Homeschooling - SUPPORT GROUP

[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.

 

[French Hen]

Thanks!!
My husband and I really prayed a lot about homeschooling and definitely felt the call to do this. I need to have more faith that God knows what He is doing! Thano you for that. I know I feel this call so it can't be wrong.

 

[French Hen]

I should keep a journal. When I look back to where we were when we came out of school (my first grader crying every single day and shoving my second grader into the school building...) I know we have come so far. And my girls love school and love learning now so I should stop looking at schedules and thinking in terms of volume being the only measure of success. I just like to worry! ;-) I think being pregnant makes me a tad emotional... Anyone have a cure for that? you know... besides patience and delivery ... haha.

 

[Arielle]

lol, sorry I cant help you re the pregnancy. I do think because you are a caring parent, that you will spend a lot of time thinking about how this effects your family and each child and yourself. THat is evaluation. I rarely worry-- I think intently about a situation for a looong time. lol

My 2 boys can be very different in their interests and their abilities. ANd I bet few people at school know they are brothers because they dont look alike either.

I work with each the same way and when that doesnot work, I look for a hook: what will interest him to keep him working thru the whole project. THis is the plus of working with our own children-- we know how they tick.

I love your idea of a journal!!

 

[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]

Bill Nye the Science Guy--these are funny and silly and well worth vviewing. I looked into the material on the dvd and there is a list of questins with answers on the dvd itself; and a cd-rom section that I did not check out but is set up for teachers.

At the library I searched for what was available in Massachusetts thru the interlibrary loan system: some 200 Bill Nye listings. Many of his works are HS level material.

On MOnday night, older son will be taking an ARt class at the library for free.

 

[Arielle]

I have researched this site for a couple days and so far none of the experiements are suitable for materials commonly found around the home; need specialized equipmentand solutions. http://highschoolchemistryguide.com/

 

[DMRippy]

Sorry to be MIA, hubby had surgery last week and we have been so busy getting chickens ready I have not had much extra time.

I have been looking at online curricula like a mad woman. I tried to register for an umbrella school but that didn't work and I have not had time to call them and get it fixed. I need to do that so the school work we do I can count for attendance. Tonight I worked on getting the SCHOOL ROOM ready..... pleased with how that is going. Got the white board and world/US maps up. Calendar will be next. A few things are not fitting in the room like I would like but I think I will end up moving some things out, like a toy box. I don't really want them to play in there. There is a computer that we need to get hooked back up and connected to the TV somehow. (older computer probably no HDMI port) We also will be hooking up the piano to the computer (I hope) if not we have a free piano program on Youtube that seems like a good program. Now I can get the bookshelves and put the rest of the books up. I have plenty of room for all the STUFF I have accumulated. Now..... where did I put those casters for the plastic drawers for crafts supplies......

GETTING READY TO START SCHOOL

HOW IS EVERYONE ELSE DOING WITH GETTING STARTED?

 

[Arielle]

As you know my kids are headed back to public school in less than 2 weeks but I too feel the need for a better study area. I like your idea that only study and learning in the one room to increase the focus. I do wish I had run computer cables into all rooms but I guess that is the purpose of WiFi. No WIFI yet though.

Plan to set up another computer.

Need to put dictionaries and supplies out into the open rather than in a closet. THe kids dont seem to use items they cant see.

 

[DMRippy]

As you know my kids are headed back to public school in less than 2 weeks but I too feel the need for a better study area. I like your idea that only study and learning in the one room to increase the focus. I do wish I had run computer cables into all rooms but I guess that is the purpose of WiFi. No WIFI yet though.

Plan to set up another computer.

Need to put dictionaries and supplies out into the open rather than in a closet. THe kids dont seem to use items they cant see.

I do need to add dictionaries we will soon be running into new words and I want to get them in the habit of looking things up.