Lenora in MD
-
Posts
187 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Classifieds
Store
Posts posted by Lenora in MD
-
-
This is a great question. I did R&S with my daughter (11 now) up until last year. She and I both really started to hate grammar. So I gave her a break this year and switched to Queen Language Lessons. I figured it would give her a break and the book I chose focused on poetry which she really enjoys. I regret that I switched, because I don't think she learned any grammar this year. I don't regret it because she really needed a break. So, I don't know what I will do for next year. I am tempted to return to r&s because it is a great program. But, I also may look for something more relaxed, and/or integrated, just something different. I would really like to hear other's responses because this would help me out too.
-
It sounds like you might need an earlier start to your day. You are only accomplishing latin and math between breakfast and lunch. Also, you do not need to do everything every day. Maybe you could do grammar and writing on alternate days. Also, an hour for spelling is definitely too much. 20 minutes should be fine. History, art and science can definitely be done on different days. We do history twice a week, science once and art once.
-
Looking at the list of books for first grade, it looks like Leif the Lucky would really be the only objectionable one. I would just be careful to edit out what is objectionable to you for the rest of the year and then really think about what you want for next year. Second grade really gets in ancient egypt, so it may not be practicable to get the curriculum and have to edit out so much. You may want to check out ambleside online. In the early years, the books are excellent. I also think that Truthquest is excellent. They have three books for elementary age that focus on American History. And they have a wonderful biblical world view. We are actually using their ancient history book for my middle schooler this year, and they have a very biblical and cautious philosophy about teaching ancient history. Whatever you use, you will have to have your radar up. And when you do miss something, discuss it with the children and ultimately pray and trust the Lord with your children. We are not perfect, that's why God gives us mercy (and grace too!). :)
-
Here are a few websites for you to check out! :)
http://www.charlottemason.com/
http://www.homeschoolfavourites.com.au/a-living-education.html
http://home.att.net/~bandcparker/
http://higherupandfurtherin.blogspot.com/
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HarmonyArtMom/
http://www.livingbookscurriculum.com/
http://homeschoolblogger.com/underthesky
http://www.yesterdaysclassics.com/
http://www.winterpromise.com/index.html
http://oldfashionededucation.com/
-
Just another vote for Artistic Pursuits. I have used for several years and we love it. Very easy to use.
-
Well, I do have something positive to say about Shiller. I have been using it the last year and a half and I really like it. No teacher prep, just pick up the book and go. I set a timer for a certain period of time, and we stop wherever we are when it goes off. In my opinion, it has made math painless and fun for both mom and kids. And my kids are definitely learning their math. No games, per se, but lots of manipulatives.
-
Just some ideas, this is my third time doing first grade and I have made changes each time! I did ambleside onlined year 1 this year for the first time, and we really liked it. The books are very interesting and we have all learned a lot. It is a pleasure to do the reading each day. It covers history, poetry, nature study, geography, church history, shakespeare. If math and handwriting are working, I would stay with them. If its working, don't change just because something else looks better. Especially with math and language arts in my opinion. We are using FLL !, I used it for the other two who came before, and I still really like it. Not too much and a good introduction to the language arts. I think Queen's Language Lessons could also be good for first grade.
For phonics, we have used 100 easy lessons and phonics pathways. Both are good, it depends on what she would like. In addition to Bob Books, we have also liked Frog and Toad, LIttle Bear, Pathway readers, and CLP Nature Readers.
All About Spelling might also be worth a look for reading and spelling,
For science, I used the wtm suggestions for first grade, with books from the library. You could also check out apologia's books.
-
I love ao's reading selections. My kids love them, as do I.
I love shiller math, it fits the younger children perfectly. I also love teaching it.
My daughter loves the pathway readers and of course bob books.
I love sotw and truthquest.
hwt for handwriting has been fun and effective.
We all loved real science 4 kids, best science we have ever done
-
We do history, science, art, music, bible, and read alouds together. The do math, grammar, spelling, handwriting and phonics individually because they are on different levels. I have used sotw and truthquest for history, real science 4 kids, and artistic pursuits with everyone combined.
-
I agree that she may want to do some of her work with the family. In our house, we do individual seat work in the morning and group work in the afternoon. We have four kids, and I need to start by 8:30, or I can not get everything done that I need to by lunch. Also, her schedule looks a bit heavy in terms of language arts, she has english, iew, and writing a paragraph for history, in addition to spelling, vocab. and editing. My 11 yo would definitely melt down with all that. Maybe she doesn't have to do all those things each day? Could you alternate some things?
-
You really need to do what is right for your child. For younger children, up to fourth grade, I think up to 30 minutes is fine. For my children, much longer than that seems to be beyond their attention ability. For my 6th grader, she has to do two singapore exercises a day and one miquon. She does so much because she is behind and she is motivated to catch up. So she might work for an hour, but she has the desire to do so. I would not force it one her, or else she would hate it and not learn much anymay. I do set the timer for my younger ones, but that helps them to work diligently and not dawdle. They know they are finished when the timer goes off. They are progressing just fine.
I think you are doing fine. They don't hate math and they are progressing quickly. As long as they are understanding what they are doing and retaining it, I don't think you need to worry.
-
I really use ao and simply charlotte mason a lot in my planning. They both have a lot of great articles and information on resources. ao is a real treasure of information, do some digging and you will discover a lot of great stuff. The yahoo groups have some great in-depth discussions. I stronly recommend that you read the cm series. Start with book 6. Understanding the philosphy really helps with implementing the methods.
Here are some interesting websites:
http://home.att.net/~bandcparker/cmlinks.html
http://www.homeschoolfavourites.com.au/index.html
http://higherupandfurtherin.blogspot.com/
-
I would definitely suggest that you schedule the Pre-k child first. That really has helped in my house. Right now I have a dd11, ds10, dd7, and ds4. The four year old gets to do "school" first. I try to keep it fun and flexible. We do hwt, 100 ez lessons, and math with all different kinds of materials (counting bugs, peg board, lauri number puzzle). We also do puzzles or play one of the many games I have from Discovery Toys. I did that with my dd7 and she easily moved into reading, copywork, and Shiller Math. I also read to him from his own classic story books. I often let him chose what we will do for the day. I only spend 1/2 hour per day with him, but it is a great investment. After our time together, he happily goes off and plays by himself, leaving me with time to attend to the schoolwork of my other kids. While I am doing work with the youngest one, my older children are doing their morning chores. Often, the youngest one will sit with me while I do work with the others, so I think he is probably learning a lot more than I realize! He also likes to do puzzles by himself while the rest of us are working.
-
We just finished up year four and it was really different from the other years. My son and daughter liked it, but I think my son liked it more because of all the wars. The activity guide was great for map work and outlining, but we did not do too many of the activities. I guess my kids like the more active activities and less of the sit down and write something type. To make it a little more interesting for the whole family, I also used Truthquest, the third guide for younger students. That provided us more American History and interesting book suggestions. I really like it a lot for the modern time period. Some great books that we listened to on cd this year included: Number the Stars, Willow Creek, The Upstairs Room, The Star of Kazan, The Railway Children, The Chronicles of Narnia, Little Women. We watched Ann of Green Gables.
I really enjoyed studying this time period with my children because I learned to so much that I never knew before. After having finished the book, I seem to understand more about international events when I read the daily paper now. The kids also have a greater understanding of current events, such as the situation in Kenya or China's economic and political condition.
-
Thornton Burgess Bird Book, Wisdom and the Millers, and we are listening to the Golden Branch on cd.
-
Real Science 4 Kids has a biology book. I used it with my 8/9 and 10/11 year olds. It is a great program. Hands on experiments with every lesson that really teach the scientific method. There was not a dissection though. Only ten lessons in the book, so you would want to flesh it out with some other things to make it last for the whole year.
-
Doesn't iew have some writing materials for different time periods? I don't know anything about it, but I do remember seeing a post about it somewhere.
-
Thanks everyone!
-
I would really like a complete program, that includes grammar and writing. Could I just use R&S for that? And since my daughter will be going into 7th grade, would R&S be enough? And what level would I put her in, she finished most of 4th grade last year, with a break this year. Would I start with the 5th, 6th, or 7th grade text?
-
It is different. You have an instructor book and a student book. You read the lesson to the children, and then they do the exercises in their book when indicated. I does not seem to go over the same simple things over and over and over. It seems to progress a bit faster. I like it because it tells us exactly what to do. It is repetitive enough for my son to get it. I really like that it includes poems, narration and dictation. Take a look at the sample pages on the website and see if it appeals to you. I would be less mind-numbing since you will have both doing it at the same time.
-
You could definitely teach them at the same time. They would each need their own student pages. It takes about 10 minutes for me to do it with my 9 year old. They do not work independently.
-
In addition to all the great suggestions above, I signed my son up this year for big math time. www.bigmathtime.com It offers fun math drill, with games as a reward. We did spelling time last year, when it was free, and my guys loved it.
-
I definitely plan on trying it with my fourth grader and second grader. We love FLL and I think it will probably be right up our alley.
-
I meant the Complete Writer series by Susan Wise Bauer. I would like to use it for my fourth grader, who is not doing any writing yet. For my 6th grader I am using Writing Strands. I may switch to iew or r&s for my 6th grader for next year.
My son is doing well with 3 letter word readers, now I need readers for the next...
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
I vote for Bob Books and Pathway Readers.