Tracy
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Posts posted by Tracy
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So is it to much to do five in a row AND a curriculum like horizons? I did fiar with my DD who is in K this year and felt like I needed to do more. Maybe it was just me being an overacheiver but.....
I don't know anything about Horizons, but I like FIAR, because I wanted dd to be able to have some activities, but I personally hate anything that requires a lot of preparation or clean-up. FIAR has a wide range of activities to pick from, some of which require a lot of preparation and others that are just open-and-go. You could easily spend hours on FIAR if you are really into the activities. For us, FIAR covers geography, vocabulary, art, science, handwriting. We supplement with an additional math program, spelling, some science, and memorization work. (But I sometimes skip the FIAR science or the regular science program when we are time-crunched, because I don't really think we need both.) We also do some additional history/social studies, because dd loves that subject. But I don't think it is necessary.
I realize that FIAR doesn't work for everyone. But for us, (1) dd adores it, (2) it is so easy for me, and (3) it just packs so much into one program, leaving lots of time for free play and exploration.
Tracy
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DD5 seems to have an instinct for what to do to avoid doing her work. Like many, I like to start the day with math to get it over with. Just as I was going to get her started, she hopped up to the piano and started to play. I don't like to interrupt her when she practices piano, because I want to encourage her doing it on her own.
When she was done, and I suggested we get started, she responded, "I have some things to do to get ready for Mother's Day." Now, what mother is going to make a child set this aside for math?
I finally got her to sit down to do her math, which she got through fairly quickly once she focussed on it. As soon as she was done, she was wrestling with her 2yo brother. Now, there is no way I am going to pull her away from the toddler to do school work!
Anyone else's kids have creative ways to get out of school!?
Tracy
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We did FIAR this year with my just-turned 5yo. Some of the books are so wonderful that dd5 often say, this one is going to be 6-in-a-row (or 7 or 8 or even 10)! We love it so much that I wish I had started with Before FIAR so we would have 2 years of fun stuff. If I were to do it all over again, I would do Before FIAR at 3-4yo for pre-k, and FIAR at 4-5yo for K.
Tracy
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I agree. There is a lot in BSFU that can be adapted to suit the needs of older students. Older students should be able to comprehend in a deeper way. In fact, I've been learning so much, and understanding the whys behind the concepts.
:iagree: I loved science as a kid, and I took a lot of science in high school. I am learning a lot with this program, so I don't see why a 4th grader wouldn't, as well. My dh is also a physics teacher, and he has commented that there are concepts in BSFU that are not usually taught until high school.
Tracy
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Well when they're learning to read, phonics IS spelling.
While this may be so for some kids, it is not always the case for every child. Many people have assumed that their early readers would also be good spellers and have found that not to be the case. I was surprised at how hard spelling was for my daughter at first, because she is such an advanced reader. I am glad that realized this early so that we can use a good phonics-based spelling program early on.
Spelling is a separate skill from reading, and teaching phonics along will not necessarily translate into spelling skills.
Tracy
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I was recently reading a review of LOF in my Rainbow Resource catalog. Not all books are supposed to take the same amount of time. Here is an excerpt from Rainbow Resource's review:
Life of Fred is a series of 8 courses. Two of these are Pre-Algebra: Fractions and Decimals & Percents. The author recommends waiting to start these until your child is old enough to work on his/her own. Each of these courses should take less than a quarter of a year to complete. Algebra and Advanced Algebra should each take a little more than half a year. While Geometry takes place during one day in the Life of Fred (a Thursday after his sixth birthday), it is definitely a full year course. Trigonometry can be completed in half of a year and Calculus (although covering two full years of calculus) will take one year.
Tracy
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I would be interested in knowing more about the VP cards. What are they?
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How about TOG for one and SOTW for the grade 1? :001_huh:
I don't know about year 3, but in year 1, SOTW is listed on TOG's alternate reading list. Maybe that is the way to go?
Tracy
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I would be curious to know why AAS was chosen over Spelling Power and Spelling Workout or why it wasn't. And I would like to know why we shouldn't skip spelling and move straight to vocabulary.
My 5yo is just finishing SWO Level A. I would not recommend it for one so young, because it is very writing intenstive. We started to do it orally, but this is not the best way to handle the lessons. Another reason that I don't like SWO is that it focuses more on writing than on spelling (at least at this level). Each lesson is 4 pages long. The first page is reading. The second page is mostly tracing the words. The last page focuses on editing--finding spelling, capitalization and punctuation errors--and asks the child to write sentences using their spelling words. Consequently, that leaves just one page of four that is really devoted to spelling.
Since dd is doing well on her spelling tests, I am not going to change programs until we complete what we have here already. I will look into Spelling Power, since that program only works on words that the child cannot already spell. AAS also sounds like a good program.
As for spelling vs. phonics and vocabulary, realize that these are all separate skills. A natural reader will not necessarily be a natural speller. I think at 5yo, the child should be studying phonics in some way. I chose to do spelling with my dd, because her reading was so far ahead of what we were doing with phonics. So I opted for a phonics-based spelling curriculum instead. Vocabulary, I think can be done at any age, as long as you make your study age-appropriate. I don't think that a young child needs to be bogged down in a formal program. When we do vocabulary, we read a book and pick out words dd doesn't know. After a while, she began to do this on her own. We post those words on a bulletin board, and we practice using them in real life.
Tracy
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We memorize poetry, Bible verses, and science facts along with our history.
A great list I found (only tweaked it a little) was here:
This looks like a great site, but I am not seeing any memorization. Am I missing it.:confused:
Tracy
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I used the suggestions in WTM. We did Roman emperors, dates od Ancient Wars (I made up a goofy song), books of the Bible.
That is a good idea--one that I will use if I don't find anything else. I was hoping to find poetry, scriptures or quotes from literature. For example, we just ran across a cute poem about King Tut. I could find some of that stuff, but I was really hoping that someone else had done the work for me.
Thanks,
Tracy
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As we are finishing up our first year of homeschooling with dd5, I am so impressed with how well memorization has worked for us. As we move into 1st grade next year and start the first year of the history rotation, I was thinking that it would be great if I could find thing to memorize that went with our history studies. Anyone know anything that is already put together so I don't have to do the searching?
If it matters, we are using TOG for our history studies.
Tracy
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Just another idea concerning copywork: My dd does a lot better with copywork when she is copying something meaningful to her. I use sentences from books that we have read together. I make several pages for the week, and I let her choose which one to do. I also make sure to keep it short enough for her to finish in 5-10 minutes.
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I personally think it is worth it for those purposes, but there is a learning curve.
:iagree:This is all I use it for, and I feel it is totally worth it (and my oldest is only 5yo). But there is a huge learning curve, so I figure I will be a pro by the time I need transcripts!;)
Tracy
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I wish I could give you practical experience, but we just started on this journey. But I really love the Charlotte Mason approach. You block out a small amount of time for each subject (don't remember how much time is appropriate for this age), such that most of the work is done before lunch time. Once those things are done, the child can do whatever he chooses the rest of the day.
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Barring specific legal requirements, I try to keep one thing from each subject per quarter, and we actually throw things away weekly, monthly and quarterly. At the end of the year, I will have a few good examples of their work from each subject. It also helps my hoarder make choices about what to keep.
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In addition to those listed Henry and Mudge are good... they are kind of an easy "chapter" book.
And the Annie and Snowball series is the "girl version." (Annie is Henry's cousin who lives across the street, and Snowball is her rabbit.) My dd likes both series.
Also,
The Littles (series)
Chewie Louie
Dr. Seuss books
Froggy Gets Dressed (series)
Madeline (series)
You might also consider the You Read to Me, I'll Read to You series and the We Both Read series, in which the child reads a part, and the adult reads a part.
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I did a lot of research on K12 when we first started homeschooling. We did not ultimately go that route, but I learned that flexibility depends on the state, school district and individual teacher. Different states require anywhere from 80% - 100% of the work to be completed. (And since the curricula are designed to teach to different learning styles, 100% of the work is voluminous and repetitive.) Sometimes, a teacher will not require a child to do the homework if he first aces the test, and others will require that everything be done. Sometimes it is easy to get a child accelerated in one or more subjects, and other times it is like pulling teeth. And even when you do get a child accelerated, the school district will typically limit the accelleration (to 2 grades, I think), because they would otherwise lose certain funding.
When I was considering K12, I joined the K12 Yahoo Group, and they were very helpful and knowledgable. I would also join your local homeschooling forum and ask there.
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I don't think you need permission. There are all kinds of blogs out there written about a particular curriculum, book, etc. As long as you make it clear that you are not an MCT representative and you do not post copies of MCT material, you should not have a problem.
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Might I also suggest she do the study in Cathy Duffy's book, 100 Top Picks? :001_smile:
:iagree: I had a really hard time getting anyone to give me any suggestions when I first started, and I got all of my first year materials using Cathy Duffy's book. She also has a web site with additional curricula reviews. http://www.cathyduffyreviews.com/index.html
I listed some of the other materials I used to decide on my first curriculum on my blog. http://myfamilyiseternal.blogspot.com/2009/10/finding-my-first-curriculum-or-scary.html
Tracy
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I am LDS, and I have purchased it and will begin using Year 1 in July. I did some very thorough research. When I asked the question on the LDS homeschooling list, most of the people that responded warned me against it, even though they had no experience with the program. But out of that exchange, I did come in contact with a small number of members using the program, who started the TOGLDS Yahoo Group. It is not a very active group, but if you ask your questions on that forum, you will get more experienced answers. And then I can forward you the samples of how the church is portrayed in Year 4.
As far as I can tell, there is nothing anywhere in the TOG materials that is offensive to any religion. But some people are much more sensitive than me. For example, many LDS members were offended when they heard that the TOG materials warn parents to preview the www.lds.org website before letting their children check it out. But I felt that this is just general good advice. I have looked at alternatives written from an LDS worldview, and I'm afraid that they just don't even come close to comparing to TOG (IMO).
I will watch for you on the Yahoo Group.
Tracy
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This is only our first year, so take this FWIW. I feel like I want dd to experience a satisfying amount of both challenges and successes in every area. In her stronger areas, I have to go out of my way to challenge her so that she doesn't think that it is always easy. In her weaker areas, I have to be thoughtful of the challenges that I give her so that that she can experience the thrill of mastery rather than just the frustration of difficulty. In our house, we have a motto of sorts, "I can do hard things." It seems simple and trite, but whenever she does something new, she says it with such pride and excitement.
Tracy
She's getting good at avoiding school work!
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Well, I guess I wasn't exactly looking for advice, as I was pretty sure that I already knew what it would be. But I do appreciate your insight. But when they are 5yo, I am not sure I would qualify it as manipulation. Although she is very bright. Maybe I am not giving her enough credit. And when you throw in the fact that the math that was scheduled was multiplication--her choice, not mine--I don't feel like I can be too pushy, kwim?