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Post by lifesaverz on Jul 30, 2020 9:55:25 GMT -6
Number and age of kids:DD-6 yrs, DS-4 yrs. Grade level(s):1st, & last year of preschool Homeschool or virtual: virtual. New to homeschool or OG: new Do you SAH or Work?:I work part time, & am working remotely right now Biggest concerns:DS, the 4 yr old, is in a special day class for speech, & has an IEP. I'm worried about how the heck preschool is going to work virtually. 🙄 This kid's attention span is...yeah. When we were doing virtual speech sessions with his speech therapist in the spring, I was literally holding him down in my lap to get him to stay 😂, & that was only 25 minutes. He needs a lot of help/support, & I'm worried about him not getting what he needs & having to stay behind a year, since he already struggles. Also we are really blessed to have family support, so the kids will be with grandparents when I'm working, & I just hope it's not too hard on them to help facilitate the kids' school. It feels like it's a lot to ask. I hope we can stay consistent & that all the schoolwork that needs to get done will get done. Most looking forward to: I feel pretty down about the whole thing, but I guess not having to wake up as early in the morning will be nice. Have you started lesson planning?: no, since they're both virtual, that will be provided Resources/recommendations/tips: I purchased Saxon math curriculum last year in the spring for DD, & it was helping her learn way better than what they were doing at the school. I do plan to continue that this year. How are you feeling?: I don't know, so many things.
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McBenny
Unicorn
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Post by McBenny on Jul 30, 2020 9:57:47 GMT -6
Are you planning to homeschool long term or are you wanting to integrate into PS after covid is done? If you want to move towards PS, you should be able to look up your state's K standards and go from there. We will put him in school once a vaccine is widely available. I have the info for K standards, it’s more of curriculum shopping. I’ll find a teacher’s manual and student workbook on one site, but no mention of extra materials needed and no option to buy. Another site will just have the resource materials, but no handbook. Basically I just want an all in one kit, geared toward homeschooling and not classroom, that’s not religious. Texas does a good just of having the curriculum standards for each grade clearly posted so this would be easy to find.
For me, when I was researching home school curriculums I read a lot of parent reviews and just looked into what the focus was and how the information is to be delivered. Am I the lead? Is there another medium like video? Is there some guidance for the parent teacher?
These were some of the things I looked at. Just coming in with an example.
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leahcar
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Post by leahcar on Jul 30, 2020 10:02:29 GMT -6
Dr. Cox, Texas state standards (TEKS) is published online at the TEA website; we downloaded a copy as a PDF to reference periodically. Having some idea of what to build upon (the whys of reading and language development) were MH's biggest asks in finding a curriculum. We bought Blossom & Root because it's secular and pretty inexpensive. We decided not to buy a lot of supplements- yet - because I'm not sure what else will truly be a need vs a want. I 100% plan to put her into public school once there's a vaccine.
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McBenny
Unicorn
#sickomode
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Post by McBenny on Jul 30, 2020 10:05:17 GMT -6
Also all my long home schooling people have told me if you will be intergrating back into public schools, to be sure the reading and math skills are there. Not saying that the other isn't important. But that reading and math skills are areas where they determine whether a child is on grade level or not.
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hawkward
Global Moderator
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Post by hawkward on Jul 30, 2020 10:08:11 GMT -6
Out of curiosity, are you directing these digs toward me? Because I said what was going on in the spring in some specific instances was impossible and you addressed me then. I’m asking because it feels personal since I’m the one you called out before, but you are not normally a person who throws out slick digs and you’re normally quite against others doing it. I fully acknowledge that I’m having a sensitive morning so maybe I’m reading something that’s not there. LOL
#1 - I didn't call you out. I responded to your post like is normally done on a message board.
#2 - You already responded with a fuck you to me so I rather not discuss the whole thing again.
#3 - it also is not a dig. I was speaking to prior posts. That isn't opinion, feelings, or digs.
#4 - I don't feel this thread is the place so as not to hijack but whatever. I run nothing. JMO
Okay. You first post read very much as “opinions and feelings” with the “LOLing” and saying it was negative here, etc. If this thread is not the place, I’m not sure why you started off with saying that this would not be a good place for either commiseration or optimism. I can see that this will not be productive, so I’ll drop it. I understand where I stand with you now.
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hawkward
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Post by hawkward on Jul 30, 2020 10:12:51 GMT -6
hawkward stay and share your knowledge with us! Honestly I’m not in a super awesome place and feel like I’m not up for pushback right now. But homeschooling is going well for us and we’re in a good groove other than missing our normal out and about activities. I have education and experience in ECE plus this will be our third year homeschooling so if anyone ever wants or needs to brainstorm, I’m always happy to do that over PM!
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olenka
Gold
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Post by olenka on Jul 30, 2020 10:18:13 GMT -6
My district just announced 100% virtual school at least through the first quarter, so that decision has been made for me.
My kid is starting 1st, and will be starting at a magnet school so we are waiting to hear what the deal is with that.
I work FT, my SO is in school FT. He will likely bear most of the burden of helping our kid, i.e. getting he logged on to whatever the heck platform. I just do not have time during the day.
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Post by ironcorgi on Jul 30, 2020 10:22:25 GMT -6
There is also an app for the TEKS. It's amazing because if you're looking for a certain standard, you can search instead of scrolling through the page of TEKS.
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Kida
Emerald
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Post by Kida on Jul 30, 2020 10:22:27 GMT -6
hawkward stay and share your knowledge with us! Honestly I’m not in a super awesome place and feel like I’m not up for pushback right now. But homeschooling is going well for us and we’re in a good groove other than missing our normal out and about activities. I have education and experience in ECE plus this will be our third year homeschooling so if anyone ever wants or needs to brainstorm, I’m always happy to do that over PM! I get it, I'm sorry, I hope this thread can get more positive as I had intended it for support. I know a lot of us would love to hear your input and suggestions ❤️
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McBenny
Unicorn
#sickomode
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Post by McBenny on Jul 30, 2020 10:25:03 GMT -6
LOL
#1 - I didn't call you out. I responded to your post like is normally done on a message board.
#2 - You already responded with a fuck you to me so I rather not discuss the whole thing again.
#3 - it also is not a dig. I was speaking to prior posts. That isn't opinion, feelings, or digs.
#4 - I don't feel this thread is the place so as not to hijack but whatever. I run nothing. JMO
Okay. You first post read very much as “opinions and feelings” with the “LOLing” and saying it was negative here, etc. If this thread is not the place, I’m not sure why you started off with saying that this would not be a good place for either commiseration or optimism. I can see that this will not be productive, so I’ll drop it. I understand where I stand with you now. Well yes I gave my opinion as to this being a safe place. However, I did say why I feel this way. Those reasons are not based in feelings etc when it did in fact happen and take place here on this board.
So, I was giving Kida a heads up that she might not receive what she is looking for.
The day you told me fuck you for responding to a post is when you should have known where you stand with me on this topic.
You said what you said. I said what I said. There it was.
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Post by lolacachia on Jul 30, 2020 10:32:08 GMT -6
We are homeschooling F. It has basically been our plan since he was born. We started last year (his preschool year) and also joined a co-op. It was amazing and felt successful for our family so we will continue down this road until it does not work anymore. Kida for a pre k year, she only needs like 30 minutes to an hour a day. Focus on reading to her, practicing her writing, foundational math concepts. The rest of her “learning” should come from life experiences and spending time with you! Currently I’m trying to commit to one curriculum and order his kindergarten supplies. I’m having a hard time but am leaning towards moving beyond the page.
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Post by doublestuf on Jul 30, 2020 10:40:09 GMT -6
Elementary teacher here. I wanted to suggest 2 math resources. I love them because they provide some theory + hands-on, developmentally appropriate activities. The theory won't be some crazy ideas that go over your head but are some things that help you better understand how little kids understand number concepts and other mathematical concepts.
The first is the Developing Number Concepts series by Kathy Richardson. She has 3 books. You don't need them all, especially if you plan on this being temporary. If I had a K kid, I would get start with the 1st book. The 3rd book multiplication, so most probably wouldn't need that until late 2nd grade/3rd.
The second is Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics by John Van de Walle. He covers every math topic. There is a K - 3 book and a 3 - 5 book.
You can find both used for less than list price. Let me know if I can help anybody!
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daisy
Gold
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Post by daisy on Jul 30, 2020 10:42:00 GMT -6
I am probably going this route but am not ready yet to get into details. We are still waiting for our district's final plan to be announced late next week. At this point, it looks likely that I will be keeping my K, 2nd, and 4th graders at home, but sending my 6th grader to middle school in-person. I'm thinking of doing virtual for my 4th grader, but am unsure whether I will do virtual with the little girls or actually do a homeschool program. Homeschool is looking more likely as time goes on.
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hawkward
Global Moderator
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Post by hawkward on Jul 30, 2020 10:43:18 GMT -6
For anyone who is looking at “traditional” homeschool curricula, the best advice I got when starting out is to go check out the company’s social media for the last year or so. Companies tend to have annual sales, often right after the normal buying season. For example right now Blossom and Root is 30% off and I think our favorite science curriculum RSO is 25% off.
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Kida
Emerald
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Post by Kida on Jul 30, 2020 10:45:31 GMT -6
We are homeschooling F. It has basically been our plan since he was born. We started last year (his preschool year) and also joined a co-op. It was amazing and felt successful for our family so we will continue down this road until it does not work anymore. Kida for a pre k year, she only needs like 30 minutes to an hour a day. Focus on reading to her, practicing her writing, foundational math concepts. The rest of her “learning” should come from life experiences and spending time with you! Currently I’m trying to commit to one curriculum and order his kindergarten supplies. I’m having a hard time but am leaning towards moving beyond the page. This is what I'm shooting for. She knows all of her letters by sight and can write most of them correctly. She knows her letter sounds and frequently tells me what letter a word starts with by sound. She knows her numbers through 30 and can write 1-10, knows her months and days of the week, etc. I really just want to strengthen all of these skills and work on building more with the rest formed as fun like experiments, outside adventure etc. One thing I'm making is a big poster board similar to this so we can work on these skills daily
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Kida
Emerald
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Post by Kida on Jul 30, 2020 10:46:35 GMT -6
I also really want to work on reading alot with sight words
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TheoV2
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Post by TheoV2 on Jul 30, 2020 10:50:43 GMT -6
Kida I highly recommend Bob books for building a solid beginning reading foundation. I use these with my own kids and my students. You can often get them from the library. They are very simple and repetitive so that kids can read them in their own. Each building upon the next.
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Post by ironcorgi on Jul 30, 2020 11:13:51 GMT -6
Kida I highly recommend Bob books for building a solid beginning reading foundation. I use these with my own kids and my students. You can often get them from the library. They are very simple and repetitive so that kids can read them in their own. Each building upon the next. Another vote for BOB books. I LOVE them.
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Post by lolacachia on Jul 30, 2020 11:31:02 GMT -6
Kida your dd sounds like she has an excellent foundation and is ahead of the curve of a lot of preschoolers. F is similar and it was nice feeling like there was not a lot of pressure to our first year trying the homeschool thing out.
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Post by millimeter314 on Jul 30, 2020 11:55:45 GMT -6
Number and age of kids: 2, both 7 Grade level(s): 1st Homeschool or virtual: virtual. I didn’t think the district’s virtual plan would be that good so I signed them up for Connections Academy. I’m super close with a lot at our school so I’m going to make sure we are on track with them and we aren’t behind when they go back to public school. New to homeschool or OG: new Do you SAH or Work?: I stopped subbing and teaching at our after school program so I can stay home with the kids this year Biggest concerns: DS being challenged enough and DD working with me instead of being frustrated Most looking forward to: Being more involved in their educations Have you started lesson planning?: We received their laptops and some books already Resources/recommendations/tips: How are you feeling?: I’m excited to get started, DS keeps asking when we can start
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Post by bunnyfungo on Jul 30, 2020 15:47:02 GMT -6
Number and age of kids: Two that I’m actively homeschooling, 8 and 6 Grade level(s): I’ll have a first and third grader, the 4 year old wants to be involved so. bad. So she’ll tag along this year. Homeschool or virtual: Homeschool New to homeschool or OG: OG. This will be our third year. Do you SAH or Work?: SAH Biggest concerns: The two year old being a two year old and trying to keep her occupied. Most looking forward to: DD1 being more independent this year. We’re trying out using Homeschool Planet this year. It’s an online planner that I can add assignments to for her to check off. Have you started lesson planning?: Most of my curriculum is pretty open and go so we usually just do however many lessons they’ll sit still for. Then I follow their interests and get completely off track learning about lightning or whatever random thing. So I don’t really plan. Resources/recommendations/tips: Follow your kids lead. If something isn’t working, ditch it. You don’t have to sit at a table all day. School wherever you get the most work done. Plan for a lot of breaks. Get in some physical exercise if you can. When DD1 is feeling particularly stubborn, a ten minute break to jump on the trampoline or play on the play set can reset her attitude completely. How are you feeling?: Mostly same old same old. I miss being able to go places. Museums were a huge part of our routine/learning. I paid for a science museum membership in January that I got to use once 😭 Ready for this year to be over already lol
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food
Silver
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Post by food on Jul 30, 2020 16:24:50 GMT -6
I also really want to work on reading alot with sight words Idk where your daughter is at with these things but I would suggest DOLCH words for sight words and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.
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food
Silver
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Post by food on Jul 30, 2020 16:34:14 GMT -6
Also all my long home schooling people have told me if you will be intergrating back into public schools, to be sure the reading and math skills are there. Not saying that the other isn't important. But that reading and math skills are areas where they determine whether a child is on grade level or not. Yes! I homeschooled because of some life circumstances and not out of a desire to do it long term. Since I knew we’d be going back into public school I used the same curriculum they did— Eureka Math. It’s free on www.greatminds.org. If you’re wanting to stay on track with public school I would HIGHLY recommend using a common core aligned math. A lot of homeschool math curriculums are the “old way”. With the way common core builds upon itself it can create quite a gap if they’ve missed a year.
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Post by skategirl128 on Jul 30, 2020 19:10:23 GMT -6
Number and ages of kids: 2 kids- 9 and 12 Grades: 4th and 7th/8th Plan: virtual through the district, although I’m prepared to fully homeschool if needed. DS is gifted and needs to be challenged.
We’ve got our space set up. I’m taking the year to be with them and my nieces and nephews. I’m a licensed teacher and feel semi prepared for our change.
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Post by mrsnorris on Jul 30, 2020 19:55:49 GMT -6
Number and age of kids: 2 boys, 5 and 8yo Grade level(s): K and 3rd Homeschool or virtual: virtual New to homeschool or OG: New Do you SAH or Work?: SAH Biggest concerns: Getting my kinder a good educational foundation, and providing my 8yo (who is autistic) with everything he needs Most looking forward to: Not rushing out the door in the morning Have you started lesson planning?: No, just waiting for the real teachers to tell me what to do Resources/recommendations/tips: Needed! School at home is basically my nightmare, I am not at all looking forward to it. How are you feeling?: Sad and disappointed that this is our reality
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snowmoon
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Post by snowmoon on Jul 31, 2020 5:57:54 GMT -6
Number and age of kids: One 5 year old and a two year old tagging along
Grade level(s):K
Homeschool or virtual: Homeschool since no virtual plan is being offered
New to homeschool or OG: New
Do you SAH or Work?: I work part-time
Biggest concerns: Pushing my reluctant learner so much that he shuts down.
Most looking forward to: Science experiments and nature study
Have you started lesson planning?: A little bit. I think we’re going to buy Torchlight level K
Resources/recommendations/tips: I’ve been following some seasoned homeschoolers and it’s helping chill out a bit about not having to plan every minute of the day.
How are you feeling?: Anxious and disappointed but also excited!
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Post by filingjointly on Jul 31, 2020 6:36:50 GMT -6
Number of Kids: 3 Grade Level: K, 2, nuisance (2yo) I will be homeschooling the older two. It’s my first year. I SAH. Biggest concerns: Schooling with the toddler underfoot. She’s very....spirited. Looking forward to: All the books! We all love to read and we’re using a lit-based curriculum. I have chosen our curriculums and have gotten everything 100% planned and ready for the first 6 weeks. I hope to do weeks in 2 week chunks going forward. I’m extremely Type A, Enneagram 1 so this stuff is right in my wheelhouse. I am fully expecting my plans to go off the wheels at points, and I’m trying to be ok with that. Flexibility is my goal for the year. Which is something I need to work on in general.
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STP
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Post by STP on Jul 31, 2020 9:07:59 GMT -6
I do want to say that hawkward has been so lovely to me during my many freak outs over schooling these past few months, and took the time to send me resources to look into. This is not about the back and forth. Just an acknowledgement of what a wealth of info she is, and generous of spirit as well.
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Post by filingjointly on Jul 31, 2020 9:09:40 GMT -6
I do want to say that hawkward has been so lovely to me during my many freak outs over schooling these past few months, and took the time to send me resources to look into. This is not about the back and forth. Just an acknowledgement of what a wealth of info she is. I agree. Both hawkward and bunnyfungo were wonderful when I nervously posted on the homeschool board earlier this year.
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Post by canteverremember on Jul 31, 2020 9:24:46 GMT -6
We will 99% be choosing the hybrid model this year which is going to involve a lot of virtual work.
Two fifth graders.
I homeschooled my oldest a while ago from grade 2 through grade 6 reentered govt schooling in grade 7. That was me coming up with everything and being in science club and all that.
This will be schooling provided by and prepared by the district so I’m not sure if i go here.
I did work out side the home but at the high school so this year I’m likely not returning since I will have the little ones home either 100% virtual or the every other week hybrid.
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