hollyhock2
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Posts posted by hollyhock2
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Ok, we've done 4 weeks now, so I can properly comment on some of our hits and misses.
Biggest hit by far: Teaching Textbooks CD's for my oldest. I gushed about it in the other thread.
Misses: I'm not sure about his Bible course. Not sure if we'll continue it or not. It's just a simple workbook for Old Testament from Moody Publishers but some of the questions are vague and hard to answer. I've ordered The Most Important Thing You'll Ever Study to see if it's more engaging, so we might switch to that but we'll see. The other miss is that he took one look at 7Sisters' public speaking course and instantly hated it. I'm not sure if he just hates public speaking in general or he hates the assignments (presenting a poetry reading, or a children's book are some of the first couple). I might make him do it anyway just for a little bit of experience with public speaking, but I'm going to wait until next semester to decide.
Everything for my 9th grader is going swimmingly. I'm not sure if it's partly their personalities, but I find myself always changing things for my oldest, and never changing anything for the next kid.
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I cannot speak to whether MUS would close doors for your son - that is dependent on so many factors - but I also know there are plenty of homeschoolers who have used MUS all the way through and their kids have done fine, so for me personally, I don't think I would worry about that part if it's the right fit for the child. That said, I think MUS Geometry would fit all the criteria you mentioned. The lessons are pretty short and easily tailored to a slower or faster pace. You can skip worksheets to go faster, or do all the worksheets in a lesson if needed. My son is no math whiz, but he did it largely on his own last year and I don't think any of it took more than 45 minutes per day, often less. There is one worksheet per day (aside from the day you watch the video and read the lesson) so it really doesn't take long at all. The videos are also fairly short - some 10 minutes long, some a bit longer.
One of the major differences between MUS and TT Geometry is that TT is proof-heavy and MUS is proof-light and doesn't introduce them until the end of the course, if that matters to you.
I hope you find something that works for your son.
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Has anyone used this Bible study by Starr Meade? I'm looking for reviews, and wondering how others have scheduled this for their high schooler. Also, I read somewhere that it was written from a Reformed Baptist point of view, and I'm wondering if anyone has noticed if that comes through at all in the discussion or the questions. Thanks.
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The further my son gets into Alg. 2, the more positive feedback he gives me. He can spend up to 1.5 hours on math and it's no big deal (this is a first for him). He told me that if he was doing this course out of just a book, it would be going very badly. Something about the animated lecture and doing it on the computer is REALLY helping him. It makes me think I should have switched to this way sooner. Anyway... just more TT happiness over here. ?
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That's perfect! Thank you.
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When you write course descriptions for classes you do at home on your own (like Apologia Biology or Notgrass history courses), do you always include how you came up with a grade in the course? I have a system of coming up with a grade that I use for science and math, but everything else I just give somewhat arbitrary letter grades depending on how I feel my student performed in terms of effort, attitude and assignment completion. So I'm not sure how I would describe coming up with that kind of grade. Any suggestions?
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It's been good here, too. We started the year with 3.0 but we went back to 2.0 because I found a like new set for only a bit more than the cost of a subscription, and then younger siblings can reuse it. But I envision using 3.0 in future because my youngest son is an audio learner and I imagine when he gets to algebra, he'll appreciate it. This is the first year I'm not really involved in my oldest son's math. I don't even have to mark it! And I also think this will be the only way he gets through algebra 2 because I don't know it well enough to help. We're fans here as well!
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My high schoolers take about 4 hours a day max. Those are all home-based courses, none online.
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With shipping to Canada and the exchange rate, I paid nearly $50 for Language Lessons for Today, and today my son asked if we could go back to R&S. The cost isn't terrible, but it bugs me, too. Oh well.
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My kids generally do history or science every day so they generally write from whichever one they did that day. If they don't want to do that, then I have often pulled out a reader, like Pathway, and done writing from there. We also write about books they're reading. Between all those options, we usually come up with something.
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Good! I look forward to it.
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2 hours ago, texasmom33 said:
Oldest is using SL 300 History and Lit this year too. She's really liked it so far (started in July to get a head start knowing these first few weeks of September are going to be busy) and I've been impressed. We might spread it over two years- I'm not sure how bad her reading load in other classes is going to be. But yes, at this point that's one I can tell is a hit for us too. I was a little nervous with the investment since she hasn't done SL since level H, but now I'm wondering why we left.
If I may derail a little... I notice that your daughter is using the Ornithology course from Cornell University. Can I ask how it's going and how she likes it?
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So far so good here, but we're only 3 days in. After 11 years of being in charge of math, it feels SO WEIRD to have handed my oldest's math over to TT 3.0. I don't even have to grade it and if I don't check in with him, I don't even know what he's working on. It's weird. Until now, I've only ever used the books for TT.
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4 hours ago, PeterPan said:
Have you done standardized testing to see where he's actually at? He might surprise you.
So my two cents is that if you've found a strength for him, then it's a strength, and sometimes curriculum isn't going to harness it or tap it or reveal it.
No, I've never done standardized tests with him, so I have no idea. I'm not in the US either, so I'm not familiar with anything that's mentioned on these boards, nor do I know what our local schools are using, if anything. I wonder if there's anything online I could try out. Any recommendations?
Yes, a strength. I think I prefer to think about it that way rather than accelerated, advanced, etc. Wise advice!
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4 hours ago, PeterPan said:
Have you done standardized testing to see where he's actually at? He might surprise you.
So my two cents is that if you've found a strength for him, then it's a strength, and sometimes curriculum isn't going to harness it or tap it or reveal it.
No, I've never done standardized tests with him, so I have no idea. I'm not in the US either, so I'm not familiar with anything that's mentioned on these boards, nor do I know what our local schools are using, if anything. I wonder if there's anything online I could try out. Any recommendations?
Yes, a strength. I think I prefer to think about it that way rather than accelerated, advanced, etc. Wise advice!
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Thank you for the replies. After thinking about this more, especially about the subject-accelerated thing that Arcadia said, I realized that his area of acceleration is language arts, and he is still somewhat advanced in those areas compared to my other kids, but since we don't use writing or reading curriculum, I didn't really notice. It's not like I'm handing him a program with a higher number on it, you know? His reading and writing skills are still ahead of where my other kids were at this age, but he isn't light years ahead either, so it hasn't been as obvious.
Good point about the Head Start kids. I've heard that before and it makes sense.
Also, it doesn't really matter either way - if he's still ahead or not - I was just curious about this. The replies have helped me clarify my thoughts, so thank you.
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I would post this on the AL board, but I wanted a broader range of answers. If you have or have had an accelerated student, did they stay accelerated all the way through school? I ask because my middle child was advanced as a preschooler. He learned to read very early and was capable of a lot more academic work than his siblings at the same age. But now, at age 12, he is quite average and isn't working ahead in any area, although he does not struggle at all with any of his school work. He makes typical mistakes, but never has real problems with anything I give him. I have actually tried to accelerate him a little in certain areas by giving him placement tests in higher levels of math (for example) because it seems like his work is too easy for him, but it never works out. He never places higher than his grade level.
It always seems to me like all the accelerated students I read about are like that permanently. Is it normal for them to be accelerated for a while and then average out?
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Mine typed all his writing assignments last year so the only things he wrote by hand were math answers, fill in the blanks for English, that kind of thing.
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I have not used them myself, but I know of many homeschoolers on another board (that no longer exists unfortunately) who LOVE R&S Bible. I think it is definitely worth a try. I really like the looks of them, too.
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We start Monday (we farm - there's no Labor Day around here). I got my oldest's TT subscription up and running today so I think that was the last thing to get ready. ?
ETA: Today was our first day and all went well. Apparently, my 7th grader did NOT want to do French this year so scrapping that. Everything else was good.
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There's also Mr. Q Chemistry with all kitchen labs.
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I never ever had my 9yo son (who is now 10) write more than 3-4 sentences at a time. So the fact that yours is writing multiple paragraphs is something. Maybe the reluctance is because it's so long? Just a thought.
Also, are you asking about the writing itself or the penmanship? It all seems very good to me. The penmanship isn't exactly pretty, but I'd say it's very normal for a 9yo boy.
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Looks just fine to me. ?
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Yup, it works just fine. I do narrations more in a SWB style than CM, but I see no reason why any other type of narration wouldn't work, too. SOTW is one of my 10yo's favourite things to narrate from.
Teaching TExtbooks and not Showing Work
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted · Edited by hollyhock2
What I would do is sit with her for a lesson or part of a lesson and see if there really are that few problems that need working out on paper. At the beginning of the course, there is probably more that they don't have to work out (at least there was with Alg. 2). I sat with my son a bit and watched him do it for this very reason. He writes down way more now that he's starting on Chapter 4, but for a while there, there were only 3-4 problems in his workbook for some lessons.
The TT solutions book is only the answers, not the solutions fully worked out, just FYI. I hope you figure it out. ?
ETA: Also, for what it's worth, my son was doing some of the algebra in his head at the beginning, but that didn't hinder him when he needed to start working it out on paper. When he needed to write it out, he did, and having done it mentally wasn't a hindrance to knowing how to do it later. If that helps.