simka2 Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 I wanted to start a separate thread. Does anyone have these and can you tell me what is included? I am very curious about the 4th-6th grade guides. http://www.academybookstore.org/AngelicumStore/Detail.bok?no=2269 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 (edited) We have a couple of these guides for the early grades, possibly including 4th. I'll try to find them and share a few examples. As I recall, for each book, there's some brief historical/biographical information, a list of other titles by the author, and a few broad discussion questions (often with some moral or spiritual emphasis). IMO, they're helpful but not earth-shatteringly so. :)To me, the Angelicum guides are most notable for what they leave out -- that is, the detailed analysis and "picking apart" exercises that are often found in other curricula. They're pretty much at the opposite end of the spectrum from the Memoria Press workbooks. In fact, these guides themselves have a fair number of typos and spelling mistakes, LOL.(This is consistent with what I've heard about with Angelicum overall: wonderful in theory, not always so careful in the execution. I guess this is what happens when you have a company run by philosophers. ;)) Edited March 16, 2016 by ElizaG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avila Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 (edited) I have been looking at them this morning. It looks like they have a sale on now with a lot of things 30% off, including these guides. It looks like they are selling off their bookstore and going with Amazon in May, and that is why what they currently have is discounted. I went ahead and ordered the 4th grade one. :) Edited March 19, 2012 by Asenik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Okay, I'm putting my children in front of a WordGirl video so I can look for the guides. Not a shining example of poetic learning over here, but we must all sacrifice for the common good. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Found them and looked through them a bit. We have nursery, 3rd, and 4th. The guides are much more interesting and substantial than I remembered. I think I was turned off by the spelling mistakes and the emphasis on certain writers, most of whom, in 4th grade, are what I'd consider boy-oriented. Out of 20 books, there are two by G. A. Henty and five by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Or, as they keep calling him, "Edward." :001_huh: :lol: Of course, many girls enjoy these books, but if they'd happen to prefer something more feminine, there's not much for them to choose from except three works by Louisa May Alcott. And I'm not sure that I'd agree with Dr. Elisabeth Carmack's assertion that "everything on this list is by common consent part of the ordinary cultural matter essential for an English-speaking person to grow in." Really? Even Chessmen of Mars? :confused: This points to another issue that I have with Angelicum's approach. They took Dr. Senior's list (which was just supposed to be an example, not for public distribution), went through it to find the books that were still available, and then pretty much carved it up and assigned certain authors to certain grades. I know that children do tend to go on binges of reading books by their favorite writers, but I'm not sure that this is the best way to go about choosing books to read for education. In some cases, such as the Little House series, it's especially questionable, because the later books deal with fairly mature themes. That said, the content of the guides is very good. The 4th grade one has a ten page introduction by Dr. Taylor and a few pages by Dr. Carmack, both written to the parent. Then there are several pages about each book, illustrated with black and white pictures, and broken down as follows: introductory bullet points Author Setting Themes The last few pages for each title have ten true/false review questions, several essay questions, and an answer key. A sample from the T/F questions: "Little John entered the service of the Sheriff of Nottingham for a time." Answer key: "True. This turns out to be a lapse in judgment." And from the essay questions: "Would you like to live in Sherwood Forest? Why?" Answer guidelines: "There is something of a utopian appeal to Sherwood Forest, not exactly a neverland, but a place of the excellences of leisure that should be freely explored and enjoyed." Hope that is somewhat helpful. Let me know if you have other specific things you'd like me to look up. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Hmm, Eleanor, your points about chopping up the list is what I thought. I had actually thought of buying a few of them, that way if a kid wanted to read a few books from each list, I had them on hand. I am highly doubtful my kids would want to read ALL of Laura Ingalls Wilder in one year. That like a diet of one food every day for a year. Thanks for the S/O Simka! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simka2 Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 Eleanor, it is helpful! Thanks for sacrificing your kids to Wordgirl for the rest of our children's sake. ;) I am going to spend a little more time looking at them and seeing if this thread digs up any additional info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 You're welcome! Mouse, I think it makes sense to buy more than one grade level. I wish they'd put them in a bundle, as Kolbe does... but I guess then we wouldn't have any at all, because some of the levels haven't been written yet. :D On the up side, they are reasonably priced at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnyDays Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 We appreciate your sacrifice!! :D Thanks for posting about these. I was wondering how they were laid out, wish the site had samples. I think buying 2-3 guides and using them over time makes a lot of sense, especially at that price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 May I ask how these guides are compared to Kolbe? I've been seriously considering buying the Kolbe literature package. I like the Kolbe book suggestions better, but I don't know about content otherwise. Has anyone seen both? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I bought 4 of them and I'll share how they are when they get here! I'm scited! :D (yes, I know I spelled it wrong, tis a joke.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avila Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Mine shipped today. I just bought one, but I may buy more. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usetoschool Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I have, I think, all of them that were available a while ago and they are all pretty much the same. The introduction by Dr. Taylor and Dr. Carmack are reprinted in each volume. There is also a little bit about reading levels and skills at the beginning. Each book contains information about the author, setting, and themes, followed by a half dozen or more true or false questions and then 3 or 4 essay questions. As the grade levels increase, the expectations for essay answers increase. You can tell by the amount of lined paper they leave after the question :001_smile: The Nursery level book, and I assume the other pre-2nd books are different. The Nursery book is the only one I own. It just asks basic questions and gives possible answers from the child's perspective - scripted, sort of. By the end of 4th grade the questions about Chessmen of Mars include "Edgar Rice Burroughs invents a new board game called jetan that resembles the games of chess in some ways. Do you think jetan is a game that could actually be played?" and "What significance can you attribute to Kaldanes and Rykors in real contemporary life - brains who want to be left alone to think, bodies who simple (sic) want to be beautiful?" There are a lot of spelling errors. These are not hard core, deep thinking literary analysis. They are just simple books guides to help you think about and write about the virtues and themes in the stories. That is part of the reason I like them. I cannot do a full analysis for every single book we read, unless we only read a couple books a year, I guess :001_smile:. I also have the Middle Ages high school level books. They are much more detailed and in depth. Full essay questions, study questions, things to think about, terminology, summaries, and background information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I also have the Middle Ages high school level books. They are much more detailed and in depth. Full essay questions, study questions, things to think about, terminology, summaries, and background information. Are they linked in the curriculum lists? could you link me to them? I was looking but I couldn't find them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 May I ask how these guides are compared to Kolbe? I've been seriously considering buying the Kolbe literature package. I like the Kolbe book suggestions better, but I don't know about content otherwise. :lurk5: I haven't seen the Kolbe guides. They don't seem to have any samples on their site, just some general information. From what I understand, putting it in terms of geography, Angelicum would be more of a travel guide, and Kolbe would be more of a continent study. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usetoschool Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Are they linked in the curriculum lists? could you link me to them? I was looking but I couldn't find them! http://www.academybookstore.org/AngelicumStore/Categories.bok?category=NINTH+GRADE%3AGREAT+BOOKS+PROGRAM They are under 9th, 10th, etc and then Great Books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oraetstudia Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 :lurk5: I haven't seen the Kolbe guides. They don't seem to have any samples on their site, just some general information. From what I understand, putting it in terms of geography, Angelicum would be more of a travel guide, and Kolbe would be more of a continent study. ;) http://www.kolbe.org/Elementary-Literature-Curriculum/ http://www.kolbe.org/Junior-High-Literature-Curriculum/ They have links on the page that say sample course plan. I have the fifth grade Angelicum guide. I have to say I didn't find it as impressive as I'd hoped and I am disappointed at how many Henty books they use in their program. I don't like Henty much and certainly don't consider his books on my list of "good books." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 (edited) http://www.kolbe.org/Elementary-Literature-Curriculum/ http://www.kolbe.org/Junior-High-Literature-Curriculum/ They have links on the page that say sample course plan. I saw those, thanks. They've only posted the first several pages of the overall syllabus, and it would be helpful to see an example of the specific lesson plans. I wish Angelicum would put up sample pages, too. My first reaction to their guides was similar to yours, but they're growing on me. I think they'll be just right when we don't want to do a major study, but would like some background information and a few points to think about. We'll probably skip the Henty, though, or just read one or two of the books that I've checked out beforehand. I don't see the appeal of it, and the excerpts in this review reinforce my feelings. [Edited to remove personal details] Edited March 16, 2016 by ElizaG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.