It's been a while

[Mariann]

Hi all

How is everyone doing??

I don't know how many of you remember me, but I use to visit this forum alot (even more when we were at abcteach). I still see a lot of people that I remember and a lot of new names too. It's good to know that the forum is still going strong.

Sorry I have been away so long, but much has happened in our lives. My husband was hurt at work over a year and a half ago (he's doing better, but still not completely recovered) and at the same time we had our fourth child. This past spring we made a leap of faith and grabbed at the opportunity that God gave us to move from California to Idaho. Now we live in a town of 50 people in the mountains of Northern Idaho.

Things still haven't completely settled down for us yet. My husband has to go back to California for two weeks at a time every two weeks because new custody arrangements haven't been made for my stepson. THis has been going on since August and it is taking its toll on everyone. In fact they just left this morning. The kids and I won't see my dh for 2 weeks and my ss for at least a month (if he gets to come home at Christmas).

I guess that is the reason that I've come back to this forum. I'm feeling lonely. I don't really know anyone here in our new town and we are far enough away from any hs groups that it is hard for us to participate. Also winter is setting in and I'm not real confident about driving in ice and snow. (I still need to get studded tires for my car.) I guess I just needed a little adult conversation and something to look forward to when I have my coffee each day (goodness knows I'm sick of cartoons).

While I'm off to browse though the different threads and see what I've been missing. I just wanted to say hi.

Mariann

[momandteacherx3]

Hi- I am new since you were here before, but I look forward to getting to know you better. I homeschool my 3 boys, ages 10, 8 and 5- and I also work part-time as our church secretary (the boys come to work with me).

momx3

[Lornaabc]

Welcome back. Come here any time for adult conversation. That is why most of us are here. LOL
How long have you been homeschooling? What ages of kids and what type of books or studies do you use?
I have homeschooled for 7 years now. DD is 13 and twin boys 8. We use a little of this and that. Some public school books, some spectrum, some units, some abecka, some Walmart books, etc.

[KrisRV]

Welcome back what a big change. I hope things start working better for you all.

[Brooke]

Welcome back! Glad to hear that things seem to have settled to some degree. We'll rejoice with you when things get better still!

[Mariann]

HI again,

My kids are ss 10y, ds 7y, dd 5y, ds 16m. We are only recently getting back to hsing. Our main focus right now is math and LA, but I'm hoping to start doing KONOS unit studies soon.

For math we use Primary Math (Singapore Math) and Miquion Math. I have been very happy with both of these curriculums and would recommend them highly for a family how want a focus on understanding math and how math works. Now that the kids are "getting" math we have recently added some timed drills each morning as warm ups. They love them.

For LA we are using McRuffy Press Phonics and Reading Program. I am very impressed with the curriculum. It covers all aspects of LA including phonics, reading, writing, spelling, grammer, and handwriting. The pace of the lessons is just right with earlier lessons going slower, while later lessons slowly add more difficulty. If anyone is interested they have samples on their website. I took a leap of faith and ordered all levels K-3. We are only using the K level right now. My dd started it from the beginning while my ds7 started half way through. (He has had some reading experience but I wanted to make sure that he wouldn't be pushed too hard by starting in a higher level). Also the readers that come with the curriculum are the cutest, funniest, most creative readers that I have ever seen. My husband and I just sat one night and laughed as we read throught the different readers and watched the rest of the story unfold in the illustrations.

As a warm up in the mornings we are also using First Language Lessons. Its a bit too slow for us as far as the grammer lessons go, but I do like the memorizing, narration work, and practice speaking in completed senteces.

Soon I'm hoping to get going on our KONOS unit studies. I'm excited about doing them but haven't gotten to them yet because my afternoons have been filled with prepareing the house for winter and doing some remodeling and repairs around here.(The house was an empty forclosure for over a year before we bought it and from what we have found out from people around here it hasn't been well maintained by any owner in quite some time.)

Anything else you want to know just ask.

[HeidiPA]

Mariann~
It's nice to have you back with us. I think I remember you from abcteach.
I'm sorry to hear about all the changes in your lives~ hopefully things will continue to settle down. In the meantime, we'd love for you to come back here and share with us while you drink your coffee. I know all about needing some adult companionship!
Enjoy your stay with us~ there are lots of new friends among us, but as you said, there are alot of the oldies too! (not that we're really old! LOL)

[skippy7781]

Nice to meet you Maryann. I am homeschooling an 18 year old special needs student. She is like a foster child. I inherited her when her daddy passed away.I haven't found all the corricula I want to use but I'll get there. KNOS Is an excellent program. They are from Mc Kinney Texas area.

[Brenda]

Welcome back... hope you'll come around and enjoy some of the silly conversations (or games) we get into. Hope your husband continues to recover as well.

[CrystalB9]

Welcome back! This is a great place to come to for just about anything, including homeschooling questions. I live in PA and have 8 wonderful children!