# Lost and Confused.....



## KrisP (Sep 5, 2012)

Let me start from the beginning a bit LOL DS went to K at one school, then got moved to another school for 1st grade as the K school was a grade C school and had the option to go to a better school thanks to the "No Kids Left Behind" Act. while in 1st grade he had an excellent teacher who worked with us to get him tested and (of course) "labeled" as having Autism. Hubby and I already knew that but the school needed to do their own test so he could get the "extra" help he needed. Our DD was fortunate enough to be able to attend the same school as brother for her K year. Both children went to that same "A" school the next year for 2nd and 1st grade. DS's teacher refused to do anything if it wasn't in his ISP. Still he managed to pass and not get expelled from the school. We also found out DD was having some focus issues as well. (which we are pretty sure she has a form of ADD). They went the 1st day of 3rd and 2nd grades and as I was leaving I cried, both the kids' teachers were horrible to say the least. DH and I talked that day, and the kids were pulled from public schools. That year not much got done as I was working 6 days a week. We did a little here and there but not much that first year. Last year we did mostly worksheets and workbooks. Whatever I had laying around! LOL It was better then nothing in my book. More or less for the last year and a half we have just been doing whatever, more or less unschooling. The kids have learned a lot in my book, just not necessarily the things they should be??? Funny thing, I taught my kids their ABC's and 123's but past that I am at a loss. When they are playing I correct them if they say something wrong, in a polite way, just so they know the correct way to say something. DS LOVES to read. Mostly non fiction. Any fiction he doesn't care to much for unless it can pertain to something real. DD doesn't really like to read, though she will do it. She also likes the non fiction stuff. We started our School year on July1. Since then DS has read 123 books all of his choosing, and DD has read 92 books all of her choosing as well. They both read all of The Magic Tree House books with a month. We go to the library at least once every other week, sometimes every week depending on what was picked out. I guess what I am really lost about is a direction into which to "push" them. Reading is no issue as they both read almost daily. We play yahtzee and rummy for helping with math, mainly their addition. They are both struggling with regrouping in addition and subtraction so we are trying to work on that. We generally teach on things that come up in life. I'm not positive as to where to start for Science, History, things of that nature. I did start to teach them cursive writing last year, as well as started multiplication and some Division with DS. When they draw or do arts and crafts I put that into the "Art" section of time for school. Same with science, geography, history. I guess I'm just not really sure where to "start". Most of the work they have done (but not all) has been a review of what they have already learned from their early days in public school. How do you know what to teach next?? Is it just something that pops into your head? This is where I get confused.... What next? DS will be 11 in December. DD is 9 1/2. I'm not really looking for "grade" appropriate stuff per say as I couldn't really tell you what grade level they are at in anything unfortunately  Is there anywhere on line where I could have them tested for free or would I need to go to their school district? Really trying to not have to go there if I don't have to. Where we live they aren't very strict as to all that except for how many hours of each subject they need to do each year. Which we already have a good start on reading time. I know we can always do copy work for handwriting practice. We always have books around the house. I'm also looking for some fun projects for the holidays that don't go over board on cost as we are on a tight budget. Any help, suggestions, or anything of that nature would be greatly appreciated. I sure hope this all makes sense to someone....I just don't know where to go from here LOL :stars:


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## PNWKatie (Aug 4, 2012)

First thing I'd do is see what testing (if any) your state requires. We are required in my state (Oregon) to test after 3, 5, 7 etc. grades. I'm assuming you've checked into the homeschooling laws/requirements for your state already and are legal. Go to your states education department website, On the web site you should be able to find a general list of standards based on grade level. Last year I went with my daughter's age. She was 22 days late being able to go to Kindergarten so I started her on Kindergarten books. The girls love the "Big Books" workbooks you can pick up in the stores, and it gave me a good place to start and then added in the academics I wanted I added in Saxon Math and science, a geography book off of Amazon I found. I visited all the "free" teacher sites to find things for them to do. Learning pages was great and we still use it as you can start at Kindergarten and go back each year and get the harder stuff. This year we are doing the "online Public school" thing which I'm very happy with so far. My oldest is just qualified for "kindergarten" because of her age, but because most of the science/social studies/math were all review we tested out of most of the area's or did the portfolio assignments and are being given the next level up books instead (1st grade) even though she is still technically a kindergartner. Her Language skills are a little slower than the other area's so she's still in K level there. Thankfully the online schools are able to work with them to stay at the level that will challenge them, not overwhelm them and she wasn't required to "review" last years stuff all this year like she would have if she'd gone to a regular school.

There are sites where you can look up the testing and print out what your looking for to see about what grade level they would be tested into. You can also call up your local school district and get a list of people that can do the state testing and have them do it (IF your state requires testing).


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## KrisP (Sep 5, 2012)

Last I checked, here in Missouri, they do not require any sort of testing. This is taken from their site "Home schooling is one of the options available for meeting the state's compulsory attendance law, Section 167.031, RSMo. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education does NOT regulate or monitor home schooling in Missouri. Neither the State Board of Education nor the Department have authority to issue regulations or guidelines concerning home schooling." As well as this, "If a parent decides to home school, he or she must offer 1,000 hours of instruction during the school year, with at least 600 hours in the basics, which will be in reading, language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science. At least 400 of the 600 hours shall occur in the home location. " They don't even require you to tell them that you are home schooling here. So i guess I should be looking up things to do for language arts, social studies and science?


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## KrisP (Sep 5, 2012)

To quote you PNWKatie, "On the web site you should be able to find a general list of standards based on grade level." I've looked and in MO the whole state doesn't have the same standards, it is up to each county individually to decide what is best for that counties kids... This may be part of my problem LOL The state is confused as to what education each child "should" have. Not that we really want to go by any standards per say. DH and I were talking earlier about this. We are going to look into what is needed for GED's and for ACT and SAT as those are required for college, and go from there. In other words, to go backwards (from the "end" in order to go forward from here.


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## PNWKatie (Aug 4, 2012)

As an idea. Look up Learningpage. com and see what level of information the kids can complete with NO help. For example, pick second grade level (Oops, sorry, register for the site first, it's free) under the unit study things (sorry, I'm half asleep and it's been a long day but I'll look it up and add it) if they can complete everything with no help go on to the next grade level and see if they can complete that. It's pretty basic stuff so you might find they are a higher "grade" than they should be. 

Also as an idea - Search for "Oregon Dept of Education Standards" and pull that up and print out if you want to. It lists by each subject what your child should be able to do at what grade level. I printed out a copy for my records as soon as I started homeschooling, it's a nice resource even if your not an Oregon resident. 

As another idea, and this might give you a good place to start (and you don't have to completely register if you don't want to) search either connections academy or K12.com and do their placement testing. You DO NOT have to completely enroll your child if you don't want to. I suggest doing K12 it was a bit more involved that the connection academies testing. In other words they e-mail you a link to two tests one in math, one in Langauge arts and you sit your kids down and start them out they keep going until the test stops on them and once you submit the results (everything is done online) they e-mail you their scores and suggested grade level so you'll at least know if they are "at level" or are behind.


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## PNWKatie (Aug 4, 2012)

Okay, just to prove I'm not a complete idiot...I looked up on learningpage.com once you register (free) then you'll see a tab for "theme sheets" go there click on an area that will interest your kids from oceans, to zoo's, space, reptiles, etc. and let them start working their way down through each grade level's questions/answer/worksheets.

My kids LOVED this site and we printed out the murals and painted them, did the homework etc. and it worked GREAT! Still do it, but I ran out of ink and need to go get some before I can do it again. LOL~


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## PNWKatie (Aug 4, 2012)

Look under "fun sheets" and you can pick your grade level and print out everything for them to work on. Or look at the different grade levels and see if they are way past what they are doing for that grade level.


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## KrisP (Sep 5, 2012)

Thanks! I'll be sure to check those out tomorrow with the kids


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## Sunbee (Sep 30, 2008)

What do you think you'd gain from having your kids tested?
My kids are all over the grade levels. "Asynchronous learners" is the phrase I've found to describe this. We work from where they are at, with the idea that they will phase into college classes when that becomes the next reasonable thing to do.
As far as specific subjects go, you can use the non-fiction adult section at the library to help with many of those. The library should have or be able to get books with home-doable science experiments, the phrase I'd use to explain what I wanted to start with would be "kitchen chemistry experiments", then ask for similar books in other fields.
In history, do you want to do world, US, state? World history is nice for a sort of overview. Mine do history together, right now doing US--well, the two little ones don't and I think the middle one sometimes misses the point--but he'll get it more later. Grandma does it as a read aloud, and they tell me they're now post-civil war.
We use Saxon for math, people either love it or hate it or both, but they have an assessment on the website that you can use to figure out where your kid is at.
I completely understand worrying about missing something they ought to know, but remember, you have taught them to use the library. If they realize ten years from now that you forgot to teach them the anatomy of a worm, and they need to know, they'll be able to find out.
I don't think you need a GED to go to college. I didn't, and colleges were a lot less used to homeschoolers then than they are now. Some schools I had to write extra essays for, or submit a portfolio (but as a musician, a tape of me playing, and later, in person auditions, were more important than anything else). My SAT scores made the school I chose happy enough that I could skip several freshman classes.
You might find some ideas that would resonate with you by looking up classical education and Charlotte Mason education. If you find an educational concept that seems to fit, I do recommend checking out the forums related to that concept and if they are helpful, rather than purists, joining them and asking questions.


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## KrisP (Sep 5, 2012)

Thanks Sunbee! The classical method and Charlotte Mason method, were some of the ones we were looking into. DH and I have a slight disagreement as to what should and shouldn't be done. Then again, I still have public schooling in my brain. BLAH, a Florida one at that! I graduated with a C average. I have also done some college, so I still have that "lots of bookwork and worksheets" mentality stuck in my head. I'm trying to unschool myself as well. The kids like the notion of being home with mom and doing school when it arises. They learn something new almost everyday. Most of which would never be taught in a public school.


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## Sunbee (Sep 30, 2008)

KrisP, I have one kid who loves worksheets--will get out his book and do them on his own, asked for a new workbook for his birthday. If that's what makes a kid tick, that's okay. (Though I have no idea how I can possibly have a kid who likes worksheets.)
Maybe you and your DH can write down what you each think the end result at eighteen for each child should be (since you're dealing with kids of varying abilities) and see what you think the same and different. When you have an end point that makes sense then maybe it will be easier to agree on the methods of getting there.
I use the 4-H projects for some of our school stuff--the more fun stuff. Cooking can be seen as math or chemistry. There are some good social sciences projects out there--your kids are still too young for something like Know Your Government. There's the added motivation to write clearly to get premium money and be eligible for the project to go to state fair and maybe get more premiums. The livestock projects also use a lot of math--my calf project kid had to figure out the cost of feed per pound of weight gained by his calf.


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## KrisP (Sep 5, 2012)

OOOOO Some more good ideas! Will have to talk with DH and see what he thinks!! We have goats, so will see what we can do there for a school project  Thanks!


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

They need to learn how to count money and make change and how to read a non digital clock. 

Do you have a Sam's Club or some sort of school supply store in the neighborhood? If so, check out their workbooks. We used many of their workbooks.


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## PNWKatie (Aug 4, 2012)

You also might check to see if you have a "dollar store" or "dollar tree" in your neck of the woods, in our area they have some pretty handy teacher/education shelves to check out. We picked up addition/subtraction posters, they often have the fake money to practice with and lots of things that are pretty cool for learning. My son (who has now graduated) made a poster board of constellations for his class on black board, then used styrofoam balls and the glow in the dark sticks to make them stand out in a dark class room. His teacher loved it. You can get really creative, and for the price, it can't be beat. Don't forget to check on the free teacher sites, discovery education video's, travel video's (great for geography and social studies!), Netflix often has biography's, documentaries, etc. that are great. I did the unschool thing with my son for two years and when he went back to school he hadn't missed much if anything. For my girls I at least wanted to make sure they were staying up with the requirements since we do have testing after 3rd grade. When I first started I just hit all the free education/teacher sites and went by what interested the kids. It worked out nicely, and this year we are trying the free online school option and then adding in stuff we enjoy doing (travel, social studies, etc.). I find I like a little more structure than completely unschooling, but again, we have testing here and if you don't pass the tests with a certain percentage (and you can retest in a year) than after that retest, if your still not hitting a certain percentage you have to send them back to a PS. Ugh.


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## KrisP (Sep 5, 2012)

They both know how to read a "face" watch  we taught them not to long after we pulled them out couple years ago! Yay us, sounds like they are ahead there  They al;so know some roman numerals. Tehy even know the names of all the planets (although DS could tell you more then you want/need to know about them LOL) Yes we included Pluto and they know it's not considered anything but a dwarf planet now a days. They know the sun is a star  DS LOVES LOES LOVES reading Sciencey type books  More power to him I think! We have money flash cards  So they know of each kind coin and bill. We are working on how to make change  Closest Sam's is over an hour away UGH!! We do however have a dollar store up the raod  I may have to go check them out this evening while I am running errands  I'm still working on all the free teaching/learning sites, there seems to be so many! I can get stuck on one for days LOL


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

KrisP said:


> Let me start from the beginning a bit LOL DS went to K at one school, then got moved to another school for 1st grade as the K school was a grade C school and had the option to go to a better school thanks to the "No Kids Left Behind" Act. while in 1st grade he had an excellent teacher who worked with us to get him tested and (of course) "labeled" as having Autism. Hubby and I already knew that but the school needed to do their own test so he could get the "extra" help he needed. Our DD was fortunate enough to be able to attend the same school as brother for her K year. Both children went to that same "A" school the next year for 2nd and 1st grade. DS's teacher refused to do anything if it wasn't in his ISP. Still he managed to pass and not get expelled from the school. We also found out DD was having some focus issues as well. (which we are pretty sure she has a form of ADD). They went the 1st day of 3rd and 2nd grades and as I was leaving I cried, both the kids' teachers were horrible to say the least. DH and I talked that day, and the kids were pulled from public schools. That year not much got done as I was working 6 days a week. We did a little here and there but not much that first year. Last year we did mostly worksheets and workbooks. Whatever I had laying around! LOL It was better then nothing in my book. More or less for the last year and a half we have just been doing whatever, more or less unschooling. The kids have learned a lot in my book, just not necessarily the things they should be??? Funny thing, I taught my kids their ABC's and 123's but past that I am at a loss.


I did it opposite of you.....my kids went to school through 6, 5, 3rd grades, THEN I pulled them.
Everyone educates differently.
We were a very structured type of education.
Books, workbooks, quizzes, tests.
I am very OCD / ADD so I needed that daily plan and structure.
The kids are all grown now, and they are all in college.



> When they are playing I correct them if they say something wrong, in a polite way, just so they know the correct way to say something. DS LOVES to read. Mostly non fiction. Any fiction he doesn't care to much for unless it can pertain to something real. DD doesn't really like to read, though she will do it. She also likes the non fiction stuff. We started our School year on July1. Since then DS has read 123 books all of his choosing, and DD has read 92 books all of her choosing as well. They both read all of The Magic Tree House books with a month. We go to the library at least once every other week, sometimes every week depending on what was picked out. I guess what I am really lost about is a direction into which to "push" them. Reading is no issue as they both read almost daily.


HSLDA: Homeschooling Advocates since 1983
Find your state, and it will give you your states annual home school convention and it will also give you the names of local home school groups.
For me, it was helpful to meet folks in person and ask how they did things. I went to workshops etc.....and gleaned A LOT of valuable information.



> We play yahtzee and rummy for helping with math, mainly their addition. They are both struggling with regrouping in addition and subtraction so we are trying to work on that. We generally teach on things that come up in life. I'm not positive as to where to start for Science, History, things of that nature. I did start to teach them cursive writing last year, as well as started multiplication and some Division with DS. When they draw or do arts and crafts I put that into the "Art" section of time for school. Same with science, geography, history. I guess I'm just not really sure where to "start". Most of the work they have done (but not all) has been a review of what they have already learned from their early days in public school. How do you know what to teach next??


Because mine were older, I went to my 'state's' education website and saw what the state required of the students at each grade. 
I followed most of that structured advice.
WHERE I FELL SHORT.....and regret?
Was having the children 'write papers'. There is SO MUCH paper writing in college, and it's kickin' their butts!!



> Is it just something that pops into your head? This is where I get confused.... What next? DS will be 11 in December. DD is 9 1/2. I'm not really looking for "grade" appropriate stuff per say as I couldn't really tell you what grade level they are at in anything unfortunately  Is there anywhere on line where I could have them tested for free or would I need to go to their school district?


Christian Liberty Academy provides the "Iowa Skills Test" that will help you see at what grade level the kids are. You ordered it, they take it, you mail it in, they send you results!



> Really trying to not have to go there if I don't have to. Where we live they aren't very strict as to all that except for how many hours of each subject they need to do each year. Which we already have a good start on reading time. I know we can always do copy work for handwriting practice. We always have books around the house. I'm also looking for some fun projects for the holidays that don't go over board on cost as we are on a tight budget. Any help, suggestions, or anything of that nature would be greatly appreciated. I sure hope this all makes sense to someone....I just don't know where to go from here LOL :stars:


Google "Free Home School Printables" that should pop up a TON of sites.


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## Veronica (Oct 31, 2008)

We did use a regular book for math - I'm not particularly good at it, so it was easier to follow a program. I often found Saxon at the used book stores, and for a few years we used Singapore math, which were inexpensive workbooks. When they hit 7th grade we got Basic College Math by Lial. I think I bought it for $5 at Amazon, and it had answers in the back. It went from basic addition up through pre-algebra, so we split it into 2 years for dd, 1 year for ds who loved math. 
We did lots of reading. Honestly, I think for elementary school most science and history can be learned through reading fiction and non fiction books. We did 4-H and did project books. We also did fun experiments, nature watching and did nature books with drawing,etc.
Queen Homeschool has a lot of fun ideas on their site as well as some inexpensive books and unit studies. Also we liked the Prairie Primer, which used the Little House on the Prairie series. 
We used the CAT test which we bought from Seton. 
Ambleside online has a lot of free online resources.

Here is a list to some fun Christmas unit studies and activities. We used some of these years ago.http://easyfunschool.com/IndexChristmas.html

I keep thinking of more things. One thing we did was do lap books. If you google you can see some examples. This was a great way to introduce how to research and it showed others what the kids were learning. As they showed off the lap books, it reinforced what they learned.


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## cindybode (Oct 5, 2002)

Hi! I could talk about this all night - I will try not to write a novel LOL.

My first suggestion is to RELAX. Your kids are not going to college tomorrow. If, over the years, you discover that they don't know something they need to know, you can pick it up. There is no time limit on learning and the world does not end if they learn about butterflies when they are 9 instead of when they are 8.

My second suggestion is to sit down with your husband and decide what you are comfortable with. You have to know what your own educational philosophy is, and what you feel your kids HAVE to know in order to be productive adults (because that is the goal you are aiming for). For instance, I decided that my kids HAD to know enough math to get through the grocery store and pay bills. They did not have to know calculus. They HAD to have a good idea of how this country was formed and how the government works, but they did not need to know the dates and locations of every Civil War battle. Some of this will be determined by whether you feel college is mandatory, and some of it will be determined by the interests they develop as they get older. Art majors don't usually take advanced math & science, and that's OK. No one can learn everything. Once kids get to be teens, curriculum tends to be driven by their interests.

I would second the suggestion for a curriculum for math - it's the only subject that really is sequential and you do need to do things in order. We used Making Math Meaningful - I do like it, but some of the reason we used it is because there wasn't much out there when we started homeschooling, and then as the younger kids grew into it I just stuck with what we had. If I had to do it again I'd probably pick Math U See.

For everything else, I let them follow their interests from the get go. I got a bunch of 3 ring binders - the kind that have plastic over the front cover so they could put their own artwork inside. For example, Ashley went through a bird phase. She researched the kinds of birds that live in our area and put pictures of them in her notebook. She used her favorite for the cover. She made a feeder out of a muffin tin, put different things in each cup, and watched to see which kinds of birds ate what kind of food. She wrote a paper about that for her notebook. She wrote down the dates each bird came in the spring and left in the fall. She read books about Audobon. I can't remember now everything she put in it.

I found that over time, they would hit on every academic subject. Some topics might be heavy on science, others were heavy on history. My kids enjoyed making their notebooks and took pride in them. They would often work on them when they could be doing something else. The big key was not to push a topic past the point where they'd lost interest. When they wanted to move on to something else, I let them, and then they'd sometimes find something cool to put in a notebook they'd "finished."

If they didn't know what they wanted to work on, we'd just grab good looking books from the library and see if something would spark an interest. Sometimes we'd see something on Animal Planet or the History Channel, and off they'd go.

I'm now on the last kid - the older four are all well rounded, intelligent adults. So far they have not chosen college, but that is not mandatory in our family. Most importantly, they know how to learn. They do not have to be spoon fed information. If they don't know something, they know how to find out. They still read and research all the time because they're curious and interested in a wide variety of things. They just don't usually make a notebook LOL.


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## KrisP (Sep 5, 2012)

Thanks Cindy!! Another great idea to add to my list  :clap:


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## hintonlady (Apr 22, 2007)

Free Math Worksheets

awesom resource for worksheets for lower grades


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

When I homeschooled my kids, I just confirmed the grade level goals, which the local school provided, then went far beyond them. I created classes and put together the entire curriculum. Since my DD is auditory, DS is visual, she is gifted, while he suffered from Epilepsy/ OCD, it was challenging in a fun way. I had a blast teaching them. I also created forms for tracking the classes. My rule was that each class was no more than 15 minutes, and the first one was always math related. They were traded for effort and I had them tested yearly, for the record. The only extra time I gave was when we were reading, out loud, and I read to them daily (short stories). Also, I read unabridged classics. Despite going to public school, when he out grew Epilepsy, 7th grade, DS hated school (I was then divorced). He dropped out of high school, and I completed a prep course with him(he got his GED). DD thought school was a joke, used to the way I taught her, which was at a much higher level.

I spent 4 hours/day, 4 days per week, with excellent results! Breaking up the classes into different times may help with your schedule, also see if DH will teach a class or two.

I didn't have near the resources available today! You would do well to join a local homeschooling group.


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