Phonics Road and Latin Road recommendations

[didadeewiththree]

I am wondering if the Phonics Road is a good phonics program for a Kindergartener that is a Wiggly Willy type boy.

 

I guess the whole construction theme caught my eye and just wondered if anyone has used it and thinks it is a multi-sensory program that is both fun and thorough in Phonics.

 

If so, please let me know, and if not, please tell me what you would recommend.

 

Also, I have a rising 6th grader who has never taken any Latin before and is good with spelling and grammar. Would the Latin Road be a good fit for all of our LA needs? Do we need a seperate English program(I have Shurley 6)?

[renabeth]

A friendly bump :) because I want to know too. I am thinking of using The Bridge for 6th grade and PR 1 for K too.

[MiztrezzLyn]

I've used PR1 this year with my K5 son, we're on the last 2 weeks actually. It has been wonderful for him. I did not use it to teach him to read however, so I can't attest to that part of it (We used OPGR last year for that), but I've seen such an improvement in his spelling and writing because of PR.

 

My son is wiggly, he didn't care much at all for writing and he really enjoyed PR. He loves marking the words and I find him applying the rules and such outside of our PR time quite frequently. I don't really think it's a LOT of writing anyway.

 

I already have PR2 here and having looked through it and watched some of the DVD's, I am excited to start that with him.

 

I can't really say anything about Latin Road as I've not really used it. I did see the program via someone else and I don't *think* that it would be enough grammar. I can't really say though, it has been a while since I saw it and like I said, I haven't actually used it.

[Missouri Okie]

At 5/6, my son's writing wasn't developed enough to do the spelling. It was too frustrating for both of us. So, we just focused on learning the letter and letter team sounds both by sight and dictation for K. We used OGPTR to learn reading.

 

We'll start the spelling portion this summer and continue in 1st grade.

[didadeewiththree]

Im afraid also that my son's spelling wont be up to par with the program, but I suppose I could try doing it slowly and continue into the 1st grade, like the previous post stated.

 

He knows letter sounds and can sound out words like Sam or Up most of the time, but Im havnt been sure where to go from here. I wonder if the Phonics Road would get him to learn to read?

 

Anyone use this program to get their child actual reading?

 

My son is such a Wiggly Willy, any tips on using the Phonics Road or other programs would be great.

 

I liked the tips so far, keep 'em coming!

[Hedgehogs4]

I use PR with my dd who is just finishing K. She loves it. I don't know if my wiggly-willy boy would have though. The writing would have been tough for him, but there are certainly ways it could be adapted to reduce the amount of writing...as in using the cards and have him build words with those, perhaps mom helps with some of the handwriting stuff...I would have my son tell me what to put down on the paper and I would write for him when his hand got tired. I don't need to do that with my DD...she would be horrified. It's proof of why men need secretaries--from birth.

 

DS 9 going into 5th grade is going to start the Bridge to LR this summer. have you looked at that? it may be a good place to start.

[kht2006]

PR 1 is working for my wiggly willy K'er and she is as wiggly as they get. For right now we are using the leap frog alpabet letters to build the words. She loves all the multisensory activties in the book...writing letters in salt, rice, sand. Throwing bean bags at the phonogram cards, marking the words I write. She loves the rule tunes, and knows more phonics rules than some first graders I know. We are still working through week 7..it takes us about 2 weeks to do a lesson, but we only work on it 3 days/week...we'll probably pick up the pace a bit in the Fall.

[redheadeddaughter]

We had great success with PR after trying lots of other stuff. Good other stuff, and some of it was fun, but the systematic approach of PR (and any OG type program really) seemed to be what he needed. He was (is!) very wiggly, very energetic and athletic, and I wasn't sure if I could get him to sit still for the spelling list portion. Now, it's not super exciting with color pictures and games and stuff... when you get the manuals you might wonder what all the excitement is about really. But if you give it about 6 weeks, I think you'll see how it comes together in their minds and cements the ideas they need for reading. It's streamlined and no frills. You can accomplish alot as a mom in a short period of time, (no time intensive teacher training) thanks to the the teacher DVDs (depending on how long his attention span is... it will likely increase a great deal over the course of PR 1). I'm not sure exactly when he started to read that year, but when he did, it was at warp speed. Now, he is just finishing up PR 2 and can read anything. The only problem I have is getting him to slow down! He just zooms through. And this from a boy who was in tears with all the tradiitonal "teach your child to read" type books and programs. So PR will get you up and running with the reading portion too, not just the spelling.

[johnandtinagilbert]

I am wondering if the Phonics Road is a good phonics program for a Kindergartener that is a Wiggly Willy type boy.

 

I guess the whole construction theme caught my eye and just wondered if anyone has used it and thinks it is a multi-sensory program that is both fun and thorough in Phonics.

 

If so, please let me know, and if not, please tell me what you would recommend.

 

Also, I have a rising 6th grader who has never taken any Latin before and is good with spelling and grammar. Would the Latin Road be a good fit for all of our LA needs? Do we need a seperate English program(I have Shurley 6)?

 

Im afraid also that my son's spelling wont be up to par with the program, but I suppose I could try doing it slowly and continue into the 1st grade, like the previous post stated.

 

He knows letter sounds and can sound out words like Sam or Up most of the time, but Im havnt been sure where to go from here. I wonder if the Phonics Road would get him to learn to read?

 

Anyone use this program to get their child actual reading?

 

My son is such a Wiggly Willy, any tips on using the Phonics Road or other programs would be great.

 

I liked the tips so far, keep 'em coming!

I taught my 5yo this year and we had ZERO tears! I couldn't say that for any other program we used to teach reading! He is boy #5 in the house and wiggly is simply a way of life in the Gilbert Gang. We did much of the writing as

1) build the words with tiles, cards, or magnets

2) I wrote the words on paper after he built them

3)he copied the words

 

We also used the white board so he could make jumbo sized letters. There are posts called "A Letter A Week" on my blog. Those posts can give you an idea of how PR will be implemented to teach reading. It's very multi-sensory...hands on, oral, visual, auditory.

 

We also use LR and you will not need more grammar. There is PLENTY. I was worried about it when we started b/c of what others suggested, so we continued with Daily Grams. It was totally unnecessary, so we dropped it pretty quickly. LR has a TON of grammar and is really sticking with my dc.

 

We had great success with PR after trying lots of other stuff. Good other stuff, and some of it was fun, but the systematic approach of PR (and any OG type program really) seemed to be what he needed. He was (is!) very wiggly, very energetic and athletic, and I wasn't sure if I could get him to sit still for the spelling list portion. Now, it's not super exciting with color pictures and games and stuff... when you get the manuals you might wonder what all the excitement is about really. But if you give it about 6 weeks, I think you'll see how it comes together in their minds and cements the ideas they need for reading. It's streamlined and no frills. You can accomplish alot as a mom in a short period of time, (no time intensive teacher training) thanks to the the teacher DVDs (depending on how long his attention span is... it will likely increase a great deal over the course of PR 1). I'm not sure exactly when he started to read that year, but when he did, it was at warp speed. Now, he is just finishing up PR 2 and can read anything. The only problem I have is getting him to slow down! He just zooms through. And this from a boy who was in tears with all the tradiitonal "teach your child to read" type books and programs. So PR will get you up and running with the reading portion too, not just the spelling.

WOOT WOOT!

[ByGrace3]

 

Also, I have a rising 6th grader who has never taken any Latin before and is good with spelling and grammar. Would the Latin Road be a good fit for all of our LA needs? Do we need a seperate English program(I have Shurley 6)?

 

Sorry, not to hijack this thread but hopefully it will help the OP as well. For the Latin Road, I know PR is a complete LA program, is TLR? or would that just be grammar? Thanks! (My sister is thinking about it for my rising 6th grade niece who is coming from Abeka).

[grace'smom]

We've used PR for K this year. At first I did a bunch of Webster's and Blend Phonics with her for a foundation. I just wrote the words on the whiteboard myself and we read through them. When she finished enough of those we moved on to Phonics Road. She has not enjoyed the amount of words per week so we cut it to ten instead of twenty. We do ten words per day, without paying any attention to week. I have all the words written out on little index cards ala AAS. I put important notes from the video on the back of the cards (if there's a rule tune, if there's a building code to fill in, etc). Then I file them under "New Cards," "Review Periodically" cards, and "Completed" cards. We don't tie the cards to weeks, so I constantly evaluate which cards she knows and file them under completed, then just take out the next new one in the list. This also helps me to not feel like we have to do everything in ONE week if there's a field trip or something.

 

Now, my DD is also highly distracted rather than JUST wiggly, so she can't do ten words at once without it taking up to TWO hours. Seriously, I tested it a few weeks back and if I don't constantly remind her to stay on task and think it will take two hours to do ten words. SOOOOO... Now we do two to three words in between subjects. So we start with two words in the morning, then do reading and two more words, math and two more words, etc. It works PERFECTLY. She doesn't get distracted and I don't want to pull my hair out.

 

BTW- when we first started she had a hard time writing so we used tiles to spell. There are a bunch that come in the PR package you can use, but I had a set of AAS tiles she used on the whiteboard. Now she just writes on the whiteboard. She is not developmentally ready to write on the papers yet so we have no paper record, but the card file system works really well. Someone on here came up with the system- it wasn't me, but it is great for the younger kids and very helpful to keep organized.

[didadeewiththree]

Sounds like I need to get going on buying a used PR1 and LR1 program for my rising K and rising 6th grader. Should I bother getting the Bridge first since my 6th grader hasnt had any Latin before?

 

What about my 2nd grade daughter who is a Perfect paula and loves to write, read and spell? Should I just move her through PR1 and move her along quicker than her brother? The website says to start everybody with #1, will this set her back some, since she knows alot of phonics rules from being in 1st grade at school?

 

There has been lots of great advice and comments on here, and Im reading them out loud to my family. They are all shaking their heads up and down and are excited about this. Imagine that, excited about Phonics! Maybe me more so.

 

Anybody use TOG and PR or LR? Would that be overkill to do both intensive programs?

[melmichigan]

We use TOG and PR. :001_wub:

 

I would just move your 2nd grader at whatever pace she is comfortable with, but would definately start with PR1 at that age. (It is easy to accelerate, four of my DC are working with PR at different levels and speeds.)

 

My DD11/6th grader is accelerating through PR versus doing bridge, but hopefully others will comment on that portion for you. My understanding is that Bridge is covered in PR3 and PR4 so I opted to go that route and will then move to LR1.

[johnandtinagilbert]

Sorry, not to hijack this thread but hopefully it will help the OP as well. For the Latin Road, I know PR is a complete LA program, is TLR? or would that just be grammar? Thanks! (My sister is thinking about it for my rising 6th grade niece who is coming from Abeka).

Latin + Grammar are in LR. Plenty of grammar :) Make sure there is a nice foundation of grammar understanding (an elementary one) before moving into LR. If you need more practice, the Bridge is a good starting point.

 

Sounds like I need to get going on buying a used PR1 and LR1 program for my rising K and rising 6th grader. Should I bother getting the Bridge first since my 6th grader hasnt had any Latin before? Your decision should all be about grammar foundation. If the 6th grader needs more grammar, then start with the Bridge. If not, then LR will be right on.

 

What about my 2nd grade daughter who is a Perfect paula and loves to write, read and spell? Should I just move her through PR1 and move her along quicker than her brother? The website says to start everybody with #1, will this set her back some, since she knows alot of phonics rules from being in 1st grade at school? I'd start a 2nd grader in 1. You may be surprised how many spelling rules *really* got mastered. Most schools do not take a true phonics approach, particularly one as focused as O/G methods. Accelerate at a comfy pace. You'll find that PR is easily a Level program, versus an annual one, so you can always work at a pace that best suits your child. We zoomed through PR1 & most of 2, then slowed down a bit there.

 

There has been lots of great advice and comments on here, and Im reading them out loud to my family. They are all shaking their heads up and down and are excited about this. Imagine that, excited about Phonics! Maybe me more so.

 

Anybody use TOG and PR or LR? Would that be overkill to do both intensive programs?

We use all 3. PR is not as intensive for the teacher once you hit level 3; although I don't find it as intensive as other programs. It's very simple to keep a 15-20m daily schedule for topic areas. On the days that require more time, we just limit our work to fit our time restraints. No problem.

 

TOG and PR compliment each other very nicely. Once you pick up some skills in PR, you'll be able to use them in TOG very nicely. We get a lot of narration, summary, and graphic organization from applying the PR skills to TOG (and science).

 

I have 3 in LR, who are doing it completely independently, save daily review of flash cards w/ mom.

[ByGrace3]

Latin + Grammar are in LR. Plenty of grammar :) Make sure there is a nice foundation of grammar understanding (an elementary one) before moving into LR. If you need more practice, the Bridge is a good starting point.

 

 

Thanks! So for this 6th grader who does have a solid grammar base, who will be using TOG, is TOG and LR enough to include grammar and writing and vocab from TOG, and then just add spelling, or does a writing program needed to be added (is the writing aid enough to add on, or something else entirely)? (how was that for a run on!);)

[Hedgehogs4]

We use TOG and PR. :001_wub:

 

Yay! always glad to hear good reports of that combination...we are going to start using TOG, PR, and LR this year (starting with the Bridge).

[johnandtinagilbert]

Thanks! So for this 6th grader who does have a solid grammar base, who will be using TOG, is TOG and LR enough to include grammar and writing and vocab from TOG, and then just add spelling, or does a writing program needed to be added (is the writing aid enough to add on, or something else entirely)? (how was that for a run on!);)

It's very complimentary, actually. The grammar is hit in LR, as is a word study of derivatives, so there's a kind of vocabulary + the vocab from the lit/history of TOG rounds it out nicely. Use WA and you're good for Composition. They go along very well!

[didadeewiththree]

Awesome advice here!

 

I have that same question, is TOG and LR(or BLR) enough spelling, English, and writing for my sixth grader?

 

I also will be using the writing aids with TOG, unless I see that the Shurley Grammar I bought is more worthwhile. (I havnt got either the TOG or Shurley in hand yet, I just bought them on here).

 

It's really tough for me to decide whether or not my 6th grader has a solid foundation in grammar or not. I want to say yes, mainly because hes a straight A student, an awesome speller, an awesome reader, and so on. But out of all subjects, LA is his weakest point with Math being much stronger in the lead. Any tell-tale signs to point me in the right direction when choosing whether to go with the LR or the BLR?

[johnandtinagilbert]

Awesome advice here!

 

I have that same question, is TOG and LR(or BLR) enough spelling, English, and writing for my sixth grader?

 

I also will be using the writing aids with TOG, unless I see that the Shurley Grammar I bought is more worthwhile. (I havnt got either the TOG or Shurley in hand yet, I just bought them on here).

 

It's really tough for me to decide whether or not my 6th grader has a solid foundation in grammar or not. I want to say yes, mainly because hes a straight A student, an awesome speller, an awesome reader, and so on. But out of all subjects, LA is his weakest point with Math being much stronger in the lead. Any tell-tale signs to point me in the right direction when choosing whether to go with the LR or the BLR?

Can your son define and recognize the parts of speech in a sentence? nouns (common, proper, subject), pronouns (object, possessive, subject), verbs (action, linking, helping, being), adjective (articles, pronoun), adverbs, predicate (simple & compound), subject (simple and compound), predicate nominatives and pred. adjectives, prepositions and does he know which questions to ask for each of these (Which One? How many? What kind of? etc.? Can he parse or diagram a sentence? I'm sure I'm leaving something out, as I just hammered that out without referencing anything, but if the answer is, no, then start with the Bridge. If the answer is yes, then head to LR.

 

What has he done for grammar thusfar? Tell me the name and which level is the highest he'll complete before moving forward. I may be able to identify for sure :)

[didadeewiththree]

At school my 11 year old sixth grader is working in a Grammar pratice book by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill. He usualy gets pretty good grades and stuff he misses seems to be careless, messy errors. He has the wost handwriting in the world UNLESS he knows he is being looked at carefully. (When I withdrew him from public school, the first thing the counselor said after looking over his past test scores was "We are gonna lose a great handwritter." I was thinking that they must be talking about somebody else, not my son.) But anyway, I think he is a little shady in the questions you asked...Im thinking some review wouldnt hurt...

[johnandtinagilbert]

At school my 11 year old sixth grader is working in a Grammar pratice book by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill. He usualy gets pretty good grades and stuff he misses seems to be careless, messy errors. He has the wost handwriting in the world UNLESS he knows he is being looked at carefully. (When I withdrew him from public school, the first thing the counselor said after looking over his past test scores was "We are gonna lose a great handwritter." I was thinking that they must be talking about somebody else, not my son.) But anyway, I think he is a little shady in the questions you asked...Im thinking some review wouldnt hurt...

If you think he needs more, thorough practice, then the Bridge would be a nice start. Keep in mind there will be more dictation in the Bridge versus more copy work in LR.

If you think he only needs practice in a couple of areas, then start with Daily Grams alongside LR. If you have something (even a website) that can serve as a "primer" for areas he needs practice, then you can easily find lessons based on his errors in DG and give him the specific practice he needs. In the meantime, he'll be moving forward in both grammar and Latin using LR.

With Writing Aids tossed in there, you should see some progress in vocabulary selections, spelling, and writing.

[didadeewiththree]

I have a copy of Shurley English 6...would that work between TOG and Latin Road, or do you think the Primer would be better? Perhaps Shurley doesnt cover so much of the grammar? And maybe overkill on the writing between the 3?

[johnandtinagilbert]

I have a copy of Shurley English 6...would that work between TOG and Latin Road, or do you think the Primer would be better? Perhaps Shurley doesnt cover so much of the grammar? And maybe overkill on the writing between the 3?

You could use it and watch for areas of weakness. Perhaps you could start with tests first to rule out and skip areas he is really strong. That way, he starts out with a chance to eliminate busy work. It's a nice perk when you're in 6th grade. If he finishes, then he's done with the work for good. Sounds like he could be okay.

 

You could also use Shurley as reinforcement to LR, using sections in Shurley as the topics arise in LR. This might offer the practice he needs.

 

So, the next question is, is he ready for some heavy copywork? Some days may be 15 minutes, while others might take 45. Can he handle that and will he study vocabulary words. This is where "maturity" is necessary for the program. If the answer is yes, he's good for LR; if not, then the Bridge will bring him to both grammar and working maturity, that and another year of school, of course.

[didadeewiththree]

Sounds good. I went thorugh some of Shurley tonight (we just got it in the mail today) with him and he knew lots of stuff in the beginnning about adj, adv, nouns, simple pre,etc. but was more challenged by the building of good paragraphs. So I could take him through it, hit on what needs work and skip what he already knows, like you said, skip the unnecessary stuff. He told me he is used to dictation at school and prefers that to copywork, but I think he's mature enough to do copywork.

 

Is any other spelling necessary since we are doing vocab with Latin Road, Shurley, and TOG?

 

Does that cover everything he needs to do with LA, between those 3 programs? I want to see some paper writing habits starting!

[johnandtinagilbert]

Sounds good. I went thorugh some of Shurley tonight (we just got it in the mail today) with him and he knew lots of stuff in the beginnning about adj, adv, nouns, simple pre,etc. but was more challenged by the building of good paragraphs. So I could take him through it, hit on what needs work and skip what he already knows, like you said, skip the unnecessary stuff. He told me he is used to dictation at school and prefers that to copywork, but I think he's mature enough to do copywork.

 

Is any other spelling necessary since we are doing vocab with Latin Road, Shurley, and TOG?

 

Does that cover everything he needs to do with LA, between those 3 programs? I want to see some paper writing habits starting!

Looks like you have a plan. You'll get some practice in paragraph building in WA, for sure! Between LR, SH, and TOG, you should be SET for LA!

[didadeewiththree]

I sure hope so, it sounds exhausting to me already! I guess Ill be picking and choosing through beneficial assingnments. Id like to try and spend the majority of our school time doing TOG, Latin Road, Shurley and Math. Ill try to throw science in there three times a week.

 

Id like to find a some science stuff about astronomy and earth science that corresponds with what we are doing in Year 2 TOG, the Middle Ages. I guess I am going off topic here, but if anyone has some ideas, shoot them my way. I need something I can do with all three kids ages 5, 7, 11, I already have Apologia Astronomy but something tells me it wont be enough for my 11 yr old.

[johnandtinagilbert]

I sure hope so, it sounds exhausting to me already! I guess Ill be picking and choosing through beneficial assingnments. Id like to try and spend the majority of our school time doing TOG, Latin Road, Shurley and Math. Ill try to throw science in there three times a week.

 

Id like to find a some science stuff about astronomy and earth science that corresponds with what we are doing in Year 2 TOG, the Middle Ages. I guess I am going off topic here, but if anyone has some ideas, shoot them my way. I need something I can do with all three kids ages 5, 7, 11, I already have Apologia Astronomy but something tells me it wont be enough for my 11 yr old.

Actually, TOG will rec. some pretty cool "biography" type books that are also "activity" books. If you take the DaVinci book, do the experiments, then use an Encyclopedia to solidify the topics (inertia, anatomy force, forming of starts, solor system, etc. that are in the books suggested) you'll have a nice science to go along. I'm doing it for year 4 this year...unit studies built around TOG topics, that are science related: read, experiment, notebook 2 days per week of science. I'll also be using Netflix to compliment subject areas in science/TOG.

[didadeewiththree]

Sounds like TOG can be used to hit on more than just history...do you pretty much base everything on what you are doing it history, besides math? All your writing, vocab, spelling, papers, notebooking, science, based on these live books? It would seem to make sense to do that rather than to study each subject selectively without relating to one another.

 

I just got my TOG; I'm excited but perplexed at the same time! It does get easier to use as time goes on I hope!

 

Now I just need to buck up and buy the Latin Road and the Phonics Road, and other than math and Logic, we'll be all planned out for next year(I hope). Do you just get your science stuff from the library,just researching what topics youll hit in TOG ahead of time? Anything really necessary to buy in advance?

 

What do you do for spelling while doing TOG and LR/PR?

 

(By the way, I really appreciate how much help you have all been with all my question asking:)

[Hedgehogs4]

Actually, TOG will rec. some pretty cool "biography" type books that are also "activity" books. If you take the DaVinci book, do the experiments, then use an Encyclopedia to solidify the topics (inertia, anatomy force, forming of starts, solor system, etc. that are in the books suggested) you'll have a nice science to go along. I'm doing it for year 4 this year...unit studies built around TOG topics, that are science related: read, experiment, notebook 2 days per week of science. I'll also be using Netflix to compliment subject areas in science/TOG.

 

Actually, we are doing something similar. Our small TOG group has worked out science units to go along with our TOG units. We are doing year three. Our first unit will cover a lot of geography with land formations, the salt map, and new vocabulary that relates to that, so we are going to study weather to complete that picture.

 

We will be covering Lewis and Clark, so we will have students learn about the classification of plants and animals and will have them do research on a native north American animal from each of the different phylum, from insects to mammals, fish and birds.

 

We will be covering the industrial revolution so we will cover simple machines and basic physics.

 

We will cover the civil war time period, so we will discuss agriculture and botany. They don't fit exactly with the units as far as what is covered when, but we have weather to consider. Botany is best done in the spring, so we are kind of flip-flopping the logical order of things.

 

Each science unit will be nine weeks, just like a TOG unit, and the experiments and presentations will be shared at the unit celebrations.

[didadeewiththree]

I like the idea of doing science according to what you are learning in history. It seems that it will really bring all the subjects together, doing all your reading and writing based on live books that compliment each other.

 

What works best, getting books from the library and doing notebooking, experiments, etc, that compliment what you are doing in history, or buying a set curriculum on those subjects ahead of time?

 

Also, back to the PR and LR topic(sorry that I got off topic on here, but this is helping me plan my fall year, which I have spent so much time researching, but feel that I could use all the advice I can get)

 

To those who use TOG and PR/LR, how many hours a day do you typically spend on each or do they blend so well that you integrate what you learn from LR/PR around your history?

 

How do you spend your evening before preparing to teach LR/PR and TOG for the next day?

[johnandtinagilbert]

Sounds like TOG can be used to hit on more than just history...do you pretty much base everything on what you are doing it history, besides math? All your writing, vocab, spelling, papers, notebooking, science, based on these live books? It would seem to make sense to do that rather than to study each subject selectively without relating to one another. PR covers all your language arts, and TOG and science are areas you can implement PR (outlining, dictation, sentences, paragraphs, etc, essentially, every skill you use in PR, apply it to science and history alternatively (not at the same time, it would be a lot of writing). By the time you get to LR, you then use the WA from TOG and again, your LA are taken care of.

 

I just got my TOG; I'm excited but perplexed at the same time! It does get easier to use as time goes on I hope! Sure does :) Give yourself a few weeks, you'll see.

 

Now I just need to buck up and buy the Latin Road and the Phonics Road, and other than math and Logic, we'll be all planned out for next year(I hope). Do you just get your science stuff from the library,just researching what topics youll hit in TOG ahead of time? Anything really necessary to buy in advance? We have grown to believe library science is most interesting and by accompanying with an easy experiment book (not hard to find, either) we have the most fun. I'm never happy with any stand alone science programs. They all seem to be missing something I want. Kits are also nice in grammar school b/c they make for easy experimentation, but are not necessary.

 

What do you do for spelling while doing TOG and LR/PR? PR/LR IS spelling ;)

 

(By the way, I really appreciate how much help you have all been with all my question asking:)

Welcome :)

 

I like the idea of doing science according to what you are learning in history. It seems that it will really bring all the subjects together, doing all your reading and writing based on live books that compliment each other.

 

What works best, getting books from the library and doing notebooking, experiments, etc, that compliment what you are doing in history, or buying a set curriculum on those subjects ahead of time? Look through the "activities" section of TOG. This area will lean towards science ideas well. For example, in our first week of year 4, we're doing gliders to learn about the Wright Bros., so we'll study flight. Later, we're hitting the Depression, so we'll look at weather in general. We'll also do some botany.

 

Also, back to the PR and LR topic(sorry that I got off topic on here, but this is helping me plan my fall year, which I have spent so much time researching, but feel that I could use all the advice I can get)

 

To those who use TOG and PR/LR, how many hours a day do you typically spend on each or do they blend so well that you integrate what you learn from LR/PR around your history?

 

How do you spend your evening before preparing to teach LR/PR and TOG for the next day?

Well, we alternate science to 2 days a week and do history 3 days for the LG/UG kids. Completing PR + history/science + math + independent reading (If We all do science, then they read history independently and vice versa) + one family game + one elective (daily drawing/journaling/art/music) + a little computer time (drilling) and we're at about 5 hours per day for the boys. They spend about 3.75--4 of those hours with me.

 

Dialectic has a 6-8 hour day, depending on workload. They have science daily and a bunch of electives.

 

Rhetoric around 7-9 hours a day.

 

I spend about 2 hours a day with meetings and subject reviews for D and R.

 

I grade papers and small tasks, so I am "working" from about 7--5.

[didadeewiththree]

It will take me some time this summer to find my groove!

 

I will try to focus on Reading, Writing, and Math over the summer with TOG(once I get my books) and try to get a schedule going with science.

 

Lots of hard work ahead of us, I hope I can figure out TOG and Phonics Road!

[johnandtinagilbert]

It will take me some time this summer to find my groove!

 

I will try to focus on Reading, Writing, and Math over the summer with TOG(once I get my books) and try to get a schedule going with science.

 

Lots of hard work ahead of us, I hope I can figure out TOG and Phonics Road!

You can do it!

[didadeewiththree]

I got PR1 over the weekend, and I am liking what I am seeing so far! Now I just need to do it! TOG and PR1 in hand, Im getting closer to getting in shape for the fall. Thank you all for your input and thoughts so far, I think the questions are to come once I get over the initial "can I really do this" thoughts. I really need to get a schedule going to work between my Kindergartener, 2nd grader and 6th grader that makes for a smooth day, 5 days a week. Ill go back over this threads comments and also use TOG and PR1's suggested daily regimen and hopefully start asap.

 

Overwhelmed but feeling good abt these choices here:001_smile:

[johnandtinagilbert]

I got PR1 over the weekend, and I am liking what I am seeing so far! Now I just need to do it! TOG and PR1 in hand, Im getting closer to getting in shape for the fall. Thank you all for your input and thoughts so far, I think the questions are to come once I get over the initial "can I really do this" thoughts. I really need to get a schedule going to work between my Kindergartener, 2nd grader and 6th grader that makes for a smooth day, 5 days a week. Ill go back over this threads comments and also use TOG and PR1's suggested daily regimen and hopefully start asap.

 

Overwhelmed but feeling good abt these choices here:001_smile:

glad to hear it! Let me know if I can help at all.