Cakes Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 I have no idea what I am doing, but I am trying to put together a HS program for my 7th grader. I thought that I had done a good bit of research but now that I am actually trying to choose curriculum, I am completely overwhelmed. Is MCT an all in one type of program? I looks like they offer all that is needed, just add a good amount of classic lit in there and go. Am I correct? I am also looking for something that is fairly self led and I have to say that this program looks a bit dry. I am desperate for suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 Hello! Relax! It will be OK! I am not familiar with MCT, but I'm sure someone who has used it will chime in. For 7th grade and now 8th, we have used Lightning Literature from Hewitt Homeschool. I plan on adding in Vocabulary from Classical Roots towards the end of the year for fun. Some years (different kids), we have just read thru the classic lit lists like this one at Classical Homeschooling: http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000-junior.html. For that kid, I added in Hake Grammar and Writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innisfree Posted September 16, 2014 Share Posted September 16, 2014 MCT is a great program, but I wouldn't call it self-led. Discussions with your student are an important part of the program, at least from time to time. Having said that, my 7th grader is using MCT materials sort of semi-independently. She has a good grasp of grammar and this is not her first year with MCT. Grammar and vocabulary are MCT's strongest areas, imho. We've used other things for writing. Later this year we'll try one of MCT's literature programs for the first time, so I can't comment on those. You should know that there is little work on mechanics in these books. But I think the analytical part, looking at parts of speech, parts of sentence, phrases, and clauses, is superb. When I pulled dd12 out of ps after 4th grade she couldn't tell a noun from a verb. Now younger dd, after doing MCT Island level last year for 3rd grade, is entering 4th grade at home and she can whiz through those sentences identifying parts of speech and parts of sentence. I think the program has done well for them. I would't call it dry at all, myself. Now Rod and Staff... that's dry! What is your dd's background like in grammar? Which level are you considering for her? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cakes Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 Thanks for the feedback! I have already decided to switch gears...now I am just trying to sort out whether or not some of this is duplicitous. English Lit- Lightning Lit and Comp Grammar/ Writing- Hake Grammar Writing for 100 days Vocab - English from the roots up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Thanks for the feedback! I have already decided to switch gears...now I am just trying to sort out whether or not some of this is duplicitous. English Lit- Lightning Lit and Comp Grammar/ Writing- Hake Grammar Writing for 100 days Vocab - English from the roots up If you are doing the Hake writing, I would probably skip the writing assignments in Lightning Lit. Just discuss the topics there and move on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Writing for 100 Days and the writing portion of Hake Grammar will be redundant to Lightning Lit. Drop those 2 and use LL for that. It is worked into the program already. You cannot really separate it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwickimom Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 We are loving Lightning Lit for 7th grade! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 The subject areas you'll want to cover for English in the later middle school years: - Writing (Composition) * the writing process (brainstorming/pre-writing, drafting/sloppy copy, revising, proofing/editing, publishing/final version) * 4 types of writing (descriptive, narrative, expository, persuasive) * 6 traits of writing (ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, voice, conventions) * paragraph structure (complete sentences, all about the same topic, "hook", topic sentence, supporting details / facts / examples / quotations, "commentary" or sentence of explanation, transitions, conclusion, "clincher") * proofing/editing * variety of types of writing exercises/assignments - Literature * beginning to read some classics * beginning literary terms * beginning analysis/deeper thinking & discussion * beginning to write about the Literature * optional: vocabulary (that is in the Literature) - Grammar * parts of speech, parts of sentence * phrases and clauses * GUM -- Grammar Usage and Mechanics (punctuation/capitalization, subject/verb agreement, fragments/run-ons, plurals, possessives, homophones…) * optional: diagramming optional: - Vocabulary - Spelling - solo reading - read alouds About the only "all-in-one" programs I can think of would be traditional textbook publishers, such as Bob Jones or K-12. And even these publishers only tend to package the Writing & Grammar together, and the Literature is a separate text. And these texts tend to be more teacher-intensive. Time 4 Learning might be an option as an online independent resource. Usually at this stage, you want to tailor the Writing, Literature, and Grammar to your student's level/need for each, so a separate program for each is pretty typical. Then you know you are covering all the areas you need to cover, while 3 programs is still quite manageable. Learning Language Arts Through Literature and Total Language Plus are all-in-one language arts programs, BUT, at the middle school level, they are not providing the comprehensive coverage of all the subject areas (listed above). LLATL Green (7th) and Gray (8th) each cover 3-4 books for an entire year -- and, JMO, but the number of books and book title selections for these 2 levels are way off for traditional Literature studies. TLP offers individual titles, so you can select your own works to cover for the year, but will not get the comprehensive coverage of Writing, Literature, and Grammar that individual programs for each of those subjects provides. Looks like you have some good programs lined up! :) re: the writing in Lightning Literature I will mention that while LL is a great gentle intro into Literature (we loved both LL7 and LL8), the writing instruction and assignment portion is VERY lite. At the end of each unit is a 1-2 page "mini writing lesson", with topics that are meant to either go along with the literature lesson for that unit, OR, to be a review or recap of a topic for writing about literature, and meant as supplement to whatever complete writing program you are already using. We found the mini writing lessons to be helpful light supplement/reinforcement, but no where near enough to make a complete writing program. The mini writing lesson topics for LL7: openings; outlines; limerick & haiku; nonce words; writing about yourself; brainstorming; cinquain and the list poem; choosing a topic. The mini writing lesson topics for LL8: taking notes; rewriting in your own words (part 1 and part 2); free verse and the ballads; citing sources in a paper; the narrator; fun poems; genre fiction; sentence structure; bibliography; the sonnet; writing a conclusion. Our experience was that we definitely did need a solid writing composition program to go along with LL. At the end of each unit in LL is a choice of writing assignments. We sometimes skipped these, and when we did use a LL writing assignment, we would set aside our main writing program for a week to do the LL for some variety. And, LL has no Grammar instruction/practice. The only Vocabulary in the program is a list of words and definitions that are found in the work being read for each unit. It worked very well to use LL with separate Writing and Grammar programs. Some more fairly self-led program ideas for you, in case you were interested: Literature - Memoria Press Literature gr. 6 or gr. 7 (they run at an advanced level) -- less independent than LL7 or LL8 Writing - Essentials in Writing -- video lessons, mostly independent - Jump In (Christian) -- mostly independent - Write Shop -- very gentle/incremental, but more teacher involvement than the others - Wordsmith -- very independent, but also fairly light Grammar - Analytical Grammar Vocabulary (root-based) -- workbook based, very independent - Vocabulary From Classical Roots - Vocabulary Vine - Words on the Vine - Critical Thinking Press: Word Roots Welcome to middle school planning! :) Warmest regards, Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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