1 SHAMASH.ORG /usr/www/wwwhc/listserv/archives/torch-d May 2008 2 161 44_Re: Guilt and giving advice to the community15_Miriam Schwartz16_gitvob@YAHOO.COM30_Thu, 1 May 2008 23:09:26 -0700521_windows-1252 You know, I try not to bash the school system. I spent a year teaching; I know these teachers are doing their best. I know that when you have a class of 30 kids, if you just say hello to each child every day you're already a hero. At the same time, I really believe that frum women's education is sorely lacking. How is it that all we did in our twelve years of yeshiva education was Tanach, and we failed to cover even that? Why did we fail to read the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch in its entirety? These are [...]37_1May200823:09:26-0700gitvob@YAHOO.COM 164 61 19_Homeschooling teens19_malkiadler@juno.com19_malkiadler@JUNO.COM28_Sun, 4 May 2008 04:02:36 GMT317_windows-1252 Hi, I am looking for an online program for my 14 yr old daughter for next year. Does anyone have any experience -good or bad- to share? I would like her to cover her basic subjects with it. Those who have kept high schoolers at home, I would love to hear about your experiences!
Thanks,
Malki [...]38_4May200804:02:36GMTmalkiadler@JUNO.COM 226 62 23_Re: Homeschooling teens7_TJ Cole20_harbke2000@YAHOO.COM30_Sun, 4 May 2008 16:30:01 -0700306_iso-8859-1 I really liked a secular program called K12 you can get info on them at K12.com I am not sure if they have open enrollment on their high school program or not but aside from adding to the history and tweaking the evolutionism in some of the science I used it as written for almost 5 years. [...]41_4May200816:30:01-0700harbke2000@YAHOO.COM 289 53 22_Books to pass along...6_Shayna17_ssheiny@YAHOO.COM30_Sun, 4 May 2008 18:45:37 -0700477_iso-8859-1 Hi all,

We're in the process of clearing out our excess (as we
are moving over the summer), and I have a two good
books that fellow Homeschoolers might want. They are
free - I would just ask that you are willing to pay
the shipping cost (via media mail, payment via
paypal). I'm not interested in making a profit on
these, but I do want to make sure they get to a good
home - they're great books, we just no longer need/use
them. [...]38_4May200818:45:37-0700ssheiny@YAHOO.COM 343 139 26_Re: Books to pass along...10_Bela Unell24_bela.resnicoff@GMAIL.COM30_Tue, 6 May 2008 00:02:29 -0400576_ISO-8859-1 We are interested. Are they still available? We live in Silver Spring, but
our parents are in West Rogers Park and could pick the books up.

Thanks,
Ephraim and Bela

On Sun, May 4, 2008 at 9:45 PM, Shayna wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> We're in the process of clearing out our excess (as we
> are moving over the summer), and I have a two good
> books that fellow Homeschoolers might want. They are
> free - I would just ask that you are willing to pay
> the shipping cost (via media mail, payment via
[...]45_6May200800:02:29-0400bela.resnicoff@GMAIL.COM 483 63 20_Chinuch at Home help15_Ilana Opatowsky18_ilanao@VERIZON.NET31_Wed, 28 May 2008 13:37:17 -0400606_ISO-8859-1 Has anyone used Chinuch at Home or the Linear Chumash translation software
for Chumash study? If so, did you and/or your kids like it? Did it work
for you? I have searched for years for a chinuch curriculum and mostly
ended up reading the parsha hashavua and chagim books to my kids. I have
been homeschooling for 13 years and I have never been successful at teaching
what they do in a day school. I bought many books from Torah U'Mesorah over
the years, but they really were written for a classroom setting and someone
familiar with the dayschool/yeshiva environment. [...]40_28May200813:37:17-0400ilanao@VERIZON.NET 547 136 24_Re: Chinuch at Home help15_Bara Loewenthal26_bara@BTGENTERPRISESINC.COM31_Wed, 28 May 2008 15:51:59 -0600567_iso-8859-1 Hi Ilana,
I had the same dilemma, currently we are using Sonlight for our secular
studies, Singapore math and real science 4 kids. It is a good mix for my
kids 7 and 9 and we just started explode the code primer for my almost 4
year old who wanted a workbook.

So Limudei kodesh. I am also pretty much done with the secular this year (
we are never done really) and we are doing only Hebrew and kodesh for the
summer. I focus heavily on dikduk (grammar) starting with biblical grammar.
We are using Lashon HaTorah by Rabbie [...]48_28May200815:51:59-0600bara@BTGENTERPRISESINC.COM 684 109 24_Re: Chinuch at Home help12_Rena Weisman19_renaweisman@COX.NET31_Wed, 28 May 2008 17:06:58 -0700633_iso-8859-1 How old are your kids that you are currently home schooling?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ilana Opatowsky"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 10:37 AM
Subject: [TORCH-D] Chinuch at Home help

> Has anyone used Chinuch at Home or the Linear Chumash translation software
> for Chumash study? If so, did you and/or your kids like it? Did it work
> for you? I have searched for years for a chinuch curriculum and mostly
> ended up reading the parsha hashavua and chagim books to my kids. I have
> been homeschooling for 13 years and I [...]41_28May200817:06:58-0700renaweisman@COX.NET 794 58 18_Re: Limudei Kodesh15_Ilana Opatowsky18_ilanao@VERIZON.NET31_Thu, 29 May 2008 01:52:51 -0400554_ISO-8859-1 Thank you Bara and Rena for your replies. My kids are dd 8 and ds 10 (11
this week) and will be going into 4th and 6th grades. I bought and used
Lashon Hatorah for my older kids and got them again for the younger ones.
My 10-year-old made it through two of the books and then we stopped last
year. I bought both Sha'ah Shel Menucha and Chaverim B'Ivrit for Hebrew.
We made it through both first books and half of the second Sha'ah book
before Pesach. We have done almost no limudei kodesh other than the parsha
since [...]40_29May200801:52:51-0400ilanao@VERIZON.NET 853 126 14_Re: curriculum0_17_renalevin@AOL.COM31_Thu, 29 May 2008 07:25:15 -0400368_us-ascii ok, folks, you are bringing up some great curriculum sources that I have not heard of, links, please!

Thanks.

Rena in Baltimore

For chumash I purchased the Lech Lecha chumash workbook for beginners from
Torah uMesorah by Rabbi S. Weinberg.

For Parsha I have the kids read the Linear Chumash

For Ivrit I tried Tal Am [...]39_29May200807:25:15-0400renalevin@AOL.COM 980 110 18_Re: Limudei Kodesh8_cillakat18_cillakat@GMAIL.COM31_Thu, 29 May 2008 09:20:10 -0230463_ISO-8859-1 "She is the ADHD poster child,
bouncing up and down and rolling on the floor everytime we try to work. She
does the same thing for secular studies. We have gone the reward and
punishment routes, but I haven't found anything that works for her. "

Because she *can't* do it differently. Not because she won't. Having
been down this road with my eldest, i can say that not for one minute
have I regretted going with medication. [...]40_29May200809:20:10-0230cillakat@GMAIL.COM 1091 117 18_Re: Limudei Kodesh15_Borisute Family18_borisute@GMAIL.COM31_Thu, 29 May 2008 10:01:27 -0400576_us-ascii I am homeschooling my 10 year old son for the first time this year. I am
chabad and live in crown heights. I don't think my son has adhd, but he is
certainly fidgety and is largely inattentive. School did not work for him
for more than one reason.

Having described our situation a little I would like to explain that being
chabad my priority is teaching kodesh. Practically speaking it is infinitely
easier for me to teach secular.
If secular subjects were my priority my son would not learn any kodesh as it
is much harder for me to [...]40_29May200810:01:27-0400borisute@GMAIL.COM 1209 59 18_Re: Limudei Kodesh15_Bara Loewenthal26_bara@BTGENTERPRISESINC.COM31_Thu, 29 May 2008 07:53:26 -0600339_iso-8859-1 Hi Ilana,
I guess I should have mentioned that my 9 year old son was diagnosed for
ADHD and dyslexia. Well I do not hold that much by the diagnosis. I do see
the huge difference between teaching my seven yo dd and my ds. All I have to
say is patience and boundless encouragement and practice practice practice. [...]48_29May200807:53:26-0600bara@BTGENTERPRISESINC.COM 1269 73 7_Thanks!15_Ilana Opatowsky21_ilana.rivka@GMAIL.COM31_Thu, 29 May 2008 13:41:42 -0400586_ISO-8859-1 Wow! It really helps to hear all the words of support. Sometimes I go
through periods where I just feel like I'm failing in Chinuch. I was
rereading my post and I want to make sure I didn't offend anyone when
mentioning that my friend teaches only kodesh and not secular. I didn't
mean that it was bad, just that it was different from my educational
hashkafa. She always says that I'm so smart because I'm so knowledgeable
about different things, but it's due to the difference in my education. I
had a college-prep high school education and I have [...]43_29May200813:41:42-0400ilana.rivka@GMAIL.COM 1343 50 11_Re: Thanks!14_Jennifer Moran20_jrmoran@UCHICAGO.EDU31_Thu, 29 May 2008 14:10:47 -0500472_us-ascii Ilana wrote:
>Her brother is 18 and he's been going out with
>non-Jewish girls, too. He says there are very few Jewish
>girls around and it's true. I told him that doesn't matter,
>but he sees his sister doing it and figures it's OK. He is
>going away to school, but the place he is going to is small
>and doesn't have many Jews. I told him that the solution is
>not to date and that he knew the situation when he chose the
>college. [...]42_29May200814:10:47-0500jrmoran@UCHICAGO.EDU 1394 118 18_Re: Limudei Kodesh14_Jennifer Moran20_jrmoran@UCHICAGO.EDU31_Thu, 29 May 2008 13:40:27 -0500645_us-ascii Katherine's the expert on this subject. I just want
to add one point from recent personal experience:

If you have a child with ADHD-like symptoms, be sure to rule
out a sleep disorder.

My son was recently having a lot of behavior problems,
impulsivity, hyperactivity, etc. Well, it turns out he
has Obstructive Sleep Apnea caused by large tonsils. Even
after 11 hours of sleep, he hasn't had enough deep sleep,
because he's been jolted out of deep sleep every time he
stops breathing. Kids generally become hyperactive rather
than sleepy when they haven't had enough sleep. It also
impairs [...]42_29May200813:40:27-0500jrmoran@UCHICAGO.EDU 1513 108 18_Re: Limudei Kodesh14_Malkie Swidler18_malkie18@GMAIL.COM31_Thu, 29 May 2008 23:51:09 +0300421_ISO-8859-1 That's the thing about ADHD-- it's a legitimate psychiatric disorder. It
does exist, I have a friend who suffers terribly from it.

It can also mask over a hundred other medical and non-medical problems.

In Ilana's case, I would respectfully suggest that it's probably not a
diagnosable pyschiatric disorder-- it's probably just that Calvert and your
dd are simply not a good match. [...]40_29May200823:51:09+0300malkie18@GMAIL.COM 1622 61 11_Curriculums12_Rena Weisman19_renaweisman@COX.NET31_Thu, 29 May 2008 15:05:15 -0700587_iso-8859-1 Aside from Sonlight and Calvert, have you any of you been happy with/used other curriculums for the elementary grades?

Thanks!
Rena W.

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For other options go to: http://listserv.SHAMASH.ORG/41_29May200815:05:15-0700renaweisman@COX.NET 1684 261 15_Re: Curriculums17_Rebecca Or-Shahar20_orshahar@COMCAST.NET31_Thu, 29 May 2008 18:23:23 -0400539_US-ASCII I've used K12 in the past, and I was very happy with the program. We did
the science and language arts for the 3rd grade.

Rebecca in MA

Ima to 4 boys and twin girls

_____

From: Torah-Centered Homeschooling [mailto:TORCH-D@SHAMASH.ORG] On Behalf Of
Rena Weisman
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 6:05 PM
To: TORCH-D@SHAMASH.ORG
Subject: [TORCH-D] Curriculums

Aside from Sonlight and Calvert, have you any of you been happy with/used
other curriculums for the elementary grades? [...]42_29May200818:23:23-0400orshahar@COMCAST.NET 1946 153 18_Re: Limudei Kodesh7_TJ Cole20_harbke2000@YAHOO.COM31_Thu, 29 May 2008 10:38:44 -0700297_iso-8859-1 I had a friend with a son who couldn't concentrate unless he was moving, she bought him one of the big balls that can be used as chairs, simple I know and you probably already thought of it if it would have worked for you, but since it worked for her I thought I would mention it. [...]42_29May200810:38:44-0700harbke2000@YAHOO.COM 2100 140 11_Re: Thanks!15_Ilana Opatowsky21_ilana.rivka@GMAIL.COM31_Thu, 29 May 2008 18:01:50 -0700565_ISO-8859-1 The whole point is that my daughter has plenty of Jewish kids to socialize
with at college and practically zero at home. She chose to date this guy
who lives here at home 400 miles away from college. I don't get it and she
does not want to give him up. I have never given my children any reason to
think that intermarriage is acceptable, however most of the women who attend
our shul are intermarried and maybe she figured if they did it that it's
somehow all right. They both plan on going to Israel with Birthright next
year. [...]43_29May200818:01:50-0700ilana.rivka@GMAIL.COM 2241 73 11_Re: Thanks!17_Chana Silberstein16_cs32@CORNELL.EDU31_Thu, 29 May 2008 21:35:16 -0400498_iso-8859-1 Ilana, You write your son is going to a small college with few Jews, and
that you responded by telling him the solution is not to date and that he
knew this when he chose the college.

May I suggest, instead, that a more workable solution may be to change
schools? These are vulnerable years. Perhaps you can provide him with an
incentive for agreeing to switch to a college with a more Jewish
environment and/or as Jennifer suggested, taking a year in Israel. [...]38_29May200821:35:16-0400cs32@CORNELL.EDU 2315 215 15_Re: Curriculums14_Malkie Swidler18_malkie18@GMAIL.COM31_Fri, 30 May 2008 15:17:02 +0300585_ISO-8859-1 IMHO, the best curriculum is the one that matches the child. IME this has
been a math program (or not) from here, no reading program-- just lots of
great books, science depending on the interest of the kids but with lots of
neat experiments, history with those great books already mentioned (and a
timeline is fun to make and it's a great way to put together all the pieces,
too), writing using some of CM's ideas, both in mechanics and in spelling.
Ivrit depending on the kid and the year but always starting with songs (I
have written about this [...]40_30May200815:17:02+0300malkie18@GMAIL.COM 2531 127 66_Jewish studies curriculum ideas for midle and high school, anyone?22_Bill and Kathi Kreider18_wkreider@NC.RR.COM31_Fri, 30 May 2008 09:37:15 -0400391_iso-8859-1 I thought since we were talking about teaching Chumash, etc, maybe I could get some ideas/help for my kids' curriculum.

We are a Baal Teshuvah family with no Jewish education in our background. We also live in a tiny Jewish community, and no one else homeschools. The other families with children our age either send them away to school or send them to public school. [...]40_30May200809:37:15-0400wkreider@NC.RR.COM 2659 241 11_Re: Thanks!15_Ilana Opatowsky21_ilana.rivka@GMAIL.COM31_Fri, 30 May 2008 11:57:05 -0700599_ISO-8859-1 Chana,

Thanks for the reply. My son is currently attending the local junior
college and chose this state college because he likes the area and it has a
good psychology program. He also does not want to attend a large school and
this college has one of the smallest campuses. He is planning to start
there this fall. I didn't force him to apply to this school. My daughter
is attending a University of California campus where there are more Jewish
students. It is about 10% percent Jewish at her campus, but the
percentages of Jewish students are lower at [...]43_30May200811:57:05-0700ilana.rivka@GMAIL.COM 2901 401 15_Re: Curriculums12_Rena Weisman19_renaweisman@COX.NET31_Fri, 30 May 2008 13:06:48 -0700510_iso-8859-1 Malkie -

Thank you for your answer. I think we definitely do follow the philosophy of "simg zmirot". We're just finishing up our first official year of homeschooling, "kindergarden" - I didn't buy a curriculum or any "standard materials" - my focus was mostly on the Parsha, Shabbat and the Chagim as they came up. I incorporated writing and math into our parsha projects, where they fit in. I managed B"H to teach my daughter to read Hebrew. We've dabbled into Chumash text just a bit. [...]41_30May200813:06:48-0700renaweisman@COX.NET 3303 347 11_Re: Thanks!6_B Mali18_malikids@GMAIL.COM31_Fri, 30 May 2008 15:13:40 -0700626_ISO-8859-1 Ilana,
I for one can relate to your situation. We live in Oregon and there is not
a frum community to speak of. My two middle kids are going to the local
community college and the University of Oregon. Living at home while
attending college has obvious benefits. Their leaving home year will be in
a religious environment in Israel. Being mostly homeschooled until college
they have studied Torah observance on their own without a community group
affiliation. They have study partners across the country and going to
college has not stopped that. (the Hillel House and the local Chabad [...]40_30May200815:13:40-0700malikids@GMAIL.COM 3651 131 11_Re: Thanks!28_=?utf-8?B?TmVjaGFtYSBDb3g=?=20_nechama@BOREALIS.COM31_Fri, 30 May 2008 23:19:18 +0000341_Windows-1252 My husband was brought up in Portland and he also had an extremely strong sense of being Jewish and all the limitations that being frum put on social lives. At 19 when I met him, he was very similar to how you describe your son.

Nechama.

Nechama Cox
nechama@borealis.com

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T [...]42_30May200823:19:18+0000nechama@BOREALIS.COM 3783 81 15_Re: Curriculums14_Sigal Gottlieb23_sigalgottlieb@YAHOO.COM31_Sat, 31 May 2008 18:09:54 -0700478_us-ascii Shavua Tov!

I am very happy with Shiller math together with Singapore math. The combination has worked very well for us.

Singapore is not expensive, Shiller is -- but you can buy only the books from their website and then buy manipulatives
elsewhere.

Sigal

----- Original Message ----
From: Rena Weisman
To: TORCH-D@SHAMASH.ORG
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 6:05:15 PM
Subject: [TORCH-D] Curriculums [...]45_31May200818:09:54-0700sigalgottlieb@YAHOO.COM