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Joy at Home

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Posts posted by Joy at Home

    Andrew Kern ? - Not sure why he's anti H. Gardner

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Anyone have the short version of why Kern isn't a fan of Howard Gardner? Is it because of treating "intelligence" in Gardner's style of "multiple" intelligence theory that this is somehow a dissolution or barrier of teaching/learing of a whole (human/soul) being?

     

    I was listening to one of his lectures today but couldn't pick up on the reasoning, I have to go back and listen to it again..it was the lecture on Rhetoric as an Essential Art.

     

    Anyone know?

     

    http://www.societyforclassicallearning.org/index.php/resources/media/15-2011-conference-recordings

     

    (it's the second one down in the menu if anyone is interested)

     

    Don't know anything about this, but he's a member here so maybe he'll chime in.

     

    Lisa

    Anyone with Classical Conversations experience, please advise.

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Sort of along the same lines,

    I've been looking at CC for my 9th grader next year. But my main hang up is Apologia. I don't want young earth creationism for science. So could we just do our own science and skip theirs, or would this be a big issue through the whole program? I mean would it mess up doing CC? I feel really caught.

     

    I don't see this as being a problem at all. Dd's science and math are never going to line up with Challenge (she's doing Biology at home this year in Challenge A). She is also doing Saxon Algebra while the class is on Prealgebra. I figure what she sits through in class is just review.

     

    It used to be a student could select only certain "seminars" in Challenge, though now they want a student to enroll in the whole class. There's always going to be students who are not going to fit into their math and science sequence and, while it should be a consideration, I don't think it needs to be a dealbuster. It's all personal choice and weighing your goals against what is offered.

     

    Having said that, I'm not absolutely certain dd will continue with Challenge I as I had planned. We are having a great year and I think it's been very beneficial to her, just need to work through some things in my own mind about my goals for her the next few years.

     

    Good luck with your decision!

    Lisa

    Can anyone critique my plan for next year?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    Hi Amy!

     

    I think this plan sounds very doable. Are you keeping your 5th and 7th graders together, more or less? Are they both in Essentials now? How long have they been in Essentials? Just wondering if they've had a year or two, maybe you can consider dropping it and using that time to your advantage. Just a thought. You can continue to work on reviewing charts and sentence diagramming, but with the addition of Henle you'll be augmenting your grammar studies with Latin grammar. You can continue with IEW.

     

    I would start with Henle, since they will be using it in Challenge. That is my plan.

     

    Yes, seven hours is a lot, but it looks as though they may not be doing a full seven hours every day. For example, every day may not add up to a full 30 minutes for memory work, 20 minutes for presentations, etc. I'd be shooting for around five yours personally, but that is just me. I can see your schedule being done in less than seven hours most days.

     

    Anyway, I think it looks great. Good luck!

    Lisa

    Hands on Equations, I love you

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    For hands-on fractions, we use the RS Fractions Chart. Here's a pic of my dd using it here.

     

    Have you used SM bar models with fractions. Dd is doing some CWP 4 this morning for review. It is not hands-on but the bar model is very visual.

     

    We love HoE. Did buy the verbal problems book?

     

     

    I just bought the introductory word problems book and the next levels, can't wait to get them!

     

    I'm going to take a look at the SM bar models, thanks!

     

    Lisa

    Hands on Equations, I love you

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    We used this for the first time today and it went exceedingly well. Dd literally had tears in her eyes she was so happy she was able to solve such complex problems. It really makes me think that dd would benefit from more hands on learning for math. She is fifth grade. Does anyone have any suggestions for hands on math for this level? I would prefer supplemental activities that would enhance what we're as HOE does. She really enjoys TT, but I would like to add in some hands on (I'm particularly thinking of fractions).

     

    Any suggestions:bigear:

     

    Tx!

    Lisa

    Anyone with Classical Conversations experience, please advise.

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Do you need to stay with this progression to accomplish what you want for grades 10-12? Or do you want to stay the course in case CC doesn't work out for all four years? I'm interested - because I hadn't really thought through how that would affect us (if we had to quit Challenge somewhere along the way for some reason). My first impression was that science does seem light in the early years. But the CC philosophy isn't about teaching science but teaching a student to research using science as the source material.

     

    A different issue we have with the science is that my DH isn't thrilled about the use of Apologia

     

    Oh-oh - I just realized that if DS graduates after Challenge III, he won't have 4 science credits! Great - now I've got to figure out how to make Ch B HS credit worthy - ANy takers on that question?

     

    I would have him take a general science course (Apologia or other) along with Challenge B.

     

    Lisa

    Writing the SWB way...does it work?

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I didn't follow WTM or SWB exactly, but I was and still am heavily influenced by her ideas in deciding how to approach writing with my dc. With my dc we have a very much parts to whole approach to writing:

     

    K: we focus on making letters (handwriting)

    1st: we focus on making words (spelling) and continue handwriting practice including copywork

    2nd: we focus on making sentences (grammar) and continue spelling and handwriting

    3rd: we continue developing sentence writing skills and introduce the paragraph in grammar and continue the other skills

    4th: this is the year we really focus on paragraph development primarily using IEW materials and continue working on the other skills.

    5th: we begin to build paragraphs into 2-5 paragraph papers using IEW while still working on handwriting, spelling and grammar.

    6th: this is where ds is now learning the structure of a persuasive paper using Lost Tools of Writing.

     

    Ds, following this sequence, still hates handwriting, tolerates and does well with the persuasive papers and really enjoys creative writing when I give him a break from the persuasive writing. He does well with paragraph structure, sentence variety and vocabulary. He also does pretty well with plot development and does ok with character and setting development in a short story.

     

    All the way through we have done lots of informal narrations many of them in the form of "Tell Daddy about ... " and a few more formal narrations where I write down and occasionally have them copy what they narrate.

     

    Ds is about a year ahead of SWB writing program so it's never really been an option for us. Dd is now in 3rd and will continue on the same sequence as ds for as long as it is working for her.

     

    For us, I did not think the "more is better" approach used by many public schools was an efficient and productive use of our time. I preferred SWB's approach to laying the foundational skills before requiring very much writing. It seems to have worked well for ds so far as believe that his writing skills are above grade level and he enjoys it much more than I ever did (in public school); I hated writing! Yuck! But I'm very glad that ds does not share my attitude on writing.

     

     

    Maryanne,

     

    Just curious how it's going with LTOW? I received mine this week and am starting to weed through it. I vacillate between wanting to hug it and wanting to hide it in the back of my bookshelf.

     

    Tx

    Lisa

    Poll: What would you do - used curriculum sale

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    I bought a set of workbooks used. The seller wrapped them in brown paper and shipped them. No box, no padded envelope. The paper was ripped to shreds and most of the books were gone. It was not taped back together because it was only paper to begin with. I contacted seller and seller refused to take responsibility. So if it were me I'd refund at least half the amount since we've both lost....but I could see myself refunding all of it to make it right.

     

    I would agree that a poor packing job would be a big factor. However, here, the seller went beyond by paying extra for priority shipping in a secure, flat rate box.

     

    Lisa

    Poll: What would you do - used curriculum sale

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    JUST went through this. I sent something through Media Mail and a month later got it back with 1 of the 2 books missing. The package was all messed up/taped again missing part of the packaging. The workbook was fine but the teachers edition was gone. It came back to me though, never even made it to the buyer. I issued a refund and re-sent the workbook. Luckily my buyer was nice enough to allow me $5 for shipping again. Wonder whats going on with our postal system :glare:

     

    Well, media mail is a joke. I've had too many crazy experiences with the post office and media mail, some instances having a completely torn box returned to me with nothing inside. It looks like they don't handle priority packages much better, unfortunately:glare:

     

    Lisa

    Poll: What would you do - used curriculum sale

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted · Edited by Momto5girls

    Just curious where you fall on this scenario: Used curriculum is purchased for roughly $75 and seller ships package, paying extra for priority shipping and delivery confirmation, but when is received buyer says most of the contents are missing. The only plausible explanation is that the box somehow opened during delivery and the post office just threw a few things back in and taped the box shut (buyer does say that there is packing tape on the box and seller did not tape the box). The contents of the package are worthless without the missing material.

     

    What would you do as the seller in this situation?

     

    thanks!

    lisa

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