We did that too, TMom. "We'll try it one year and see how it goes." The next year we said, "Okay, that was a decent test run. We'll try it ONE more year to see how it goes NOW." Once we got that far into it, we couldn't stop! and "the rest is history", cuz we're still homeschooling after 9 years!
Ohio GMa, HOP Math is all memorization, just like the phonics. Unless you use manipulatives and such to make the facts concrete they won't know why the facts are what they are. They'll learn the answers, just not the mechanics behind them. I wish I knew you wanted that set, I'd have given you ours.
Did you use the program? I can use manipulatives with it. Thank you for the thought of letting me have the one that you have. Have you tried the Hooked on Phonics?
Oh, we finished HOP, but if I could do it all over I'd have never used it. To me, it's suited perfectly for an illiterate adult, but children need to know the mechanics of phonics. Jeannie memorized all those 5 levels of HOP, but until we started Saxon Phonics recently, she didn't know real, genuine phonics. She can code words now, to show whether the vowel is long or short or whether there's a silent letter. Saxon has games in the back of the TE for practice- real games, not that silly bingo HOP has you play every few pages. I barely started the HOP Math. We did just a few pages then I scrapped it. The long pages of problems would be too monotonous for me and her. She's only 6, and I feel like her learning should be interesting. Hop Math will get you nice and caught up quickly, but for me it would be necessary to find ways to make the learning more concrete for them. Hop math would be another one good for an adult that needed help.
Thanks for the info. I will probably stick with the HOP Math for the 3rd grader, just to catch him up and then for my dgd, go into something else. I will have to check his other subjects to see where he is in them. I know that Language is a problem too.
Well, both those sets will give you alot of help fast. I'm not dissing your choice- I hope you see that. We finished that entire HOP, all 5 levels. It does teach you to read and the math set will teach you math. I wish it included the why and how of each subject, I guess.
I only have 2 more months with these boys and I want to give them as much help as I can as quickly as I can. If I had the patience I would pull them out of ps and hs them, but I would end up in the looney bin and I don't think my dh would appreciate that They are high maintenance.
Gatto is an interesting reference. He has strong libertarian views. I see bad stuff on the news too, but I'm not sure that is "proof" that the school system is broken. The media's job is to get people mad about something... Think about when the last positive story you saw on the news. Thanks for your input!
Wow I must live in a unique part of the country. All the parents I know get involved. Perhaps it is income based? We live in a community with mostly engineers and medical professionals, and the state in general tends the score well in standardized testing. In 2006 the state I live now and the state I grew up in are in the top two for ACT scores. I know that doesn't mean it is necessarily "better". One thing that has sparked my interest in homeschooling is that people at work homeschool for many reasons. I've heard a bunch of "fluffy" reasons from them, but I'm looking for more concrete reasons. Values is one. But I haven't been convinced that my children won't learn values from me and my wife after school, at CCD, Sunday school, etc. Learning disabilities is the most convincing. If a child learns differently, it seems clear that they may get lost in the system... Perhaps drugged, etc. My children are too young to know how they learn. So far, they seem quick to grasp concepts and interact, but that may change as they get older. Did I miss other reasons? Thanks!
Good point Well, I would hope that they would do it again. We need to get by this doing the work for the grade and push doing the work for the knowledge. Of course, I'm a hyprocrit because I spent a lot of time memorizing for the grade and forgetting -- with the exception of my major and minor courses. My definition of excelling is over a 4.0. Which is possible in my community. Kids who qualify can take college course paid for by the local schools. The kids that take the college courses, get college credits and get a weighted GPA. On the other hand, I look at my life and the stress and wonder are we going too far? There is no longer a work-life balance. Everything is 24/7 x 365 and needed to be done yesterday. Is this really progress? I sometimes wonder about letting kids spend as much time playing as much as working. What do others think? I know I've been all over the board in this message, but it is one of those days.
Are you going to hold your kids to your difinition of excelling (over a 4.0)? Not all kids excel academically. If one of your kids is more, say, musical than academic, will you be able to allow them to excel in their music, which can't be given a gpa, except for very generically? Even at the cost of other grades in things that child is not good at? I was just reading about a dad who got upset at his two boys because one got "only" an 88% and one "only" 90% in their math. He said they were letting down their good family name! To me, if these boys worked hard and did their best, then 88% and 90% are GREAT scores! I look at if they are using their abilities for each subject and stick to it, and accomplish the tasks assigned. If they don't do well, we can go over it again. And again. And again, if needed, until they really learn it! With homeschooling you can help them learn what they need to learn to survivie in the world. Then they can move on to other things, but they'll know what they've just studied! PLUS, as they get older, you can tailor-make their curriculum to fit their interests and their "bent". A teacher with so many pupils in his/her classroom just doesn't have the time to do that for each student!
We had a riot in a middle school this past week. Over 100 kids were suspended, four sent to the hospital, and seven have charges pending. Interesting thing is this did NOT make the news. Not the TV or the paper. DH found out about it because one of the guys he taught with had a workshop with a teacher from that building.
It didn't make the news because the people who run the schools go out of their way to keep any "bad" school business hush-hush. Our administrators are repremandied for calling 911 in an emergency. Unofficially, of course! It hit the fan a few years back when a special needs girl was raped, and the principal didn't call 911. The girl's father did. The principal was fired, and fought for her job claijming she was following "procedure". Of course, the big shots didn't back her. Now, she deserved to be fired for not contacting the police (and just the past week or so she lost her fight and her job!), but all kinds of people came forward with instances where they got in trouble for contacting 911 in an emergency. Because the news media listens to the police radio, and knows immediately if there's a 911 call at any school.
If that would've been a group of homeschoolers, you can almost bet it would be in the news as proof of why NOT to homeschool!
Should be, yes, but not if the people are able to get it taken care of without the media becoming aware of it. Like I said, this riot wasn't reported. I talked with a girl at church on Sunday that goes there, and she told me it was over 200 kids that got suspended. She said, "I'm not stupid! I was in my class!"
theres alot that goes on in ps and its not on the news they are doing there best to keep it out. Like here last week there was a stabbing and nothing was said i nthe paper or the news, the only way I heard about it is the little girl next door ask if I heard about all the stuff at the school. They keep it out. They know how to keep it out.
