the loss. Students of the Word Unit Study curriculum is one of them.

[Hunter]

Latin is a smart choice because access to pronunciation resources is less necessary. LCC (the method not the book) makes sense for a challenge like this for multiple reasons.

[Hunter]

10 minutes ago, lulalu said:

Oh, also Getting Started with Latin and Keep Going with Latin 

 

Getting Started is a newer curriculum, BUT it prepares the student for an older book and an even older method of schooling. I present this as a fine example of 80's and 90's "inspired".

We just cut ourselves some slack somewhere or we make this exercise meaningless. The usefulness of this exercise is more important than the rules.

[lulalu]

53 minutes ago, Hunter said:

Getting Started is a newer curriculum, BUT it prepares the student for an older book and an even older method of schooling. I present this as a fine example of 80's and 90's "inspired".

We just cut ourselves some slack somewhere or we make this exercise meaningless. The usefulness of this exercise is more important than the rules.

Yes, it is newer! I forgot. It just feels older because it is so simple. No bells and whistles, get 'er done type of curriculum. 

And Keep Going with Latin is even newer. 

 

[Hunter]

27 minutes ago, lulalu said:

Yes, it is newer! I forgot. It just feels older because it is so simple. No bells and whistles, get 'er done type of curriculum. 

And Keep Going with Latin is even newer. 

 

I must be mixing up Keep Going with something else. Simple is the point. The oldschoolers had a different mindset good and bad. It was not ALL good. ALL new is not inferior.

In my life, I have been comparing minimal tech to living in a tiny house. The power surges are frying all my appliances and electronics. To plug something in the wall, means risking its loss.

When we have a problem, the default is to want to add stuff. I recently read an article that said it was important to problem solve by first removing things instead of adding things. Tiny houses solve problems by removing things. As I stumble to get online to do the critical things that can only be accomplished that way right now, I keep looking for ways I can simplify this mess instead of adding to it. There are a lot of things that are free and cheap if you can keep them small. Providers offer them as a tease, but what if we figure out how to maximize their usefulness by looking back at the oldschool ways and see what is left that will work now.

[Slache]

Egermeier's Bible, KJV, Ryrie's Systematic Theology

Strayer Upton 1-3, Al Abacus, Saxon Algebra and Geometry 

RLTL 1-4, IEW TWSS, A Workbook For Arguments

All of Hey Andrew and Latin's Not So Tough

All Apologia elementary books

All SOTW, Notgrass middle school

Living Memory

A very small piano

 

Edited June 7, 2021 by Slache

[Hunter]

2 hours ago, Ellie said:

For literacy, children through about 8 or 9yo: Spalding (1 copy Writing Road to Reading, 4th edition; 1 set of phonogram cards; about $40 total)

A set of Elson readers. Or McGuffy readers

1 complete set of the original Writing Strands (out of print, but still available from different used-book sites)

Ray's Arithmetics

Harvey's Grammars

Lots of notebook paper (looseleaf) and several three-ring notebooks; pencils, pencil sharpeners, fountain pens, ink cartridges

 

When did Writing Strands go out of print? Wow. Another one bites the dust.

My favorite "Write On" by Karen Newell is still in print, hardcopy and pdf!!! Yes!

[Hunter]

3 minutes ago, Slache said:

Egermeier's Bible, KJV, Ryrie's Systematic Theology

Strayer Upton 1-3, Al Abacus, Saxon Algebra and Geometry 

RLTL 1-4, IEW TWSS, A Workbook For Arguments

All of Hey Andrew and Latin's Not So Tough

All elementary Apologia books

All SOTW, Notgrass middle school

Living Memory

A very small piano

 

A musical instrument! Living Memory is an interesting choice, and so is everything else.

[Slache]

Just now, Hunter said:

A musical instrument! Living Memory is an interesting choice, and so is everything else.

I don't think it would fit. I think I need to lose Notgrass and maybe Latin. I haven't spoken to you lately, but oldest is in Andrew 5 and Latin 2. My girl is in Andrew as well, but I doubt she does Latin.

[Hunter]

I was thinking about people that have designed their entire curriculum around access to lots and lots of hardcopy literature. One thing that I started doing years ago, was to notice which books were available in multiple formats, especially those available in hardcopy, professionally formatted e-book, free pdf, and maybe even audiobook. When a book comes in all those formats, no matter what life throws at me, I can often access ONE of those formats, and can continue on without having to regroup and replan.

[Hunter]

3 minutes ago, Slache said:

I don't think it would fit. I think I need to lose Notgrass and maybe Latin. I haven't spoken to you lately, but oldest is in Andrew 5 and Latin 2. My girl is in Andrew as well, but I doubt she does Latin.

Hey Andew 4 is the book that introduces accents, right? I think we started Andrew 5 and that is when we switched to Machen, completely prepared to handle the accents when everyone else in the online study group was a mess over them. You would think after all these years, typing Greek accents would be easier. Sigh. I have realized that it will always be easier to study Latin than Greek just because of the accents.

Harmonicas and ocarinas get so spitty, but they are more portable than keyboards.

[Slache]

33 minutes ago, Hunter said:

Hey Andew 4 is the book that introduces accents, right? 

Sure...

My husband plays piano so the kids play piano. Oldest plays violin, too, because of course, and the next one does ukulele because she wanted something fun. I only require piano.

[AnneGG]

My answer is unschooling. I’d use the money to fund zoo and museum memberships. We’d experience a theatre performance, the symphony, and the ballet. We’d volunteer anywhere and everywhere. We’d be at the library multiple times per week. We would make a bucket list to visit all the parks, nature preserves and historical landmarks in the area. I can see myself taking everyone out to walk the city and doing a city unit study. I’d hand them the public transit schedule and have them figure it all out. Assuming the hotel had a TV, we would watch documentaries and educational shows. We’d have meal planning challenges (how would one feed a family healthfully in a long term hotel?) and thrift store scavenger hunts. 
 

My bankers boxes would be full of sketch books and art supplies. Cards, checkers and chess.  I’d want my homeschool journal/planner and the CM volumes in there too. 
 

Highschool would have to be more scheduled. I don’t have any real answers for high school as my child is only six. That time is so far away for me I can’t even imagine it. 

[Hunter]

25 minutes ago, AnneGG said:

My answer is unschooling. I’d use the money to fund zoo and museum memberships. We’d experience a theatre performance, the symphony, and the ballet. We’d volunteer anywhere and everywhere. We’d be at the library multiple times per week. We would make a bucket list to visit all the parks, nature preserves and historical landmarks in the area. I can see myself taking everyone out to walk the city and doing a city unit study. I’d hand them the public transit schedule and have them figure it all out. Assuming the hotel had a TV, we would watch documentaries and educational shows. We’d have meal planning challenges (how would one feed a family healthfully in a long term hotel?) and thrift store scavenger hunts. 
 

My bankers boxes would be full of sketch books and art supplies. Cards, checkers and chess.  I’d want my homeschool journal/planner and the CM volumes in there too. 
 

Highschool would have to be more scheduled. I don’t have any real answers for high school as my child is only six. That time is so far away for me I can’t even imagine it. 

How are unschoolers adapting in areas that are super locked down?

Has anyone else crossed state lines and been unable to get the inperson appointments necessary to get the resident status or ID that they need to gain access to specific educational opportunities, unschooling or traditional? Here the DMV finally announced that they will never reopen for walk in appointments, no matter how open the state is.

[Hunter]

When the library was closed, or I didn't have enough proof that I was living here, I signed up for Amazon unlimited. It was not nothing. When a state park was closed, I watched a live stream of a park ranger walking around the park. LOL. 

Resident rate bus pass? LOL. Totally gave up on that one. Walking is good exercise when it is below 100. Sometimes that is not until 10 PM though. LOL. 

I know both places I have been are pandemic extremes, and that moving further complicated things.

I have a relative that has been inconvenienced, but work is so busy and the company expanding so rapidly that he doesn't have time to digest the pandemic. His days are spent fighting with customs and internation tax agencies about shipping his product to their quarantined rich people that want it NOW.

[Porridge]

2 hours ago, Hunter said:

How are unschoolers adapting in areas that are super locked down?

Has anyone else crossed state lines and been unable to get the inperson appointments necessary to get the resident status or ID that they need to gain access to specific educational opportunities, unschooling or traditional? Here the DMV finally announced that they will never reopen for walk in appointments, no matter how open the state is.

We went to a state where we couldn't go in person to the DMV, but the state basically gave a free pass on a lot of their requirements during the pandemic. The library just asked for a recent utility bill as proof of residency.

[Hunter]

I wanted to rip off the mask and yank the beard of the librarian that I had to deal with. I think it took 6 trips to get him to okay my card. I held up mountains of bills and receipts and statements through the plexiglass that he rejected because the envelopes didn't pass even when the contents did pass, and vice versa. Finally he took something and treated it like it was radioactive.

Court is online, too, and if your tech and connection are not as good as your opponent, you lose. Courts will not be open for all the people being evicted.

No free passes here for the DMV. If you go to court to protest, they will reduce the fines but not excuse them. You will spend more money on data alone than you will save by protesting. We need to just pay the fine for our crime of not being served by the DMV.

It was only recently that the government agencies all announced that they will not be opening again. People were just waiting. Since I am not planning to stay here, maybe it will be better to not bother at this point.

 

[Zoo Keeper]

I'm going with the assumption that pencils, erasers, pens, notebooks, etc. do NOT have to stuffed into the boxes.  Those are a given that (hopefully) will be able to be replenished as needed.  I'll take those things in place of expensive tech any day.

I am going to empty out a box of copier paper (which is pretty close to the dimensions of a banker's box) to see what could fit in.  Back in a bit.

Edited June 7, 2021 by Zoo Keeper

[Ellie]

11 hours ago, Hunter said:

When did Writing Strands go out of print? Wow. Another one bites the dust.

I'm not sure. The author and his wife both passed away some years ago; I'm assuming their son decided to sell the business, as it were; My Father's World and another company (Master Books? I have forgotten.) apparently bought the rights...or something. MFW has left it pretty much unchanged; the other company added in Reading Strands and stuff. I can recommend the MFW books; I'm just not sure, because I haven't looked that closely, if it includes all six books.