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Why I *don't* want a board exclusively for "middle school"/logic stage...


Colleen
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Someone recommended a separate board for middle school and there has been a chorus of agreement. Some feel it would make sense to have separate boards for each stage of the trivium. I think that would be impractical. I am familiar with this board format from other online communities and the fewer boards to check, the better, in my experience. As well, the middle school/logic stage is not an island unto itself. I would by far prefer different divisions for the two current curriculum boards: K-6 and 7-12. (I believe Rhonda in TX said this as well.) Teachers and parents with upper logic stage students benefit most from mixing with those who are farther ahead in the journey. They are uniquely interested in how to prepare for high school, for example. A simple relabeling of the current boards would reap the most benefit, imo.

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Thank you once again for saying it perfectly so I don't have to worry about doing so. :)

I have one in grammar and one in logic but there is overlap and I have certainly learned a great deal reading posts that were not directed specifically to the stage I was looking for help about. (really poor sentence structure, I apologize, lack of sleep and all that)

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For me, this is not about age/stages of the Trivium division or "segregation", or how it is going to impede the sense of community. It simply makes more sense to me to have a third board so that I have less pages to wade through. K-8 is such a large range that by nature, the pages are going to fill up quickly and go on and on and on.

 

I would much rather have an extra forum to view instead of one less with tons of pages to wade through. I have a much better chance of seeing the newer posts if the boards are split into three. And no, I don't want to hit "new posts" every time I come here, because then I have to view posts from boards that I very rarely frequent.

 

Oh! And right now, they have no plans to increase the # of threads per page, in deference to dial-up users. This forum is fairly new, and already we have 66 pages just on the K-8 forum.

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Eventually our children will be on the upper level range of a board and we will find ourselves "peeking" at the next "split" to brainstorm our path.

 

It is hard to be as "intimate" on this type of board format. I know for myself I have rarely been on more than one board here and usually at that only have time to glance an the first page or two. It's not an easy read format and a lot of posts get missed.

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because of users not being willing to learn HOW to learn the board efficiently, that sounds harsh and I don't mean it that way.

 

1. You can subscribe to the threads you're interested in so that you receive updates.

 

2. You can receive email digests of a certain board if you wish

 

3. Use Private Message to talk to a particular person instead of clogging up the board to ask a particular person a question.

 

4. Use the appropriate areas for what they are intended for- General Board for chatting and every day life stuff, Curriculum board for curricula related posts, Test area to figure out the Board. Hence THIS post and the one before it shouldn't even be on THIS board, lol. Yes, I'm a hypocrite at times.

 

5. Search the forum (Curriculum or General) for the topic you want to read about. Go to the forum of your choosing and hit Search Forum, enter the subject and voila, any posts that have to do with the search term will show up. If none, post a new thread.

 

I don't want division, because that is what it will be- division. We need the more experienced hslers to be involved on the K-8 or K-6 board to help us clueless, still figuring it out newbies. We NEED YOU. Or I NEED YOU.

 

My time here will be decreasing, it would be nice to have 1 curriculum board to go to instead of spending more TIME (which is valuable) looking through 2 curriculum boards.

 

All the new features are great but I really miss the fluid flow of conversation of the old boards which allowed me to POP in for a mere five minutes and continue on with my day. Now it's at least a 10 minute POP in.

 

United We Stand, Divided We Fall. ;)

 

Lol.

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FWIW, Colleen, I do agree with you. We don't need any more boards. Some may want it, but it is not needed. There is too much clutter here already and instead of complaining about this format, why not learn it to make it work for you (the general you)?

 

Too many boards are going to give everyone fits and everyone is going to complain that it takes them too long to read the boards... I mean you already do that, but add on one more board for you to read and soon, we've got a ton of threads all saying the same thing "Help me"..

 

Why not combine the clutter and clean it up. Make it more precise. This board does NOT need yet another sub-board. Splitting the Swap board was silly enough, don't make this anymore complicated than it truly isn't.

 

Oh and MODS if you read this thread, you really need to do something about Rep Points. It is getting out of hand. I'm getting tired of cowards not signing their name.

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I'm fine with either split option. However, I feel a third Board would reduce the number of posts we'd have to wade through. The sheer number of posts with the new format simply bury so many posts. Unfortunately many of us have neither the time no inclination to go back page after page. For me I feel bad when someone has a question (esp. a newbie) and it gets buried. jm2c

 

And iah, I don't often participate in K-3 questions anymore. Curriculum's have changed, and my focus is where my children are. I'd still visit, but not as often.:rolleyes:

 

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Even thought I disagree with splitting into more boards we don't need... I do have an idea that might solve this.. it does involve making some boards and taking some away though. We really do not need to split what we already have, but we can consolidate and work it a little different to satisfy everyone.

 

As it stands right now:

K-8 Curriculum, General, AfterSchool, High School/Self Educated, Special Needs, Accelerated, Spanish, Networking, and Swap.

 

If it were up to me, this is how I would do the forums, that would hopefully accomodate everyone:

General, Afterschool, Special Needs, Spanish, Networking, and swap stay.

But, High School Goes. Self Educated is combined with Accelerated as they are pretty much the same. It's K-8 that will be different.

 

It would be K-5, combining Middle and High School and in each section would contain Curriculum advice, and everything else that went on in the original forums.

 

So the new forums would look like this:

General Chat

K-5(for chat about Curriculum and everything pertaining to these grades)

6-12(for chat about curriculum and everything pertaining to these grades)

AfterSchooling

Self Educated/Accelerated

Special Needs (this does deserve its own)

Spanish

Networking

Swap

 

In the end, it's the virtual same as it is now, we've just combined four of the areas that should be combined(accelerated and self educated, and Middle/High School).

 

There is no reason to give each grade level it's own board though. You are just going to have to subscribe to threads you want to watch or scroll to the next page or use the "New Posts" features that shows the newest in all sections.

 

This just seems the easiest and most logical way.

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Now my dd is nowhere near middle school age, so I don't have a strong feeling about this either way, but...I'm finding that by using the "New Posts" feature on the boards, I end up reading posts from all the separate boards. I never did that on the old boards. I no longer even really notice the fact that there are separate areas for different topics; all the posts come up in "New Posts," and I read whatever sounds interesting.

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I tend to do this, too, but sometimes it makes me post incorrectly, LOL.... OR, I can't find the post again, later (need to refer back to the "my responses section" more).

 

For instance, recently, I responded to SWB's thread on the high school board from the new posts section. She asked what our "hs" kids were reading and I read that as "homeschool", rather than "high school" - oh, well.....

 

And sometimes when you're posting something longer, you get kicked out of the system. So I lost two posts in a row (more than once) to Trivium and then when I logged back in and was up and running, couldn't ever manage to find the post and ended up putting my response under the wrong post.....

 

So it's somewhat of a process for old fuddy-duddys, like me, to get used to - but I do think it's doable once we learn to get around....

 

Regena

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on these new boards things move so quickly and not as easy to see "at a glance" that I think having another board for logic stage would be really helpful - having two kids in logic stage! Posts get buried SO fast now, that breaking things up a bit would be nice.

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because of users not being willing to learn HOW to learn the board efficiently, that sounds harsh and I don't mean it that way.

 

1. You can subscribe to the threads you're interested in so that you receive updates.

 

[snip]

 

5. Search the forum (Curriculum or General) for the topic you want to read about. Go to the forum of your choosing and hit Search Forum, enter the subject and voila, any posts that have to do with the search term will show up. If none, post a new thread.

 

6. The Quote button is your friend. Try to remember that not everyone has the board set up the way you do; a "Yeah, that" with no reference to what is being yeah-thatted makes no sense at all to a person reading in chronological rather threaded/conversation mode. Ditto for posts that add information about a program, but fail to mention the name of the program being discussed.

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I believe this has been discussed before, and they made a conscious decision not to have a logic stage board. If I remember correctly, it was determined that the division between stages is just too fuzzy. As SWB has stated, the transition to logic stage is gradual, and happens at different times in different subjects. I haven't gotten there yet, but I imagine the transition to rhetoric would be similar.

 

Perhaps the two boards could have overlapping age ranges: K-8th and 7th-12th?

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I also like the K-6 & 7-12 idea. My kids are only 10 & 12 but I frequent the hs board and occasionally post questions. The hs board members have been more than gracious to accommodate a newbie w/ kids on the younger end of the spectrum. Maybe the hs board regulars would not want to change things -- as it seems to be working really well for them.

 

Just my $.02...

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K-5(for chat about Curriculum and everything pertaining to these grades)

6-12(for chat about curriculum and everything pertaining to these grades)

 

I would prefer if a split be done that it be K-5, and 6-12! That seems more logical. Most 6th grader's are either in the logic stage, or on the verge of it. In my opinion, they should not be grouped with the grammar stage. :(

 

~Melissa

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I would prefer if a split be done that it be K-5, and 6-12! That seems more logical. Most 6th grader's are either in the logic stage, or on the verge of it. In my opinion, they should not be grouped with the grammar stage. :(

 

~Melissa

 

This is why I would prefer labels that designate boards according to developmental level. Many families assign "grade levels" according to chronological age for purposes of participation in community groups or for documentation, but there is a range of developmental levels within any group of students of a given chronological age- esp. those on the cusp of the usual ages/grades for a jump in development.

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Quote:K-5(for chat about Curriculum and everything pertaining to these grades)

6-12(for chat about curriculum and everything pertaining to these grades)

 

I would prefer if a split be done that it be K-5, and 6-12! That seems more logical. Most 6th grader's are either in the logic stage, or on the verge of it. In my opinion, they should not be grouped with the grammar stage.

 

~Melissa

 

Melissa, umm, that's what I said?? K-5 and 6-12 or did you mean some other way and just wrote what I did?

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On Self-Educated vs. Accelerated:

 

I don't see Self-Educated as belonging with Accelerated. The Accelerated board is primarily about younger students whose development is so far above the norm that typcial "grade level" curriculum won't work. Self-Educated is about adults choosing to learn things they didn't learn in their formal schooling. The resources for learning discussed on the High School board are the same resources an adult might choose to use.

 

On breaking up or combining boards:

 

Let's just make sure that general chit-chat stays in its own category. I think posts about solving parenting problems that affect a child's education at a given stage are fine on the curriculum boards, but I don't have time to wade through any general chit-chat. I already have a group or two that I sometimes go to when I'm feeling chatty. I want my TWTM board experience to be about finding the resources I need to educate my child at home.

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but...I'm finding that by using the "New Posts" feature on the boards, I end up reading posts from all the separate boards. I never did that on the old boards. I no longer even really notice the fact that there are separate areas for different topics; all the posts come up in "New Posts," and I read whatever sounds interesting.

 

This is what I love about the new format. I just click new posts and I am able to read topics I ignored before because I almost always stayed with the general board.

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I think that the two seperate boards are excellent. I believe that middle school is more of a modern term. It use to be lower school and then high school.

 

Any way I think that the way the forums are set up right now is fine.

 

I guess because next year, I will have a beginner logic stage student.

 

Blessings,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

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LOL! No, I was agreeing with your post! :D I was quite glad you brought it up because that's what I was thinking as well.

 

Sorry for the confusion, I should have been clearer. :o

Ok, whew! I mean I know I'm losing my mind, but I wanted it to be on my own terms, kwim? :p

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For me, this is not about age/stages of the Trivium division or "segregation", or how it is going to impede the sense of community. It simply makes more sense to me to have a third board so that I have less pages to wade through. K-8 is such a large range that by nature, the pages are going to fill up quickly and go on and on and on.

 

I would much rather have an extra forum to view instead of one less with tons of pages to wade through. I have a much better chance of seeing the newer posts if the boards are split into three. And no, I don't want to hit "new posts" every time I come here, because then I have to view posts from boards that I very rarely frequent.

 

Oh! And right now, they have no plans to increase the # of threads per page, in deference to dial-up users. This forum is fairly new, and already we have 66 pages just on the K-8 forum.

 

 

Yep, agree with you. I'm already avoiding the K-8 board since it is so full of non-middle school stuff. Just don't have the time for that.

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If we have time to leisurely read through posts and find new and interesting things, than fewer boards are fun. I like all of you, really I do! ;) But, keeping up with posts spaning a nine year difference in ages and abilities does lead to a lot of wasted time.

 

Most often I come to these boards with a specific need and find it very time-consuming to wade through the plethora of topics. I may see a post that looks applicable only to click on it and find that is specifically speaking of children far older or younger than my children.

 

For those of you who are worried about missing a post from the other proposed board, just skip on over there to have a look. (When I have time to read for pleasure I often visit the other boards.)

 

SWB: It is a blessing to have these boards, no matter how they are split!

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Someone recommended a separate board for middle school and there has been a chorus of agreement. Some feel it would make sense to have separate boards for each stage of the trivium. I think that would be impractical. I am familiar with this board format from other online communities and the fewer boards to check, the better, in my experience. As well, the middle school/logic stage is not an island unto itself. I would by far prefer different divisions for the two current curriculum boards: K-6 and 7-12. (I believe Rhonda in TX said this as well.) Teachers and parents with upper logic stage students benefit most from mixing with those who are farther ahead in the journey. They are uniquely interested in how to prepare for high school, for example. A simple relabeling of the current boards would reap the most benefit, imo.

 

 

I really like the division the way it is now. I look at the grades as high school and everything that comes before, LOL.

 

I do sneak over and read the high school board every once in a while because of what you said, Colleen: "Teachers and parents with upper logic stage students benefit most from mixing with those who are farther ahead in the journey."

 

Maybe I feel the way I do because all of my dc now fit on the one board (K-8).

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...messing too much with the current High School board, and causing too much change. I think a lot of the 'seriousness' of that board's atmosphere has to do with it being a separate entity.

 

I don't know how people who are already there would feel about yet another change, and I wouldn't want to lose any of the folks who have "Been There, Done That". The High School board is worth its weight in gold, imo, the way it is now. If none of that would be lost, then, great! But if it would diminish the tone that exists there, now...I would vote 'no'.

 

Many folks with 'logic stage' kids are already lurking and tentatively asking questions on the High School board (me, included) and I think it will probably continue to be that way. Just a guess, though.

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...I was responding more to Toni's "High School Goes Away" idea, but now that I look at Colleen's original post, I'm reading "Divide the curriculum board".

 

Just for the record, lol, I wouldn't be opposed to a division of the curriculum board...but I guess I don't look at the High School Board as a 'curriculum' board, but more of a 'General' and 'Curriculum', combined.

 

But if streamlining is what we're talking about, I guess that wouldn't work too well, since it would only create another board.

 

(I still wouldn't like the High School board done away with, in its current state, though.)

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Hi Everyone,

 

We have read the threads asking for board changes and we are aware of the various points of view. We are considering how to best balance all the requests and keep the most people happy.

 

We have closed this thread to future posts.

 

The Admins

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