Homeschooling - SUPPORT GROUP

[DMRippy]

Thanks!! I appreciate the links. We have to move in the next couple years and TN was such a good choice for many other reasons. I did not know about umbrella options.
I guess anything is "more" for me since I literally do nothing regarding the state. No attendance or grades or anything. But I record that stuff anyway (mostly) so it isn't exactly going to kill me.
But we miss out on being able to do sports and other good group stuff. We have to pay a lot for those opportunities to be had privately which restricts how much they can participate in.

I am not 100% sure but the attendance and grades are required by the umbrella schools..... attendance might be the state too as there is a law here about missing some number of days you can't pass school regardless of grades. That law was implemented when I was in High School and i dropped out of school because of it.... not sure that law helps anything. I eventually got my GED and then attended college..... had to stop and FINALLY got my AA Degree in 2008 in my late 30"s while working at the college. AND NOW I RAISE CHICKENS

 

[Arielle]

LOL-- the reason you cant find an answer is that the question is wrong. I too have enough back ground and the EKG section of the program was where we should have found the answer. I might play the program again when I can devote more time-- but honestly it is not worth it. VO2 test is the answer I found on line; in the program it had a child hooked up to a type of respriator amchine to collect the gasses but the woman showed the heart beat info and talked out hooking up the EKG leads . . . . oopps . . .sort of funny really. Some how it is fun to catch a teacher in an error; like it prooves we know our stuff. lol

Dyslexia--- I'm sorry I dont know a whole lot about this one, exccept that my brother has a child that struggled with this. At first the testing indicated color blindness ( WTH??) but within a few years that had the right diagnosis and was able to get him the help he needed. THey live in a state where support is not given to famiies with children with special needs. SO my SIL did what she needed to do; he went from not reading to a successful student and now that boy is in college . And some years ago that same SIL learned to be a dyslexia instructor/teacher/ mentor thru a company here in Massachusetts, so she works with other kids now too. I'm sorry I dont know more.

 

[KentuckyMom]

French Hen,
Kentucky is a great place to homeschool. All that is required is that you notify your school district at the beginning of the school year that you will be homeschooling. My husband and I always send two copies of the letter along with a SASE and a place for the school official to sign too. That way if the letter is misplaced by the school, we have a copy as well. Only once in the twelve years that we have home schooled has the letter been misplaced by the school and we just sent them a copy of the copy that we had that was signed by their official. KY wants you to keep an attendance record too, which we do,but has never asked to see it.
As for a science curriculum, we have used a few. I love A Beka science- Christian textbooks out of Pensacola Christian College in Florida. My kids really enjoy the details. My daughter, who has since graduated, really enjoyed the Apologia series by Dr.Jay Wile( Exploring Creation with...)but that is more of a highschool science. The other science that you may want to check out is the Answers in Genesis books. They have many different age levels, books, magazines, dvds, etc. ,and are always interesting.
I have a friend whose son has dyslexia and she found more success with the Math You See than any other math curriculum. As far as other subjects, I think they experimented with different curriculums. The Math You See was the only thing I ever heard her rave about.

 

[DMRippy]

Un derailing the thread:
Anyone have days when they feel like a total failure?
Edited to add: having a tough day here!! I can't help but worry all the time. Being teacher and parent is a huge responsibility. Sometimes I'm afraid I'm not doing enough

You got this! God knows what he is doing and He will enable you to be successful! Nobody can do either job better than you, you have been teaching them since they got here and so far they know everything they need to know!

 

[Arielle]

Quote: x 100

Donna is soooo right about this.

I can see where my kids struggle, and teachers at school totally miss it.

A friend was joking with our boys that they need to split right down the middle and swap a half so they will be a lot more in the middle of where they currently perform. Realize while this might sound morbid, 12 year old boys think it is really funny. Her son takes hours and hours to get his work done, while my son has it done so fast in the classroom, he is not doing his best work. ANd the teachers dont care . . . .and I cant see his work to ask him to do it again . . . I will have my work cut out for me this year getting all his teachers on board.

Moms are the greatest teacher a child will have. You will do fine-- all those questions in our head help us think thru a good approach to teach each child.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I don't have a child with dyslexia, but I now do ESL afterschool tutoring (having homeschooled and raised my own three children to adulthood), and find that those students who are dyslexic need a hands on approach, which you are using.

If you haven't done so yet, the most important thing is phonics training. I taught my kids systematic phonics (using a combination of the Spaulding flash cards with Phonics Pathways). When I had a question about one of my dyslexic students awhile back, I discovered from a close friend who is a dyslexia reading specialist that what they do is teach systematic phonics. She said I have everything I need to know to teach a dyslexic child by teaching systematic phonics....then continue with hands on approach.

We liked Bob Jones science for the elementary grades. Colorful visual textbook with short lessons with a hands on demonstration that was reasonable to put together and displayed the concepts well. I picked a book that worked for my kids (who were over a 4 year spread...I picked a book in the grade level in the middle). Good creationist approach, and good science.

By the time we got to high school, we switched to Apologia. Apologia now has elementary level science which might be good to look into.

Sounds like you've done a good job with math. Miquon Math is another manipulative based program (not cheap in my memory). We have had a good experience with MCP math workbooks when you are ready for a workbook. They are very visual (though after k-1 no longer manipulative per se).

And those tough days...they come and go. It usually means you are trying too hard and you need relax a bit on your expectations or take a "fun" break. I have done years of homeschool leadership and counseling, and when a mother is worrying that she is not doing enough and having "tough" days, it typically means she is over worrying and stressing out too much and trying to do too much. Take a breath. Enjoy your kids. Let learning become more natural again. Learning and teaching has ebb and flow like the tides and seasons. Remember you have 12 years not minutes to teach them what you want them to know. You can't force a rose to bloom faster than it will naturally (though you do need to water and care for it and prune and guide).

Blessings
Lady of McCamley

 

[Arielle]

On another note, I stopped in at the library today-- to learn how to order library books via interlibrary loan via the internet. Ya, I'm still in the dark ages.

 

[Arielle]

Perhaps you can donate them to a food pantry. Or contact the local church as they are in the know on families that would benefit.

Donna-- good luck on the remodeling and I pray for a quick sale.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Well, I have horses and they are all bigger than me BUT I am the boss. As for my kids, I have the car and I'm the driver, lol. Providing structured time is helpful, and having rewards. Rewards work at any age. Know what your kids like. Right now Ice cream is big incendtive for my kids. Or here it can be no Sat night movie ( at home) unless chores are well done all week.

Gave my youngest 2 worksheets to do enroute to a raking job ( paid work) and hoping the boring 40 minutes will entice him to get the 8 review math problems done. Otherwise, he will need to do them first thing when he arrives home.

This same son has an Interest Fair project to do. Which means mom does a lot of research at the computer and pulls him over to show him the best stuff and offer ideas. One book is required for a source and not WIki. I had him use WIKI to start as it is reader friendly format and honestly, I havent found anything that is really wrong in the subjects I do know something about. ( DId find a few facts a bit off in a TIMES magazine once. .. .. so I dont think WIki is as bad as it made out to be. ) Having the kids use many sources is always a good thing. In the past we have taken the kids to local places: son made a copy of a monument in Boston, so DH took kids to the abandoned quarry to see where the granite was cut.

Older son used chicken eggs and then chicken breeds for 2 speeches for Boy Scout merit badge ( Public Speaking) and giving him a subject he knows well really helps him with public speaking--- which is difficult for most of us!!

You can take control, even if you feel you dont have it right now.

 

[DMRippy]

I hit the MOTHER load of school books today. We have a great used bookstore here and seems like someone just dumped a bunch of school books in the free bin 2 arm loads later I was in the store. Picked up a bunch of good books for $25 another SCORE!.... then as I was leaving there was a woman in the parking lot with some HUGE books like teachers use in front of the class.... she was a second grade teacher and they would not buy her big books! She sold me ALL of them for $10 it was about 20 books. One was on the human body, atlas, solar system, math, vocabulary, and just some reg reading books!

Now I just need a library to store them all in.