Jump to content

Menu
Giving You and Your Child a Road Map to the Best Possible Education
The Well-Trained Mind Community

tjarnold

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    301

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Posts posted by tjarnold

    What do you pay for piano lessons?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

     

    Can I ask another question? Is it culturally appropriate to sit in the lessons and listen in or is it more appropriate to drop a child off for a lesson and then pick them up? I would rather attend the lesson so I can work with my son at home and reinforce what the teacher tells him, but I don't want to be one of "those parents." In my culture parents are always present during lessons. I just don't know the proper etiquette.

     

    It depends on the teacher. Some would encourage your involvement, and others would prefer to deal with the student individually. You certainly have the right to discuss it with the teacher. I would encourage you to explain your reasons for wanting to be more involved -- that is, that you want to assist the student at home, rather than check up on the teacher.

     

    Tiffany

    What do you pay for piano lessons?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I know this is a very old thread, but I need some hand holding. I found a wonderful teacher. The rate is $55 for 45 minutes. We are in CA, but I just don't know what to think. I met with her today and I think she is exactly what I have been looking for and it has been a very long search. Has anybody paid this much for a lesson and am I insane to even consider it?

     

    Depending on your area and the credentials of the teacher, this may be perfectly reasonable. Finding the right teacher for your child is essential to success, so if your instinct is she's the right one, you should probably try it out.

     

    (FWIW, I'm a professional violin teacher.)

     

    HTH,

     

    Tiffany

    Cambridge Latin 3 questions

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    It's not just the number of stages, but the material in each stage in Cambridge Latin III is much harder than II. The fourth book is much harder than the third, especially the last half where it switches to original Latin authors. In my opinion, the first book goes much too slowly, as I recall, it don't even cover all five of the major Latin cases.

     

     

     

    Thank you!

     

    Tiffany

    How do you handle summer reading in hs?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Our summer reading period is only about 8 weeks, so I'll have my rising 9th-grader read

     

    Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

    Huxley, Brave New World

    Crichton, The Andromeda Strain

    Heller, Catch 22

     

    The Crichton is supposed to get him in the mindset for biology this fall. The other three are basic classics from the canon of what we want all our high schoolers to read before departing for college. I'm still debating about whether to have him read something else on a more serious science level in preparation for biology.

     

    For my rising 8th-grader, I haven't figured out my plan yet.

     

    HTH,

     

    Tiffany

    Cambridge Latin 3 questions

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Hello, all,

     

    I'm looking for advice from anyone who has used Cambridge Latin 3. My 14yo (just finishing 8th grade) has used Cambridge 1 and 2 for the last two years. I've been planning on continuing with Cambridge as it works well for him and he's learned a lot from it.

     

    My issue is I just discovered the pace seems to increase dramatically from Cambridge 2 to 3, going from 8 stages in the former to 14 stages in the latter. Is anyone familiar enough with the two levels to tell me whether the workload is dramatically heavier?

     

    Thanks,

     

    Tiffany

    Miller-Levine Biology - Kolbe, tests, etc?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    My older children are both using the Kolbe syllabus with Miller-Levine. They have no problem following the syllabus. The tests are easy to administer and grade. It is very rigorous, especially if you choose the honors track (there are 3 tracked schedules to choose from). Virtual labs were not going to cut it for my children, who will more likely than not be doing hard sciences in college. We took some labs directly from the textbook, with a full write-up and they also did a Landry Academy two day lab-intensive, which is pretty packed with labs appropriate for this course.

     

    Thanks, Jerrin. This is very helpful. I'm hoping to do a mix of virtual labs and actual labs. It's very doubtful that any of my children will go into the sciences, so I'm going to try not to stress about it too much.

     

    Tiffany

    Miller-Levine Biology - Kolbe, tests, etc?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I don't know that I would recommend using just the publisher's resources if you don't want to be involved at least in planning and scheduling. Their online resources do a pretty decent job as teacher along side the text.

     

    We had an excellent year with M/L Biology this year, way above expectations. However, I don't really think it meets your qualifications, although I don't know what does.

     

    Thanks for sharing your insights, Debbie. This is very helpful. I actually don't mind planning and scheduling, but I wouldn't want it to be overwhelming. Did you use the virtual lab component at all?

     

    Tiffany

    Miller-Levine Biology - Kolbe, tests, etc?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    My three younger daughters are enrolled with Kolbe. I really like their course plans for English and Literature. I like the Greek History but did my own stuff for the rest of history. But their science course plans are not very helpful IMHO.

     

    I find Oak Meadow course materials to be much more user friendly and written directly to the student. My two middle daughters used the Miller Levine Biology text, but did not retain as much biology as I had hoped.

     

    Thank you, Tamarind! Glad to hear I'm not entirely alone with regard to my mixed feelings about Kolbe. I took a quick look at their sample lesson online, and it does look appealing. Now I am wondering about the differences between Oak Meadow's program and the Holt package that Rainbow Resource sells, which includes the Virtual Investigations CD, to be used along with the SaxonHomeschool lesson plans.

     

    Any thoughts on these components?

     

    Tiffany

    Miller-Levine Biology - Kolbe, tests, etc?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I am desperate for guidance on this topic. At this point, my plan is for my son to use Miller-Levine Biology next year when he is in 9th grade. However, I am a bit confused about how best to implement the course -- whether to use the Kolbe syllabus, teacher's materials directly from the publisher, or something else. I've read many threads on this topic, and I still don't have a clear idea of what to do. Having read that the publisher is not consistent in dealing with homeschoolers doesn't help.

     

    We used the Kolbe syllabus this year with Prentice-Hall Physical Science, and I felt it had some pros and cons. The most recent con was that I just graded an exam and felt that I couldn't properly evaluate my son's answers because I'm not an expert in the field (i.e., on short-answer, essay-style questions). I was also annoyed when I discovered an error in the Kolbe Answer Key early on in the course. I actually called Kolbe, and they agreed that it was an error, but hadn't included it in an errata listing. Understandably, these things happen, but when I haven't mastered the material myself, it's more than a little frustrating.

     

    My priorities in figuring out what to use are:

     

    1) Tests should be simple to grade, with clear black and white answers (perhaps multiple-choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank?),

    2) Course schedule (or syllabus) should be easy for the student to follow without much involvement from mom,

    3) Labs (or virtual labs) shouldn't be difficult to implement,

    4) Course should be rigorous, with an eye toward taking AP Biology in a couple of years.

     

    Am I asking too much? As a humanities person, I admit I'd laugh if someone asked me for multiple-choice exams in my areas of specialty (music, art history, lit, history). Well, perhaps I wouldn't laugh -- but I would point out the difficulty of thorough evaluation when one eliminates the essay-style question. Still, I just don't have time to master the material on top of everything else I need to do.

     

    Suggestions?

     

    Thanks,

     

    Tiffany

    How does this look for 9th grade?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    She doesn't know yet. She has a huge passion for both, but it would help if she picked one. ;) I'm not sure what kind of electives she would take for dance though besides her dance classes.

     

    You're right: she needs to pick one. It may be hard, but she's drastically decreasing her odds of getting in by not pouring all her efforts into one specialty. It's not so much about the electives as about the main concentration (one instrument or dance). As a professional musician and teacher who attended a very selective conservatory, I can tell you she shouldn't wait to choose. Juilliard is almost certainly more difficult to get into than Harvard or Yale at this point. If that's her goal, she'll also need to find a mentor/teacher who knows what it will take to get her there.

     

    I hope this is helpful, rather than discouraging. Please let me know if I can help in any other way.

     

    Tiffany

    What would be your top ten literature reads

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    :lurk5:

     

    I'm working on a list for next year too, as DS14 will be entering 9th grade. I'm still trying to decide between a chronological, Great Books-type approach and a more topical approach (American Lit, British Lit, etc.)

     

    I look forward to hearing others' ideas!

     

    Tiffany

     

    P.S. This year, his reading has included (among other titles):

    To Kill a Mockingbird

    1984

    The Lord of the Flies

    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

    A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

    When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit

    One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch

    Frankenstein

    The Diary of a Young Girl (Anne Frank)

    The Screwtape Letters

    The Westing Game

    My Brother Sam is Dead

    As You Like It

    Cambridge Latin

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

     

    I've heard that kids who get through the 4th book have an excellent understanding of grammar. Just haven't got that far myself, so I can't speak from personal experience.

     

    Thanks for sharing your experiences. Which level have you gotten through (or are you working on)? Do you supplement CL at all or just use the basic text?

     

    Tiffany

×
×
  • Create New...