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monalisa

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Posts posted by monalisa

  1. I recently bought a whole grade 3 core of MP (for about the same reasons as you stated),  and have the same thoughts about Latin and Grammar.  I think their philosophy is that the Latin is where much of the grammar teaching will come from.  I think Latina Christiana is too difficult for my very average 3rd grader, even at half speed and I'm going to move her back to Prima Latina.  And I think English Grammar Recitation is too basic -- she knows everything they teach in 3rd grade.  I just ordered Well Ordered Language to look at, and if I don't like that well enough I'm going back to FLL3, which I used with my older dd.

    I think you should use what you want to use and ignore the Curriculum Manual. Curriculum is your tool, you're  not its slave! 🙂  I'm preaching to myself here, too, because I've been wrestling with making myself use the whole Grade 3 core, even though in my heart I know its not all a great fit for my dd.  But that pretty, organized weekly grid calls to me!!!!

    By the way, in The Well Trained Mind, Susan Wise Bauer recommends starting Latin in 3rd or 4th with Prima Latina, and says Latina Christiana is best for students who are working on a 4th grade grammar level.  

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  2. After a lot of research, we bought this one from Microscope Central a few years ago 

    1x Accu-Scope 3088 Rechargeable LED Monocular Student Microscope Series - 3088MS-LED - Monocular, Mechanical Stage & Iris 

    Great customer service and fair price.  Just bought a stereo microscope by same manufacturer from them last Christmas.  I highly recommend both the brand and the Microscope Central.  They were very helpful in deciding what to buy and shipped quickly.  I think it's a family owned business. 

    Nature's Workshop also sells microscopes and I remember looking at theirs as well as Home Science Tools.

  3. There is a pretty significant sample on the Apologia website. https://view.publitas.com/apologia/general-science-sample-grade-7/page/1   It looks TOTALLY different than the Jay Wile book to me.  This one is visually more appealing, although I can't speak to the content.  I no longer have my old edition or else I'd dig it out and compare the TOC. You can see the TOC of the old version as well as a one page excerpt here on Rainbow Resource:  https://www.rainbowresource.com/product/sku/017414

    FWIW,  I think very highly of Sheri Seligson, the author, having met and talked with her at a homeschool moms' conference several years back (she was a speaker).  She homeschooled all of her kids through high school and is a marine biologist by profession.   She is also the author of the Marine Biology textbook as well as the teacher on the Apologia Biology and Chemistry videos (my daughter used the biology videos last year and is using chemistry now).  I'd expect it to be a very good book since it is written by her.  

  4. I have a rising junior and a rising 3rd grader.  I started the now-junior on BJU in K, which I liked but thought the grass must be greener in the Asian math world  because of all the rave reviews I heard (Singapore, Math Mammoth, Right Start), and also tried several others in search of the holy math grail.    Looking back, we should have stayed the course with BJU, because it worked fine for us.  I always felt (as an engineer) that I should TRY Asian math because my daughter would  probably like it better and learn better.   DD never did come to love math (she does well but is a humanities girl).  Current 3rd Grader is in BJU 3 and I'm sticking it out until Pre-Algebra or longer (and she LOVES math and does well).  I always felt bad for some reason that I liked BJU, but it is a solid program (and I love the distance learning option).  I agree with the advice to skip over all the stuff in the TM.  If they get it quickly, just let them do the worksheet.  There is nothing magic or superior about one curriculum over another; use the one that works and stick with it. My older DD just took the SAT and ACT as a sophomore and did respectable on math even without having algebra 2 yet, despite all my crazy jumping around math curriculum.   It will be ok! 🙂

  5. I used VP self paced history with older dd years ago, and have lost track of when they put the courses on sale.  It seems like there was usually a back-to-school sale for $99 or so.  Did I miss it?  It might be a hit with my younger dd now that she's old enough to do it, and I'd love to get it on sale if I could.

    Thanks!

     

     

  6. My daughter used this two years ago and enjoyed it.  She didn't do all the writing assigned because she was also taking an online writing course, and we spread it out over a year along with the writing course.   We primarily  used it to add more of a  literature component to a class that was very focused on composition.  The reading selections and discussion were very good.   We used the online streaming option, which is what I prefer for all the BJU distance learning courses.  All the quizzes, tests, teacher edition excerpts, etc. are built right into the online course.  

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  7. 11 hours ago, Nam2001 said:

    What grade is she now? Wondering when the best time to consider the Bright Ideas class would be. 

    She is in 10th grade now (15.5).  I think it was listed as a high school class, but the book says its geared for middle and high school.  I know of a local co-op that teaches it to 7th and 8th graders.

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  8. On 9/19/2018 at 5:49 PM, Nam2001 said:

    What has your experience been like with Brave Writer classes? We don’t use any of their products at home but the classes look great and there are so many options! 

    Not OP, but my dd did not enjoy the one Bravewriter class she took because of the asynchronous, all-text driven format.  She felt like the feedback and interaction was very distant because of the format.   She needs the live class experience if she's going to take an online class.  So consider if your student would do well with the format, because it is a lot different than live online.  Some kids do thrive with it.

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  9. On 9/19/2018 at 3:58 PM, Nam2001 said:

    How about Lost Tools of Writing - either from Coram Deo Tutorials or Circe Academy? Anyone have experience there??

    My dd took a CiRCE LTW1 class last year .  She really enjoyed it and I think it did help her writing.  However, I feel like it moves pretty slowly and is only focusing on the persuasive essay.   For her, it hasn't been easy to translate what she learned in LTW to other types of essays.  She's now taking a class through Bright Ideas Press Academy using the Elegant Essay (plus they use two college composition handbooks), and so far I like it a lot because it is focusing on a lot of the specifics of essay writing that she hasn't had before in such detail (she did IEW prior to LTW, so she had some essay experience but not a lot).  

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  10. Looking for a sanity check here. If your child completed DO Geometry (or is doing it now), how much time per day did (or do) they devote to it?   My dd started DO Geometry a few weeks ago, and it is taking her FOREVER to get through the lessons.  She did extremely well with Algebra 1, spending 1 - 1.5 hours a day on it and got a high A.  She's spending about the same amount of time on Geometry, but making much less progress.  I think she started 3.5 weeks ago, and is only halfway through Week 2 on the Syllabus.    She says its dealing with the Textbook that is what's so time consuming (and she said some of the textbook is confusing).  I've read reviews saying DO Geometry was not as easy to use as Algebra because of the Jacobs Geometry textbook.  She's got a lot of other work on her plate, so I really don't want her doing more than 1.5 hours per day, but I don't want her to take 2 years to get through Geometry either!  If it gets too painful, I'll jump ship to TT or MUS (this is not a STEM major in the making I have here; definitely a humanities girl that does well in math but doesn't like it).  But I really like the DO approach -- taking lecture notes, working example problems during lectures, outside grading, so I don't want to ditch it too soon.   Any advice?

  11. For what its worth, Classical Conversations uses IEW for 4th - 6th and then transitions in LTW 1 in 7th (Challenge A).  Apparently, its a good combination.  My own dd did not do CC, but did several years of IEW and took LTW last year (online) through CiRCE (they won't allow students younger than 14 in their online classes, btw). Also, she did WWE up through level 3 before starting IEW.  It went well for her to take LTW 1 at that point.  Based on what you've described (and having used SWI A myself), I'd say its worth trying.  If you buy the IEW SWI B directly from IEW, you can return it at any point for a 100% refund (including shipping), so you really have nothing to lose.

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  12. My daughter has used BJU Spanish 1 online (Distance Learning) in connection with a weekly live tutorial class.  The class didn't require the DLO class, but I'd already bought it.  I think the DLO class helped her a lot actually.  I don't think the live class was nearly enough instruction.  It would be impossible to teach unless you knew Spanish yourself.  The textbook moves quickly to being all in Spanish, and the TM has very little along the lines of "How to Teach" (from the digital copy on my BJU account).  My dd has done some of the online exercises and assignments, but mostly watched the videos to supplement her 1 hour weekly tutorial.  She feels like the DLO class in itself might not be enough to get all she needed, but to be fair she never did that except for the last chapter that her live class didn't cover.  This year she's taking Spanish 2 through HSLDA (they also use BJU).  Veritas Press also has an online class using BJU (and their registration is still open), but I realize you said you didn't want a live class.  The good thing about the BJU DLO is it spells out day by day exactly what you need to do, and it includes listening exercises as well as written.  I'd recommend making sure you, the parent, grade every single assignment (this is my downfall with using BJU classes --I quickly get behind).  I think it could definitely work to do the self-paced BJU DLO as long as the student is diligent to do the work and the parent is diligent in keeping accountability and grading.  The quizzes and tests are all online and automatically graded; I'm referring to the exercises that have to be graded (or activity manual assignments).  Also, I think it would be very helpful to have someone to speak Spanish with on a regular basis if possible.  I have 2 friends that were high school Spanish teachers that my daughter has been able to occasionally speak with.  Hope that helps.

  13. On 8/7/2018 at 1:38 PM, kbutton said:

    How much does the DVD overlap with the book? I find that the page layout makes me want to stab my eyes out, and I have a kiddo that would learn much better via DVD than the book for a multitude of reasons. 

    A later post pretty much answered this, but like they said, the DVD has short clips that correspond to the readings in the book.  You click on the title of that reading.  It doesn't repeat it totally, but covers the high points.  I don't think you could just watch the video and not read the book if that's what you are asking.  You'd get some of the content, but not all.

  14. I bought it for this year for my dd15, and have watched part of it myself.  I have met the teacher,  Sherri Seligson, at a couple of homeschooling conventions (as has my daughter), and the fact that both of us enjoyed her workshops was a prime reason I bought the DVD.   She is a marine biologist who homeschooled her own children.   For the price I paid ($137 from CBD) I think it is well done and reasonably priced.  I've paid much more for BJU online science distance learning courses ($300-$400), which were a little overwhelming with material and longer daily videos (the online tests and quizzes were included in the distance learning course, so its not a completely fair comparison).  This DVD has a few short videos for each day's reading lesson, and all of the experiments are also on video (so the student can see how to properly set them up).    It runs on a computer DVD drive, not a DVD player, so you can easily navigate to the videos for that day's reading.  From what I've watched so far, I feel like this will be a helpful supplement for my daughter's biology course.  She prefers to have some lecture/direct instruction via video versus just reading the textbook, and this looks like it will work for her.  It is much cheaper than an online class, which was the other option I was considering.   Sherri Seligson's teaching is clear, her voice is easy to listen to, and the online visuals seem helpful.   I would recommend it if you're looking for video instruction to go along with the Apologia biology book. For students who do well with or even prefer using the textbook alone, it would probably be a waste of money.  If there are any specific questions you have about the video, let me know and I'll try to answer them.

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  15. I own this and have watched it a couple of times, the second time last year over a couple of weeks with my 8th grader.  I don't think this is geared toward the classroom, unless you prefer to have several students for a literature discussion.  It is really meant to teach you, the teacher, to do literature analysis with your students, so the DVDs are walking you through the method.  It is similar to the IEW TWSS DVDs in that its training you to teach.   I don't know of any other material that approaches literary analysis for homeschoolers in the same way.  

     

    What I like most is that I enjoy Adam Andrews as a presenter, and the engaging way he teaches the method.  I wish the training was longer, with more analysis done on video that I could reproduce with my students.  

     

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  16. You're welcome!  I also just remembered that the BJU Grammar & Writing Teacher's Edition CD (that comes in the hardcover TE) has pre-tests, so if you wanted to use those to figure out which grammar chapters to skip or skim and which ones to spend more time on, that's also an option  You get a big discount on the TE's (50% off I think) if you order them with or after ordering the DLO classes.

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