Beth in SW WA
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Posts posted by Beth in SW WA
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Thanks Kathy. I really value and appreciate your input. Its good to hear your perspective on these middle school years in light of your experience. I especially like the way you described your overall approach in preparing your kids (at the time) for HS and beyond.
:iagree::iagree::iagree:
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This one! :)
http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=274005&page=6
She also did a youtube video on teaching diagramming a small paragrph or longer sentence (can't remember)but do not know if it is still available...Very priceless
It was the first sentence from The Hobbit. She recorded her discussion with her kiddos about 5 years ago. I've been her biggest fan ever since.:001_smile:
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Beth, congrats on taking the plunge! I think the most important part is that your kids are really enjoying it which means they will be more engaged with their math. ;)
I'm also a bit confused. Did you order the homeschool or standard edition? Based on my discussion with tech support they said the homeschool edition comes with 'all' the answers to the end of unit exercises. Do you find this to be the case? Thanks for the additional info.
I bought the homeschool edition and it looks slightly different from the school version. Nothing drastic. User-friendly. Nice features. Well worth $80.
Dd15 is doing the last chapter as review before starting alg 2 at school next month. Not sure if I can delete her scores for younger dd to that chapter next spring/summer.
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I have a bit more info this morning since I purchased the 1-year subscription last night. Both dds were disappointed when the free trial ran out yesterday. I guess that's a good sign.
Only odd answers are included in the end-of-unit problems (on the school version).
The 'progress' tab will be handy. It follows progress, attempts, retries, scores, etc.
We will only do the application word problems in the first few chapters and jump right into ch. 4 on Graphing. This program is quite comprehensive.
Tech support fixed any glitches with Apple's new update (mountain lion) so we're golden.
ETA: I'm a bit confused. I seem to have the homeschool version on my Macbook and the school version on my iMac. They are set up differently. Still working on this...
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This must be the elementary one?
Great question. The elementary program would be too easy for a 9-year-old imho.
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How much more did you spend for labs? How teacher intensive ARE the labs? I know there are some *virtual* labs, but I've also read that there are hands on labs necessary for the "meat" of the program.
I did not buy the lab materials. They will do the virtual labs in SF and online elsewhere as well as outsourced labs with a tutor (winter) and another local class. If dd was using the program as intended (late middle school) I would stick more closely to the script. We do so much science that I'm not trying to align them all. They seem to enjoy random exposure to topics.
Try the logic board for info on the SF hands-on labs. :)
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Rosie has a bunch of games for her c-rod vids. Perhaps you could adapt some for use with the blocks.
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We just finished our first project today...we're less than impressed. I'm really upset, actually, as the last thing I needed was to purchase another science program yet this looked so promising! The chapters are a joke (My 9yod looked at me and said, "Really, Mom??") and the project instructions really need to be previewed! For example, with the racer the clear plastic axle is WAY too long yet the instructions indicate that one is to cut the black plastic tubes down quite short. If one does that then one finds that the axle is too long after the wheels have been glued on and the racer does not work as well. After the effort put in and the excitement my dc had to see it work, having it not work due to a preventable issue was really disappointing and frustrating.
I hope the rest of the projects can redeem this program.
Sorry...everyone else seems to love this program. If we do continue it I will definitely add more to it as far as reading (and will preview the projects carefully!).
Bummer. My older dc built that car years ago without any trouble. Hope the rest of it works better for you.
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So for those who have purchased (and been able to log in) how did you do it? I have an email giving my username and password but I have no idea what to use as my State, District and School on the login screen. I have purchased through HSBC. I am attempting to find out from HMH as well but thought that I might get a quicker answer here.
State: DC
District: Science Fusion Homeschool
School: Your name
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I took about 500 photos. Here are about 20 or so:
Our 2-week east coast trip last spring...DC, Alexandria, Gettysburg, Philly, Newport, Plymoth Boston
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Thinking of doing the electricity/alarms one first and then maybe the bridges one to tie into physics or the simple machines one...
Beth--how much time a week do you see you guys spending on it weekly to get it done in two years?
Thanks!
I'll add that EiE recommends you do the unit after doing a traditional unit first. EiE is a supplement/add-on. That's why we'll start the electronics EiE unit after we do a bit of EE and a section in Science Fusion.
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Looks like it's mostly physics, yes?
Yes.
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Either way I think the more homeschoolers that ask for this the greater the chances are of seeing something like it in the future. :D
:iagree:
Thanks! We'll have to wait and see.
I think we'll be ok without complete solutions for now. :001_smile:
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Thinking of doing the electricity/alarms one first and then maybe the bridges one to tie into physics or the simple machines one...
Beth--how much time a week do you see you guys spending on it weekly to get it done in two years?
Thanks!
We will do it once/week. We are in no hurry.
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Are you happy with your purchase?
I am. The price was $27 for 1 middle school module for 1 year. I bought 3 modules.
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Haven't used it but thought about buying it! Looks good! We are STEM focused here too! Which EIE are you starting with? We will be doing the bridge first at my dd's request.:)
We will start EE in a few months. My olders used the first version years ago. I have the new one which we will use over 2 years.
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We attended the orientation today. Looks like fun! My dd is in the Thursday Mapping the world class. LOVE LOVE LOVE your curriculum choices!! Its so fun to find someone with a similar choice in classes. As a newbie here, I am in awe :drool:
:001_smile:
Did you buy the blank maps yet? I still need them.
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It looks really neat but I'm turned off by how difficult it is to view samples. I also don't understand how you use it w/ a 2nd child. Can you purchase an additional year of online support or would you need to purchase an entirely new set? It's very unclear in info available how much of the program is online vs. on a cd/dvd. Would it even be possible to use it without purchasing the online support?
I thought the samples were quite thorough.
For the middle school modules, it appears that multiple kids can watch any element of the online portion. It doesn't keep track. You can log in and out of the program to watch and re-watch. Skip around. Whatever.
Dd is writing in her consumable workbooks.
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I'm intrigued by the use of the MCT materials in the Landry English classes, though we've been very happy with the Potter's School classes we've taken (Writer's Workshop, Eng. 1 and Eng. 2). My only complaint about Potter's School is the emphasis on grades. They grade rather hard, in my opinion, and it can be demoralizing for kids who are working to the best of their ability and actually learning a lot.
Beth - you have some experience with TPS English classes, right? Or am I thinking of someone else? I'd love to see a comparison with Landry.
Yes, my older dd took English 2 via TPS a couple years ago and we loved it. I begged and pleaded to the teacher of Adventures In Writing to let dd9 take that class this year even though she is not 10 yet. The teacher said no.
I was thrilled when I read on the MCT yahoo group that Landry offered MCT classes. I signed up dd9 the same day.
I plan to enroll her in Mrs. Frederick's class at TPS when she is older.
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We were looking at the Cells and Heredity - is it as child friendly and "cool" (as Autumn put it) as the sample lesson?
I think so. I would wait unti HSBC has another sale.
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Yes and it looks great. I am, however, concerned with a few posts I've read about how difficult it can be to implement. Please let me know how it goes for you.
It's over 100 degrees here today so we're cooped up inside. Seemed like a good day to start with Module A: Cells & Heredity.
We watched the student interactive portion. We then read a few pages of the first chapter (along with the audio portion), stopping to fill in the blanks and discuss, make diagrams, etc. This will be our routine and it fits with her learning style. It's a nice blend of computer, audio/visual, workbook, discussion.
I'm not going to 'make assignments' on the website since we'll be doing the program together. We won't be doing the tests but will do the unit quizes.
I'm still searching the depths of teacher resources for the answers to the workbook pages. Calling customer service tomorrow. I'm sure it's right in front of me but I don't see it. :tongue_smilie:
ETA: I found the answers to the workbook pages. Right where they are supposed to be. :)
The content is very through for a young student. I don't expect dd to master/memorize all the vocab and content.
The feel of this first module reminds me of Biology: Exploring Life by Campbell which I own.
HTH!
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Had you previously taken classes there before you pre-paid so far in advance? Or did you go in blind hoping it would be the right fit? That is my concern. If I knew for sure it would work out, I would welcome pre-paid "credits."
Sandy
I read positive feedback on the high school board here. I spoke with Greg Landry on the phone and he answered my questions. I watched the sample classes. The content of English 102 sounded ideal so I took a gamble. Landry seems to have quite a following so I assume they have a good product.
HTH!
BEAST 3C is here!!!!
in K-8 Curriculum Board
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I just ordered. :)