Please forgive the bomb shell of questions below. YOU DO NOT have to answer every single one of them. I just want throw out every possible question I have right now- to get your brains thinking - and maybe - make u remember a neat tibit to tell me. : ) Please just answer one or anything. Thank you! 1) To you who use the Academy, please give me any advise on how you organize: your stuff, kids stuff, what type of desk (one that can be lowered or raised to grow with kid - do you know if/where they sell those desks?), what type of computer? Do you use a lap top and have it connected to a larger computer monitor? Do you just use a lap top at a desk? Do you block access to everything on the lap top - so that kiddo can't play PBS kid games? What age do you start using head sets with computer? My organization so far: My room is an extra bedroom. I have the A Beka alphabet up on wall; I have a white board up (will I use it?), I have large monthly calendar up on wall to see what we are doing at a glance (more for me- obviously). I have shelves up and have supplies organized - that is about it. I have no materials yet. Should Do you use work box system or a folder system to sort their A Beka Academy stuff? Does A Beka tell you how to organize all of this? Again, what do you do? 2) Advise on using A Beka Academy successfully with active boy? I am imagining I will sit with my Kinder boy for the first year for the whole time? To make sure he is doing work? Taking seriously? To battle frustration, would u suggest setting a 15 min timer - telling him when it goes off to pause or finish work sheet - and then go outside for 10 min? (I am just thinking this might work?) Do you use positive reinforcement charts like "if you finish well this week, you get..." to encourage kiddo to be attentive? I am assuming the worst possible situation - so that I can prepare for success. So - lets just assume my Kinder boy is pretty typical with lots of ants in his pants...do you have tips for handling this? Anything will be appreciated! We are scheduled to start at end of April. Please. Please. Please. Throw me a bone - I beg. Gimme anything you got. I am not a girl that has to learn the hard way. Ha! I will copy those who are successful! Without shame! : )
I have no advice on Abeka Academy.... and am very relaxed in the early years... and even later prefer our homeschooling adventure to look nothing like school, so I'm not much help in setting up a room either, but I wanted to say Welcome
I used Abeka Academy for my dd and she graduated last year. She loved it but she is the sit down and study independently type kid. My son on the other hand is an active boy and it did not work for him. However, he is now 11th grade and we are using their geometry. I would rather have used Math U See throughout the years but being that I had it from dd I decided to use it. The abeka academy days are long, in my opinion to long for an active boy, but keep in mind we didn't start the videos until 6th grade. I did abeka one on one with him before sixth. We never used a certain sitting area. I always got the dvds, still do, because it gives the availability to do school anywhere. I used 3 ring binders for each subject. I hope some of this helps.
My sister has a friend that uses the videos with her boys. But she is slowly moving towards other curriculum because of the incredible amount of time it takes, and all the seat work that has to be done. For a boy that doesn't like to sit still, I don't know if it is the best curriculum choice. But the only way to know is to give it a shot and try. But don't be afraid to try something else if it is just too much or not working.
We do not do Abeka Academy, but we did K12 with my k'er this year. My best advice is to not do it all in one sitting. Break up the day. Abeka always gives great "schedules" that include recess and lunch and times for subjects. Find a schedule that works for you using their times for the subjects. I do have a small desk for my son. It is an old school desk like I had in school. It helps him to have his own desk and it is the kind with the open bottom for books. His school books stay in his desk. I also got him his own box for his supplies that slides under his desk. Abeka and K12 are very much alike in that they are buffets of information. Sometimes you have to look at what they are asking to be completed and unless it is something we have to turn in to the teacher...I make the call as to whether he has already mastered it with previous materials or if it is just busy work. We don't have videos but we have lessons on the computer that are like powerpoint presentations for history and science. We sit together in front of the laptop to do lessons. I do supervise seatwork but I no longer hover over him as I did in the beginning of the year. He knows he has to complete it and I do not time anything. I take the suggested times for him to complete something as just that...suggestions. We use a 3 ring binder/folder from Mead. I label it with a 5 tab divider set with labels for Monday-Friday. I print our weekly lesson plan on the weekend and place all printables and worksheets from their student guides on the appropriate days in the binder. I also gather any materials needed and have it handy (art supplies, cotton balls, construction paper...). Abeka has a video guide laid out for the year where you can get your materials needed information if you desired such a binder. I will tell you it helps with my k'er b/c instead of him getting bored and distracted as I find materials and tear out pages...I just have his binder handy and pull out the pages on Monday as we work through the subject. I went to this system after the year I tried the filing system and tore apart all my books before the beginning of the year for the whole year. That was a super mistake! Doing it a week at a time makes it manageable should life happen and we get off track. I would get a chalkboard for the wall. Chalkboards are great for little ones instead of dry erase boards. They help with the pincer grip and the writing against a vertical surface helps build the muscles for fine motor control. The chalkboard is hung at my child's level and I have a dry erase board that I use for writing on when I am teaching. I bought a pantry style cupboard from Target that I keep all my supplies in for teaching and extra materials. Here are things that I have accumulated over the years and find invaluable for teaching. 1. 3 whole punch 2. Paper cutter 3. I have 3 containers that hold 1. Pencils and pens 2. Erasers and grips 3. push pins and paper clips. 4. Trays for holding printer paper, card stock paper, and handwriting paper 5. Construction paper in various sizes. You will need that crazy long paper and the manilla long paper at some point for something. 6. File folders 7. Label maker 8, Laminator All of the above are in my teacher's cupboard. I also invested in a nice wireless color inkjet printer that has a fax machine. It is great for scanning things for sending to the teachers instead of having to mail them. Abeka has a lot of paper manipulatives and posters. Laminate them and they will last forever. After our work is completed, I do have a trapper keeper binder for the kids that is divided by subject and all their completed work goes in after grading. We do a reward system for good behavior. I have a green, yellow, red system. It is a card system and he will have to turn a card for misbehavior or not listening. If his behavior is relatively good all week and he doesn't have a red card, I have a treasure box filled with pencils, erasers, stickers, and fun stuff to choose. I have a very active little boy who has had no trouble meeting the requirements of a rigorous academic curriculum. In fact, he finished kindergarten before Christmas and is now in 1st grade materials. Abeka is a really good curriculum that will teach the 3 R's well. Just remember it is a buffet of material and while some kids will need all of it to grasp something...others may catch on with the first worksheet. So don't be afraid to pick and choose if it isn't something that has to be turned in to the Academy.
