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No TVs or Computers in Kids Room

DOES YOUR CHILD REALLY NEED A TV?

IN THEIR BEDROOM

No.

WHY WE DON'T ALLOW TVs in KIDs ROOMs

When our oldest child was around five years old, my friend asked me if he had a TV and Video game in his room.

We'd thought about it and decided to make an upstairs playroom for all of our kids to go to when they wanted to play and watch TV or videogames.

As they got older, my oldest requested a TV for Christmas when he was 12 years old.

That's when we noticed that his routine was to come home, say hello, go to his room ~ for hours, without really conversing with us.

Then he would close the door and sometimes lock it. This indicated that he was doing something in his room that he wasn't supposed to be doing.

1) It alienated him from us
2) Made it hard to detect when something was wrong, or he was sad, angry, depressed or seeking things on the TV or computer that he wasn't supposed to be seeking.
3) It didn't help him grow, it divided us, made him rather territorial with his room.

Lastly, a co-worker of mine's daughter committed suicide, and one thing she said was an issue was the amount of time her kid stayed in her room alone.

WHEN IS THE RIGHT AGE FOR A TV IN THE ROOM

When they are grown, and no longer in need of oversight. My son got his TV in his room when he turned 18 yrs old. Truth is, he enjoys, even now watching TV with all of us. We 'reconditioned' his way of thinking. He and my other kids enjoy watching shows together, watching each other play video games and interacting with each other. My oldest daughter, now, 20 yrs old states that she rarely watches TV and prefers to watch with everyone else.

If they go in their room for anything other than sleeping, drawing, or reading, I know something isn't right.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTs? For or Against?

ReVamping Our Schedule For New Block Semester

A New Semester A New Attitude

With our new semester and our new work obligations, we are having to change up our schedule and courses for the kids this 'block' semester.

This is the plan overall for both kids that we hope will last til March (the end of our new block).

THE KEY = 'Accountability' - Mom checks progress everyday. If work is done - Video Games, Movies, Cellphones are given. If not: Work added to weekend and NO FUN ON WEEKEND til work finished.

SPEED RACER (13 yrs)

His Classes This Block will focus on Algebra and Geometry building. Learning to take notes, study technique building and preparing to take his first CLEP in Psychology.

We check his Online Class progress electronically daily. If he doesn't finish his independent work, he can't check out his video game controllers or cellphone.

He does sneak in some naps during the day and has a 11:30pm imposed bedtime.

English Focused Classes
(He does these independently)

Writing ER (Landry Online Class) - Daily
Daily Grammar (2 pages in Grammar workbook) - Daily
IXL (Grammar Drills) - Daily

Algebra Focused Classes
(With Help)
Saxon Algebra 1 (DIVE cds) Does even questions - Daily
Algebra Drill Problems (4-8 pages in workbook) - 2 days do problems/ 2 days review with mom

(He does these independently)

Algebra 1 Online (CTCMath) - Daily
Algebra concept review (Study.com) - Daily

Geometry Focused Classes
(He does these independently)
Geometry Online (CTCMath) - Daily


Basic Math Review Focused Classes
(He does these independently)

8th Grade Basic Math (IXL) - Daily

Social Sciences Focused Classes
(He does these independently)
Sociology (Study.com) - Daily
Psychology (Study.com) - Daily
Logic (Landry) - 2 days a week

(With Help)
Sociology REA Book Read Outload & Take Notes - Daily
Psychology AP Book Read Outload & Take Notes - Daily

Other
Humanities (Study.com) - Daily
Earth Science - focus on Weather (Study.com) - Daily 

(With Help)
Spelling You See (Mom test on Friday's) - Daily
Humanities  Book Read Outload & Take Notes - Daily

 TIGER LILLY (15yrs) with MOMMA

This block semester she will have 3 online college classes and quite a few homeschool classes.

College Classes Online
Intro to Interactive Design
Ethics in Information Tech
Information Systems in Orgs

Online Homeschool Classes
Wed Development 8am Tues (Landry)
Network Essentials 10am Mon (Landry)

Mom Managed Classes
Business Entrepreneurship (Book)
Youth Digital Unity 3D C# (Interactive)

Preparing to CLEP test out of COLLEGE courses

Oh my was I naive. Having two kids already in college, one that graduated from traditional school and the other I homeschooled for six months before graduating her, I thought I knew it all.

But then I started homeschooling my younger kids. My 7th grader has seriously blossomed during homeschooling and has an insatiable appetite for learning. I seriously can barely keep up. So after talking to my Umbrella Coordinator with my umbrella group that does my documentation for me for the state, provide transcripts and diploma's with lots of support if I request it, we decided to skip her listed grade to 8th grade. I wanted her to continue advanced topics but to gain High School Credit for it.

PREPARING FOR HIGH SCHOOL

Now that meant I had to start her on the road to High School then College. Researching curriculum, pitting it against the state requirements...oh my!

During my research I found out the value of taking CLEP test.

These are the options I presented to my daughter who wants to be a Doctor, but loves computers also. So I suggested she get her 4 yr degree in Computer Science related course and just take her pre-req classes (sciences) for medical school.

1) High School classes + Community College Classes = Dual Credit and Associates Degree (finish AA at 17 yrs old or 11th grade)

2) High School Classes + Community College Classes + CLEP test = BS or BA degree from online Univ. (finish 1st BS or BA at 18yrs old) through CLEP test, Community College Classes and Online College) she'd then be a transfer student at University for 1 year to gain her classes for pre-med.

Tiger Lilly decided she wanted to do Option # 2 (she is very competitive with her sister that did Option #1)

THE PLAN TO CLEP it!

Resource #1

We considered using COLLEGE PLUS (www.collegeplus.org) which is a service that preps students for taking multiple CLEP test then transferring to online colleges or other colleges that use CLEP for credit. The service test the student to see what fields fit them, gives them prep training in logic, memorization tools (Learning Network tool) and maps out their CLEP to Degree plans. A coach of the same sex contacts them and works with them every 2 weeks. It cost about $3000 for the service.

However, with 2 kids in college at the same time, shelling out the extra money just wasn't possible. I really wanted to use COLLEGE PLUS.

Resource #2

But I found a book by Tricia McQuarrie named CLEP Lesson Plans.  Find book here (http://clepprep.tripod.com/cleplessonplans/id23.html) and she has some free lesson plans on her website here (http://clepprep.tripod.com/cleplessonplans/id4.html). By reading her website and the Chapman Kids website where he explains how he prepped his then 13yr old daughter to CLEP out of courses (http://chapmankids.net/blog/clep-test-prepartion/).

OUR PLAN

So after sitting with my daughter, reading with her the options and the lesson plans above we decided to go for it - the College Plus way by augmenting her High School Courses to help her prepare for the similar CLEP exam.

RELATED CLEP TEST: to take in high school

We will tackle the overlapping test within 4 weeks of each other, combining 'like' subject matter on test that have similar pieces of information within.

How we decided what to take:
1) We researched online Universities that took CLEP test and mapped the degree credits to the CLEP test.

2) We researched Community Colleges and Universities near us where Tiger Lilly wanted to go and saw what CLEP test they accepted and what the credit would be.

3) We decided to take test that coincided with her high school studies.

In this order she will test

9th Grade

CLEP Test Planned
Analyzing & Interpreting Lit (3 college credits)-8 weeks to study
English Composition with Essay (6 college credits) - 8 weeks to study
English Lit no essay (3 college credits) - 10 weeks to study
American Lit no essay (3 college credits) - 8 weeks to study
Humanities (3 college credits) - 8 weeks to study

Classes that will help her prepare:

Abeka 10th grade English & Language Arts
Time4Writing SAT essay writing (8weeks)
Analytical Grammar (17 weeks)
Sequential Spelling (use with Abeka spelling program for 24 weeks)
Humanities (free online course Education-Portal.com with book entire school year)
REA Clep Test books for each subjects (8weeks per study session for each test)
InstaCert monthly subscription (daily from the 4th month of studies during REA book reviews)

10th Grade

CLEP Test Planned
College Math (3 college credits)-8 weeks to study
College Algebra  (3 college credits) - 8 weeks to study
American Government (3 college credits) - 8 weeks to study
US History 1 (3 college credits) - 10 weeks to study
US History 2 (3 college credits) - 5 weeks to study
Western Civ 1 (3 college credits) - 8 weeks to study
Western Civ 2 (3 college credits) - 5 weeks to study

Classes that will help her prepare:

Abeka US History (and Free online Education Portal Class)
Western Civilation (Free online Education Portal Class)
Thinkwell US History
Algebra 1 (taken in 8th grade)
Algebra 2 (Abeka & Foersters 'Math Without Borders)
CLEP Professor Dive CD
Geometry (taken in 8th grade - refresher using Teaching Textbooks)
REA Clep Test books for each subjects (8weeks per study session for each test)
InstaCert monthly subscription (daily from the 4th month of studies during REA book reviews)

11th Grade

CLEP Test Planned
Sociology (3 college credits)-8 weeks to study
Psychology  (3 college credits) - 8 weeks to study
Biology (3 college credits) - 8 weeks to study
Chemistry (3 college credits) - 10 weeks to study
Pre-Calculus (3 college credits) - 5 weeks to study


Classes that will help her prepare:

Sonligh Psychology (and Free online Education Portal Class)
Sociology Online Course and Companion short overview book (Free online Education Portal Class)
Biology (Abeka and Thinkwell taken in 9th grade)
Chemistry (Abeka and Thinkwell)
Pre-Calc (Abeka)
CLEP Professor Dive CD
REA Clep Test books for each subjects (8weeks per study session for each test)
InstaCert monthly subscription (daily from the 4th month of studies during REA book reviews)

12th Grade

CLEP Test Planned
Physics (3 college credits)-8 weeks to study
Natural Science (3 college credits) - 8 weeks to study
Calculus (3 college credits) - 8 weeks to study
Information Systems (3 college credits) - 10 weeks to study


Classes that will help her prepare:

Physics (Abeka and Free online Education Portal Class)
Natural Science  (Free online Education Portal Class)
Biology (Abeka and Thinkwell taken in 9th grade)
Calculus (Saxon Calculs with Dive CD and Thinkwell)
Information Systems (Free online course:  and Programing with Youth Digital, Homeschool Programming Classes in Java and C)
CLEP Professor Dive CD
REA Clep Test books for each subjects (8weeks per study session for each test)
InstaCert monthly subscription (daily from the 4th month of studies during REA book reviews)

WHY INTEGRATE IT?

I know now how my daughter learns. Finding ways to integrate similar subjects in her coursework, then focusing on one test to study at a time will give her the best benefit.

The positives is that after she's done this, taking the SAT will simply be a breeze. Even taking the MCAT, because she will know the process of HOW TO STUDY and what works best for her.

FREE HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM

While looking around for curriculum and decided to create a list of FREE ones that I liked. Here they are:

FREE CURRICULUM CHOICES

This one has ALL your subjects and it's completely FREE:
Education-Portal: www.education-portal.com
Complete Curriculum: allinonehomeschool.com
Complete Curriculum: http://schoolhouseteachers.com/

Biology: http://quarksandquirks.wordpress.com/biology-hs-level/
Chemistry: http://quarksandquirks.wordpress.com/chemistry-hs-level/
Writing: http://quarksandquirks.wordpress.com/research-paper-class/
Languages: http://www.italki.com/what-is-italki

Free ONLINE School:
Educational Portal
http://education-portal.com/academy/how-it-works.html

REINFOCE WITH FREE WEBSITES:
www.abcteach.com/
www.Space.com
http://kids.discovery.com/gaming
www.brainpop.com
www.internet4classrooms.com
www.funbrain.com
www.lessonpathways.com
www.starfall.com/
www.enchantedhomeschoolingmom.com
kids.nationalgeographic.com
http://www.icanteachmychild.com/3-5-years/
www.kidzui.com/
www.teacherspayteachers.com
www.typing-lessons.org
www.enchantedlearning.com
allinonehomeschool.com
www.homeschoolshare.com
http://www.homeschoolshare.com/levels.php
www.schoolexpress.com
http://www.wolframalpha.com/

DO YOU KNOW OF ANY FAB FREEBIES?

Do Earphones Encourage Learning?

EAR PHONES

This week I graduated my 4th grader to wearing earphones for his Math, Language and Science classes.

I remember when I went to school, during READING we had to WEAR EARPHONES to do our work and practice.

Wow what a difference it made. I plan on getting him some cooler earphones but these were just to try him out.

EARPHONE TEST WEEK

Prior to this week, for the first 30 days of our school year, Speed Racer didn't use them. It was best that way because we had to work on other challenges before this point.

However, I wanted to see if using the earphones would increase is focus and listening to his video school. Previous to this week he's overcome the following:

1) Fidgeting
2) Need for frequent breaks
3) Lack of enthusiam for finishing assigned work

Therefore I thought he had matured well and could benefit from focused hearing.

TEST STEPS

1) Day one - use earphones for one class - one in which student has to complete something taught.
2) Day two - add another class - observe the student to see if they are still fidgeting, moving, or spacing out.
3) Day three - add another class - observe quality of work, test, quizzes to see if there is an improvement.

RESULTS

After a week of using the earphones, we have seen the following improvements.

1) Improvement in Quiz grades. Went from 'B' to 'A'
2) Completion of work faster.
3) Less movement and distracted fidgeting.

DO YOU USE EARPHONES for YOUR KID'S LEARNING?

Finding The Right Math Curriculum Middle School On

Yes, this is how I looked just a few weeks ago as I started researching what I wanted to do for my daughter's MATH curriculum 8 th grade on.

GOALS

When I took her out of traditional school she would've been taking Algebra 1 this year in 7th Grade. However, I did a merging of Pre-Algebra and Math 7th grade for her after seeing some areas of weakness in her abilities.

So, I set goals for Middle School 8th grade on.

1) Is kid going to 4 yr college?
2) Is kid going to Community College initially then transferring to 4 yr college?
3) What is their areas of strength?
4) What fields have they considered?

Math Program Goals

1) Independent Study needed?
2) Prep for SAT needed?
3) Highly planned out curriculum needed?
4) Lots of practice through Spiral approach needed?
5) Prep for transition to Community College Math?

TYPES I CONSIDERED for ALGEBRA, GEOMETRY and PRE-CALC

Abeka

This was an easy consideration since both my daughter and I are used to this program, we are getting the complete package for the grade and this is part of it. The Pros also include that it's heavily detailed, comes with DVDs, teachers manual and is completely laid out for us. Unfortunately this program loses some of it's momentum in Algebra 2. However, I really loved the way the Algebra 1 book presented topics in an ordered fashion and the DVDs are a great help also.

Teaching Textbooks

We use this now as a Supplement to Abeka and the kids don't actually appear to mind the extra 30 min they spend on Math a day using this. With this and Abeka I've gotten the best of both worlds, but this will not meet our needs for a complete High School Math program as there are areas that are not covered for advanced SAT testing into Algebra 2.

VideoText

Oh, I really loved the concept of this program. Also, I could get it used for about $200-$300 and it would include Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, 2 and Geometry. But, I don't know if I truly want to use or learn a new program without testing it out. New this is $550 in price and that's a big chunk to toss out to try a new program. Also, this is a large commitment, if we don't like the program we've wasted a lot of time.

Saxon Math with DIVE DVDs

This option seemed viable. Only problem is my daughter needs the Spiral approach - badly. This is incremental. But it's one of the few Calculus programs that would allow her to skip pre-calc because it has precalc contained within it. Also, it's slowly build. So, I may consider it for Calculus.

Paul Foerster's Algebra  and Geometry Books with Math Without Borders Companion CD

Now, this was something I could sink my teeth into. It collectively had all the areas covered in the SAT with a decent book and explanation videos. BUT, it didn't come with detailed lesson plans or test I could use. I'd also have to purchase this separately. It wasn't that expensive new. The CD was only $69 but the books for both teacher and student would be about $200. However, I found some used sets online that included the CD, Teachers Manual, Student Text - but still NO TEST. I'd have to create them myself. O_o . The Geometry book is EXCELLENT though, and I love the DVD/CD's that come with the program! So this is a great choice for a Geometry supplement and Algebra 2 / Trig course.

Ask Dr. Calhoun

This program is MUCH easier to find in a complete set than the Foerster's program. It's reasonable compared to the others with Ask Dr. Callahan (using Jacob's Algebra) costing $222 new. It includes DVD, Text, Solutions set and Teacher's manual. This is the easier choice over Foerster's.

Thinkwell

Love this program for it's fun approach to a difficult subject. I want to prepare her with the core facts in Pre-Calculus and Calculus but we don't mind if she tests into PreCalc in college. Only problem with this is that it doesn't have a textbook. I personally prefer programs with a textbook. But it's a good well rounded program and I don't want to change programs from Pre-Calc to Calculus. So this would be for an introduction to Calculus.

YourTeacher.com

This program is similar to Thinkwell's with 1 very important exception that works for us - it maps to about 20 different textbook choices. But you don't need a textbook to fully utilize the online chapters, test, quizzes or lectures. My daughter just prefers learning with a textbook. But this program only goes to Pre-Calc, so I'm hesistant to get her used to it when we desire to use a Calculus curriculum.

Time4Learning.com (High School is new)

I really enjoyed the offerings of Time4learning for elem and middle school. But the kids wanted a bit more order to their lessons. However, after reviewing their Pre-Calc program, I'm rather excited about making it a supplement to one of the above choices. My kids were really impressed and we tried it out for 14 days and my daughter really liked the Pre-Calc. So we are feeling this one out.


CREATING OUR PERFECT CURRICULUM

So, I guess you are wondering what the heck I selected. After reviewing these options with my oldest daughter who is a Math Tutor and A math student upwards to Calc 2 we came up with the following concoction.

Order of Courses:

Algebra 1 - 7th Grade Abeka Algebra 1 and Teaching Textbooks Alg 1 for drill
(Remedial Review - with Math 7 Abeka)

Algebra 2 - 8th Grade Foerster's Algebra Books - (Algebra 2 & Trig) and Teaching Textbooks.

Geometry - 9th Grade Foerster's Geometry and Teaching Textbooks Geometry for drill

Pre-Calc - 10th Grade for Pre-Calc (Summer Intro to Calculus) - Thinkwell Online and Time4Learning

Calculus - 11th Grade Full Course  Thinkwell and (hope to be able to test into Pre-Calc 1 & 2 Honors at Community College12th grade)

Reinforcement and Topic Supplements

Algebrator or Mathway- (Algebra 1) Software that breaks down every single Algebra problem you throw at it. http://www.softmath.com/ and www.mathway.com

Teaching Textbooks -Although my daughter prefers lots of practice, she really wants to keep her Teaching Textbooks as part of her 'Math Lab'. Now she does it everyday, as her last subject of the day. Her Abeka DVD Algebra 1 class is her 2nd class of the day. She said doing Teaching Textbooks is fun and gives her more practice on what she learned earlier. The only disconnect I've noticed with Teaching Textbooks is with my younger son, he does the problems well using TT in his head mostly, but when he has to write out the problems he struggles more. So now I have them both write out the problems on scratch paper.


so, HOW DID YOU PLAN YOUR MATH CURRICULUM?