Homeschool Newbie Questions

ABeka vs. SonLight?

2010-01-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

Question:
How do you compare ABeka to SonLight? 2nd-3rd grade level, if that helps narrow it down some.
Which do you like better? Why?

Answers:
I haven't seen the A beka 2nd/3rd grade but have many friends currently using it. From what I gather, the spelling/vocabulary is not representative of where a child this age should be (using words that are far more advanced). I also hear A beka's math is very repetative, but so is Saxon. (Sonlight recommends several different math options including Horizons, Saxon, and so many more.) The next big difference is the amount of busy work for the kids (worksheets) and the amount of time needed to complete a day's work. From what I understand A beka takes 4-6 hours a day to complete one 2nd or 3rd grade day of work. Sonlight is only 2-2.5 hours. Sonlight has limited amount of worksheets that are optional, and used to reinforce the books used for instruction. Award winning chapter books are used for Sonlight as read-alouds, which enables parents more bonding time with their child. Most who use Sonlight LOVE this aspect. Some think it requires too much time from the parents. In reality, reading one chapter a day to your child from a chapter book is not that much time. Beyond this, I'm not sure of the differences.

I have friends using A beka for their 2nd and 3rd graders. I continue to hear about how much work and time is involved as well as their success and struggles. One family even had to go back and repeat 1st grade material and later switched to a video series through A beka, trying to find a way to make it work for their child and the stressed mother. Another family has mentioned that they are hiring their former school speech therapist to work with them weekly and assist them through their transition into A beka. Both of these families have mentioned they struggle most with the language arts programs and are simply making up their own or struggling through A beka's work. A third family skipped the 1st grade A beka and jumped right into the 2nd grade materials. They just started, so I have not heard any real feedback at this point.

We love Sonlight because it introduces new things, ideas, information to the kids in a short period of time each day, leaving plenty of time for them to naturally want to go and learn more on their own. For example, the science provides a lot of hands on experiments while helping children learn about animals or natural environmental science/geography around the world. This ties into the core that is teaching them about world history and culture. Our bible work includes reading a chapter a day in the bible, reading stories about missionaries and their work as well as their testimonies of how God provided for their safety and every need, memorizing scripture, and the child is reading their own children's bible one story a day. Everything is in small portions, so none of it is too much or takes too long to do. Yet the kids are being inspired by how amazing God is and learning how to apply scripture to their lives. And... with each read-aloud that we finish we all find ourselves loving the book and wishing it wasn't over. This then inspires the children to apply their imagination through writing in the language arts assignments. I was amazed that my kindnergartener was able to write poetry at the end of the Sonlight K with LA 1. She is now in 1st, using LA 2 reg. and is able to write stories, learning how to write complete paragraphs as well as essays. The fundamentals are taught early and reinforced for years to come. Overall, we're very happy with Sonlight. And, since it only takes us about 2 hours a day to complete, we can fit it around our desired extras or provide more playtime. As well, we choose to stretch the 36 week curriculum over the entire year, giving us 1-2 weeks off per month and still comfortably fitting everything in for the year. We're all relaxed and enjoying our schooling and the kids are making great strides academically without hours of invested time or stress. School is simply enjoyed and they are begging for more.

Sonlight has some great open and honest marketing that might help this mom determine whether or not Sonlight is for them. On their website (on in their catalog) they have a list of '100 reasons why Sonlight isn't for me' and '100 reasons to use Sonlight.' I love the fact that they do this. Many have been able to read through those lists and make a pretty good assessment of the program and how it might or might not fit their family.

Hope that helps.

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On what basis are you comparing? Boring vs exciting? Sonlight wins exciting and Abeka is the most boring!

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How to Deal With Gaps

2010-01-13T16:17:00.000-08:00

Question:
Do you ever finally feel "ok" that you won't actually ever miss something in your child's education or obsess over "gaps"? Is there really any great "plan" or "curriculum" to touch all the bases on what a child needs to learn when?

Answers:
Years ago I attended a HSLDA conference that had a session on this, and it was life changing. Michael Smith showed Biblically how if we are faithful in doing what we need to do, God is faithful to fill in the gaps. That was wonderfully freeing to me.

I had mostly a public school education. I never remember finishing a textbook EVER! Do I have gaps -- absolutely! But I have learned a lot while homeschooling my own and I have seen God's faithfulness in filling in the gaps.

Science is by far my worst subject. However, I have a son who passed his PCAT to enter Pharmacy school at 18 yrs old even though this is primarily a science knowledge test. So I have said all this to conclude with "relax -- there is no perfect curriculum!"

I know when I first started homeschooling my first born in Kindergarten, I had all the subjects all lined up on the couch and she just had to pick one and we'd go with it for about 10 minutes. I mean, I had science, health, art, Spanish, social studies ... along with the Three R's. :-) Yikes! Well, that worked for about a week and it was too much. :-) Then the more I talked with others that went before me and the more I read, the more I prayed, I calmed down and got more real ... and simple. Amen. We settled on Five in a Row. We read good books, did fun art projects, threw in a little math. Boom. Done. Yea! :-) That was K-3rd.

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After homeschooling and graduating three of my five children, I am finally "ok" with them having gaps in their education. I went to public school and I had gaps in my education. My children have those so called gaps in their education, but who determines what a gap is? Do you think the public education has no gaps? Maybe not according to their standards, but their standards are not our homeschool standards. Teach your children to love reading and how to choose good material to read. Teach them how to learn, research, find out information. As they get older teach them how to think critically, how to get past ideas to the presuppositions, philosophies, or worldview behind the ideas and then the consequences of those ideas. Teach them how to communicate - with others and with the One who made them. We see learning as a life-long process. It doesn't stop when our children graduate from high school or college. If you seek the LORD for wisdom in what you are teaching your children and follow his leading, rest in that. There is no need to obsess. It does no good, anyway!

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No student can learn everything, no matter what schooling environment they are in. The great thing, though, is that if you come across a "gap", it can easily be taught when you discover it. The most important thing is to make learning the best experience it can be, enjoying the time you are spending with your child, and not sweating the details. Homeschooling is far more about relating to your child than it is filling them with information. I do believe that you should set your bar high and challenge your student, but not at the cost of running you and your student ragged.

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I am a recovering gap worrier. There are books in the library called What Your 1st Grader Needs to Know, etc. They will give you VERY detailed information if you want to follow a traditional scope and sequence. However, I am trying to get over worrying about it so much. I have found that different children learn at different speeds. My 9 year old struggled with reading. This spring he jumped from a Kindergarten reading level to a fifth grade reading level. I don’t know why it suddenly made sense to him, but it did. If I had fussed at him all those years, trying to keep him tied to a scope and sequence, we would have both been miserable. My current thoughts on gaps:

Teach them to love the Lord. He will guide them in what areas they need to learn. It will be unique for each child.

Train them in good character. My husband has been a manager for many years and has hired and fired dozens of people. The good employees are not necessarily the ones with the most knowledge or skill. They are the ones with the best character. He can correct knowledge and skill deficiencies in a person with a willing and humble spirit. The ones he has to fire are those who cannot take direction or who cannot handle relationships with other employees in a mature and loving manner. Good character can cover over many gaps discovered in the workplace or in owning your own business.

Instill in them a love of learning and the skills required learn something. If they can read and research a topic, they can teach themselves anything they want to know if it becomes necessary later in life.

Give them a well rounded exposure to life so that they can converse intelligently on any topic. Reading lots of books on lots of different topics and taking trips to see things whenever possible will fill their minds with a broad treasure of knowledge. If they discover they are uninformed on some subject, they will use the skills mentioned above to increase their knowledge.

Taking Child Out of Public School

2010-01-13T16:14:00.000-08:00

Questions:
I am taking my child out of her public school at the end of this school year to homeschool for next fall. I will put in my letter of intent, but do I have to tell her school that I am homeschooling next year? Thank you.

Answers:
No, you don't have to tell the school as long as you write your letter of intent to the school board. It is the school board who assigns kids to schools anyway, and they will give a final roster to the school in the fall. It would be the same as if your family moved to Michigan over the summer--you wouldn't necessarily have to tell the school that either.

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What we did was start homeschooling during the summer "to see if it worked". Then we gave our notice of intent in August. That way we have an August due date for evals and graduation, etc. You do not have to give notice to the school just the district but you may get a call from the school -- "checking" in on you if your student does not show up in August.

Charlotte Mason Question

2010-01-13T16:12:00.000-08:00

Questions:
Hi, does anyone have advice on Ambleside Online or using the Charlotte Mason approach? I like the idea. But there's a lot of books. Just wondering how other did it. Thanks.

Answers:
Charlotte Mason is a great approach --- for GIRLS, primarily. I would have LOVED to learn and teach that way but USUALLY boys are not cut out for it.

What Time Lines Do You Use?

2009-05-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

Question:
I am looking to make or buy a wall timeline for my kids & wanted to know if anyone had any resources and/or advice. Thanks.

Answers:
This is a timeline I hope to get soon. It looks really neat. http://agards-bible-timeline.com/

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I have this timeline creation software. www.timelinecreator.com/home.htm . It’s nice to be able to create my own. It’s really easy to use. You just have to tape the pages together after you print it.

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We've done a very simple time line on notebook paper in a binder and drew with colored pencils a picture and added the dates. We did this with Mystery of History 1. It was helpful to see how biblical dates wove into history. Some how in my not-so-Christian growing up, I thought Bible stuff happened way before anything else going on in the world like the invention of the wheel! :-) It was great to see what was going on during the lifetime of Jonah, etc.

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Our timeline is called "We Signed the Declaration When Beethoven Was Five?".It is in a binder but can be pulled out and put on a wall. Very detailed instructions on how you can use it are included in the beginning of the book. My elementary aged girls have made their own individual timelines just recently covering only Florida History from the Timucuan Indians until now. We modeled it after the binder timeline and used the old feed style computer paper since it unfolds in strips. We searched for images online of some of the famous explorers and places and glued those in the appropriate spots to make it more interesting.

Good Books?

2009-05-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

Question:
What books did families read that helped them in their decision to homeschool?

Two great book that I discovered when preparing to come home and was hoping to homeschool were The Power of Mother Love and Home by Choice. These are great books for those who are struggling with the transition. I found them to provide comfort and to reinforce my empowerment as a mother to lift my children up in love with lots of grace along the way. The author also suggests homeschooling if possible.

I would like to hear about other book finds. Thank you.

Answers:
The book that really helped me was The Homeschooling book of Answers by: Linda Dobson. I was already a stay at home mommy and this book was great as answering a lot of questions that both my husband and I had.

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The Way Home and All The Way Home as well as books by Dr. Raymond & Dorothy Moore -- Better Late than Early.

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Never Too Early
by Doreen Claggett

The Basic Steps to Successful Homeschooling
by Vicki A. Brady

Charlotte Mason Companion
by Karen Andreola

What To Teach a 5 Yr. Old?

2009-03-07T13:22:00.000-08:00

Question from Ambleside Online:
I've read posts on other boards where they tought there children to read at 4 with success. I bought a few books recommended, like 100 lessons, but I can't get Matt to sit still for the 15 minutes to do these lessons, so I haven't bothered at the moment. I figure he will tell me when he is ready to learn. What do you do with children at my sons age? He will be 5 in September.

Answer:
It can be intimidating listening to parents who have 'accomplished' so much with their little children.I did have one child learn to read young, and it was a tender time for us together, cuddled on the couch (he is our now 9 yo), BUT I'll never do that again, at least not without having their eyes checked for developmental stuff. It's my latest mantra, because I have first had experience with our now 16 yo ds. His particular form of dysgraphia/dyslexia/dyscalculia probably would not have happened if we had waited AFTER 6 or 7 for him to learn to read! Dr. Raymond Moore waxes eloquently on the subject, even though he did not know the cause/affects of this as well as Dr. Ingersoll (an ophthalmologist who developed the only effective treatment that I personally know of for the type of dysgraphia/dyslexia that my son has---in other words, we have finally found answers, but the difficulties before now were significant. I could ennumerate some of them if you'd like!!!

15 minutes is a VERY long time for most 4 yo's. IF he WANTS to learn more about letters, have you read about CM's 'word building' activities?

As to appropriate things to choose from. Here are 20 you could consider. I'm not saying you should do all of them.

--Reading little Bible stories **while he plays if he wants** is appropriate

--Reading a poem or so every day, say perhaps at snack time, is wonderful for his future appreciation of literary style. The Yr-1 and Yr-2 poetryis good for this, but there are other good sources too. Poetry is the highest literary form.

--We have Am history tapes that I'll be playing for our daughter who will be a Yr-0 student soon.......... probably during 'quiet time' in theafternoon, or if I think she needs 'quiet time' during the morning, and I lay her down on a pillow...

--Yr-0 recommended titles that are more lengthy such as Milne, Potter, etc. might be best approached during quiet play as 'family reads', if atall......... Later isn't really bad, but there are stories of parents reading fairy tales to their *infants* every night as the child goes to sleep. This seems to have incredible results.

--I don't think children who are 4 yo age are all typically ready for scheduled recitation (well, our dd felt stressed doing verses for Cubbies in Awana, so we didn't do anything more, even though she and her daddy decided to press on with Cubbies

---other children in her class did better, I guess), but if you both love a poem, you might learn to recite it yourself (if you want to try this, and have time....it's not a necessary thing by any means), and then 'share it together' in the car, or repeat it while stirring cookies, or again, during play time.......

--You could continue whatever letter play you have done, and then put together a word from time to time. The best source for understanding CMword building, IMHO, is the series itself. Ruth Beechick's guide is CM friendly in this particular area especially. If your son takes to this, then you could find one of those reading curricula that has lists of related words (similar to the examples of word building exercises in the CMSeries). This would give you plenty of word building activity material to work from until you began reading lessons (at which time, CM word building, should you decide to incorporate it) would mostly be based around words in the reading lesson. These types of lessons should be VERY brief, if used at all.

--You could take a few minutes each week to work on a French song, or a Spanish song, or etc. would be appropriate. That is all the time allotted to that activity in the only Yr-1 PNEU schedule that I have seen! It doesn't require a very, very busy schedule to make forward progress in this area.

--Learning verbs in a foreign language, in the form of commands is also highly valuable at this age, and can be lots of fun. There is only one conjugation, but many verbs can be learned this way, which is highly valuable for later studies. Various commands can be placed into a jar, and pulled out one at a time if you'd like.

--Learning basic greetings, and a couple of old sayings in your foreign language(s) of choice is okay too.

--We made up Hebrew aleph-bet cards which we use for playing a matching game. ***IF*** your son would enjoy this with the Hebrew or Greekalphabets, that would be age appropriate as well. Use only a small amount of cards, so as not to over-stretch his concentration abilities.

--Reading 'living math books' (perhaps one or two each week) is age appropriate. Just don't push the ideas or vocabulary down his throat.

--NATURE WALKS, NATURE WALKS, NATURE WALKS. Everyday is the idea. I don't know if any of us hit this ideal as well as Miss Mason believed we should, but it is very valuable. Taking a walk itself is good, but if you can ask leading questions (without having to supply the answers), you can develop three important tools right up front: 1) the habit of attention, 2) the habit of observation to detail, 3) wonder and curiosity ................ If you don't know what types of questions to ask, then by all means, check out something like Comstock's Handbook of Nature yourself (not to read to him, but to see CM styled questions modeled for you to grow from...or use them as is......).

--IF your son is interested in the physical world around him, there is an age appropriate way to approach this as well. Here is an article that I wrote on the subject. It is entitled, Physics is Child's Play: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AmbleLore/message/16

--Learning little songs in English (children's songs---more the older styles, because of linguistic issues mostly, but for other reasons as well), and children's hymns (check in the back of your hymnal, or, if you can't find them in your particular indexes, check AmbleLore's file's section, in the Genesis study for our personal Creation Celebration to find some of them mixed in there). Again, learn a few words each week, in a non-pressured setting, and/or sing them to him regularly.

--There is actually an age appropriate piano method that is accessible to even little children with poor finger coordination. It is called Music Moves, by Marilyn Howe. It is fun, and if excellent technique is emphasized, very foundational.

--Listening to excellent recordings of classical, and other music, as well as being exposed to works of visual art which have merit to your family is invaluable as well.

--Mozart is allegedly age appropriate, though we didn't want to do this with our particular 4 yo.

--Handicrafts.......... hmmmmm, if your son is able to do finger crochet, there are online links that demonstrate that skill, and it gives the sense that crochet and knitting are just 'loop-through-a-loop-through-a-loop....' skills.

--Keeping a pet is classic.

--CM encouraged mothers and governesses to help children practice various life skills:1) cleaning2) clearing the table3) speaking up to greet people, ask questions, etc. in a natural way.....4) gardening

Well, certainly you don't need to do all of that, but those are some good ideas which are age appropriate IF DONE IN SMALL ENOUGH LITTLE LESSONS. Keep in mind that CM's PNEU schools really did make progress with things like French songs in as little as 5 minutes/week !

15 minutes really is a long time for a 4 yr. old .

www.amblesideonline.org/FAQ.shtml

Coming Home from Public School & FCAT Testing

2009-03-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

Question:
I have a friend who's daughter is in 8th grade. She just pulled her out of school earlier this week. They told her that the daughter needed to take the FCAT. I told her I don't think so. My friend needs to talk with others who have pulled their children from public school. I thought you may be able to help put her in contact with some people. I personally don't know anyone to refer her to. Thanks.

Answers:
She does not have to take the FCAT.

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I would encourage this Mom to call the Homeschool Liaison at the School Board for clarification. The Florida Homeschool Law (noted below) states that homeschooling parents have a choice for their annual evaluation each year. The FCAT would fall under choice number 3 - but it is certainly not required.Standardized Tests: Only required for parents homeschooling under the home school law in Option 1 above.

Each student must do one of the following each year: 1) Have educational progress evaluated by a teacher holding a valid regular Florida teaching certificate and selected by the parent. The evaluation must include review of a portfolio and discussion with the student; 2) Take any nationally normed student achievement test administered by a certified teacher; 3) Take “a state student assessment test used by the school district and administered by a certified teacher, at a location and under testing condition approved by the school district”; 4) Be evaluated by a Florida licensed psychologist or school psychologist; or 5) Be “evaluated with any other valid measurement tool as mutually agreed upon.” The parent must file a copy of the evaluation with the local school superintendent annually. There is no specific statutory deadline. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 1002.41(1)(c). “The school superintendent shall review and accept the results of the annual evaluation.... If the pupil does not demonstrate educational progress at a level commensurate with his ability, the superintendent shall notify the parent in writing....” The parent shall have one year to provide “remedial instruction” to the pupil. At the end of the “one year probationary period” the student shall be reevaluated to determine if he has progressed “commensurate with his ability.” Fla. Stat. Ann. § 1002.41(2). Hope this helps.

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I would start with Vicki Leist, the FPEA district leader (at least for Alachua County). If you live in another county, check the FPEA website to see who your district leader is. They would know or know where to go to find out. Another resource would be HSLDA - Home School Legal Defense Association.

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It would really help if she could speak with an evaluator to get ideas.

End of the Year Testing

2009-03-07T13:14:00.000-08:00

Question:
Could you share please, if you've done testing with your kids instead of evaluations? Why did you choose to and at what age did you do this?

Answers:
We have done testing each year with our children - even though I think evaluations are the best option. Some years we have done both. Evaluations give both the child and the parent a time of reflection over the past year's work with an unbiased observer. The evaluator can give encouragement and ideas for the next year as well as answering questions the parent might have regarding topics of study at certain ages or different curriculums. That information is invaluable. We did evaluations for kindergarten and sometimes first grade, until our child was reading well.Testing for us serves several purposes: First, it gives me an idea of what topics we might be missing. We use the practice materials for the tests and it's a great review and easy to see if we are missing something. One year we had to stop and do a detailed unit on commas because we just weren't gettin' it!! The score sheets that come back from the tests are itemized and also show where one of the children might be having some problems. This helps me in planning for the next year. I keep these sheets in their portfolios and this provides an added record of their progress from year to year. I only send the brief letter to the school board from the Test Administrator stating that our children had taken the tests had satisfactory results.Second, my children look forward to seeing friends at testing each year. They enjoy the recess times and playing football or basketball with a large group. And I look forward to visiting with other moms. Third, my children like to see that they are working at or above grade level in most subjects and if they fall below the national average, they understand that we have to work harder on some things. Most of the time, though, they are well above "grade level" and that is a real boost.

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We did Iowa Standard Test when my oldest two were 10 and 8 years old. I'm not sure why we did that that year. We had been doing teacher evaluations and they were based mostly on academic abilities and my children were doing fine. I remember being worried because the standardized testing included subjects of social studies and science which were not subjects we did, so to speak. We did a lot of reading but never did a formal curriculum. But when they tests came back showing my fifth grader with a vocabulary or reading comprehension of an 11th grader and both did better statistically than most other students in social studies and science (and that they had never "studied" those subjects specifically), I realized that these tests were not right for us. My children are not geniuses and if the public school's expectations were that low then I was going back to teacher evaluations. Then the Lord began to show us home education was more than academics. Character - who they were growing up to be - was part of it all. Our teacher evaluations began to reflect that as well. The next time they did standardized testing was when they had to take the SAT's for college entrance. They all got Bright Futures and other scholarships and are doing well in college. Most of all they are wonderful children who love Jesus and are serving Him.

"What are You Doing in Homeschooling?"

2009-03-07T12:53:00.000-08:00

Question:
Hi all Newbies,
I thought it might be nice to throw out a question to all ... "What are You Doing in Homeschooling?" ... and this way we can share and glean from each other!
So, if you feel led to send in your "short" in a nut-shell bio (kid's ages would help) with even a link to some good things ... I'll collect it and post it back out to the group!! :-)

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Answers:

HS Dear Son 5 yrs. old ... Looking at: Charlotte MasonAmbleside Online:http://www.amblesideonline.org/New.shtml Getting Started with Ambleside Online http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cheps/ao-start.html

We do some short math lessons using Modern Curriculum Press workbook and fun manipulatives as well.
We do some phonics using some flash cards and easier reader books.
He likes 4H projects (he's doing photography & Food plus showing chickens this year at the youth fair), Art in the Park at Westside, any crafts, lapbooks (we've done pumpkins, space shuttle, ants).

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Homeschooling 6 year old daughter:This year - Sonlight K/1 and Saxon 1, Art in the Park, crafts at http://www.crayola.com/ , Doxa Dance, Grace UMC Worship DanceNext year - Sonlight 1/2, Saxon 2, Prima Latina Christiana, typing course, Art in the Park, Doxa and Grace Worship Dance

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We are doing Wordly WiseWrite!Saxon MathEasy GrammarMystery of HistoryMaps, Charts and GraphsAWANA reviewsReading for 30 minsLife SkillsAbeka Science(My children are ages 8 and 10)

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My son is 9 and he likes his own unit studies, Lap books, Math U See, hand on hand project, loves art like Art in the Park at Westside park on Mondays, Hooked on Phonics, Strattion House Science Learning Kits, field trips, anything with nature and art like Atelier a video-based art curriculum.

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Daughter (5), Son (3).
We homeschool using a fun, flexible, nature based curriculum called Oak Meadow - we only offically do 3 days a week. We also read a lot of books. I use several book lists...Honey for A Child's Heart (book ) byGladys Hunt100 Best Books for Children (book) by Anita SilveyLaura's List (book) by Beverly DarnallSunlight Curriculum Reading List from the catalogFive in a Row booklist from the websiteCharlotte Mason book list from a websiteI find that booklist help me find great age appropriate materials instead of hit or miss by plucking things off the shelf at the library.I have also found some fun easy projects on this website http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/

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HS 6 yr old daughter Horizons Phonics and Reading; Horizons Math; God & Me Devotional. We HS five days a week, she is actively taking piano and worship dance at Grace UMC.

Cleaning and Homeschooling

2009-02-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

Question:
Hi, well, I thought I'd like to hear some ideas to inspire me after the Christmas break on how other families get back into a cleaning and teaching mood and plan. I'd love to hear about schedules to give me ideas to make a plan for me!! Thanks!!

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Answers:
Christmas is when I upgrade my children’s chore requirements. Each year I take a look at what new things they can be responsible to accomplish around the house. So, for the first few weeks we spend time training on the new chores and inspecting each other’s work. I get ideas for age appropriate chores and chore charts from Bonnie Runyan’s book 401 Ways to Get Your Kids to Work at Home. (Available at bookfinder.com for $4.) I’ve tried using the Maxwell’s Managers of Their Homes book for scheduling and had mixed success. I like that it helps me think through what I am investing my time in each day and evaluate which things God would have me doing. It also helps to lay out a REALISTIC set of things that can be done. It helps to get ideas on what younger children can be doing while I am schooling the older ones. However, I have trouble keeping to the schedule I lay out if I make it too detailed. I try to just block in the big items like chores, meals, naps, school, etc. After a holiday it is helpful to start with small expectations. Begin with just a few subjects rather than all at once. It is also helpful to bring in something new such as a new workbook, or a completely new subject. This can help generate some interest and momentum. I always have to work through some character issues after a holiday (and even after some weekends) so it is helpful to leave lots of wiggle-room in my schedule and in my expectations until we can get back in the habit again.

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I like Flylady.com!!!!!!!!!!

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Well, for us we usually ease back into a bit of a schedule. I keep things flexible, writing out daily on a sheet of computer paper what chores (only one or two) to get done that day and then what schooling to work on. I keep it on the kitchen table so I can check off what's been done and write things as I think of them. Laundry is always happening, so that's a given, but if I write it down to "fold" ... I won't forget it in the dryer!!

Mon. is mop kitchen floor and vacuum livingroom and hall.
Tues. is clean bath rooms
Wed. is sweep screen porch
Thurs. is sweep carport and front walk
Fri. is grocery shop

Every morning is kid chores of sweeping kitchen floor, feeding animals, and getting dressed and making up room. Each day I might do one thing like make bread, make salsa, bake cornbread, grind wheat etc.

Then for schooling ... do some math, read some good books, play outside, bake something yummy as a snack, etc. I like Charlotte Mason homeschooling.

I also start in January to work on one area of my home a week.

Jan 11 Front Porch
Jan. 18 Living Room
Jan. 25 Hall Closets
Feb. 1 Master Bedroom
Feb. 8 Master Bathroom
Feb. 15 Kid's Room
Feb. 22 Kid's Room
March 1 Computer Room (computer desk)
March 8 Craft/ School Room
March 15 Kitchen (surfaces)
March 22 Kitchen Inside Cabinets & Such
March 29 Dining Room
April 5 Carport
April 12 Backyard Shed
April 19 Screen Room
April 26 Laundry Room

Then under each thing, I write what I want to do. Example:
Week One: January 11 - Front Porch
[X] Clean the light fixture.
[X] Sweep the porch.
[X] Sweep down the walls and get rid of cobwebs.
[X] Wash the windows
[X] Trim hedges
[X] Front Door oiled
[X] New Wreath

Week Two: January 18 - Living Room
[X]Take everything out of coat closet and sort through
[X] Vacuum floor and dust shelf
[X] Put back only what needs to be in there!
[X]Take everything out of hot water/heater/AC closet
[X] Vacuum floor
[X] Put back things only if they can do there and NOT be a fire hazzard!

Ect.

Technically, I'd be done with the whole house by April! I could start over. But last year, with this and that, I went to June. And that's ok. And no, I didn't start over. :-) I'm starting now for 2009. :-)

How Do You do Christmas Break??

2009-01-17T07:33:00.000-08:00

Question:

Hi, I was wondering about taking a Christmas break from school? I have heard some homeschoolers take the whole month of December off. Others, do like the public school does with two weeks off. I am interested in how homeschooling families do school and celebrating Christmas in the month of December? Thank you.

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Answers:

We homeschool year round and never officially schedule breaks into our year. Of course, natural breaks happen all the time-- sick days, when Dad is home (holidays or vacation), getting together with other families or to do ministry of some sort. I find that these things occur often enough to give us enough breaks. Then again, my personality is suited to that. Some moms need scheduled breaks for their own peace of mind, but I do okay just taking them as they come. Hope that makes sense.

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Well, for us over the years we have schooled year round for the most part and have taken the month of December off to do fun projects like crafts, or unit study on the names of Jesus, or made advent wreaths, or made cookies to take to others, etc. We seem to do two family weeks of vacation a year - one in spring and one in fall, so that's a break again for us.

Homeschool Magazines

2009-01-17T07:31:00.000-08:00

Question:

I have been searching on line for a good homeschool magazine to subscribe to. I think that quick, easy read articles would provide me with a little boost and great ideas. I was wondering what others have read, subscribed to and why they liked it (or didn't like it). Thanks for the help.

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Answers:
I am very fond of 'Homeschooling Digest' and 'An Encouraging Word' by Wisdom Gate Publications.

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This is probably not what you have in mind, but since it's free, then it certainly can't hurt. My favorite homeschool read is Memoria Press' "The Classical Teacher." It only comes out quarterly. You can subscribe on-line here: http://www.memoriapress.com/catalog/index.php This is the company that puts out the Christian Latin materials, Famous Men series, Logic materials.

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We like The Old School House Magazine (TOS)

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F.P.E.A.'s Almanac and the How to Homeschool is really good.

Teaching Character

2009-01-17T07:25:00.000-08:00

Question:

Hopefully I can make this make sense. We are trying our hardest to do devotionals, our son is 7 I know Character is one of our first priorities, I just know that we are lacking in this area. I have read some that are too little details, some that are too much to adjust to his age, and then there are some that have things his age group are exposed to, but we don't expose him to them. Does any one know one that is uplifting and a real help, one we can glean from as we go about the day.

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Answers:

I was inspired by the book Ten Peas in a Pod by Arnold Pent to quit trying so hard to make it fancy and just read the Bible. I heard Mr. Pent speak at a conference and he exudes Scripture. We have the Bible on CD and listen to it at lunch. I ask a few questions just to make sure they were listening. Sometimes I explain a few things if I think it is necessary but mostly I try to let the words stand on their own. We listened to all of the New Testament and several books of the Old Testament in one school year when we were especially faithful.

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The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos is an excellent devotional choice. I also read Bob Schultz's books to my boys. They are Boyhood and Beyond, Created for Work, and Practical Happiness. It is written for the older boy, but is still great for reading aloud to younger boys.

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My boys and I have really enjoyed the Miller series, (Wisdom with the Millers, Prudence and the Millers, Storytime with the Millers, etc.) and we have several of their books. The author's name is Mildred A. Martin, I believe, though I do not have it in front of me ~ be sure to google it.

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Character Training - I found this great book in my Sonlight Curriculum called Hero Tales. It covers many character traits through stories of missionaries and important Christian people throughout history.

When to Teach Typing?

2008-12-10T06:18:00.000-08:00

Question:

When should we consider teaching typing to our children? I learned (officially) in 9th grade, but many internet sites suggest as early as age 7! (That just seems awfully young.) And... are there any suggested software programs or online sites that work well and should be considered? Thanks!

Answers:

We started all 7 of our children on a program called Typing Tutor by the time they were 7, 8 or 9 - depending on the child. And we never set goals to have so much done each day or each week or year - we just said they had to do the exercises with their fingers in the right place about 10 min a day, then 15, then about 20 ish until they got to be good typists. By the time they got into high school, their schedules would have been too packed w/activities and studies to add it. They needed to be typists by then to do as well as they did. All 5 of our high school grads are good typists, and both of our current students are typists. There are other typing programs - we've heard good things about Mavis Beacon, I think, and others. We just used Typing Tutor for years and were satifisfied with it. The key is just small amounts of consistent, correct practice. Typing Tutor is an older program but sort of looks like this: www.prosoft3d.com/typingtutor/index2.html

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With typing skills so necessary in the computer age, it's a good idea in my opinion to approach it early. Mavis Beacon is a good program that worked well for us.

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Oh yes, start them early and let them get good at typing. I have never regretted that my kids have excellent typing skills. They all started young (I'm thinking it was 3rd or 4th grade) with Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing (I don't even know if that program still exists, but we used it and it worked great). I really don't imagine there is a whole lot of difference between typing programs. The keys are the same, the fingers are the same and the goals are the same. One hint was, after the kids had used the program and were typing things on their own, if they fell back into the habit of looking at the keys, we put a small hand towel or dish towel over the backs of their hands as they were typing so they had to type by memory. Most of the computer programs are game-like so they can appeal to younger kids. I will never type as fast as my kids because I also learned (and not so well) in high school.They use typing now in online classes and note-taking in college, both of which are much easier with high typing speed and accuracy.

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We started typing in the elementary years because of the prevalent computer use. I noticed they were typing on the computer so much and thought why wait until high school to learn which is what was "normal" when we were growing up. We started with a traditional looking book called "Type-it" but then went to a computer program Mavis Beacon and most recently we are using Typing Instructor. My youngest two (9 and 11) really like this program. I asked them to spend 15-30 minutes of typing practice and did not have trouble getting them to do it!
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Typing............We liked "JumpStart" typing program probably good for elementary through middle school. Typing is important, yes, even in elementary school.........children are using the computer at this age level and having proficiency and speed will be to their advantage as they begin doing writing assignments and reports. My son's handwriting is not the best, and he prefers the computer; typing, therefore, is an important skill for him............:)

Homeschooling Colleges??

2008-11-11T08:13:00.000-08:00

Question:
Are there colleges just for homeschoolers?

Answer:
None that I know of, but poking around most colleges websites will enable you to find out various statistics for that school. If there is a specific link in the Admissions section that says "Homeschoolers" you can be sure they receive higher than the average number of homeschooled applicants. Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, VA is the closest thing you can get to a homeschool college; their website states:

The Distinctives of Patrick Henry College include practical apprenticeship methodology; a deliberate outreach to home schooled students; financial independence; a general education core based on the classical liberal arts; a dedication to mentoring and discipling Christian students; and a community life that promotes virtue, leadership, and strong, life-long commitments to God, family and society.

Social Activities/ Sheltering Children

2008-11-11T08:04:00.000-08:00

Question:
A.)
I am very new to homeschooling and I have a concern and question regarding social activities. Am I going to starve a child from play with friends or create an anti-social child (who cannot adapt well in every day society) by homeschooling? I'm scared my children might not be able to handle college and a career later by sheltering her with a homeschool environment. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.

B.)
I am concerned about how I can help my child avoid the stress of today's world while still being academically advanced and very involved in sports and other extra curricular activities. I'm hoping that by homeschooling my children they can balance more activities and still perform very high academically. Is there any advice as to how we can balance a busy schedule with sports and still have a high academic acheiver?

Answers:
Good Morning, Juli!We're just getting ready to head for the mountains today (hurray!), but I wanted to drop a quick note about the topic of sheltering as it was referenced in one of your replies. Sheltering is a hot topic in many Christian homeschool circles today. Bill and I have seen a great amount of damage in children who have been sheltered too little - and in teens who have been sheltered too much. The issue is not whether children should be sheltered - everyone agrees they should be. The question is how much and for how long. Bill and I believe the most effective - and Biblical - Christian parenting is to get children weaned from parents for direction and guidance (our voice in their ear telling them what God wants) and connected to the Lord (so they can eventually hear His voice - promptings - in their own heart/spirit and learn to be Spirit-led). The progression looks something like 1) independent and self-willed as babes (walking in the flesh), to 2) dependent on parents and obedient as young children (walking in the law), to 3) eventually independent of parents but dependent on the Lord as they walk through the teen years (walking in the Spirit). It's a slow process which involves parents being willing to gently nudge their teens to get their answers from the Lord and let go of some decision-making slowly. It also involves keeping control in areas where the teen would be overwhelmed with too much temptation too quickly, while letting them make a mistakes (wrong decisions) in areas where they can learn to fall and get up again with the Lord w/out great damage. That idea is counter to teachings on "Biblical Patriarchy" that are being taught in some conservative Christian circles today, which teach that a child must obey parents even into adulthood, and on matters as serious as career, ministry and future spouse choices. A good portion of our second book, Children of Character II, addresses in detail the "unBiblical-ness" of such teachings, so I can't go into the several chapters on that in this short reply. But, another voice speaking on the danger and incorrectness of patriarchy and oversheltering is Michael Pearl. Shirley Solis, with Lifetime Books and Gifts just sent us this article: http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/articles/child-training/teens/article-display/archive////patriarchal-dysfunctional-families-part-2/?tx_ttnews%5BbackPID%5D=3 I have to say it was encouraging to hear a nationally-recognized voice saying what we have been saying in our little corner for so many years. And, sadly, some churches teach that church leaders are supposed to have that kind of authority over the believer as well. It makes us very sad, indeed, to see the liberty that Jesus died for and gave to every believer usurped by teachings of men that they call teachings of God. Misrepresenting His Father was one thing that made Jesus very (very!) angry. See Jesus rebuking the religious leaders of His day, and the Apostle Paul rebuking the Galatians for abandoning grace to return to bondage through the teachings of religious leaders. Okay, I feel better now! Do shelter young children! Do try to the hear the voice of the Lord for them while they are young (Lord, do YOU want our child to be in this sport/that activity?). But, if you see areas in a child's heart or character that concern you, don't think that putting them into outside-the-home activitities will make those issues will go away. We are responsible to train them - while they are young. Social activities are not a right; they are a litmus test of maturity. BTW, I chat w/Pam Tebow from time to time, and she kept her finger very strongly on Tim's character through his outside-the-home activity of football. If he failed in character, she and Bob would have not allowed him to continue pursuing sports. Bravo. Character first - everything else second. Bottom Line: Cry out to the Lord to hear for them while they are young, and cry out to the Lord for Him to speak to them as they grow up.Love, Mardy (and I read this to Bill this morning, so in the spirit of the campaign season we are now in, he says, "I am Bill Freeman, and I approve this message.")

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I think the need for sheltering our children is very adequately addressed in the tape Dare to Shelter by Jonathan Lindvall. It is available from his website http://www.boldchristianliving.com/ . It completely changed our thinking on this issue and says it much more eloquently than I could.

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Hi,
For us, homeschooling was never about the academics. We felt the Lord call us to do this for our family. It is a way of living. It is about raising kids with character not big heads. However, most homeschoolers I know, hardly stay "home" with all they do ... church activities, youth groups, 4H, sports, band, art classes, speech and debate clubs, CAP, scouts, dance, etc. There are classes at museums, field trips to join in on, classes to take at a public school, older kids job shadow or mentor a career in 4H, dual enrollment at college in the high school years. Too many activities to list really.

Then there are all the ministry to serve others options, too! But again, those are all well and good, but training to function in this world begins ... at home. Surrounded by their loving family. Our child has the best Christian friends and we are so very thankful. My child is anti-social, but not because of homeschooling ... she has autism. And because of homeschooling in a safe loving environment she could grow and learn at her pace that today she is able to dual enroll on a college campus and bless her heart, do well! :-) Amen. I recommend Mardy Freeman's books: Children of Character and Children of Character 2. Lena's library has them. She at Pinegrove Baptist Church and all moms of Mardy's Moms Group may check out books!

Web Page for the book:
http://www.thefreemans.org/cocintro.htm

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A.)
I have found, in general, that homeschooled kids by the time they reach their teens ( and I have 3 older than 16) are much more mature than other kids their ages. They adapt very well to all social situations and to people of a variety of ages. One thing that homeschooling tends to do is to develop independent learners. These kids, for example, know how to read a math lesson and learn it for themselves which puts them way ahead of their non-homeschooled peers who are spoon-fed their learning. No one, EVER, upon meeting my teens has said, "Gee, are they homeschooled?" The only way homeschoolers stand out is that they are, in general, better learners, and more dedicated to their schoolwork when they reach college and are in charge of their own learning because they have been active participants in the learning process all along.

The only difficult social situations that my kids have found themselves in is on sports teams with non-homeschooled kids who were so cliquish that it was socially INHIBITING to be around public school peers. It was much more socially beneficial to be around other homeschoolers. So choose the friends carefully. They need not be many, just of high caliber. But by the time we had nurtured the kids through the elementary, middle school, and first 2 years of high school, they were ready for just about anything, and transition to college was a breeze.

B.)
Not really any advice except what you said yourself--balance. My kids have done well at school, played musical instruments and sports, and had other activities too, so it can be done. What might be important for one child might not be for another. For example, one child might start a lot of babysitting at age 13 and up and from then on only play sports recreationally, but another teen might want to join a travelling baseball team so you might want to discourage a part-time job. You will be the best judge as to whether the balance is working. Not everything needs to be done year 'round either. You can choose a sport in the spring and chess club in the fall, for example.

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Sheltering your children while they are young while at the same time feeding, nurturing, training them with a strong Biblical foundation - who, what, why we believe what we believe - and working on godly character is exactly what will enable them to handle college and career later on! In the teen years you can begin a deeper study of the Biblical worldview and the opposing worldviews and all their consequences so they will be prepared to enter college and career and the worldly philosophies out there. But just like a tender young seedling that needs sheltering and tender care until it has deep roots and strength to handle strong winds and temperatures, your precious children deserve nothing less.

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A.)
This is definitely a view from the other side of the spectrum. Our oldest graduated from UF several years back and now our 5th child is about to graduate from UF as our 6th child applies for admission next fall and number seven is in his first year of high school at home. All of our children have been homeschooled.When we began homeschooling in 1984, I had those same concerns. I came through the public school system and turned out alright.... But one question I remember being posed to me either by a friend or by something I read by Raymond and Dorothy Moore was, "Would you rather have your child learning from 30 of their peers every day or from a loving, godly parent?" Children can be heartless and cruel. Our oldest son went to kindergarten and 1st grade in a public school before we began homeschooling. What he learned from his "social interactions" at school took a lot of time at home to undo.What I have found is that my children, through the years, seem to be much more well-rounded than their public school peers. They relate well to people of all ages and are very creative in their play and firm in their faith. They know who they are and they know what's expected of them. People stop me all the time to tell me what special children we have.When our older boys were young, we lived in a neighborhood full of children and we found they most often came to our house to play every afternoon - ours were not allowed out of the yard so that I could keep track of what was going on. (I'm still finding out years later what got by me. They love telling stories of how they launched their younger brother from the fort with wings on his back promising him he could fly. How did I miss that?) We had no grass to speak of during those years, but there was a lot of football, baseball and soccer. We also had like-minded friends who would come play on certain days. Those friendships have remained through the years and my older sons still are close with their childhood friends. With the youngest three, we moved to an area where there aren't many children close by, but the Lord has provided close friends for them as well.We have always remained active at church without letting church activities take over the family. We try to find ways for our children to serve at church (working with other children, helping serve meals, singing for sr. adults, etc.). Often there are things planned for every night of the week and we have choose activities that fit our family best. The church setting provides interaction of all ages IF we alert our children to the importance of reaching out to all ages. Often, children and youth are segregated into age groupings and they don't come out... We have tried to provide opportunities for that. Now that the 5 oldest are married, it is exciting to see them reach out to all ages on their own.6 of our children have taken college courses. 1 has graduated from UF with honors and 1 more is to graduate this May with honors. 2 have graduated from Santa Fe College and one is dual-enrolled there as a high school senior. One attended UF, but dropped out to begin his own business. And then I have one who is just beginning 9th grade at home. He is already planning his coursework so that he can attend UF and apply for Medical school. Every now and then he will talk about what it must be like to go to high school (and the girls there...) but then he'll hear the high school guys at church talking mean and ugly and he's decided on his own he doesn't want to be around that all day. He is strong, athletic, funny, bright, handsome - a real treasure. I am the most fortunate Mom to get to spend my days with him!! I sit down and do his math problems with him. We race - and sometimes I win. I started doing that just to get him to move a little faster and not take all morning on math. Now he's beating me - and he thinks it's just fun!!!Life is so short. I'm so thankful I have not had to send them to learn from others for 7-8 hours a day. They are grown and gone in a blink. Academics are important - but they're not the MOST important. What they learn from you about life day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month is most important. That will define the fabric they are made of. Society likes to tell us they need to be with other kids their own age or they won't make it in the world. Isn't it interesting that God put them in families for nurture, for protection, for teaching.... For our family, His plan has worked well so far.

B.)
Briefly, we decided early on not to take part in organized sports for several reasons:First, we had a lot of children and many different team schedules would split us up and we decided to stick together.Next, we knew that childhood injuries could affect our child's whole life.Last, we knew that the stress of competition is not always healthy for young children.We made sure our children had ample opportunity for sports activities by taking them to parks, tracks, and fields with bikes, balls, and other equipment so they had the chance to play without the stress of competition. We lived on a cul-de-sac and you could always tell what sport season of the year it was by what our children had rigged in the front yard. They rigged a net across the road between two mailboxes during the US Open Tennis tournament. They dug holes and made their own golf course during that season. Football and soccer were easy to set up. They built their own luge board during the Olympics one year. They took a skateboard and put a piece of wood crosswise so that 3 boys could sit on it and ride down the hill. They made a few runs before we realized what they were doing and had to let them know that childhood injuries could affect their whole lives!What we believe is that children need time at home - to rest, to create, even to assimilate all they're learning. Our lives get much too busy these days and often children don't have time just to explore and be children.These are the things that have worked for us. I hope it helps you. Blessings!

Help for a Newbie with a Large Family

2008-10-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

Question:
I have a friend who is interested in homeschooling, but is not sure how to go about it. She has five children, with number 6 on the way, and is not very confident about her ability to homeschool. I have told her how I do it-- the subjects, schedule, etc-- but I tend to be more eclectic and I don't think that would work for her family. Her husband it leaning towards a complete curriculum like Abeka or BJU, but she worries she wouldn't be able to keep pace with all the subjects. If anyone has a large family, especially with youngchildren, who would let me know what curriculum you use, what your schedule looks like, any helpful hints and so on, I would love to be able to pass it on to her. I'm trying to find out what other large families use. Thank you.

Answers:
It's been a while since mine were small, but I'll tell you what worked for us.We began our day altogether with the pledge to the American flag, the Christian flag and the pledge to the Bible. We sang a hymn and a patriotic song and then had a short devotional and prayer.Then we did our "morning work" which included Math, Reading, Language, Spelling and Bible. I used mostly Bob Jones curriculum - at least as a guideline of what to study. At third grade level I began using Saxon 54 Math and continued with Saxon throughout High School. We didn't do every problem, but it gave them each a good mathematical foundation. For spelling I used the Writing Road to reading word list and added Wordly Wise 300 Vocabulary starting in Middle School.I would work around the room, usually youngest to oldest to go over the math lesson with them. As the others waited for me to come, they worked on the subjects they could do without me (reading, spelling, & Bible - sometimes language). As the older children grew and studied more independently, they sometimes worked in a different room. The older children also took turns looking after the little ones.
Then, in the afternoon, especially whiled the little ones napped, we had Science and History and rotated Art and music. These subjects we did together most of the time. We had PE each day - not always organized games - but a lot of outside play. Chores were assigned for each day to be done before Daddy got home from work (or at least before bed). This was the map of a schedule that we tried for - but many days we didn't get everything done. No one gets everything done! I am so grateful we had those days at home together. Our emphasis was on the HOME part of homeschooling. Our children are grown now - my baby just started high school (here at home) - and they all still enjoy doing things together. I'm thankful they are all grounded in their faith and confident in the gifts God has given them. I know that could have happened as well in public school - I am just so blessed to have been able to be there...Hope this helps.

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I hesitated to respond because, compared to some, I have a small family of only 4 children. However, I wanted to share some insights I have on homeschooling that really can apply to families of 2 or more -- study whatever you can TOGETHER!!! This totally blows away the use of "boxed" or complete curriculum for many reasons. First, BJU and Abeka were developed for classroom use and then "barely" modified for home use. Both contain A LOT of "busy" work that a classroom teacher needs for "group management" that a mom does not need. If fact, several years ago, I rec'd a call from a first time HS mom that was about to give up in December because it was taking them 8-10 hours to "do school" each day because they were using Abeka and doing it all. I told her to cut out all workbook work and JUST use the texts and it went much smoother for her.
Now on to my "study together" advice. I agree that there are some areas that each child needs to work individually on -- math, spelling and handwriting but other subjects: English (maybe), definitely Science and History can be taught across the levels. In our family, we taught these subjects "to the oldest" and the younger ones pick up much more than you think they would. You can supplement with videos and experiments or hands on projects that involve the whole family. In fact, you can use texts on the level of the oldest and use the videos and hands on to get the info across to lower or non-readers.
I am not sure this is what you were asking for, and I am certainly NOT an expert on large families, but this is something we have used, and it works well for us. In fact, we had highschoolers, early elementary and pre-school ages all at the same time, and it worked well.

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I don't feel qualified because I only had three to homeschool when my last two babies came along and I had been schooling at home for a while so was somewhat comfortable with it. I'll give it a shot, though, because if the Lord is leading this young mom and dad to homeschool, I want to encourage them. I think a complete curriculum like Abeka or BJU would be hard if she has three or four different ages and tries to teach four or five subjects in each. Actually, that would be impossible, not to mention stressful and discouraging to me. We had a 7 year old, 9 year old and 11 year old when our fourth child was born. Two years later another baby came along. Each child had their own math curriculum and we used BJU reading for the first few years of reading.

When the oldest was in fourth or fifth grade we used a unit study for reading - "The Prairie Primer" - and we all took turns reading aloud, answer questions and do activities according to age. History was read aloud for all the children or what is connected with the literature we are using at the time. I used Greenleaf Ancient Men series but The Story of the World and Mystery of History is highly recommended now. Science was read aloud subscription nature magazines, books from the library that were on an animal the child was interested in, nature hikes, I used Spelling Power starting at third grade for spelling and can do all three at the same time. My toddler would sit at the table with her paper and pencil waiting for me to give her a word, too. She would scribble something and wait for me to spell her word - same procedure as she saw her older siblings doing. The toddler had a drawer with toys and activities just for school time.

Sometimes I had an older child take care of the toddler while I helped another child. They would swap off that duty. I carried a baby on my hip and taught math. Nursed the baby while reading out loud. What I would say is you can homeschool with a large family and small children. Concentrate on reading and math. Teach your children to do chores and make that part of your school day. My preschoolers could sort and match socks and fold underwear. My 7 and 9 year olds can sort laundry and load the machine and dryer. They dust and my now 8 and 10 year old clean a bathroom. Schedules change so much day to day - I just made goals and had to learn to be flexible. We do math first and has to be done by lunch.

Reading often came after lunch, while toddler and baby napped. Let the answering machine take all your calls and call back at a certain time of day when you are more free. Speaker phones are great - you can wash dishes or babies, fold laundry, or prepare meals while talking. Homeschooling is not just books and academics. It is a lifestyle of learning together. Sometimes character training will mean ditching the books and working on that child's needs instead. And occasionally ditching the books for educational games, videos, walks and play are just what you and the children will need!

Math Question

2008-09-01T20:17:00.000-07:00

Question:
I'm trying to decide on a Math program for my children (age 6 and age 7). I would greatly appreciate any comments and/or advice about Math-U-See, Horizon and Saxon.Thank you.

Answers:
I like Math U See!!I loved the teaching video, etc.

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I have used Saxon Math from 1st grade on with my last three children and it has been the best program for us. I enjoyed using it and the children have responded well to it as far as their attitudes and their learning the contents. I had previously used BJU but found it too busy and too fast. Saxon seems to teach concepts in small enough chunks that my children are not overwhelmed. There is a lot of review, especially in the first lessons of a new year. This is not a problem, though, because we simple read the material, answer a few of the problems, say “Well, you’ve got that concept down! Next lesson, please!” In the beginning of a new school year they get five lessons done in one day and feel really good! There is drill every day with skip counting, calendar use, patterns, problem solving, etc. Sometimes I skip some of this but I always do the drills. This is especially helpful by third grade when multiplication begins. I pray God blesses you as you seek the best for your children!

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Math u see is an excellent program! I wish I had used it years ago. There is an instructional dvd for the student along with teacher instructional book. The man that is on the dvd explains things so very well, he makes so you can really see it. I have used it for geometry for my oldest and fractions/division/multiplication for my youngest. If you have problems you can call them and they will assist you. They usually send a rep to the homeschool convention that does a workshop. That is how I found out about them and was amazed. My thought was why couldn't you have taught me like this when I was in school. Another plus about this system is your child can self lead if you want. I know sometimes we mom's want a program where the child can learn some independence this will help if you wish that. If your child is not ready for that then you can watch the dvd and then teach the lesson to your child. Whatever works best for you. Its worth the money however you may be able to find it on ebay. Generally the program is fifty-five dollars new. http://www.mathusee.com/ . I hope this helps. Saxon, I used it when my oldest was in 4th grade I didn't like it. Reason was I thought it was too time consuming (they ask you to have all these meetings before you teach the lesson). Then we used it for algebra, it was okay but I wish I had known how well mathusee was, because I would have used that instead. My daughter felt mathusee was an easier math program to grasp then saxon. One of my friends tutored students in saxon and she found they didn't always teach the problems for excellent understanding. I suggest for you to see if you can get a sample of each math program from the library or a friend to see if you like it before you buy it. We veterans have had to learn the hard and expensive way on that. I hope this helps, be blessed!

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I have actually used all three of these and would HIGHLY recommend Math U See. We switched several years ago and we love it!!!

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A Beka is good but don’t make them do ever problem. I also have a great deal of Harcort stuff for the K,1, 2. Work books and activity books of you’d like. Let me know.

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Hello, I have used Math-U-See with all 3 of my school age children. We have progressed to Epsilon (fractions) with the oldest. I tell people I have a love/hate relationship with Math-U-See. I love the way it explains things. It forces the child to understand why they are doing the steps they are doing. I think this is very helpful in getting a good grasp on math concepts. The amount of work required for the parent is minimal, but it does require parent help. I like that I can watch the video with the student, glance over the teacher guide, and have a wonderful understanding of what is being taught. The effort required by the student is just right for us because it can be easily adjusted. We don’t do all 6 pages for each lesson unless they are struggling with the concept. I usually have them do 2 pages of the new stuff and 2 pages of the review stuff. Some of the kids do one page per day and some do two pages per day. It varies depending on how hard the lesson is for them whether they can get two pages done in one day.

Because the books do not have a grade level on them, we can just go at whatever speed they are comfortable with. We don’t feel obligated to finish a book in one year. We can also do more than one book in a year. It just depends on the child and how well they are learning the material.

Now for the things that frustrate me. We sometimes get stuck because the kids don’t learn their math facts well enough to allow them to be efficient at getting the problems done. They spend one hour doing a page of multiplication problems because they don’t know their times tables well. If they knew them well, the work could be done in 10 minutes. Doing drill work does not suit me or my children very well. However, we have found that using the online drill available at the math-u-see website has been helpful. My other concern with math-u-see is that it is not as thorough and comprehensive as I would like it to be in the upper grades. I have found that in about 3rd grade I can add in Rod and Staff math and it solves both of the problems I have with math-u-see. I just buy a used copy of the R&S teacher’s book and we do the work orally. I look through the lesson and teach the things not found in MUS and then we do the chalkboard and oral exercises out loud. The kids have a piece of paper to write things down if they need to. I love the way R&S is so practical and makes them apply what they have learned. We do R&S a couple days per week and MUS a couple days a week until they get caught up on the skills needed to move ahead with MUS. Since you can do several R&S lessons in a day if you are only doing the oral exercises, you can complete both curricula in the same year.

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We have used Math-U-See for grade levels 4th, Pre-Algebra, Geometry, and Algebra I & II, and we've had great success. One child asked to go to a more colorful program one year; before long, she decided that Math-U-See explains things better and shows tricks for remembering things better. I like the teacher on the DVD who teaches short, concise lessons; my kids rarely even need my help!

Feeding Big Families

2008-08-25T03:41:00.000-07:00

Question:
Hi, most of us homeschool families are on one income. I was wondering if any veteran homeschooling families have any tips for feeding big families on a budget. Any favorite recipes to share? Thanks.

Answers:
Feeding Big Families - Taking part in http://www.southernsavers.com/ or http://www.thegrocerygame.com/ or http://www.seaykopitiam.com/ can help families save a lot of money for all household items. I have reduced our monthly out of pocket by half through these sites!! They all provide similar information. Many times, you can receive free items weekly through these sites.

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Budget - A friend gave me this website and I thought I would share: www.hillbillyhousewife.com . They are low budget recipes and other good finds on this site. Happy Surfing!

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Cook enough to last several meals; lots of crock pot use and "creative' use of leftovers:Using leftover Chili to make a Mexican rice casserole -- drain the liquid from chili -- saving it to use as the liquid to make the rice. Make rice (either instant or whole grain) using the chili liquid -- this makes it more "Mexican". Then put a layer of rice, a layer of Chili beans and meat and a layer of cheese (I use what ever I have open -- cheddar, mixed, etc) and repeat until the casserole dish is full -- top with cheese.
Use leftover soup, stew, or roast and vegetables (cut smaller or use a food processor) to make a beef pot pie with bisquick.Use leftover chili for taco salad.
Save leftover veggie bits in a large Tupperware container in the freezer. When full, make a veg soup with leftover meat. Dump it all in the crock-pot and cook all day or thaw and mix it for use right then.
My family HATES leftovers so I have learned to be creative in how I use up food.Use sale ads to get price matching at Wal-Mart or other stores. Most now require you bring the actual ad now. This saves gas from running and chasing ads at all difference stores.

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Well, I only have one child and I work (also limited by an inability to cook - it's a genetic mutation passed by my mom), but on a tight budget also: so, here's one of my favorites - it's actually eatable & everyone likes it GOURMET FRENCH TOAST - I use some really good wholesome whole grain bread Eggs, soy milk (or reg milk) a little vanilla and lots of cinnamon. As a topping: any combination of whole fruit Jam and or pure maple syrup, butter also. I believe French toast can be a meal anytime of the day!!
Pretty inexpensive and everyone loves it -especially if the bread is good hope this helps.
Ps. we eat a lot of whole grain brown rice and black beans too.

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I saw this blog and thought you might want to share the info in the Penny Pinching in the Kitchen section. http://www.thelearningparent.blogspot.com/

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Well, I surely use the weekly ads at Publix! Buy one get one free. :-) We are big on salads so the raw veggies really get used up for all sorts of salads and what gets older ... the pet rats and rabbits get. :-) Anyway, lets see ... do I have a good recipe???

I do the crock pot with potatoes and veggies alot. I also put in a bunch of apples and honey and cinnamon and let it set over night on low and in the morning is apple butter!

Rice and beans, Noodles and lentils (I cook up noodles, add sautéed onions, garlic and lentils, toss with olive oil and dried basil. YUM), Veggie lasagna, Tater pancakes.

On Saturday, I make a large batch of waffles. We eat some right away, then I freeze the rest for the rest of the week's breakfast. The following Saturday, I do the same thing with pancakes. We have also eaten these for dinner!

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I only buy meat under $2.00/pound. I only buy meat that is on sale and then stock up on it. I recently bought 20 pounds of ground chuck at $1.88/pound. When I arrived home I divided it up. I mixed up two two-pound meat loaves, four pounds became 16 hamburgers – all of them wrapped in freezer wrap, frozen and ready to thaw and cook. The rest of the ground chuck was put in a large dutch oven to brown. I added chopped onion, salt, pepper and garlic. When that was cooked and drained, I packaged four cups (which is about two pounds) into quart-size freezer bags. It is ready to thaw and make all kinds of dishes like spaghetti, tacos, chili, Beef Skillet Fiesta (recipe below), German pizza (recipe below), Beef Bake (recipe below), etc.

I buy the largest roast or ham that I can so there are leftovers to make another meal.
Left-over roast, potatoes, carrots and gravy makes a great hash over biscuits. My family gets excited over a roast because they know they get hash and biscuits in a day or two!
Left-over ham becomes ham and potato scallop or ham and tater tot casserole.

Buy chicken leg quarters on sale. Pull skin off, put in large stock pot, cover with water, add an onion, carrot, a celery stalk, salt and pepper. Cook one hour, cool overnight. Skim fat off in a.m., pull meat off bones (my 10 and 8 year old like to help me do this), package the meat in 2 cup portions in freezer bags. Ready for a quick meal like chicken a la king, chicken and rice, chicken and stuffing casserole, etc. I pour the chicken stock through a colander into another big pot and package up the broth in plastic containers for recipes calling for chicken broth or for soups. Some of the broth I pour in ice cube trays to freeze. When frozen I remove them to a gallon freezer bag to use for recipes that call for a small amount of chicken broth.

I fix meatless meals at least once a week. Beans and rice, baked potatoes with toppings (bacon bits, sour cream, chives, cheese, maybe some broccoli and left-over beef stroganoff, chili or taco meat mix.)

Make your own pizza. I have a basket in the freezer with all the toppings we like on our pizza. I buy mozzarella cheese in bulk (as well as cheddar and Mexican cheese) at Sam’s and my 10 and 8 year old repackage that – one cup fits in the snack size bags which are then put in a gallon size freezer bag. I buy Canadian bacon in bulk at Sam’s and repackage it in the same way in the smaller bags and put in the freezer. Some of the ground beef or sausage is browned and packaged in freezer bags for the pizza. I keep canned mushrooms, sliced olives, and pineapple tidbits stocked in the pantry. We don’t use all of the contents so what is left is put in a snack bag and frozen. Just run water over it next time you make pizza. Make your own pizza sauce – one 8-ounce can of tomato sauce will cover two medium size pizzas. After spreading the sauce on the pizza, sprinkle Italian seasoning and garlic over that. Then add your toppings.

We have a two week breakfast schedule. We eat packaged cereal once or twice a week only or a bagel on days we know we have to be out of here early. I have never bought the junky children’s cereal except for Honey Nut Cheerios and, on rarer occasions, cinnamon toast cruch and apple jacks for a treat. They have learned to like the “healthier” adult cereals like Raisin Nut Bran, Kashi crunch which are more filling. The other days we cook a breakfast from scratch. Eggs, pancakes, waffles, French toast, hash browns, cream of wheat, oatmeal, cinnamon bread (put in the bread machine the night before and set to be done when we wake up) with some fresh fruit or we use pearsauce which I can . Sausage and bacon only once a week, if that, on Saturdays when Daddy is home to eat breakfast with us.

Canning is another way of saving in the long run. Canning supplies can be picked up cheaply at yard sales or given away by an older woman who no longer cans (that is how I got most of mine!). I get pears free from my father-in-law’s orchard and can a year’s supply of pearsauce, pear butter and pear pie filling. I buy peaches by the case and can peach pie filling and peach jam.

I do use coupons but there are not as many for “real” or “whole” foods like there used to be. They are mostly for junk foods and prepackaged foods that are more expensive and less healthy or for toiletries. So I only use coupons that are for those things I would normally buy. I keep my eyes out for local sales in my town, like at CVS, Walgreens, and the weekly sales at the grocery stores. But I purchase most of my groceries at Wal-Mart every two weeks (taking turns driving with my sister-in-law so we both only drive once a month to grocery shop – saving gas, too). I also shop at Sam’s if I am in town but I don’t make special trips. Stock your pantry and freezer well and you can skip the many small in-between trips and impulse buying. One of my mottos is “make do” and “shop at home first”. Learn substitutions, i.e. ¼ tsp. Baking soda and ½ tsp. Cream of tartar equal 1 tsp. Baking powder. Make your own tartar sauce, taco seasoning mix and many other mixes which are easily found if you do a google search. I do not buy cookies or brownie mixes but make our own from scratch. I make my own bread now but used to shop for breads at the day-old bread stores.

Sodas are only once a week for family night to go with our pizza. Buy them on sale. Frozen fruit juices are also only once or twice a week, not every day. Milk or tea with meals and water inbetween. We now have a family milk cow but when I used to buy milk, I would buy the cheapest I could find, three gallons at a time. I would mix one gallon with one gallon of non-fat dry milk, thereby making two gallons. Then I would do the next one when those two were gone. We could make those three gallons last six or seven days that way for one week and I didn’t make multiple trips to the store. I figured the cost out a couple of times and it always came out a little cheaper to mix with the dry milk. Make sure the milk is really cold and it is more palatable. A friend adds a little vanilla as well.

Some good cookbooks:

Fix It and Forget It crockpot cookbook
Frozen Assets by Deborah Taylor-Hough
Fast and Healthy Menus for Busy Homeschool Moms by Marilyn Moll

Homeschooling with Learning Differences

2008-08-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

Question:
I'm thinking about homeschooling our child but he has some learning differences. I would love to hear about experiences in this area. Thank you.

Answers:

I have an eight year old with sensory motor skill delays and visual perception delays, which causes him to be unable to read or write at this time. The only advice I can think of is to have the child tested to find out exactly what is the cause of his/her learning disability and find things that interest the child to give you a starting point. Also utilize his/her abilities so he/she can continue learning even if it isn't the conventional way. I've found that my son loves music and therefore I've been able to teach him to "read" sheet music in addition to playing the piano which strengthens his sensory/fine motor skills and visual perception. The key is working with the child as an individual and not expecting him/her to learn the way other children learn. I'm not an expert, just a Mom who has learned through trial and error what works best for my child. I'd love to hear from this "Mom" with a similar situation and discuss different strategies that she's used. I'm always open to new suggestions.

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I think homeschooling is perfect for this situation. Your child can learn at his own pace. We have a child who struggles with reading but excels in math. We allow him to move at whatever pace is comfortable for him. If he encounters a concept he does not understand, I have found I can either skip it or find a dozen different ways to teach it until he gets it. Sometimes when we get stuck on something, if we just put it down for about six months, when we come back to it he has no trouble at all. Other times I can get really creative about how to teach something and he will catch on.

For example, he was having trouble remembering the order to multiply when doing multiple digit multiplication problems. He understood the concept but just couldn’t remember the order to do everything. So I finally cut out colored construction paper squares in the colors that matched up with the place value designators in Math-U-See (units = green, tens = blue, hundreds = red). I laid these out on the floor in the pattern of a multiplication problem that was 3 digits times two digits. I had him step from square to square saying the place value as he went and then jumping to where he would write his answer and saying that place value. After doing this for several days, he was able to remember where to start and where to put the answer.

Since he struggles with reading and writing, I can have him dictate stories to me for writing and I can read aloud to him when I want him to know something from a book that is beyond his reading level. I like the fact that he is not pressured to keep up with anyone else and does not even know that he struggles with certain subjects. We don’t use curriculum that is grade level identified, so he has no knowledge of where he stands with respect to grade level. He doesn’t get prideful about his math or shamed because of his reading. My evaluator never puts a grade level on my evaluations. It is not required.

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Here are some excerpts from articles I have done about our experiences in homeschooling:In a home school, because of the different ages and grade levels, there are wide ranges of learning styles and abilities. By using various learning strategies, most children will be able to learn from the several ways we tackle a subject. We use reading-level appropriate materials (for those students with lower reading abilities) or have read aloud or books on tape. We view videos, use large maps (or globes) and computer programs. More pictures, videos, experiential learning, read alouds, mastery learning and hands-on projects helped each of my students reach their potential. I had to plan for and include various learning strategies in lesson plans so that the equipment is available. Fortunately, I had the same students (my own children) year after year so I knew them and their needs intimately.

In one particular year I had four students with a range of levels: a senior and a freshman in high school, a second grader and a pre-schooler. We could use these strategies to study some subjects together, usually science or history. During a study on Egypt, we read aloud the book The Golden Goblet, about a young boy who lived in Egypt. We read about his life as an apprentice as well as the flooding of the Nile and various religious beliefs. We viewed several videos on the Egyptian people and the building of the Pyramids. We used a large world map as well as individual maps for each student to find and mark various places of interest. At the same time, we were studying simple machines in science and saw on videos that the Egyptians used simple machines such as wheels and axles and inclined planes to accomplish their work. As a culminating activity, we gathered clay around our property (we live on a clay hill), and built our own mini-pyramids. There were some obstacles in reading as our second grader still read on a low level and our pre-schooler (age 3) did not yet read. However, read along tapes and videos served them well. Their older brothers would also read aloud to them – learning the material themselves as well as sharing it with the younger boys. This was truly cooperative learning.
Our third son likes to “experience” his learning so he does a lot of costuming and researching of the time periods or personalities. For instance, while studying the human body, he immersed himself in the subject and researched medicine as a career, watched a video on medical residencies, wore scrubs, built a stretcher, folded down all of seats in our Excursion and pretended to be an EMT. Contextual Learning works well for him. Our youngest son can remember almost anything he has heard, and loves to watch science shows and memorize the dialogue of the program. He may not be able to spell it yet but he can tell you about the process of photosynthesis, including defining chloroplast. This is discovery learning.
I have found it interesting to read some of the “current” research in education that confirms what I have known for awhile: the best way to teach a child is to find his learning style and use strategies that meet his style or needs. By simply treating each other the way we would want to be treated, we can avoid many potential problems.

Students come in all different shapes and sizes. In a family, a classroom and the world, there are a wide range of learning styles, abilities and levels. It is interesting to read in our education textbooks some of the “current” research in public education that confirms what homeschoolers have known for awhile: the best way to teach a child is to find his learning style and use strategies that meet his style or need best.
In Practical Homeschooling, there was a twenty-five page Special Education Feature exploring many facets of homeschooling special needs children from Learning Disabled to Medically Involved to Gifted to ADD/ADHD. One section called Learning Disabled: Fact or Fiction p. 36-39 caught my eye. It discusses how home educators have dismissed the labeling of their students. The gist of the article is that there is no reason for labels as they exist to “shift responsibility for a child’s failures from the school and parents to a child’s DNA.”[1] Mary Pride states “What one person calls a ‘disability’ could just as readily often be called a ‘gift’. Picture the difference between ‘What an energetic little boy you have!’ and ‘Oh, that boy of yours is hyperactive!’ or between ‘Janie has ADD’ and ‘Janie is such a thinker.’” [2] The Author asks “’More importantly, what are you going to do about it?”[3] Thankfully homeschoolers have the flexibility and the time to modify their day and curriculum for the individual needs of their children to insure the child is learning and reaching their potential.

In the same Special Section, there is an article “How to Teach Reading to the ‘Learning Disabled’” by Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld, a noted author and creator of The Blumenfeld Oral Reading Assessment Test. Dr.Blumenfeld theorizes that the Look-Say or Whole Language method of teaching reading may be responsible for many of the diagnoses of dyslexia. . Dr. Blumenfeld surmises “Reading Difficulties can quickly develop in the first grade if a child is being taught whole language.”[4] I agree with this since we had an experience with this with our own child. Our oldest son was taught to read phonetically and had no reading or spelling problems whatsoever. However, our second son was taught to read using Whole Language until we began homeschooling him in second grade and was a non-reader until he was 14 when the intensive phonics we were using at home finally overcame the several years of pre-school, kindergarten and first grade whole language
Jessica Hulsy, in her article “Fragmented Timed Education Does Not Allow Children to Focus” in the same magazine, supports using Unit Studies as a way to catch and keep the attention of your children. In my own homeschool we have used the unit study method as a primary tool for us to learn together regardless of age, level or learning style. As a family, we could explore various topics, usually science or history based. We could view videos on a science subject or historical event. We could read age or reading level appropriate materials or have read alouds or books on tape that we could all enjoy.
Melissa Pinkley in “Teaching to More Than One Learning Style” in Home School Enrichment talks about how homeschooling mothers can achieve academic success for their students by using different delivery methods and teaching strategies to reach children with different learning styles. Since most teachers (moms or professionals) are not the same learning style as their students, they have to learn new methods for reaching those students and even change the way they deliver the information.
Because we have a wide range of learning styles in our home, we were able to accommodate those by varying the teaching strategies we used. One son can learn equally with any method while one is a visual learner and has a hearing problem. More pictures (video or diagramming) and less lecturing fits him better. Our third son likes to “experience” his learning so he does a lot of costuming and researching of the time periods or personalities.

Sometimes a teacher has to lecture to get some information across to the students. Activation of prior knowledge might be needed by the teacher at the beginning of the unit as well as summarizing or reviewing. However, the students might also use cooperative learning to review each other or to summarize the material. Algebraic or chemical equations require some teacher lecture or demonstration but could still generate some learning that might be contextual in nature by using the knowledge in a real world situation. This could be done hands on or as a computer simulation. The use of internships, where a student actually works for the business and puts their knowledge to work, is a good transition from knowledge to application.
In a traditional classroom setting, there is a learning curve each year to learn the styles and needs of the students. This could certainly be a hindrance to accommodating different needs in the classroom because it may take awhile to get to know your students and figure out strategies that work for them. By the time, you hit on a good method or combination of methods that work for your students, they are then promoted to the next grade.
Home schooling is the perfect place to accommodate needs of various students. Since parents know their children best, and, thankfully, carry forward the same children year to year until they graduate. Because of the flexibility of our day and lifestyle, we can park in a subject or time zone until we have exhausted it or tired of it or even take rabbit trails if our projects lead in other directions. We have the freedom to take field trips – even at a moment’s notice – or accompany dad on a business trip to visit museums that we would not ordinarily have access to. Because of the scheduling, permission slips, and other bureaucratic processes in the public school system, teachers are not as free to take advantage of spur of the moment field trips since field trips, special presentations, etc. require significant planning. I love homeschooling and enjoy the professionalism that our journals give us by publishing research and new ideas to use. [1] ”Learning Disabled: Fact or Fiction” by Mary Pride p. 36 Practical Homeschooling..[2] Ibid.[3] Ibid[4] “How to Teach Reading to the ‘Learning Disabled’” by Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld p. 39 Practical Homeschooling..

Kindergarten

2008-07-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

Question:
Hi, I am looking for kindergarten curriculum ideas. I would like to purchase good used Christian items or know where to purchase reasonable new items. This is my first year homeschooling. What are some good ideas of where to start with my daughter. She has just finished K4 at a Christian school.

Answers:

Kindergarten is such a special time. I would suggest getting a Hand Writing curriculum (if she is ready) -- maybe A Reason for Writing, and a simple math curriculum -- IF she is ready -- Math U See; and then READ, READ, READ.

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You didn't say if your daughter was reading yet so I am going to assume that you will be teaching reading. I have used BJU Kindergarten (not the satellite program - this was years before that!) but that was a curriculum set up for a classroom. I waded through a lot of non-necessary stuff. Now their curriculum is different and I don't know how it is. With one of my children I used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. It worked great and from there we went to Pathway Readers. Our teacher/evaluator said this would be a good program and adding Explode the Code would teach the phonics. What I liked about this set-up for kindergarten was it didn't have a lot of "twaddle" as I've heard the busywork called. We focused on learning to read (the Teach Your Child..... book took only five to ten minutes a day) and enjoying reading (Pathway Readers are wholesome, simple, farm-life family based readers). You can use the workbooks with them but you can get into really busy work with that and not totally necessary. I have never used Explode the Code but our teacher/evaluator highly recommended it and she steers clear from unnecessary busywork!
For math I bought Saxon 1 and started in Kindergarten. We took it slow and easy and they finished it somewhere in their first grade year.
Handwriting was Italic Handwriting or Writing for a Reason.
Everything else was fun stuff - Read aloud - we read aloud every day -books from the library, maybe with some associated activities. (Such as reading Blueberries for Sal followed with a trip blueberry picking)
Nature hikes, nature journals, nature/science videos like Moody Science and checking books out of the library on animals or nature subjects the children were interested in or that we came across in our reading and subscribing to a monthly nature magazine like Nature, Creation, Your Big Backyard were what we did for science throughout the elementary years.
We did math, reading and Bible devotion everyday and the other stuff wasn't necessarily done every day.

Sources I have used to find used curriculum besides local book fairs have been:
http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com/
http://www.vegsource.com/
http://www.hslda.org/ (you have to be a member of HSLDA to buy from the curriculum market)
http://www.fetchbook.info/ which will find other websites with the book you are looking for and compare prices.
http://www.cathyduffyreviews.com/ is a helpful site reviewing some curriculum you are thinking about.
Just pray first, seek God's guidance and your husband's input, but most of all, don't fret over it. Enjoy this year with your child learning together!

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I didn’t answer this question when it was first posed because I don’t feel like I have an organized approach to Kindergarten. But maybe that is the answer. Don’t get stuck on anything. Just try some different things and see what is fun and useful. At this age the most important things you can do with your child is to show her the love of God, show her a joyful life through fun-filled days, and read to her as much as you can. Let her develop a love of learning. Following are some things I have used: Bible Friends – This is a book that associates a Bible character/story with each letter of the alphabet. It has about 10 activities that reinforce the Bible story and the letter. The activities can usually be done with items found in your home but it is good to plan ahead. I use a felt set to tell the stories and use the Stevenson reading program to introduce the letters. (Group Publishing, ISBN 0-7644-2086-0) Stevenson Language Skills – A formal reading program originally designed for teaching children with learning disabilities. Found to be very successful with young beginning readers. Uses word picture association stories to teach sounds of letters. Do not force it. Take your time and make it fun. Don’t try to begin the full program until child is at least 4-6 years old. I have used this to teach three of my children to read. I still like it although I have used less of the “extra” activities with each child simply due to time limitations. I have not found this to be a detriment to their learning to read. A quick and dirty approach works just as well with this program. See http://www.stevensonlearning.com/ . Bob Books – Published by Scholastic and available from most home school resource resellers. Use these once your child has learned to sound out words in the Stevenson program. They will address the short vowel sounds which are not covered by Stevenson until later in the program. The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions by John E. Thomas and Danita Pagel– Available from most bookstores. A book of things you can make such as playdough, bubble stuff, dog treats, finger paint, sidewalk chalk, stickers, etc. (Kid Concoctions Company, ISBN 0-9661088-0-9) Before Five in a Row by Jane Claire Lambert. This book is a literature based unit study for preschoolers ages 2-4. Designed to inspire a love of reading. It uses 23 classic literature picture books to teach lessons in math, art, history, geography, etc. This is the first book in the Five in a Row series. Some of the activities are redundant and some of the books are out of print or are not available in the library, however, this book helped me to look at picture books with a greater eye for detail. (Five in a Row Publishing, ISBN 1-888659-04-1) Honey for a Child’s Heart – A book about the benefits of reading to your child and how to incorporate a love of books into your family. Includes an age segregated book list. Caution – although this book is written by a Christian author, not all of the books in the book list express a Christian world view. (Zondervan, ISBN 0-310-24246-0) Math-U-See – We have used the Primer book and liked it. All of the kids are still using Math-U-See. For science and history we just get books and videos from the library. We have continued this approach all the way through 4th grade so far and found it works better for us than using a curriculum.

Children Close in Age Range

2008-06-22T20:12:00.000-07:00

Question:
When you have two children close in age range, a year apart, have you done school with them together - same grade? If so, what have you done? My kids are 5 and 6. Thanks.

Answers:
Absolutely. Our first two were 16 1/2 months apart but technically 2 school years apart. But we did all we could on one level. Math we did on differnt levels and spelling. But there was also a big gap in their ability -- about 4 grades. So we combined what we could and did individual what we could not. Our next two are 4 years apart in age but very close in ability. So again, we do all we can together and only do different handwriting and math books. Right now, they are only one level off in Math U See. Spelling, they are on the same level. I know this may sound very strange BUT once you do it, it becomes easier. Basically, a good rule of thumb is do as much as you can together (even subbing videos or books on tape for one who does not read as well as the other while the other reads the actual book). For instance, Bible, History and Science can be done together no matter what different in levels and then Math, reading and spelling on different levels.

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With 2 kids that close in age, I would without a doubt do their schooling together.
With science, who cares if you study the solar system when you are 5 and rocks and rivers when you are 6 or the other way around. Science is SO much more fun when you do it with someone else. There are many fun experiments that you can do where you simply need more than one set of hands to get the experiment done. 1 child holds the balloon tighly on the neck of the 2-liter bottle, and the other child then tips the balloon up to allow the baking soda to fall into the vinegar, for example. Two heads and two sets of eyes are better for scientific observation--one child may catch what the other didn't notice and then they get to share what they each observed.
History--again, what does it matter what year you study geography, US History, etc. At young ages, history is so much more fun when you just read history books, do a Little House on Prairie study, or play that you are on the wagon train, pony express, or train to cross the continental divide. Again, it is so much more fun (and essential) to have more than one child to act out the pony express, for example, like we did, because the pony express was a relay--if you only have one child studying it, you can't act out the relay. If you are studying the Battle of Marathon, one child is the runner coming to Athens to tell about the victory, and the other is the King of Athens waiting to hear about the battle.
Math and English--still can do together and just separate the grades when they get older--middle or high school. If the younger one is able to keep up and is always a grade ahead in Math and English--who cares. Or you can work with each one individually on specific reading skills, and then do other English activities together, like writing stories, copy work, reading to them together and later they can also read to each other. They could have separate spelling and vocab lists, if you want. Math facts can easily be drilled together. One child can even show flash cards to the other. Think of all the redundancy in the beginning of each year's math book. This could actually be to your benefit as it would allow the younger child to review the math from the previous year before proceeding. Then if you want, you can also do actual math workbooks or books separately. But you can use ungraded math books like Math Benders, Developing Critical Thinking through Math, etc.

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Definitely! My first three children were within four years of each other. We did history and science (which was usually read-aloud books, field trips, and nature hikes) together in the elementary years. The oldest two did a worldview curriculum together in high school though they were two years apart. The youngest needed some help at first but it was beneficial for them to do it together. The middle and last one did a year of science together one year.

I now have two younger daughters - 8 and 10. They are in different math levels and different handwriting books but everything else is done together. I use Spelling Power and each is at a different level but I can give both of them their spelling tests at the same time. (Don't start Spelling Power till 3rd grade) Reading, science, history, bible is all done together. Writing assignments are the same but expectations are different according to their ability. If you use textbook/workbook method only this will be more work, in my opinion. I prefer a mix of read-alouds, "whole books" or "living books" and unit studies in the elementary years.
I did begin by teaching them to read individually since they are two years apart but since yours are one year apart, you may be able to do both together.

Hope that helps!

Free Play

2008-05-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

An Article:

Hi there,
Don't know if you heard this report on NPR about the importance of free play for children. The researchers suggest that self-control is a better predictor of success than IQ. Sounds a lot like learning to be content!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19212514

Enjoy, Mindy

Typical Homeschooling Day

2008-04-25T03:48:00.000-07:00

Question:
Hi, I was wondering ... what is a typical homeschooling day for families. How does everyone "do it" with school, housework, etc.? Thanks.

Answers:
A typical homeschooling day... hmmmm. I don't know if I've ever had one of those :)! Seriously, we have a rough, loose type of schedule that we follow, but I am not a very rigid mom, and my husband is quite laid back as well. That gives me a lot of room to smell the daisies, pick up and go to a friend's house, or run to Publix to get food to cook for someone in need. With that being said, I usually start my day with the Lord, and ask Him to guide our steps and the rest is in His hands. Buying curriculum that was useful to me and fun for my kids makes a big difference in our day as well... we actually look forward to cracking the books! As for housework, we all have morning and afternoon chores so all the "have to's" get done. The rest gets checked off a master list as time permits, but if a game of H-O-R-S-E is being played, well then... I'm in! I LOVE homeschooling and being an at home mom, but I remember it took me awhile to get that way. I had to cry out to God, ask my husband what was important to him, and decide what would work for me. It is a process, but God will guide you. If you get frustrated because you feel you should had gotten one more load of laundry done, ask God why. He will tell you and guide you, but you have to be willing to listen :)!

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When our daughter was young, we did some school work in the morning and did housework in the afternoon. But then we changed to doing some work, some chores, some work, eat lunch, some chores, read a book or two, play time ... it was always a work in progress. Our schedule, I mean. It never stayed the same. It was always changing with her growing.

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Typical homeschooling day!I do not have a written schedule though I often think I should, however homeschooling is a way of life. I do a big weekly shopping each w/e with the bases of evening meals forming in my head. I find if I know what will be for dinner that evening the day goes much better and less stress. After that 9am -2 pm is set aside for school gives enough time for breaks , sometimes we go over. During short breaks the wash goes in, and small chores are done by the kids.Making lunch is cooking class and cleaning up is part of home maintenence. Errands and appointments I try to schedule after 3 and bunched together so it cuts down on travel and gas and time away from home, because once school etc is over my boys just want outside and run around, and so do I( want them outside running around). Hope this helps.

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Ahhhh - a typical day!There was no such thing - I did bookkeeping for 15-17 businesses from home (still do) homeschool was worked around the chaos of my work.If my kid was not independent - she would have been in school. We both worked independently in the mornings - I started at 6am - She would start around 10am. We were very involved at O2B Kids and the YMCA and our homeschool group. I always had a planner for her -she would follow it for her independent studies; we would work together reading and doing stuff like math anywhere from 1 - 2 hrs a day -about 3-4 days a week. We did the Charlotte Mason Method -no work or text books. Very based around literature and history.

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Though there are some great scheduling techniques (Managers of Their Homes) out there, we are not rigid in our schedule. We try to be at schoolwork by 9 and finished by 12:15 when Dad comes home from work for lunch. If we have more to finish, we do it in the early afternoon and clean in the mid to late afternoon. My standards for cleanliness have been lowered to "sanitary and picked up!!" rather than spotless and unlived in. Remember if you used to be gone all day, your house stayed clen because no one was there. Now you and the children are there all day, and there will be more to do but more time to do it. There will be a season for a spotless house again after I have raised my children.

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Typically I start my day with prayer, then my aerobics and watching various ministries on tv. We start our schooling day at 10:30am, we start with a devotion, then into our subjects. At 12:30 we prepare lunch or eat dinner left overs, clean up. Then by 1pm we start back up and depending on what we are studying we may finish in a hour or longer. We are usually totally done by 3pm. Then between 4:30-5:00pm we start dinner. After we are finished eating the girls clean the kitchen and we usually watch one of our food networks (my oldest wants to be a chef)or hgtv programs. Then they will go read or do homework. Now on Monday,and Tuesday evenings they have dance classes so we go there. Then on Wednesdays we have bible study at church. So for the first three days of the week we are gone in the evenings. Which works out very well for us. We aren't rushing during the dinner hour and by the time their classes start all the traffic at the dance studio is gone. Thursdays is home economics day. Meaning we clean, wash, dust, sweep etc.. Then in the afternoon my oldest has tutoring for 1 hour. We use the late afternoons for finishing up anything we didn't finish earlier in the week. Friday's is test day. After the test are taken we may go to the mall, park etc We have that day to do whatever we want. Remember when you homeschool its up to you, how often and how long you school. There is no right or wrong way how you organize your day. If you aren't a morning person like me then you don't have to have school begin at 8am. You can start school at 1pm and end at 4pm. I did that for a very long time and it worked well! I hope this has helped! Be blessed.

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In this area I feel like I flounder. I would certainly love to hear what others do. For my self I remember my mother's words, "The dishes will still be there." Meaning, spend time with the kids. Yet we all know we still need something to eat from and clothing to wear. I get the kids to help me with all the essential chores and leave things like sweeping and dusting and toy pick up for the end of the day/weekends. OR there is always the 5 min. whorl wind when company is coming. I think I learned from Mardy a simple task for the kids. "When your school work and chores are done, you can go play." This has helped tremendously. The kids are very motivated.

Five In A Row

2008-03-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

Question:
I was not at the meeting but was looking at the notes you emailed & love the "Five in a Row" information. If someone uses it I'd love to talk to them about it.

Answers:
I used FIAR and loved it. Most of the books could be found at the library if you don't already have them. There were also a lot of sites on the Web that could be used in conjunction with the curriculum. It's been many years, but I'd be happy to field any questions as best I could.

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We used FIAR also with our daughter and loved it. It has a lot more than it did some seven years ago. But the concepts she still talks about she learned using those books. It was cozy 'getting to know' a book for a week. We just added some phonics and math and we had a good time. The book we found at the library and the online web sites were plentiful out there. Lots of projects and learning.

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I'd be glad to share with this woman about FIAR........One of my "regrets" is not using it more in the elementary years.....it was so fun.

Unit Studies and Boys

2008-03-08T18:12:00.000-08:00

Question:
I have a question about how to homeschool an only child and using Unit Studies. Has anybody done this?

Also, I find getting anything accomplished a little difficult (My child, 6 yrs., does a few chores, but then I can't give him the chores that three or more children in a home could do) and then his free time can drive me a little bats. He is a fantastic boy, his mind moves faster than I can dream to keep up with.

Something I have noticed but because he is a one child, I know he is getting spoiled and more grumpy and angry when he doesn't get his way. I pray I am consistant with my no and yes response. So, it isn't easy to teach him contentment when he basically has it all (doesn't have to share with siblings) and isn't in need. Serving in the home is limited. I do want to teach him contentment and to have a servant heart first here at home before we go out to serve others.

I know there are advantages to multiply children and also with only one child. But the two homes will be run differently. I feel we haven't gotten very far in all of this. I also know boys and girls are night and day ... I have a boy. Help.

Answers:
I think choosing to do Unit Studies vs. another form of teaching/learning depends not only on the child or children, but the mom! I am not the type of mommy that can pull together decent unit studies, but there are many out there (my hat off to you!) who can and their children thrive. It it works... use it. If not, find something else... there is plenty out there!

As far as chores go, it isn't how many he does, but the heart in which he does it. My kids have daily responsibilities that they HAVE to do, like picking up their toys, brushing their teeth, etc. Then they have "helper" chores - things I have assigned them according to their ability level that helps the whole house run more smoothly. Lastly, they have chores for which they can be paid... these are their most favorite. We also spend time each week in service to others, but it starts at home. For instance... a mom has a baby and we cook a meal for the family, or we collect school supplies for the Honduras mission, or we make cards for neighbors that are sick. We have an elderly neighbor that needs her trash taken to the road and then empty cans back up to the house. There are lots of opportunities to bless others within walking distance of your home... just ask God to give you creative ideas.

As far as free time goes, I firmly believe that unstructured free time is vital to the development of a healthy imagination! Now, by unstructured I mean that it is within guidelines set by me for a child left to himself will bring shame to his mother! My husband starting making a "science" box for the boys (I have 2) out of old pieces parts that are not dangerous - an old hair dryer motor, magnifying glasses, electrical tape, etc. Then they have a raw material art box - fabric, glue, sequins, chenille stems, etc. The list is endless for both. The point is, when they have free time, they have resources, a time limit ( because our lives are relatively busy), and the desire to create and experiment without danger or my help! They also choose Legos, a FUN marble raceway, cars, or on occasion a fun computer game. That pretty much fills up our day. They also play outside everyday - scooters, bikes, chalk, frisbee, baseball - and I join in as time permits to be active myself.

Don't despair - Cry out to God! He knows what is best for YOUR child. He has not forsaken him or you. He knows what will work best and when. You are the perfect mommy for this boy!

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I would HIGHLY recommend Raymond Moore's book Better Late Than Early -- he really understands boys in a way I have not seen elsewhere. (As a mom of 4 boys, maybe I should write a book.) Anyway, the looser the better in the early ages -- up to middle school -- is my methodology. Having said that, my youngest is 8 and is a very STRUCTURED child. He craves order and is at loose ends when not in structure so we are much more structured with him. Bottom line, go with your child's nature. I am not saying let them rule mind you, just understand their personality and go with it.

Why Do You Homeschool? And Have You Used the Liason?

2008-03-08T18:07:00.000-08:00

Questions:
Q. #1
Why did you chose to homeschool?

Also

Q.#2
We have a homeschool liason in Alachua County (or your county) have you used any of the resources available through this office?

Answers:

Q#1
I have always loved education and learning, therefore home schooling seemed the natural thing to do. However, to have the desire to do some thing doesn't mean the doing is easy. I have come across a few bumps and times I thought, "I could take my children down to the public school right now and they would be more than happy to help this 'poor' mother." My simple desire has turned into a conviction. We began our first child's education by entering her into a private school. I did not know where to begin in teaching her how to read. I felt if they could get her started I could continue. This worked very well and she only needed to be in for half a year. Thus began our home school journey:
1. I enjoy learning and wanted to teach our kids.
2. We believed we could do a better job with the time and money.
3. We wanted to direct our children's character training.
4. I like my kids and wanted to hang out with them more.

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Q#1
I homeschooled because by the end of 2nd grade my daughter had fallen apart and was doing very badly. School just didn't work for her. Perhaps if I'd done a small private school first - who knows - but she was a total emotional and academic mess by the end of 2nd grade, even though she was tested high-gifted and was reading at 4 yrs old. She'd actually regressed throughout the years at public school both academically and socially. After a particularly bad few weeks (she & a friend been attacked by 7 of the bussed kids and I was told she was flunking reading) -she was having night terrors and acting very angry) on Feb 26th of her 2nd grade year - I walked in and pulled her out. Was planning on private school - but she begged and talked me into homeschooling her. It's been her idea every year since.

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Q#1
The Lord led us to homeschooling when our daughter was three. My husband and I started reading up on it. It was a blessing because later it was discovered that she had a reading disability, sensory integration issues, processing issues, and although we never had her formally evaluated, she was said to maybe have Asperser's Autism. So, the one-on-one time and teaching at her speed and some forms of therapy with different agencies ... and the Lord's leading ... all played into our family being blessed by homeschooling. It was a right fit and our daughter learned to overcome her difficulties at her pace in the way that was best for her.

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Q#1
As our guest speaker did, I started to homeschool primarily for educational reasons, although I also knew that I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom and relished the idea of spending a lot of time with my kids. The educational reasons were that we knew our son (oldest child) was extremely bright, and he was already a year ahead in a private school (started 1st grade at age 5). However, the school had a combined 1st/2nd grade class, so he would have the same teacher the next year who had basically required very little of him academically. He mostly drew pictures of sharks and airplanes after a few basic math and reading activities!!!!!!! (And this was an expensive well-respected private school.!) The 1st grade year was a total waste except that he read a lot, which he also did at home and could have done more of at home. So I knew that I could do better than that. It was also very important to me to keep the hearts and minds of my children safe from evolutionary, humanistic, and secular teachings until they were old enough and sure enough in their faith to encounter other belief systems and find the faults in them.

I stayed with homeschool because:
I could be very in-tune to their hearts and minds, see where they were spiritually, capitalize on their strengths, and guide them in their weaknesses
we could cater to their different individual needs/learning styles/ educational goals (more art for one child, summer internship with my husband for another child)
I got to know and love my children as unique creations of the Creator
we were successful
I loved being with my kids
public schools became increasingly scary to my husband and me
we could equip them for the real world until they were ready to stand fast in the Lord
we could find lasting and godly friends (for the kids as well as the parents)
the kids were encouraged and trained to support each other, and so developed very close relationships

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Q#2
No. The greatest difficult I have faced in interacting with the Alachua County School Board system is the compartmentalization of knowledge. Speaking about when you get to the high school level, for example, one person knows a little bit about dual-enrollment at SFCC (but not as it applies to homeschoolers, and nothing about UF dual-enrollment); another person knows a little about homeschooling (but not about dual-enrollment); another person knows a little about UF dual-enrollment (but not about homeschooling or the Florida Virtual School); another person knows something about homeschooled students taking a band/chorus/chemistry class at your zoned school, but doesn't know how that would affect your child's dual enrollment status at SFCC or UF. I often had to call multiple people and piece together a whole picture because during one school year I had a daughter doing all of the above (homeschool at home, take a course at our zoned high school, take a course at Florida Virtual School, play a sport for our zoned school, and apply to dual-enroll.) This is when it pays to speak to people who have been there/done that, to investigate thoroughly yourself, and to talk to the multiple people/facilities/organizations involved face-to-face while explaining your whole situation. On the positive side, we have never encountered road blocks, just lack of knowledge. Everyone has been extremely helpful in their realm, has dealt with homeschoolers before, and has been willing to allow our children to plug into whatever activities they were qualified for.

A Thought

2008-03-08T18:04:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I was just re-reading over some Ambleside notes and thought I'd share. I believe Charlotte Mason was a small topic at our first meeting. :-)
Year 0 ... is Preschool. :-)

More Thoughts about Year 0
Wendi's notes from Volume 1

A mother's chief responsibilities for the first six years is to secure for her children "Quiet growing time--and free growing time--the freedom of real play (not lessons that look like play) and of ordering one's own life. page 194

The part of the mother in early years is to 'sow opportunities, and then to keep in the background, ready with a guiding or restraining hand only when these are badly wanted... wise letting alone is the chief thing... Nature... arranges for due work and due rest of mind, muscles, and senses.' page 193

definite lessons begin around 6 or 7 (page 193), and 'A child will have taught himself to paint, paste, cut paper, knit, weave, hammer and saw, make lovely things in clay and sand, build castles with his bricks; possibly too, will have taught himself to read, write, and do sums, besides acquiring no end of knowledge and notions about the world he lives in, by the time he is six or seven. What I contend for is that he shall do these things because he chooses (provided that the standard of perfection in his small works be set before him). page 194

One of things Miss Mason does stress for the early years is training in good habits- she has a lot to say about it, and I found nearly all of it overwhelming, until I found the following encouraging passage:
on page 192, Miss Mason says "The busy mother says she has no leisure... and the child will run wild and get into bad habits; but we must not make a fetish of habit; education is a *life* as well as a discipline. Health, strength, and agility, bright eyes, and alert movements, come of a free life, out-of-doors, if it may be, and as for habits, there is no habit or power so useful to man or woman as that of personal initiative. The resourcefulness which will enable a family of children to invent their own games and occupations through the length of a summer's day is worth more in after life than a good deal of knowledge about cubes and hexagons, and this comes, not of continual intervention on the mother's part, but of much masterly inactivity."

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More Thoughts about Year 0
Leslie's notes from Volume 1

Re: Booklist for Preschoolers: Charlotte Mason thought that young children should be outside experiencing nature more than reading books, so she didn't really recommend many books. Preschool is a great time to start a garden and work on habits that will make the next years smoother. It's never too early to help a child develop a taste for music and art with casual exposure by playing classical music during the day and putting art on the walls.
If I were making a booklist, I'd keep it sparse- the classic Winnie the Pooh series, Beatrix Potter, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel, The Little House, Ping, The Little Engine that Could, Blueberries for Sal, Millions of Cats, Ferdinand, Madeline, Andy and the Lion, and classic children's poetry like Robert Louis Stevenson, Christina Rossetti and Edward Lear.

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To Read More, follow the link below:

Year 0 (Preschool)
http://www.amblesideonline.org/00.shtml

Some free online books that Ambleside uses:
http://www.mainlesson.com/main/displayarticle.php?article=mission

Boys!!

2008-03-08T17:48:00.000-08:00

Question:
HELP :-)
My nerves are shot today. I am trying to get more schooling into my son and I. I know he learns a lot of hands on, but he is so impulsive and just gets excited (not complaining about that), but he won't let me teach. He is a "I know what we are doing." And basically is all over the item and I am sitting there trying to keep composure and then I have to repeat over and over again, "slow down, let me show you how this is to be done, it has directions we need to follow."

I have explained over and over that some things you can learn by trial and error (and in those cases I sit back until he asks or looks like he needs a hand) and others are done by listening to directions. I am to the point where I would like to do it by a video with me in one room and him in another, so I can explain to him and then say, "on your marks, get set, go." If I don't have it set up completely then I am up a creek trying to get the stuff ready, so it has to be there ready for me to explain every detail or it is done in a whirl wind and then I am sitting going "Well, that didn't go very well."

Does anyone have experience with this type of child? Have you kept your sanity? How do you handle this? Our son is all boy and wowed easily
which I love, but to teach him is like driving into a fast food drive through with the mindset of, "me no wait long..." I do know it could be age his and mine (I'm an 'older' mom), but at the same token I think my nerves will be history if I have to wait for me to grow up more and for him to slow down more.

He will be 7 the end of April, only child. I want to do both hands on and sit down stuff, but it feels like two greased pigs in a pig pen trying to work together. Gee could I come up with some more mental pictures. I know my learning and teaching style verses his seem to be clashing.
~Thanks for listening. :-)

Answers:
How funny, I think we can relate. Our son just turned 7. We are still in the middle of learning ourselves. Some times I just skip the school and work on character...but he has to learn some thing some time. Right? I try to help my kids learn to learn. Therefore, I am not on his back all the time. The rule of thumb I am using is, "When all your chores and school work are finished you can play." This helps a lot. We also have an older daughter that sets an example, which you may not have. We plod through from day to day. I have noticed that when we relax from the sit down stuff for a while (as in a week), when we come back he seems to do better. I seem to do better too.

Recently I discovered he missed a foundational concept in math. We had manipulatives spread out all over the living room floor. I was very exasperated. I came to the point of not speaking to keep my anger from exploding on him. He truly was missing something and I had to figure out what that was. After a time of silence and prayer, God gave me the answer and we were able to proceed. Teaching children like our son's is not easy and takes A LOT of patience. Remember how much one on one time he would get in a conventional school setting - to focus on character and foundational skills. You may have to sit back and re-evaluate how and what you are teaching. Something to think about: waldkindergarten

TALK WITH YOUR HUSBAND. Many times I would research and ask questions when my husband had the answer all the time. No matter how dumb/simple I think it is, my husband is usually right. I also have to expect that my feelings will be hurt when I ask my husband. He does know me best, the good, bad and ugly.

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Sit down learning at age 5-12 didn't happen very much with our daughter. She was very much a hands-on, moving and shaking, kind of kid. I have always said we did math with her standing on her head bending backwards over the couch! :-) So, the math we did, only lasted 10 minutes. Short lessons as Miss Charlotte Mason would say. www.amblesideonline.org/New.shtml

Hands on creativity and unit studies was our thing. Lots of picture books, F.I.A.R. was good for that. We read a book for a week and really got to 'know it' and be a part of it. The FIAR activities were fun and very young she learned and loved the word "Complimentary Colors" from Minuette on the High Wire! She remembers that to this day!

Also, I found having "game day" was good for her. We took out all our board games and we learned, that day, about taking turns, colors, shapes, sharing, communication, listening, numbers, adding, spelling ... you get the picture ... she was having fun and she 'was' learning, but she didn't know it! :-)

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I have had some problems with children not having a “teachable heart” for one reason or another. It can stem from excitement, pride, not wanting to do what has been asked, distractibility, or many other reasons. I have come to see that dealing with this heart issue is much more important than getting the task accomplished. Some things I have used that have been successful have been: When working on projects with lots of parts and pieces or games, enforce a don’t touch policy. I tell them, “You may not touch anything until I tell you to.” I have them sit with hands folded until the rules or instructions have been completely explained. I keep it short and don’t give too many instructions at once. Then tell them what to pick up and what to do with it. I keep pieces of the project I am not ready to use yet out of their immediate reach (like on the other end of the table) until I am ready to have them touched. I remove any item I am done with from their immediate reach so that they do not become overwhelmed with too many things. Once I give them permission to begin then I allow them to work at whatever pace they desires so long as they are following the instructions I gave. If they get off track, get wild or I need to explain the next step, I have them sit with hands folded again and go over the instructions again. Any time I run into a child who refuses to sit for a moment and listen to me, I remove them from the task and have them get their self-control. I use their bed for a quiet place to sit and the time varies from 3 minutes to 15 minutes depending on the child. I have also used a chair parked in the middle of the kitchen floor. Some people use a corner. You can always start with, “You may come out when you have your teachable heart. This means you will sit quietly and listen without touching things.” Allow him to decide when he is ready. If he comes out and falls back into the same behavior then send him back but maybe put a minimum time limit on it like 3 minutes. Set the timer so he knows you haven’t forgotten about him. (Which I have done!) I have also found that having the boys doing something with their body is helpful sometimes while I am talking to them. I have done phonics flashcards with them standing on a plastic see-saw and rocking back and forth. We have done math on a hoppy ball with the requirement being that your body remains at the table at all times or I take the hoppy ball away. They will just bounce softly in place while I talk. I know of someone who had her son mop the floor while she taught him. She gave him a spray bottle with water and an old washrag. He would spray the floor and slide around on the rag. I have used a rocking chair. I have given them a yard stick and had them stand and pass it over one shoulder to the other had behind their back over and over again while I talked. All of these things will work well to use up extra energy but I still require that a teachable heart be visible. Otherwise they just become flaming balls of activity and no learning is happening. So they must be content to use the toy (see-saw, rocking chair, hoppy ball, etc.) within the boundaries I specify. They must keep their eyes on me. They must be paying attention. I do not try to spend too much time on school work with my boys. They are 6 and 8. We don’t do more than one hour of school per day. A little reading, a little math, and maybe a little handwriting and that is it. I read to them a lot from storybooks, history books and science books. We watch documentaries and science videos from the library. I would also take a look at http://www.feingold.org/ . The Feingold program was developed to help children with activity and learning issues. My family started on this program when I was about 7 and used it for many years with much success. Many studies have shown that food additives can play a role in children’s behavior. I have seen it now in my own children.

Homeschooling with LD

2008-03-03T13:42:00.000-08:00

Just a thought, but I have a web page with lots of LD information on it that was collected at first by another wonderful mom and then I took it over and kept it up. I used to have a meeting for moms homeschooling kids with learning disabilities and we gathered lots of great info. Our family was so blessed by God to have shown us that homeschooling our daughter was a way she could thrive and over come her way of "learning differently". The one-on-one teaching and just being together and learning at her pace was a blessing.

http://members.cox.net/mandjstewart/t2/coffeetalk/

Downward Deligation

2008-02-27T18:57:00.000-08:00

A book I read once talked about Downward Deligation - give a task to the youngest child possible. That way, you are training up the little child. Sure it would be easy to ask the older child to run and get you a diaper, but ask the 3 year old and train him/her ... even though he's slower, might bring the wrong thing ... it trains ... so in the long run, it pays off. The older child is asked to do 'bigger' things then.

Many Children/ Manage Home/ Year Round or Not?

2008-02-22T04:53:00.000-08:00

Questions:

1. What do you (experienced home schoolers) do with toddlers/babies as you do school?

2. How do you manage your household duties, like cleaning, organizing, and also serving others, while schooling?

3. Do you school year round or just part of the year and why?

Answers:
1. Babies! Gosh that was MANY YEARS AGO... I kept one set of toys aside just for home school time so that he had his 'school work' to do also. Anything that would engage him while I taught. He spent a lot of time on my lap, drawing, playing with clay etc.while we did math. We also worked in a 'classroom' where we could shut the door and would know where he was even if I wasn't giving him my full attention. We did a lot of hands on activities that he joined in also.2. My priority has always been school. I would do a thorough cleaning on weekends or if we were having company but I was okay with dishes in the sink the rest of the time. When I accepted that I couldn't do it all, all the time, it was easier to put my best efforts into what was most important. It helped me to schedule my chores, a couple a day, so that I could feel like I everything was going to get done eventually. Wash Sheets on Tuesday, mop floors on Wed., etc FlyLady.com has a lot of good ideas but is too obsessive for me to do all that she suggests. As the boys matured, they have taken on chores that have really helped. It sometimes takes a lot of effort to make sure they do them but it is worth the effort. They have a sense of accomplishment and contributing to the welfare of the family. It is an essential, positive way to find a sense of place in the family.3. We have done both and have found advantages to both. My oldest son is now in public school so we follow that schedule. It caused unnecessary resentment to do school with my youngest while the oldest was off. Having the entire summer off was great for me because it gave me enough time to do a really big project for myself. Last year I painted the exterior of our house. I prefer going year round though. It allowed us to have 4 day school weeks which helped avoid burn out. It helped my boys to be strong in math because they didn't loose their skills over the holidays. We skipped sections of review by just taking the tests since the lessons were so fresh in their minds. We would take 3 weeks off when the weather was nicest then work inside when it was too hot to be anywhere but in the air conditioning. We would take a month off at Christmas time and really enjoy the season. We felt free to take days off for field trips without feeling that we had to 'make up class time.' I loved the feeling of being ahead of schedule. The flexibility it gave us was wonderful. We never felt like we had to pass on a fun activity because we had school to do.

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I had the toddler play some game or do something they enjoyed while we worked and they learned to do and imitate things the older child wasdoing. I just did the best I could but would suggest involving everyone in the household chores and making it a constant thing. Make serving others the biggest focus of your life and teach through and around it. Build those hearts to serve. We tried all year but it never worked. We did do somein the summer though.

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2. How do you manage your household duties, like cleaning, organizing, and also serving others, while schooling?First of all, relax your standards. It's never going to be as clean as it was before homeschooling and children. Chores for kids - it's a good thingGoogle "Flylady". Clean a little everyday, schedule it in - along with service to others.3. Do you school year round or just part of the year and why? I school during the regular public school calendar year with the flexibility for change. My child is then able to participate in many of the day camps/activities available throughout the summer. It also give mom a break.

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I try to be a little organized with keeping house by having a daily schedule of a few things each day. And the kids help right along. Training early to do a chore pays off in the long run, but it does take time. We school year round so we can take time off at Christmas and for vacation and birthday's and when we are sick and stuff. Usually, the summer is different curriculum than the rest of the year.

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okay well in my ideal world I would school year round because it is easier for all, the kids don't forget stuff over the summer and you don't have to work so hard to get them started b back up. However, by the time we get to that point mom is so burnt out I need the time off so we usually take a couple months off (smile).

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With babies and toddlers, I try to remain very flexible. With a baby, it works well to school during their nap. Or, little ones can become accustomed to having quiet time w/ books (this may take some practice but does get better). Another option is to pair up an older one with a baby and then swap the school-aged children for some one-on-one teaching time w/ Mommy.For me, I have had to let go of some of the standards I once thought I had w/ housecleaning and organization. Chore-training is time consuming but pays off great in the longer run. I figure that the toilet is MORE clean (after my 5-year-old has scrubbed it) than it was before even though it may not be perfect. My children have a few room chores, which include making their bed, getting dressed, putting pjs away and doing their hair, that must be done before breakfast. They, also, set the table and feed the dog and fish. We have after-meal chores, too, which include clearing the table, wiping the floor and table. My older boys unload the dishwasher (keep non-breakables in lower cabinets so they can stay safe) and the 8-year-old loads it. Getting organized is an ongoing process for us in a house with 5 boys, age 8, 5, 4, 2 and 1. A sense of humor is helpful. Oh, yes, and my older 4 fold and put away ALL the laundry. The 2-year-old is still being trained on this. I've tried to make the closets accessible and simple and, no, they aren't as tidy as they could be. I do see improvement, however, the more we practice. I try to check in on their progress regularly to stay on top of slacking and to encourage and keep the training going.Up to this point, serving others takes place within our own family and nearby neighbors and friends, as we are able. We have opportunities to practice serving one another under our own roof! Sometimes we stop and pick up litter down our road. We visit great grandmother at HER house, which is effortful and so meaning to her. We like to bake goodies and share them to loved ones and write and send homemade cards. I try to consolidate 'getting out of the house' in order to keep things as simple as possible. So, any errands or library runs are done all at one time, if possible, so that we can be at home where most of the training best occurs, for me.(Drive-by post offices, banks, etc. make some of that easier with several little ones).We have, so far, schooled year-round. This consistency has been good for us and allows us to be laid back and spontaneous whenever an opportunity arises that calls us out of our normal routine. Vacations are very educational, by the way, and needn't be considered at NOT schooling. When someone is sick, we stop everything necessary to rest and get well. My boys seem to like knowing what to expect. With the numerous conflicts between siblings and growing pains, being at home maximizes the possibility that I will be able to deal with these precious little hearts graciously and in a timely manner.

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What to do with younger ones?

Some of the things I have done:

Make use of nap time.

The following things can be used in 20-30 minutes rotations through out the day. Never leave a toddler too long even if they seem to be doing well. End their activity time on a good note.

Train them to sit on a small blanket and play with a toy.
Train them to play quietly in their room alone.
Have one older child read to them. (This takes some time to train the older child how to read to a toddler and make it fun for the toddler.)
Have them sit and listen to a book on tape.
Have them sit on their bed with a small selection of books and have “reading” time.
If they are old enough not to pull all the books off the shelves – build a book nook in your school room and have them sit in it and “read” books. I found they could not put the books back on the shelves very well so I just had them make a stack of the ones they were done with. An older child can put them away later.
Have them color at the table you are working at.
Have an older child have play time with a younger one. (This takes time to train them to make sure the younger child is having fun. It is learning to serve.)
Train them to sit quietly in your lap with a small toy.
Include them when you are having read aloud time.

Good resources for this type of training can be found at the Growing Families International website http://www.blogger.com/. This is Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo’s organization. I know that some of their infant management teachings are controversial, however, the idea of having order in my toddler’s day became very necessary when I began homeschooling and had a preschooler, a toddler and an infant. The GFI materials give you the philosophy. If you want the practical tips on how to train the children. Go to Carla Link’s website at http://www.blogger.com/.
I have much of this material and would be happy to loan it out.

I also found Teri Maxwell’s Managers of their Homes to be very helpful for looking at making the best use of all the minutes God gives me in a day. I have never been able to adhere completely to a schedule I built. However, the process of building one helped me to be much more creative about how to make it all work. It also helped me be realistic about what could really fit in one day.

What to do about household duties?

Schedule one or two times in the day for pick up time. We usually do this right before lunch and right before dinner. I assign each child a room to pick up. They get 7-10 minutes to put everything in its place.

Train the children to help. My children each do 9 (3 for the toddler) jobs for me each school day. I came up with the list by thinking about things I was doing every day (or needed to do everyday) that they could be easily trained to do. We had training sessions and I periodically have to retrain. Some examples are – sort the laundry, wipe the bathroom counter and sink, clean the toilet, sweep the kitchen floor, vacuum (I pick a different room each day.), put away books and movies that got left out, mop the bathroom floor, pick up the yard, take out the trash, empty the dishwasher (put everyday dishes in the bottom cabinets so they can reach), wipe the dining room table, etc. They don’t do these jobs perfectly, but as they get older I have tried to increase the standards I hold them too. We do not pay them for these work items since this is part of being a family member.

They understand that at any time during the day I can call on them to do something for me. They are being trained to respond cheerfully and work diligently. We do pay them for helping with big projects such as planting the garden or helping build fence. I pay according to attitude. The better your attitude is, the more money you can make. When potty training the younger one, I paid them 10 cents for taking her to the potty for me. The Bible says a workman is worth his wages and I believe this includes children.

We use times when guests are coming to do a more thorough job of cleaning. We may spend a whole day on this. I list it in the logs as hospitality training. I tell the children we show honor to our guests by making our home clean and comfortable so everyone can enjoy our time together.

Good resource for this topic – 401 Ways to Get Your Kids Your Kids to Work at Home by Bonnie Runyan and The Messies Manual by Sandra Felton

Year round school?

It depends on how the year went. We find that we need a break from time to time. I need to catch up on projects and they need some time to rest their brains. If we have taken lots of breaks during the year for vacation, moving, births, etc. then we might go through the summer. We don’t use graded curriculum so I am not pressured to finish a book in a year. We “make progress”. I have found that giving them so time off often causes an unexplainable increase in their ability. I have a slow reader and we recently took two months off to move. I read to the kids a lot during that time but he did not read too much himself. When we started up again, his reading ability had strangely improved. I can’t explain that but it seems like a good thing. So sometimes our break is a big long one in the summer and sometimes it is spread out throughout the year.

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1. It has been awhile, but I still keep "school toys" for my little one so he has something "cool" to play with while we school. It really depends on the child. Some are more easily amused than others, while some need more stimulation.

2. Household duties are part of our homeschool. I am raising responsible, servant warriors for the Lord, and they must know how to manage a home and serve in Jesus' name. For things that don't directly involve the children, I adopted the Fly Lady's philosophy of 15 minutes at a time. You can accomplish much in 15 minute intervals. You also need to let go perfection, this isn't the time for a trophy home. Ask hubby what is most important to him and start focusing on those areas - the rest is icing!

3. We "school" year round, but not totally. By that I mean that we read, write and do math all year, but we take a break from the routine at Christmas and in the summer. The independent children get up and have to finish what is on their lists before they can play, and the dependent learners get a little one and one time with me. We also enjoy the outdoors more in the spring and summer, often hauling the entire day outside to under the fig tree.

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When my kids were younger (elementary through early middle school age), I usually continued some math study throughout the year because it is the subject that buids so much on what you have learned previously. I had noticed, as I'm sure many people have and remember from their chilchood, that the first several chapters of each math text are review. Obviously the school kids needed review after the summer break, so I thought I would avoid that phenomenon by continuing math throughout the summer.

Some years I just continued right on into the next textbook. This meant that we would finish that textbook earlier in the next school year, but--so what? When we did, we just went on to the next textbook. Yes, this meant that my kids ended up ahead in math in high school. What did I do about that? Well, by high school they were very active in gymnastics (20 hours a week) or tennis or played multiple instruments or were studying many hours for the spelling bee or were volunteering. So we slowed the math back down again. For example, we were using Saxon math which doesn't have a separate Geometry course, so I took one year and added a Geometry course using another company's text. Another child did Geometry every other day and took 2 years to do Geometry. Even so, all of my kids finished or are on pace to finish Calculus by 11 th grade. My current senior took dual-enrollment Statistics the first semester of this year and isn't taking any math this semester at all.

Years ago, when I was new to homeschooling, this flexible plan and the idea of no math for a semester would have made me aghast, but now I continue with the philosophy of--who cares? They have all had math before or in high school up through Calculus--no college admissions counselor is going to fault them to having no math in the last semester of high school.

My other math option some summers was to use other math materials--something with more practice or drill, rather than more advancement. I especially like material from The Critical Thinking Co. http://www.blogger.com/ They have math and logical thinking books and software; I really liked their Building Thinking Skills books (Primary through Level 3 Verbal and Figural), Mathematical Reasoning Series, and their Mind Benders series. We also used the software program Quarter-Mile Math for math fact drill practice.

Besides math, I always chose something else to do during the summer, often with friends. Either taught them to sew (loved this book: http://www.blogger.com/ -- they start by "sewing" straight lines on paper without thread so it just makes holes in the paper and progress stepwise from there--FANTASTIC. Used this starting around age 8, I think), or cook, or did an interesting unit study type thing (Homeschool Huskies and Ponies: http://www.blogger.com/ or reading aloud Henty books--especially for boys, but my girls loved them too, or art lessons and projects--things that are big and messy and require a lot of time to prepare for and clean up from that we wanted to do during the year, but didn't have time for, or played tons of educational board games http://www.blogger.com/ like
Made for Trade, Music Maestro, Some Body, Muggins/Knock Out/Fudge/Jellybeans math games http://www.blogger.com/ or making plastic models of the ear, eye, heart, brain, and body or Dinah Zikes layerbooks type stuff--my kids loved the Night Owl Creations unit studies, especially the Tour of Europe http://www.blogger.com/

Why did I choose these other activities? Usually because we did them with other kids and moms, enabling more time with friends, less work for moms since we spread the work around, they were projects that took a lot of time in set-up and clean-up which was harder to do during the school year and easier to do when one mom could take the "older kids" and another could watch the younger, usually we were following the kids interests, had to keep them busy or we would all lose our minds!

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I started home schooling when my son was 2 or 3 (now age 8/second grade). At the time my daughter was 5 (now age 10/5th grade). I simply had the little one right there with me. At that young age I can give them a toy and they will play just fine while your teaching the other child. Also if the older child is in K-2 school does not have to take all day (well even up to 5th school shouldn't take more than 3/4 hours at most. I don't know about the middle school stuff yet I'm not there yet). Also, take advantage of nap time if the little one takes one. That is a perfect time to do school w/the older one. Then, when the little one gets up they can play while you get other stuff done.

Remember you don't have to do school from 7-3, or 8-4. That is for the public school system. Do what works for you.

Well, my answer above led into this answer "when the little one gets up they can play while you get other stuff done". Children need to play and they need to learn to play with their siblings. Friends are nice but in the end they will really have only their sisters or brothers to play with.

The children can also help you and learn @ the same time while you are sorting cloths let them help. Great time to learn organizational &, cooperation skills also responsibility. As soon as you feel they can handle a chore give it to them like feeding and watering the dog or cat. Then that is one less thing you have to do. I know a family with eight children and every day each child has chores they are responsible for and you know what her house is cleaner than mine. The children can help.

My favorite time to get my book keeping and computer stuff done is in the morning after my husband has left but the kids are still asleep. The house is quiet and I can concentrate. Then I am not worried later about the check book or what bills I have to pay that day. I personally think that they don't have to get up at the crack of dawn. Children need sleep and I think that sometimes they just don't get enough because of our busy schedules. They have plenty of time to learn to get up early later. That is the reason we home school we can do things on our schedule not the hectic worlds schedule.

I like to start school (the new year) the first week in August and finish the last day in May. I usually schedule my evaluation in June if possible. If I do it earlier I tend to feel like I'm done and don't go to the end of May. I like to take the two weeks at Christmas (by then I need a break) and start right back after the first of the year. Don't misunderstand me though if I have to take care of something during the week and can't "do school" I no longer stress about that. You have to think of this as marathon not a sprint. You have a lot of time to get things done so take a deep breath and relax. I like the two months June/July off. Some times during the summer the kids go to Camp Good News and I volunteer there to defrays the cost of the going a few days of the week.

Also the break times are a great time to get some of the bigger project around the hose done.

Take a deep breath and enjoy your children and always remember the reasons you are doing this is to "Train up your children in the way they should go".

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I would like to add to the cleaning part of the question. I encourage moms to include it as home economics. So in my household Thursdays is our cleaning day. We change the linens, laundry,sweep,mop,vacuum,dust, clean the refrig, bathrooms etc EVERYTHING gets cleaned. I think when you do this you are teaching your children how to be good stewards over what God has given them. To say I will allow it pile up is procrastination and in Fl you may be inviting unwanted pests. Do we want to teach our children to procrastinate? We must live a balanced life which can be challenging. Why can't you have a clean house and homeschool too?Put some praise music on and you can make it fun and the time goes by faster. You are taking care of the home God has given you as well as praising him while you do it. Its so much easier for your children to know that this particular day we get it all done and now your weekend isn't taken up with cleaning. One more thing remember our husbands work hard all day, should they have to live in clutter or a unkept home? No. Do not give the enemy room in your marriages. It doesn't have to be perfect everyday but it should be presentable. Be blessed!