We need another Eclectic thread! - Page 10

[Jennifer3141]

Earth, your post makes me smile.

And what classes is everyone taking outside the home this year?

We have swimming from the middle of September until the middle of November on Mondays and Wednesdays. And I'm thinking of taking a nature center class on Tuesday mornings. The class is a great idea in theory but it's led by two former "educators" and they have a very schoolish way of doing things. (It doesn't work well for the group, but that's beside the point, right??)
But maybe they will start a homeschool group. Who knows?

[konamama]

dd is 6, 1st grade age wise, we really have unschooled so far, following her lead, most learning through life and her questions and it is amazing how much she has learned... she likes workbooks and does those often, likes games so we play those, coloring, we live on a farm so "science" isn't a problem, want to do more history (mainly because i like it :-)) and we do a hs group once a week that is play and art based. we are for sure eclectic pulling from a lot of different areas, that just makes sense to me...

classes - we have taken some in the past and then she just wasn't interested anymore so we stopped. she is recently showing some interest again and we are looking into hula, hip-hop, horse back riding, foreign languages, piano and art. we'll see which ones pan out.

great thread!

[AbigailGrace]

Originally Posted by Jennifer3141

I do sometimes wonder since we started homeschooling at the very beginning if my kids will ever want to go to school. It seems like there's two homeschool camps - the kids who tired it and didn't succeed AT school for whatever reason and those who never went. What's the mix here?

My oldest went all the way through high school and graduated. I took my next two out at 2nd grade and kindergarten. The last 3 have never been. My 13 yo who went to school until 2nd grade only wanted to go at one time for the friendships. My 11 yo says he never wants to go back. My 9 yo sometimes wants to go to ps but it's more a "friends" thing because he is so social and has lacked friends his age at times.

Right now they are all more involved with outside activities and they are happier with their friendships which makes them happier at home. In general, they "love" homeschooling... they just miss the interaction that they "think" their ps kids get at school.

[Eli&SkyesMom]

Our story is just a little different. I always wanted to homeschool mu kids, but due to finances when DS was young, I had to work, so he went to preschool for 3 yrs. Then for K we sent him to a Montessori school, which seemed be the next best thing. Later that year his younger sister was born. We decided that if we were to pay for all that child care, my income wouldn't really be bringing anything to the table, so for the first time I got to stay home with the kids!!!:
But DS was pretty set on continueing at his. He had friends there, and realy liked it. First grade and on was a Charter school so we didn't have to pay for it and thus agreed that he could continue to school there if he realy wanted to. During that summer, I got us involved with the local homeschool groups, we began going to Math Club and Park Days, and on fun homeschool fieldtrips.
Despite all of my efforts, DS still wanted to go back to school and so that is what we did, the school was 4 days at school with Fri. being homeschool day. A few months into it he was realy missing Math Club, so we started homeschooling on Mondays too so that he could attend. By Christmas break he had realized that on homeschool days, he finished his lessons much faster, and had time to move on to other things that interested him. That is when he asked to homeschool all the time.
He is now going into 3rd grade and we are loving this homeschool gig! I wouldn't say that he "didn't succeed AT school" but rather that he realized that he preferred to school at home.

DD on the other hand has never been to school, and probably never will. I say proabably because "Life is like a box of chocolates....", but I think that we will stick with homeschooling.:

[LilyGrace]

Huh. I just read through the thread and now I'm wondering why I never posted in it before.

We're eclectic with a classical bent, and we start our first day of school tomorrow! : I've been sick for nearly the past week so I just got finished painting and filling his cone and doing last minute prep work today. And dh laughed when I started printing and doing an outline schedule in July. Humph.
Honestly, though, I can't wait. The summer was great but both of us are ready to head back into the swing of things. Our first homeschool group meeting is this week, there's sports and music to look forward to..The Kid is more than ready. He's already announced he's going to bed early tonight so he can see all his new stuff ASAP in the morning.

To answer the question about school - ds spent 2 years in the system and we left because...well, a lot of reasons but it just didn't work out. Since then we've moved, and moved, and moved...I almost feel guilty this year because so many kids have left our new school district that about half are gone, but I really can't justify that as a reason to quit doing something that The Kid loves and works so well for him. I just tell those who use that as an excuse for why we should use the school that they should have more kids - that way the school population will grow and they can feel all warm and fuzzy about supporting it.

[Eli&SkyesMom]

Originally Posted by LilyGrace

I just tell those who use that as an excuse for why we should use the school that they should have more kids - that way the school population will grow and they can feel all warm and fuzzy about supporting it.

Love it!!! Why is it your job to support the school system with kids? LOL

[leighann79]

Originally Posted by Jennifer3141

I do sometimes wonder since we started homeschooling at the very beginning if my kids will ever want to go to school. It seems like there's two homeschool camps - the kids who tired it and didn't succeed AT school for whatever reason and those who never went. What's the mix here?

My oldest DD went to public school until the middle of 2nd grade when we pulled her. She was doing fine in school, but we felt it was best for the family to home school. I had wanted to ever since she was born, but it took some problems we had with the teachers/ administration to convince DH. DH and I don't do well being told what to do. LOL
I plan on the kids staying out of the school system until high school at least. Middle school is awful and I wouldn't want to have them start during that time. I plan on them home schooling for high school too, but am open to them using the public school if they would rather.

BTW, Hi! I'm new to this thread. We have been homeschooling for 2 1/2 years now. We started mid way through DD1's 2nd grade year and she would be starting 5th grade now. DS1 has never been to public school and would be starting 2nd grade. (I say "would be" because we aren't really doing things in a graded way. They are just each at their own place, iykwim)
DD2 has decided she wants to "do preschool at home". DS2 is 4 weeks old. LOL
We are very eclectic. I love the unschooling thought, but we feel the need to know where the kids are with math. We were doing Singapore math and Miquon, but DD1 wasn't cooperating well. Now she is happily doing math problems on www.funbrain.com . I'm so happy I saw it mentioned here at MDC. DS is still doing the workbooks when I think of it.
I'd better get back to cooking supper. I just wanted to chime in and introduce myself.

[christinar]

My daughter did a small, private play-based nursery school that was wonderful - it's where my son is now. And then 3hr am kindergarten, which was okay. She started first grade and I just was not thrilled with it - there was nothing traumatizing or terrible, but I knew it could be so much better, and she didn't like it... so we started homeschooling last November. So we're planning to have my son go to half-day K to get the friend-base, and find out what school is like. That way if he wants to do specials like art or gym, he knows where everything is and what the routines are. If they change to full-day K by the time he starts, then we'll need to reconsider - I'm fine with him going for half the day, but it would be different it was a full day.

For outside classes - my daughter is doing art 1x/week at school; she and ds also have a weekly private violin lesson and group lessons 2x/month; we're going to do a free geography class 2x/month that we're very excited about; they each do 1 dance class/week; and she'll probably do Girl Scouts. And soccer, which is just Sat morning for six weeks in the fall. And Sunday School. No worries about socialization, eh? I could never have my introverted/easily overstimulated dd do so many fun, worthwhile activities if she spent the whole day at school...

I've worked it out though so that we have *no* commitments Tuesday, and nothing til dance at 4pm on Thursday, so those will be our quiet days, or days for field trips or extended projects etc. And M/W/F mornings ds has school so dd & I can focus on school then.

[MyLittleWonders]

I think I need to sit down and write out the reasons why we are hs'ing. Friday was a tough day. Today dh was gone early morning for quite a while (trying to prepare for his first day tomorrow) and it was you-know-what around here. I yelled (and later apologized). Rooms were dismantled (my oldest likes to take his bed apart). And it was a very tough day. I so was ready to put them in school, but then the thought of putting them in school made me so sad. I really don't want to do that, but I don't want days like today and Friday either. For so long we have not expected anything from the boys except very rare chores/help. They are quite used to not doing anything, and fighting us when we ask. And dh and I have decided we don't like that. We want them to be responsible and contributing members of the family. And boy are the boys fighting. All is better now. We all talked. Dh and I helped reassemble rooms. We ate lunch. And now they are outside playing catch with dh. But I fear tomorrow as I'm afraid they will mutiny again. (Can that be used as a verb?!) I homeschool because I envision us a close-knit family that enjoys doing things together - whether that be pitching in and helping each other do chores or learning together or playing together or just being together. I homeschool because I want my boys to grow up close to one another instead of fight with one another. I homeschool because I want to be with my children (though by noon today I so did not want to be with them ... ). I think it's time for me to refocus so that I can change my attitude and hopefully theirs will adjust as a result. I get tired of reading all the stories about how much everyone's child LOVES homeschooling and has a blast. My kids seem to fight it, and yet they say they want to homeschool. I asked today what that looked like. My oldest said, "Spelling, math, copywork/dictation ... ." Maybe I need to change our idea of what homeschooling is. It is those things. But it is so much more. Ugh ... I just need to write I think ... write what isn't going well and then write how I want it instead. And then be enthusiastic about it. And show the boys that I love doing this. Then maybe they'll love doing this too. Sorry for the whine/vent ... it's been a hard couple days (well, yesterday wasn't hard ... not sure what was different).

[craft_media_hero]

Originally Posted by Jennifer3141

Earth, your post makes me smile.

And what classes is everyone taking outside the home this year?

We have swimming from the middle of September until the middle of November on Mondays and Wednesdays. And I'm thinking of taking a nature center class on Tuesday mornings. The class is a great idea in theory but it's led by two former "educators" and they have a very schoolish way of doing things. (It doesn't work well for the group, but that's beside the point, right??)
But maybe they will start a homeschool group. Who knows?

So far, we've only been doing physical activity classes outside of home. She did swim over the summer.

For fall, she's starting Karate tomorrow (she's been asking about it forever! so I think she has the will to stick with it for a while), tentatively followed by dance, tentatively followed by gymnastics. For now we're "sampling" sports so she can get an idea of what she likes. Winter may bring ice skating class or indoor rock climbing.

I thought about signing her up for a group sewing class, but for now I only want us to do one OOH activity at a time, and she's chosen Karate. Dad and I are busy college students as well, so we need to keep our family rhythm as simple as possible for now.

I'm really enjoying this thread! Can't wait to hear a little more about everyone's eclectic methods!

[craft_media_hero]

Originally Posted by MyLittleWonders

I get tired of reading all the stories about how much everyone's child LOVES homeschooling and has a blast. My kids seem to fight it, and yet they say they want to homeschool. I asked today what that looked like. My oldest said, "Spelling, math, copywork/dictation ... ." Maybe I need to change our idea of what homeschooling is. It is those things. But it is so much more. Ugh ... I just need to write I think ... write what isn't going well and then write how I want it instead. And then be enthusiastic about it. And show the boys that I love doing this. Then maybe they'll love doing this too. Sorry for the whine/vent ... it's been a hard couple days (well, yesterday wasn't hard ... not sure what was different).

Sorry to hear that things are rough right now! It sounds like you're doing the right thing by taking some time to re-evaluate "how" to work it out for all parties involved.

I didn't catch their ages----it must be challenging hsing a mixed age group of boys.

[MyLittleWonders]

Originally Posted by craft_media_hero

Sorry to hear that things are rough right now! It sounds like you're doing the right thing by taking some time to re-evaluate "how" to work it out for all parties involved.

I didn't catch their ages----it must be challenging hsing a mixed age group of boys.

Thanks. They are 8, 5 1/2 and 3. My 5 1/2 year old is my most challenging one. He did have apraxia of speech and pretty definite sensory processing issues. He (and us all) are now gluten free and free of all artificial ingredients, which helps a ton, but he is very sensitive to the slightest disturbances in his overall environment. So, just having dh going back to work, having been at my ILs for the night at the end of last week could be setting him off. But when they all decide to make things challenging, I seriously question my sanity in hs'ing them. Usually after a day like that, we have a really good day and things look good again. I'm hoping tomorrow is that way. (At least it's not supposed to be as hot so we can get out to the park after we get stuff done here.)

[urchin_grey]

-waves-

I'm homeschooling a special needs pre-k'er (and I've got my 2yo nephew tagging along too). We're pretty unschool-y and I had definitely planned to delay academics, but DS has other things in mind. He is super into phonics and has recently started coming up to us and signing "A", "apple" or "E", "egg", etc. He's non-verbal and doesn't understand the concept of school or anything so its not like he can say "hey ma, could I have a reading curriculum?" So I think I'm going to try out Explode the Code with him. It might be a bit more than he can do right now because his fine motor skills are not so great so he doesn't like to draw much, much less try to write. But I really like the look of the wall chart and such and if the busy work part takes us a while to get through, that's fine.

He's into numbers and counting too, but I don't think he's ready for anything structured in that area. When we do move on to addition though, it will be with manipulatives since he can't write at all. We've learned the signs for "money" and "coin" though and he seems to be interested in that, so I'll probably introduce him to the actual terms for all the coins and such. He has no concept of what money is for though. LOL

Other than that, we just read a lot, and DS likes to watch Signing Time and play on starfall.com. He's not in any therapy right now either because the options here right now are either non-existant or just plain suck so I'm also trying to sneak in as many fine motor and gross motor activities as possible.

Oh, and I've been looking at Letter of the Week and thinking I might use that as a jumping off point sometimes, just to have something to do on the days that its just DS, DN, and me. DN reeeally needs some type of direction and structure during the day or he's too much to handle. The kid doesn't play with toys, he prefers to ruin anything he can get his hands on.

[Jennifer3141]

What are the odds?? I have a DS with speech apraxia too! He has been diagnosed as PDD-NOS, with a probable future DX of Aspberger's but I walked away from all that a couple of years ago. (I'm not judging you if you haven't!!! I was just starting to feel like my DS was my test case and not my kid anymore with all the acronymns and therapies.)
So I have basically taken him out of everything and am just watching and waiting. This past summer, he finally began speaking in sentences. Most of them are grammatically incorrect, "Mama, you go shoo-shoo? (car)" But they are coming along. I decided to give him time and space and see what happens. And he is as fascinated with letters and reading as DD. He's actually my focus kid - sometimes too much so because he can perseverates on something that drives me insane (like the giant dinosaur drawing that wans't perfect yesterday and this ruined about 4 hours of his day) but for the most part, I just really like the way his little mind works.

He's my co-reason for homeschooling. If we were in school, he'd be forced into full day pre-K with speech, OT, and I.Q. testing. I'm not doing that to my 4 year old!!

Good grief. I ran away with my fingers this morning. Sorry to force everyone to read through that!!

[MyLittleWonders]

Originally Posted by Jennifer3141

What are the odds?? I have a DS with speech apraxia too! He has been diagnosed as PDD-NOS, with a probable future DX of Aspberger's but I walked away from all that a couple of years ago. (I'm not judging you if you haven't!!! I was just starting to feel like my DS was my test case and not my kid anymore with all the acronymns and therapies.)
So I have basically taken him out of everything and am just watching and waiting. This past summer, he finally began speaking in sentences. Most of them are grammatically incorrect, "Mama, you go shoo-shoo? (car)" But they are coming along. I decided to give him time and space and see what happens. And he is as fascinated with letters and reading as DD. He's actually my focus kid - sometimes too much so because he can perseverates on something that drives me insane (like the giant dinosaur drawing that wans't perfect yesterday and this ruined about 4 hours of his day) but for the most part, I just really like the way his little mind works.

He's my co-reason for homeschooling. We were in school, he'd be forced into full day pre-K with speech, OT, and I.Q. testing. I'm not doing that to my 4 year old!!

Good grief. I ran away with my fingers this morning. Sorry to force everyone to read through that!!

What are the odds. We tend to not even remember the labels half the time; he has come so far that it's hard to remember him before he could speak or swing or slide or go in the water. But, there are times when his challenges (more than anything his hyper-sensitivity to the smallest disturbances, not unlike his mom ) remind us. He did do speech for 2 1/2 years, but once he went GF, it was as if the apraxia never was there. Anyways ... I know with him my biggest challenge is finding a way to honor and celebrate who he is while also helping him reign in a bit more of the "explosive" side so that he can live more harmoniously with his brothers. And ultimately, I wouldn't want him in school. I just think it's me that need(ed) the attitude adjustment. : Today, so far, is good though. We've already had a couple times where things could have exploded between kids, but I just keep saying that we are going to have a good day and that we are cooperative with each other and kind to each other. I figured if I change my speech to what I want to see as if it is already happening, then they might be more inclined to rise to that challenge, yk?

On another note, I've been working with my BF on making a daily schedule for us (she's making one for her kids and I think a visual/picture one for my boys, even though they are learning to read, would help them really be secure in what is happening in our day rather than wondering, and would help me stick to the more "fun" things rather than just focusing in on and getting bogged down by the academics). On her suggestion, I printed out a blank grid (Sun-Sat across the top and 8am - 8pm down the side) and am writing what we do on it, but only after we have done it. I already do this for our "lesson" plans - I write down after we do each subject what we covered - it is much less stressful. With the day/time grid, I can hopefully at the end of the week really see when exactly the boys are waking, when we are actually doing things like eating breakfast, chores, schoolwork, getting out of the house, etc. I might do it for a couple weeks and then I can have a good idea of how our over-all schedule would look. (At least in my head, it all makes sense!)

This week we start our hs'ing PE class. My other BF has her kids in it, plus my above-mentioned BF should be bringing her kids by after the class so they can all play and us moms can chat. The boys also swim 2x a week in the evenings; dh is a former swimmer/swim instructor/coach/ref (it's in his blood I swear), so he teaches the boys and I can either join them or get 1 1/2 hours free 2x a week. The older two also start fall baseball in just under two weeks. That's all the "organized" classes/activities we do.

[urchin_grey]

Originally Posted by Jennifer3141

What are the odds?? I have a DS with speech apraxia too! He has been diagnosed as PDD-NOS, with a probable future DX of Aspberger's but I walked away from all that a couple of years ago. (I'm not judging you if you haven't!!! I was just starting to feel like my DS was my test case and not my kid anymore with all the acronymns and therapies.)
So I have basically taken him out of everything and am just watching and waiting. This past summer, he finally began speaking in sentences. Most of them are grammatically incorrect, "Mama, you go shoo-shoo? (car)" But they are coming along. I decided to give him time and space and see what happens. And he is as fascinated with letters and reading as DD. He's actually my focus kid - sometimes too much so because he can perseverates on something that drives me insane (like the giant dinosaur drawing that wans't perfect yesterday and this ruined about 4 hours of his day) but for the most part, I just really like the way his little mind works.

He's my co-reason for homeschooling. We were in school, he'd be forced into full day pre-K with speech, OT, and I.Q. testing. I'm not doing that to my 4 year old!!

Good grief. I ran away with my fingers this morning. Sorry to force everyone to read through that!!

My DS has apraxia too! His dx is a lot more concrete though, he was born with a joint deformity and at 10 days old, he had an MRI and was dx'd with a brain malformation. So its like... right there, kwim? If we were dealing with something harder to pinpoint like ASD, I would totally be were you're at. I mean, even still, I could push for extra labels on paper if I wanted like apraxia, or dysphagia, or even CP most likely, but its not necessary. Its not going to change anything!

I was just getting fed up with the therapy clinic he was going to. We were going through PTs like crazy, and for a long time before we finally quit, he didn't have one at all. Our OT was fine, but the new ST was freaking nuts. It seemed like her only goals were A. showing him who is in control and B. keeping his hands out of his mouth. Then one day she suggested that I put HOT SAUCE on my 3yo's hands. Then the following week they all of a sudden stopped allowing parents into the room with the kids. : So after that, I said no more. He's been home since. I'd really love to get him back in PT but I'm not concerned with OT or ST anymore. OT we can do at home, and as for ST, I want to focus on signing more than anything and most STs don't like that idea. "Surprisingly" though, in the months since we quite therapy, he has started pronouncing some words a LOT better (he used to say "unk" for milk but he's been saying "melk" and "cuhhh" used to be cow but now its "cowwww". And I've also been able to get him to do things that his OT tried for months to get him to do, like trace and unscrew caps. So... yeah, we're much happier for now skipping the therapy thing.

[riversmommy]

Hi. I haven't stopped in for awhile. We've been hs'ing for three weeks now, it's going well. Just wanted to say that LittleWonders, I feel for you on the boys fighting and you're ready to pull your hair out some days!!!! My two have just started on a really intense fighting phase. My DS who's 5 has fought doing our daily Explode the Code for three weeks now and just today actually said he LIKED it now! Aughhhh!!!! Meanwhile the 2 year old is dismantling daddy's toolbox and pouring his own juice

But I got my 5 yr old in Gymnastics class once a week and that HELPS alot! Something about boys and physical activity(I had 3 brothers), it just calms their brains down enough to turn them back into their sweet, charming, creative selves!

Oh, and someone mentioned a telescope. I think it's the Year of Astronomy or something this year(I'm not joking) but one of the pages I went to online was running a special on introductory telescopes for under $100. I'll try to find it....

TTFN

[craft_media_hero]

Originally Posted by riversmommy

But I got my 5 yr old in Gymnastics class once a week and that HELPS alot! Something about boys and physical activity(I had 3 brothers), it just calms their brains down enough to turn them back into their sweet, charming, creative selves!

My DD is like that, too. The athletics are a MUST for her behavior right now! Everything went much smoother this summer when her day started with swimming, then a little homeschool, then kids yoga, then art, then playing for hours outside with her friends.

I forget that she needs soooo much physicality---I'm kind of a couch potato (not unhealthy, just not athletic), so it's a little foreign to me to think in terms of that much activity.

Karate starts tonight, and I really hope that helps her to get back her focus (also the confidence-building from non-competitive sports has really helped. Today was a rough homeschool day (funny how it can peak and dip so much since last week); she just had a lot of trouble focusing, and I felt like I was doing 1st grade today, not her.

So we'll see how tomorrow goes. I think an early bedtime after Karate will help a lot----she gets locked into an activity (like reading Mythology, how can I break that up?) right before bed, and I end up letting her stay up way later than is good for her lately.

*To the moms with apraxia/dyspraxia issues---do you find fish oil helps? I read _The LCP Solution_ and according to the book, fish oil is a miracle worker for many kids. DD is undiagnosed, but I have suspicions about dyslexia/adhd, and I do notice she's better able to focus when she takes her vitamins daily (including Learning Factors with ALAs and tuna oil).

[LionTigerBear]

I wish we could afford for my sons to be doing more outside sports and activities right now! Sadly, it's not in the budget. DS1 is doing soccer team for 5-6-year-olds and that's it. We chose that activity because it was only $50 plus the cost of cleats etc-- the least expensive thing we could find. It helps that DS LOVES it. We will have to find something, though for this winter, especially since we don't have a backyard and I hate going to parks in near-freezing or sub-freezing temperatures. Blah.

But, we just got our shipment in from Dover today and it was LOVELY! We are absolutely in love with all of the things we ordered-- five Thornton Burgess chapter books and a few coloring book/activity books. I LOVE the style of the illustrator Anna Pomaska that illustrated most of the activity books I ordered. Just lovely.

This is so much fun!!! :

[MyLittleWonders]

I so agree with the needed physical activity. My dh was the same way (my MIL and I share notes ). We were at the park with friends and my boys ran around for 2 1/2 hours! It was so needed for them. Now they are watching some PBS Kids.

I'm going to have to check out the Dover website LionTigerBear. We are reading the Burgess Bird Book right now and loving it. It's actually spawned a study of birds (I had one book called What is a Bird and I ordered a book Take a Backyard Bird Walk, so I think we'll just do some bird study while reading it). After we read it, I think I'm going to buy the Burgess Animal Book.