Tracy
-
Posts
3,779 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by Tracy
-
-
Nora Gaydos books, Level 1.
-
My dh used to be a drama director at the high school. Many of the kids that were scared to perform spent time on the technical side--painting, cleaning, building sets, etc. If you have a local community theater, maybe he could get involved in this aspect.
Tracy
-
Teacher Ideas Press has a lot of reader's theater stuff.
Also, I would have him act out books that you read with him. Maybe you can get the whole family to do it together.
Tracy
-
I think you are underestimating children. We all learn by making connections. My dd went through a stage before she could talk where she would want to find pictures of the same item (like a ball or dog, for example) in every book she owned. When she learned shapes, we looked for shapes everywhere we went. This is really what BFSU is doing. You introduce a topic, like solids, liquids and gases, and then you find them everywhere you go. I was amazed when I started teaching my dd5 about how air takes up space and has weight. She didn't have any of the misconceptions that Dr. Nebel warned about in the lesson. And I attribute that very much to the preparation that she received in the well-done previous lessons. You don't expect that they will "get it" right away. But every time something is taught, previous lessons are built upon and brought to remembrance, and the connections are made with very little effort.
But then again, I don't believe that any curriculum can meet the needs of everyone. If you, as the teacher, do not like it (for whatever reason), then it probably is not going to work for you.
Tracy
-
Schoolhouse Rock
-
For science, BFSU is great for young, gifted kids. It addresses very advanced concepts but has activities that are right on for the age group.
Kumon books are great for that age.
For enrichment, you could try a critical thinking book. We are using Critical Thinking: Reading, Thinking and Reasoning Skills (Steck-Vaughn), which my dd5 really loves. But you could also check out the Critical Thinking Company. Homeschool Buyer's Coop has a deal going right now.
Tracy
-
At 3yo with reading and writing. Since she was doing both on her own, I wanted to make sure she was doing it correctly. So we would do reading one day and writing the next. Just a few minutes each day.
Tracy
-
-
BFSU is wonderful for young gifted kids. It is very meaty but has activities that are perfect for that age, especially if they are gifted.
Tracy
-
Are you on the TAGMAX list? There has been a ton of lengthy discussion about the pros and cons of testing. What I have gathered is that testing at this age is only helpful if it uncovers something that you don't already know. (Later on, testing may help you take advantage of specific programs that require testing.) You know she is way ahead, but you don't know how far ahead. Testing might help you pin down her educational needs. I have seen many people remark that without testing, they would never have considered giving their young children such advanced material.
Tracy
-
Using Horizons Math now. Taking the jump into CSMP when we finish Horizons. (She gets the work done, although she says she hates math. So as long as she is doing the work without too much trouble, I want her to finish the program we paid for. If I were fighting with her to do the math, we would switch sooner.)
Tracy
-
I'm just now dabbling with the HST basic. Could you explain what you mean about lesson plans? I'm trying to see if plus is something that I should bother with or if it would fall into the category of just one more thing.
HST basic is way different than the plus version. I wish I could remember why I decided to upgrade, but I realized immediately that I would want the plus version. IMO, I would not spend a lot of time with it if you plan to upgrade. It is very reasonable--only $50, and you get all updates, which are fairly regular.
Tracy
-
My dd5 is much younger than yours, but we have really enjoyed doing unit studies for social studies. We choose either a country or a person, and we find books about that topic. I look for both fiction and non-fiction, including historical fiction, legends and myths, biographies, histories, etc. It has been a real eye-opener for me. When she picked Pakistan, I had no idea that I would actually find a wonderful picture book about an event in that country. I never imagined that when she chose Greenland, a story book about the viking, Eric the Red, would turn out to be one of her favorite books ever. Even though my dd is much younger than yours, there is no reason this couldn't be a fun detour for an older child. I have to turn down many great-looking books, because I think my dd is too young for them. And you wouldn't have to pay for a curriculum.
Tracy
-
I love the idea of MCT, but I don't know if I can get over my distaste of the font in the beginning book.
Tracy
-
I wonder if anyone would be willing to give me an estimate of the numbers of additional books I'd need to buy? Or direct me to the appropriate place on the TOG site, since I can't seem to figure out if they sell or even list the additional books needed.:blushing:
I think from the home page, you need to click on Store and then Resource List. But I am having trouble getting to it right now. You have to log in, but you can register without buying anything. If you haven't yet made a purchase, it doesn't give you all the details. But it gives you enough to see what you will need. After you make the purchase, it gives you details such as how easily you can substitute alternate titles.
I noticed in another thread that people were having trouble getting to the TOG site, so hopefully this will be resolved soon.
Tracy
-
DD and I are both completely in love with Five in a Row. We include vocabulary, copywork, and narration. It is the only thing she still asks to do when she has a day off.
Tracy
-
One thing I recently learned about TOG after looking into it for a long time is that my understanding of it is (and please, TOG users, correct me if I'm wrong) that it is more of a unit study approach to history vs. a more chronological approach like SOTW tries to be. I was not aware of this and it was a bit of a shock to me. I believe another poster (was it Siloam?) stated that she didn't really like that aspect of it but liked the program so much that she worked around that.
:bigear:
Just bought TOG for next year, and I never heard this before. I will be interested to hear the responses on this one.
Tracy
-
We don't do lap books or many crafts. You can pick and choose what you want to do.
:iagree:
I got MapAids only for my LG dd5. She is not into lapbooking, and even if she were, I don't think I could be. We will read the books, do the maps and many of the activities, since she is my only one in school right now.
Tracy
-
I use Homeschool Tracker.
Tracy
-
I would really recommend reading their introductory pamphlet and the 3-weeks of samples, both of which you can download at the web site. It is very long and a bit wordy, but it does a good job of explaining the program. As for the free samples, you don't have to actually teach those weeks to use them for an overview of the program. I took just one week and went to the library to see how many books I could get from ILL. When I got the books, I looked through them, along with the lesson plans to get a feel for what we would be doing. That was really helpful. Then you can download a list of books needed for your children for the year to see how many of those you can get from your library versus how many you would need to purchase or substitute. That will give you an idea of your cost, as well as give you a feel for the program.
Tracy
-
For places to research, see my blog post on this subject. When I first started, I couldn't find anyone who could tell me where to do the research, so after I found all of these resources, I posted them on my blog for others who are researching.
Tracy
-
Love BFSU. It has wonderful, detailed lessons with great suggestions for books you can get from the library to supplement.
Tracy
-
It is hard to say until the new books come out. But as another poster mentioned, the 3-8 books are supposed to build upon the K-2 book. So would think if you took the time to correlate schedules up front that you could approximately be teaching the same things at the same time. We started BFSU in Jan, and I am finding that one lesson does not necessarily amount to one week of instruction. Some of the lessons are meatier and have more activities than others. So I think to correlate the schedules, you are going to have look at each lesson in detail. Alternatively, you could use the "teach to the oldest child" theory. You could schedule lessons only for the oldest child and then use the younger book(s) only to find additional activities that are more appropriate for the younger child(ren).
Tracy
-
Also Creative Homeschooling by Lisa Rivero is a good book about home schooling gifted kids. I wish it had more "how to" specifics but it was worth buying.
:iagree: I got it from the library. It is a very good overview. It is not exclusively about homeschooling, as it discusses other options that parents have beyond only homeschooling. I see that as a plus, because homeschooling does not always meet the needs of every child/family.
Yearly Schedule for BFIAR/FIAR?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
In the past, the books were listed on the website. I don't know what they are doing now that Rainbow Resource is selling it. There really is no specific schedule or order to read them. There are a couple of exceptions where books are thrown in to go with a particular season. If you read them in order starting around late August, you will get a book about storms during the late summer storm season, a Thanksgiving book at Thanksgiving time, and a couple of winter books during winter time. But mostly, it doesn't matter what order you do them in.