Homeschoolers

[lisaann]

My kids are 6 yo and 8 yo.
Learning Language Arts Through Literature
We used Math U See this year but are going to switch back to Saxon
Story Of The World
Apologia - Exploring Creation Through Astronomy
Real Science 4 Kids Pre-Level 1 Chemistry

[oholycheerio]

Hi there! I'm not homeschooling... but I was homeschooled. We used Abeka mostly, and Saxon for math.

Homeschooling can be wonderful. I can see why it is attractive, but I just thought I might chime in with my "issues" with it based on my personal experience. Not criticisms, just suggestions! :)

My younger brother and I were both homeschooled, and I think our major beef with the homeschooling we received was the lack of peers to socialize with. Sure, we had good grades, but neither of us were prepared in the slightest to interact with other people, either in further schooling, the workplace, or life in general. My brother wants to go to college, but feels he cannot. He turned down a full-ride scholarship at a college he really liked because he cannot deal with so many people. He has a hard time holding down a job as well, and becomes physically ill before work. I am just now getting a handle on my social anxiety, after years of severely struggling in college classes... not because I couldn't do the work, but because of bad attendance. Sometimes I would even drive all the way to school, only to turn around and drive back home so great was my fear of having to be around other people. So, my biggest suggestion is to involve your kids in sports or other activities that include a large variety of children to socialize with. While we had a couple neighborhood friends growing up, that still didn't provide the necessary experiences of dealing with different people/personalities/cultures, conflict resolution, functioning in large groups, friend-making skills, etc.

The other problem I ran into post-homeschooling that might be something to consider, is record-keeping. Luckily my mom jumped through hoops to get the local high school (I went there for my senior year) to accept most of my homeschooled high school classes so I could get my diploma from them. It was easier while applying for college to say I got my diploma from such-and-such high school than to say that I was homeschooled and I promise I know all that HS stuff. I'm not sure how tough it would have been if I didn't have an actual HS diploma, so I would recommend some sort of record-keeping (I think Abeka offers that, where you send the tests to them to be graded and they keep "official" records of the grades).

So, those are just a couple things that you may want to keep in mind... Some things I have run into having been a homeschooled child myself. Good luck to you all! :)

[Lorren]

I homeschool my 4 year old (almost 5). We finished Saxon Math K a month ago and have started Math 1. We just finished BJU Science 1 today, and will finish BJU Heritage Studies May 10th. We are also doing Learn Every Day Reading and Writing, which we will finish May 10th. On May 10th, we'll also stop Saxon, take a week or 2 off, and we'll do BJU Vacation Stations K for the summer.

Next fall, we'll be doing BJU Science 2/Apologia Astronomy (probably switching weeks with them, trying to stretch out how long it takes to complete them since she's 2 years ahead right now), BJU Heritage Studies 2/perhaps Story of the World volume 1 (again we'd be switching off weeks to make the lessons take more time). For reading we'll do Learn Every Day Phonics or Grammar combined with Now I Can Read books, until she's ready for BJU Reading 1. We tried that last year and got through 40 lessons before I decided it was too hard. We'll also be doing BJU Bible 1 and BJU Music K this fall as well.

[funmudder]

oholycheerio :wave:

good points and suggestions. We meet with a largish group of other homeschoolers at least twice a week, and do have them involved in other things, like tae kwon do. :thumbup: Social anxiety is a really difficult thing to over come, and I'm sorry to hear that you and your brother are having to deal with it.
I was outschooled but had the exact same kind of anxiety for years into my adulthood. Its tough. I'll pray for ya :D

Recordkeeping is my biggest concern these days with our impending move to a state with more restrictions. Any tips?

[ChayilWoman]

I have 4 kids, ages 8, 6, 2, and 10 months, all girls. Only "officially" home school the first two, although of course I'm always working on colors and counting and such with the two year old. I used Alpha Omega Lifepacs for K-2. (I started with "My Father's World" for Kindergarten, but my first one wasn't really adequately prepared for 1st grade so I switched to Lifepacs for K for my second one.) At 3rd grade I'm switching them to Switched on Schoolhouse, which I absolutely love. It is all computer based so for subjects like Bible and Science that she breezes through I don't have to spend a lot of time with her but we can really focus on Lang. Arts and History because those are more difficult for her. I also love that the program does all of my lesson plans for me, grades her work (although I still go back and check it), and all the different subjects work together since they are from the same publisher. It really builds on itself smoothly. Oh...and I hate clutter and paperwork, so there's another good reason to do it on the computer.

Someone asked about Science... I love their science work which has about 3 or 4 simple experiments in each of the ten units. (Well, atleast they are still simple at the 3rd grade level...no dangerous chemicals involved. :fear :runhills)

[Weirdo4Christ]

All Alpha Omega lifepacs.

[imfree]

Hiya home schoolers!! :wave

Got three kids. All home schooled. Two 9th graders and a 3rd grader.

God bless!

[Seemomgonuts]

We homeschool our 8 year old. We are using MathUSee right now but we will probably switch to Saxon in the fall. He is ready for 6/5 so that is where we will start.

I am curious about something. Do you homeschool Moms keep your kid on an age/grade schedule or do you let them advance as far as they want to even if it means they are in a higher grade than they should be in for their age?

[Leialoha]

5 kiddos, all homeschooled. 13, 12, 9, 4 and 2

We are all about the Charlotte Mason method, but use a wide assortment of materials. AcceleratedChristianEducation is our foundation work, meaning they get worked on daily. We have piles of reading materials that are out and in which ever kids room at any given time. The homeschool group we are a part of meets up twice a week to give the kids time to hang out, but it really helps keep me sane and grounded to have the other parents when I start to feel flustered. Yes, I know, sanity is over rated, and how would I recognize it anyway?

Time sheets are a life saver when homeschooling multiple kids, I am learning. I'm new to making them, but this is how they work: I make each child their task sheet for the week based on what they learned and grasped the week before. If they are ready to move forward or keep working on understanding something clearly, its reflected in what they need to do the following week. The child checks off what they have done, and it teaches them time management and personal responsibility. This is what we have already been doing, just without the actual piece of paper for them (and me) to use for accountability. I think its rather brilliant and thank the homeschoolin queen of everything for tipping me off to the idea.

The individual sheets list each subject and chore they are responsible for, and its up to them to get everything done by 5PM.
My oldest has already learned to get all his school work done early in the morning so he has the rest of the day to do what he wants, which lately involves teaching himself art techniques. His chores he procrastinates a bit on :-P
12 year old is a huge procrastinator and day dreamer, so some days will take hours to do 20 minutes worth of work. This hurts no one but himself, and he is starting to learn better focus and time management. His chores he can do in record time, but man can he stretch out an English lesson like its a quantum physics master thesis hehehehehehe.
9 year old watched his brothers and gets his work done right after breakfast, but breaks his chores up into 15 minutes here and there. Everything gets done and he gets to live stress free. I swear he was born with that knack. <3
4 year old is a coloring fool, but is just not interested in times, schedules or anything remotely calm and quiet. For now that's just dandy. He is mostly polite, full of smiles and can be most accommodating when not demanding the world bend to his formidable will. Love it.
2 year old is my best student. She claims to know how to best detail sewing projects, and requests a tiara to wear while she plays in mud. She is a very good momma, keeping all her babies wrapped in blankies and dances to anything that carries a beat for more than 4 seconds.
Clearly my daughter.

Some concerns I have heard are how do I ensure each kid is getting what they need? Its really not that hard. Because our school day is spread out all day, no child is sitting around waiting for his turn with me. They just move on to the next thing on their list if I'm not available right that second. No big deal. When questions arise, I'm here....unless its math, then they gotta wait for dad LOL
Some families have the formal school time scheduled into their day, and I salute them! It's just not what works for our family, and one of the perks of homeschooling is doing what works for your individual, unique family, right? :-D

Thats it in a nut shell :)

I've toyed with all kinds of management systems and spreadsheets.
Did you make this on Excel? Did you buy it? Hey, if I send you my e-mail address and you have it on file would you be willing to share it?

It sounds like JUST what I've been trying to figure out how to do!

~leialoha

[Leialoha]

Anyone here have any experience with Tapestry of Grace?
I'm thinking of switching over to that next year.

We use Right Start math and I loooove it!