I’ve made this thread (which I will check as often as possible) for questions and comments regarding my Old Fashioned Education site. I will answer as best I can. Hope I’m able to help.
Maggie
September 10, 2008...10:59 am
OFE Questions & Comments
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53 Comments
September 11, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Hi Maggie. I’m just wondering if you’ve had experience or known anyone who successfully combined this curriculum with different ages? I’ve got 3 that I’m homeschooling this year and it overwhelms me to think of doing 3 different ones. Also, do you tend to read aloud everything or just to the younger kids? If just to the younger kids, what age do you tend to let them read on their own?
September 11, 2008 at 3:22 pm
The subjects I read aloud depend on the kids. Since mine are so old now, I only read science aloud and then only with the 12 year old. He and I are doing science together, every step of the way, except for tests and questions.
My plan has been to combine all ages as much as possible with every subject possible. For instance, writing–history–biography–literature–like I said, as much as possible. Each kid gets their own math level, but pretty much everything else, we’re doing together. Granted I have different expectations for the 15 year old than I do for the 12 year old, but otherwise, it’s all the same. Hope this helped some.
September 11, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I forgot to add, the older the child gets more work during the week than the younger one. I add more supplemental reading and worksheets or activities.
September 12, 2008 at 11:07 am
Hello-
I am really enjoying this blog and I’ve read several others of yours, maggie.
I just wanted to comment to sarah, I homeschool 8 children on the OFE. It can be tough, especially since I work (outside the home) 3 days an week and help at the office for the family business that my husband and I run. My kids range from 15-3 years old and my oldest 3 kids, (15-13-11), I leave them their school lessons outlined on the table in the morning and they just read their stuff and do their math to the best of their ability and then, this is the key, make yourself available for a couple hours at the end of the day to answer questions that they have or to help them with the problems they can’t solve themselves. I am a big believer in teaching kids to be problem solvers at a young age.
With the younger kids, I do their math and their phonics with them when I get home as well, but I keep the lessons short, like 15-20min. tops and the stuff that needs to be read to them is broken up for the older kids to read to them and I keep them short as well.
The “middle kids” that are just starting to read get the word lists from the word mastery and I have them read them on their own and then I teach them the phonics rules that go with them when I get home, as well as having them read the lists out loud to me. I also keep a lot of easy readers and picture books around and they “read” to the 3 and 4 year olds. If they can’t really read the book they make up their own story to go with the pictures. Both the middle and the littlest kids love this program. The big kids can help if they get stuck on a word while I am not there as well.
Another thing I do with the middle children is I group them, my 3 and 4 year old are both doing the same preschool program, basic letter and number recognition with shape and color recognition as well.
My 6 and 8 year old get the same in everything but math and reading.
My 10 and 11 year old are doing the same on everything.
My oldest two are also at the same level on everything but reading, which they pretty much do on their own anyway. I have to adjust some of the literature to be smaller chunks for my son because he is considerably behind in reading compared to his big sister. We just work through the book lists at whatever pace is best for them to comprehend the information.
I have a math software (Quarter mile math) where the computer saves your best time and you compete against yourself to better the time. Each of my kids do about 20-30 minutes on that each day to reinforce their math skills. I love this program because the kids enjoy it and since they are racing against themselves, it makes it just right (challenging but not hopless) for whatever level they are at and they can see marked improvement every time.
My kids also do clogging once a week and LOTS of house chores. Once a month, we take 3 days of the week when I’ll be at home and do an extra good clean in the house to keep up with the household stuff and don’t do school. They know that if they aren’t making progress at their school-work and aren’t getting it done, we don’t get the break and we don’t get to do extras on the weekends like going to the fair this weekend!
Anyway- that is how it works for our family. You have to do what works for yours but it is possible to do this cirriculum with multiple children at multiple levels.
Hope this was a help to you and your family!
God bless-
Kelly
September 12, 2008 at 11:24 am
THanks for sharing Kelly, I always like to know how other people are doing it.
September 12, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Yes, thanks both of you! I plan to combine most of the history/lit/geography reading for my almost 9 yo and 11 year old and then do a separate grade for my 6 year old. Hopefully it will work for us. I’d like to start out reading a lot of it to them so I can get a grasp on what they’re retaining. Not to mention that a lot of the reading would be too hard for my 9 year old to read….she’s a bit behind for her grade level.
September 13, 2008 at 2:59 pm
We do it differently too. We have a 19 mo boy an about to be 7 1st grade and a just turned 11 5th grade girls. My oldest reads aloud to the younger daughter. She also watches the baby for a 15-30 minute phonics, reading and dolch word lesson. She reads the directions for math to her younger sister while doing her own math (she’s over a grade level behind from being in PS last year while living with my parents). She does her own reading and then must retell the reading in 3-5 paragraphs (where we discovered she forgot how to write a complete sentence) and must rewrite it until it meets my minimum standards (which I have been told are quite strict). We do Math 4 days a week M-TH, the first quarter is history (we troll all the grade levels for books to go along with a yearly topic from 4th grade up, this year is Civil War and an Introduction to WWII since we found alot of books at Goodwill), second is science (we don’t use the OFE science because I want more up to date materials), third is literature (mostly classics I pick up at the Goodwill that I think they will like in the current year), fourth is Spanish and 2 days a week is home economics F-Sa (which they do together mostly). We use OFE more loosely than some but sticking rigidly to it wouldn’t fit our personality. also picking up as many reading selections at Goodwill as possible ($1 for paperback, $2 for hardback except a few specially priced which means more expensive) and on paperbackswap (free but I pay to ship out the ones someone requests from me) as the amount of reading on OFE is very light for my oldest who is the quiet type that prefers to curl up with a book. The younger one is less bookish so I have a feeling the selections will be more suitable for her in quantity.
September 17, 2008 at 9:16 am
Miss Maggie,
I found your site – one of those click and find things from another site on Homeschooling. I am a working single mom who is just getting started schooling her 2 pre-K girls. I loved your site but with the economy I was afraid you might take it down! Do we need to worry about the OFE site going away?
I love your blog too – what an encouragement to all of us who praise the Lord for his abundance and strive to stretch our resources.
A big thank you!
Candace in Shreveport, Louisiana
September 21, 2008 at 11:08 pm
I am very glad that I found the “Old Fashioned Education” web site. I am a mother of 6 that shares ADD with 3 of my children. The curriculum works great for our family.
I want to ~THANK YOU~ for creating this site, and to see if you have heard of about free audiobooks from the public domain at a site called “LibriVox”? I have found that my kids like to listen to the books (when available) while they read along. It seems to enhance interest and with some of the books we will even borrow the movie from our local library after they read the book.
Once again, Thank you!
Jeannette ~ Bemidji, MN
September 30, 2008 at 8:23 pm
i am so glad that i found this site . my question is can i use this for their entire curriculum?
October 7, 2008 at 6:22 am
Do you have access to any workbooks and/or tests for your Old Fashioned Curriculum texts?
Something to prove or improve their comprehension?
October 20, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Your OFE site said that you’d be done with the 12th grade schedule this past summer. Is it completed, and when will it be updated? I’ve been anxiously awaiting it. I truly appreciate the effort you’ve put into both your site and putting everything together.
October 28, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Hi! I really like your site! We started the MEP arithmetic yesterday, and my son loves it! Where can I find the password for the answers? Thank you, Marilyn
October 29, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Hello Marilyn R.,
I emailed CIMT requesting the password for the MEP program and they were happy to give the password.
Email them a request including your name and the name, address and type of your institution.
feedback@cimt.org.uk
October 29, 2008 at 11:04 pm
In regards to tests the ‘Old Fashioned Curriculum’. Many of the texts have test or review questions that can be used for testing comprehension.
I use these questions along with a wonderful free teachers aid I found:
http://www.easytestmaker.com
You can create tests that work well for your child/children.
November 8, 2008 at 4:57 pm
MEP password is CIMT4maths
November 18, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Hi there. I’m so happy to have found a math program. I’m getting started on the MEP curriculum and have a couple of questions.
First, where are the answers located?
And next, I’ve downloaded the practice books and the lesson planner. Is this all there is to it? No official math book?
Thanks so much.
November 19, 2008 at 5:00 am
Miss Maggie, I didn’t know if you knew, but this is a free english grammar site for homeschoolers and the lessons are free and it even scores the work when the child is done.Here is the link
http://www.englishgrammar101.com/
Something you might look at and want to add to your curriculum.
~Tabaitha
December 16, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Thank you so much, Miss Maggie, for the OFE site. I am currently teaching my 5yr old and 4yr old girls with the K level, and plan to keep going with each level as we go through the years. I also have a 1yr old and almost 3yr old, both girls as well. Your sites have been a true gift to me, especially OFE because now I can give my children a quality education without worrying as much about the costs. I don’t use the math (we use Singapore math instead) or the science (I admit to using the Real Science 4 Kids books, if you go to the publisher’s web site you can see the entire text of all their textbooks, lab books, and teacher guides for free so I use those) but the history, geography, and language arts have been a godsend for me.
December 17, 2008 at 2:41 pm
I just finished reading your comments and I am trying to decide on homeschooling. I have a 5 yr. ADHD, 8 yr ADHD and slighlty MR, and a 9 year old. I suffer from migraines and epilepsy and cannot work. I’ve been a teacher’s aide and worked with grades preK through 6th and have an associates in english and business. All of my boys are having trouble in school wether it be scolastic or behavioural, but I am scared that I cannot keep them focused and on task to learn, but I don’t think the public school is benefiting them at all. Is there any encouragment or advice you could give me? I also noted that you can get free educational items and curriculum, but how much do the supplies cost.
December 31, 2008 at 2:55 pm
I tried to e-mail this, but it came back undelivered. So here it is again
I just wanted to thank you for your site. It is amazing and I am in awe of the effort you’ve put into it. I’ve been homeschooling for two years now, and I’ve tried to read through a lot of things to get an idea of what I could be using to provide a more literature based education, and not only is your site the best resource I’ve found, it’s free! So a sincere thank you for that. I am passing along a link to your site to other homeschooling families and those considering it.
I appreciate the choices you have for boys. I also have a very hyperactive child, I too thought it was a bunch of bunk until we adopted our son. We think he has bipolar and stays mostly on the manic side. It took us a lot of suffering before we got over our stubbornness and guilt and got him the help he needed. It’s been wonderful, but he’s still wild and needs a lot of structure, so I’m loving your site and links right now.
I browsed your blog a bit and discovered we also have PCOS in common. Fun isn’t it?
Anyhow, I was reading about your grocery budgeting, and I’m not sure what state you live in, but last year I learned how to shop with coupons, and it’s been a lifesaver. You can’t always find organic things, but at the very least you can use them for household items. We have spent less and built up some food storage in our basement which has really been a blessing to us. The site I use for shopping lists is called pinchingyourpennies.com and it’s great, but it’s Utah centric. It has subforums for other states, but they aren’t terribly active. Still, you may be able to get some help to get started there. I can’t tell you how much stuff I’ve acquired for free or nearly so. The great part is that it hasn’t only blessed us, but when others are in need or the food bank comes calling, we always have the resources to donate, which we couldn’t afford otherwise. Let me know if you have questions about how it works, it’s the least I could do to repay you for the clarity your site has given me.
Thanks again,
Chelsea Flitton
January 5, 2009 at 12:33 am
How do the students take tests? Are there test forms to download?
January 5, 2009 at 12:35 am
Also, how would they get worksheets? Just curious. My daughter is in 11th grade and wants to be homeschooled. Trying to figure out all the details.
January 8, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Hi. We are moving our family of 6 to Uganda we have 9 dd, 7 ds, 5 dd, 15 month old dd. We will be bringing a 4 year old boy Francis to live with us when we get there. He is the reason for our move. We have been in the process of adopting him for 3 and a half years and have been caught in “red tape” so the only way to bring him into our family is to move to Uganda and foster to adopt in the country for 3 years.
We are extremely limited on luggage and books are heavy. Someone sent me a link to your site. It is quite a wonder! thank you. Please if you will help me in figuring how to school all of them using the same years. Is it possible or should we try to make it each one in his/her grade? Also we hope to purchase an amazon kindle before we go. will the texts be able to transfer to it? I am not sure the internet will work all of the time there. Electricity is pretty reliable but not on all of the time.
Do you have any ideas/suggestions on how to make this work for our family?
Thank you so so much.
January 9, 2009 at 1:28 pm
how do we get the homeschooling books that the website talks about? Are we supposed to order them?
March 18, 2009 at 12:56 am
hi i am not home schooling my child but would lkie to teach her more than what the school is teaching her what should a kindergardner about ready to be in first grad be taught and doe joining this sit cost any thing i am with the the reach-in group at northside church tracy gave me your sit
March 26, 2009 at 9:03 pm
Hi Miss Maggie,
This is my first year of homeschooling and my dd is in 1st grade.
I recently discoverd your Old Fashioned Education curriculum online and am very helped by all that you put together. Regarding the McGuffery Readers, I noticed that you assigned each reader for each grade. This is how I originally thought the readers are supposed to be used. But in my recent reading of Ruth Beechick’s Parent-teacher Guide for the Original McGuffey Readers, I realized that the whole set of McGuffey Readers is intended for K to high school. I am a little surprised at the discrepancy here.
Since English is not my first language, and we are not planning to use any boxed curriculum, I would like to have a least Ruth Beechick’s guide as my guide for my children education of LA. Can you help reconcile the difference here? Did you actually use the 6th reader for your 6th graders? My 1st grade daughter was reading the second reader in her K year, but I didn’t continue on using the readers. Now that I find the guide I would like to go back to using it. But I am really not sure how to view the set, since my dd probably can read the 3rd reader now easily, does that mean she is reading at 5th grade level now? (According to Ruth Beechick’s guide.)
April 27, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Hi there!
I am so excited about finding OFE. I am trying to figure out the differences in RC, and OFE, and AO and would love to get clarification so I can decide why I like or don’t like eahc one. My real purpose here is to figure out what kind of daily schedule would be right for a K or 1st grader? My little girl is young but smart and needing a strong work load – porb somewhat add too – but just trying to figure out how much time is spent on each subject and where the priority is. Thanks in advance for your help!
April 29, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Miss Maggie,
I tried using the e-mail from the OFE site but it bounced. I am needing to find the password that you have for the MEP math. My boys need to move up to the next level and I can’t open the new files without a password. Some of the lessons do not require a password, but the ones I am needing do (figures, right?!). If you happen to see this message, I would love to hear back from you.
Thanks sooooo much!
April 29, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Thanks for someone posting the MEP password! That is a huge help.
For some of the moms who asked about the books for the kids….all the books are available online as e-books so there is nothing you have to buy, unless you would really want to.
Unless your state says you have to test, why do it? As you go thru the lessons with your children, you know if they understand or not. If they are struggeling then just spend extra time going over what they are having trouble with. Once they get it, then you can move on.
If you HAVE to test for your state, then you can make up your own tests, grade them, and keep them with your records.
We have found that it is east to keep track of things that we wish to keep records on with a free download from HomeschoolTracker.com You can keep track of attendance, field trips, book lists, assignments, and even grades.
We use it “just in case” our state laws change at some point and I can prove that they are learning the required subjects.
May 26, 2009 at 8:20 am
Hi,
Love all the curriculum. So well thought out. I’m going to start my son in the 8th or 9th and work him through all the way to 12th. I’ve downloaded everything I’ll need but the 12 grade 40 week curriculum pdf link isn’t working. Could you please let me know where to get this pdf file? Thank you so much for all the work you have put into this and for making it free to us. Carol
May 30, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Sorry Carol, I think she’s abandoned this blog also. I don’t think there is a 12th grade pdf. I’ve been waiting for it for a loooong time.
July 23, 2009 at 7:06 pm
are there answer keys to any of the work. if so i can’t find them. would you be so kind as to guide me to them?
July 23, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Which work do you mean Angel? If you let us know exactly what you are looking for maybe we can help.
July 24, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Hello,
I am just learning of your many wonderful sites and contributions to homeschoolers. Thank you for your time and efforts.
I wandered if you are still able to give the password for the CIMT site?
Thank you. Blessings.
July 24, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Oh, just noticed Miss MAggie may not be monitoring. So, where did the MEP password go that was posted at one point?
Does anyone have any suggestions for someone just starting out with a fifth grader on a fourth grade level. She is smart, I just had a newborn and let her slide a bit.
Will I have a lot of troubles without Miss Maggie’s help? I hate to say it, but I am a step by step learner and teacher.
I appreciate anybod’s feedback. And is there a yahoo group that has started back up for this curriculum?
July 24, 2009 at 1:41 pm
CIMT4maths is the MEP password I don’t know about any yahoo groups, sorry. We just kinda do it on our own at our own pace and add a few things we already have at home.
July 27, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Thank you so much for the password! Blessings.
August 6, 2009 at 1:28 pm
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/3RHomeschooling/
Try that for yahoo group…
August 6, 2009 at 1:38 pm
What is the website for Real Science 4 Kids posted by Cat on Dec. 16, 2008? If anyone knows please tell!
August 6, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Found it! http://gravitaspublications.com/products/
August 20, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Hi Maggie, i am interested in home schooling my 14 year old and i am not sure what the requirements are and how to get started.
Thanks, Tammy
August 20, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Thought this site might interest someone?
http://thatresourcesite.com/
August 24, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Hi! Thank you so much for your site! It’s such a blessing to our family. Here is a free civics resource you might be interested in:
http://www.americanheritage.org/elementary.html
Blessings,
Benecia Fowler
August 28, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Hello! Thank you so much for all your hard work on your website! You have been extremely helpful. I’m using the full curriculum, but on the fifth grade for science I can not find the pdf booklets on the web site you listed. Do you have any idea about this? Or am I just missing it? Thanks again!
October 13, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Good evening. I found your website and am
very interested in using the information to
home school my 6th grade daughter.
I have many questions.
Is there a contact phone # for you?
October 22, 2009 at 9:28 am
If you do have a choice of surgeon or hospital, ask the surgeon the following questions: What are your qualifications? ,
December 2, 2009 at 4:21 pm
I have a question, how do we do tests for the kids on each subject and how do they “graduate” from High School???
January 6, 2010 at 12:59 pm
For those who are new to homeschooling, you can check out your specific state’s homeschool requirements by going to the homeschool legal defense website and clicking on your state.
If your state doesn’t require reports or testing then you do not need to keep a record of grades (thus you do not need to test). For our family we just go over everything until I know they know it and then we move on. I don’t keep grades, just a pass/fail on my own personal records and since failing is not an option we keep going over it until they get a 100%.
I ask questions over what we have studied to make sure they understand everything. I ask them to narrate back to me what I have read and that is a good indication of where they are at.
For math and spelling, tests are easier to do. You give them their spelling words to practice and write, then give a test. The ones they miss get added to the next list to work on. Most math programs have reviews built into them. I use these as tests. We go over anything they miss until they fully understand and get similar questions correct.
For H.S. students you do need to keep track of transcripts for some universities, but most times they can take an entrance exam and that is all that is needed.
Homeschooltracker.com has a free version of the record keeping program we use for our family. You can print out reports or anything else your state might require. We love the free version.
There is also a great article on how to get your homeschooled children a higher education for MUCH less than the national average here:
http://www.utmostway.com/current/college-bound-without-the-bind
I hope this is helpful.
January 6, 2010 at 1:40 pm
I forgot to add something! For any of you just finding this thread, there are several good links here in these comments and the password to the MEP math is listed in there as well.
Miss Maggie may not keep up on this thread anymore, but several others of us try to answer any questions that may pop up.
Blessings!
January 13, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Hello. I am thinking of pulling my children out of public school and homeschooling. I am not sure where to begin. I really want to add a bible study to the mix. The schools in my area are failing badly and drugs and gangs are taking over. Any advice would be very helpful. Thank you so much. I believe this would greatly benefit my kids.
January 13, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Hi Meredith, The links here are really good. We also liked the Great big book of Bible facts that we bought from Sonlight.com and used it as we read through the Bible as part of our Bible class. We also use our AWANAS book as part of our Bible study. Missionary Stories with the Millers is also a great book to add so your children can learn what it is like for Christians in other parts of the world.
January 25, 2010 at 1:22 pm
First – Ms. Maggie – God Bless you for setting all of this up and allowing us to access it for free!! Second – as I have read through so many of these comments. Thank you all that are standing in the gap now to assist those of us who are just beginning OFE. We have been doing Charlotte Mason – but I found that I needed a better handle on scheduling for my 10,9,7 yr olds. And I cam across OFE and love it – since it is was how we were headed to begin with. Thank you all for pointing us in a great direction!!