Toot your own horn today! What is one thing you are SO glad you did?

[msjones]

What is one thing you've done or taught that has really brought success to your home school? Maybe it's a particular curriculum. Maybe it's part of your schedule, or philosophy, or a book that really helped you 'turn things around' in your teaching.

 

I am so glad to have implemented brief (about 5 minutes) daily practice of previously taught arithmetic skills.

 

:lurk5:

[nukeswife]

I'm glad we implemented Super Science Saturdays and Super History Sundays.

 

This means we do all our science and history for the week on the days above. This has given us the chance to really enjoy those subjects because we don't feel rushed to get them in, and they don't get pushed to the side when LA and Math take a bit longer that day.

[YHZNS]

We went to go to a 4 day homeschool week and split phonics into 3 very short (5 minute lessons) throughout the day.

 

Rebecca

[Miss Marple]

I'm glad I made each son do 15 minutes of typing instruction per day (Typing Instructor Deluxe). They are proficient typists by 6-7th grade. One son even broke the 60 wpm mark in 8th grade. Dh remembers paying typists to type his papers in college because he never had typing instruction.

[angela&4boys]

Not exactly tooting my own horn I suppose, but I embraced the high value of copywork, dictation, and narration. I couldn't get over how simple it was and thought it couldn't be as effective as everyone touted.

 

However, after reading many CM books as well as WTM and WWE, I am more convinced than ever. We have implemented them regularly in our homeschool for almost two years now and I'm seeing the fruits. Everything from grammar, composition, punctuation, penmanship, and vocabulary are covered in a natural and thorough way.:)

Edited February 2, 2009 by angela&4boys

[msjones]

So, 3 replies about time...

 

brief, frequent lessons for some things, longer stretches for others.

 

I love the idea of the whole week of history or science in one day. Not only would it allow us to really enjoy it, but my husband could join us, and it would free up more time during the week.

[Aurelia]

I'm so glad we switched to Right Start for math. No more tears at math time and now she LIKES it!

[Nan in Mass]

Dusted off my high school French, gritted my teeth, and spoke it to my son unless we were doing school. I only did it a short while, but it got my son to the point where he could read children's books in French and watch movies and learn that way. Regret - that I got lazy and stopped speaking it, and that I gave up on his older brother because it was hard to say the more complicated things I needed to say to him.

[rafiki]

.

[Caroline4kids]

After six years of CMing with books I picked out, I am ELATED that I finally went with Sonlight. I don't have the burden of planning anymore.

 

Latina Christiana has been wonderful. My kids are constantly noticing derivatives which my husband finds terribly amusing.

 

Also, doing real dictation with the kids has made a lot of difference both with their confidence and ability. I had been in a copywork rut and now am so happy to see progress.

[elegantlion]

What is one thing you've done or taught that has really brought success to your home school? Maybe it's a particular curriculum. Maybe it's part of your schedule, or philosophy, or a book that really helped you 'turn things around' in your teaching.

 

 

 

Reading and implementing The Latin-Centered Curriculum. I really could make a list of 50 ways LCC has revolutionized our schooling, but I won't. :D Suffice to say it fits our homeschooling/family lifestyle to a T.

[Stacia]

This year, I'm so glad we tried IEW's Poetry memorization program.

 

It has been so easy & my kids have loved it. I'm amazed at how well it has gone & how proud they are of themselves for doing it too.

[Jen in PA]

I am glad that I keep pushing DD even when I have worries that she won't retain what we are covering -- she proves me wrong all the time. I thought she wouldn't get much out of covering multiplication last month, and now she keeps doing problems on her own on the whiteboard. I also doubted she would get much out of Tales From the Odyssey, and I almost postponed it for the next round of Ancients, but she is doing amazing narrations! I am slowly learning to let her set her own pace, which is hard for me after my years as a classroom teacher without that luxury.

[SonshineLearner]

I'm glad that I had my mom and girls do latin...so that when I found the LCC book...she's on schedule with language.... I'm glad that I decided to full time homeschool my daughter this year. I'm glad that we have our Classical Conversations group this year. For the first time, my extrovert little girl...commented that she finally has real friends. (Of course, she has others, too....she's 10...that's how they think:-) I'm glad that we've been able to keep her in the same ballet class for 6 years.... I'm glad I didn't send my crazy monkey boy to kindergarten. (They'd have to strap him down!)

Carrie:-)

[classics4us]

Well as a family I am sooo thankful that we joined our local co-op! It has been such a blessing to me and the kids. We have met and made so many good friends because of it. The academics are nice too. My kids get to take classes we don't normally do.

 

As for individual needs, I am glad we switched Dd 9 to Primary Mathematics. We used to use Saxon which I love but dd wasn't a big fan of it. Yes she was learning math and doing very well but she dreaded math and would literally take 3 hours to finish it. Now that we use Primary, i. e. singapore, she now takes about an hour and that includes me going over the lesson with her. :)

[Jenny in Florida]

. . . that we made the decision early on to emphasize good work habits. Even back in the days when we were doing first-grade workbooks, I never let my daughter walk away from things unfinished. And we always had a routine for doing schoolwork first. We've kept up the same requirements for my son, too.

 

And it all really pays off.

[jacqui in mo]

I'm implementing the "Nurtured Child" approach to discipline/interaction with my youngest son whom I'm thinking may be ADD. Even being only on step one (plus a little of one other step) I'm feeling much more positive about my reactions to him & his responses to me. In fact, I'm not "reacting" but making a much more calm, positive environment! Hope I can keep it up. Jacqui

[Willow]

Math u See....Math U See....math U See

 

Finally I see too ;)

[Tree House Academy]

I am so glad I ditched Calvert after 8 weeks and went with my own curriculum. It has made our days and our lives so much better!

[dragons in the flower bed]

For several years I put off having the children learn any instrument because I did not think we would be successful if I compromised our standards. Well, in a moment of abject poverty, I decided that we may never be able to afford a piano and lessons, and I did compromise. My oldest loved the first lessons, took the book from me and flew through it.

 

So, we're using an electronic keyboard instead of a piano, and I'm teaching the kids out of Pianimals instead of hiring a teacher. But I'm listening to my little one work on an adaptation of part of Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite now, and it sounds so delightful.

[lionfamily1999]

So, I'm just glad I took that leap and got ds out of p.s. and here with me.

 

:D

[Maria/ME]

I"m glad I "let go" of the need to have the perfect schedule and am leaning towards a more unschooling approach. A HUGE difference in our life and learning. In fact,they are more cohesive than separate.

 

I'm glad I took a long hard look at what I DO right and not what I do wrong. Perspective is EVERYTHING.

 

Not that I don't own curriculum, mind you....I'm glad I looked into Living Math. I'm glad that I found Ellen McHenry...and I'm glad I'm chilling out and having FUN with my child instead of having the need to be her instructor. I will be her facilitator always, but she is instructing herself because she is brilliant as all children are!

[amsunshine]

Another one here who is so glad she decided to stop trying to find the right teacher and started teaching her own dc piano with Pianimals. We are having so much fun together and now I couldn't imagine having it any other way!

[calledtobehome]

I am so glad that I didn't send by son to K in PS. I'm glad that my boys are best friends(they do fight at times) and love each other. They are 16 months apart and I'm glad that we have made the decision to keep them home as long as possible!

 

I'm glad that I'm learning not to compare my kids with other kids!

I'm glad we school 4 days a week and only have one activity outside the home for both boys together.

 

I'm glad we have an awesome library and we use it obessively! My boys love books!

 

Finally,

Mom is happy to be learning again!

 

:lol:I could go on and on

[Carol in Cal.]

I'm so glad that I promised my DD that I would always read to her whether she learned to read or not. Now at 12 1/2 she still loves to be read to, and it makes for some very natural conversations about books that are 'fun' in addition to her regular literature studies. I tend to choose books that would be a bit challenging for her to read herself, and so I think that this has extended her vocabulary and knowledge in a really easy way.

 

I'm so glad that I decided to slow down in SOTW1 and intersperse it with Bible rather than trying to get through it in a year. That was a very rich 18 months that integrated Bible knowledge right into DD's favorite subject, and the fact that I was bold enough to make this decision against other advice and have it work out so well gave me more confidence to make other decisions that are righter for our family than they are consistent with WTM or other input.

 

I'm so glad that I decided not to force DD to proofread all of her writing from the beginning, but realized that I needed to separate the LA work she hated (proofreading, spelling, grammar, handwriting) from the LA work that she loved (composition, literature). I'm so glad that this worked out and that her skills have finally converged without any loss of her writing 'voice'.

[hihoboneo]

I'm glad we take the time and effort to attend a weekly coop.!!!

[Alphabetika]

I love reading all of these ideas!

 

One decision I'm very pleased with is allowing my dd to take Latin online. Her studies have taken off and she loves it, and it's taken the responsibility off of me and put it with an expert.

 

One decision I'm currently implementing is designing a schedule that honors my younger dd's request to work more independently.

[MOHeather]

I'm most grateful that I took that step of faith and obedience and brought my boys home from ps. Some days are not easy, but there is such joy in having them home with me.

 

I am glad we have our "morning meeting". It is our time as a family to read the bible, learn and practice a weekly hymn, have a short devotional and pray. Many thoughtful questions and discussions have come out of this 15 minute time. I hate to think of not having this time with my boys each day if they weren't home.

 

Also, I LOVE MFW! It has been a great fit for this first time homeschooling mama.

 

Heather

[lionfamily1999]

I'm most grateful that I took that step of faith and obedience and brought my boys home from ps. Some days are not easy, but there is such joy in having them home with me.

 

 

Heather

:iagree:

[Night Elf]

I asked my DH to step up and be a partner with me.

 

When I was doing it all on my own, I faltered too much. I skipped, trimmed, modified and repeatedly wondered why our school time was so out of balance. DH is now in the room with us, even though he's working full-time, and is a part of our homeschool. He keeps us focused and on track. He keeps our curriculum consistent when I want to change things every couple of weeks. :tongue_smilie:

[Catherine]

Encouraging my oldest contrarian to continue violin. He loved it, I knew it, but he has a habit of quitting things when they become difficult.

 

He's self-teaching Bach's Chaconne now and I am so thrilled he stuck it out to this point. He really has acquired skill, become fairly proficient, and is happy to be in the place.

 

I want to respond to the person who said her boys were best friends. My younger two are too, even though they are almost 5 years apart. It makes me so happy. I absolutely love to see them solving conflicts, looking out for each other. It completely warms my heart.

[Guest 4boys]

I am just so glad my boys are all home together. My oldest ADORES his baby brother though there are more than six years between them. He wouldn't get so much opportunity to love on him if he were away at school. It does indeed warm the heart!

[BlessedMom]

Carol in Cal

 

"I'm so glad that I decided to slow down in SOTW1 and intersperse it with Bible rather than trying to get through it in a year. That was a very rich 18 months that integrated Bible knowledge right into DD's favorite subject, and the fact that I was bold enough to make this decision against other advice and have it work out so well gave me more confidence to make other decisions that are righter for our family than they are consistent with WTM or other input."

 

 

 

 

I would love to know more about how you included the Bible in your study of SOTW 1. I have wanted to do this myself and would appreciate any advice you could share about how you accomplished combining the two.

 

Thanks for your time.

[Melissa in St Louis]

We have been using Biblioplan to incorporate the two. We do not go as "fast" as Biblioplan lesson plans do, but we do the order they suggest. I hope that makes sense.:tongue_smilie:

[angela&4boys]

I would love to know more about how you included the Bible in your study of SOTW 1. I have wanted to do this myself and would appreciate any advice you could share about how you accomplished combining the two.

 

Not Carol, but we incorporated Bible and SOTW 1 via Biblioplan like Melissa in St. Louis mentioned. (We've taken it slowly as well.)

http://www.biblioplan.net/

 

Next year we'll use Veritas Press History Cards with SOTW to incorporate Bible.

You can find that schedule here along with many other SOTW related schedules. The ladies here shared it with me many moons ago:

http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/SOTWmenu.htm

 

Hth :),

Edited February 3, 2009 by angela&4boys

[LadyAberlin]

The 3 greatest things I did last yr.

Math: I purchased Rightstart which was not working and ds was in tears and I hated it. We hadn't got very far in it and I decided to go ahead and ditch it on the spur of the moment bought MUS Primer. It was wonderful. being overly paranoid about math I also purchased Singapore 1A and Horizons K. Singapore didn't work and we love Horizons. We are doing a combo of MUS Alpha and Horizons K and it takes all of 10 minutes to do them together and ds loves it.

Language Arts: I purchased Alphabet Island Level 1 that worked wonders in his reading. We didn't care for level 2 so we are on a search again. I purchased FLL1+2 on a whim just to see what it was like. We love that and it is staying for keeps.

Art: Watch me draw Series they are wonderful

Preschool: Learn and Grow

So mine was all curriculum that worked. I think I'm getting a feel for my ds learning style.:001_smile:

[woolybear]

Discovery journals! We just started these a couple of weeks ago and they have been so much fun. I am using Wild Days: Creating Discovery Journals by Karen Rackliff.

 

Also, lots of great read alouds. Last week we finished Pinky Pye. This week we read Owls in the Family. Not sure what we'll do next.

 

Thanks for giving me the chance to toot my own horn (and read everyone else's tootin) because I need the bouying up right now.

[sweetbaby]

[/url]

"What is one thing you are SO glad you did?"

 

Let things go!:) I don't try to cross every "T" or dot every "i" anymore. I have learned my limitations the hard way. :banghead:

 

I'm also glad that we tried My Father's World this year because it has been such a blessing to us. There's nothing wrong with "open and go".;)

[Plaid Dad]

It's not specific to homeschooling, but I think it's made our lives a thousand times easier: not having a TV.

[WTMindy]

I think I do a good job with memory work.

[birchbark]

Times Tales.

[BlessedMom]

Melissa & Angela,

 

Thank you so much for sharing your recommendations. Can you please tell me a little more about Biblioplan? Pros and cons?

 

Thanks for your time.

[CalicoKat]

setting a time limit in our daily schedule for getting the 3Rs done -- and then moving onto to rest (History, Science, Art, Prima Latina, etc.)

 

The kids have discovered they CAN get their 3R's done in the time limit provided. They are saying that they enjoy doing the extras.

 

It's also probably working too because there are more bigguns than littles in our house now. :001_smile:

[CalicoKat]

I'm glad I made each son do 15 minutes of typing instruction per day (Typing Instructor Deluxe). They are proficient typists by 6-7th grade. One son even broke the 60 wpm mark in 8th grade. Dh remembers paying typists to type his papers in college because he never had typing instruction.

This is soo encouraging! I ordered typing software last week and now I have a plan! Thanks.

[Carol in Cal.]

Carol in Cal

 

 

 

I would love to know more about how you included the Bible in your study of SOTW 1. I have wanted to do this myself and would appreciate any advice you could share about how you accomplished combining the two.

 

Thanks for your time.

 

I can tell you the method I used, but I didn't keep track of our exact readings in order.

 

I got the idea from Rhemaword, which related Nineveh in Jonah to Nineveh in SOTW. Wow, I thought, I can figure all these correlations out!

 

SOTW1 has the dates covered in each chapter listed in the back of the book. I have a great study Bible, the Concordia Self-Study NIV Bible, that has study helps before each book. Those include scholarship on author, time it was written, and time period in which events happened. So I used that to intersperse the Bible with SOTW.

 

I started with the first 11-12 books of Genesis--up to but not including Abraham's journeys. Then I switched back to SOTW and read up to Abraham. Then I read the story of Abraham from the actual Bible, and continued with the other stories of the Patriarchs through Joseph. Then we went back to SOTW and read some more. Etc.

 

I used library books to enhance our coverage of these times. There are a ton of resources on Israel and on Egypt. Mesopotamia is more difficult, but not impossible.

 

I continued like that through all of the historical books of the Old and New Testaments. The tricky part was deciding what to do with the non-historical books. I was very selective in the Wisdom literature and the Prophets. In the Wisdom books, we read a children's book of proverbs, and some famous psalms--1,8, 22, 23, 46, 100, 137, 150. I read the story of Job and also how he prayed to God at the end when God showed Himself to him. In the prophets I read all of the major prophecies of Christ, the parts of Amos that talk about social justice, lots of Jeremaiah, and all of Obadiah and Malachi.

 

In the New Testament, besides the history stuff, I read in themes. Phillippians (joy), Ephesians (faith), Galatians (who hath bewitched you?), 1 John (love), 1 Corinthians (resurrection, love). In Revelation, I read part of the vision so that DD could picture it.

 

This was all pretty rich, and I would not have missed it for anything! It was SO cool when Acts talked about the people of Athens, and DD knew exactly what they meant from our prior SOTW studies about Athens and Sparta.

[Kristiana]

Bach's Chaconne?! That's amazing!

 

This year, I'm really glad we discovered books on cd. We drive 120 miles (roundtrip) to Grandma's house every Wednesday and we're getting through a lot of great children's classics this way. It saves my voice and the boys look forward to the drive. When we've had longer road trips, we all look forward to listening to great literature in the car and I love it! There's never any talk of having to get a dvd player in the car to survive vacations. :001_smile:

[Karen sn]

I read Summerhill by A.S. Neil when my daughter was only a few months old.

Then I let her attend a school based on his philosophy while we homeschooled.

 

I also did not get serious about Kindergarten until she was 6 years old. She was *not* ready at 5yo. So for the first half of the school year that she "should" have been in Kindergarten I let her play all day long catching frogs and lizards with my friend's son while I was at work part time. The second half of that year was when I enrolled her in the alternative school based on Summerhill. Kids have freedom to play all day and self govern. I loved it. She really thrived there.

 

And I have always allowed learning to come at it's own pace.

I would rather teach in 2 years with no tears what the schools try to teach in 6 years of frustration.

 

The other day I found a "Mrs. bd eyes" (it's to help kids remember b from d) and I saw that it was printed in January of last year. I realized at that moment just how far we have come!

 

I think the most important thing for me is the realization that our learning is organic! I have gone with my gut and then later learned the theories are out there that support me. Like delaying formal math and grammar on paper - but you still do all kinds of educational life stuff that prepares for it.

 

For the first time in my homeschooling career I feel like I KNOW that I have done the right thing. I am very confident in my decision to do it my way. I used to wonder a little...but now I see the kids who are educated in the "faster" method and realize that they *don't* really spell any better than my kid, they don't understand math AT ALL, and unfortunately they have had their natural inquisitive minds trampled on and they have lost the love of learning.

 

ok....rant over.

i love homeschooling the organic way.

[Jumping In Puddles]

I am glad I taught my son to write his letters before we started phonics. They are two different skills that are often taught together but my son just could not do it. So I am glad that I didn't push it and now that we're doing phonics we don't have to worry about the handwriting at all.

 

 

 

I want to respond to the person who said her boys were best friends. My younger two are too, even though they are almost 5 years apart. It makes me so happy. I absolutely love to see them solving conflicts, looking out for each other. It completely warms my heart.

 

I also just wanted to say that my boy and girl are best friends (14 months apart) and people seem surprised by that! It is heartwarming!

[Peela]

Story of the World and the 4 year history cycle. It has been the centre pin of what we have done for 5.5 years (finished SOTW but still doing the 4 year cycle) and no matter what I have changed, that has stayed the same.

 

The other thing that comes to mind is simply the copywork, dictation and narrations I have had my learning challenged, writing challenged son do over the years. Its not that he is now a brilliant writer- but he can write, and the lady who diagnosed him dyslexic told me whatever I was doing, just keep doing it, it is working. he can read very well, he can spell well, he knows his basic grammar....its just writing that has challenged him enormously. So glad he is not in school.

[iquilt]

This is a really nice thread to read - I'm enjoying all of the positive thoughts. My contribution is simply that DH is constantly amazed at what the kids know and how naturally learning is integrated into our day to day life. Yes we have a schedule of seat work that we do everyday M-F but even when we take 2 weeks off we do so much. We value the school time as well as the free time, they are so creative with empty boxes and toilet paper tubes! If you had asked me 3 years ago I would have told you how excited I was to send our oldest off to school, but now I am so happy they are all home with me. Next month is K registration day for the ps and I'm very happy to instead compose her "opt-out" letter.