| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| dena91 |
Posted - Jan 11 2017 : 11:08:52 AM
Hi Farmgirl homeschoolers :-)
I thought it might be fun to start a thread similar to 'what are you working on today?', but related to homeschooling.
We have been homeschooling since 1997 and have graduated 2 sons, with 2 to go. Our graduated boys are both in college and our two still in our homeschool are 6 and 16.
Our 16 year old, Seth, works primarily on his own. I meet with him once a week to make sure he is staying some what on track :-). Our home school is pretty relaxed, although I have learned to better prepare my high schoolers for the possibility of college. This year he is using the Institute for Excellence in Writing curriculum (recommended by his dyslexia tutor), Khan academy for algebra, Switched on Schoolhouse for Biology, and personal projects for history (that's his thing). This is the first year he has had really structured curriculums due to the feedback i have received from his older brothers.
Our 6 year old, Zeke, is just exploring reading, writing and math. Since he's our 4th, he and i spend alot of time outside enjoying nature and our homestead and don't feel a bit guilty about it!. When we are inside we use Reading Eggs (a great online program for teaching reading), Handwriting without Tears, and Shiller Math (he was born prematurely and has some learning delays - these last two programs really work well for him). He and I also do some sort of bible/character study each morning. In the afternoon I always try to include some read aloud - Charlotte Mason has had a huge impact on me as a home educator and i love making sure we enjoy nature and good books!
If anyone is interested in joining, i would love to hear about your days!  . Here's me and Zeke.
.jpg? v 32674602) . And me and Seth!
Many blessings on your day!
Dena
Farmgirl 5620 |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| notathreatinsight |
Posted - Jul 01 2017 : 07:11:51 AM
Wow. That sounds really intense. I'll pray for your situation to get better and for you to find people who are trustworthy and have only goodwill for you and your children. <3
Erin
Sister #3762
Farmgirl of the Month ~ March 2016
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| DandeeRose |
Posted - Jun 29 2017 : 06:33:43 AM
Well, I really thought I found a place I belonged with the Christian Homeschool group in Jasper (Beacons), but those ladies have really messed up some things for our family. Never again. I can't trust people. Wounds are still fresh, so maybe it will get easier, but it is such a mess, we hired an attorney. Something we can't really afford, to protect our children. :'( But to protect our children we can't afford not to.
Many Blessings- Alicia #5232 FGOTM May 2016
<3 OUR FARM <3
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6rAaWB8U8t13yBZCd-nwLA
https://www.facebook.com/WinklerDerBauernhof/
https://derbauernhofsite.wordpress.com
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DandeeRose Farmgirl Accessories and more!
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain." |
| notathreatinsight |
Posted - Jun 26 2017 : 09:07:58 AM
Alicia I'm so sorry you've had a bad experience with homeschool groups! I have found some wonderful people here. I know it can be hard though. When I started looking for groups I only found secular homeschool groups. That wasn't really what I was looking for, but I wanted to try it and that led to the creation of the Fort Wayne Christian Homeschoolers group that I'm in now. This happened when the secular group split in half, as will happen when half of the people get mad if there's a mention of God!
We are doing Classical Conversations next year, but not in a community. It's more of a co-op that we're doing ourselves with 3 other families. Other than following CC material, we're doing Story of the World, Saxon math, IEW (US History), Essentials grammar (from CC), Natural Science through the Seasons, along with twice a month studies and hikes at state parks. I think we'll be doing Latina Christiana too, but I'm not 100% on that yet. We split the responsibility in our co-op by subjects. I'm in charge of Latin and Art so I have to plan that out for everyone in our group. We also have play dates every Friday afternoon.
Erin
Sister #3762
Farmgirl of the Month ~ March 2016
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| DandeeRose |
Posted - Jun 19 2017 : 08:42:40 AM
For phonics, the boys use Explode the Code, and we use Pathways for reading.
Many Blessings- Alicia #5232 FGOTM May 2016
<3 OUR FARM <3
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6rAaWB8U8t13yBZCd-nwLA
https://www.facebook.com/WinklerDerBauernhof/
https://derbauernhofsite.wordpress.com
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DandeeRose Farmgirl Accessories and more!
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain." |
| DandeeRose |
Posted - Jun 19 2017 : 08:40:53 AM
Yes, because Isabelle is just getting too grown up.
I tell you what, I am DONE with Homeschool groups. And trusting people. The boys have each other and Isabelle doesn't care to get out with people, so I won't be doing any more homeschool groups.
Dena, I am glad you must have a good one. Thought I did, too.
Shannon, goats?! In milk?! How exciting!
Here is the link for Playful Pioneers: https://www.thepeacefulpreschool.com/the-playful-pioneers 20% off, SUMMER (code)
I've grown to love Masterbooks, since Gabriel has used it for Math, so I got Isabelle MB math curriculum, too, as well as science and Jensen's Writing. We also work through AO living book lists and Bible readings. Some of the literature she will be reading this year; Kon Tiki, Paradise Lost, Emma, Henry VIII, The Passionate Observer, Utopia, Bacon's Essays, and Westward Ho. She will be starting Spanish this year, but we are continuing Latin as a family, and she may still work on German, as well.
Many Blessings- Alicia #5232 FGOTM May 2016
<3 OUR FARM <3
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6rAaWB8U8t13yBZCd-nwLA
https://www.facebook.com/WinklerDerBauernhof/
https://derbauernhofsite.wordpress.com
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DandeeRose Farmgirl Accessories and more!
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain." |
| hudsonsinaf |
Posted - Jun 19 2017 : 07:52:06 AM
We homeschool through the summer... basically all year long, as we always have SOMETHING going on... this year it is adding the new baby in November. We will be taking the week of Thanksgiving off up until the New Year!
Katie is in 9th this year... She is doing Geometry through Math-U-See, Biology through Apologia (which she LOVES), and continuing with IEW. Her Literature is through Excellence in Literature, which she thoroughly enjoys! As a family we will be continuing Mystery of History Volume 4 and the Geography unit that I write for each country. We should be finished Asia by our break time... then starting Europe in January. She also wants to do... German, Spanish and Latin - ALL IN ONE YEAR!!! I think she has lost hr mind, but I figure the best way to see if she can do it, learn it, and enjoy it, is let her try!
For the rest of them, they will continue with Shurley English, All About Spelling, their math (wherever they are in Math U see), Zoology I through Apologia, and for reading we are doing Prairie Primer... I may look into "Playful Pioneers" to add to the boys. Where did you find it Alicia?
On a different note, we got our goats on Saturday... what a JOY!!!!! I had forgotten how bad my arms hurt after milking, lol, but they will strengthen. It is just muscles I don't use that often.
~ Shannon, Sister # 5349
Farmgirl of the Month - January 2016
http://hudson-everydayblessings.blogspot.com/ |
| dena91 |
Posted - Jun 19 2017 : 07:20:17 AM
Alicia,
Yes, it is time to start planning! I recently attended our state's homeschool conference and got most everything i will need this year. Seth will be in 11th grade and will be using Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), Kaun Academy for algebra, our homeschool group for chemistry, and is own studies for history - he keeps a log of all the history material he reads/watches (its his area of interest).
Zeke will be in 1st grade and will be continuing with Handwriting without tears (love it!), Shiller Math (also love it), and maybe Sonlights first grade reading program. He's finishing up an online reading course called Reading Eggs (double love it) and I'm not sure what's next. Other than that, we will still do nature study for science - you know it's all around us in the woods and in our gardens! I think i start American history this year with the D'Aurlaire books - awesome - but i have to check my schedule! Its been so long since i did that I'm not sure when i intro that. We also try to read aloud everyday from something so I'd like to continue that.
The unit study sounds awesome! Why the frowny face for Isabelle? Is it cuz its almost over? Is sooooo get that!!!!
Anyone else in the throws of finishing this year and planning the next? Right now seth and i are finishing his portfolio to be examined by our evaluator this week - fun PA law for homeschoolers...after that we hope to take off July and start up again in august. I will do zeke through the summer though... don't want to lose the momentum for learning to read and write! I'm so much more relaxed in the summer though. Gardening and animals come first and then school; just enough to keep him progressing but not enough to burn us out:-)
Hope everyone has a blessed day!
Dena
Farmgirl 5620 |
| DandeeRose |
Posted - Jun 18 2017 : 7:51:47 PM
know this hasn't been active in a while, but who is planning? lol! I have some really messed up craziness in my life right now, and we start on July 10, so I figured this would be good for my mind right now.
Isabelle will be a 10th grader.... :(
The boys will be using a Unit study this year, with a few things added. It's called Playful Pioneers and uses the Little House series.
Many Blessings- Alicia #5232 FGOTM May 2016
<3 OUR FARM <3
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6rAaWB8U8t13yBZCd-nwLA
https://www.facebook.com/WinklerDerBauernhof/
https://derbauernhofsite.wordpress.com
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DandeeRose Farmgirl Accessories and more!
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain." |
| dena91 |
Posted - Feb 28 2017 : 6:40:05 PM
Thanks for your prayers, Shannon. I don't feel quite as fatigued today.
This therapy is the kind that keeps working and changing the connections in the brain for several weeks/months after its done. Right now he is pretty cranky because of the intensity of the therapy. Its like shaking your brain up each day and then setting it down. It makes a person kind of grumpy. We hope and pray this will be a blessing to him as he continues on his healing journey.
Have a great week :-)
Dena
Farmgirl 5620 |
| hudsonsinaf |
Posted - Feb 26 2017 : 1:43:44 PM
Praying for you Dena! Does it seem to be helping?
~ Shannon, Sister # 5349
Farmgirl of the Month - January 2016
http://hudson-everydayblessings.blogspot.com/ |
| dena91 |
Posted - Feb 26 2017 : 12:42:53 PM
Hi ladies,
Well, we are half way through zeke's music/tomatis therapy and i'm pooped! Please pray that i will have the energy/stamina to do it again this coming week :-).
Thanks so much!
Dena
Farmgirl 5620 |
| dena91 |
Posted - Feb 21 2017 : 1:35:12 PM
Hi Ladies,
It's been a busy couple of weeks! This week and next Zeke is participating in a therapy program called Tomatis (http://www.tomatis.com). We are using it in hopes of helping zeke with a number of behavioral/learning challenges. The bad side is that it means putting other homeschooling on hold, as we have to drive nearly an hour to the office, with 2 hours of therapy for 2 weeks. As i have learned over the years, learning and life are sometimes more than the 3 'R's. Sometimes i would rather just stick to the 3 R's :-).
Seth has been preparing a presentation for our homeschool group's symposium. He will be speaking on why the British Empire was the most powerful empire during the last several hundred years, up until the end of wwii. That will be on march the 3rd - always a little anxious when my young people present. Seth has quite a flare for the extravagant and i worry he will over do it - and i've invited my parents - yikes!
Zeke and i have been able to read aloud a bit each day. We are reading a sweet farming story from 'rod and staff publishers' called Days on the farm with Annette and Samuel. Just precious! Good, wholesome stories for the youngest student. And stories about farm life, which i love :-).
I actually need to go do that now so i will sign off. Have a great rest of the day!
Dena
Farmgirl 5620 |
| dena91 |
Posted - Feb 03 2017 : 1:34:51 PM
Hi Everyone,
First chance all week i have had a chance to post :-/. We were out of the house way too much this week; couldn't be helped - dentist, tutoring for our teen... i prefer staying home at least 2 days /week. When we get too busy away from home, the home front suffers and so do i. Any one else feel that way?
We did have fun on our nature walk with our small, new nature club of homeschoolers. Weather was in the 30's and a little windy, but not bad at all. Today, friday, i am feeling a bit weary and wanting more time to myself. I guess an overly busy week can do that to a mama :-)
On the bright side, zeke's reading is continuing to improve and he just moved ahead in his math book thank goodness!
Also, our 21 year old just got a part time job - something he has been trying to do for months. Not sure i mentioned that he has autism and can't do that many different kinds of jobs. He got a job at chick filet - is that national??? Anyway - lots of praise for that one...but it leaves me with one less driver so now zeke and i have to figure out how to do some of our stuff in the car while we drive seth to tutoring. Oh well, i'm sure there is a plan in there some where for some pretty awesome new discoveries and different ways of learning :-). Just want to make sure we still have time for our animals, quilting and the rest of the homestead. Its so easy to let those things go when you are homeschooling. Got to remember that it is a well rounded life that makes a good education :-).
Have a blessed weekend girls.
Dena
Farmgirl 5620 |
| dena91 |
Posted - Jan 29 2017 : 6:22:57 PM
Alicia, Hope the weekend has brought some peace and rest for you and the family.
What a blessing that you found a great homeschool group; sad that you will have to leave it soon :-( . That is the one challenging thing about our group; even though the kids fit in there with their special learning needs, the group itself is not christian and most of the families have very liberal beliefs. I have tried 2 different christian groups, but the boys just couldn't fit into the more traditional classrooms - jonah - now 21 - has autism; Seth has 3 kinds of dyslexia (in math, reading and writing), and Zeke has SEVERE ADHD. I tried one of those groups this past fall for zeke and by Thanksgiving he was throwing up due to anxiety at the prospect of keeping it together in their kindergarten class (poor guy!!!). Now he's home and finally recovering, thank God! Next year i plan to put him in the one the boys thrived in - hopefully it will work for him, but still, parents with fairly liberal ideas for me. God must be up to something awesome here because He seems to want us at this place...can't wait to see what He is going to do!
Praying for you as you continue to walk through these current trials.
Dena
Farmgirl 5620 |
| dena91 |
Posted - Jan 28 2017 : 7:20:19 PM
Shannon, just saw your update on the other post. Thanks for updating me here :-). Sometimes its hard to remember and believe that all God has in store for us is for our good. Thankfully He gives us glimpses of His goodness toward us (like His saving your precious family) so we can continue to trust in Him and proclaim His glorious works. His ways are so much higher than our understanding; i'm thankful that He has shown us all such a wonderful example of His mercy by saving your family. This has been such a hard thing for me to grasp. I can't wait till all of these truths are revealed fully to us - wont that be cool!!!
Recuperate and get strong again - will continue to pray for your dad and blake's family.
Dena
Farmgirl 5620 |
| hudsonsinaf |
Posted - Jan 27 2017 : 7:12:22 PM
Hi AnneMarie - we have a 13, 11, 9, 8, 5, 3, and 1 yo....
Thank you Dena for the prayers... I updated this elsewhere on the forum, but here is what I wrote... We serve an incredible God!!!! Last night I was up most of the night with a headache and throwing up. Then about 3, Emi woke up throwing up. In the process, it woke up my older two girls. The oldest could hardly walk, was nauseous and had a headache, and the other also had a headache and was nauseous. By that point I was only able to take about two steps before I hit my knees. Hubby and I quickly figured out we were probably dealing with carbon monoxide poisoning. We woke up the children and brought them to the sliding glass back door, which was wide open, and wrapped them in blankets (we still have multiple feet of snow on the ground!). After about 45 minutes, I could still hardly walk, so we decided to drive in to the hospital (45 minutes away). We left the sliding glass door wide open with a fire screen in the opening and the dog in her dog crate right at the door, opened the windows down in the basement where the wood stove is, and let the kitten run around free.
When we got to the ER, the hospital staff was a little overwhelmed. For those that do not know, we are a family of 9... and we wanted all 9 of us tested, though some of the children were asymptomatic. Only two of us had ever been seen there before, so they had their work cut out for them. We got through it and were brought back... they began drawing blood and talking with us to figure out what was going on (we were split into two rooms at that point). Suddenly the blood work started coming back and everyone began to panic!!! Normal CO levels are 0-1 unless you are a smoker and then it may be a 2. Aly (our 3 yo) had the lowest level - over 15. Mine, my hubby's, and one of the other children's were over 21. Had we been at 25 we would have had to be flown out to a hospital with a hyperbaric pressure therapy room. Thankfully we were all able to stay there together, though at that point in 4 rooms, for more than four hours on full blast oxygen masks!
God so blessed us!!!! I have never been so thankful for a child throwing up!!! We are all still fighting some residual headaches and nausea, but we are home and feeling SO MUCH better!
While we were at the hospital, the police came to visit (due to being "poisoned"), and the fire department came to check out the house... with everything open, all the testing they did came back alright, with the highest reading being a 10. They decided that the source was our wood stove! Apparently there was a small leak in the piping from the woodstove before it went into the chimney, and that was determined to be the source. So hubby came home, cleaned out the chimney and put new piping in place. God is so good!!!!!
~ Shannon, Sister # 5349
Farmgirl of the Month - January 2016
http://hudson-everydayblessings.blogspot.com/ |
| dena91 |
Posted - Jan 27 2017 : 6:37:16 PM
Thank God Shannon and the kids got out of there safely!!! Praying for them as well.
Dena
Farmgirl 5620 |
| dena91 |
Posted - Jan 27 2017 : 6:26:27 PM
Oh Alicia, I'm so sorry for all this happening in your family right now. Will continue to pray about this for you.
Dena
Farmgirl 5620 |
| DandeeRose |
Posted - Jan 27 2017 : 08:44:29 AM
Asking for some prayers!http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/snitz/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=79831
Many Blessings- Alicia #5232 FGOTM May 2016
<3 OUR FARM <3
https://www.facebook.com/WinklerDerBauernhof/
https://derbauernhofsite.wordpress.com
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DandeeRose Farmgirl Accessories and more!
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain." |
| DandeeRose |
Posted - Jan 24 2017 : 03:56:34 AM
Yes! I started attending a fellowship group last Fall that I love. I will really miss it when we move to the farm. All the ladies are Christian and we seem to all have similar beliefs on everything, as in we are pretty much all Constitutionalists. I have attended several group, but this is the one I feel at home with. I love these girls.
Welcome AnneMarie! Our kids are almost the same age!! Levi would be 10 this year, and I have 14, 6, and 4, in addition!
Many Blessings- Alicia #5232 FGOTM May 2016
<3 OUR FARM <3
https://www.facebook.com/WinklerDerBauernhof/
https://derbauernhofsite.wordpress.com
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DandeeRose Farmgirl Accessories and more!
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain." |
| dena91 |
Posted - Jan 23 2017 : 7:12:12 PM
Hi AnneMarie - Glad you joined us! Always good to take advantage of those nice days :-). Isn't it amazing what the kids actually learn while they are home with us? Since your kids are older, i'm guessing you took them out of some kind of school situation. How have they adjusted to the change? Are they enjoying it? Our second son went to 3rd grade at the local school. I was dealing with some health issues and needed to lighten my homeschooling load a bit. It was pretty much a disaster so we brought him home for 4th grade and never looked back. Thank goodness i was feeling better and able to have all the kids home again that next year.
Here's a question for everyone: Does anyone use any homeschool groups or co-ops? We did not use anything the first couple of years. Then when our oldest turned 13 we all began to feel like we needed some diversity one day a week. We found a flexible co-op and have been there every since. They offer a variety of elective class options so you still do the bulk of your academics at home. Its mostly for making and having friends since we live out in the country with no other kids close by. I feel pretty old now when I show up with Zeke - I'm 51 and he's 6! Most of the moms with 6 year olds who go there do not have gray hairs :-). I like being an older mom to zeke - i feel more relaxed and wiser - thank God!
We're planning to enjoy our weekly library trip tomorrow - zeke loves books - what a blessing! None of my other boys really got into going to the library; zeke thinks its the highlight of his week - too cute!
Have a good one :-)
Dena
Farmgirl 5620 |
| knittingmom |
Posted - Jan 23 2017 : 5:23:46 PM
Great thread! I homeschool our 14, 10 and 6 year old with our 2 year old participating in his own way.
This is our second year homeschooling and I'm still trying not to be too panicky about our pace. I discovered the kids are actually absorbing what I'm teaching.
We are mostly on track. It was nice out today so taking advantage of the not sub-arctic weather the girls were outside playing.
"There is no foot so small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world"
"The things that matter most are not really things after all" |
| dena91 |
Posted - Jan 23 2017 : 1:08:26 PM
Alicia, Warm hug for you and Levi:-). It was a lovely wednesday - not 70 but sunny and 50's. today it is terribly stormy with power outages:-(. My teen is just chalking this day up to another day where we don't have to do school...These last 2 homeschoolers really keep me on my toes!
Shannon, hearing about your day takes me back to when my older ones were little. I love Snowflake Bentley and the bean experiment sounds awesome! With the big age difference between our last 2, our day is much more segmented into 'high school stuff' and 'elementary stuff'. That has its benefits - alot less chaotic, but I miss us all learning together. What a special blessing for families to be able to learn together!
Dena
Farmgirl 5620 |
| hudsonsinaf |
Posted - Jan 23 2017 : 10:36:30 AM
The 11, 9, and 8 yo are using Apologia Botany this year for Science... so today we put beans seeds in plastic bags with wet paper towels... one in the dark closet, one in the fridge, and one in a sunny window. I love listening to their minds work as they figure out what is going to happen...
For FIAR we are looking at Snowflake Bentley. We examined snow under a microscope, and used snowflake cutouts to decorate blue construction paper. Simple things, but they brought such excitement and joy!
~ Shannon, Sister # 5349
Farmgirl of the Month - January 2016
http://hudson-everydayblessings.blogspot.com/ |
| hudsonsinaf |
Posted - Jan 23 2017 : 09:04:56 AM
Alicia - it is great practice and he can always dictate to you! I write for Ben, and depending on how Sammi is feeling, I do for her as well.
~ Shannon, Sister # 5349
Farmgirl of the Month - January 2016
http://hudson-everydayblessings.blogspot.com/ |
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