Susie in MS
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Posts posted by Susie in MS
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Desert Flower, ENWC sounds lovely! Can you tell me : is it illustrated? and mostly how many pages does it contain? If I get this I would want to print a hard copy, so I kinda want to know what I am looking at.
Thanks!
Oh and one more question: Does it appear to be more for one part of the county than the other. For instance we would not have desert life or plants. We don't live by an ocean or a rain forest (like in WA). We live in the deep south in MS.
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Agreeing with the above poster that it is what you want it to be. 30 families will give you 30 views. Those were absolutely some of our very best school days. FIAR gives you the foundation and enough meat to supply all that is really "needed" for that age group. IF you have a child like mine who thrives off of hands on then you -may- want to add ideas found in the archives, pinterest, or google search. I had a file box where I collected ideas I knew I would use with the rows. One file per book. At other times I used the manual as is and never added one thing (well, except math and phonics). FIAR doesn't take a huge chunk out of your day, so you have time to add an activity if you wish, but it isn't necessary. It will fit families with a very busy life or one that has time to get creative. The best thing you can do to see what it would be like for you is to download the free Ping unit from the FIAR website, get the book from the library and have a go at it. I really liked adding Big Bird goes to China vid. Most of all smuggle with your little ones while they are little. =)
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Rod and Staff ABC series. Here is the 1st half.
Five in a Row for great reading and fun snuggle time. Sample here.
Laurie Toys and Puzzles.
Lots and lots of play time.
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History
Science
Reading
Phonics
Handwriting
Grammar
Phonics Pathways
Pentime
Rod and Staff Math
Five in a Row for the rest
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Susie in MS- are you the same Susie in MS who gave a good review of LLATL on homeschool reviews.net? If so, you have used it LLATL all the way thru right? Can you tell me a bit more about what you like about it, what you tweak? Eta: which version do you use?
Yes, I am.
I am currently on the Purple level which was the only one left I have not used. So I have experience with each of them. They are all different in some way with the red and blue and golds varying the most from the others.
What I like about it. I subscribe to much of the Charlotte Mason and Ruth Beechick methods. I don't feel that lots of rigor is necessary for the average child. And for some it can actually make them hate to learn. I love that there are dictation passages each week and that learning is gentle yet thorough (over the long haul). I don't find it weak, but we all have our expectations. If a person is using R&S or ABeka regularly they will find LLATL weak or a breath of fresh air. We were the latter. I also like that everything is in one book and planned out.
How do I tweak? Well, LLATL is designed to add misspelled words to a spelling list for the student. I do that. I also get more advanced dictation passages from the free online download of Dictation Day By Day, from time to time. My dd, although creative, is not all that good at writing. If I didn't have a job 5 days a week I could spend more time working with her. But since I don't, there are some writing assignments we have had to skip in the Orange level and one so far in the Purple. I may go back to some of those when my work load decreases. But other than these things I really use LLATL as is.
Depending on the level some of the book studies seem very lacking, and they are, and are more like a mini unit study. However, for those that lack a great deal what one may not see just glancing is that there is a good deal of work that probably would have been better placed in the book study section found in the Everyday Words sections. Something like research Admiral Byrd and write about him.
I use the new versions.
If you have any more questions I will do my best to answer. But I must say Hunter does an excellent job! =)
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I didn't like that there wasn't prepared dictation (I prefer Spelling Wisdom for dictation)...although you could easily have them study the passage ahead of time.
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The way I fix this is to have dd use the passage for copywork on the first day. Study the passage during the week, and then when it comes up again in the lesson she has prepared dictation. I don't have her do the passage as dictation on the first day. I know that is how it is worded in the book, but I agree with you that prepared dictation is far better. So using the passage for copywork is practice and studying to prepare for dictation later in the week.
Did I muddy that? :huh:
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We love Portraits of American Girlhood AG unit study, but if you want something in a small neat package, my preference would be This Country of Ours. You can buy a good copy from Yesterday's Classics (they sell on amazon too), or download a free version from either googlebooks or librivox. Written like a story.
I have the second one RootAnn mentioned and it is full of color and also written in a conversational style. There view on the Civil War is extremely slanted (most are) which keeps me from loving it, but I do like the style of the writing.
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It sounds like this would be a great fit for you. I personally didn't have any problems with the cd. Maybe others are organized better??? Wonders of Creation books are great. I actually used part of the one with Astronomy with the Space unit of CKEE&S. Some of the WoC books are too advanced for elem though. At the moment I can't think of which ones, but make sure you check that out before purchasing.
At the moment I have a cold which has frozen my brain cells together, and I can't think of what we used to supplement other than Magic School Bus and WoC. Oh we did read some of the living, fiction suggested in the back. Jules Vern makes great addition to many of the units if you are interested in doing that.
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Very, very good material. I'm using Elements with my 10 yo and she is enjoying it and getting it. I use it for co-op class where most of the students are younger, but I don't expect them to know the material. They enjoy the games and projects. My goal here is to help them to avoid the fear I had of chemistry....and enjoy the games, etc
I also have Botany and Cells (got the set when she had a sale). I have briefly gone over some of them and there is no way I would use these with my dd till she is about 12 or 13.
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We have used BF in the past and did like it however, I remember ditching the guide. This was for Middle Ages. I had forgotten that until recently. The lower levels I like the notebooking and pacing. The upper levels start getting too much for me to handle if done by their schedule. It took me hearing the same question from several people, "Have y'all been able to finish this guide in ONE year???" to jog my memory. But other than that I truly love the books. We enjoyed the science guide and part of the geography guide pretty much as is. I am going to use the geography guide with my youngest along with the Hollings books as we come to them with the AO schedule. I don't know if I will use any other BF guide because of the heavy schedule for the upper levels. I will probably use many of the books with what ever we are doing though.
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Oh my goodness! When I saw "Free Peter Rabbit", the first thing that crossed my mind is did Mr McGregor catch him!? LOL
Thanks for sharing!
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Agreeing with Colleen. When I mention copy work I am referring to that from a different book where dd copies directly onto regular lined notebook paper. But there is copy work in Pentime also.
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I alternate the two. I have found that when I have my dd just do copywork she starts forgetting some letters and getting a bit sloppy. But if I have her do 1 or 2 Pentime pages per week in place of copywork for that day(s), she is able to maintain her skills much better. She is now in 5th and I still do it this way. I figure by the end of this year we may go to just copywork. We'll see how things go.
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I hesitate to mention Math Lessons for a Living Education because you said fairly hands off. Well, once the few printable charts (the child uses to work from) are printed and laminated (or placed in page protectors) the rest can be done by the child alone. Lessons are short and sweet and they do move more slowly. This is why I put my dd in it. The downside is that they end with book 5. There are occasional hands on, but generally can be done by a 9 yo with no help....except for any recipes (about 2 a year which you could choose to skip. My dd learned so well with these though) Mostly there is measuring and looking for geometric shapes. But this fits the bill when you are looking for gentle.
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Are these not sold by Queen anymore?
Pam
Angela O'Dell's materials can now be found at Jelly Bean Jar. Queens no longer publishes her materials. Slowly Master Books will have them all. But for now this will be where you can find her materials.
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Agreeing with Vida. I was highly disappointed when I ordered one of the Language Lessons and all of the back sides of the pages were blank. That would have not bothered me if they weren't counted in the number they advertise. If you say 70 pages, I expect at least 60 to include usable material. I like short lessons, but these were like a puff. That aside, I like it otherwise, but I no longer use it.
I do like their nature science books, but they are very expensive and you have NO permission to copy the pages that are to be worked even for your own kids. So at $40 a pop, a family with 4 kids could spend $160 just on nature study lessons! Or you could do like I am and have your child make their own notebook from the lessons in the text.
I do use, and both my dd and I love, Math Lessons for a Living Education which Queens no longer publishes (as stated above by ecc). If I didn't already have history I was happy with I would be tempted by Angela's history as well. As mentioned again, no longer being published by Queens. see jellybeanjar
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I have found that while it comes from a Christian perspective, it is not Biblically accurate when speaking of history that has to do with the Bible. I will not list any specifics and they are not overwhelming. But I have yet to find a good narrative history that speaks of Bible events with 100% accuracy. For that you will have to go to the Bible. =)
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Oh and when my dd was that age, I would have her do only 1/2 page a day.
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Not sure what your question is, but I adore Pentime! I find the writing beautiful, the instruction great, the pages pleasant to look at, the blurbs (varies with each level) fun, and the price right. Now once you get to, oh I forget, the 3rd book??, maybe Transition, there is a flap connected to the back cover. It has diagonal lines on it. This is to be placed behind each right side page so the child can see the lines thru the page. It really helps them to learn to slant their letters/words.
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Hits:
LLATL Purple
Math Lessons for a Living Education 5 (with a few problems from R&S Math added)
Pentime
HOD Preparing / Beyond FIAR / Portraits of American Girlhood
Misses:
None.
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Since you are doing this for 2nd grade I would be inclined to not worry so much about it. This age is for introduction and making it fun so they are ready for serious learning when they get older. But I do have ideas. Between each unit read a related fiction or two. (You'll be reading the non-fict during the units.)
For instance
Unit 2 is about the inside of the earth. Read an abridged version of Journey to the Center of the Earth
Unit 3 Hydrosphere- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Unit 4 Atmosphere- Twenty-one Balloons or
Unit 5 Weather - Wizard of Oz (we have fiction accts of Hurricane Katrina and a historical hurricane that wiped out Grand Isle long ago)
Unit 6 Space - A Wrinkle in Time
Watch the above in movies
You could have field trip days
cave
water plant
planetarium
Do the supplemental activities in the appendix
Do extra fun hands on activities (pinterest has great ideas if you search for CKE Earth and Space).
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My daughter is 8 and has recently been diagnosed with sensory processing disorder. We are getting occupational therapy for her which is helping some. This is our first year homeschooling as she did K and 1st grade at a public charter school. They did singapore math with her at school, but I don't think she listened well and learned much in her math classes. I bought singapore and started that with her but at the first grade level. We also got saxon through our homeschool co-op. We have been doing singapore 1a and she is really struggling witht he number bonds. She doesn't know her money, time, etc. She can count to 100 and count by 5's and tens. She doesn't know her math facts very good and definitely not over 5. I am just wondering if Saxon would be better for her since its more traditional or maybe another program like math u see? She is very slow at math and has to sit and count to figure things out. I know singapore is more advanced and hard to understand sometimes. She also has some vision issues and wears glasses. She acts exhausted doing 5-10 minutes of math. I don't want to get to the point where she hates it. Any suggestions?
It could be that a very hands on program will work best for her. I do believe the above mentioned Right Start and MUS are both this way in different sorts of ways. (Did that make sense?)
I adore Rod and Staff grades 1 and 2 and we did do them mostly (cutting out about 50% or more of the work), but it was not what was best for my dd. I found that out later. Numbers are not her thing and a page full of them makes her shut down. What worked best for her is Math Lessons for a Living Education.
http://jellybeanjar.org/product-category/math/
We did part of book 1 but had to quit due to me working outside of the home and not having the time to do the hands on with her at that young age. If I had it to do again, I would have stuck with it and just took it slower if need be.
Here is why I think this MAY be an option for you: there is a storyline that most kids are interested in. Then the math is worked into the story. Some lessons have real life- hands on lessons such as measuring items in the home, finding items that fit certain shapes, cooking, weighing, etc. For money and clocks we used play money and play clocks that I kept in a math box. And another thing that was an added plus for my dd was there was only a few problems on the page and per lesson. She was not overwhelmed so therefore didn't shut down. For her quality over quantity is best.
I love the way it teaches place value with the village.
They make their own flashcards with pictures. For many kids this reaches a part of their brain simple numbers do not. It can assist some with memorizing facts. This project can take quite a while though.
The use of dry erase markers on MLFLE printables you either laminate or place in page protectors is fun and breaks the monotony.
I am happy to say dd did well with MLFLE book 4 and is now working on book 5.
Professor Pig. We LOVE PP! I would use this for sure. It is free. Fun, hands on and effective.
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I feel that no matter what a person puts their hand to it should be the best they can do. I strive for beauty, but I realize it is not something that everyone can accomplish. If my child struggles then I don't push it (just like with any subject). We work on improvement to the best of our ability and then move on. But on the flip side, if I know my child has the ability to do well, but is being lazy and sloppy, I require it to be done again.
Short answer, like with all things, it depends on the child.
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For my math overwhelmed kiddo, Math Lessons for a Living Education has been a wonderful blessing.
nature study recommendations
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
Thank you, very much, Desert Flower! We are almost finished with McHenry's The Elements and I was thinking a more CM flair for our next co-op line up would be nice. Especially in the spring. I may get this.