homeschooling

All posts tagged homeschooling

I Have Found it to be Impossible…..

Published September 11, 2013 by Angela

to homeschool without the assistance of the internet. I bring this up because I removed the family computer from my home about a month ago due to bullying on social sites as well as inappropriate activity. All of the books for the 7th grade curriculum have great lessons, hints, and games online to assist in the learning. I sat down with my student the other night on my laptop and went through 6 math quizzes which she did excellent on. The writing and grammer that she sometimes struggles with also has online assistance. So I believe Best Buy will again be getting a large chunk of my money this weekend. I have looked at the Microsoft Family Safety software that is free and it seems like between that and the parental controls, I can pretty much lock each child’s page to only the pages I will allow them to go to. Has anyone had any experience with Microsoft’s Family Safety software and what do you think of it? Any other suggestions? I do like that it will send me a report of all activity, and I also have one more download of Norton Security I can download onto a computer.

I am very nervous about having issues start up again, and if anyone has found a successful way to homeschool completely internet free I would love to hear about that too!

Calculators or no?

Published September 6, 2013 by Angela

I am finding myself (OK, putting myself) in a dilemma about whether or not I should let my 7th grader use a calculator for her homeschooled math. I know the public schools definitely allow it in high school, and I believe in middle school as well. I know I wouldn’t have gotten through all of my math and accounting classes for my Associates and Bachelors degrees without a calculator.

She hasn’t asked, but I reviewed her pre-test comprehension skills to see what pace she is at. Any mistakes were fairly simple ones that will take just some practice. As the book goes on, the work gets much harder.

Does anyone have any advice on if they do or don’t use a calculator, and why? I will be honest and say it is likely at some point in the near future I will be giving her my calculator. I also feel at some point as her math advances in future grades it will not be possible to solve math problems without a scientific calculator. Any thoughts on if I am cheating her out of a learning experience if I let her use a calculator?

Overwhelmed to no end trying to begin getting a homeschooling schedule set…

Published September 1, 2013 by Angela
The beach that soothed the soul

I don’t think that energy drink was quite large enough 🙂

Hoffmaster 8-31-13 012So I did the only smart thing I could at the time, put the kids in the car and took a road trip to a couple of beaches. Spending hours looking at more teacher books than my student has got the better of me. Needless to say, the trip effects wore off rather quickly as I spent another 5 hours at the kitchen table sorting through everything. I got a good enough start that I feel pretty good, and after a hopefully good night’s sleep, I should be well on my way!

Another pet? Really?

Published August 29, 2013 by Angela

Our Lionhead Rabbit, stole the hearts of everyone in our house!

Our Lionhead Rabbit, stole the hearts of everyone in our house!

I am questioning how well I really thought out the idea of getting another pet. Although he is the cutest rabbit I have ever seen in my life, well, the cutest pet of any kind for that matter, I am fearful at some point I am going to have to start taking care of him. So far my daughter has done amazing at keeping him comfy and cared for, I am just hoping (and Praying), that she doesn’t get bored with him. I thought with her new homeschooling adventure which is a complete change to the life she has been used to for 12 years, she could use a little companionship from a pet, as well as the responsibility. So welcome to the family Mufasa. I cannot help but smile every single time I look at him. I just look at him, no holding for me since on our 1st encounter he bit me and I now have 3 scars on my hand in memory of our meeting. Is he not the cutest thing you have ever seen?

Time to Lay out the Lesson Plan

Published August 28, 2013 by Angela

I think it is a fair statement that no one can procrastinate in the manner I do! I have the books for homeschooling, now I need to sit down and set out the daily lesson plans, schedules, and extra-curricular activities. Feeling overwhelmed, as I always do before I start something 🙂 Once I get it done I will feel like a champ! The trick is for me to realize I won’t get it correct the first time, and that many adjustments will need to be made to find what works best for both of us. Still not quite sure how I ended up with more, longer books than my daughter got though??? LOL Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated! Happy Homeschooling!