Anything and everything goes here. If you'd like to email me privately (nogreatergiftmom@yahoo.com) that's fine, but I'd love your ideas to be posted in the "comment" section for all to read.
We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE homeschooling, and honestly, never think about sending our kids to school!! We have decided to change things up a bit this year and buy curriculum for our older 2 (ages 13 and 17) to do almost completely on the computer. I've never bought a complete curriculum, so this will be so different. I have been watching a few auctions on Ebay and the prices there sure beat $370 from Alpha Omega!!We are thinking about Switched on Schoolhouse and The Latin Road to English Grammar.....at least. I will supplement with other things as needed. Our main concern- Bible, first and foremost.
As for our youngest daughter, she loves doing book work. I'm still undecided as to what she'll be doing. I am leaning towards having her start The Bridge to the Latin Road.
I don't care about sitting down for a certain number of hours each day, every day. I am much more concerned about my children knowing the Lord and LOVING the Lord, being able to converse and interact with all types/ages of people and to love learning. With that being said, I do expect certain "school" things from them.
Please, let me know your thoughts. I love hearing about and gleaning from others.
In Him,
E
9 comments:
I've been homeschooled since I was in 1st grade, I am now in 7th. I love every minute of it! We did Switched on Schoolhouse for many years, for me, I love book school, so that didn't work for me. It really depends on the child's prefrence. There are so many details to homeschooling, I don't want to drag this on. My advice is to either let your older kids choose, or ask them if they even like computer school. Love, love, love homeschooling too!
Mattie Patterson
my Mom's blog is: Allarespreciousinhissight.blogspot.com
I just tried to post a comment--but I could not get it to go through. If it did by some chance--please disregard the previous comment as I added to it in this one.
Anyways, as far as homeschooling suggestions, I was homeschooled for most of school and graduated in 2000. My favorite thing about homeschooling was getting to volunteer at an inner city daycare--which I probably could not have done had I gone to school because I would have been in school at the same time as the children. Since graduating from college, I discovered that our local down syndrome guild has volunteer opportunities and I believe they allow high school volunteers. The group in my area provides childcare for meetings, and also needs helpers for parties throughout the year. This is a fun way to get extra high school credit.
I did struggle with math, and do not recommend Saxon math curriculum. I went from failing math and having to repeat a grade of Algebra (not the whole grade--I was behind in math and ahead a grade in spelling but still graduated with the other students my age)to getting an A or a B when I switched to using Bob Jones videos for Algebra. I am not sure how their videos work now..but I definitely recommend them for math--esp Algebra. For Biology the tests were impossible--and I had a friend who had trouble with them too. That is a subject that is best taught in a group setting...as you have to do dissections.
For some subjects--especially as your children move into the high school years you may want to look into having them take classes at a community college where they will earn college credit and get some gen ed classes out of the way or doing a class with other homeschoolers. I participated in an English writing workshop with other girls and loved it. My siblings did community college, and my brother did debate. There are also local Christian drama groups--I never participated in one--but I know several people that did. Christian Youth Theater (CYT) is one of those.
One important thing is to keep in mind is college. I know college is not for everyone. However, I went to a small Christian college and loved it. I did have to take a GED to get in (it was easy) but they did not accept my high school diploma--not sure why--but they were particular about it. I do think that taking a writing class through a high school or community college would have prepared me better for research papers--but I did learn how to do that in college and made good grades.
As far as homeschooling children with special needs--I would not be the one to ask about that. I have a cousin a few years younger than me. She has Down Syndrome. She went through public school and graduated with a high school diploma. I have talked to my aunt about my cousin's education. They had to do much advocating to get my cousin the education that she received--but it paid off. I know you can probably work more one on one with your child at home--but some therapies may be available only through a public school. Again, I do not claim to be an expert on this subject, as I have never raised a child with special needs.
I hope these suggestions help. Best wishes as you find the curriculums that are best for your children.
We use a variety of curriculum, depending upon the year, and which children are here...we tend to adopt almost every year!! :) Anyway, this year, the two oldest boys will be homeschooled. We'll use ABEKA math, Rod & Staff grammar, an archeology/Bible book for history/science, some kind of biology (haven't decided), and we'll study the 50 states and try to make it into an independent study. Question for you...what do you use for Bible, and do you have software for safe internet searching???
Elisabeth! What a great post. God has called me to homeschool all of our kiddos and I will begin doing so in the fall. Amanda (my 15 year old) I began homeschool last fall. Can't wait to see
the responses you get.
Hugs,
Ohilda
I have tried several things and ABSOLUTELY LOVE LOVE LOVE BOB JONES-www.bjup.com
Several curriculums that I disliked (SOS--I tried their paper form of it and hated it.)
I love BJ for several reasons-if you want to send me an e-mail I'd be happy to share more but there is no way this will allow me to go over all the reason I will not ever switch.
PS--they have several options (computer etc)
Cheri
Just found your blog. Don't have time for a long comment today, but wanted to share a little.
I've been homeschooling for 20 years (have graduated 6 children). I have 10 years left to go (with the remaining 6 children).
We have used a WIDE variety of curriculums over the years. Very ecclectic. Very flexible. Very individualized.
This year, we used Sonlight Curriculum for the first time and LOVED it!!! It can be used very independently by the older kids (my 13 and 16 year olds), which gives Mama more time for the younger kids. It is WONDERFUL ... Bible based, literature based, unit study based (incorporating multi-subject areas into the literature being read). My kids loved it, too. This is always a GOOD thing.
We try to have a very focused time with all kids in the living/dining room from about 9:00-12:00 ... with mama available to assist when needed. Then, our afternoons are spent with more individual studies, elective "classes" (art, music, etc...), extra-curricular activities (sports at the local school, etc...)
I would GREATLY shy away from a computer based or dvd based curriculum for more than an hour or two per day. I believe that children need more interaction with mama, with siblings, with real books, etc...
Look forward to reading what others have to say ...
Laurel
mama of a dozen
Hi!
Check out
www.fiveinarow.com
It is a literature-based, unit study approach. We have used this since 2005 and it goes through middle school. I have purchased everything! Teacher manuals, Christian Bible Supplement, cookbook, fold 'n learns, nature studies, and more. It's a very reasonably-priced curriculum and you can use the library for the books needed.
If you have any specific questions, ask here in your comments section, and I'll check back.
You can read the message forums there, too, to get a good idea of what it's about. You can also ask questions there. It's a friendly group of people!
The only thing I have added is a math program (Horizons Math) and phonics (Hooked on Phonics, Bob Books and readers from the library), and Explode the Code.
Check www.rainbowresource.com for tons of homeschool resources and a great price!
I love your blog too!
Mary
I think we are going back to SOS this school year too. We did it the year we adopted Josiah...it was GREAT. The kids did really really well with it.
I just found out last night that Liberty University (if you go through them to purchase the SOS) will give your child college credit for the money you spent on SOS IF your child attends Liberty!
I'm going to check that out...too bad I didn't know this YEARS ago!
I do think that SOS might not be a great idea for younger kiddos. I am a huge fan of books myself and don't love reading from a computer screen, but the kids loved it! Remember now, my kiddos are in junior high and high school. At first we balked at the whole computer curriculum idea, but my husband reminded me that computers are definitely here to stay...they ARE the wave of the future. In fact, many students attend college via computers these days so we wanted our children to be comfortable with that. You can ALWAYS mix and match!! You don't have to use SOS exclusively. In fact, we probably won't. We use Teaching Textbooks for math...have for 2 years now and ADORE it. They have a textbook AND a teacher who speaks via computer disc for EVERY lesson and if they cannot figure out why they got a problem wrong...EVERY problem...practice AND test is worked out on a virtual chalkboard on the solutions disc. Helps this NON math Mommy very muchly!! ;)
I haven't started homeschooling yet, but I did have the privilege of homeschooling several missionary kids for almost 4 years on the mission field. We did a variety of curriculums, too. I really liked Shurley Grammar. It helped the students really get a good base of grammar, writing, and vocab. My friends overseas recommended handwriting without tears. The Abeka we used was very aggressive and the kids didn't like it at all. We would do language/phonics, grammar, and math instruction individually by grade, but would combine the kids for Bible, Science, Social Studies, Art, Music, and PE. I am really looking forward to starting homeschooling soon and I'm leaning towards the classical style (I like a lot of Veritas press stuff). For Bible I'm looking for a Children's Storybook Bible by Catherine Voss. There is SO much stuff out there! It can be overwhelming! God bless! I look forward to seeing what you'll use...and I love reading your blog! : )
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