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hollyhock2

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Posts posted by hollyhock2

    Handwriting how often?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    A little every day is probably about right. The thing is, if they write other things aside from in their handwriting books, that can count, too. For example, with my 5yo daughter, I only schedule actual handwriting practice 2x a week, but the other days she is writing in her phonics book.

    Favorite Writing & Grammar: 6th Grade

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I think my favourite is Climbing to Good English. It includes writing, but I usually have my kids doing narrations and outlines (the way SWB describes in her middle school audio lecture about writing). Close second for grammar is Rod & Staff. It also includes writing. I'm old school, I guess. 🙂

    What if you have a kid who needs mastery AND spiral math?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    18 hours ago, Ellie said:

    Which ones do you think are mastery, and which ones do you think are spiral? I haven't really figured that out.

    Well, obviously, I don't know them all, but I was under the impression that MM, MUS, R&S and MCP were all mastery, and Horizons, TT and CLE were spiral. The rest I don't know enough about to say.

    13 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

    What about using a spiral program for review coupled with MM's themed books for mastery? 

    I'm thinking I may need to do something like that.

    12 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

    How much do you want?
    Right Start is spiral but warms up with review each day and plays review games after.
    Math U See is mastery but splits the lesson in half: 3 pages new, 3 pages review.

    We don't use Right Start anymore but we did like the set up of review/new/review.  We still do similar at home: lesson + board game, or lesson + Prodigy time.

    How much do I want? Well, he needs daily review or at least weekly, not just once per chapter like what MM does. I am seriously looking at MUS Epsilon because I love their mastery-with-lots-of-review method. Can I assume that even though the table of contents only lists fraction topics, there is also plenty of review of other concepts, like long division and other non-fraction things?

    6 hours ago, Coco_Clark said:

    I have one of those (also 11).  Our perfect mix has been Math Mammoth for mastery and Teaching Textbooks for review.  At first we did both every day, as a TT lesson only took about 15 min.  But then TT started getting harder so we are now doing MM on M/W/F, and TT on T/The.  TT does run about a grade below MM, it's worth noting.  That works great for us as it's solid REVIEW, but if you want the same topics Id suggest going a grade up in TT.

    I've tried to use Math Mammoth alone, using pages from different sections to self spiral.  It was a total fail, somehow not enough mastery OR review.  🙄.  

    I was thinking of doing the opposite: TT every day and then adding in pages of MM where he needs more practice problems on a topic. And yes, I agree with your assessment comparing the two. I was looking at fraction topics the other day and the same things are taught in TT 5 and MM 4. I did use MM exclusively with this kid in Grades 1 and 2 and by the end of Grade 2, it was not working anymore. It moved too fast and he also needed the review.

    4 hours ago, emba56 said:

    Have you looked at Rod and Staff? The chapters focus on one topic (mastery) and each lesson includes significant practice on the new material of the day, but then the rest of the lesson is review of previous topics. 

    I have not considered this but I do own the R&S math 5 book, so I should dig it out and look at this. Thanks!

    Thanks for the replies, everyone!

    What if you have a kid who needs mastery AND spiral math?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Are there any math programs out there that are both mastery and spiral? I have a feeling my 11yo might need both. Most spiral programs I've seen spend little time on the new concept before all the review problems, and most mastery programs have hardly any review. It's like he needs the best of both worlds: a full page of practice problems on the new concept, and then more pages of review. Does such a thing exist? Or should I be looking at using two different maths at once? (TT is what he's using and done well with so far. I could supplement with pages from MM, which I also own, for example.)

    Ideas and experiences welcome!

    I need a plan for history for the next few years

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    If your oldest is going to be independent, then it really doesn't matter if she is in the same time period as everyone else. I used to try to keep mine all in the same time period, but I quickly realized it was of no value, because my independent workers were, well, independent, and it just didn't matter! So plan something for her, and it sounds like you already have an idea of what to do there, and then plan your littles separately. If you finish CHOW, I think I'd just go back to ancients and start the cycle over, but that's just me.

    FLL Alternative

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    What grade is he in? If he's in 1st or 2nd, you might not need to replace it with anything. You can just work on reading and phonics if he still needs that. If he's past that, or in 3rd grade or up, then any other English program should work. I like Rod & Staff English, but there are lots of other options that are more popular these days. (I hope more people reply with those suggestions.) :)

    • Thanks 1

    How to tweak Rod and Staff English for homeschool

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    A couple of ideas - I do all the grammar lessons and skip the writing lessons (especially if you are doing writing with something else). The writing lessons are marked in the book. If you want her to do it independently, she could read the lesson and then complete the written portion of the exercises. I have also bought the booklet of worksheets and had my kid read the lesson and then complete a worksheet, but there aren't worksheets for every lesson (most but not all). Lately, I've been doing it with my kid orally, so I read the lesson to him and we go over the oral exercises together. Any diagramming we do on scrap paper. Lots of people use a whiteboard.

    • Like 2

    Spiral Pre-A options?

    in Logic Stage & Middle Grade Challenges

    Posted

    On 4/5/2019 at 6:34 PM, Coco_Clark said:

    To add to the TT discussion: my daughter uses TT.  She's only in TT6, but, it's very very simple. Unless it scales way up (which I'm granting it might) I don't think you could jump from Beast to TT to Jacobs.

     

    IMO, TT starts to scale up about halfway through 7. Pre-algebra isn't that easy, except for the first few chapters where it's mostly review.

    • Thanks 1

    He's a writer! (proud mama moment)

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Good for him! My proud mama moment is that my oldest is averaging 97% in Algebra 2 right now and he's almost done the course. We tried a different algebra 2 last year and dropped it after about 12 weeks because it was such a struggle, and I wondered at the time if maybe we just weren't smart enough for higher math (I was trying to learn it with him). Not so! (At least for him.)

    • Like 6

    Science-do you prefer studying 1 topic deeply, or several topically?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I do whatever my kids want. I have one who has studied all things biology - and birds especially - for the past 3 years at least. The next one prefers all sorts of topics - this year he's done astronomy, geology and chemistry. I let them pick how they want to do it. As far as not wanting to study a particular branch of science, I totally understand not wanting to study insects or whatever. My solution to that problem is to have the kids do science independently. If they're too young for independent science, I would just save that topic for when they're older.

    I personally think the best retention happens when kids are really interested in the topic they are studying.

    How do your Middle Schoolers practice cursive?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    My 5th grade son has just mastered cursive and I'm going to have him practice via dictation. If he can copy something in cursive, he won't actually learn it or practice the way I want him to because then he doesn't have to remember how to form the letters. With dictation, or if he had to translate print to cursive, he has to remember how to do it all himself. That's the only way he's finally learned to do it.

    • Like 1

    Changing things up in homeschooling?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    A few suggestions which may or may not be helpful. First of all, it is ok to just get the basics done with the kids, especially with the ages you have. If you get math and LA done, that's pretty good. You can slowly add on, like you are doing with spelling soon, as you feel able to. If you want to add in history or science, I would definitely pick something you can read aloud to them as a group. When mine were smaller, we did those group subjects first. Then we would all go to the dining room table and I would sit among them as they did their math or whatever. Then whoever finishes first can run away and play and doesn't have to wait for everyone else to be done. Can you take advantage of your baby's nap times to get some things done during those times? Don't worry about doing all the subjects. That will all come as they get older. If you do math and LA plus reading aloud, I think you are good for now.

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 1

    How do/did you decide which subjects to cut?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    Start with the basics: math, English, history, science. Those are my four basics. Then think about adding one other thing (or one for each child). So if you want to try Latin, try that. Maybe next year, you'll want to do something else, like geography, or maybe you will be able to add it on alongside. Aside from the basics, not every subject needs to be done every year. Also, not every subject needs to be done every day. For extra things like art and music, which I feel are important but not priorities, we do them once per week. 

    So my advice is to start with the fundamentals and work your way up. As your children grow and are interested in things, you can slowly add on according to what you feel is important for them.

    • Like 1
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