[Books to help me teach K-8 writing]

21 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Well, it is curricula (sort of) -- but in the elementary grades, I really liked some of the Write Source HANDbooks (the Skills Books are separate work books, and not what I am referring to). The Handbooks are written to the student, but I got a lot out of them myself.  At increasing grade-level of explanation and depth of info, each book has sections that cover:

- Process of Writing
- Forms of Writing
- Tools of Learning
- Proofreader's Guide

Write One (gr. 1) and Write Away (gr. 2) were really too simplistic to be useful, but Write on Track (gr. 3), Writer's Express (gr. 4-5), Write on Course (gr. 6-8), and Writer's Inc (gr. 9-12)  had a lot of helpful info at appropriate grade-level instruction. There are several different editions out there -- they seem to have put out a new edition about every 5-8 years or so. It looks like the newest edition (at the publisher's link in first paragraph) has changed a lot to make it into a more formalized writing & grammar curriculum (see the Cathy Duffy review for details). It looks like the current Handbooks have a section on "Writing Across the Curriculum". That similar info may be under the section of "Forms of Writing" in the older edition handbooks that I used years back.

 

I see the teachers guides for these new editions are free online and have some pages from the student workbook too. e.g. the page for Write on Course (gr 6-8) "Writing Across the Curriculum" starts at https://k12.thoughtfullearning.com/teachersguide/write-course-20-20-teachers-guide-table-contents/36-writing-science with links to the next page (social studies).

[Crash Course World History Curriculum]

Old thread, but I just found a copy of all the PDFs at http://worldhistoryeducatorsblog.blogspot.com/2016/09/crash-course-world-history-curriculum.html

@shinyhappypeople Perhaps the link at https://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/638531-free-homeschool-curriculum-resources/ thread can be updated too?

[How do you organize future resources?]

I don't know the proper terminology for onenote but assuming you can tag notes/pages: have a note for each resource where the note title is the resource title. Then tag the note with subject (however specific e.g. physics or solar_system or egypt or whatever), and also tag it with each of the years the resource is appropriate for (e.g. grade3 grade4 grade5). The body of the note would have anything specific to that resource such as lesson plans you've found for it, areas the resource is weak in that you might want to supplement, who recommended the resource, where it is (on your bookshelf, library, ebook on your computer, where to buy it etc) or why you saved it in the first place. 

 

When you go to plan, you can search by tags for the subject and grade that you want. 

 

One thing that might be tricky is managing the subject tags. I think you would probably want hierarchical tags, or tags to be tagged with other tags e.g. physics and chemistry be tagged with science so that when you search for science you can easily pull up all the subcategories as well.

 

I personally prefer subjects being the top level of organisation rather than grades as you mentioned in your original post since many resources work for multiple grades. But tagging with subject and grade independently means you don't need to decide. 

[Password managers]

I am wary of using lastpass, 1password etc where your passwords are kept online under their control - no matter how secure they say they are they are such a huge target for hackers.

 

I've been using keepass for many many years. It is open source (i.e. anyone can verify how secure it is), and it is free, though possibly there are paid implementations for some operating systems? I use it on windows (press ctl-alt-A on about 90% of websites and the username/password will be filled in automatically - a few websites I have to manually copy and paste) and android. I have used it on OS X in the past (to read passwords only, not add new ones) and linux. I haven't used it on an iPhone, thought it's probably possible.

 

It's a little uglier / less slick / harder to set up than some of the other options, but the cost and extra safety make it worth it to me. For example there is no built in syncing between devices, but that means that you can control how that happens and where the encrypted file ends up.

[How to regularly use up tons of eggs?]

A healthier cake that also uses beans: http://www.abc.net.au/local/recipes/2014/01/29/3934279.htm

[Thought Experiment: PreK-Kindergarten as a time for "Electives"]

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and lean towards a subject where an early start will continue being an advantage to them over the long term, and something they can get relatively good at even at a young age. A (perhaps) relevant quote I found:

 

"Feldman proposed that children are most likely to be able to compete at an adult level in fields that are highly structured, with a clear set of established rules. Children seem especially drawn to domains like music or chess, which rely on symbolic representation that relate to each other in fixed patterns. Fields that have more open-ended goals, such as writing or scientific research, often require a depth of experience and abstract thinking that make them difficult for children to master."

 

Therefore I think the skills (e.g. musical instrument, language and sports) would be best. I would keep "formal lessons" on content knowledge and creative endeavours for later (though reading about/playing around with them can be encouraged).

[What subjects are you not going to require]

I'm still trying to make a decision on some of these things. We are pretty 'basics' oriented: I will do everything in my power to get them up to speed on the '3Rs' and have them continue to make progress in those areas throughout their education. Also I require music, not negotiable, because that's a basic to me.  Pretty much everything else will be up for negotiation,  eventually. For instance, right now I am making Mr. 13 learn history despite that fact that he has no interest in 95% of it, but at some point I will decide that it's 'enough' and let him drop it. It's a matter of deciding how long to insist on things.  Right now, I have asked them all to pick a LOTE to study at an introductory level. Ds isn't interested in any languages, ancient or modern, nor is he interested in sign language. He is currently suggesting I let him do 'computer language' instead. Should I get him started on coding and be happy that he is (sort of) willing to do something?  Or should I insist he try a year of an actual language before deciding to be a monoglot? 

 

Without getting off topic too much... I didn't mention that I would skip a foreign language except for the fact that I live in a foreign country (so it's not really "foreign"). I'm also a computer programmer and I think learning to program is awesome but it is nothing like a foreign language (more like an extremely simplified English with more punctuation).

[What subjects are you not going to require]

What subjects are you not going to require (though you may mention in passing and would explore if child is interested)?
Sort of the opposite to http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/562388-what-unusual-subjects-do-you-require-or-make-compulsory-for-your-kids/
 
Some I probably won't require:
latin (but they be fluent in a modern language)
cursive
 
Note: I do not want this to turn into a thread arguing why it is important to teach any subjects - there are other threads for that. Right now I am thinking more about opportunity costs.