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akamommy -> Home Schooling question. (7/11/2008 11:50:50 PM)

Hello everyone!
i am going to be a newbie to homeschooling this year with my 3 children. ages 11 8 6 they will be in 6th 3rd and 2nd grades. My question to you is, what tool or method do you use in your schooling that is most useful to you and your children? what do you use for incentiaves for them?

does anyone use lifepac as a curriclium? is it any good? is there enough work to do 180 days?

i can`t wait to see everyones reply!


Jodi Williams[:)]



cynthia -> RE: Home Schooling question. (7/12/2008 1:01:54 AM)

I find that the Bible is the most effective tool we have. I don't mean that be smart or cute. I am really serious. Building charcter first by helping my children develop their relationship with the Lord and to know and understand truth, that is the best foundation and the Bible is the tool the Lord gave us to uses first and foremost. I have known this, but found it hard to understand until I began to see the fruit in my youngest, when sometimes the only thing we would get done was Bible. With my older two, they were much easier to deal with attitude wise, but with my youngest it has been a rough road. I think if I wouldn't have stuck it out with the Word of Truth reading and having him memorize, we would not be anywhere academically or otherwise. Of course prayer fits into this as well, but I don't know if I could call that a tool, as it is communication. The Bible, however, is a tool the Lord has given us. It is a Sword for battle and is very effective.



shadowspring -> RE: Home Schooling question. (7/12/2008 1:41:21 PM)

Those are such big questions, akamommy!

The most useful tool/method? We've used so many, and different ones on different days with different students.

Personally I do not like LifePacs, but many people have used them successfully.

I use a combination of read-aloud with writing answers afterward for history, online science with its own instructor and assignments, traditional textbook w/teacher's guide and student workbook for Spanish, and I am not yet decided on geography or economics or 9th grade English for next year.

I will use Saxon Math for Algebra I. But I also use Key To Algebra for extra help if he needs it.

I agree with Cynthia that the most important part of school is to lead by precept and example to follow the Lord everyday. Personal devotions, family devotions, family prayer- all these are a top priority. We used the One Year Bible for Kid in elementary for personal devotions. It is divided up into daily readings. For middlers we used the Daily Walk Bible which is also divided into daily readings.

For incentives, we use the book of Proverbs! There is a lot in the book of Proverbs about the rewards of wisdom. Beyond that, it depends on the child.



bzirk -> RE: Home Schooling question. (7/12/2008 3:25:26 PM)

Amen to the Bible and Proverbs in particular being a great tool. I've lost count of the times we have gone over Proverbs in our homeschool. It has been enormously beneficial. We have also done studies of various books of the Bible, and I cannot express how helpful that has been in setting setting expectations and boundaries appropriately.

I have LOVED using John Piper's website as a tool for Bible study. My kids got sick of hearing about those sermons, but they have benefited so much from reviewing them and my older two have really come to appreciate the studies they've done of Piper's materials and others.

As for other types of tools I've used, the library has been a treasure trove. I've always been big on the library, but it is my mainstay now. It has saved me a lot of time and money, and I can't say enough good about ILL (Inter-Library Loan). Not to sound sacrilegious, but that's been like manna from heaven at times.



creationtalk -> RE: Home Schooling question. (7/13/2008 9:51:27 AM)

I think that you will find that there is no one tool or method that will work for all your children (except as has been pointed out, the Bible). Every child is different and what motivates one may not matter to another.



his_chosen -> RE: Home Schooling question. (7/13/2008 11:07:04 AM)

I don't know if you would call it a tool, but the most important thing is to be flexible. You may spend hours choosing the "perfect" curriculum for your kids. Only to find out it doesn't work! One kid may love "playing school" (sitting at a desk doing worksheets). Another will balk at that.

This first year will be all about learning how to home school and what works for your family. Your kids are young enough that even if they learn nothing (which certainly won't happen!) they won't be that far behind.

Relax and have fun!



Roberta_ -> RE: Home Schooling question. (7/13/2008 2:23:06 PM)

Hi akamommy! I don't home school anymore, but when I did:

quote:

ORIGINAL: akamommy

Hello everyone!
i am going to be a newbie to homeschooling this year with my 3 children. ages 11 8 6 they will be in 6th 3rd and 2nd grades. My question to you is, what tool or method do you use in your schooling that is most useful to you and your children?


flexibility

quote:

what do you use for incentives for them?


passing grades. [;)]

quote:

does anyone use lifepac as a curriculum? is it any good? is there enough work to do 180 days?


It was OK, just like any other curriculum, it has it's ups and downs. I used it because a friend who had it didn't like it and she gave it to me. It has a lot of flexibility, but I found that I needed to do a lot of supplementing.

CLASS was good. It was very organized and I'm not, so that was beneficial. However, it didn't have much flexibility.

Abeka was good too. However, we couldn't afford it and that's when my friend gave me the Lifepacs.



lifeisgoodwgod -> RE: Home Schooling question. (7/14/2008 1:27:22 PM)

Our days are MUCH better if we start with devotions. I LOVE Homeschool Tracker Plus. I used a regular planner the first few years and really rely on HTP now. I can plan lessons and assignments and print a report that my dd (14 yr old rising 9th grader) can check off as she completes each assignment. I had to learn what her learning style was and am still tweaking our studies. We started homeschooling when she was starting 4th grade and I had to really learn to relax and not worry that I was missing something. Take it easy at first until you learn more about different types of curriculum and your children's learning styles. I have wasted a lot of money of stuff that did not work.
Good luck![:D]



saving-grace -> RE: Home Schooling question. (7/18/2008 11:56:42 PM)

Hello akamommy,

I have a 13 (8th grade), 9 (4th grade), 7 (2nd grade), and 5 (K) year old.

I tried the packaged curriculum and it just didn't work for us - for me I should say. Not only does it get expensive for multiple children, but with homeschooling more than one child, it was just a chaotic mess, everyone was doing something different. Even if I did try to keep everyone doing the same subject at the same time, they were still studying different topics and all needed different instruction.

Here is what we do now. Since everyone needs their own academic level of mathmatics and language arts, each child has their own specific study materials and texts.

But for Bible, reading, science, geography, history, art, and music, we use My Father's World (www.mfwbooks.com). It comes in really handy because younger and older children can study together. For older students, you can use other resources to supplement and go deeper into study. It gives us a chance to truly be a homeschooling family, not just everybody doing "school" at home.

As for incentives - I have awards that I give out. We have bubble gum days, we have pajama days, we have costume days, party days, and we work toward some awesome field trips, like museums, the zoo, etc. These are all things that they work towards.

Remember though, that just because some methods don't work for one doesn't mean that they won't work for you. I encourage you to go to a curriculum fair if you have them anywhere close to you to look at the different methods of homeschooling and curriculum choices that are out there. Also, if there is a homeschooling group in your community, like maybe at your church, speak to some of the other parents - sometimes in groups like that they even share resources and curriculum. They give you wonderful support and encouragment as you go through the mountain top and valley experiences of homeschooling.

May I be the first to say welcome...it is an awesome and rewarding experience. May God encourage you on your journey.



JJB1222 -> RE: Home Schooling question. (7/28/2008 2:36:10 PM)

I just finished my first year and used the LifePac for our 4th grader. It had pros and cons.

The pros:
- covered the basics
- incorporated scripture and Bible lessons into just about every subject
- testing
- independent work

The cons:
- kind of boring if used every day
- can be tedious

What we found out after about 2 months of work is that we could still achieve quite a bit of learning if we just did the LP 3 days a week and save the other 2 days for computer/games/field trips...etc.

That was my experience with it. I'm debating using the online version next year. But I do know that there is PLENTY to do for a full 180 days. We only got through units 6-7. [sm=icon_smile_blush.gif]



lhull -> RE: Home Schooling question. (8/1/2008 12:42:10 PM)

Hello!

I have used Lifepacs successfully for two kids. I use them as a good foundation to build on. In the teacher's manual, there are suggestions for extra projects and assignments. I always added in reading material that addressed the topic, field trips, and a couple of the suggested assignments. My kids hated to sit still for long, preferring to be outside when they were small; at the computer when they were older. They had a tendency to want to rush through their studies. That was the hard part! We finally worked it out to reading aloud, going back to take some notes, then doing the written work. That way I could be assured they actually were "getting" it. I find that the Lifepacs provided just the right balance between reading and seatwork. Since I had two different grades, I had them studying the same subject. I started with one child, then while that child did seatwork, the other child read aloud. It helps to sit and work with them to maintain focus. As they get older, they are a bit more reliable, but you will still have to keep an eye on them.

Breaking down the Lifepac lessons into 180 days isn't difficult. Ten booklets divided into 180 days = 18 days per booklet. Then take each booklet and divide the number of pages by 16 to determine how many days to get through the booklet. Don't count the last self-test. I use the 17th day for the self-test and rereading the booklet, then use the 18th day for the booklet test. The next day begin a new booklet. We always have plenty to do.

I can't stress enough the importance of finishing your curriculum. Curriculum is written so that the student gets a well rounded education in a subject. Leave something out, and the next year your student may have difficulties. The beginning of the curriculum is usually a review with new material coming in after about the 2nd booklet with booklet 10 being a good review. It's easy to let it slide, but your child suffers for it. If we take on the responsibility to educate our children, let's give them our best. Let's also train them to complete the task.

One of the best things we did was begin our day with Bible reading. They also did the Bible class Lifepac each year. We sang Bible songs, did the Pledge of Allegiance, and I read a devotional story with them. Then we prayed together, even when they were little. It really helps to seek the Lord first!

My youngest is going to be a senior this year and my oldest is in his 2nd year of college. We had our moments of struggling, but overall, homeschooling was a positive and worthwhile experience for our family.

Linda Hull



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