Our Homeschool!
Happy 4th, Everyone!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
The American's Creed
"I believe in the United States of America as a Government of the people by the people, for the people, whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a Republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect Union, one and inseparable; established upon those principals of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.
I therefore believe it is my duty to my Country to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies."
Used Curriculum Blessings
Thursday, June 19, 2008
The Lord has been blessing me the past month by helping me find used curriculum that we needed for next year at greatly reduced prices! Always the bargain hunter, I typically buy our school books from Rainbow Resource and/or CBD depending who has the best price. So far I have been able to buy the following items used through on-line curriculum sale boards or at a local used curriculum sale.
Saxon Algebra 2 set Third Ed. (inc. solutions manual) - $35.00
(New: $50.00 - plus the solutions manual would have been an additional $24.00 )
Story of the World Vol 2 with activity book - $3.00 
(I can hardly believe that one myself!!)
(New $43.00 )
CLE Perspectives in Literature set - $14.00
(New: $27.90 )
Teaching Textbooks Level 7 - $100.00
(New: $145.00)
Saxon Math 3 - current teachers guide - $15.00
(New: $40.00)
Spanish paperback dictionary - .50 cents!
Apologia Elementary book - Botany - $10.00
(New: $24.00)
On my list of "wants" but I didn't exactly NEED them:
Professor Noggins Middle Ages Card Game - $1.00
(New: $7.50)
Artistic Pursuits Vol 1 & 2 (High School) - $30.00
(New $43.00 each!!)
Mystery of History Vol 2. notebooking pages - Free
These were generously given to me last December by Melissa at Lilliput Station when I won her blog contest. We've already began using them and they are wonderful!
A Thomas Jefferson Education book (by O. van DeMille) - $9.00
(New hardcover is $26.95!)
Total savings so far : $257.33 !!!
Thank you, Lord, for your provision.
Summer Break!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Can it be true?
Is summer really here?
Yipee!
We have officially closed the grade book on yet another year of homeschooling. How time flies by!! Next week I will turn in our 4th quarter reports and call it "done" for the summer. What a year!
I am looking forward to two months off and some time to relax and enjoy the nice weather. I like waking up in the morning without the pressures of another school day ahead of us. The kids need a break too. They will not be asked to do anything in the way of school until after July 4th when I plan to begin reading The Fallacy Detective with Kayla and Jordan. (We will keep it short and only a few days a week!)
A list of school related things for me to get done over the summer:
- Mail in the 4th quarter reports to school district
- Clear off everyones book shelves and replace with next years
school work. (Find a place for all the old stuff I'll need to hang on to for the next child.)
- Shop for a few needed school supplies
- Write out some schedules/goals for each child for the new year.
- List some used curriculum for sale.
- Check my list of curriculum still needed and purchase.
- Keep up with our daily read-a-louds.
How about you?
New Homeschooler and Kindergarten
Friday, June 6, 2008
Every once in a while someone will read my blog and e-mail me and ask a home schooling question, I thought I'd share this in hopes of helping out someone else who may be reading ! Obviously, I've removed her name for sake of privacy.
(Please, "D---", if you'd like me to remove your question from this blog I will do so right away, just leave me a comment and let me know!!)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi, I stumbled across your blog while searching for people homeschooling in NY. My name is D----- & I have just removed my 5 (well he turned 6 yesterday) year old out of public school a week ago. I plan to homeschool from this point forward & have tons of questions, lol. Do you have any interest in sharing how you handled your 1st year of homeschooling. Although he is 6 now & has completed a full year of public Kindergarten, I would still like to start my 1st year with him on a K level. Did you use a curriculum on the K/1st grade level? If so which one? There are so many options to choose from. I would appreciate any info you are willing to share with me.
D---
Hi D---!
There certainly is an abundance of homeschool curriculum available these days and it is easy to be overwhelmed by all the choices. I have kind of an eclectic approach, trying to tailor each child's education based on them. I will share what I used for my 3rd oldest child for Kindergarten (he's finishing 2nd grade now) and why.
Math - Saxon Math 1
After looking through sample lessons of Saxon K, I knew he would be ready to jump in on the 1st grade level. I used the 1st half of Saxon 1 for Kindergarten and the 2nd half of Saxon 1 for first grade. (It worked out to about 2 work pages per day, 4 times a week, which I felt was plenty).
Phonics/Reading - Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, BOB books
I used this book for both of my boys (who have completely different academic abilities) and it worked great for both. About half way through the book, I began to have him read the BOB books and then I looked for library books that were super easy that we could read together.
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is totally scripted for you, however, I know the silly stories drive some moms nuts.
In addition to this, I read books to him above his grade level through out the year, which is very important.
Handwriting - I printed alphabet work sheets from the internet and he did one per day. 1st lower case, then capitals. After that, he copied words and short sentences from a simple workbook.
Science - Apologia's Young Explorer - Astronomy, written by J. Fulbright.
As a preschooler he was interested in the moon and stars. Following that interest, he listened to me read from an Astronomy book and made simple drawings and writings to go with it. My 4th grader joined in on this study as well. The Astronomy book was definitely geared to a 3 - 5 grade level but can be used anywhere from K - 8 depending on the work you assign.
Social Studies - Library books
I used library books to study all the "people in your neighborhood" ( policeman, dentist, librarian, farmer, etc...). A great idea for the early elementary years is to study Science the first half of the year and then focus on History/Social Studies the second half. (or vice versa)
And that was his basic Kindergarten year.
My oldest child went to private school for K - 2nd and started home schooling in 3rd. My 2nd oldest did half day Kindergarten and really didn't learn a thing so I taught him to read over the summer and then began with Alpha & Omega Math Grade One and Alpha & Omega Language Arts Grade One for 1st grade. I used unit studies (KONOS) for History & Science back then. (Many hands on activites but a lot of prep time involved for me)
We joined a local home school co-op where we did Art, Gym and Music one day a week. If possible, I would recommend you join a co-op, I have been in a total of 3 different co-ops over the past 8 years and it has always been positive for us. It's great to get to know other home school moms, we're always bouncing ideas, questions, and suggestions of each other! Field trips are fun in a co-op setting too.
Many times new homeschoolers choose a complete package curriculum from one company for their first year. It's a good idea because you can be sure you "covered everything" needed for the grade and it kind of builds your confidence. Perhaps you choose Alpha & Omega and buy their Kindergarten package. The following year you can "tweak" your choices if need be. For example, your child learned to read and is doing well with the Language Arts workbooks so you order the next set from Alpha & Omega for next year. But he struggled through the Math so you may want to look into a different approach like "Math U See' or Saxon and order that for 1st grade instead of the Alpha & Omega Math. He did OK with the Science but you felt it was bit dry so you decide to go with something a lot more hands on for Science next year. etc... I know I tried several things over the years until I found a "good fit". Each year while I'm going through the planning process, I pray over what school books to buy and where I might need to change. The Lord has been faithful to lead me through!!
If you have the time to do some reading, go to the Rainbow Resource web-site and order one of their catalogs. Don't be shocked when it arrives - - I think it has about 1,000 pages! It has thorough reviews on several of the leading curriculums out there and many you've never heard of. Tons of info. for you and they have the best prices too. I've ordered school books/supplies from them several times.
This is getting to be a long e-mail and I hope I'm not confusing you! May I also recommend the book "A Charlotte Mason Companion, The gentle Art of Learning" by Karen Andreola? This book made me realize that our home schools need not be "mini public schools" in our homes. We can change the way our kids learn and they can excel at home. You can read about Charlotte Mason and her approach to homeschooling all over the web too.
I hope this helps you. Feel free to e-mail me again if need be, I'll try and offer any help I can. Enjoy this special time with your son and may God bless your home school!
Warmly,
Amy
Home School Convention
Friday, May 30, 2008
I'm all pumped up after being at the New York State Home School Convention today! Andrew Pudewa (Institute for Excellence in Writing) was the keynote speaker and he was EXCELLENT! I sat in on three of his sessions today and they were all very interesting --- plenty of great information and he gave some practical ways to implement his suggestions in our homes. The three sessions he gave today were called:
Changing Your Home School Paradigm
Cultivating an Excellent Writer
Teaching Boys (and other children who would rather be building forts all day)
In his second workshop he stressed the importance of reading aloud to all your children everyday. I wrote about my desire to do this a few months ago. I have been reading aloud more but only with my younger two and Mr. Pudewa's challenge today has motivated me to find some reading material my whole family would enjoy. He gave us "permission" to use books on tape too!!
I also sat in on a workshop all about Right Brained Learners. I've heard the term many times but now understand it much better. The speaker was Dianne Craft, she had soooo much to tell us in a short amount of time - it was difficult to keep up. Afterwards, she was at her booth and was kind enough to talk with me a few minutes. I do, in fact, have at least one right brained learner and if your familiar with with this concept I have determined his "writing gate' is closed. I'm hoping to start the retraining/repatterning exercises with him and will post about our experience. She recommend her book - " Brain Integration Therapy Manual". The retraining will take 6 months but she encouraged us that results will be seen after three. I'm really excited about this because it has been a burden on my heart for this child and since I have been praying for wisdom about this, I'm feeling this is God answering me.
One last event I went to was a "Ladies Tea". This was a nice little break from all the business of the convention. The was a group of about 50 women who came apart for fellowship, tea and cookies, and encouragement. I will share more about the theme "Invisible Woman" soon.
All in all, I think this was the best convention I've been too. It was a blessing to be able to attend with my sister-in-law this year. And to my dear husband who took the day off from work to be the kids --- You Rock!! xoxooxoxoxooxoxo
Can't get to your state's home school convention this year? Guess what, you can download and listen to a dozen different home school speakers at Homeschool Convention.com. Did I mention it's FREE?
