Another Time 4 Learning question

[DragonFaerie]

Okay, so I've read all the threads I can find about T4L and I know that most of you think it's not nearly rigorous enough to be a stand alone curriculum. I used it last year for my DS (1st grade then) because we pulled him out of school abruptly and I had no other curriculum planned for him. Well, he absolutely LOVED it (which is saying a lot from a kid who doesn't really like any school at all).

 

So, he's in 2nd grade now and I subscribed to T4L again just to use for science. As before, he's loving it and pesters me every day to let him do "the rest of it." I always have to tell him no because he needs to do his regular schoolwork but I hate to see him so excited and WANT to do something educational and here I am telling him no.

 

So here's what I'm wondering. If I were to let him do T4L as his main curriculum (because being excited and WANTING to "do school" is huge for this kid), what should I supplement with and what can I drop? He doesn't have time in his school day to do T4L plus everything else that I have for him.

 

Here's what we're doing right now:

 

Grammar- an off-the-shelf language arts workbook, nothing special

Writing- Prompt, Plan and Write, Grade 2 (plus we do history and literature narratives)

Spelling- Zaner Bloser Spelling Connections lists (daily assignment) and Spelling City

Phonics- Explode the Code (he's not a particularly strong reader)

Reading Comprehension- Spectrum workbook

Math- Teaching Textbooks and a Time/Money workbook

Science- Time 4 Learning

History- Ancients (together with his 3rd grade sister)

Literature- Read Alouds by mom with weekly narrative/assignment

Independent reading daily

[DragonFaerie]

A friend of mine and I were joking the other day that, ever since we studied Russian, we can no longer write words in cursive anymore. Writing words, even in English using Latin letters, has been influenced by the other languages.

 

I'm not sure what this has to do with my question.

[Veritaserum]

It has been awhile since we used Time4Learning. Isn't there a list somewhere that shows the topics covered? That should help you figure out what you can drop from your other stuff. I would be inclined to keep doing history and literature in addition to T4L. IIRC, T4L gives lists of additional books/activities for each lesson. If you add those then I think it fleshes it out. If T4L helps him develop a love for learning, I think it's worth making it work (with a goal, perhaps, of switching him back to books over the next year or two).

[blessedmom3]

This is a classical forum . SWB does not recommend "electronic" learning .

I am not pure classical , but I would not use a PC program as a main or exclusive way of learning. If you use it as a supplement to the list above , it's probably ok .

 

Not sure what the poster above meant , but maybe she wanted to say that if you use a PC program that does not include enough writing , the child forgets how to write ??? T4L has printable worksheets you could use for that though. But so do many free sites. Also there are plenty of excellent free sites that could be used as a supplement , without paying $20/month .

 

 

beestar.com

ixl.com

http://www.mathplayground.com/games.html

http://www.lessonplanspage.com

http://www.funbrain.com/

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/

http://www.bigiqkids.com

 

... and hundreds more !

[Mosaicmind]

I used T4L with mine 2 years ago as their main curriculum because I needed to at that time, but I am paying for it now. They loved doing it but they really learned nothing at all. It might be good to use to supplement a subject or two but why spend that much money each month to just supplement. I am sure there are some who need to do this like I did but if given the option again knowing what I know now, I wouldn't use it again. It was money wasted.

[Joyofsixreboot]

I'm going to go against the flow here and say I think it's fine to use T4L. I used it for about a year. I filled in with lots of read alouds and RS math and Spanish. My kids learned bunches. I let them work ahead as fast as they wanted. When it reached 4th grade and it was much more reading than video we stopped. If they were just reading I could supply that. My ds was very resistant to anything school. It bridged a gap and relighted a love for learning things. He is still drawn to videos or computer work. If you find he's growing in the way you want go for it. If it stops working move to something else.

[JenninMN]

Since you are already paying for T4L, why not give it a try? It might help him enjoy school more. My kids enjoyed computer learning for about 2 weeks until they figured out that computer work was sometimes hard, too. ;) I don't think it will ruin him to try it his way for a few weeks. Maybe it will be great, maybe not. . .You never know until you try. As for which things to drop. . .

 

Grammar- an off-the-shelf language arts workbook drop for T4L

Writing- Prompt, Plan and Write, Grade 2 drop for T4L (or don't use T4L writng assignments)

Spelling- Zaner Bloser Spelling Connections lists (daily assignment) and Spelling City keep or just use phonics

Phonics- Explode the Code (he's not a particularly strong reader) I would use either spelling or phonics, not both.

Reading Comprehension- Spectrum workbook drop

Math- Teaching Textbooks and a Time/Money workbook Does he like TT? I'd keep it

Science- Time 4 Learning keep

History- Ancients (together with his 3rd grade sister) keep

Literature- Read Alouds by mom with weekly narrative/assignment keep

Independent reading daily keep

HTH,

Jennifer

[Jilly]

Okay, so I've read all the threads I can find about T4L and I know that most of you think it's not nearly rigorous enough to be a stand alone curriculum. I used it last year for my DS (1st grade then) because we pulled him out of school abruptly and I had no other curriculum planned for him. Well, he absolutely LOVED it (which is saying a lot from a kid who doesn't really like any school at all).

 

So, he's in 2nd grade now and I subscribed to T4L again just to use for science. As before, he's loving it and pesters me every day to let him do "the rest of it." I always have to tell him no because he needs to do his regular schoolwork but I hate to see him so excited and WANT to do something educational and here I am telling him no.

 

So here's what I'm wondering. If I were to let him do T4L as his main curriculum (because being excited and WANTING to "do school" is huge for this kid), what should I supplement with and what can I drop? He doesn't have time in his school day to do T4L plus everything else that I have for him.

 

Here's what we're doing right now:

 

Grammar- an off-the-shelf language arts workbook, nothing special

Writing- Prompt, Plan and Write, Grade 2 (plus we do history and literature narratives)

Spelling- Zaner Bloser Spelling Connections lists (daily assignment) and Spelling City

Phonics- Explode the Code (he's not a particularly strong reader)

Reading Comprehension- Spectrum workbook

Math- Teaching Textbooks and a Time/Money workbook

Science- Time 4 Learning

History- Ancients (together with his 3rd grade sister)

Literature- Read Alouds by mom with weekly narrative/assignment

Independent reading daily

 

My twins love T4L and have used it for years. I think it is a great resource, and if your son likes it and is excited about it, he should use it. I have used it since the twins were in 2nd grade, so I am very familiar with it.

 

If I was you I would use it mostly as a supplement though. It should not take him that long to do his T4L lessons each day, so you should be able to squeeze it in. If you needed to drop anything I would drop the phonics, reading comprehension, and grammar work. T4L does a good job covering that in second grade. Also the math is quite complete if you take the time to print out the worksheets, but if I was you I would probably stick with TT. Hope that helps.:)

[DragonFaerie]

Thanks, everybody. He wants the computer work but I'm having a hard time letting go of the traditional pencil and paper learning. Maybe I'll try just adding it to his schedule (after Christmas at this point) and seeing how that goes. If it's too much, maybe I can let him do T4L some days and go "old school" (hehehe) the other days.

[Wee Pip]

Just wanted to chime in...

This is Week 2 of us using T4L as our core curric. Before now, we've used BJU. I love BJU materials and have used them for a few years now, but found myself dropping subject after subject this year. I have a 1 1/2 yo and I'm just not as strong and robust as some of you moms! I was totally losing it! Right now I'm 100% T4L + any extra curriculars with homework (AWANA, piano, gymnastics, sign language). After Jan 1st, I hope to add in some Math Facts (multiplication) and Spelling. I would also love to add back our SOTW 3, since we are only 10 chapters away from the end (we could do this in just 5 weeks). For you, I'd probably keep your math and then either the phonics or spelling. If your ds doesnt' have reading mastered yet and has trouble memorizing the spelling of words, then I'd stick with phonics. If you feel he gets enough phonics from T4L and he can memorize spelling words relatively easily, then I'd drop your phonics and add in spelling. If there is a 3rd subject from your list that you both enjoy, then maybe add that in as well.

I could also see the need to add in science experiments, but I think this depends on the kid. My 8yo gets sooo angry by sci experiments and really just wants to read a sci book. My 10yo really feels the need to do sci experiments and really doesn't care for the reading. I'm thinking next year that I'll get some giant sci experiment kit and just let her have fun with it. For the 8yo, her own interest-based reading + T4L is probably enough for her.

[DragonFaerie]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I might be expecting too much of him because I don't think he has a terribly good handle on spelling OR phonics. He does great with math so we'll definitely keep TT and he can do T4L math for fun if he wants to. I don't think I'm ready to give up ETC just yet (not to mention that I have 2 more books I want him to finish! LOL) but I might be prepared to quit doing spelling lessons. His spelling is atrocious but maybe that will get better as his reading improves.