OSMO Starter Kit

Good Will online has an OSMO starter kit listing.  The starter kits retail for $189.  Right now the listing on Good Will is running about $30 with shipping.  OSMO interacts with an iPad.  This is an interactive educational game system.  Take a look at this video to see if you might be interested.

How do you vary the curriculum?

We use textbooks designed for home-schoolers.  In History we use Heritage Studies 5.  The advantage of using a textbook is there is a curriculum, workbook, and teacher’s guide.  Another advantage is Heritage Studies has ideas for a varied curriculum.  One suggestion is a report on the county of choice.  I decided we would start with a state report.  Heritage Studies has state information in the appendix.  We are using this guide.  Paul is taking notes, answering questions, and doing research on Florida’s economy.  Why Florida?  We live in Virginia; he has studied a great deal about Virginia.  His daddy is from Florida; his grandma is a Disney fan.  Paul is researching the economics of Disney in Florida, too.  Home-school textbook programs offer loads of ideas to vary your curriculum at home.

Source for education materials

My favorite online outlet is Good Will online.  Are you looking for educational materials?  Start here.  Yes, I shop Amazon and eBay, too.  Good Will has educational supplies for all ages.  For example, Bob Books Reading Kit, Do the Math,  and My Kindergarten Learning Tub are both available now.  Want to learn Spanish?  Good Will has Rosetta Stone for Spanish and Nintendo DSI for French, Spanish, or Japanese.  Good Will often has textbooks. (Check Amazon, too.  Many Good Will stores list their textbooks on Amazon.). They frequently have Tinkercrate.  Try a kit before you subscribe.  How about School Rite Stencils?  Kids use a stencil to learn how to form letters.  There are AP flash cards, mathematical instruments, and wall maps.  Good Will is never boring.  Right now, donations are down; every day, they still have a wide assortment of educational materials at excellent prices.

Bob Books on Good Will

Good Will has a listing for Bob Books Reading Kit which retails for $39.99.  Bid accordingly.

Remote Learning Packets

Some public schools have their packets available online.  Here is one from California with ELA (English Language Arts), Math, and Unique Alternative Curriculum.  Huh.  The ELA and Math packets.  (The fourth grade ELA has speeches from former Presidents Obama and Reagan, along with stories and questions.). Curriculum. Associates has math and reading packets for Grades K-8 with teacher’s guides and answers.   Edinburg Texas has Elementary, Middle School, and High School lesson for the past few weeks.  The lessons are for ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies.  Are the lessons complicated?  Not really.  But, the high school science lessons even have activities for Chemistry.  I might use these for an introduction next year in my Chem class.

Looking for puzzles?

My favorite shopping site is Good Will online. Good Will online is one web site for many Good Will stores.  Do a search for puzzles.  Here is a good example of their listings.  Be sure to estimate shipping.  You will find that some stores gross up shipping or have higher handling fees.  Nonetheless, I have had considerable success.  Now that puzzles are hard  to find and expensive, try Good Will.

How long is School at home?

Like you, we are locked down at home.  How long should you do school each day?  The short answer is, ‘School has finished when the work is finished.’  Reality is three-four hours each day for the nine year old and five-six hours each day for the freshman, five days a week.  We start at nine, break for lunch at 12:30, finish school work with Paul by 2:00.  Lacie, a freshman, works after lunch until 2:30-3:00, depending on the assignment.  When Paul finishes work after lunch, we take him outside for 45 minutes to an hour to give Lacie some peace.  The two work in different spaces in the house, too.  School work is usually written work.  We do experiments, guitar, bike riding, games, puzzles, and reading after school work.  Nope, we do not take frequent breaks during the morning.  We switch assignments and vary activities.  We discourage breaks.  We encourage completion of assignments.  What is our secret?  WiFi is frozen.

Are you looking for guidelines?

Many Catholic schools use the guidelines from the Archdiocese of Chicago.  Look at these standards to get an idea of the types of skills your curriculum should include.    Start here.

Use books to teach, not tech.

I use tech all the time.  I post my assignments and grades on Google Classroom, post instructional videos on my youtube channel, and use several types of sensors.  But, I teach with books.  Why?  There are too many distractions online and doing a series of app activities is not a program.  Textbooks are organized sequentially.  I can open a book and make the assignment.  It is easy to see if the child is zoning out or doodling.  Since the teen is working from books, I can pause the WiFi on her device to be sure she is not texting, FaceTiming,  or updating her social networks.

Stobaugh Literature, American Literature, British Literature, and World Literature can be paired with American History, British History, and World History.  You can always add content such as reader’s guide questions or add films and documentaries.  For example, we read a novel, such as Pride and Prejudice, then watch a movie version.  Then we write a comparison with a writing prompt.  Does the film capture the novel?  You can do the same thing in history.  Study a specific event and watch a documentary or popular film.  Is the film accurate?

Saxon Math textbooks and tests offer a complete math program.  Apologia Science offers all the necessary tools, textbooks, tests, and CDs necessary to teach science.  Why Stobaugh, Saxon, and  Apologia?  These textbooks are widely used by home-schoolers and available on eBay.  Stobaugh  Literature sets are $20 or less.  Stobaugh History sets are less than $30.  This Saxon Algebra 1 set cost about $50.  An Apologia Biology textbook and tests is less than $20.  I buy the books individually, often for $5 each.  I recommend buying the Saxon books in sets to obtain the same edition of the textbook, solution manual, and tests.  Ask me how I know.  Shop carefully and you can buy a core curriculum for under $150.  Get started!

Are you finally ready to cobble together a curriculum?

Home-schoolers frequently use online academies for their curricula.  These schools offer complete, rigorous courses, with syllabi, book lists, study guides, and tests.  I am guessing that you are on the fence, hoping the workbooks you ordered are fine for the present.  After all, most families hope the children will be back in school next fall.  Some of you are flirting with the idea of home-schooling indefinitely.  Where do you start?  Start with Cathy Duffy Reviews.  Start browsing through the curricula, books, packages, etc.

Let’s look at core requirements for high school.  Plan on four years of Math, English, Science, and History.  Include Civics (one year) and Languages (two to four years).  In terms of Health, PE, Music, Art, and electives such as Carpentry or Cooking, make those electives and family programs.  Join a soccer league or the gym.  Take guitar, swing dance, and water color lessons.  Join Bluprint for a month and take lessons.  Base the electives on your family’s interests.

Back to core subjects. What should your teen study? Plan on four years of Math, Science, English, and History.  Look at the list of AP Courses, a good place to shop for rigor.  In Math, kids need Algebra I and II, and Geometry.  Strong students should take Calculus and Statistics, perhaps through the community college.  Science should include Physical Science or Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.  Link English and History: U.S. Literature and History, World Civilizations and Literature, European History and British Literature.  Add Civics, Geography, and Economics.  Take an English Composition class Senior year.  Use Vocabulary Workshop Levels A through G, Grades 6-12.   Now you are poised to begin your research.  Get started!

What are other countries doing to teach remotely?

I had an idea.  Schools in the U.K. are closed, too.  What are the British doing differently.  Take a look here.  (Here is the list of resources for Chemistry.)  What about other countries?  The World Bank published this article about remote learning in several countries.  Here is one last link to the Australian government's website.  These resources are provided by UNESCO.  Interesting, right?

Free Tech

I like to keep records of all assignments we do.  Google Classroom is a type of learning management system.  It is free with a gmail account.  You may open several classrooms.  Google Classroom allows you to enter grades, links, worksheets or documents, homework questions, etc.  The grades can be summarized and exported in a spreadsheet.  (There are many learning management systems used by public and private schools.)  Google apps such as Sheets and Docs, and Slides are free spreadsheet and document apps.  Yes, there are free templates, too.  Microsoft Office has free Excel, Word, Powerpoint, etc. 

What are some other free tech?  Here is a free graphing calculator.  Here is a TI graphing calculator emulator.   Another top tech site is Prezi for presentations.  Have you heard of concept maps?  The Cmap program is free.   This site identifies 321 free tools for teachers.  Get on it!

Brit Lit: Jane Eyre

Our Brit Lit class is starting Jane Eyre.  Here  is an online copy.   Glencoe’s study guide, while not deep or exacting, is a good place to start.  It has a brief biography of Charlotte Bronte, literary questions, and vocabulary.  This is a decent reader’s guide.  Here are discussion points, which make good essays.  I like Education Packs theaters produce.  We read the book, watch a film, and compare the two.  Another topic is to compare Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre.   I think it is helpful to do character studies.  The NEH guide has this Social Class Tracker activity.  Another tip is to determine which characters are most important to Jane Eyre.  What are their traits?  Do these characters change or develop?  What are their roles?  So, if you decide to read the book, use the Glencoe study guide, and write one essay, your child still read the book!  Get on it!

How do I determine a schedule?

Here we are in April.  It can be hard to determine a schedule for the remainder of the school year.  Start with a three or four hour schedule of four classes: Math, Science, English, and History.  I am using books for all four classes.  Here is a Co-op guide for Zoology.  Look at this example.  The goal is a chapter each week.  Apologia's Zoology Notebooking Journal has lessons plans.  Heritage Studies 5 Teacher's Edition has a daily study guide.  Saxon Math 5/4 has a guide at the beginning of the student textbook.  There are 120 lessons.  If you teach 150 days, try a lesson each day.  Some lessons may take two days, others only one.  You will have amble time.  In English, I am using an anthology, a vocabulary workbook, a grammar book, and a variety of novels.  I do reading and vocabulary daily and grammar and essays at least twice each week.  We are working about three hours in the morning.  After lunch, Paul exercises, works on experiments, reads, does chores, completes online work, and plays games.

What did you actually buy?

Our household has a teen enrolled in an online school.  Our nine year old grandson is learning remotely owing to the quarantine.  I bought materials before the onset of the quarantine and have ordered more since.  We have Saxon Math 5/4, Apologia Young Explorer’s Zoology 1 and 2, Houghton Mifflin Reading Treasure Explore 5th Grade, BJU Heritage Studies 5, Vocabulary Workshop Level A, and Easy Grammar 3.  (I bought George Washington for Kids to use until the Heritage 5 materials arrived.). Additionally, Paul is reading novels: Mudshark, Holes, A Wrinkle in Time, and Hachet.  The activities for novels vary.  I am serious about doing a core curriculum.

Remote Learning PACKETS

I believe you should focus on core subjects.  Don’t take my word for it.  Look at Montgomery Md’s Continuity of Learning plans or Fairfax Va’s plans.  The focus is on math and reading.  Are you overwhelmed trying to navigate Clever, Dreambox, or any number of school apps?  Here are a variety of learning packets.  Scholastic has learn at home packets.  Here, here, here, and here are more packets.  Browse these.  The content and scope vary enormously.  I can imagine you are feeling desperate.  Print a packet.

Reading Books and Guides

Each week have your child read a book and make a report.  Your kid can answer study guide questions, write a formal report, engage in a discussion, or give an oral report to you.  You are stuck at home.  How are you going to get the books and guides?  Which books should I use?  Start with lists of Newbery winners, Caldecott winners, or National Award winners.  Scholastic allows you to sort among their classic books by age or grade.  Browse the lists and select a few books.  Scholastic offers many lessons, guides, and questions.  My library system offers digital library cards.  (Nonresidential may  join for $30 per year.). Check if your local system is offering free digital library cards.  Here is link to libraries with nonresident borrowing privileges.  Libraries offer both e-books and audio books.  Listening to a book is fine!  Audible is offering free audio books for kids.  Get on it!

Hand Sanitizer, and a Discrepant Event

Have you been making homemade hand sanitizer with isopropyl alcohol and aloe gel?  Before you mix up a batch of hand sanitizer, try this discrepant event.  Measure equal amounts of isopropyl or rubbing alcohol into separate containers.  Now combine the two and remeasure them together.  There is less total volume.  Now try In Between, a TOPS lab with salt and rice.  The molecules slip between each other and occupy less volume.  Cool right?

Apologia Chemistry: Acid Base Lab

TOPS Learning Systems has this Cabbage Chemistry lab which is similar to Apologia’s Experiment 10.1. The powders and text substances are placed on wax paper or parchment paper.  Here are complete instructions for making cabbage indicator.  Remember solids or powdered must be in a liquid before testing.  I use Red Cabbage powder or Jiffy Juice Kit.  Any pH paper or litmus will work, too.  Remember a pH below 7 is acidic and greater than 7 is basic.  A pH of 7 is neutral.

We are going to need more help with grammar.

Let’s say you tried these ideas for composition and grammar.  Based on the essay your teen just wrote after she read Five Feet Apart you have determined she needs to start over.  You need a textbook.  Our nine year old grandson, Paul, is using Easy Grammar.  I am teaching him how to diagram sentences from his book.  Lacie, a freshman, is using Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition.  Warriner’s has courses one through six.  Warriner’s First Course is for seventh grade and Sixth Course is for twelfth grade.  Teacher’s manuals are harder to find and expensive.  Instead google specific questions when you get stuck.  Easy Grammar and Warriner’s are widely available on eBay.  When your teen writes the next essay, try Grammarly.  Once you have a copy of Warriner’s you will be in position to answer about comma splices.

Cobble together Composition and Grammar

You just read an essay your child wrote and determined she needs composition and grammar.  Start with Writing Better Essays in 20 Minutes a Day. (The link looks blank.  Scroll down the page.  Start with the diagnostic test.). Next begin Khan Academy’s Grammar class.  Is your internet spotty?  Are you avoiding videos?  Here  is a written grammar course.  Teach your child how to diagram a sentence and how to parse a verb.  Hey, you finally have the time!  Make the most of it!

Free e-books

It can be tough ordering books.  I like paperback books for kids and teens to use when they work on essays, reader’s questions, and character studies.  But, what if you do not want to invest more money?      Project Gutenberg, The Library of Congress, Hathi Trust, Bartleby, and Online books.  Amazon offers many free kindle e-books, too.  Look for your local library’s website to see if they offer Overdrive.  You have to dig through these books.  Remember, free books tend to be older books in the common domain, such as Five Children and It.  Bookmark this post.  After another month at home, these books may look more attractive.

What should I teach in English?

I bet you are learning a great deal about your child’s education.  Public schools rely on state standards for learning, such as Virginia’s Standards of Learning or SOLs.  Private and public school teachers offer similar courses in math and science.  Often there are enormous differences in English and Social Sciences or History.

Let’s start with English.  English or Language Arts includes Reading, Composition, Literature, Grammar, and Vocabulary.  Here are Grade Four English Standards in Virginia.  Here is Grade Four Reading.  They look fine.  It is a good idea to include a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction literary resources.  There are no details?  Which books?  Should the vocabulary be derived exclusively from the books they read?  How is grammar or composition instructed?  Are there spelling tests?

What is the solution?  At our house, we are attacking English globally.  I ordered a reading textbook, vocabulary book, grammar book, and several novels.  The textbook is at 5th grade because Paul reads well; the grammar book is 3rd grade because he had not had any grammar in school. Each day he completes a 30 minute assignment and reads for at least 30 minutes.  I vary the English materials.  Right now Paul has finished Holes and watched the movie.  He began to work on background for a paper comparing the book with the movie.  He has written a list of characters and is working on similarities and differences.  I gave him a list of vocabulary from the glossary in this study guide.  He wrote each word five times.  Paul has a vocabulary quiz next week.  Spelling counts.  Additionally, he does some grammar exercises most days.  Next week, he and I will work exclusively on the Holes project.  Paul will write and type a five paragraph essay.  As he reads A Wrinkle in Time independently, I will give him grammar, reading, and vocabulary assignments in the textbooks I ordered.

What can you do?  If the idea of creating an entire English curriculum is daunting, select four Newbery Award Winners.  These are widely available on eBay and Amazon.  I have been ordering more from eBay because the books are arriving more quickly.  The library of Congress has classic books to read.  Pick four books, download study guides, read the books, and write an essay for each book.  For example, chose Huckleberry Finn.  This reading guide has questions, vocabulary, and writing prompts.  Huckleberry Finn has been banned from many schools and libraries.  A good essay question is ‘Should Huckleberry Finn be banned?’  Yes, you should read the book along with your child.  Get cracking!

Okay, we are working four or five hours each day, how can I break things up?

Okay!  Your kids are up and working by 9:00.  You have books and materials for Math, English, Science, and History.  How do you break things up?  In Math, kids should do problem sets every day. But, try a mad minute.  Set up a page of review and time your child to see how many problems she can finish in one minute.  In English, select classic novels to read which have been made into movies.  Download a study guide and select activities with your child.  Watch the film and compare the book with the film.  Write a compare and contrast essay.  In Science, locate hands-on experiments.  Try varying your daily assignments.  One day read the chapter and work on questions or vocabulary the next day.  In History, incorporate timelines and mapping skills.  English should include reading, and grammar, vocabulary, and composition.  Vary the English assignments.  Once a week, do a composition.  Read a classic novel and write a book report.  Locate a vocabulary list for the classic novel.  Have your child learn the vocabulary.  Set up a quiz; make spelling count.  You may decide Monday is grammar, Tuesday vocabulary, Wednesday handwriting or a composition, Thursday grammar, and Friday extended reading. If your child is practicing handwriting on Tuesdays, pick a different day to write a composition.  Don’t take too many breaks—just break up the assignments.

How long should schooling take?

How much time should you spend on lessons?  Three or four hours should be sufficient for elementary aged kids.  In school, kids wait for others to finish.  They wait for the teacher to set up the Smartboard or Elmo.  Kids have Art, Music, Computer, Library, and PE.  Yes, they attend school for seven hours; half of the time spent in school is NOT invested in academics.

Older teens should spend at least five hours on academics each day.  Lacie, a freshman, has more material in her core subjects: Theology, English, History, Chemistry, Algebra, and Latin.  She has classics to read and analyze, papers to write, more problem sets, and translations.  If you are working on English, Math, Science, and History, plan on four hours each day.

How long should your daily lessons take?  What are your goals?  My main goal is to complete one year of instruction in each core class.  My secondary goal is to maintain reading and math all summer.  Right now the fourth grader is working three or four hours each day.  The freshman is working five hours each day.  We work five days each week.  The freshman needs time on the weekend for reading, writing, or study, about three hours Saturday or Sunday.

Keep a schedule.  We start at 9:00.  If we run late, we end late.  Paul, nine, spends an hour on math, 45 minutes on science, 45 minutes on English topics, 30 minutes on History, and at least 40 minutes reading an assigned novel.  He reads comic books and graphic novels, too; these are not part of his studies.  Paul’s morning time is entirely academic.  He usually has a cooking lesson, guitar practice, checks on-going science projects, and plays board games outside of class.  We take a 45 minute walk after lunch.

Lacie, a freshman, sets her goals in the morning and works on two topics each day.  She works from 9-2:30.  Lunch is 30 minutes.  Lacie concentrates on two subjects a day in long blocks of time.  Your teen may prefer to do shorter assignments of several subjects every day.  After lessons are over, she often FaceTimes classmates to review Chemistry.

Get your child on a schedule working every day.

What is a preassessment?

Let’s say you decided to strike out on your own and home-school your child for the duration.  How do you determine where to start?  What material had she completed by mid-March?  Are there weak areas?  This situation requires a pre-assessment, a test of skills sometimes called diagnostic tests.  Use standardized tests with answer keys.  North Carolina has ‘End of Grade’ tests like this one for fourth grade math with answer keys.  Here is a fourth grade reading test.  Virginia has SOL released exams (Standards of Learning) for Reading, Writing, Science, and Social Science.  Here are the links for Texas STAAR released exams.  Have your child take the test.  After you grade it, look for problems.  Which questions did he miss?  Was the test too easy?  Try the next grade’s test to see if she knows that material, too.  If your child scores well across the subjects in her grade, start lessons at the next grade level.  You can do this!