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monalisa

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Posts posted by monalisa

  1. My dd (9th) is using the BJU Geography this year with distance learning.  She likes it and seems to be learning a lot.  It was recently updated (last year I think), so the textbook and videos are very current.  The teacher seems engaging and easy to follow.  If you have any specific questions about it, I'm happy to answer them (or ask my daughter).  BJU has a sale coming up in April I think (I think its on their Facebook page).  

  2. Yes, absolutely.  Just skip the writing assignments and the videos that are teaching writing.  It's relatively easy to figure out what to skip.    I have Grade 9 this year, and we have done that also since dd is in a live online writing class.  Its only a semester of grammar and writing (the other semester is Lit which you probably already know), so if you want to spread the grammar out over the year it should work fine.  If you also plan to do the semester of lit, there are also writing assignments.  its a little harder to not watch the videos that address those, however, because of the way the videos are done.  However, you can just have her skip the writing assignments.

     

    I will say, however, that my daughter had alot of English to try to fit in because she is in a monthly Center for Lit class (poetry) in addition to the weekly live writing class (CiRCE LTW).  Adding the BJU on top of that has been a little tricky to fit it all in without spending too much of her day on English.  She's only done some of the grammar, and a lot more of the lit.  The BJU course has a fair amount of work (and the videos are about 30 minutes/day), so consider that when you're adding in a live writing class.  You may have to scale back the expectations for the BJU assignments if the live class workload ramps up (which is what we've done).

  3. We used it with the DLO streaming, and the lessons are about 30 minutes.  Then you have the assignment to do, which is reading and review questions, sometimes quizzes.  I would plan on at least an hour, and probably more like 1.5 hours+ on many days in order to cover everything assigned. 

     

    FWIW, For my dd, the workload of this course was very heavy (she will not be a science major), and we switched to DIVE ICP after 1st semester using the BJU book.  If you have a science-minded student, it could be great, however.  It goes into great depth and detail.  

  4. Ok, thanks.  I do understand that much about electives.

     

    I am hoping someone whose child has used OYAN can give me some thoughts about their experience.  The end result is supposed to be producing a novel, so if she's not moving steadily toward that, I'm struggling with using a chunk of the day on it.  Do I let her spend an hour a day on it, and not count it until she completes the novel?  Even if it takes more than one school year?

  5. If your dc has used One Year Adventure Novel (OYAN) as a high school elective, I need some advice.  Did you let them spend a specific amount of time per day on it, or expect a certain amount of written progress, or how did you schedule?

     

    My 9th grade dd started it at the beginning of this year as a creative writing elective (I have her doing separate English), but is very bogged down and isn't making much progress in the written assignments (The Map).  I think the issue is she feels like the curriculum is assuming she has her story all planned out from the get go, which she doesn't.  Should I just let her spend an hour a day on it and be ok with that?   I am feeling nervous that it shouldn't take a 1 hour chunk out of prime time school day unless she is making progress that I can see with written proof, and that I can then count as an elective.  She's watching the videos and taking the quizzes, but the actual Map assigments are pretty sparse in what she's actually writing.  At this rate, I can't imagine she'll finish it in the school year, but maybe that's not the point.  I also think she didn't do enough creative writing with shorter pieces prior to taking on a novel.  

     

    She is very unhappy with the suggestion that it not be done during the school day, and done as extra curricular when her other classes are done.    Unfortunately for her, I have zero interest in  or understanding of creative writing, so its hard for me to make it a priority equal to core high school classes.  

     

    I don't really grasp how to count something as a high school elective I guess.    I know kids in B&M schools are taking electives for credit that aren't producing a lot of visible output, but I don't know how to apply that to OYAN.   Any words of wisdom?

  6. We used 5th, 7th and 8th without the writing.  There were about 110 lessons (depends on grade, check table of contents on CBD.com) plus 20 or so tests, if you choose to do them.  My dd did it usually 4 times a week, sometimes 3, and completed within the school year.  Took her only about 20 minutes per day, and she did independently.  In 8th grade I let her do the checking.  We did not do the dictation part.   I let her write directly in the student text and do diagramming in a separate spiral notebook.  We love Saxon Hake Grammar and wish they had high school review books!  Never used R&S so can't help there.  

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  7. My dd14 just finished Saxon Grammar 8. She's very good at grammar, but I don't want her to lose it.  I'm unsure what to do for grammar for high school, especially based on SWB's recommendation in TWTM to continue with grammar in high school, at least through 9th and 10th.  My dd wants to be an author/writer/editor, so I feel like I really shouldn't drop grammar completely, even though I know many people do at this point.  SWB recommends R&S or AG, and I am not compelled to go either of those routes.  I tried R&S back in 3rd grade, and AG in 6th after Saxon 5 (and dd begged to go back to Saxon) and didn't find them to be a great fit.  Saxon was perfect for her.   I've considered trying IEW Fix It but not sure about that and am having a hard time deciding which book to start in (she did the placement test, but it wasn't super helpful).  I own BJU 9, because it came with the BJU Lit I ordered but I think it looks too easy for her (although maybe it would be OK for review).  

     

    I do want to continue with some grammar in high school at least as review, so if you've used something after Saxon 8, I'd love to hear about it.

    • Like 1
  8. We did use the videos for dd, but also bought a microscope.  However, she got it for Christmas after the microscope lessons were mostly over.  We intended to go back and do them, but didn't.  The very expensive microscope barely has been used since.  It was fun when we first got it, but in retrospect I feel like it was $ I should have waited to spend for biology.  I really wish we'd gotten a stereoscope vs. a compound microscope, because I think we'd have use that more.  It used to be that you could buy the "labs only" dvd for life science, but now that they've updated the course I don't know if that exists or not.  Watching the labs was really good for my dd; she did the lab manual along with the lesson and learned plenty.  You might already know that usually in December BJU does a $99 special for all courses, in case you want to buy the DLO lessons then.

  9. My dd14 has done Life Science and now Earth Science as DLO.  She has also taken English Lit 7 and World History.  I really like the format for the reasons mentioned by Paradox5.  Also, the assignment for each day is listed there.  The student checks off as they complete each thing (video, assignment, etc.)    I have never used DVDs, but from what I understand there are MANY for one course and I personally would not like having to deal with juggling them.  With DLO you can access from any device (just login), so there have been times we've used the ipad when the computer had a problem.  The only downside is if your internet is down, you can't get access like you could with DVDs.    They added a new feature this year that you can now "skip" lessons or parts of lessons (in the parent account) and then the student account doesn't show those as items to be completed.  

     

    Also, on the DLO version the teacher guide is embedded in the course (in the parent's account) and all the handouts are there as well (you or the student just have to print them).  There are some handouts that come with every DLO course also.  My daughter has absolutely loved the videos -- they have added a lot for her, and it has been a great experience for her to take notes from a "live" teacher (she takes her notes usually in the textbook, but sometimes on paper).  She had Mrs. Vick (awesome teacher!) for both classes, although the Life Science has been updated this year with a new teacher.  For both Life and Earth/Space, all of the labs were demonstrated in full which was nice, because for those grades I didn't care so much about actually doing all of them but I liked that she could watch all the labs and do the lab report.  And they dissected a beef heart which I was really not interested in doing at home!

  10. We only watched them when my DD did the DLO course 2 years ago, and it was fine.  You can watch them and still do the lab activities in the book along with the teacher.    If you love doing labs at home, you  might want to get them but for us for 7th grade watching them was plenty (actually my dd did not watch all of the one with the cow heart dissection!  That was too much for her at the time :).   We do have a microscope and some of the slides they looked at, so she did that little bit.  I understand from a BJU rep at a convention that for the high school science courses, the labs are started on the video but not all are completed since they expect them to be also completed by the student, but for the 7th and 8th grade courses they do show all the steps.  

  11. Thanks for the insights/options, everyone!

     

     

    For RightStart B, I've read that one can do the first edition (skipping level A) with a kindergarten child, just slowing it down as needed. Is that still true of the 2nd edition?

     

     

    I did Singapore Essentials K A & B with my K'er this year (flew through), and when she finished that in November, we started on Rightstart B.  She didn't have a problem with not having done RS A.  I called RS, and they recommended she start in B.  It does a fair amount of using the math names for numbers, so she'd still get it in B. 

  12. Yes, you could definitely switch them.  DD14 is just finishing Earth and did Life Science last year.  I think Earth & Space is a little more difficult than Life Science, but I agree they are both rigorous courses.  My dd has enjoyed them both, although I think she liked Life Science more only because she was more interested in it.    If you're using the DLO, Life Science has been redone with a new teacher (it was Mrs. Vick for both) that goes with the latest edition.  And Mrs Twain is correct that there is no math required.

  13. My dd did WttW this year (in a co-op setting), and based on that I would recommend doing Elegant Essay first semester and WttW second.  She really should have gone through EE first.   WttW is assuming the student has essay writing experience (my dd didn't have enough, and it was a problem for her).  Both of those require a fair amount of teaching and aren't student directed, which you probably realize if you talked to the IEW reps.  You are correct that Teaching the Classics is teacher training.  I had my dd watch TTC with me, but it is really directed to the teacher.  You could do both EE and WttW (without the Jill Pike Syllabus) in one year and add a few novels like you mentioned.

  14. Yes, still available with DVDs.  My dd did it online this year (which I prefer to DVDs because tests and quizzes are all online, and you don't have to deal with DVDs), but its definitely still an option to go the DVD route.  You do not own the DVDs -- just rent them for 18 months from July 1 - Dec. 31 of following year (which is the same length of time as online).   Here's the link:

     

    http://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/product/421511

     

    If you order through a BJU Homeworks by Precept Rep I think you'll get a discount.

  15. My dd14, who is an aspiring author, just finished a 6 week online class taught by Jennifer Trafton, author of The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic and the recently released Henry and the Chalk Dragon.  This was such an fantastic experience for my dd that I had to post a recommendation for anyone looking for online fiction writing for a child between 8 and 14.  The class was asynchronous, all text based, and taught over the Schoology platform. The class she took was called Stories of Magic and Wonder, and she produced a great 6+ page fantasy story complete with illustrations of her characters and a map of the fantasy world.  She enjoyed interacting with the other students as they wrote a class story and in other chat type exchanges (all without disclosure of their full names or any photos, so it would be safe for younger kids). The focus of the classes is about inspiring imagination and creativity, so there are no grades or corrections of spelling or grammar, but lots of encouragement and helpful feedback.  Apparently this was the third of a four class series, but I didn't find out about the classes until shortly before this one.   If you live in the Nashvile, TN, area these classes are also taught live.  

     

    Here's the website & a little description from the classes page

    http://jennifertrafton.com/sleeping-giant-classes/

     

    Is there an author inside of your child waiting to be awakened?

    From treasure maps to fantastical creatures, from play dough poems to larger-than-life characters, Sleeping Giant classes and workshops aim to stretch kids' imaginations and show them how fun writing can be! I teach at various locations in Nashville, Tennessee, as well as offering online classes to families near and far. 

  16. My 8th grade daughter used it this year, and my thought is that it would be quite challenging for a 3rd grader.  It seems to me to be written to a middle school level, but I do know that Classical Conversations uses it in Essentials, so that would be as low as 4th grade.

  17. Your description of your daughter sounds similar to my 8th grade daughter.  She started in BJU in private K, started homeschooling in 1st and I put her in BJU for 1st and 2nd.  She never liked math, but did OK at it.  I moved to CLE for 3rd and 4th and she HATED it (I thought the built in math fact practice would be great, but the lessons were too long for her and the fact drills were TORTURE).  Went back to BJU for 5th, and then did Saxon 76 for 6th.  In retrospect, I wish I'd just stuck with BJU all the way.  Her biggest issue was getting the math facts cemented, which really did not happen until  I got a subscription to Reflex math.   Now there are Kate Snow's math fact books, which I bought for my younger daughter, and I would have tried those if they'd been around.  http://kateshomeschoolmath.com/how-to-teach-addition-facts-that-stick/  BJU does not integrate math fact practice very well, so I'd try Reflex or the Kate Snow approach in addition to BJU.  

     

    I now have a K'er who is good at and likes math.  She blew through Singapore K, and then I decided to switch her to Right Start B because I thought it would be perfect for her.  She is completely capable of it, but doesn't like it as much as she liked Singapore.  Getting through the lessons is a slog, but she does like the games.    I'm either going back to Singapore, or switching her to BJU, because she does much better having a workbook.   Some of the abacus approach is actually confusing to her.  I also use AAR and AAS, and there is some similiarity to RS, but I don't like RS as much.  I think it would be fine to put your daugher in Right Start B, because you probably plow through it quickly.   You could even call RS and talk to them; they're very helpful and friendly.

     

    If you want to move her to BJU 2, I think she'd be fine coming from Singapore 1 (which I did use briefly with older DD), based on what I remember.  I would supplement the math facts, however, like I mentioned above.  BJU definitely has the cute/colorful factor going for it, and there's a story that is woven through each level that makes it a little more fun (my older DD liked that part a lot). And there are lots of hands on manipulatives for teaching each lesson.  However, BJU does have to be taught, although I don't think its as intense as RS.

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