Jump to content

Menu

Recommended Posts

Has anyone used BJU Geography? Did you use it with or without the DVD's?

 

If you used the DVD's, do they come with a calendar with each date and the reading assignments, homework, quizzes, tests etc. planned out for you?

(we did BJU Spanish DVD's this year and I loved how independent my dds could be with the calendar)

 

Do you feel it added significantly to the course over just reading the text?

 

My dds fast forwarded a lot with the Spanish DVD's for the nonsense questions and the waiting for the kids to answer in class.... Is there alot of fast-forwarding required on the geography?

 

If without the DVD's, is there a syllabus with each days assignments on it or do you just "do the next thing" in the teacher's manual?

 

I am very torn about which way to go.

 

Has anyone studied for the AP Geography exam after using Bob Jones?

 

Is there much map work?

 

That is alot of questions about a geography program!! :willy_nilly: Thanks for any input you can give me.

 

Grace

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has anyone used BJU Geography? Did you use it with or without the DVD's? My daughter used it in ninth grade with the DVD's.

 

If you used the DVD's, do they come with a calendar with each date and the reading assignments, homework, quizzes, tests etc. planned out for you?

(we did BJU Spanish DVD's this year and I loved how independent my dds could be with the calendar) Yes, they come with a calendar.

 

Do you feel it added significantly to the course over just reading the text? Yes, my daughter enjoyed the teacher, Mrs. Moon, quite a bit.

 

My dds fast forwarded a lot with the Spanish DVD's for the nonsense questions and the waiting for the kids to answer in class.... Is there alot of fast-forwarding required on the geography? No, it is not a LINC class like Spanish 1.

 

If without the DVD's, is there a syllabus with each days assignments on it or do you just "do the next thing" in the teacher's manual?

 

I am very torn about which way to go.

 

Has anyone studied for the AP Geography exam after using Bob Jones? Not us.

 

Is there much map work? I don't think there was too much.

 

That is alot of questions about a geography program!! :willy_nilly: Thanks for any input you can give me.

 

Grace

 

I believe there is a new teacher, Mr. Swingle, this year and the textbook has been updated, so my opinions are based on our experience with the previous editions of the textbook and DVDs. Not much help, unfortunately.:(

Edited by ccm
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you don't go with the DVD, the teacher's manual does have a schedule but it is at the beginning of each chapter. It roughly breaks each chapter into about 10-14 day sections which include test days and study days. There is not a schedule just for the student.

 

The DVD for Geography are not a view of a classroom being taught but an actual production. Here is a link to the demo for this course. If you view the whole thing the last part shows all the extra presentations besides a teacher lecturing that I personally think makes the courses come alive. http://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/videos/09/geography-2011.mov

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you don't go with the DVD, the teacher's manual does have a schedule but it is at the beginning of each chapter. It roughly breaks each chapter into about 10-14 day sections which include test days and study days. There is not a schedule just for the student.

 

The DVD for Geography are not a view of a classroom being taught but an actual production. Here is a link to the demo for this course. If you view the whole thing the last part shows all the extra presentations besides a teacher lecturing that I personally think makes the courses come alive. http://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/videos/09/geography-2011.mov

 

Thanks for the link to to demo. I had not seen that before. I liked the looks of the different kind of presentations at the end. It probably helps keep things interesting.

 

Thanks,

Grace

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did BJU, but without the DVD's. Both my middle and younger sons enjoyed the class tremendously. I let them set their own schedule so they could go deeper into an area if they wanted (which they usually did). If there's any complaint on our end it's that their tests can be really nitpicky on small details. My middle son who's great at memorization had no trouble with it. My youngest son who is only into memorization if it's Biology related had some issues (not on major things like countries, but on some details). Both learned a tremendous amount of Geography and are glad they did the course.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did BJU, but without the DVD's. Both my middle and younger sons enjoyed the class tremendously. I let them set their own schedule so they could go deeper into an area if they wanted (which they usually did). If there's any complaint on our end it's that their tests can be really nitpicky on small details. My middle son who's great at memorization had no trouble with it. My youngest son who is only into memorization if it's Biology related had some issues (not on major things like countries, but on some details). Both learned a tremendous amount of Geography and are glad they did the course.

 

Thanks Creek! My girls are good studiers but sometimes they are not sure "what" to study? Does that make sense? Did the Geography program make it clear to them what they needed to know?

 

Thanks.

Grace

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mr. Swingle seems like an engaging teacher. I want to have my oldest do this class.

 

How much time is scheduled per chapter and or module/ unit? The books look PRETTY hefty.

 

Are students expected to do Geo. everyday or on an alternating schedule?

 

Thanks for posting this thread.

Edited by Karis
typo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mr. Swingle seems like an engaging teacher. I want to have my oldest do this class.

 

How much time is scheduled per chapter and or module/ unit? The books look PRETTY hefty.

 

Are students expected to do Geo. everyday or on an alternating schedule?

 

Thanks for posting this thread.

I am not sure about the actual DVD time for each class, but in the TM has each chapter schedules for 10-14 days. They work each day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Creek! My girls are good studiers but sometimes they are not sure "what" to study? Does that make sense? Did the Geography program make it clear to them what they needed to know?

 

Thanks.

Grace

 

This is where the small detailed things were critical. Everything on the tests was in the books, but sometimes some of the details were things I wouldn't have picked out as important. Most of the test was important (countries, rivers, general info, etc), so I don't have many complaints, but one example my old brain can remember is being asked what Hershey, PA is famous for. We live near Hershey, so my kids know it's chocolate (and it's in the text), but does everyone NEED to know THAT? I would say, no.

 

My middle son remembered almost every detail, so it wasn't that important. But for my youngest, had he done this class in 9th grade for credit on his transcript, I would have adjusted the grading to not concentrate on some of the details. Without adjusting he got in the 80's on most tests (some due to details and a few genuinely wrong).

 

What was important to me is that both boys loved the class and learning about their planet. They also remember quite a bit. It really opened up the world to my youngest who is now planning on living in Africa for his adult life (studying rain forest botany). He might change his mind over the next few years, but it's been interesting to watch his specific interests develop (he considered Russia - not rainforest, then the South Pacific islands, but settled on the Congo).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We did BJU Geography (2nd edition) w/o the dvds. There was plenty in the book, so we did the reading, study questions, and for activities, just mapwork. We still had to skip Africa, it took 7-8 days a chapter, one chapter a week was too much. If you are comfortable skipping the tests, or just testing map knowledge, then it would be very doable. It takes a day to do review questions, then study for a fact type of test. So, three days (if you do a chapter a week and test) isn't enough for chapter and map work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you used the DVD's, do they come with a calendar with each date and the reading assignments, homework, quizzes, tests etc. planned out for you?

(we did BJU Spanish DVD's this year and I loved how independent my dds could be with the calendar)

...

If without the DVD's, is there a syllabus with each days assignments on it or do you just "do the next thing" in the teacher's manual?

 

 

 

 

If you buy the course from Covenant Home Curriculum, it comes with a daily schedule for your student to follow.

We did that for a few courses over a couple of years, and for a self-motivated student, that daily schedule is wonderful.

Just a thought.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you buy the course from Covenant Home Curriculum, it comes with a daily schedule for your student to follow.

We did that for a few courses over a couple of years, and for a self-motivated student, that daily schedule is wonderful.

Just a thought.

 

Diane,

 

Thanks for this. I didn't know anyone to sell BJU except BJU and CBD. Off to check them out.

 

Thanks,

Grace

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can also buy BJU from scripturetruth. http://www.scripturetruth.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=625

Their prices are usually about a 15% off list price.

 

My oldest used the newest edition without the DVD's a couple of years ago. The tests did include a lot of IMHO insignificant details. For every continent except North American, I allowed open book tests except for the mapping -- those she had to memorize. She also had to read a number of 'travel books'. She liked the book; I found it rather boring ;) I'm gong to give Glencoe Geography a try this year with my other two.

 

Yvonne in NE

Edited by yinne
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can also buy BJU from scripturetruth. http://www.scripturetruth.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=625

Their prices are usually about a 15% off list price.

 

My oldest used the newest edition without the DVD's a couple of years ago. The tests did include a lot of IMHO insignificant details. For every continent except North American, I allowed open book tests except for the mapping -- those she had to memorize. She also had to read a number of 'travel books'. She liked the book; I found it rather boring ;) I'm gong to give Glencoe Geography a try this year with my other two.

 

Yvonne in NE

 

Thanks for the information. I own Glencoe with the Note Taking Guide but not sure how to implement it. I am a little nervous about it being "High School" and not sure if my home-made quizzes and test or writing assignments instead of tests will be enough. I can divide up the chapters and make my own schedule but not sure what to do past that. I guess that is why BJU appeals to me... all the questions, quizzes, tests, maps, etc. are all planned.

 

How do you plan on using Glencoe?

 

Thanks for another place to shop for BJU.

 

Grace

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grace:

 

I found a number of teacher resources for Glencoe Geography including a Testmaker CD that will generate the tests for me. I can use what it generates or pick and choose the questions. If you can find it (ISBN 0078653339) it makes the testing easier. Before I found it, I was planning on using the Chapter Reviews as the test. There is also a website for the Glencoe Book http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0078606993/ which has self-check quizzes among other things.

 

I don't have the course planned out yet as not everything I have ordered from various places has arrived, but I'm looking forward to putting it all together.

 

Yvonne

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to agree with the nitpicking questions on the test. My dd would spend alot of time studying, and she would still make in the 80's. She always made sure she knew the Chapter Review and the answers to the Section Questions, but this was never enough to make an A. Since the chapters are chock full of information, it was almost impossible for her to know what to memorize. I finally started going through the tests and any finding any question that wasn't mentioned in the chapter review or section question. I would then tell her to study the section(s) to be sure to study to prepare her for those questions. It was a bit more hand holding than I wanted to do, but I couldn't figure out a better way to handle it. My dd hasn't had any problems making A's in university courses since then, so I don't think it was a lack of study skills on her part. I did decide not to use it again because of this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good info to know about the tests!

 

One way to handle this is to have students answer all the questions they "know" in pencil and then use the book to answer the obscure questions in pen. Then you can see if they knew most of the test on their own (and grade accordingly), or if there's an area they should have known but didn't. I tell DD the goal is for her to understand and learn the material, not to trick her with obscure questions. And locating answers in a textbook and being resourceful is a useful skill too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kristi and amtmcm,

 

Thank you both for the information on the BJU tests. You both seem to agree about the obscure/nitpicking questions and came up with great solutions.

 

Susan,

Thanks for the information on your schedule. So you didn't use the tests?

 

 

I think I will end up using BJU, probably with the dvd's, more to keep us on track.... I think..... :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...