Homeschool Chat

[disneymom3]

Since our Homeschool Thread is going to be closed soon, I thought I would be proactive and start us a new place to chat. I also changed the title since we aren't looking for folks to see if there are enough for a subforum, just looking to talk to each other and get advice on day to day school stuff.

I would ask that if you are not a homeschooler, you be respectful of our choice to do so. We welcome any questions about the logisitics of this and especially welcome anyone who is thinking about homeschooling and has questions. What we would really appreciate is if you want to post about why on earth anyone would do this or the social problems that you are sure our children have or basically to attack us in anyway, that you start your own thread. If you haven't run into this type of thing before, it may seem odd that I am bringing it up, but we are just a group of moms who are doing what we feel is the best choice for our own family--just like any other mom. We would simply like a place to hang out and not be attacked.

Our old thread is located here http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=840970 It is pretty long so if you haven't read it, grab a cup of coffee!

Happy Posting!!

 

[teacups]

Julie,

Thanks for starting this! I for one have to say my family LOVES Home schooling. I do have to budget my daughters extra curricular activities better now though. She's doing SO MUCH more now than before we started HSing!
Museums, dance, karate, science lab, reading group, computer, drama... she's getting a huge education outisde of our seat-time for math, history, language and all the other must-haves. I am also prepping to teach a pottery class to 7-10 year olds, PS and HS kids. I really love this! Again, thanks for the place to chat!

Teacups

 

[mommyof2princesses]

Yeah a New Thread! We rock! Maybe it will take less than 3 years to get to 200 pages this time!

 

[TheRatPack]

Glad the new thread started Is anyone else going at the end of September? I see that the Carolina group is going at the beginning of September but we're still keeping our end of the month trip planned due to the heat..etc. We have 2 weeks left of school...YAY.

 

[belle22]

Anyone know what this test is? What to prepare?

 

[Laura.bora]

Glad the new thread started Is anyone else going at the end of September? I see that the Carolina group is going at the beginning of September but we're still keeping our end of the month trip planned due to the heat..etc. We have 2 weeks left of school...YAY.

We're going mid september - the 16th - 25th. Woo hoo Free Dining! And that brings me to this question:
Is there a place where I can find a list of all the animals in AK? My kids don't know we're going, but I'm making this a learning experience as always! I was planning on having a checklist with us to play the "who can spot the most animals" game. ( a regular occurance when we hit zoos or aquariums - it's a favorite of ours). I also want to be able to do a teaching lesson about these animals and the habitats they live in and have them do a research project about the animal of their choice. All while unknowingly preparing them for a trip to Disney!
And also, I've never been to AK before. How distinct are the countries/areas? Is it like Epcot, where it's obvious when you've traveled from MExico to Canada? We're doing a study unit on the countries found in Epcot, and I'm wondering if I can include AK countries as well? And any other ideas for incorperating learning with our trip ( I have a 5 year old who's very advanced, and a normal 2year old....well....I don't know how "normal she is but..... )

 

[wvdislover]

Julie, thanks for starting the new thread! As a new HS mom, this has been really helpful to me. We are taking advantage of HS our oldest DD and are doing a land/sea vacation (Beach Club/Wonder) in late Sept (9/25-10/02)! DD6 will just have to make up the work she'll miss. How much can a second grader miss

 

[disneymom3]

We're going mid september - the 16th - 25th. Woo hoo Free Dining! And that brings me to this question:
Is there a place where I can find a list of all the animals in AK? My kids don't know we're going, but I'm making this a learning experience as always! I was planning on having a checklist with us to play the "who can spot the most animals" game. ( a regular occurance when we hit zoos or aquariums - it's a favorite of ours). I also want to be able to do a teaching lesson about these animals and the habitats they live in and have them do a research project about the animal of their choice. All while unknowingly preparing them for a trip to Disney!
And also, I've never been to AK before. How distinct are the countries/areas? Is it like Epcot, where it's obvious when you've traveled from MExico to Canada? We're doing a study unit on the countries found in Epcot, and I'm wondering if I can include AK countries as well? And any other ideas for incorperating learning with our trip ( I have a 5 year old who's very advanced, and a normal 2year old....well....I don't know how "normal she is but..... )

I don't know about the list of animals. Maybe you could start a thread on the Theme Parks and Attractions board. I bet someone there would know.

As for how distinct the areas are, I think it is awesome. Disney goes all out and does not only architecture and decor but the plants and the whole nine yards. I think each area is quite distinct.


Has anyone done much with lapbooks? I haven't really heard of them too much but I recall that a few years ago our state convention had a session on them and it sounded boring to me. I came across the idea in doing a search for something else this week and decided to have my boys each pick a topic and do one. I think I am going to employ them more and more as the next year continues.

 

[gracefor5]

I just wanted to say Hi. My name is Kim and I've always homeschooled my 3 sweet confused3 ?) children. It is one heck of an adventure and my hubby and I are having the time of our lives (though, it is kind of exhausting!??!?) It's so nice to find a way to talk about my two favorite pastimes...homeschooling and my infatuation with our first trip to WDW.

We have to go in the summer due to hubby's work, but WE CAN"T WAIT!!! Sorry, didn't mean to yell but I'm a little excited....Our kidlings don't know yet and my husband is sick of talking about it every day and I have no one to talk to!!!

Looking forward to having a place to talk to other HS'ers

Kim

 

[gracefor5]

Has anyone done much with lapbooks? I haven't really heard of them too much but I recall that a few years ago our state convention had a session on them and it sounded boring to me. I came across the idea in doing a search for something else this week and decided to have my boys each pick a topic and do one. I think I am going to employ them more and more as the next year continues.

I tried to use Lapbooks when I was using Tapestry History Program. I should start by saying that the history program didn't work for us and that may have impacted the interest in the LB's but here was my conclusion. I purchased lapbooks that you printed and cut out and assembled. The info that they were asking the kids to write was a lot of regurgitation of facts. ie List the types of tools that Ship Captains used...My kids would have rather had a more openended project to complete. Now we loosely do notebooking which included maps,poems, writing,book reports,pictures etc all based on our history reading. (We use Sonlight Curriculum-American History I, but again I try not to get to tied up in the curriculum. For us, if Mommy is in box checking mode, we stop having fun Just one opinion, but I thought I'd offer it up.

Hope it helps..
Kim

 

[Laura.bora]

I don't know about the list of animals. Maybe you could start a thread on the Theme Parks and Attractions board. I bet someone there would know.

As for how distinct the areas are, I think it is awesome. Disney goes all out and does not only architecture and decor but the plants and the whole nine yards. I think each area is quite distinct.


Has anyone done much with lapbooks? I haven't really heard of them too much but I recall that a few years ago our state convention had a session on them and it sounded boring to me. I came across the idea in doing a search for something else this week and decided to have my boys each pick a topic and do one. I think I am going to employ them more and more as the next year continues.

Thank you - If no one knew, Theme parks boards was where I was headed next!! If I get an answer, I'll let you all know!!

And I'd like to know more about lapbooks - someone tried describing it to me on time, and it seemed more of a hob-podge of whatever the kid felt like throwing in the book. Which my son would like - I just have a feeling it wasn't described very well.

 

[mickeyjen]

Thanks for starting a new thread! We won't be in WDW in September, but we do have a short DL trip planned with a larger homeschool group and CAN'T WAIT!!!

 

[disneymom3]

I tried to use Lapbooks when I was using Tapestry History Program. I should start by saying that the history program didn't work for us and that may have impacted the interest in the LB's but here was my conclusion. I purchased lapbooks that you printed and cut out and assembled. The info that they were asking the kids to write was a lot of regurgitation of facts. ie List the types of tools that Ship Captains used...My kids would have rather had a more openended project to complete. Now we loosely do notebooking which included maps,poems, writing,book reports,pictures etc all based on our history reading. (We use Sonlight Curriculum-American History I, but again I try not to get to tied up in the curriculum. For us, if Mommy is in box checking mode, we stop having fun Just one opinion, but I thought I'd offer it up.

Hope it helps..
Kim

Yeah, I saw those ones too. Not the thing I am going for. My boys have each picked a topic to learn more about--one is doing bats, the other one ants. The one doing the ants has already drawn a big picture or an ant hill and labeled various parts. He also is doing a word search and some ant labeling things that we found on Enchanted learning. He has an ant farm so we will take pictures of that and he wants to find out all the kinds of ants in the world (yikes!!) and put pics of them in his lapbook. The bat boy is littler and we are going to get some picture books from the library like Stella Luna and The Story of a Bat as well as a couple of Eyewitness ones and the video and then he will draw pictures and I will write out what he dictates.

For those not at all familiar with them, there is a You Tube video that I found first, don't know the exact link but I did a search on Google for lapbooks video (it was mentioned on another site) and there is a mom explaining some various lapbooks her kids have made. It seems like neat way to capture some of the learning that goes on without having to rely on worksheets which my boys don't do well at all.

 

[teacups]

Aren't there any West Coast HSers around here? You all are driving me nutty with all the WDW talk since I cant go . We ARE going to DL in 10 days, so I am happy about that. I'm only a pale shade of green.

 

[teacups]

Florida Beating. How terrible. I dont watch the news too often, so I just saw this. My heart just breaks for that poor girl, being lured inside in hopes of making friends and then to be gang-attacked. I watched a few youtube clips and just couldnt take the replies and comments. That can be a very ugly place, can't it? I was wondering while watching, how many parents know their kids are posting on that place? My kids are young now but right now we each have our own laptops... but the kids do not have internet in their bedrooms. They have "Word" for creative writing, other school type programs and some games. Why do kids need interent in their bedrooms? Doesnt that just cause trouble? Will I change my mind in later years?

 

[NHWX]

Thanks for starting the new thread! I do need to come here and check in with people who are just happy to be homeschooling. I do have homeschooling friends but you guys are always here.

NHWX

 

[NHWX]

We've got one planned but I'm not sure if we're actually going to take it. Our dates are 9/19-9/27 which would encompass ds12's birthday. It'd be really fun to go. I haven't delved into the free dining thread so I'm not sure if checking in with the time frame makes us eligible for free dining or not.

I noodled around with a spreadsheet, trying to figure out is it cheaper to give up our 40% discounted room and take the free dining or not. It turns out that if we go with just three table service meals and keep the discount (WL courtyard bunk beds), it's just a bit more expensive.

But... 1) I'm not sure if we can afford it and I'd rather have the safety cushion of the 5 day cancellation window. There have been layoffs mentioned at dh's company though he assures me that his job is safe.

2) I've thought about other trips. I'd love see to see some of the great national parks like Yosemite, Grand Tetons or Yellowstone. We've never taken the kids to Washington DC for more than a morning and so they've missed the traditional eighth grade Heritage Tour. (Our middle schools do this. I'm not sure if I think it's a good idea or not.) Our boys have never been to New York City and seen all the great art there. There's tour of artwork from the Vatican coming to Cleveland that promises to be breathtaking. And lastly, ds12 thinks he might eventually want to go into game design so there's the prospect of going to Gen Con in Indianapolis. I have this travel problem, you see.

Oh, and then there's the price of gasoline. *sigh*

NHWX

 

[Laura.bora]

For all who are interested in the list of animals at AK, here's the link!
http://allearsnet.com/tp/ak/ak_anim.htm And thank you for the heads up on the you tube lapbook video! I'll need to go check that out!

 

[Momvic5]

How exciting ~ A new thread!

I have started planning for our next school year, and while trying to get an idea of what I am going to use with my oldest, I started considering the idea of switching to a new curriculum for him in math.

I am curious. What math curriculums do you use with your older children (6th grade and up)? My oldest DS12 will be going into the 7th grade, and we currently use Saxon. Most days I really like it, but then there are days when I think it is very boring. My son likes it fine I guess. He never complains about it, but I think he might enjoy a change for the next school year. I am interested in what others are using and how it compares with the style of Saxon.

Thanks so much for your thoughts!

 

[lori1043]

Hey ya'll!!! Thanks for starting the new thread.

I am happy to see a writer researching his readers and caring enough to try to clear things up. I think most of us agreed this was not a dis to homeschoolers, but that it could be misconstrued that way, esp during an attack that the other thread provided. Thankfully, I never visited it. He posted again on our last page(the Baby Blues writer) and he had some cool things to say.

As far as WDW in September, however tempting(and very much so for me since I have an AP that doesn't expire till next Feb!!), we are not going unless a wind fall happens(ha!!). We are saving for that cruise next December(09).

Anyway, glad we are all back and LOVING the first post. Very articulate and not too bossy!!!

Lori