> HI!! I am new to the conference.  I am not
 > "officially" a homeschool
 > mother because my oldest just turned 4 in May. I have
I'm not either, but there are a few of us interested in this echo either 
because we're considering homeschooling or because we just are interested in 
what it's all about. I fall under the former category - I am hoping to be 
able to homeschool my 2 girls (ages 10 and 9; 5th and 4th grades 
respectively) this fall.
 > turned 3!! Can you
 > see me beaming with pride?:-}!  He has a strong desire
Yes. Just don't be surprised if your second child is different from the first 
one. Jennifer read before she entered school; Kristin did not, but picked it 
up quickly.
 >  When would you recommend sex education?  I am talking
Most kids will start asking questions when they are ready to know. With mine, 
I tend not to tell them more than I think they are ready for, and let them 
ask when they seem to be ready for more. I had to answer "the big one" with 
my 10 year old, just a few days ago.
 > considered using ABEKA for K5.  Do you think buying a
 > K5 curriculum is necessary?  Is ABEKA's Advanced K5 much different from
 > the regular K5?
I am familiar with A Beka, as I have taught in an A Beka school and subbed in 
another one. The K4 and K5 curricula aren't necessary if you are familiar 
with what you are doing. The curriculum guide is a godsend if you aren't sure 
of how to approach it. It will tell you even what to say, if you follow it 
"religiously".
 > homeschooling.  Vicki has the following ?'s.  If you
 > finish one grade level before the next level is "suppose" to start-what
 > do you do?  Do you notify the school system in say, January that you
 > are exceeding their requirements and advancing to the next grade
 > level?   Do you test them for the grade level they are working on, or
 > according to their age level?  Are teacher's manuals necessary for the 
lower
 > grades?
If you finish one grade level there is no reason why you can't go on to the 
next one; that's what is nice about homeschooling!!! Do you HAVE to keep your 
school system informed about what you are doing? In CA we don't, as long as 
we are operating as a private school. If we are operating as an ISP out of 
the public schools, THEN we have to inform the school about what we're doing.
As far as teacher's manuals are concerned, as a former primary level teacher 
(Christian and public schools) I have mixed emotions on them. Many of the 
guides ARE well written and they have all kinds of supplemental information 
and ideas written in the margins. The best ones, IMO, are the guides that 
have the children's book page printed on them and using the same numbering 
system as the children's book, and that have the ideas in the margin. Bear in 
mind that these were written with a classroom in mind, not a homeschooler, so 
some of the ideas are better with 20 or 30 kids. You can modify them for use 
with just one or two.
A Beka doesn't really use teacher's manuals in the lower grades. That's what 
the curriculum guide is for. With A Beka, you will "buy" the curriculum guide 
but eventually you will have to return it...or at least, that's the way it 
used to be.
A Beka's plus (IMHO) is their phonics program, and their readers are pretty 
decent if you want to use them, as well. Both of my girls learned to read 
through an A Beka program...I started my oldest at home and she finished out 
in an A Beka school, and my younger one learned completely from the A Beka 
phonics program (tho admittedly I read aloud).
Funny story about A Beka:
My youngest child's K teacher came to me one afternoon. "Mrs. Ransdell, 
Kristin won't go to Reading Group all week. I haven't pushed her, thinking 
she might be going thru a rough time, but after a week, I figured I better 
come to you." I was concerned and talked to Kristin at home. "Oh, Mommy, 
those books are so BORING. Why can't we read something like we read at home?" 
I went back to her school the next day and said, "Mrs. Verner, I am so sorry, 
but the little books of A Beka are really having a difficult time competing 
with _Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing_, which we are reading aloud at home. 
Kristin thinks her reading group books should be that interesting, too." We 
had a good laugh over it. But in the meantime, both she and I explained to 
Kristin that you have to learn to read one step at a time, and that a lot of 
the words in Tales were probably too tough for her to read on her own yet, 
but if she practiced with her reading group, she would be reading Tales by 
herself in a year or two. Guess what? She was!
                                 -donna
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