Tracy
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Posts posted by Tracy
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I didn't think BFSU was meant to last 3 years...I guess you could stretch it out. I thought it was just targeted to the grade range k-2.
The book states that the earlier lessons are geared toward the K level, with successive lessons getting more advanced such that the later lessons are for the 2 level. So while the book does not overtly claim to cover three years, the implication is that it can. I love the flexibility that it has. You can do the bare minimum or include the many suggested activities, writing assignments and books. I guess it depends on your family. I could see some kids wanting to race through it, and others will want to skip things. But if you do everything, it could take up 3 years.
There are over 40 lesson plans, each about 6-8 pages long, single-spaced with no pictures or diagrams. Most of the lessons look to me to require 2-4 weeks, with ample opportunity for additional supplementation. As with any program, though, you can go through it faster or slower.
Tracy
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If you have a 5yo, then I would totally get the book. It is so inexpensive compared to other programs, and you get 3 years worth of material. Even if you just use it to supplement, it is totally worth the money. And I think there is plenty for an older child to work with. My husband is a high school physics teacher, and we were going through the book and marvelling at how there are topics in there that his high school students have never heard of before taking high school physics. (For example, weight v. mass.)
Tracy
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She loves MCP phonics so we will finish up book C. What comes after phonics? Do I need to do a formal spelling or grammar program with her (which seems silly at 5) or is it enough to just point grammar rules out as we read and have her make lists of words she wants to learn each week?
What about writing and reading comprehension?
We are doing K this year with our almost 5yo. We actually ditched the phonics since her reading level was accellerating faster than the phonics curriculum and opted to just do spelling. We are doing Spelling Workout A, but we do it together, and I do all the writing. (She is capable of the writing, but she gets very distracted, wanting to doodle and turn her letters into people.) I put her words on www.spellingcity.com so she can play spelling games, and she does her tests there, too. That seems to be a good compromise between the seatwork that would be required for that level and her actual age.
For reading comprehension, we are doing Five in a Row followed by narrations on the last day of the week. She likes to act out the story, so that is very enjoyable for her (and age-appropriate). We also use this for vocabulary. The first day, we choose half a dozen words from the book that she doesn't know and talk about what they mean, and I print out a list. Then each day we read the book, she finds the words in the book as we read. She likes to go back and review the old words on her own.
For handwriting, we are just doing copywork. I make up a worksheet using a sentence from the Five in a Row book we are doing that week.
As for writing and grammar, I decided not to do them until she is at least 6yo, not because she can't do it, but because I want to preserve her time to be a little girl and not bog her down with too much that is academic. She has an aptitude for these things, and a mild interest. If she showed a real passion for these things, then I might change my mind. There is an occasional activity in Five in a Row touching these topics, so I feel like she is at least being exposed to literary ideas. In the meantime, we are pursuing things that she has a greater interest in--music, history, reading, pretending, etc.
HTH
Tracy
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The author recently posted on his yahoo group that it is expected to be available this summer. As for what to start with, I would post the question on the yahoo group. The author responds personally to every post.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/K5science/?yguid=12164133
Tracy
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Was that an older thread? Could you possibly link it here? I'd love to hear more about this! :bigear:
Here it is:
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1447434&postcount=5
Tracy
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Okay, so help me understand what you are saying here. You are going to purchase TOG, but just do SOTW with it? Is that what you are saying? That way you can start learning how to use TOG? Is that right?
Not exactly. I am not starting until Aug, so I am not entirely sure how it will all play out. A lot of people use a spine with TOG, like SOTW or MOH. I may use SOTW as part of TOG but not instead of TOG. (SOTW is one of the books on the TOG LG reading list.) It would just be part of the TOG curriculum. (One of the reasons that I don't want to just use SOTW with dd is that she really doesn't like to color, which I understand is a large part of SOTW AG. When we did the activities in the TOG free samples, those seemed to suit her better.) But we would still do TOG core history reading at the very least, and probably the in-depth readings, too, since dd loves history and reading. But during a hectic week, perhaps we could just do SOTW.
If it were just learning how to use TOG, I might wait until the second rotation of history. But this is about teaching me the material itself. For example, someone gave an example on one of these TOG threads of the different levels. LG/UG kids were learning about Queen Elizabeth; D kids were learning about the House of Tudor; and R kids were learning about the politics between Queen Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots. I don't know anything about any of these topics, and I am not sure I want to wait until I am teaching an R kid (or even a D kid) before I learn it.
The draw for me is the Socratic discussions that are provided in the D & R years for history and lit.:iagree: If you have never been a student where the Socratic method is used, it might be difficult to appreciate how powerful it is. Perhaps it is just my own personality or learning style, but after graduating from a school that used this method, I feel that the money for TOG is completely worth it if it helps me to teach in this manner. I couldn't come up with these questions on my own. Another poster suggested that the specific points made in TOG are not what is important but the discussion that is had, which I completely agree with. But I don't feel that I could lead an equal discussion without those teacher's notes.
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I know it seems that copying a word should be a really easy task, but for some kids it's actually not. For some kids, it can take a long time for them to develop the careful attention needed.
Merry :-)
Imagine copying someone else's artwork. I suppose that for a child just learning to read and write and spell, it is a similar experience.
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My husband says that I stress too much over history. In his opinion it's not really vital that our children know everything about history.
Does one really need the depth of history that TOG provides? I wonder especially for the grammar and logic stages.
I decided to start TOG with my oldest (who will be LG) next school year. I have read advice that SOTW is sufficient for this stage if you have no older children, but my feeling is that I am the other student here. You see, I hated social studies and literature in school. For history, I took only Modern History to fulfill history requirements, and I did very poorly in literature, because I couldn't bring myself to read the books. But I liked art and ended up taking an AP Art History course as a senior, and that opened up a whole new world to me. Suddenly, I understood things that I never did before-historical and cultural references that would have completely passed me up before. It was such a great feeling. I realize now how much I missed.
If I were looking for something just for my dd5, I would use SOTW. But I need to spend these years learning something about what I will need to teach when dd is at the R level. I know that TOG has great teacher notes, but what am I going to say to her when she doesn't want to read something that I haven't read, especially if I haven't read any of books? I don't expect that I will be able to cover everything, but I have to learn what I can now, and this is the time to do it. If I wait until I am teaching an R level student, it just won't happen. Here is a post at the Lampstand Press site that really convinced me: http://tapestryofgrace.groupee.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8201059621/m/7101018012
HTH
Tracy
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The WTM memorization suggestion comes to mind. Have him say/sing the alphabet just once per day until he knows it. You could use a song on CD to help. Kids memorize things quite quickly this way, and it is a very gentle approach.
HTH,
Tracy
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I am doing K with my dd4 right now. We started with MCP Plaid Phonics and ditched that after the first semester, because her reading level was accelerating so much faster than the book, and I was looking to decrease her writing requirements. I opted to stick with Spelling Workout A, for both phonics and spelling, and we do that orally, and she takes tests on the internet at www.spellingcity.com.
We are using Horizons K Math, and it is a good advanced math program, but once again, too much writing. And I still have to eliminate some parts of the assignments as being too easy. Next year, we are switching to CSMP math.
Our favorite part of K has been Five in a Row. As part of FIAR, we do weekly geography and narration, vocabulary work every day, daily copywork created from a line from the book. There are also art and science lessons that I rely heavily on in case we don't get to formal art or science during the week.
For science, we started with BJU Science, which is a very good program, but I recently came across something much better--Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding. It is a quarter of the price (less than $25) and covers three years instead of just one. It is no frills, but I am finding it very easy to implement, and dd is so excited about it. She liked science before, but BFSU shows the child that science is everywhere, and dd is really enjoying that concept.
For social studies, we do unit studies. DD chooses either a country or a person, and I get books at the library about it. Next year, we will start Tapestry of Grace so we will start with the ancients for history.
In addition, we memorize one poem, scripture or song about every two weeks. I am also teaching dd to play the piano.
Tracy
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Right now for 4th grade we use R&S grammar, WWE, and WA. I just pick and choose what I want to use from WA. Next year I will use more of WA and less of WWE.
Kerri,
What about WA makes you want to use more of next year, as opposed to WWE? Is it just that it is easier when everything is integrated with TOG?
Tracy
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I've used TOG from the beginning with two of mine. I prefer not to use WA until after we have used FLL. I just skippped the writing assignments in TOG and it worked out fine. I do like WA.
Do you do all 4 yrs of FLL before doing WA?
Tracy
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DD will be in 1st grade in the fall, and I also have a ds2. I have decided to take the jump and start my oldest with TOG from the beginning. I am wondering what add-ons I should use. I will definitely use MapAids, since dd is really into history and geography. I don't think that the lapbooks will work for us.
Should I get WA?
Has anyone done FLL with TOG? Part of me wants to do FLL, and part of me wants to try to pull the memorization portion of FLL out of TOG reading. If I do that, then I am not sure that FLL would still be worth it. Any thoughts?
Any other advice for someone starting TOG from the beginning with the first child in LG level?
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We just started Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding by Bernard Nebel. My husband is a physics teacher, so we were very particular about what we wanted. I am absolutely blown away by this text! There are no frills--no pictures, diagrams, etc. But Dr. Nebel understands children and how to reach them. I would characterize this text as a spiraling science text, the likes of which I have never heard of before. Rather than focus on one area for a whole year, you spiral through four "threads," each time building upon prior lessons. To me this is the perfect compromise between the classical approach and the traditional random approach. Everything is connected, and it is designed to help children make those connections in their mind between the different fields of science.
The text is for K-2, and the one for 3-8 is scheduled to be available this summer.
Tracy
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My dd is almost 5yo, and we are doing Kindergarten right now. I found that I had to focus more on her interests than on her learning style. She loves to read and be read to, which has led to a love of history. She loves music. She loves interacting with other people. So I have chosen curricula and structured school around those things. Consequently, our home school is structured strongly around literature and history. I chose math and science programs that require us to work together. For example, she was plodding through Spelling Workout until I started to do the exercises with her orally. Now they are a breeze.
HTH,
Tracy
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I am going to begin TOG yr2 redesigned in the fall with a 9th grade Rhetoric, a 7th grade dialectic, a 4th grade UG, and a 2nd and K/1st LG students. I will have a K4 little one also and a 2 yr old and 6 month old..lol
I'm afraid that I have little to add to this thread, but can I just say, I feel like I should kneel before you and kiss your feet? :) I struggle with teaching just two. How do you folks do it? I just hope you can give yourself a little slack to take the pressure off, because what you are doing is amazing!
Tracy
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Oooo ... I want that on my wall! :) Does it look good enough to have in a non-school location? We don't have a lot of solid wall space (we have a lot of windows, which I love, but it does take up a lot of wall space for things like giant wall posters/wall paper :tongue_smilie:), so I'm thinking it might have to go in the entry way/foyer area, which is near to our dining room where we homeschool.
We have it in our dining room, and everyone that comes thinks it is great. Its location is part of what makes it such a wonderful addition to our home school, because we can see every time we eat. And with littles, that means 4-6 times per day that they can't help but look at it. I kind of wish we could put it lower, since most of the map is too high to reach, even for me. So dd4 knows more about Africa and South America then any other region, just because they are in the southern hemisphere, where she can see and reach. But for anyone looking to buy this, remember that the dimensions are 6 feet high by 9 feet wide! I think the only reason we were able to find space for it is that we just moved into a new house and hadn't put anything on the walls, yet.
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Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding. It's affordable. It's fun. It is inquiry-based and really teaches kids to think and ask questions like a scientist.
:iagree:
We were using BJU Science 1, which is a good program. I purchased BFSU for next year. But when I got it, I was so excited that I couldn't resist just jumping in. (But it was painful to to ditch the $100 program!) Just a heads-up, though, about BFSU--it is a very different way of teaching science than the stand-alone lessons that you are used to. BFSU is about seeing science everywhere and in everything. It is a wonderful way to teach science to this age group, but you, as the teacher, have to either be on the constant lookout for teaching opportunities, or you need to plan teaching moments into your schedule ahead of time.
A big plus is that it is so very affordable. For less than $25, you get three years' worth of lesson plans, which include lots of ideas for games, hands-on activities, and enrichment reading lists. Also the next level is due out this year, and it is planned to cover grades 3-8.
Tracy
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Tracy, I have it high on my priority list to get a huge wall map mural like that! Do you think I'll have to sand down my textured walls? Here's the one I want:
http://www.mcmaps.com/natgeogworwa1.html
It looks like it's the same one!
LOL! That is exactly the one that we purchased. It seemed like a really great deal (and it eventually turned out to be), but it came in three pieces with instructions to paste it to the wall like wallpaper. :ohmy: I was quite skeptical, as I had never done anything like that. But my very resourceful dh took over, and it turned out wonderfully. :D We have been very impressed We have considered adding a mock frame to it so that it looks like a huge picture.
I would imagine that it will last longer if the walls are smooth. If they are textured, you might want to talk to someone who knows something about wallpaper. But I hope that you can make it work, because it has become such a blessing to our home school.
Tracy
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I am really surprised how much geography my dd4 knows simply by having a large map on the wall. (You can see a picture of ours if you go to this page and scroll to the bottom.) We don't use a curriculum, but dd just chooses a country and we get books from the library. I try to get a mixture of non-fiction, fiction, and biography. We have found some wonderful children's literature this way. Sometimes it is challenging to find material (like when she wanted to study Yemen!), but I can always find something. Sometimes we study that country for just a day and other times for a few weeks, depending on what I can find. We have started to play guessing games to see if we can guess a country from certain clues. It has been a lot of fun.
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I also have a 5yo doing K and a 2yo. Some of the things that we do that we love the most are
- Five in a Row (dd's absolute, hands-down favorite)
- Building Foundations of Science Understanding (We just started this, and I love it, because it is science as a part of everyday life rather than a stand-alone lesson)
- For social studies, we do a hodge podge. DD chooses topics, like a country or a person, and we get books from the library about that topic. Next year, we will start with a classical approach starting with the ancients, but at this age, we are really enjoying this.
- I have also started to read chapter books to her. We started with Black Beauty. We are now doing Dr. Dolittle. And next in line is Wizard of Oz.
- Memorization!!!! This is the best thing I have gotten out of WTM so far. I wasn't impressed with the idea, but they made it seem so easy (just read it once per day) that I couldn't see not at least trying it. Dd loves learning her poetry, scriptures and songs. It is so gentle and easy and only takes a minute a day.
- Poetry: I don't like poetry much (I am more of a math/science gal), but I thought it wise not to let my distaste for it bias my children. So I have gotten some good books of children's poetry, and we keep at least one on the kitchen table. I read the poems to the children while they eat. I wasn't surprised that dd loved it (it is right up her alley), but I was surprised that my ds2 is now requesting it (he is not even talking yet).
We are also doing math, spelling, reading. I don't really keep track of the time we take, because it is stretched out throughout the day. I have her do math first thing because it is the hardest to get through. Then we just do a little here and there.
As for the 2yo, that has been quite a challenge. I want to be able to sit with dd while she does her work, but ds can be rather demanding. I find it is really important to tend to his needs first. I read about one mother that takes her little ones for a walk first thing before school, and then her toddlers are more apt to play by themselves when school starts. I am not an outdoor person, so the walk doesn't work for me, but the principle of meeting the needs of the youngest first (however that gets done) I think is very wise. We do a lot while ds is napping. (I fortunately have a dh that takes the kids for an hour every day after dinner, so I still get "me time.") I saw a suggestion to put a little one either at the sink or on the floor on a towel with a tub of water and a bunch of containers. That seemed like a great idea, and it worked one time for us, and after that, nothing. You just have to know your kids and what makes them tick. We have used file folder games with some success. Ds likes puzzles, too. He loves the marble run that we have and will play with that for long stretches by himself.
If you want to see more about what we are doing/using, you can check out my blog.
Tracy
- Five in a Row (dd's absolute, hands-down favorite)
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The more time she spends building incorrect habits into her muscle memory, the harder it will be to break them. You could start her with cursive now, if you and she wanted to.
Rosie
:iagree:
I also agree that you don't necessarily need a program. I would just take a few minutes each day and take turns writing the letters. You write the letter then she writes it. My dd always enjoyed writing the letter and then making it into a person. It made the experience much more enjoyable for her.
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My dd is almost 5, and we are doing Kindergarten with her this year. This is our first year of homeschooling, so like many others, we started with a little bit more than we could handle. I have already eliminated a lot of the worksheets that we started with and am planning some curriculum changes for next year. Here is some of what we have done:
- Eliminated phonics entirely, since she is reading way above grade level.
- Do phonics-based spelling orally and on the computer (www.spellingcity.com). We are currently using Spelling Workout, but I am considering moving to Spelling Power.
- We are changing from Horizons Math, which is entirely worksheets, to CSMP, which incorporates books and games into the program.
- We will move to Tapestry of Grace, an integrated literature and history program, which has lots of reading and hands-on activities for the youngest ages.
- I have struggled with whether to use FLL. I decided that even though dd can do it and would probably even like it, grammar just isn't that important at 5yo. We will reevaluate this after next year.
- Since we have eliminated most other worksheets, we are now doing copywork, instead. DD likes this a lot, because she can help choose what to copy, which makes it more meaningful to her. And her handwriting is improving very quickly with this method.
Tracy
- Eliminated phonics entirely, since she is reading way above grade level.
What am I doing?
in Accelerated Learner Board
Posted
We have all been there. You are doing way more than public school would be. I think the risk is more in over-scheduling a child this age rather than in not giving them enough, although there are times that I fear I will not be able to keep up with dd.
Best of luck,
Tracy