Homeschool Q & A

We also make a school supply trip before the begin...

2011-04-10T23:32:56.236-04:00

We also make a school supply trip before the beginning of our new school year.
It give my kids, and myself, something to help get us excited for the new school year.

Kids get folders, pencils, and fun little odds and ends. Mommy gets things she thinks she could use for the school year.

I have noticed my son did not have he same interes...

2011-04-10T23:29:36.969-04:00

I have noticed my son did not have he same interest in reading as my daughter had. But Sonlight's Fun Tales books and an old 1950's reader I found my son's reading took off. Not a thing gross in the books he read now, and yet he is still enjoying reading. His favorite books are about dinosaurs and the Titanic. (also from Sonlight)

Hello! I found your blog through the magic of goog...

2010-08-31T20:19:57.841-04:00

Hello! I found your blog through the magic of google(lol) and found it very helpful, however I still have a few questions. I am looking into homeschooling my son and I'm really not sure how to get started. If you could e;mail me at ashleydvs505@gmail.com I'd really appreciate it.

We started on August 10th. http://artchristie.blo...

2010-08-28T09:49:18.100-04:00

We started on August 10th. http://artchristie.blogspot.com/2010/08/first-day-of-fourth-grade.html
I always try to make a big deal of it as well. It is difficult because we school all year - a lighter schedule in the summer and full schedule in the fall. But Aug. 10th was the first day of our fall semester. She seemed to enjoy it!

Sounds like a wonderful idea!

2010-05-06T17:00:14.178-04:00

Sounds like a wonderful idea!

My wife loves Engrish... and lolcats, and the poli...

2010-03-11T12:02:08.065-05:00

My wife loves Engrish... and lolcats, and the political/celebrity version, and "Probably Bad News" and the "Wait, I'll Fix It" and the... okay, well, there's a lot of funny stuff out there in the world [smile]. May what your children write never end up on one of these sites--unless it's to comment on the humor of the situation [smile].

~Luke

Hello, for all students (at least high-school and ...

2010-01-30T18:54:49.536-05:00

Hello, for all students (at least high-school and the undergraduates) and others with an interest or enrolled in economics, homeschoolers esp., I have started a blog which will comprise study literature in a more entertaining form than standard textbooks, see
CrisisMaven’s Economics Study Guide. It also contains a Reference List which aspires to eventually become the "one stop shop" for all economic data series, history, bibliographies etc.

Great stuff here, Judy! ~Luke

2009-12-11T09:42:17.335-05:00

Great stuff here, Judy!

~Luke

Not too bad at all! Great stuff, Judy! [smile] ~...

2009-12-04T09:58:10.730-05:00

Not too bad at all! Great stuff, Judy! [smile]

~Luke

Great points! One more note I'd point out is ...

2009-11-20T10:54:24.834-05:00

Great points!

One more note I'd point out is that you take notes for yourself. Much like mindmapping, notes are for you not others. So, it's important to find something that works for you... not some ultimate "right" way of doing it.

~Luke

Hi Judy, Just noticed your blog linked from the S...

2009-08-11T15:21:28.410-04:00

Hi Judy,

Just noticed your blog linked from the Sonlight homepage. I'm a blog-addict! So, I added yours to my list. :) I think read our idea on the Sonlight forums! We told the kids yesterday would be our start date - we got them up early, had family devotions. Then told them we were celebrating one more day of summer vacation! We went to Grandma's pool, out for dinner and shopped for school supplies. My teens were thrilled, my 1st grader - was rather disappointed that we didn't get her new books out!!

"These days I have one in college and two ...

2009-08-11T06:28:28.561-04:00
"These days I have one in college and two in high school. Nobody gets excited about folders and pencils any longer."

Am I the only 30-something that still gets excited by new stationary, pens, notebooks, etc.? I hope not! Your adapted celebration for the beginning of the school year sounds fun, though!

What I find encouraging about homeschooling our children (for the first time - our oldest is 5) is that they can experience the thrill of starting school without the fear and anxiety of feeling like being thrown into a shark pool. I remember that feeling, too, and dreading it each year. In fact, it didn't wear off for a couple weeks, at which time I swallowed it so I could survive the rest of the year.

Viva la Homeschooling!

How exciting! Enjoy this precious time. And look f...

2009-06-16T22:01:00.155-04:00
How exciting! Enjoy this precious time. And look forward with anticipation to whatever God has planned for her future.

Blessings ...

I agree with you here, but found creating a syllab...

2009-06-16T16:18:14.529-04:00
I agree with you here, but found creating a syllabus for each course to be more time consuming than it looks. I would suggest that parents start the process well in advance of their student starting the course work. When I use a traditional text or a pre-designed course, I just skip this step.

Me again :-) Through the years of homeschooling a...

2009-06-15T21:17:07.651-04:00
Me again :-)

Through the years of homeschooling an only child, I was blessed many times by the connections I was able to make online through a couple of different Christian homeschool forums. Granted, the reaching out and leisure time it brought was not always managed well by me, and I guess that is a time-stewardship issue that I still grapple with (I too, have been very good at the hs mom guilt thing, sometimes justified, other times not... :-/ I guess it's like any other blessing, that it can become a wrong focus when over used, and I think only the individual heart before God can know what that is.
Blessings,

Hi Judy, just found your blog as I prepare to grad...

2009-06-15T21:13:27.212-04:00
Hi Judy, just found your blog as I prepare to graduate our daughter from 12 years of homeschool - or should I say, home learning :-) She too will be having a grad/recital, playing piano, solo flute, trio flute, and solo voice repertoire. I'm still trying to figure out just what to say, and praying for wisdom, peace and guidance for the next years as our only child moves on to "the next leg of her journey".

I don't suppose I *knew* without a doubt, but I wa...

2009-05-17T22:59:00.000-04:00
I don't suppose I *knew* without a doubt, but I was sure that I wanted the joy of sharing in my childrens' learning. I had a good friend who had been homeschooling for about 5 years that reminded me that I was my child's best teacher. I taught her to dress, to eat, to talk, to walk ... why would I not be best suited to teach her (and her siblings) how to read and do math and any other academics?!

Feel free to drop me an email at champion@sonlight.com. I love to chat with moms who are considering homeschooling!

How did you know that you could home school effect...

2009-05-16T19:07:00.000-04:00
How did you know that you could home school effectively? I want to HS my son but I'm nervous about it. Fortunately he's only 7 months old.

I was happy to discover your Homeschool Q & A ...

2009-05-16T16:41:00.000-04:00
I was happy to discover your Homeschool Q & A blog today. I was unable to find a contact link in your blog. I hope it's OK that I'm contacting you through a public comment. I've developed an educational program for Windows called SpellQuizzer that helps children learn their spelling and vocabulary words without the battle that parents often have getting them to sit down and write them out while the parents dictate to them. The parent enters the child's spelling words into the software making a sound recording of each word. Then the software helps the child practice his or her words. It really helped my children with their weekly spelling lists.

I would appreciate your reviewing SpellQuizzer in Homeschool Q & A. You can learn more about the program at http://www.SpellQuizzer.com. There's a video demo you can watch at http://www.spellquizzer.com/SpellQuizzer-Demo.htm. Finally, there's a page targeted to homeschooling families at http://www.spellquizzer.com/spelling-software-for-homeschoolers.htm. I'd be happy to send you a complimentary license for the software. Please let me know if you are interested.

Thank you very much!

Dan Hite
TedCo Software
Dan@SpellQuizzer.com

Hi Judy! I really appreciate this post but can I a...

2009-04-22T15:56:00.000-04:00
Hi Judy! I really appreciate this post but can I ask some BTDT advice even though this is an older post? :) How do you regain discipline? We have 5 children and are pretty good disciplinarians but I suppose not enough because we STILL have issues with crying and pouting and horrible attitudes from my 7 yo. She gets upset when I grade her math pages and says things like "WHY do YOU make things so difficult?" I dont think I demean her when I grade I just show her the mistake and then I work the problem out for her to show her where she went wrong. Occasionally I'll assign some copywork for a math problem or reversal of numbers but not often and usually very casually like this is just how you learn.. Anyway, sorry so long but I would LOVE some advice on how to keep discipline from being a problem in my homeschool. Thanks!
Vicki