Homeschooling - SUPPORT GROUP

[DMRippy]

I just found this forum and thought I'd stop by to say Hello and show my support. My wife and I have home schooled our four children since day one. They are now 10, 11, 13, and 14. I was in charge of the morning session when they were little, but since my wife retired she pretty much does everything and I help with "motivation." We did it on our own using various curriculum instead of just one. Then my wife joined a home school co-op, Classical Conversations, and it has really enhanced the experience and given the children some classroom exposure and exposure to specialized instruction and labs one day a week. Homeschooling continues to benefit our family in ways we never even considered at the start.

Love that! Welcome! Please share more about Classical Conversations and how it works for you!

 

[petrel]

I apologize, but when I consulted my wife for help answering your question, I found that I had my terminology wrong. She participates in a home school group, not a co-op. Classical Conversations is the program that they use.

I'm just a chicken enthusiast stopping by to show my support. For the nuts and bolts of CC, I'd have to get my wife online. Unfortunately, being a home schooling mom, she has little time for online forums. Since I can't get her to weigh in, I'll have to recommend a visit to classicalconversations.com. I'll add that becoming part of the homeschool group, instead of "going it alone" has been a great source of support for her and a great opportunity for the children and the parents to interact with families with similar values.

 

[PlaidBattleAxe]

Joining this group! I am entering into my second official year of homeschooling my children. My daughter finished kindergarten and has begun her first grade curriculum this summer, while my son will be officially enrolled in kindergarten starting this fall. I am glad to have found this thread.

 

[DMRippy]

Joining this group! I am entering into my second official year of homeschooling my children. My daughter finished kindergarten and has begun her first grade curriculum this summer, while my son will be officially enrolled in kindergarten starting this fall. I am glad to have found this thread.

You and I are about the same place. I have a kindergartner and a preschooler..... 5 and 3. Sounds like you are going to school year round! I am too! We can take breaks when WE want and not the schools.

What curricula are you using and how do you like it? I am hodge podging mine together and going at his pace.

 

[PlaidBattleAxe]

You and I are about the same place. I have a kindergartner and a preschooler..... 5 and 3. Sounds like you are going to school year round! I am too! We can take breaks when WE want and not the schools.

What curricula are you using and how do you like it? I am hodge podging mine together and going at his pace.

I loooove being able to take it at their pace. I'm using Calvert (it's provided through my district--last year for kindergarten I had used Little Lincoln, but I think Calvert allows more for personal growth) but I'm only using it as supplement. I too am hodge podging mine as I go. I took two months off (May and June) to get stuff done with the garden and establishing the chickens but I'm really looking forward to starting up on July 1st (just to give myself time to compile some lesson plans and a basic structure). My favorite part of all of this is that I am watching my kids blossom into their own unique strengths, and that I can titrate it as I go (i.e. 3 hours on Monday or 6 hours on Wednesday, and field trips on Thursday, etc.). How is it going with the two ages for you? With mine my youngest (my son) would get frustrated when my daughter excelled at something that he struggled with, and he would be very discouraged. They eventually found a rhythm that wasn't a competition, but it definitely took me a lot of time (and more patience than I had a lot of days!!). I am going to enroll them both into 4H this fall for some extra socialization with other children, as I had to wait for my son to turn 5 (they won't accept 4 year olds in my area).

 

[Arielle]

During the last wek of public school I had to pop into the office to get the extra meds for my son and I was talking to the school secretary-- a gem of a woman-- and I said my kids would be going to summer school. I didn't realize the priciple was walking by behind me, and she agreed that kids should be in school year round, no summer breaks. I know that school spends the first month + reviewing and getting kids up to speed when school starrts up again.

We worked on COol math yesterday-- reviewing the fractions for my 4th grader and working on polynumials for my 6th grader. I have made a couple problems for the latter to work on tomorrow. He is a math head and can see the answers very fast HOWEVER the MCAS testing requires written verbal detail on several of the test questions. I cant remember my boss every asking how I got the answers. . . . . but anyway, makes my son think and have to work extra hard at useing his verbal skills . As a young student he could not verbalize his process for getting the answer; that was a skill that took time to develop long after his math abilities.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
We have not started anything STRUCTURED really. No competitions yet but he is only 3. In ways they are still on the same levels.... the older one is ok with reviewing shapes and colors and all the basics with the little one. The older one also reads to the little one so far it is working fine. I love the whole idea of letting them learn what they want when they want and by any means I can get the point over..... Biology and trips to the zoo kind of things. I am sure that will get a little more complex as they get older.....

 

[Arielle]

I haven't explored this site much-- but it might be useful to someone.

http://www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com/2011/02/the-joy-of-geography/
Under this particular page is a variety of options based on age and interest


Here is a site I find very useful for MANY reasons.Everything from handwriting and printable lined sheets to download/print to lesson planners and so much more. A mom that put all her homeschooling info on line!!!!


http://donnayoung.org/forms/planners/index.htm



My experience with handwriting---

When I worked as a sub aid to the teacher, I was appalled at the teaching method for handwriting. I saw many grades at work in a week and over the course of a year, realized that the system in use had inherant problems. By 1st grade children had set their way of forming a letter and it was often awkward or not condusicive to writting multiple letters side by side as the spacing would be difficult.

In the preschool letters are fun and an art form, but IMO when letter writing is becoming serious, IMO it is important to help each child master the flow of the letter making process. Meaning most letters work better when formed in a specific manner.

Lettering works better if started on the far left of the letter, the captial A for example can be started in two ways to work: start at the base of the left "leg" or start at the top of the teepee. THe latter requires more planning to allow enough space for the slant to the left-- this can be diffficult for some children. WHen formed by it self it doesnot mattter so much which way, but what if there is another letter to the left already ( future writing) the starting point of the teepee type needs to start in the middle of the letter location.--this requires more p lanning by the child, whereas the start at the lower leg sets the position easily.

I'm not saying if one is right or wrong but each has a difference. ANd an impact on future writing skills when letters are placed side by side to make words.

The letter C can be started from top to bottom or bottom to top. Again this is a hard letter as distance needs to be preplanned and starting at the top keeps the side of the hand sliding on the paper off the just written letter and prevents smudging.


B is an easy one to see: first the long line the attach the bubbles. THough Ihave seen children put the bubbles down first then add the line . . .

SO you can see angain why IMO I think kids need help learning to form the letters.
Just food for thought . .


THis might be of value-- I"ve not explored it as my kids are beyond starting to write-- but I would love to hear feed back.
http://donnayoung.org/penmanship/manuscript-practice.htm


Here is DOnna Yongs view on copy writing and how to introduce it and use it. I would pick lwtters and words already mastered from the handwriting section.

http://donnayoung.org/english/grammar/copy-work-dictation.htm

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I haven't explored this site much-- but it might be useful to someone.

http://www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com/2011/02/the-joy-of-geography/
Under this particular page is a variety of options based on age and interest


Here is a site I find very useful for MANY reasons.Everything from handwriting and printable lined sheets to download/print to lesson planners and so much more. A mom that put all her homeschooling info on line!!!!


http://donnayoung.org/forms/planners/index.htm



My experience with handwriting---

When I worked as a sub aid to the teacher, I was appalled at the teaching method for handwriting. I saw many grades at work in a week and over the course of a year, realized that the system in use had inherant problems. By 1st grade children had set their way of forming a letter and it was often awkward or not condusicive to writting multiple letters side by side as the spacing would be difficult.

In the preschool letters are fun and an art form, but IMO when letter writing is becoming serious, IMO it is important to help each child master the flow of the letter making process. Meaning most letters work better when formed in a specific manner.

Lettering works better if started on the far left of the letter, the captial A for example can be started in two ways to work: start at the base of the left "leg" or start at the top of the teepee. THe latter requires more planning to allow enough space for the slant to the left-- this can be diffficult for some children. WHen formed by it self it doesnot mattter so much which way, but what if there is another letter to the left already ( future writing) the starting point of the teepee type needs to start in the middle of the letter location.--this requires more p lanning by the child, whereas the start at the lower leg sets the position easily.

I'm not saying if one is right or wrong but each has a difference. ANd an impact on future writing skills when letters are placed side by side to make words.

The letter C can be started from top to bottom or bottom to top. Again this is a hard letter as distance needs to be preplanned and starting at the top keeps the side of the hand sliding on the paper off the just written letter and prevents smudging.


B is an easy one to see: first the long line the attach the bubbles. THough Ihave seen children put the bubbles down first then add the line . . .

SO you can see angain why IMO I think kids need help learning to form the letters.
Just food for thought . .


THis might be of value-- I"ve not explored it as my kids are beyond starting to write-- but I would love to hear feed back.
http://donnayoung.org/penmanship/manuscript-practice.htm


Here is DOnna Yongs view on copy writing and how to introduce it and use it. I would pick lwtters and words already mastered from the handwriting section.

http://donnayoung.org/english/grammar/copy-work-dictation.htm

I agree handwriting is sadly neglected now in the public schools, and life in general!

When I was a girl in kindergarten/first grade (many moons ago), handwriting was instructed and practiced daily. Not so any more, not in our technical age with keyboards and text pads.

I really like the Donna Young website for many forms and links.

We also had great success using the Getty-Dubay method of writing, developed by several teachers here in the Northwest. It allows a neat italic print that flows naturally into an italic script. It was the only way I could get my son to develop neat writing (and lose the grip of death on his pencil).

You can see a sample of the Getty-Dubay below...just start at an early level....the work books (I think there are 6? in the program) progress in difficulty by merely increasing the length of copy work and the material reading level for copy. I think Amazon sells the work books as do many curriculum stores.

http://www.handwritingsuccess.com/images/sample pages/Write Now samples.pdf

This site also has some handwriting sample comparisons of styles and free copy sheets:
http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/printables/printablescopywork.html

Lady of McCamley

 

[Arielle]

guest hollow is very interesting-- found a passport that my kids can use to study world geography in a more entertaining method than my 6th grader suffered thru.

I'm thinking of having the kids whirl the globe and put a finger on a country to study . . . use the passport as the next step and then work on a list of questions about the area . . . .