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JaneP

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Posts posted by JaneP

  1. I love a good teacher's edition! I use secular materials and try really hard to get the teacher edition when possible. I find them very helpful. Yes, most do assume some knowledge of the topic. A TE for my Spanish book does assume the teacher has some understanding of Spanish, and how language is taught. My science TE's generally assume that the teacher is a science teacher. However, they all have answers, planning help and lots of great suggestions. I must say that many don't assume much more knowledge than one might have if one completed high school.

     

    If I am facilitating a subject I know NOTHING about (Latin comes to mind) then I stay away from texts written for the school market and focus in on resources made specifically for homeschoolers. I learned that lesson early.

     

    :iagree:

    I have just bought a teacher's manual for English BJU grade 5 and, even though I haven't used it yet, I am finding it has tons of resources. I am so glad I didn't just buy the student book.

     

    What were you using when you learnt your lesson? :D

  2. I have had that problem MANY times. Some curricula expect you to know what is in the previous levels and future levels to teach it effectively.

     

    Some just expect you to know STUFF in general. Lots and lots of STUFF.

     

    It's funny that it was in Christian curricula that I had the most trouble. They assumed a vast amount of biblical knowledge, that I didn't have early on. Now I read some of those same curricula and think, "Wow did I really have trouble using this???" :-0

     

    Oh no!!! That is what I was afraid of :eek:

  3. Just curious..... some curriculum seems to be published primarily for the school market (eg. BJU, Abeka). Does this mean the teacher's manual assumes the curriculum is being taught by a trained teacher and therefore assumes a higher level of understanding of the subject matter?

     

    I am curious about the middle school level (and beyond)

     

    Has anyone ever come across this when using a TM?

  4. Thanks Ruth. Yes, much to my surprise the logic stage is requiring more of me, not less!

     

    Good point about anticipating problems. I am spending too long putting out the fires, so to speak, by correcting mistakes already made and trying to work out what went wrong after the event. This is really why I am exploring spending more of my time in teaching and doing guided work together before sending dd off to do work on her own.

  5. I rotate teaching blocks or face to face time with my dc.

     

    I teach a 1 hour block to my dd8, then teach a 45 minute block with my dd4, then another 1 hour block to my dd8. After that, I send dd8 off to do her independent work (math worksheets, etc.). After we have finished school for the day then we go over whatever she missed or had questions about with her independent work.

     

    This blog post explains my process in a little more detail:

     

    How I Plan Our Homeschool Day

     

    Thanks. I enjoyed your blog very much. Loved the idea of cutting up the subject lists so you could play around with sequencing!

  6.  

    I don't check their work. I've trained them to check their own work and then we go over anything they may have missed together before the next lesson. Perhaps, you could have your dd check her own work, or instead of writing the notes on the checked work you could sit down and verbally go over your notes with your dd before she starts on her next lesson.

     

    Writing notes of corrections takes a lot longer than just verbally explaining. I do need to streamline this process too.

     

    When you say you get them to check their work... do they come to you when they have finished and you hand them the TM? How old are you dc?

    Thanks!

  7. I have used a lot of unit studies for the past few years which has required a lot of planning and actual face to face implementation with my dc.

     

    We have all enjoyed and benefited from this approach but in reviewing for next year I have discovered that I have been using a lot of curriculum for math and LA that be used independently by dd10. (eg CLE and spectrum style workbooks). I feel a bit disconnected from what she is learning and I can see how a daily session of teaching, modelling and reviewing from a TM would be very helpful for her.

     

    A rough outline of our current routine:

    Dd10 starts independent work while I work with dd7 (and then do some household chores)

    Dd10 and I do some work together (eg. Latin, history read aloud)

    We all do our unit study together.

    I correct Dd10's work (late afternoon/evening) and write notes so she can correct her work next morning.

     

    Anyway, all this background info may be quite irrelevant :) since my real question is ..

     

    If you use several teacher's manuals, how do you schedule your teaching time?

     

    Do you meet with one child and do all the teacher manual sessions for that day in one hit and then send off your child to complete the work?

     

    or

     

    Do you teach from the English TM and send off the child to complete his/her English work. When they come back you correct it together and then repeat the same process with a different subject/TM?

     

    or

     

    something else??

     

    Please share as I am clueless how this can work!

  8. Would it be to much?

     

    I was thinking about this for my 2nd grader this fall..:bigear:

     

    I don't think you would need to use LLATL if you were using FLL and WWE. That sounds like too much for a second grade student. HTH

  9. I have also been scared by the reviews from even considering ACE. But I have heard that perhaps the LA Paces are ok? :confused:

     

    I only know one family who have used ACE long term and their children seem to have had a smooth transition into high school; one child at a highly regarded private school and another at a public school. I must admit I was surprised because I thought ACE would not have prepared them at all. The child going to the public school did a lot of extra reading and taught herself Hebrew while she was using ACE.

     

    Anyway, what has impressed me about this ACE family is that the Mom does a lot of cooking and crafts etc with her dc... much more than I manage to do .. and she has two more dc than I do.... :blush:

  10. Didn't we hear that the mom is returning to work in 3 weeks? She is not going to be able to provide the kind of intensive, focussed help with math that this child needs. Also, I wonder about his buy in. He already hates math. It sounds like he is going to school pretty much without any input about that decision. Is he going to buckle down and study on his own, knowing that he is already profoundly behind? Also, and I say this gingerly, unschooling parents tend to be habitually and as a matter of principle uninsistent. I wonder whether the mom will be able to insist that he learn this stuff--I doubt it--I think that it will go against the grain too much. That's why I think that a math tutor will be crucial--because someone insisting from outside of the family would be better.

     

    :iagree: They need an understanding and efficient tutor.

  11. My youngest is a natural speller and has no problems recalling spelling lists, so I like that instead of spelling lists this reviews how words are built phonetically. It also covers alphabetizing, analogies, idioms, metaphors/similes, etc. I think that it coordinates with the spelling book, so there should be overlap (but I could be totally incorrect). Even if there is no overlap, I don't think I would use both the spelling and the word study workbooks unless I had a struggling speller.

     

    HTH-

    Mandy

     

    Thanks again Mandy. DD is actually a struggling speller so I might look at both the Spelling book and the Word study book and see which might suit her better. Maybe I will end up with both.

     

    I had a look at the google previews and I do think I will bump her up to the 6th reading and skip the vocab one. Not sure at the moment where I will place her as far as their LA series.

     

    I really like the look of these Spectrum workbooks for LA. I just wonder why people don't seem to use them to build a complete LA curriculum. Most of the reviews I have found are from people using them as supplements. Maybe I am missing something :confused:

  12. We are using Spectrum Phonics and Word Study grade 5. I own the grade 5 writing and plan to use some of it next year. I like their products, but if you have been using CLE you may want to go up at least one grade level. Do you have bookstore close where you can sit and look through them in person to make certain that you are not purchasing something easier than what she is already doing?

     

    HTH-

    Mandy

     

    That's a good point regarding working out my dd's placement. What do you like about the phonic and word study book and would we be missing something if we didn't do it?

  13. I really like the Spectrum reading workbooks. I think the skills covered are wonderful. They include a lot of vocabulary, though, so I wouldn't do the vocabulary book. It's black and white and boring-looking. (I just flipped through it at Barnes & Noble.) That leaves 4 workbooks to schedule. Reading has about 90 lessons, so you could alternate the reading and writing books. One page of LA a day will finish the book within a year. That leaves spelling, which is usually every day. I think it's very doable.

     

    Google books usually has nice previews of the Spectrum books, if you would like to check them out more. They can also be found at bookstores.

     

    Great ideas - thanks!!!

  14. Dd is ten. We have been using CLE LA, CLE reading and Write with the Best as our base for Language Arts. We also do family unit studies which naturally draws on LA skills and she does 2 -3 written narrations a week from her history readings.

     

    I am never completely happy with CLE LA and I feel like we need a break from Write with the Best so I have been looking at the Spectrum workbooks as a substitute. I am interested in the vocab, reading, LA, spelling and writing workbooks (grade 5). From my brief research, I am hoping that this combination of workbooks would give us a solid year of LA. Do you agree? (fingers crossed :001_smile:)

     

    btw we would keep using CLE reading as we both like it.

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